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Aneirin -> RE: Where is the Goddess in spirituality? (1/28/2011 11:24:07 PM)
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Etymoloy of Paganism;
late 14c., from L.L. paganus "pagan," in classical L. "villager, rustic, civilian," from pagus "rural district," originally "district limited by markers," thus related to pangere "to fix, fasten," from PIE base *pag- "to fix" (see pact). Religious sense is often said to derive from conservative rural adherence to the old gods after the Christianization of Roman towns and cities; but the word in this sense predates that period in Church history, and it is more likely derived from the use of paganus in Roman military jargon for "civilian, incompetent soldier," which Christians (Tertullian, c.202; Augustine) picked up with the military imagery of the early Church (e.g. milites "soldier of Christ," etc.). Applied to modern pantheists and nature-worshippers from 1908.
Neo Paganism, that which presumably was with us from above mentioned 1908 applies to nature worship and pantheism and there wicca which was formed later, another related belief system. The Goddess in those belief systems is allied to nature as in the mother Goddess, Gaia etc, ( Gaia also being the earth goddess in ancient Greece's creation saga, the world being formed by the mating of Gaia and the sky god ),the embodiment from which we all come from if one chooses to believe one is a part of nature, the planet and the universe as opposed to the creation of a god that lives in the sky
Furthermore where the belief in Christianity is that God gave us the world and nature to use, which may be interpreted as exploit or abuse by some, there are those that believe nature is part of us, we are part of it, we are to co exist with it, nurture it as it nurtures us as life is circular, not linear and with that parallels are drawn with the people who are enviromentally aware, the save the planet people who rail against all that business does in it's search for wealth often at the cost of the enviroment, nature and sometimes other people as enviromental abuse will come back to challenge us as the abusers challenge nature, and that might not be in their time, but in their offsprings time. So as enviromentally aware consiousness grows in the minds of people, those that need a spiritual belief are naturally drawn to the Goddess.
The other factor besides just plain free thinking, is rebellion from the status quo, the status quo being the traditional Christianity in it's many forms, which has a history of denying women their place in existence and in a particular part of history, the church saw women as the embodiment of evil, no doubt as a perverse interpretation of the Garden of Eden story, something like, it was Eve's fault we all live in a shit world, or are denied paradise, therefore women are the vessel of evil and so can be abused, put down, trodden on, a religious reason to abuse those phsically weaker than men.
But with some forms of paganism, parallels can be drawn with Buddhism and many who claim to be pagan also edge into Buddhism, or just plain move lock stock and barrel into it, paganism being just a stepping stone, a form of training.
Myself being pagan, I was once asked what my interpretation of all the pagan gods and goddesses were by a Muslim who didn't understand it and further asked did I actually believe in them. My interpretation was that I believe in history, mankind to become familiar with an aspect, chose to personificate that aspect to gain familiarity, so all the different aspects are familiar personifications of the aspects of us, nature and existence and with all those personifications, there is colour in the belief, differences that can be celebrated differently to maintain the natural balance in nature. That being our mental and physical balance in the nature we are part of, and of course, not forgetting the land, that which feeds, clothes and shelters us, nurture it, and it will continue to nurture us, crap on it, and it will crap on us.
I think a lot of what paganism is, is the celebration of being natural, living with the nature that is ourselves in nature, which is this planet in the universe. If one feels the need to sing or dance, do it, it is in the nature of ourselves as natural beings, don,t let words from the past deny you as who knows, those words might very well be full of shit from a shit mind.
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