Positive aspects of being a Pagan?

[JackFrost102]

Hey,

So I have suffered from anxiety for 5 years mainly due to my fear of the unknown. I'm trying to overcome this by researching as much as possible as I know that without suffering from all this unrequired fear, Witchcraft as a subject is something I could really come to enjoy.

My anxiety keeps focusing back onto the darker subjects of the craft but I wish to simply study everything so as to find peace.

My main point being - I'm trying to understand how much joy Magick brings to the community and how much happier people feel with it in their lives.

[SilverWort]

Hope you are better right now. Just one thing, Witchcraft and Paganism are not the same and doesn't need to go together. You can be a witch and not pagan, or pagan and not a witch, or a pagan witch.

Witchcraft have a dark side like others human disciplines. Look at science, it gives medicines, computers, transportation .... also weapons of mass destruction, nuclear bomb ... Everything depends on how it is used, the purpose that you want to give. Always act with good intentions, because what you send is equal to what you get (this is my belief).

You can read about darkest side of witchcraft and learn from it. Knowledge usually banishes all fears.

[Aesiryth]

The thing about Witchcraft is that it can help a lot of people mentally and emotionally. It's sort of a psychological medicine to some. With the constant thought of karma (as mentioned above) one always wants to put good things into the world to make sure nothing negative comes in their own direction. This leads to a healthy and happy lifestyle if the practice is kept and constant. Now, the "darker" side of witchcraft is sort of a grey area. Yes, there are "bad" spells that people do, but it's not like you see in the movies. A lot of times this spell may just give the person confidence to stand up for themselves (whether good or bad) or something similar. Afterwards the thought of karma kicks in and when one worries about negativity coming into their life, it tends to attract it. Not sure if that makes any sense, but if it does great!

Hope this helped,
-Aesiryth

[Jenny Crow]

I think it's always good to research and gain knowledge of something that causes you anxiety. Some of the darker aspects of the Craft can be quite elusive as much of it can not be found in print or on the internet. Gemma Gary is an author you may wish to check out, though.

As far as how much joy magic brings, well that all depends on what kind of magic and who you talk to. Working magic can bring great rewards but if a person decides to go the "dark arts" route then you'd have to be knowledgeable enough to protect yourself from being confronted by things that you cannot control. But I hope you find the answers to solving your anxiety

[Chalice]

I think, knowing there are deities and spirits and a spirit world, has healed that suicidal nihilism I once had as an Atheist. For some Atheism is healing, for me it was harmful.

Don't get too caught up in the 'evil image' of the witch portrayed by Christians and tv. We're animists dealing with the spirits of the world and healing things in our live. Sometimes we have to do combative magic in order to heal things. Much like pruning a tree can help it heal and grow better.

[SilverWort]

The thing about Witchcraft is that it can help a lot of people mentally and emotionally. It's sort of a psychological medicine to some. With the constant thought of karma (as mentioned above) one always wants to put good things into the world to make sure nothing negative comes in their own direction. This leads to a healthy and happy lifestyle if the practice is kept and constant. Now, the "darker" side of witchcraft is sort of a grey area. Yes, there are "bad" spells that people do, but it's not like you see in the movies. A lot of times this spell may just give the person confidence to stand up for themselves (whether good or bad) or something similar. Afterwards the thought of karma kicks in and when one worries about negativity coming into their life, it tends to attract it. Not sure if that makes any sense, but if it does great!

Hope this helped,
-Aesiryth

Lot of sense to me.

I think it's always good to research and gain knowledge of something that causes you anxiety. Some of the darker aspects of the Craft can be quite elusive as much of it can not be found in print or on the internet. Gemma Gary is an author you may wish to check out, though.

As far as how much joy magic brings, well that all depends on what kind of magic and who you talk to. Working magic can bring great rewards but if a person decides to go the "dark arts" route then you'd have to be knowledgeable enough to protect yourself from being confronted by things that you cannot control. But I hope you find the answers to solving your anxiety

Is easy to find things like flying ointments recipes with very dangerous herbs, pacts with the devil, homunculus, curses ... Other things are not easy to find. But knowledge always is good. If you don't know how a curse or bad spell works, how can you protect against it?

[Kassandra]

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Hi all. Listen, I would request that we redirect the focus of this thread, and keep in mind the aims of the original post. This is a young person, with severe feelings of anxiety, looking for emotional safety, a safe place for his spirit to be. I would ask people not forget that in their choice of answers.

Consider: Having had a background in the Christian world, he is now wondering about the pagan world, what it might have to offer spiritually, and most importantly, he is wondering if it could be somewhere safe. He is struggling to not be controlled by the voices of fear and negativity that may cloud his investigation. I admire his courage in this regard. For years he has had Christianity telling him the pagan world is dangerous and wrong. And he has been bombarded by a mainstream media (movies, videogames, books) that portrays the pagan world, as well as aspects of psi ability or witchcraft or whatever, in totally sensationalistic ways, full of hyperbole and spectacle, for the sake of making a buck. That media has no mandate to be truthful, only to make money. So this is what he is bringing with him here, this is his baggage, and he is sick and tired of carrying that baggage. He is looking for alternatives in his spiritual life. Again, I admire his courage in honoring his sense that he needs more than what he has so far encountered. This approach goes a long way toward establishing inner truth, as well as outer authenticity in one's life. Kudos to you, JackFrost102.


The original question posed in this thread was (well, it was worded as a statement but I am editing it into the form of a question):

"how much joy [does] Magick [bring] to the community [read, to your life, personally] and how much happier [do] people feel with it in their lives [?]


Going forward here, I'm going to challenge responders to answer this question, and this question only. Let's not split hairs about historical data, definitions, philosophies, etc. I am also going to further challenge people to answer from their Heart Space, resist the temptation to answer only from their Mind Space. The reason being, I could envision this thread potentially spiraling downward into a mire of symantics, etymology arguments, and other Mind Space intellectualisms. And there is a time and place for that. But not now...please note, he did not ask for information he could easily Google himself in a matter of seconds. He is looking for people who feel "joy" and "happiness," and can explain why they are feeling them...he is looking for people who can FEEL, period, and who can answer from their Heart Space, not their heads. This can be very difficult for some to do. This left-brain-oriented world supports and rewards he/she-who-can-amass-the-most-facts-and-figures-and-can-best-regurgitate-them. There are well-paying jobs awaiting such folk. What's not rewarded in this world is people who can FEEL, and I believe this contributes to people being afraid to feel. Feeling doesn't pay our bills, put food in our mouths. So, the Heart Space is, for some, a terrible place to be. That's unfortunate.

I'm going to challenge responders to refrain from getting into semantic debates in this thread. If you want to wax philosophic about the etymologies of paganism-related words, the philosophies behind the words, and other abstract concepts, there are plenty, plenty of threads on this message board for that. I would ask you to use the Search mechanism at the top right of this page, find those threads, and have it out there.

As for this thread, I would like to see it stayed focused on the original question. I would like responders share with the original poster what brings them joy and/or happiness in their pagan walk, and why. And perhaps share what has brought them pain in that walk, why, and how it was resolved, what lessons were learned from it. Explain to the original poster what are the strengths and challenges of YOUR personal pagan path (not speaking in abstracts about paganism itself), what it means to you personally. Speak from your Heart Space, if you could manage to get there, if it's not too painful or frightening. I'm challenging you to...

Imagine that this young man is sitting in front of you. Look him in the eyes, answer him, and speak to him from your heart through the words you type, going forward.


Namaste, and many thanks.



"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift
and the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honors the
servant and has forgotten the gift."
--Albert Einstein




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[JackFrost102]

Thank you for the very kind response Kassandra.. The way you summed everything up is literally how I have been feeling for the past five years. I can't thank you enough for fully understanding.

[Xiao Rong]

That's a wonderful response, Kassandra, thanks.

JackFrost102, like Kassandra said, there's a lot of media and negative imagery out there that might make you think that a lot of witchcraft is scary or evil.

There are undoubtedly dark parts of witchcraft, but many of those things we do not see as inherently bad or wrong, much as the night is not inherently sinister by itself, merely made so by our fear of the unknown (as you said). Many witches celebrate and embrace the darkness as necessary to counterbalance the light, since we see death as part of life. This is why so many of us see the moon as sacred (a representation of the eternal balance and dance between light and dark), and why we celebrate Samhain, which is a day we commemorate and show respect for the deceased.

There are some who use witchcraft for really unethical ends (which I think is what you're really talking about), but here on this forum we actually ban most discussion of black magic, etc., so this is a safe place to explore the many aspects of witchcraft -- I encourage you to browse our many subforums on everything from magical recipes to Tarot cards to prayers.

The truth is, witchcraft is not for everyone, but there are a lot of reasons for that. If you embark on this path, you need to be prepared to do a lot of searching, asking, experimenting, exploring. Sometimes you will have to do this on your own, without a mentor -- the Craft has many elders, but no Bible that can tell you clearly what is right or wrong. You have to be comfortable with the fact that in witchcraft there are few clear and easy answers, but it is really about the process of discovering. The uncertainty, I think, is really what turns many people off.

But if what I said above sounds appealing to you, then witchcraft might be right for you -- and can be tremendously rewarding. The truth is, many of us find a lot of spiritual joy and connection from witchcraft; we see it as a way to connect with the wonder of the universe, nature, the gods, our families and communities, or to the wisdom within ourselves. You'll hear many people describe coming to witchcraft and Paganism as "coming home" -- finally finding something that really resonates with what we hunger for in our spirits.

Hope this helps, and many blessings wherever your journey leads you.

[Kassandra]

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Xiao, in a given day, what are some aspects of the pagan and/or witch craft path that bring you, personally, joy and/or happiness? What do you find fulfilling about this lifestyle? What would you miss if your pagan path were suddenly taken away?

Thanks.


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[Kassandra]

Thank you for the very kind response Kassandra.. The way you summed everything up is literally how I have been feeling for the past five years. I can't thank you enough for fully understanding.

You're welcome. But, I feel we're doing you a disservice by not responding to your questions, but kind of circumventing them. I have shared what I value about the path I personally have chosen, here: http://everythingunderthemoon.net/forum ... 25775.html. But, I have a lot more to say (not surprisingly, lol). I want to give others a chance to express their views about what makes them happy about their own paths first, though.

Thanks.



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[JackFrost102]

To be honest I was worried I'd be laughed out of here by how peaceful some people find the craft. I feel more at ease with the knowledge that I have the support of the community behind me to beat my fear.

[Xiao Rong]

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Xiao, in a given day, what are some aspects of the pagan and/or witch craft path that bring you, personally, joy and/or happiness? What do you find fulfilling about this lifestyle? What would you miss if your pagan path were suddenly taken away?

Thanks.


.

That's a great question. On a day to day basis, it makes me feel like what I do matters, that I am part of something greater. It helps me remember to act with kindness and compassion, and that we are all connected to each other, to the earth. It helps me feel that my life has meaning, that the world is rich, complex, and beautiful, full of wonders, and that I want to stay and experience it as much as I can. Sure, there's lots of "fun stuff" in witchcraft too that I love to indulge in -- kitchen witchery, celebrating the Sabbats with my coven, the Tarot -- but the main thing that Paganism means to me is this feeling of meaning, purpose, and connection.

I know that those are common experiences for practitioners of many spiritualities and religion, but witchcraft was my path all along. The central insight that I found coming from a Goddess-centered path was that we live in a web of life, interconnected with everyone and everything through love -- that's what sustains me on a daily basis. I am a part of the Goddess (who is the soul of the Universe, in my path), and she is a part of me.

For a very long time, I was suicidal (and occasionally still am). Part of it was emotional abuse growing up, but now I recognize that a big reason -- maybe the biggest reason -- was a spiritual emptiness. I was so miserable and I couldn't understand what I would lose if I just never woke up again. Sometimes I still don't feel like I want to be part of this world, and my spirituality is what tethers me to this world, to the here and the now. It reminds me that I love, and I am loved, and that's enough of a reason for why I should stay.