                           INTRODUCTION - PAGANISM 101 
 
        Paganism is a religion.  In contrast to other religions, 
   specifically Judaeo-Christian ones, Paganism is a natural religion, 
   viewing humanity as a functional organ within the greater organism of all 
   life, rather than as something created and separate and "above" the rest 
   of the natural world.  Other religions seek to glorify man's special 
   relationship to God and his conquest of Nature; Paganism emphasizes the 
   harmony of man and Nature. 
 
        There are and have been many forms of Paganism.  All traditional 
   "native" religions are Pagan, such as those of the American Indians, 
   Africans, Celts, Norsemen, etc.  The classical religions of the ancient 
   Greece and Rome were Pagan, as were the mystery cults of the ancient 
   world. 
 
        The word "Pagan" comes from the Latin, "paganus" meaning "peasant" 
   or "country dweller".  As a religious term, it is used correctly by 
   anthropologists to refer to the indigenous folk religions of particular 
   regions and peoples and the historical religions of the ancient world. 
   The word "heathen" is an Anglo-Saxon word for the same concept, referring 
   to the people who dwell on the heath.  Christians used these terms to 
   describe people who held to the Old Religion because Christianity arose 
   among the discontented poor of the cities.  Its spread to the countryside 
   was slow.  Furthermore, when Christianity became dominant, and
Christians 
   set out to convert the remaining non-Christians and sly those
who 
   refused, non-Christians fled to their brethren in the
countryside. 
 
        It should be clear that just as a person cannot be a
citizen of two 
   countries, he cannot have two religions.  A person cannot be
Pagan and 
   Christian at the same time, for the views of the two faiths
are 
   fundamentally different and in many ways diametrically
opposed.  When 
   Gerald Gardner wrote Witchcraft Today in 1954, he tried to
make it appear 
   that one could be a Witch and still remain a Christian.  He
did so 
   because he was writing for an essentially hostile audience.
and he felt 
   it was necessary to "sugar-coat" the pill.  But the fact
remains that 
   Witchcraft is a form of Paganism and as such it is
incompatible with 
   Christianity. 
 
        Witchcraft is thus one form of the "Pagan Way".  It is
not the only 
   way, but it is the one that has survived in Europe.  As such
it is often 
   referred to simply as the "Old Religion or "La Vecchia
Religione.  The 
   word Witchcraft comes from the Old English "wiccian", (to cast
spells, to 
   work magic, or to predict).  In the Old Religion of Pagan
Europe, the 
   shamans or medicine men were called "wicca" (pronounced
Witche) if male 
   or "wicce" if female. 
 
        Witchcraft survived where other Pagan religions perished
partly 
   because of the courage of its adherents, who braved centuries
of 
   persecution rather than give up their faith, and partly due to
the 
   strength of the ancient tradition itself.  For elements of
Wicca, such as 
   God and Goddess figures are found in prehistoric sites from
the Stone-Age 
   and modern Witches still regard the great stone circles such
as 
   Stonehenge as sacred places.  By classical times, the strain
of Paganism 
   that became Wicca was already distinct from the state
religions of Greece 
   and Rome, for it had given rise, in late prehistoric times, to
the so- 
   called mystery cults of the Goddess such as the cult of Isis
in Egypt and 
   the Dionysian, Orphic and Eleusinian mysteries of Greece.  The
mystery 
   cults inherited from primitive times a concern with light,
fire, 
   fertility and the importance of woman to which was added in
historic 
   times a philosophy of life and behavior which as Cicero put
it, "made it 
   possible for man to live with joy and to die with a better
hope." 
 
        For Wicca is a religion of Nature.  It reflects man's
basic concerns 
   with the light that fades each winter and is born again each
spring, with 
   the fertility of the soil and of all the creatures that live
from the 
   soil, with the continuity of life, and with the unity and
harmony of all 
   Nature. 
 
        For in Paganism, and thus in Wicca, man's place is in
Nature, not 
   above Her.  In this Wicca is in fundamental disagreement with

   Christianity.  For the Book of Genesis states clearly (1:28)
"And God 
   said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the Earth and
subdue it; 
   and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds
of the air 
   and over every living thing that moves upon the Earth.'"  Such
a 
   philosophy is alien to Paganism where the Gods are Nature's
Gods, the 
   good life is the life in harmony with Nature and the creatures
of earth 
   are man's friends and familiars. 
 
        The Gods and Goddess of Paganism are the Gods of Nature. 
Chief 
   among them are, of course, the two great Gods of Earth -- the
Great 
   Mother and the Horned God.  The Great Mother is the
personification of 
   Earth and her daughter the Moon.  She is a Goddess of
fertility and of 
   life.  But she is also Hecate, Goddess of the crossroads, of
death and of 
   the underworld.  Hence she is call the the three-fold Goddess
and her 
   three aspects, Selene, Diana and Hecate, are symbolized by the
full, half 
   and dark of the moon.  As the Moon rules the tides, she is
also Goddess 
   of the Sea.  So strong was her hold upon the mind of man that
Christians 
   could not do without her and so they renamed her Mary, the
Mother of God, 
   Star of the Sea.  She is known by many names: Demeter the Corn
Mother, 
   Cerridwen the White Goddess, Cybele, Astatre, Artemis, Vivien. 
She is 
   Diana of whom St. Paul's audience cried out "Great is Diana of
the 
   Ephesians." 
 
        On a more philosophic plane, she is the all-embracing
Earth Mother, 
   giver of life.  And she is the cool light of hope in the
darkness of 
   night. 
 
        Her consort is the Horned God of Earth, the other half of
the 
   duality of life.  In his aspect of God of life and of all
living 
   creatures, he is Pan the Goat-foot God of Arcady.  But He is
also God of 
   the crossroads and hence Mercury, God of Commerce.  And he is
Pluto, Lord 
   of the underworld.  His picture in stag's mask and antlers
appears on the 
   walls of Stone-Age caves. 
 
        In many primitive religions, He is the Corn God, born in
the spring 
   and slain in the fall.  As such he is the son of the Earth
Mother in 
   spring and her consort in the Autumn.  Seen in perspective,
Christianity 
   is merely one of many cults of the dying and rising God. 
 
        But Christians were not content to be one of many cults. 
They had 
   to be the only one, the worshippers of the one true God.  And
so they set 
   out to destroy the God who was originally theirs.  They
created Satan, 
   the Devil.  They modeled him after the Horned God images of
Pagan 
   cultures, such as Pan of the Greeks and Baphomet of the
Persians.   Satan 
   is a Hebrew word meaning "adversary" or "obstructor."  It is
related to 
   the Egyptian Set and the Roman Saturn, both Gods of the dead. 
Translated 
   into Greek, Satan becomes "Diabolos" (slanderer) from
"diaballein" (to 
   throw across, to slander, to mislead). 
 
        In the Witch trials of the Middle Ages, whenever the
defendant spoke 
   of the Horned God being present at the Sabbats, as he was, in
the person 
   of the High Priest who costumed himself in a horned mask and
assumed the 
   role, the word "Satan" or "Devil" was substituted by the
magistrates, for 
   to have written the word "God" as spoken by the accused would
have been 
   considered blasphemous by the Christian court. 
 
        Not all Pagans see the Gods on such a personal level.  A
Pagan is 
   one who worships the Gods and Goddesses of Nature by
observation, study 
   and love.  He may not choose to call on them by name,
considering this 
   fanciful, but he recognizes them as personifications of the
powers of 
   Nature which can be loved and understood.  For as Harold Moss
put it 
   (Green Egg #55, Midsummer 1973), "The Gods as we perceive them
are the 
   rules of the game.  For dead matter they are gravity, say or 
   electromagnetism.  For living beings they are more personal,
more 
   emotional.  But our emotions are merely our perceptions of the
universal 
   forces that govern all existence."  In a political analogy,
the Christian 
   world is a tyranny where laws are handed down from above; the
Pagan world 
   is a republic where laws are fashioned by those they govern. 
 
        It follows that one of the proper occupations of a Pagan
is the 
   study of Nature.  But unlike Christians, Pagans study Nature
to better 
   understand and love her, not to rule her.  If post-Renaissance
man had 
   been Pagan instead of Christian science would never have
created the 
   debacle it has created in the modern world, for it would have
have been 
   practised as an end rather than as a means to power. 
 
        Pagans would never have misused science as Christians
have done, 
   because Pagans are inherently more ethical people than
Christians.  Such 
   a statement perhaps seems strange to people brought up to
believe that 
   Christianity6 rescued the Roman world from the sin and
depravity of 
   Heathenism.  It is true that the Roman world had become
depraved, but the 
   fact that people do not practice their religion does not
invalidate the 
   religion.  In fact, Christianity was able to succeed, not
because it was 
   more ethical, but because it was less ethical.  For
Christianity has no 
   ethics to speak of.  It has a rigid set of "Thou shalt nots". 
And if you 
   obey them you do not have to think of ethics at all.  Paganism
has only 
   one rule of ethics: "An ye harm none, do what ye will."  But
that is a 
   very difficult rule to follow because you have to think about
it and you 
   have to make decisions.  There are no absolute standards of
right and 
   wrong.  Anything that brings happiness and causes no one or no
thing to 
   be harmed is good.  What does harm or renders the soul
disharmonious with 
   Nature is wrong.  It is thus wrong to let your child starve
because you 
   can only feed him if you steal.  Right and wrong have to be
evaluated in 
   each and every instance.  And if you do wrong it will come
back to you -- 
   three times over the Witches say. 
 
        It will not, however, result in you condemnation to Hell
for all 
   eternity.  For the Christians, lacking an innate feeling for
ethics, had 
   to invent a system of rewards and punishments to keep people
in line. 
   Pagans, on the other hand, usually believe in some form of
reincarnation, 
   whether it be a personal rebirth in successive lives or a
dispersal of 
   the soul into the world soul and its rebirth in new forms of
life.  For 
   Paganism is a Nature religion in which life is a continuum and
the 
   artificial distinctions between here and the hereafter is
meaningless. 
   Nothing exists except what is on Nature and Heaven and Hell
are not of 
   Nature.  But rebirth is of nature.  It was a Christian who
said "The 
   resurrection is written in every grain of corn," but the
sentiment is 
   Pagan. 
 
   Morgana Silverthorn 
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