What religion are you?

[Demona_Darchanjel]

Wiccan refers to those of us people call witches. Wiccans worship goddess in one form or another. Look it up online if you'd like more details. Wicca is very misunderstood by most Christians.

Bingo! However many wiccans generally accept the dualism of male/female in nature and therefore in divinity. So the male God is accepted as much as the Goddess. I may be wiccan, but I don't do much in the way of spellcraft myself, you don't have to work spells to be wiccan.

Very true. I myself worship Goddess as well as Consort. I know one doesn't need to practice spellcraft to be wiccan, but I just don't consider myself wiccan. Many of my beliefs come from other pagan religions, so it's easier just to use the term pagan. I do follow the Wiccan rede though.

That's cool. As the saying goes, all wiccans are pagan but not all pagans are wiccan.  

[Puck the Elf]

Demona_Darchanjel

Wiccan refers to those of us people call witches. Wiccans worship goddess in one form or another. Look it up online if you'd like more details. Wicca is very misunderstood by most Christians.

Bingo! However many wiccans generally accept the dualism of male/female in nature and therefore in divinity. So the male God is accepted as much as the Goddess. I may be wiccan, but I don't do much in the way of spellcraft myself, you don't have to work spells to be wiccan.

Very true. I myself worship Goddess as well as Consort. I know one doesn't need to practice spellcraft to be wiccan, but I just don't consider myself wiccan. Many of my beliefs come from other pagan religions, so it's easier just to use the term pagan. I do follow the Wiccan rede though.

That's cool. As the saying goes, all wiccans are pagan but not all pagans are wiccan.

3nodding Precisely.  

[Kamui_kusinagi]

It's kind of weird for me, I pull from differant religions, mainly Buddah/Shinto/Native american beliefs (which isn't too differant from shinto)/Christian and pagan.

I believe in one main god/goddess (if any gender at all, which in the end I just call "Creator") then I bring it down to smaller gods then smaller spirits. I also believe strongly in reincarnation and karma (And yes, I realize the parrelles between my beliefs and the ancient religions, but I assure you, my beliefs come from my own research)  

[Demona_Darchanjel]

Kamui_kusinagi

It's kind of weird for me, I pull from differant religions, mainly Buddah/Shinto/Native american beliefs (which isn't too differant from shinto)/Christian and pagan.

I believe in one main god/goddess (if any gender at all, which in the end I just call "Creator") then I bring it down to smaller gods then smaller spirits. I also believe strongly in reincarnation and karma (And yes, I realize the parrelles between my beliefs and the ancient religions, but I assure you, my beliefs come from my own research)

That's cool. It's really interesting to see how some people pull on other religions to make one that fits them, and it's just as valid a religion as a mainstream one.  

[looking_for_a_reason]

I'm Christian. However I want to continue on to say that I'm not one of those that will try to shove a bible down your throat. I've been a bit curious in the past and learned a little of the wiccan (very very little) and looked into some of the old druid work.

There are times I wonder about christianity or any of the religions for that matter. How did they all REALLY get started? Some kick to help a person out of a tough situation? A king wanted others to worship him? What is the TRUTH...lol sadly this side of me comes out when I stop to THINK. If I just BELIEVE then Jesus died for my sins and I am saved.....  

[Demona_Darchanjel]

looking_for_a_reason

I'm Christian. However I want to continue on to say that I'm not one of those that will try to shove a bible down your throat. I've been a bit curious in the past and learned a little of the wiccan (very very little) and looked into some of the old druid work.

There are times I wonder about christianity or any of the religions for that matter. How did they all REALLY get started? Some kick to help a person out of a tough situation? A king wanted others to worship him? What is the TRUTH...lol sadly this side of me comes out when I stop to THINK. If I just BELIEVE then Jesus died for my sins and I am saved.....

I wish I could answer you, but the most that I know is that religion started with primitive peoples and were mostly based on the worship for the success of hunting, farming, and fertility. You can even see evidence of religion in the paintings of cave people, also little statues have been found.  

[looking_for_a_reason]

Yeah thanks for trying. I know that I'll never find the answers I'm looking for because they go so far back. Still it's nice that I have the ability to wonder and am not stuck on THIS IS THE ONLY....you know what I mean?  

[Demona_Darchanjel]

looking_for_a_reason

Yeah thanks for trying. I know that I'll never find the answers I'm looking for because they go so far back. Still it's nice that I have the ability to wonder and am not stuck on THIS IS THE ONLY....you know what I mean?

Yes, I know what you mean. Until two years ago I didn't really have a religion. I suppose I was mostly Christian, but I didn't really believe. The more I learned of other religions, the less I believed until I found a path that suited me, wicca. Even now, I know that this is not the only... Everyone has their own religion that is true and good for them, but religion itself remains a big mystery.  

[Taxi Mama]

I was raised Presbyterian, which is the Scottish form of Christianity. My first husband was raised Lutheran, which is the German form of Christianity. We married and remained Presbyterian until he decided to become Wiccan. I read all the books he brought home and realized Christians are NOT the only good people in the world. I started reading around a lot after that, so I'm way more "new agey spiritualist" than I am a traditional Christian. My second husband says I'd be branded a heretic if I were Baptist, but I'm perfectly accepted in our local Presbyterian church!

I remain in the Presbyterian church because I need the community it provides me with to raise my children in... the "village", if you will. They also do NO evangelism, and have very few "you must believe" points. They try really hard to come up with sane loving answers to the tough situations of the modern world, and it's helped me through tough times.  

[WebenBanu]

I'm a Kemetic Reconstructionist- that is a modern revival of the ancient Egyptian religion. There are quite a few reconstructionist religions out there, far more than there were when I first entered the Pagan community. I am interested to see this particular branch of our family tree growing.

As for the Wicca/witch/spellcrafting thing... I used to be Wiccan, and although I was always interested in magical theory I didn't actually practice it all that much. There are two aspects to Wicca in my opinion. That's a gross generalization, but I think that most practitioners will agree that there is the theological side, and the magical side- some are more into one, some the other, and some ride the fence between. *shrugs* We all have our different focuses.

I'd also like to point out that not all witches are Wiccan. A witch is simply someone who practices magic- if you want to get picky, it's generally a term applied to someone who practices some form of European folk magic or a school of magic which is at least rooted in Western occultism. There are quite a few members of the modern Pagan community who identify as witches, but aren't Wiccan.

As for me, however, I don't really consider myself a witch- even though I practice magic on a much more regular basis now than I ever did as a Wiccan. The Kemetic idea of "magic" (which we call "heka") is a little different from Western conceptions of that term- and admitedly, that can sometimes cloud my perceptions of other schools of magical thinking despite my best intentions. I find that, as with many subjects within Kemetic reconstructionism- the concept of heka clicks a great deal more with my worldview than what I've read elsewhere (although I still find other schools of thought fascinating!). Religion and magic are far more intimately intertwined in Kemetic life, for example; I tend to think of heka as simply the science of applied religion. I use what I have come to understand about the world and its workings- both physical and spiritual, since Kemetic culture does not value one above the other- and apply that in an intelligent and conscientious fashion. Ergo, heka is as natural a part of my life as my spiritual experiences and practical personality.  

[Puck the Elf]

WebenBanu

I'm a Kemetic Reconstructionist- that is a modern revival of the ancient Egyptian religion. There are quite a few reconstructionist religions out there, far more than there were when I first entered the Pagan community. I am interested to see this particular branch of our family tree growing.

As for the Wicca/witch/spellcrafting thing... I used to be Wiccan, and although I was always interested in magical theory I didn't actually practice it all that much. There are two aspects to Wicca in my opinion. That's a gross generalization, but I think that most practitioners will agree that there is the theological side, and the magical side- some are more into one, some the other, and some ride the fence between. *shrugs* We all have our different focuses.

I'd also like to point out that not all witches are Wiccan. A witch is simply someone who practices magic- if you want to get picky, it's generally a term applied to someone who practices some form of European folk magic or a school of magic which is at least rooted in Western occultism. There are quite a few members of the modern Pagan community who identify as witches, but aren't Wiccan.

As for me, however, I don't really consider myself a witch- even though I practice magic on a much more regular basis now than I ever did as a Wiccan. The Kemetic idea of "magic" (which we call "heka") is a little different from Western conceptions of that term- and admitedly, that can sometimes cloud my perceptions of other schools of magical thinking despite my best intentions. I find that, as with many subjects within Kemetic reconstructionism- the concept of heka clicks a great deal more with my worldview than what I've read elsewhere (although I still find other schools of thought fascinating!). Religion and magic are far more intimately intertwined in Kemetic life, for example; I tend to think of heka as simply the science of applied religion. I use what I have come to understand about the world and its workings- both physical and spiritual, since Kemetic culture does not value one above the other- and apply that in an intelligent and conscientious fashion. Ergo, heka is as natural a part of my life as my spiritual experiences and practical personality.

You know, I've actually been wanting to study Kemetic Reconstructionism for some time now. It's really a very fascinating religion to me, but I've sadly not had the time lately to do so. Thank you for sharing this with us though.  

[Divash]

Demona_Darchanjel

Divash

I'm a Sephardic Jew, observant. If I were Ashkenazi instead of Sephardi, I'd be called Orthodox, but Sephardi Jews never split into Reform/Orthodox/Conservative factions.

Cool, I'd love to know more about your religion. However, I wanted to take this time to apologize for not having listed Judaism in the poll, especially since it is one of the major world religions. *bows* Gomen.

Eh, not a big deal. Jews only make up... what was it, either 2% of the world's population, or 0.2%, I forget. We're well known, but we're not major in terms of numbers, not by a long shot.  

[Mrs_Black_Bear]

looking_for_a_reason

I'm Christian. However I want to continue on to say that I'm not one of those that will try to shove a bible down your throat. I've been a bit curious in the past and learned a little of the wiccan (very very little) and looked into some of the old druid work.

There are times I wonder about christianity or any of the religions for that matter. How did they all REALLY get started? Some kick to help a person out of a tough situation? A king wanted others to worship him? What is the TRUTH...lol sadly this side of me comes out when I stop to THINK. If I just BELIEVE then Jesus died for my sins and I am saved.....

I am like you haha, I pull from both Christian and Native amierican beliefs though since I love the nature respect of Native American lore for a lack of a better word there. I am very curious about other religions and thats why I took a world religions class for one of my LAE ellectives while I was still at hocking college.  

[queen of qeeks]

MaddHattre

queen of qeeks

I practice Gnosticism, which is one of the worlds oldest religions. Gnostic basically means "knowledge seeker." The religion bases itself on pushing people to decide what they think is right, and to always search for more answers rather than settling on what's easy.

My boyfriend is Gnostic. I find it very interesting. The only reason I can't call myself Gnostic is because one of the general beliefs of Gnosticism is in an omnipresent God and of a false God, and I simply don't believe in any gods.
I am a Theravada Buddhist. Or at least, I share the beliefs of one. I can't say I practice meditation or self-deprivation, however.

That's pretty awesome. I've never met another Gnostic and most of the time, professors and friends think I'm just spelling Agnostic wrong. Haha.  

[Maester_Leoshin]

I am a Pagan.