Re: The three centres of Paganism
The three centers of paganism comes from the attempt to find some unity in a religion that was becoming more and more divided as the number of people who considered themselves pagan increased. In its early modern stage there was the belief that paganism was merely a continuation of the ancient residual pagan believers driven underground meeting in secrecy to avoid persecution from the Christian community who was in control. This belief was ultimately proven to be false at least for western European paganism which left a void of structure/authenticity. To help redefine what paganism was a number of people wrote about what beliefs had common ground in practicing paganism. A number of writers agreed there were three things that pagans overall believed in with different emphasis on which ones were more important.
1. Nature - There is plenty of evidence of the divine quality of nature as opposed to the subservient role in Christian writing. There are references written by people who were present wen paganism was still practiced openly by outsiders including Greeks, Romans, and Christians. There is also the connection of the gods and goddesses (particularly goddesses in Irish mythology) with nature including connections with animals and natural features such as rivers, mountains, forests, and springs.
2. The belief that there is both the god and the goddess - this varies from more symbolic to a host of different gods and goddesses but what made paganism separate was that the male and female were recognized.
3. Magic/mystery - the belief that there are sources of power or influence beyond the explainable including transcending into the other-world by altered states of conscious, accessing forces beyond explanation in out current knowledge and just the enjoyment of the mysteries of life.
The fourth humanity or self is less know to me but the intent was again to find a connection so that one might be more deity oriented while another primarily interested in the mysteries and yet another with equal aspects of the three (or four). This again was to find unity in a religion that was becoming more and more individualistic to the point of anything goes. The fear of the latter is that it loses any truth behind it as well as any respect as a real religion and not just made up. What does seem to be happening in paganism is a growing division with people saying there is little in common between pagan religions with little unity left. I do not agree with this but many others place the freedom of the individual to believe in whatever they want above any attempt to find common ground.
The three centers of paganism comes from the attempt to find some unity in a religion that was becoming more and more divided as the number of people who considered themselves pagan increased. In its early modern stage there was the belief that paganism was merely a continuation of the ancient residual pagan believers driven underground meeting in secrecy to avoid persecution from the Christian community who was in control. This belief was ultimately proven to be false at least for western European paganism which left a void of structure/authenticity. To help redefine what paganism was a number of people wrote about what beliefs had common ground in practicing paganism. A number of writers agreed there were three things that pagans overall believed in with different emphasis on which ones were more important.
1. Nature - There is plenty of evidence of the divine quality of nature as opposed to the subservient role in Christian writing. There are references written by people who were present wen paganism was still practiced openly by outsiders including Greeks, Romans, and Christians. There is also the connection of the gods and goddesses (particularly goddesses in Irish mythology) with nature including connections with animals and natural features such as rivers, mountains, forests, and springs.
2. The belief that there is both the god and the goddess - this varies from more symbolic to a host of different gods and goddesses but what made paganism separate was that the male and female were recognized.
3. Magic/mystery - the belief that there are sources of power or influence beyond the explainable including transcending into the other-world by altered states of conscious, accessing forces beyond explanation in out current knowledge and just the enjoyment of the mysteries of life.
The fourth humanity or self is less know to me but the intent was again to find a connection so that one might be more deity oriented while another primarily interested in the mysteries and yet another with equal aspects of the three (or four). This again was to find unity in a religion that was becoming more and more individualistic to the point of anything goes. The fear of the latter is that it loses any truth behind it as well as any respect as a real religion and not just made up. What does seem to be happening in paganism is a growing division with people saying there is little in common between pagan religions with little unity left. I do not agree with this but many others place the freedom of the individual to believe in whatever they want above any attempt to find common ground.
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