Pagan Pet Peeves

[MaskedOne]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Either way, my standing view is that anyone who has an overly romantic view of nature hasn't been bitten by enough mosquitoes.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

I do agree though that growing up in the boonies gives you a different perspective of nature than growing up in the city or burbs.

LOL - having a pet cat should do it -those beautiful fluffy little psychopathic killers...

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Either way, my standing view is that anyone who has an overly romantic view of nature hasn't been bitten by enough mosquitoes.

Or drunk from a fresh bubbling mountain stream and had the runs for six weeks.

[Gleb]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Either way, my standing view is that anyone who has an overly romantic view of nature hasn't been bitten by enough mosquitoes.

This made me wonder.. I don't understand the romantic relationships between mortals and different deities..

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Actually, it goes back to the Romantic era as a response to Industrialism.

While I agree that has some bearing on it I wouldn't attribute that influence as being much upon pagan perspectives. Especially in the sense the romantic era also had a lot more to do with a nostalgic view upon ancient history and things Roman and Greek than nature itself. Sort of the Greek revivalism or the Egyptian revivalism periods and influence.

In many ways it seems, to me anyway, that the revamping of how nature was viewed sort of tied in closely to how many pagans changed the various divinities from being both good and bad into this loving mother, father, sibling type personas. The detached and aloof type persona many had during the earlier periods lost as they to were revamped to make them more loving and caring towards mankind.

[thalassa]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

While I agree that has some bearing on it I wouldn't attribute that influence as being much upon pagan perspectives. Especially in the sense the romantic era also had a lot more to do with a nostalgic view upon ancient history and things Roman and Greek than nature itself. Sort of the Greek revivalism or the Egyptian revivalism periods and influence.

In many ways it seems, to me anyway, that the revamping of how nature was viewed sort of tied in closely to how many pagans changed the various divinities from being both good and bad into this loving mother, father, sibling type personas. The detached and aloof type persona many had during the earlier periods lost as they to were revamped to make them more loving and caring towards mankind.

The Romantic era, along with Trandcendentalism, and the earlier Natural Theology movement all tie in together, quite strongly, in Victorian era views of Nature's goodness and utility, both in the US and Europe. These views play a huge role the conception of Nature's superiority. Look at John Muir, Edward Abbey, Sigurd F. Olsen, etc.

[anunitu]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

I agree,even though I grew up in the city,I always knew nature could be very dangerous,but learned it can also be very beautiful,but that beauty not to be taken lightly.
A river is beautiful,but you can drown if not taught to respect it and learn to swim.
Love nature,BUT always respect its dangers.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Keep it on topic please, folks... by all means explore the ways that we all agree with a peeve, but I'd prefer it if we didn't let tangents morph into debates in here.

If you feel that a particular pet peeve is interesting enough to discuss the finer points of, I invite you to start a new thread where you can discuss it to your hearts' content. If not, then I invite you to idly agree with each other for a few posts then move on to the next peeve.

[habbalah]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

#3...The idea that "It's all about "The Goddess", for all pagans, all the time. That term may be front and center in some religions, I don't even know which, but to use it as if everyone knows which goddess it's all about annoys the snot out of me.

Walking into a booth at a pagan meet up and being greeted with " Is the Goddess smiling on you today?" Gets my eyes rolling. Well yes she is, and Jesus loves me this I know cause the Bible tells me so...and may the force be with you!

If it had been the first time I heard this, I would be awfully confused. "Which one? There are dozens, if not hundreds, of goddesses".

[Näre]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

So many of my pet peeves listed already. Here a couple more:

1. The Pagan Arrogance.
Which (or actually the lack of it) is one of the reasons why I'm still hanging on this board. Elsewhere I keep popping into this kind of "we are better because we were there first and we don't have any dogmas or rules or anything and SEX (and/or booze/tobacco/whathaveyou) IS SACRED TO US."

2. ^the sacred sex part.
Other people's rituals or bed chamber behaviour is not of my business and for me it's a bit TMI. The same goes with sacred feminine (body, no offense to the female gender whatsoever, I dislike phallos symbols as much but the sacred feminine is much more common in modern Paganism) and basically everything to do with body holes and fluids. (Unless it's Ior Bock's mind-boggling theories.)

3. Pentagram is a symbol for every single Pagan.
It isn't. (Personally, I find it really unappealing and would never wear one but I understand that if you need a symbol for the entire Pagan collective it's easy to paste in a pentagram. That's fine for me.)

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

The pervasive belief that knowledge from books is equal to or greater than knowledge from experimentation.

[anunitu]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Agreed B. De.....the books come from someone experimenting to discover things. New comes from trying things a little different,or a lot different.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Agreed B. De.....the books come from someone experimenting to discover things. New comes from trying things a little different,or a lot different.

Or...

MUS.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

Personally I think it's the battle of Orthopraxy versus Orthodoxy. The so called dispute between right practice versus right belief. A lot of neopagans like the orthodoxy aspect of personal relationships to their divinities while a lot of recons or near recons prefer the idea of right practice and method. What more than a few equate to the Christianization of pagan beliefs by trying to have a personal relationship with a divinity that makes it more familial in nature.

[thalassa]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

personal relationships to their divinities

This isn't really an example of "right belief" unless they are saying that EVERYONE has to do it in THIS ONE WAY because its the only way that is authentic and valid. While I'm sure those people exist, mostly they don't...and when they do, its our fault for giving the squeaky wheel the grease.

Orthodoxy is the idea that you *have* to believe in god(so) in this one particular, dogmatic way and do ritual in this specific, prescribed manner...which is something just as many recons are equally guilty of as non-recons. And many non-recons are just as focused on orthopraxy, but their "right practice" isn't based on their interpretation of the tradition of historical cultures, but often the creation of new traditions (often informed by humanity and its cultures as a whole).

Though, TBH, no one in the Pagan community uses either of these words correctly. Orthodoxy is right belief AND ritual, codified by creed and strict adherence to prescribed rites...orthopraxy is right CONDUCT through the enforcement of tradition and cultural purity.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Pagan Pet Peeves

This isn't an example of "right belief". Orthodoxy is the idea that you *have* to believe in god(so) in this one particular, dogmatic way and do ritual in this specific, prescribed manner...which is something just as many recons are equally guilty of as non-recons. And many non-recons are just as focused on orthopraxy, but their "right practice" isn't based on their interpretation of the tradition of historical cultures, but often the creation of new traditions (often informed by humanity and its cultures as a whole).

Though, TBH, no one in the Pagan community uses either of these words correctly. Orthodoxy is right belief AND ritual, codified by creed and strict adherence to prescribed rites...orthopraxy is right CONDUCT through the enforcement of tradition and cultural purity.

But your recons are the ones who go the closest to recreate the ethical, cultural, moral, familial practices that go with it. It's seldom about the individual and their relationship with a divinity figure.

The right belief and ritual becomes an issue I think because many in the pagan community embrace the idea of any thing they do is the correct ritual / ceremony / etc and their way of doing it is the correct way. The ever popular position of you can't tell me what or how to believe in the pursuit of their relationship to the divine.