Today I attended the annual Winter Solstice Concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (in New York City).

I have to post about it here, because it was a brilliant christo-pagan celebration of instrumental music, song, African dance, Irish step dance, the earth, and (of course) the winter solstice. At one point the audience was asked to join in with the "Howl-elujah Chorus" – howling like wolves on a winter night – which was fun and kind of cathartic. But, for me, the best part was the Forces of Nature dance troupe.

You can find videos of past years' Winter Solstice concerts on YouTube, and here's a pic of the lighted vaulted ceiling of the cathedral that I took (I love the architecture).

The concert was pretty light on the "christo," heavy on the "pagan," and really very, very beautiful.

-- Nephele

Damn I wish I could see that. It must have been wonderful.

I agree with you, Midi... it looks amazing

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice so I wanted to go ahead and give everyone a very warm hope that you're Yuletide will be everything it can be and more!

Three Gothic cheers to the Longest Night of the Year.

Also, a little note: Happy (2nd day of) Hanukkah!

Okay, so I might sound a little slow, but can someone explain Paganism to me? I don't know too much about it but would like to know. Any relation to Wicca or completely different?

Actually this question was raised in casual conversation just yesterday. Being that no one in the room was either Wiccan or Pagan we didn't know the answer. Are they the same? or two completely unique religions?

Joyous Solstice to all!



Thank you, Midi! Actually, today is the first day of Chanukah. Jewish holidays begin on the preceding night, so tonight will be the second night of Chanukah, tomorrow will be the second day, and so on.



"Paganism" itself is not a religion (we don't encourage separate topics on this board for each and every religion in existence). The term "paganism" is generally recognized as being an umbrella term covering all polytheistic, non-mainstream religions, and the term "pagan" can also refer to one who practices no religion at all. With that in mind, all Wiccans are pagans but not all pagans are Wiccans. (Wicca is a religion.) I'll leave further explanation to Midi here, who started this topic.

-- Nephele

Oh okay, yeah. That being cleared up:

Can someone explain Wicca to me? I've read a few books on it by both Wiccans and Christian extremists, but I just want a little clarification on the rules and soforth.

Religion is so interesting

Damn the radio for telling me yesterday was the first day...sorry, Nephele!

As for paganism, Nephele is very correct about the use of the word 'pagan'.

Also, food for thought: Heathen means 'country-dweller. This phrase became connected to paganism because when Christianity was being established, it was the heathens (aka country-dwellers) who were some of the last to be converted, if converted at all. This was for two reasons.

1. They were more likely to stick to the olde religion and traditions of their ancestors (pagantry).

2. They lived so far for society that these places in the country were often last to hear the 'good news' .

So today Heathen pretty much means 'one who is apart from Christianity.'

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Now as for Wicca, Wicca is a Neo-Pagan religion. It was created in the 50s by Gerald Gardner and focuses primarily on both a god and a goddess. You can follow many gods and goddesses or just a god and a goddess. You can believe they come from the same source or are completely different. Wicca is a nature religion and if you do not like nature very much, it might well not be for you.

The following is something I wrote a while ago for a friend of mine and I'll post it here for everyone. It is not Wicca exactly, it is pagan in general, but most of it follows the idealism of wicca.

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The Voice of Paganism

I am by no means the voice of the pagan community. The only voice of Paganism is the howling of the wind, the rush of the falling rain, the sun’s warmth as it flows around you, the moon’s face as she shines her love. The voice of paganism is in the flowing waters, the fire’s flame. It is the height of the mountains and the fury of the storms. The voice of Paganism is all around you and within your very soul, locked away and hidden- waiting for you to realize her presence. It is the very sound of nature. Everything that is nature, be it bad or good, just or ill. The voice of paganism simply is. And because it simply is, paganism is everything to me and I will humbly try to express it here. Journey to the realm of the god and goddess, bring with you no ill will and be forever transformed.

Paganism is what?

Paganism is a nature oriented religion and means a great many things to a great number of people. Everyone practices and believes differently and no two practitioners are alike. It truly is the religion of the individual. It is a religion with many branches and different ideologies, most- if not all- of which harbors no being any ill will and when it does, if it ever does, then it is usually justified and a last resort. A pagan may or may not believe in one or more Deities.

Who is it for?

The person who seeks truth from within and without their soul, from any and all sources and by whatever means needed to learn the truth held within the deepest recesses of our hearts. The person who wants to learn the mystery, who feels a connection, a wholeness to Mother Earth. For the person with secret longings to practice a faith free of constraint. For the person who knows that we are not slaves to the religions of our predecessors. To the soul who longs for understanding and enlightenment. Paganism is for anyone with the courage to seek it.

However, if you think paganism is merely for show and tell, it is not for you. If you think it is all fun and games and magic tricks, paganism may not be for you. If you think that magic is flashy or cool or something to scare your friends and family with, it may not be for you. If you do it to rebel, then it may not be for you. If you have no understanding, and long not for understanding of what paganism is, it may not be for you. Paganism is not a game and is not a path to be taken lightly. It is serious, it is strong, and it is hurt daily by those who mock it and try to use it as a means to ‘be different’.

The Pagan road is a hard one to follow and many find that pagan ways are not for them. Paganism is a love of nature, of all things nature, be they small or large. It is the love we feel for the god and the goddess, the connection to all things. Most people scorn pagans. We are put down and seen as immoral creatures who are treated worse than criminals by society, by people who would call themselves accepting. Pagans are not generally accepted, welcomed or treated with kindness. So if you seek the pagan road, you must know it can be a hard one to follow, depending on where you live and how accepting the people are around you.

The Branches

To name all the branches of paganism, is nigh impossible for me to do. One being that I, in my limited knowledge, do not know them all. Another being that there are much too many to name. Paganism is in the mythologies of old, the beliefs of the Native Americans, the druids, the new age belief of Wicca which is what many tend to follow. By the way, Paganism (Neopaganism) is also a new age religion in and of itself as it tries to follow ‘old ways’ while knowing that the old ways are gone forever and much of their traditions are lost to us now.

Beliefs:

Beliefs alone would need its own website to try to describe. No two Pagans think alike, believe the same things, practice the same way. It is a very personal, very spiritual religion, not defined by a book or public figure. Some believe in reincarnation (being reborn), others do not. Some believe in both the god and goddess, others believe in only one or neither while still others believe in many, many gods and goddesses. Some worship the Deities, others do not. Some practice strictly by ritual, others do not. Some have alters, artifacts, revere the holidays, others do not. It simple depends on the Pagan and none of them are wrong. Please remember that: NONE ARE WRONG!

As for myself, I believe in the god and the goddess. Being as I am Goth, and my way is not lightly taken, my lifestyle is reflected in my spirituality and I typically call on the darker aspects to both. I consider Nyx (Greek elemental goddess of the night) to be my patron goddess, while her lover and consort Erebus (pronounced Air-ra-bis; Greek elemental god of darkness) to be my patron god. Some do not have patron gods or goddesses, while others have many, depending on the need. I believe in reincarnation. I believe that the god and goddess reside within me and have sense the beginning of my existence (and who knows how long that has been!)

The best way to learn of pagan beliefs is to find every book you can on paganism and/or Wicca. Take it all in, digest it, and remember it. Then say to yourself that it is all nothing but bullshit. And yes, I am very serious. All the books are based on people’s opinions according to their own beliefs, even my most loved Scott Cunningham (whom I HIGHLY recommend). So if it is all bullshit, why read it? Because it is still knowledge and understanding of the general idealization that pagans have on paganism. This will always be a useful tool in my book.

Magic:

What is magic? To my understanding magic is the manipulation of the naturally occurring energy around you to create a desired effect. Magic simply is. It is all around us, it is the energy around us and the ability to use that energy and direct it to where we need it to go. There is nothing unnatural about it nor is there anything to see. Magic is actually extremely subtle, but can be very powerful-and dangerous if you do not know what you are doing.

Magic is not flashy. We have all seen The Craft (I assume). No, its NOT like that. We cannot make all the red lights green and the gods and goddesses are not going to sacrifice a beach full of (what was it, sharks?) to you…I should hope. You cannot change your appearance (per say), disappear, etc… Again, magic is subtle and often cannot be seen (I dare say is never really seen, only felt). Sparks do not fly and mountains will not tremble. It is nothing like what you see on tv. The only sign of magic working will be the results which come in time, be it minutes (unlikely), hours, day or years. Even never. Magic is like a prayer that we try to bring into creation ourselves.

Harm None:

According to the Wiccan Rede, which is as close to any law a pagan (or should we say namely a just a wiccan) can have. It clearly state “These eight words the rede fulfill, and it harm none do as ye will.” So what does this mean exactly? It means you can do whatever you wish, whatever your heart desire’s- so long as you harm no one by doing it.

It sounds easy, right? Wrong. It could not be further from the truth. Those eight words take all the Ten Commandments, all that is right and forms it into a single sentence. You cannot lie- it harms people, including lying to yourself. You cannot hurt yourself or others- be it physically, emotionally or even spiritually because doing so can harm them.

Now can we do this all this all the time? No, we are humans, we make mistakes. But we are not controlled by our mistakes. There are also some who believe that harming other can be a good thing WHEN the occasion calls for it and only after all other options have been extinguished. After all, if we deny the fact we harm others, we are breaking the balance, in my opinion. You should live trying not to harm others, while knowing that sometimes harm cannot be avoided. After all, even the truth can hurt.


Pagan Terminology

In paganism are being terms that I think need a little defining, so forgive me for opening the dictionary here.

Pagan. What is pagan. This is different to every pagan. To me, being pagan is an awareness of Mother Earth, of our connection to her and to the gods who have lived within me since the beginning of time (according to my ideology). To others this definition could not be further from the truth.

Witch: Think you know this one, do you? Let’s hear it. If you said A person, male or female, that practices magic, then you would be correct. Now, let us get something straight here. Not all Witches are Pagans, though (at least I believe so) all pagans (or at least Wiccans) are witches. A witch does not have to be part of a religion to practice magic. So if all you want to do is practice magic, please do not refer to yourself as pagan or wiccan- a witch you may be, but pagan or wiccan you surely are not, in my opinion.

Wiccan: Do we really need to define this? Apparently. Wiccan is often interchangeable with pagan or witch, but as we seen not all witches are wiccans. Likewise, not all pagans are wiccans…however I should say that all Wiccans are, in essence, pagan. Wiccans are a lovely bunch, are they not!?

Warlock. Never, ever call a pagan or a witch or Wiccan a warlock. Ever. Do not do it. It is a great insult, which means ‘oath-breaker’. Basically it calls us all lairs and people who cannot keep a promise. You might be asking what you are supposed to call a male practitioner of paganism or Wicca? Simple : Pagan, Witch or (if Wiccan) call him a Wiccan. Never call us Warlocks. Those are fighting words (well they would me if I believed in fighting!)

Tolerance:

I feel it most important that this be a section that is not skipped over and is read very carefully.

Pagans, in my belief, should do their best to harm none. We want to live in peace and harmony with nature and the gods. In view of this, the pettiness needs to stop. Both within the pagan community and outside of it.

So many pagans are so busy fighting over what is ‘pagan’ that they forget that this is simply not the way. One pagan’s beliefs are no less pagan than another pagan’s beliefs. Stop the senseless fighting and start accepting each other. Enough with the name calling, the taunting, the pointless bickering. Enough showing of the pagan sticker and having the ‘more pagan than thou’ personality. Let other religions fight amongst themselves, but I beg that we be one of peace, acceptance and tolerance, where ANYONE who longs to be, is pagan within their mind, is accepted unconditionally- just as the god and goddess love and accept us.

On this note just as it is NOT OKAY to be cruel to our own, neither is it okay to be cruel to other religions. In my belief, all religions serve a purpose. No religion is wrong, I do not believe atheism or lack of religion is wrong. All are needed in their way and must be experienced in their time, should the soul need such understanding. All paths will eventually lead to the same destination and Paganism is not more or less important in the grand scheme of things. We are equal. Not better, not worse, but equal. We should never mock other religions or lack of religion for their beliefs and understandings. We can be annoyed with them (I’ve been tempted to be very cruel to Christians who were harsh in both their judgments and attempted converting, but I kept my peace), we can even dislike them, but we need to accept them and understand that though we may not like what they say it is their beliefs and as we want them to respect us so should we respect them.

Exorcising Myths

1. Pagans are evil: We are not evil. We are peace-loving, tree-hugging individuals who only want to do good in the world. Now are all pagans good people, of course not. Show me a community of sweet, kind people, and I will show you a few that are utter hypocrites.

2. We worship Satan: Correction, we worship the god and goddess. Satan is neither. We do not even believe in him. My idea of where this came from (through books and sites I have read): The Christians took our god of the woods (who has horns, also called The Horned God) and made their Satan resemble the Horned God (and Satan’s appearance is not in the bible. It is, however- if I recall correctly- in the Dead Sea Scrolls which states he was actually a beautiful angel, second in beauty only to God). In no way do we worship Satan nor does our Horned God look like the Christian satan. It was mostly a scare tactic used to convert pagans to Christianity.

3. We all have black cats: We do not (hides my own black cat behind my back). Seriously, we do not. We can have familiars (animals we feel a connection to), should we choose to have one, but they can be any creature. Now, I did say I have a black cat- and I do. Her name is Nyx (named after my patron goddess) and is a very regal kitty if I do say so myself. BUT I also have a cat that looks similar to an Egyptian Mau (grayish brown with black strips) whom I call Isis. I also have a pure white dog, whom I love very much named Hestia. If you see a pattern, you would be correct. All my pets (who accidently all happened to be female) are named after goddesses.

4. All pagans are Goth: This Goth objects! Oh wait…still yes I object. Most Pagans are not the least bit Goth. True that they can be very closely linked (both being alternative and thought of as ‘mysterious’ or even ‘taboo’, but let me assure you this is not so. Some Goths are pagan, like myself but some Goths are not. I know many Christian Goths. No one group will ever be or act or dress the same way. Goth is a music subculture, not a spirituality. Pagan is a religion/spirituality, not a subculture. There is a difference. You can merge the two together (very easily, in fact) BUT they will never be the same thing.


Suggested Readings:

Everything. Seriously, everything.

But from everything I suggest:

Scott Cunningham- A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Scott Cunningham- A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Raven Digitalis – Goth Craft (A how to of sorts to show you how to merge Goth and Pagan)

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If any other pagans on the forums (or reading this in general) dislikes this post, you have my apologies. I was speaking as I believe.

-Midi
A Heathen.

Wonderful, Midi! I wanted to learn about Paganism myself, so this was very helpful.

Yeah, thanks, I wanted to know, too!

Okay, so it's pretty much what I thought it was (all good things, I assure you). I had a couple friends in middle school (they were in high school) who were wiccan but I never really asked them what it was all about.

It sounds like a nice religion (although they all do to me). Oddly enough, even before Midi gave me the low-down, it kind of held a special place in my heart. The focus on nature, god and godess and whatnot. I had considered (when I was first learning about it) becoming Wiccan, but for some reason it didn't feel right for me. It was strange that I felt that way, but I didn't realize at the time that different people feel more or less comfortable with different religions, and usually accept the one (or ones in my case) they feel most comfortable with.

So thanks for clearing that up for me.

Happy Yule/Winter Solstice everyone! I will be making a rennie inspired dinner to celebrate!

I am glad that the post was able to help!

Not sure if I will be able to do anything for the Solstice this year or not. I've got errands to run all day today and I have school tonight. Sigh....I hope so though. The Winter Solstice, next to Samhain, is my favorite of the holidays because it is the longest night of the year. Very special to me considering I'm Goth

Same with me!

Here's my rennie inspired Solstice supper! The meat was salted pork put in a slow cooker w/water, thyme, cloves, sage, salt, pepper, bay leaves, shallots and lemon juice for about 5 hrs then refrigerated while I slept. Then I heated it up & put honey mustard on it. The potatoes I boiled then put in the oven for 20 min w/butter. The wassail was a recipe from Renaissance Magazine: apple cider, pomegranate juice, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey & brown sugar heated over the stove. The dessert is a pumpkin log cake w/buttercream & powdered sugar covered w/chocolate frosting & more powdered sugar. It was delish & now I'm stuffed!