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Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

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    Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

    I always thought the term 'pagan' was a pejorative term used against us by Christian barbarians. I think we should attribute ourselves according to the individual sects we belong to like Druids, Apollonians, Wiccans, Platonists, Magi, Taoists, Shintoists etc.
    Last edited by saura; 03 Apr 2017, 04:11.

    #2
    Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

    Pagan is a useful catch all term. Also, taking an insult and converting it into a badge of honor is an old and useful trick. That said, I don't call myself Pagan for any number of reasons so maybe I should leave this to those who do.
    life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

    Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

    "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

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    Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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      #3
      Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

      Originally posted by saura View Post
      I always thought the term 'pagan' was a pejorative term used against us by Christian barbarians. I think we should attribute ourselves according to the individual sects we belong to like Druids, Apollonians, Wiccans, Platonists, Magi, Taoists, Shintoists etc.
      The modern usage of the term has moved away from a pejorative one in that the term is widely recognised as denoting "non-Abrahamic" religious/spiritual practices/beliefs.

      There are a number of reasons one would identify as "pagan". It is important to be mindful that many people do not follow a specific path or tradition and therefore do not wish to refer to themselves as a Wiccan, Druid, etc. - instead, many feel that the term "pagan" most adequately describes their beliefs/practices.

      It is also becoming more common to see and hear the term "neo-pagan" in place of "pagan" which generally implies a modern interpretation of more ancient belief systems and practices.

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        #4
        Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

        "Pagan" comes from the Latin for "villager, rustic; civilian, non-combatant," which evolved linguistically from the original use "district limited by markers," which comes from the word pangere, or "to fix, fasten," from PIE root *peg- "to coagulate, become fixed." In a religious sense it is generally held to come from the traditional, rural adherence to the endemic gods after Rome and Roman cities became Christianized, but its use for "civilian rural villagers" actually predates this, and its more likely the early Church picked up the Roman military slang. Whether they used it as an insult or not, IMO is immaterial, they had lots of issues with lots of things, and if we decided not to use any words with origins in the words they used negatively, we'd not have any language left.

        It was was self-adopted by modern pantheists and nature-worshippers in the early 20th century. I'm cool with that.

        Because I'm not any of those other things.
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          #5
          Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

          I don't have a problem with describing myself as pagan. It's a useful term that covers a multitude of beliefs - if someone wants to know specifics, they can always ask me.

          As for it once being perjorative, well, in the UK, the term 'Prime Minister' was originally an insult. Mind you, at the moment i think it may well be so again...
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            #6
            Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

            How very British Ms. P. "Prime Minister" hmmmm,points and laughs and laughs...Is that like prime rib??

            - - - Updated - - -

            You may also throw stones at our Orange figurehead....
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              #7
              Originally posted by saura View Post
              I always thought the term 'pagan' was a pejorative term used against us by Christian barbarians. I think we should attribute ourselves according to the individual sects we belong to like Druids, Apollonians, Wiccans, Platonists, Magi, Taoists, Shintoists etc.
              The word 'faggot' used to mean a pile of sticks. Doesn't mean you still can't call a pile of sticks a 'faggot'. I mean I'm not gonna break it down to the type of wood those sticks are made of unless someone really wants to know.
              ThorSon's milkshake brings all the PF girls to the yard - Volcaniclastic

              RIP

              I have never been across the way
              Seen the desert and the birds
              You cut your hair short
              Like a shush to an insult
              The world had been yelling
              Since the day you were born
              Revolting with anger
              While it smiled like it was cute
              That everything was shit.

              - J. Wylder

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                #8
                Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

                Originally posted by Heka View Post
                The word 'faggot' used to mean a pile of sticks. Doesn't mean you still can't call a pile of sticks a 'faggot'. I mean I'm not gonna break it down to the type of wood those sticks are made of unless someone really wants to know.

                In my part of Wales, and also in many parts of England we use the word faggot for a meat dish made of pork belly, liver, sage onion and breadcrumbs. Nothing like faggots and peas on a cold winter's night.
                We also use fags to mean cigarettes. And a fag - at the very posh English schools - was basically another, younger pupil who was a slave to one of the prefects.

                Language is a funny old thing...

                - - - Updated - - -

                Originally posted by anunitu View Post
                How very British Ms. P. "Prime Minister" hmmmm,points and laughs and laughs...Is that like prime rib??

                - - - Updated - - -

                You may also throw stones at our Orange figurehead....
                Originally a Prime Minister was someone (I think it was Walpole) who set himself up as being superior to all the rest. Eventually of course, it became an office in its own right.
                www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


                Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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                  #9
                  Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

                  Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?
                  Because the term "extra-judeo-islamo-christian non-buddhist non-hindouist religion practitioner" was too long for the registry, the dictionary and our attention span. Also not catchy nor commercial at all.

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                    #10
                    Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

                    Myself,I just go by "Marvin the martian"



                    And no humans allowed..hows that for relevant?
                    MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

                    all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
                    NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
                    don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




                    sigpic

                    my new page here,let me know what you think.


                    nothing but the shadow of what was

                    witchvox
                    http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

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                      #11
                      Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

                      "Christian" was originally used as an insult, and now it's the name of one of the biggest religions in the world, though also still used as an insult in some circles.

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                        #12
                        Re: Why should we attribute ourselves as pagans?

                        Originally posted by SeanRave View Post
                        Because the term "extra-judeo-islamo-christian non-buddhist non-hindouist religion practitioner" was too long for the registry, the dictionary and our attention span. Also not catchy nor commercial at all.
                        Last car that tried that added "Just Married" to the string of cans tied to the bumper, and wuz able to stop trains...
                        Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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