tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post5872203748417214954..comments2024-03-12T20:49:01.546+11:00Comments on neo polytheist: How Many Polytheists / Pagans Are There?M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-28503664826655314162015-12-17T11:12:50.743+11:002015-12-17T11:12:50.743+11:00I am not familiar with this television show so I c...I am not familiar with this television show so I can't comment on it too much, but I can say that the notion that one’s soul or spirit could be somehow stolen by other beings seems rather unlikely. This television show sounds like it is perpetuating beliefs that arise from the more superstitious/hell-fire arm of Christian thought (not saying all Christians are superstitious btw – just referring to the ones that are; the types who go in for speaking in tongues and exorcisms, for example). <br /><br />I think if you said you “gave your heart and soul” to a Deity it does not imply you have made a Faustian pact – generally speaking I strongly believe the Gods are fundamentally benevolent, if they were not then they would not be Gods. However I personally would exercise caution before using such strong words with anyone, Gods or humans, because as a rule we shouldn’t say things unless we truly mean them and we shouldn’t make commitments we cannot keep.<br />M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-22392799349385572702015-12-13T09:12:33.390+11:002015-12-13T09:12:33.390+11:00The tv show supernatural shows tht pagan , wiccan ...The tv show supernatural shows tht pagan , wiccan gods, other entities take souls of people. Is there any truth to it? I once during prayer told a Roman god tht I give my hart and soul to you. I meant I wud worship the god wth my entire devotion. But after sayin tht I felt very awkward. Is thr any importnc to all ths? I am sorry if the questn seems offensive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-72813943940312226392015-12-06T11:50:22.654+11:002015-12-06T11:50:22.654+11:00Incrementally, hour by hour, day by day, year by y...Incrementally, hour by hour, day by day, year by year, I like to think that things are improving. Christianity is self-evidently on the decline in Western countries (a consequence of widespread literacy I assume - once people start reading the bible for themselves it seems a rather weird collection of writings) and atheism is too bleak and uninspiring to prevail. M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-6470868917582770712015-12-02T21:38:26.186+11:002015-12-02T21:38:26.186+11:00I agree with you in particular when evidencing tha...I agree with you in particular when evidencing that polytheism is not viewed as a "legitimate spiritual path". This limit can be found not only among monoteists but even among polytheists themselves: maybe it is caused by a feeling of inferiority, a sense of shame, the fear to be mocked... This is the major psychological weakness resulting from a connaturated isolation of polytheism during these times, caused also by the fact that too many subjects have misused the term "polytheism" for political (fascist) or satanic (ridiculous) or folkloristic (i.e. the Lord of the Rings, et simila) groups. This is the field where the (not easy) battle for legimitation should be fight...Carmelo Cannarellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03880676822722522314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-52867490595493819472015-12-02T19:57:20.881+11:002015-12-02T19:57:20.881+11:00The almost complete lack of institutionalisation a...The almost complete lack of institutionalisation amongst Pagans means our numbers will always remain elusive – I agree that this ultimately doesn't matter. The fact that Pagan religions are not dominated by particular organisations (whose populations can be easily quantified) is actually a strength, because this is the condition in which true freedom (of thought, of the spirit) can operate. We don’t look to inflexible scripture (written in a different century for a different society) or institutional priests when we want to understand the divine; we look to the Gods and our own powers of reason and intuition, and we ourselves become priests and priestesses as soon as we establish a shrine – at least this is how I see it.<br /><br />On the other hand I think one of the biggest problems people living in Christian or Islamic dominant societies (or post-Abrahamic societies) face when they start to explore Paganism is the fact that Paganism / polytheism is often not viewed as a legitimate spiritual path. Understanding that there are in fact hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Pagans out there (and easily more than a billion polytheists) can be quite validating. <br />M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-10993936292359154862015-12-01T01:00:54.829+11:002015-12-01T01:00:54.829+11:00A very interesting topic. The main difficulty when...A very interesting topic. The main difficulty when trying to adopt statistics to the pagan world (in a very broad sense) is that we have no official organizations (like a church or a chapter) and the completely different spiritual perpsective when compared to the monotheistic religion. As in the case of the Traditional Roman Spirituality, it is difficult to assimilate this kind of Spirituality to a modern religion: it's a Knowledge with no profane implications, linked to the Antique Traditional Heritage (the Primal Spiritual Heritage).<br /><br />Moreover, I think that the problem of the numbers ("how many") may drive to miss the point. I think that focusing on the number is a typical monotheistic approach (proselytism): perhaps it is better to focus our attention on the "quality" aspect of the issue. <br /><br />Anyway, we are living in very strange, paradoxical and difficult times where the Divine - in the deeper sense - seems to be totaly removed from the World... Too many people talk about religion (in which sense? difficult to say) and these people seem to be the farest thing from the Divine...Carmelo Cannarellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03880676822722522314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-25113368756331297252015-11-23T18:55:57.937+11:002015-11-23T18:55:57.937+11:00I too am not greatly interested Wicca, and I am de...I too am not greatly interested Wicca, and I am definitely not an atheist but in a world where Abrahamic monotheism looms large I seek to find safety in numbers☺ If you look up the Encyclopaedia Britannica online the following definition for "Neo-Paganism" is given: "any of several spiritual movements that attempt to revive the ancient polytheistic religions of Europe and the Middle East". So this was the definitions I went with for the purposes of this post. In October 2012 I wrote a post talking about why I accept the term “Pagan” and even “Neo-Pagan” even though “polytheist” describes me very well too – for me personally the terms are all interchangeable. When I first took up an interest in Roman polytheism I just called it Paganism, I didn’t know there was another term – it was only later that I learned that within polytheist communities the term was sometimes thought to be loaded. This is partly why I changed the name of this blog from “neo pagan”, which is what it was called for the first few years, to “neo polytheist” – I didn’t want to alienate the many others who prefer to be called a polytheist rather than a Pagan. However the url already had “pagan” in it so I guess I haven’t been allowed to get away from my Pagan roots!M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)https://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-9642560164281049582015-11-23T05:46:15.192+11:002015-11-23T05:46:15.192+11:00I am an Hellenic polytheist who also is a devotee ...I am an Hellenic polytheist who also is a devotee of Sekhmet and Bast. I "met" the Gods when I was a child back in the mid-1950s so I have never felt that there could be any other world view. The Christian deity was certainly never interested in me ;-). However, I do NOT identify with the modern "pagan" community. In fact, I do not generally want to have anything to do with generic neo-"pagans, neo-"wiccans", some Wiccans, and the like. I do identify with the historic polytheistic communities. Here in the USA there is a rather vociferous group of so-called humanist/atheist "pagans". These people I do not understand at all. It is difficult being at the the beginning of the revival in the West of a school of thought which many had thought went dead. It is also exciting.Julia Erganehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04613625453621934834noreply@blogger.com