Ben GruagachComments Off on Pagan Booklist: Building a Relationship with Deities
Some modern Pagan practitioners dedicate themselves to building a personal relationship with a specific deity, or perhaps a group of deities. Here are a few book suggestions to help in that regard. “Dedicant, Devotee, Priest: A Pagan Guide to Divine Relationships” by Stephanie Woodfield. “For the Love of the Gods: The History and Modern Practice of Theurgy, Our Pagan Inheritance”… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Pagan Roots in the South
“Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who was of old also called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Dana, Arianrhod, Bride, and by many other names…” This opening passage from the Charge of the Goddess used by Wiccans around the world is familiar to many, but how many realize that this introductory statement was inspired by the ancient… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Pagan Roots in the East
Paganism and occultism in the English-speaking community today owes a lot to the East. Sure, most of the borrowed Eastern ideas have been adapted and changed over the years by various English practitioners but the basic ideas themselves are from Eastern sources. We don’t have to look very hard to find things that come from the Middle East, from India,… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Christmas In Ritual and Tradition, Christian and Pagan by Clement A. Miles (EPUB)
An interesting book from 1912 exploring the history of the Christian holiday of Christmas, particularly its Pagan roots. This EPUB edition obtained from Project Gutenberg. Other electronic formats of this book are available at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/19098
Ben GruagachComments Off on Separating the Wheat from the Chaff: Critical Thinking Skills for Pagans
(Excerpted from “The Wiccan Mystic”, chapter four.) Information on the occult and on alternative religious paths such as Wicca is readily available now more than ever before. Most mainstream bookstores carry at least a few books with titles like “Easy Wicca” or “Casting Spells in 3 Simple Steps,” or might have a wider selection from scholarly philosophical tomes to straightforward… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Defending Eclectic Neopaganism
There is a trend among some Reconstructionist Neopagans to dismiss Neopagans who are admitted Eclectics in their religious practice and philosophy. Recently, Sannion wrote an editorial titled “Defending Reconstructionism” to address the conflict and to present some of the arguments from a Reconstructionist’s viewpoint. Sannion’s editorial can be found on the web in the September 2002 issue (#27) of the… Read more »
One unfortunate trend which has become prominent within the online Pagan community is known as “bashing fluffy bunnies.” No, it doesn’t involve harming animals — but it does involve verbally attacking those who are perceived to have less scholarly opinions on modern Paganism than the attacker. Personally I think this trend is shameful and disrespectful, unworthy of anyone who claims… Read more »
Ben GruagachComments Off on Mixing Pantheons in Modern Pagan Practice
It has been said by some Wiccan authors that mixing mythological pantheons is bad and should be avoided at all costs. The usual argument given for this admonishment is that each pantheon, indeed each deity, has very specific features and should be treated individually. To equate one goddess with a similar goddess from another pantheon is seen as disrespectful. Each… Read more »
