Paganism

That sounds like my take on things Siverfish; a deeply religious friend of mine once told me that she thought I was a very spiritual person even though I didn't share her faith. I took that as rather a compliment.

Im very much into paganism as a subject , however, although not a practicing Christian I still believe there is a 'god' somewhere. I do believe though that we should respect and care for the earth and look after it. as a reiki healer some Christians say I am not being a good Christian. I keep an open mind. Im also into wicca and have several 'witchy' books but I would never ever dabble in black magic. I believe in the power of prayer and oten I light a candle and offer up thoughts for anyone I know who is sick or in trouble.. I keep an open mind

She seems to have written a whole series - Amazon has a few:

Avalon

Slightly tangentially has anyone read Avalon by Marion Zimmerman Bradley? It tells the Arthurian story and in doing so describes many of the tensions between Christianity and what may have been pre Christian beliefs in early Britain. The ideas of transcendence / immanence are explored through the story without being explicitly addressed. It's beautifully written although I don't know if it's still in print.

I don't know much about either, but I do know that Paganism is not the same as Wicca.

There was a lot of witchcraft when I lived in Cornwall, but I kept away from it; not sure if that bordered on Paganism/is the same thing? Didn't a lot of the old beliefs get intergrated into Christianity many centuries ago? Must say it does fascinate me.

.....'and no harm done' - that's how the Pagan people I know like to live their lives. Can't be that bad, can it?
And why wouldn't they admit to it on here, boheminan?

Connotations of weirdness jingl? [smile}

That's a bit rich when you think of all the magical thinking that goes on in Christianity (superhuman being who created the world in seven days, angels, resurrection of the dead, and other miracles).

I don't think anyone truly of the old belief would admit to it on here anyway

Harsh Jingle . Faith is a very personal thing, and providing no harm is done in its name, each to their own surely

For most people it will always have connotations of weirdness. Rightly so I think.

Clutching at straws comes to mind.

I've read a little bit about it but, like Gagagran, I felt none the wiser. It would be nice to hear about it from someone who is pagan or has read about it - and understands it!

I can't separate God from nature.

But never Paganism.

My son is one!

It's something I'll never forget, petallus.

Marelli one of our relatives had a Pagan wedding to a white witch recently and DD went to a Pagan funeral which she said was lovely.

www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/ataglance/glance.shtml

This seems to explain paganism in broad terms but it seems to have various strands to it. I'm not sure I'm any wiser really!

I tend to believe in the power of Nature more than anything, petallus. My daughter is Pagan and many of her friends are. I attended the funeral of one of her friends a few years ago, and it was really rather lovely.