[Sca-cooks] Paganism was RE: A new twist!

[Jim Fox-Davis]

Anahita, I -knew- I liked you!  That explanation was one of the most
well-thought-out and delineated monlogues on the subject I've ever heard.

Notwithstanding my own take on British Traditional Witchcraft outside of
Gardner <grin>, you handled Apollonia's questions exceedingly well.

Someone else, however, described Hinduism, I believe, as accepting the
existence of many other gods, but I'd like to point out that a LOT of
paganfolk, neo- and otherwise, accept that concept.  My own tradition teaches
that many folks have their own paths to the Divine, by whatever name, and that
all gods have at least an equal probability of 'existing', inasmuch as we
earthbound folk can define Divine existence.

My custom has always been to respect the deity of whomever I'm talking with or
whoever I'm visiting, and to ask for similiar respect from those of other
paths.  It works tolerably well for most folks.

Apollonia, the 'bottom line' for a practical operating answer to your question
is that  I would say that *most* of the folks you are likely to meet in the
SCA who claim the pagan label are of the "neo-" pagan stripe of one sort or
another, meaning they follow what they believe to be a satisfactory
reconstruction or revival of worship of pre-Christian deities.

"Wiccan" defines someone, to my mind, who is following one of the multiple
subsets of reconstructed 'witchcraft' that burgeoned out of the British
Druidic revival of the 19th Century, nurtured by the Theosophists or
metaphysical societies, was researched, compiled and almagamated by Gerald
Gardner, a British Civil Servant and researcher, to be embraced and then
mutated by any number of folks seeking alternatives to mainstream Christianity
that really took off in the sixties to the present day.

Now, just to nitpick for a moment on my own behalf:  The tradition I follow
and take my lead from, for what I teach has evolved from what I learn, is a
British Tradition that we are told has its roots outside Gerald Gardner's
particular popularizations.  Thus, I don't normally refer to myself as
"Wiccan", but others might.

So, you see, the answer is horribly complex, but there are as many of them as
there are practitioners.

OBFOOD Content:  My particular tradition celebrates a rite we call "Hunter's
Moon" during which we celebrate the cycle of the hunter and the hunted, and
one of the traditional dishes is venison.  You can imagine the looks on some
peoples'  faces (particularly vegetarian) when we passed around venison for
'communion' during a public ceremony!

Jared Blaydeaux
Caid
On Tue, 17 Dec 2002 14:51:13 -0800 lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> Signora Apollonia Margherita degli Albizzi
> wrote:
> >Okay, I know I am going to sound like a total
> ditz, but what exactly is
> >Paganism?  And what's the difference between
> Pagan and Wiccan?
> >And what's Wiccan?
>
> "Wiccan" is an adjective. The name of the
> religion is "Wicca". Wicca
> is a subset of Paganism - there are many other
> forms of Paganism.
>
> Ultimately there's no easy answer. Modern
> neoPagans and other sorts
> of theologians have been working this one over
> with no clear result
> for scores of years.
>