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    #1

    Scholarly Paths?

    So. I am a nerd. I love scholarship and research of things. I purchase books on a variety of subjects and readreadreadread and research for the pure fun of it. I couldn't say that I am an academic with all the connotations that term has today, but I love scholarship.

    Religions, conceptually, in which the priestfolk (at the least) were the teachers and scholars have always pulled at me.

    Now, whilst I have spent the last 30 years kind of plugging along all solitary and bumbling along my own way with (neo)Paganism, I am now being drawn to something perhaps more organized and formal.

    So what do I do? READ! :^^:

    What I have found, so far, that of the differing paths and groups out there currently ... that ADF appears to have an emphasis on scholarship. Or at least so I interpret from their "About Us" page.

    Am curious if there are others? And are these groups (including that of ADF) truly scholarly inclined in practice as well as in statement?
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    #2
    Re: Scholarly Paths?

    I don't know about all the groups, but I have not yet met a serious seeker who was not well read, so ... happy reading! Maybe peruse the different reading lists?

    "No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical." -- Niels Bohr

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      #3
      Re: Scholarly Paths?

      Heathenry is generally considered to have an unusually high requirement for scholarship, particularly if you are a reconstructionist. There are actually very few good modern books about Heathenry and Northern paths... because we are all told to read the Eddas, the Sagas, Tacitus, Ibn Fadlan, some other old Roman who I can't for the life of me remember his name... and then Hilda Ellis Davidson and a handful of other old academics. And then read three different translations of the Poetic Edda. Then learn Old Norse so you can read the original version and make your own translation.

      You don't HAVE to be a scholar to follow a Heathen or Northern path, but it's encouraged.

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        #4
        Re: Scholarly Paths?

        An individual of any path can really choose to take a more scholarly route, but on a whole I find that most reconstructionist paths are pretty scholarly - which makes sense given the nature of reconstructionism in general, it's hard to reconstruct something if you don't dig into the history, an dig rather deeply at times.
        Hearth and Hedge

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          #5
          Re: Scholarly Paths?

          Most of the information for my path comes from history textbooks, and botany guides. We are all scholars to an extent.


          Mostly art.

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            #6
            Re: Scholarly Paths?

            All very good points.

            Let me extend the question a bit further, if you will ...

            Are there any paths that, in your opinion, strongly encourages followers (or at least those whom wish some sort of named role within the group) to study subjects other than those directly related to the path itself?

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              #7
              Re: Scholarly Paths?

              Bioregionalsim, which is not really an established path so much as a spiritual framework. But there is a certain level of biology, ecology and environmental science knowledge required to be able to do it properly.

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                #8
                Re: Scholarly Paths?

                Amusingly enough, there's a sect of Jedi that requires certain mundane pre-reqs to be met for continued advancement. I'd have to do a bit of digging to find out what they are though.
                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..."

                John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

                "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

                Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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                  #9
                  Re: Scholarly Paths?

                  Originally posted by Rhaethe View Post
                  All very good points.

                  Let me extend the question a bit further, if you will ...

                  Are there any paths that, in your opinion, strongly encourages followers (or at least those whom wish some sort of named role within the group) to study subjects other than those directly related to the path itself?
                  I think it would be your recon pathways that do this the most.

                  I know for myself its not the pathway persay but the divinity themselves that encourage me to go beyond the pathway itself. It's like I research money and postage stamps and other material as a means of understanding Diana, Artemis and Hekate. You'd be surprised at the amount of coinage from ancient Hellas (Greece), Hellenic colonies, Rome and Roman colonies (Protectorate, Provincial and Imperial periods) that portray them. Figure Artemis also directs me to study Pahket and Bastet to understand how Hellenic Mercs and Solders in Egypt conflated them together and to a degree why. It brings me into researching geographical items, historical items, sociological and cultural influences, mythological, religious and cultic, etc.

                  But in the end I'd say its all upon the individual and not the pathway in deciding if they will be scholarly or not in their application and execution of their beliefs.
                  I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: Scholarly Paths?

                    Originally posted by Rae'ya View Post
                    Bioregionalsim, which is not really an established path so much as a spiritual framework. But there is a certain level of biology, ecology and environmental science knowledge required to be able to do it properly.

                    I would second this...
                    Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                    sigpic

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: Scholarly Paths?

                      Originally posted by Rhaethe View Post
                      All very good points.

                      Let me extend the question a bit further, if you will ...

                      Are there any paths that, in your opinion, strongly encourages followers (or at least those whom wish some sort of named role within the group) to study subjects other than those directly related to the path itself?
                      Serious Alchemy. It consumes knowledge like a boa consumes mice.

                      But it isn't done in groups.
                      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.

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: Scholarly Paths?

                        Also, Druidry, when done well.
                        Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                        sigpic

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Re: Scholarly Paths?

                          Originally posted by Rae'ya View Post
                          Bioregionalsim, which is not really an established path so much as a spiritual framework. But there is a certain level of biology, ecology and environmental science knowledge required to be able to do it properly.
                          Originally posted by MaskedOne View Post
                          Amusingly enough, there's a sect of Jedi that requires certain mundane pre-reqs to be met for continued advancement. I'd have to do a bit of digging to find out what they are though.
                          Interesting on both counts. Shall add to my "List of things to learn about", thank you


                          Originally posted by B. de Corbin View Post
                          Serious Alchemy. It consumes knowledge like a boa consumes mice.

                          But it isn't done in groups.
                          Yesssss ... when I was still considering going all hermit on the world, this might have been my path.


                          Originally posted by thalassa View Post
                          Also, Druidry, when done well.
                          Hmmm ... there are a lot of Druidry groups out there ... in your opinion, do any of them "do it well", or conversely "do it poorly"?

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Re: Scholarly Paths?

                            Originally posted by Rhaethe View Post
                            Yesssss ... when I was still considering going all hermit on the world, this might have been
                            I only get all hermity in my secret, private life.

                            In my public life, I'm much more public.
                            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.

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Re: Scholarly Paths?

                              Originally posted by Rhaethe View Post

                              Hmmm ... there are a lot of Druidry groups out there ... in your opinion, do any of them "do it well", or conversely "do it poorly"?
                              I think that most of the main Druid groups that I know of do it fairly well--the OBOD, the AODA, ADF. Which group you go with seems to me to be more of a matter of which approach to Druidry is preferred by the individual. Different people are looking for different things, and each one offers its own take on Druidry. I know a number of individual Druids though, that (IMO) do it poorly--usually some sort of Celticish Wicca-lite New Age mishmash. I've dabbled on and off with Druidry over the years....but I'm just not into Celtic deities (artwork, yeah, but the mythology and pantheon just doesn't speak to me).


                              Originally posted by Rhaethe View Post
                              Interesting on both counts. Shall add to my "List of things to learn about", thank you
                              a short summation of my broad views on bioregionalism and witchery
                              Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                              sigpic

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