Neo-Paganism is the belief that the natural world is a spiritual realm, that every aspect and element of nature contains spiritual entities like plants, animals, rocks, streams, mountains or clouds. These elements are not intellectual but can be felt.
Paganism can be polytheistic, indicating a belief in more than one super powerful God, or pantheistic, indicating the belief that God is everything.
But not all pagans believe in a god or goddess. Some choose to work with archetypes or familiar symbols of the natural world. Others believe that everything is connected by the same basic energy that flows from an original source, which is not necessarily god. Pagans and neo-pagans typically revere the feminine and nature, and use idols in their worship.
Step 1
Revere the natural world. The natural world is considered sacred, abounding with spirit and must be respected. Pagans do not use the natural world for: human ambition, greed, vanity, profit, exploitation or to make one feel superior to others.
Step 2
Believe that all life needs to use the natural environment to survive. Since each individual life form contains spirit, and since all spirit is sacred, if Pagans must kill for survival it is done respectfully, is limited to need, and is a spiritual act.
Step 3
Envelop your own being in spirituality. Paganism is living in an already existent spiritual state in harmony with nature.
Step 4
Understand that pagan spirituality is imparted to everything made by a human. Since humans tend to make implements of survival (tools, clothing and weapons), aspects of the original spirit may be said to inhabit these items. Spirits may be also be asked to enter them. Thus everything human made might also be thought to have spirit and has an integrity of its own.
Step 5
Communicate with the spiritual world. A physical world containing spirit is thought to be intelligent, to have feeling and emotion, to be capable of communication and is considered alive. A pagan individual has relationships with this world, like one has with people living in a small close-knit community.
Step 6
Define the highest form of art as the natural world. Pagans live an aesthetic, where the natural world is considered to be the highest form that no human can begin to emulate. The pagan lives in a world of incredible beauty.
Step 7
Understand that the following statements are generalizations, and no two Pagans follow the exact same path, or see the world in the exact same way.
Tips
- Read as much as you can about paganism, both ancient and modern.
- Find and talk to other neo-pagans and Wiccans.
- Attend festivals and gatherings.
- Keep an open mind about everything you read and learn, but don't feel that you are obligated to accept it as truth, merely as another's belief.
- Listen to yourself and what your heart tells you. Paganism is not for everyone.
- You are the only one who can decide what you believe in.
Warnings
- Pagan, Witch and Wiccan are not necessarily the same thing, but the term is often used interchangeably.
- Never do ANYTHING that makes you feel uncomfortable!
- You DO NOT have to engage in any sexual activity to be a pagan!
