Paganism and Pagan Beliefs

Misconceptions are more deadly to other people because they are based off of no truth and can more easily offend others. As for stereotypes, which are not too bad compared to misconceptions, they are characteristics or abilities assumed and given to a certain group which may not be true to everybody, but have some truth to it. To a reasonable human being saying a stereotype to them they would understand and most likely just give a correction, but who knows some people just look for things to get offended. However when it comes to misconceptions people do not take those very lightly. People consider using misconceptions as a line of thinking as very rude and is considered ignorant to many. Then there are some people that do not know better and want a thorough understanding of their group or community. Throughout these explanations of stereotypes and misconceptions being explained there is now more understanding of what they are and where they come

Stereotypes are a form of prejudice everyone will once experience in their lifetime. Stereotypes are centered around an individual's race, gender, social class, religion, and age. They have been known to be elements people use to make judgments and subjectify people to one key feature. As Gordon Allport states, “ To state the matter technically, a noun abstracts from a concrete reality some one features and assembles different concrete realities only with respect to this one feature”(364). Mr.Allport’s words can be summed up to say stereotypes have been used as key fundamentals to associate one feature or aspect of a person with a group that represents it, typically in an unfavorable way.

Stereotypes and misconceptions are mainly false assumptions and beliefs about different cultures and groups. The reason as to why stereotypes and misconceptions exist is because many individuals Stereotypes are basically oversimplified images or ideas used to describe the gender, nationality or even nature of a certain type of person. While some stereotypes are humourous, they can also provide a negative impact upon their targets. Misconceptions, on the other hand, are false and rude accusations directed upon a certain individual or group. There are many stereotypes and misconceptions that are directed towards individuals of the Pagan religion because, since it represents only a small portion of the population, other individuals are

Still focusing on the modern concepts of Paganism, sexuality, and the impact it had on the followers of Paganism and why it became a focused aspect of their religion. Psychologists Sigmund Freud and Wilhelm Reich, had conceptualized a revealing essence of human nature with the transgression of sexual taboos involved with Wicca and Paganism. These taboos were believed to release ecstatic power that would transform society. Adding focus on sexuality importance along with aspects of feminism can also be credited to psychologist Carl Jung. He helped make the practice of Wicca infused into the Paganism religion form a counter culture and feminist movement. Pushing the modernized ideas of sexuality into Paganism helped create a huge mass of followers

Religions across the globe have their own distinctive rites and rituals, idols, traditions, and values. Each have in common a desire to explain something unexplainable by common wisdom, or attributing some aspect of life to some higher power. Many religions have at their heart etiological stories, which explain some sort of natural phenomenon through the physical manifestation of their deity or deities. From high winds and thunderstorms to love, fertility, and the sun, such religions focus on the physical world in this life. Other religions try to explain the "next" life or the afterlife. These religions usually give a moral code to live by, with stricter adherence to this code offering a better afterlife.

They follow the Wiccan Rede, “a rule that instructs Wiccans to do what they will, as long as it harms none,” (Pike, 2016, Online). It is this rule that shapes the foundation for the Wiccan ethical systems, healing practices, and rituals. Wiccans revere deities both in the male and female aspect, however, the female aspect tends to hold the most power. Their goddess is depicted in three female forms that represent the three stages of a woman’s life: the maiden, the mother, and the old woman. Their god is portrayed with horns and is believed to be the deity that represents nature. This deity’s portrayal with horns leads to the common misconception that he represents the Christian devil. Another basic principle describes how this misconception could not be further from the truth while at the same time bringing up another difference between the Wiccan religion and Christianity, “We do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do we worship any entity known as “Satan” or “The Devil” as defined by Christian traditions,” (Zimmermann & Gleason, 2000, p. 11). In the Christian religion, they believe there is only one God. Unlike Wicca, they do not hold the elements sacred. The Christian form of sacred is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Their deities are both believed to have three manifestations; Christians have the Father, the Son, and

“Remove any of your fear with faith,” once exclaimed Elder M. Russell Ballard. Catholics and Pagans have always had an intricate relationship between their faiths. A few examples of differences and similarities are the number of gods they believe in, their places of worship, and their holidays. Although they bear some ostensible similarities, the contradiction between the two religions are prominent.

Responsibility for one’s self and respect for others are only two major beliefs that Wiccans practice. Wiccans believe that “Every action creates not just an equal and opposite reaction, but a web of reverberating consequences” (Starhawk). Wiccans follow a text similar to the bible, but on a much smaller scale. This manuscript is used to hold all Wiccan beliefs. The Rede is what Wiccans use as the rule, law, or method of evaluating the morality of life decisions, “An ye harm none, do what ye will” (Rede). Wiccans do not wish to harm others, they simply believe in peace, divinty, and equality for

In certain situations, stereotypes can be negative, which in hand, can harm certain ethnicities, racial groups, religions, and other backgrounds. This often alienates certain groups from mainstream societies, as if they are an "other." This further in hand can, lead to heated friction and division among groups, which is not a good thing, and is the "cancer" of a benevolent, developed society. Certain examples of negative (falsified) stereotypes are that African-Americans are violent, Asian-Americans are bad drivers, Latin-Americans can't speak English properly, Middle Easterners are misogynic, White Americans are racist, etc. Of course, these stereotypes in all cases are NOT true, yet sadly the general population tends to seek them as true.

You had brought up an excellent point that all religions are very similar to each other. Many traditions in Christianity today come from Pagan origins. This is not surprising as "... Pagans as a religious group collapsed under the pressure of the ever growing Christian community" (Norris, 1996, p. 9). Some Pagan traditions include, cutting pieces of trees in December usually evergreens (Robinson, 2015). This was in recognition of the winter solstice which is the shortest day of the year, many had believed that the sun may never appear again and the evergreens contained powers because they stayed green all year around (Norris, 2015). "The ancient Pagan Romans decorated their 'trees with bits of metal and replicas of their god, Bacchus [a

As hard as we try to fight them, stereotypes are something that everyone experiences at some point in their life. Words or phrases that describe a small aspect of someone’s personality or features can quickly become the basis for which their entire being is judged on. Likewise, people who claim to be part of different religions are also stereotyped. Noura from Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits, as well as, Joy / Hulga from “Good Country People” displayed through their different religious backgrounds, and converted beliefs, how they perceive people of their religion based on stereotypes.

Morvihschilu also says “ Many religions, such as Christianity and Catholicism, believe that we are guests of nature and that when we die, our true journey begins. Us Pagans believe this to be untrue. We are not guests of nature- we are nature. We interact with nature and respect and appreciate it as we do humans”. Morvihschilu is explaining that those of the Pagan sect treat nature as they would treat people and that this life, right now, is the only one we have. Morvihschilu then proceeds to explain that, like every other religion, each Pagan sect has ethics and rules. “ We follow our own virtues, for example, my religion is Asatru and we follow nine important values: Courage, Truth, Honour, Hospitality, Discipline, Fidelity, Self Reliance, Industriousness, and Perseverance. We honour the true turning of the seasons and the nature of the divine within us. We do not need ‘salvation’, all we we need is freedom to live our lives with courage and honour. Today, our minority has been able to stop hiding and to just let others believe what they want because we know who and what we truly are. Us Pagans, us Wiccans, Asatru, and Druids are family and, like everyone else, humans who worship life and death”. Decianna Morvihschilu proves that Pagans live in harmony with the Earth and raise their children and kin to honor the ways of Nature.

The following paper will talk about Wicca and Paganism as a religion within the United States. Wicca is a diverse community as a religion, but is not yet considered by any Supreme court case but some aspects such as traditions are recognized by the federal and state courts. This will be further touched upon further later on.

In my interview I was fortunate to talk with a student from Pfeiffer, her name was Taylor. During this interview, I learned many new things about the Pagan Religion, also known as Wiccan. At the start of the conversation I was completely in the dark about the beliefs and acts of a Pagan.. I had never paid any attention, much less try to learn about other religions until starting this class. It definitely challenged me to empathize with the beliefs of others. The Pagan Beliefs are completely different from my religion, Christianity. Christianity places more of an importance on a figure, Jesus Christ. Unorthodoxly, Pagan’s place more emphasis in nature than in any one Godly figure.

This view of Consumerism is an extension of Monotheism and Paganism is valid. Many overlaps between Consumerism and modern religion exist. One of parallels is that they both feed off one’s insecurities and self-loathing. The worse one feels about themselves the more money they’ll spend to “fix” what's wrong with them. Constant dissatisfaction with oneself causes them to seek out what they don’t have and what they think they need to look a certain way. Propaganda in the media fuels this. As a society, commercials and movies constantly bombard us that portray unattainable lifestyles and with images of a beauty standard that is so far beyond unrealistic; they have to use computers to attain it.