quote:

ORIGINAL: Vendaval

Pagan Dominant Woman here! 
 
Pagan - from the Latin "pagani" meaning from the country, a rustic
Heathen - "from the heath", a country dweller or rustic
 
Wicca is translated variously from Old English and Old Germanic
roots to mean "wise" or "to bend", in other words, to shape reality.
 
Wicca is specific to European belief systems, many people
 work with the Celtic mythos.  Among the various type of
 Neo-Pagan groups, some have their basis in the Norse mythos
 and are called Asartru, some are Greco/Roman/Classical,
 some are   based on Eastern  European/Russian, etc. 
 
 
 
 

quote:

ORIGINAL: fergus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Vendaval

Pagan Dominant Woman here! 
 
Pagan - from the Latin "pagani" meaning from the country, a rustic
Heathen - "from the heath", a country dweller or rustic
 
Wicca is translated variously from Old English and Old Germanic
roots to mean "wise" or "to bend", in other words, to shape reality.
 
Wicca is specific to European belief systems, many people
 work with the Celtic mythos.  Among the various type of
 Neo-Pagan groups, some have their basis in the Norse mythos
 and are called Asartru, some are Greco/Roman/Classical,
 some are   based on Eastern  European/Russian, etc. 
 
 
 
 

All true, although Wicca (as a religion) is relatively new - perhaps 60 years, 70 uif you want to be really generous.  Although the Celtic mythos is quite common amongst Wiccans these days (myself included) There is a much more heavy influence from Mediterainin practice in Wicca coming from the older occult orders.

There are PLENTY of other pagans besides Wiccans.  I suspect there are other heathens besides Asatru as well.

fergus

quote:

ORIGINAL: bearincuffs

quote:

ORIGINAL: fergus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Vendaval

Pagan Dominant Woman here! 
 
Pagan - from the Latin "pagani" meaning from the country, a rustic
Heathen - "from the heath", a country dweller or rustic
 
Wicca is translated variously from Old English and Old Germanic
roots to mean "wise" or "to bend", in other words, to shape reality.
 
Wicca is specific to European belief systems, many people
 work with the Celtic mythos.  Among the various type of
 Neo-Pagan groups, some have their basis in the Norse mythos
 and are called Asartru, some are Greco/Roman/Classical,
 some are   based on Eastern  European/Russian, etc. 
 
 
 
 

All true, although Wicca (as a religion) is relatively new - perhaps 60 years, 70 uif you want to be really generous.  Although the Celtic mythos is quite common amongst Wiccans these days (myself included) There is a much more heavy influence from Mediterainin practice in Wicca coming from the older occult orders.

There are PLENTY of other pagans besides Wiccans.  I suspect there are other heathens besides Asatru as well.

fergus

I may be wrong here, but doesn't Wicca predated Christianity?

quote:

ORIGINAL: fergus

quote:

ORIGINAL: bearincuffs

quote:

ORIGINAL: fergus

quote:

ORIGINAL: Vendaval

Pagan Dominant Woman here! 
 
Pagan - from the Latin "pagani" meaning from the country, a rustic
Heathen - "from the heath", a country dweller or rustic
 
Wicca is translated variously from Old English and Old Germanic
roots to mean "wise" or "to bend", in other words, to shape reality.
 
Wicca is specific to European belief systems, many people
 work with the Celtic mythos.  Among the various type of
 Neo-Pagan groups, some have their basis in the Norse mythos
 and are called Asartru, some are Greco/Roman/Classical,
 some are   based on Eastern  European/Russian, etc. 
 
 
 
 

All true, although Wicca (as a religion) is relatively new - perhaps 60 years, 70 uif you want to be really generous.  Although the Celtic mythos is quite common amongst Wiccans these days (myself included) There is a much more heavy influence from Mediterainin practice in Wicca coming from the older occult orders.

There are PLENTY of other pagans besides Wiccans.  I suspect there are other heathens besides Asatru as well.

fergus

I may be wrong here, but doesn't Wicca predated Christianity?

Yeah, you would be wrong.  Wicca was cobbled together in the 40's by Gerald Gardner.  To be fair, it does have pre-Christian influence, but as a faith it did not exist until Gardner, though it is likely that similar traditional witchcraft practices and covens did exist, often family traditions.  Additionally, there certainly were older occult orders that can verifiably go back to the early 1700's and possibly older.

However, for many, antiquity equals legitimacy - this was true for Gardner as well - so he continued to propogate the falsehood of antiquity to gain legitimacy for his new faith.  This falsehood is STILL propogated within the Wiccan community, even though it is pretty easy to uncover what is what with even just a little bit of serious research.

Now, again, I am a Wiccan (and proud of it) and age does not equal legitimacy.

fergus