Re: Pop Culture Paganism
I'm reopening this thread for a couple reasons. This concept is still really new in the pagan community, and I know lots of folks haven't heard of it. With all the activity and some newer people and as old as this thread is, I think it's worth a shot. Also, when this was first discussed, I hadn't really heard of this, but it opened up a whole other world for me.
I strongly believe that spirituality is something we build for ourselves. And that so long as we're making an effort to be a good person that's the most important thing. I also believe that any deities that exist out there are faces of archetypes (another idea I got from here I think) and that the faces we put on them don't particularly matter. I also realize that many pagan paths, even those reconstructing ancient traditions, have to be rebuilt for the modern world and so they are essentially new traditions, if they weren't completely modernly made up (Wicca).
So I don't have any problem drawing inspiration from fictional books or other pop-culture sources. Sometimes it's an image. Drawing from the Kushiel series for an image of a deity of justice as an example. But it's also been the spiritual feeling I get from a well-built world, like elements from the Black Jewel series influencing my sense of morals and ethics. Or the way I visualize magic.
Thoughts? (There are lots of good pages of reading in this thread as well)
I'm reopening this thread for a couple reasons. This concept is still really new in the pagan community, and I know lots of folks haven't heard of it. With all the activity and some newer people and as old as this thread is, I think it's worth a shot. Also, when this was first discussed, I hadn't really heard of this, but it opened up a whole other world for me.
I strongly believe that spirituality is something we build for ourselves. And that so long as we're making an effort to be a good person that's the most important thing. I also believe that any deities that exist out there are faces of archetypes (another idea I got from here I think) and that the faces we put on them don't particularly matter. I also realize that many pagan paths, even those reconstructing ancient traditions, have to be rebuilt for the modern world and so they are essentially new traditions, if they weren't completely modernly made up (Wicca).
So I don't have any problem drawing inspiration from fictional books or other pop-culture sources. Sometimes it's an image. Drawing from the Kushiel series for an image of a deity of justice as an example. But it's also been the spiritual feeling I get from a well-built world, like elements from the Black Jewel series influencing my sense of morals and ethics. Or the way I visualize magic.
Thoughts? (There are lots of good pages of reading in this thread as well)
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