Is it fair to lump all the pagan religions togather?

a reply to: Entreri06

They do all have names. "Pagan" isn't a religion; it's a group of religions. It's sort of like the Christian world's version of "gentile". If you are not one of the Abrahamic faiths or one of the major eastern religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.), you will most likely be grouped in with the "pagans".

It's not really unfair when used in the right context.

a reply to: BlueJacket

thanks, I am just trying to piece the pieces together myself... spouting what I think I may have read.

I'd have nothing against you if you were a Hellenist

or... civilized anything for that matter

www.nationalhellenicmuseum.org...

a reply to: AinElohim

Haha, well now don't second guess just by reading "advocacy" of any kind!

I lived in a bamboo hut, built by my own hand on Paros, Christi Atki, Greece in 1989-1990

My Hellenism might taste better than yours!

a reply to: Entreri06

I call them religions...



I dislike the term mythology.

Such a holier-than-thou terminology, imo.

originally posted by: SaturnFX

originally posted by: ketsuko

originally posted by: SaturnFX
Personally I would like a revival of the greek pantheon. Such a interesting and colorful set of demigods they had,

Well then ... go for it.

Nothing stops the two of you.

Not the same when you do it mostly for cosplay.
There was a wiccan coven in my town that practiced a ancient Egyptian pantheon. I think it was an excuse for them to dress in white and gold frankly.
That was kinda neat.

You sure they didn't dress in blue and black?

originally posted by: BlueJacket
a reply to: AinElohim

Haha, well now don't second guess just by reading "advocacy" of any kind!

I lived in a bamboo hut, built by my own hand on Paros, Christi Atki, Greece in 1989-1990

My Hellenism might taste better than yours!

well please, take a piece of tree bark... grab a stone, then scribble your message to me on it and send it via pigeon.

a reply to: Cuervo

I think "Pagan" is used in a derogatory fashion?

I could be wrong...

originally posted by: AinElohim
a reply to: Cuervo

I think "Pagan" is used in a derogatory fashion?

I could be wrong...

It depends on the company you keep. When I've heard it around fundies, it's normally said with a sneer but most people I know just use it as a way of roughly saying "non-major religion".

When somebody inquires about my faith, instead of giving a long-winded explanation of my beliefs, I'll sometimes just settle for saying "I have a pagan faith". It's easier and it tells most people what they really want to know: if you are a Christian or not. Christian mythology is founded in an "us vs them" sentimentalism so it's understandable when they view religions in those same two categories.

a reply to: BlueJacket

Just a small correction from a Greek. I think you mixed some letters it´s called " Chrisi Akti" not "Christi Atki".^^

Peace

originally posted by: AinElohim
a reply to: Cuervo

I think "Pagan" is used in a derogatory fashion?

I could be wrong...

I don't think of 'Pagan' in a negative light. The only religions I am wary of are people that identify as Satanists and Radical Muslims. Wiccans and other Pagans I have met seem like kind and generous people.

a reply to: Seed76

Agreed, in my haste I made an error, but oh how I miss that beach. Tell me have you been there recently? Can non citizens still build bamboo huts there? What an amazing melting pot of people that was by my experience back in 1990 or so..amazing place

a reply to: Cuervo

I'd say it's no more negative than constantly saying Christian as many different flavors of Christianity as there are.

Just like I have no real way of knowing just exactly what flavor of pagan religion you follow unless you explicitly state it, you have no way of knowing my specific flavor of Christianity unless I do the same.

And, yes, the explanations can be very long-winded and involved because even among a sect like Methodist or Baptist, there are as many different flavors with varying beliefs and practices according to their respective dogma as there are sects of Protestantism which varies significantly from Catholicism which has it's differing flavors, too.

Then there are the different sects of Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc., in essence, each of the names of the major religions is a generality in and of itself.

a reply to: ketsuko

You know, for as much thought I've put into this, I've never quite related it that way. It's true. When a Christian say's "I'm a Christian", it could mean any number of things.

Great point.

a reply to: AinElohim

It was used that way, it was meant as a snobbish, urban-centric, put-down. It's not now though, it seems to have developed into a looser umbrella term for a variety of older belief systems.

a reply to: BlueJacket

Yeah no worries. It happens by me also all the time.^^ Also, deserves to mention, that there are many places in Greece called "Xrysi-Akti".

Tell me have you been there recently? Can non citizens still build bamboo huts there?

I think you can do that if you own land.There are many things that have been changed in Greece. Also, i am from mainland, near Thessaloniki.

Peace

originally posted by: beansidhe
a reply to: AinElohim

It was used that way, it was meant as a snobbish, urban-centric, put-down. It's not now though, it seems to have developed into a looser umbrella term for a variety of older belief systems.

It's still not cool in American English... one says Pagan and a religion doesn't come to mind, a biker gang does.

Which isn't a bad thing really, the Pagan's have never been as hardcore as the Hell's Angels.

Calling oneself a Pagan and crossing paths with a Pagan without actually being a Pagan could cause complications.

en.wikipedia.org...

is a one-percenter outlaw motorcycle gang and an alleged organized crime syndicate

a reply to: AinElohim



I didn't know you had American biker folk who call themselves Pagans. I have images of them in sandals, being a bit 'mother-earthy'! Leaping about at standing stones, that kind of thing.
See what language does to us? It convolutes and boxes us up into little spaces we might not othewise belong in. I like linguistics, they interest me and when you unpack a word, you never know what you might find. It certainly has a whole different meaning in your area, that's for sure.

originally posted by: beansidhe
a reply to: AinElohim

I didn't know you had American biker folk who call themselves Pagans. I have images of them in sandals, being a bit 'mother-earthy'! Leaping about at standing stones, that kind of thing.
See what language does to us? It convolutes and boxes us up into little spaces we might not othewise belong in. I like linguistics, they interest me and when you unpack a word, you never know what you might find. It certainly has a whole different meaning in your area, that's for sure.

so true man...

I am used to the biker gangs being a native Arlingtonian, they rally in D.C. every year on memorial day.

There are rules to biking on the east coast, I had a Yamaha Radian (totally loved that bike) in my early 20's and my sister bought me this bag that attached to the forks, it had an eagle on it somewhat reminiscent of a Harley Davidson emblem but more like the patriotic american eagle represented on top of flag poles.

My sister asked my why I didn't install it on my bike, I told her I was liable to get kicked off my bike putting anything remotely close to Harley stuff or even American eagles on a rice burner.

She understood... I was traveling back and forth between Va and Maryland alot at that time.

---

"Rolling Thunder" draws over 1 million bikers each year in DC.

a reply to: AinElohim

Jeezo, that's a lot of beards in one place! I see what you mean about the eagle - they wouldn't like folk pretending to be in their gang, I suppose (although you weren't, of course, but biker folk can be very precious).

Sadly this is the nonsense that comes to mind when you say 'pagan' in our country these days:



Don't get me wrong, I have a deep love of Celtic history and it's one of my favourite subjects here on ATS. It's the new-agey stuff that I struggle with.
Words get bastardised over time, which is natural, but as you point out it's so crucial to have a shared undertanding of the definition or we go off arguing down two separate roads, not quite realising that we're not even talking about the same thing!

a reply to: beansidhe

yes they can be... lol

dig these /ahem "rednecks" on their $20 thousand dollar entry level investments...

*vibe is a bit different in the States than in Britain/France


in all actuality these rednecks as the europeans and left-wing democrat Americans call them are in fact doctors, lawyers, business owners and soldiers/police.