Heathenry vs. Paganism
The Heathen vs. Pagan Debate and how both parts of this are a whole we are misunderstanding in a big way today!
I have often come across the question as to the difference between these terms. Of course, original meanings from the past don't exactly hold up in modern definitions. Pagan originated from the term Paganus which roughly translated in modern terms to a hillbilly. Yep! Lol
Today we clearly have a different meaning for it. It is associated with the idea of multiple deities. Polytheism. A non-Abrahamic, nature based range of ideologies. It came about as a sort of snap back at Christianity, using a term that was meant to make people seem simple, and actually becoming something quite complex and rebellious as it ever was to the idea that any singular deity supersedes all else in the universe.
Paganism is a network. People we would call Pagans back in the days before Empirical rule dominated and forced religious conversion, their worldview was so very different. Part of our group's purpose is to help people wrap their mind around an entirely different construct. To see the world through Pagan eyes. No longer just a material world of things to use that somehow were all just made for humans! Ergo all the destruction, pollution, hoarding of resources..
We humans were part of an ecosystem once. We are part of an entire natural world and lived with it. And we were essentially better for it in so many ways. But we have separated ourselves from what we really are. Even as every scientific test will tell you, every single element your body is made up of the same elements the earth itself is made of, and your body is made up entirely of cells the same way everything else on this earth is, we still somehow keep thinking we aren't a part of it. And that is the detrimental part of a theological worldview that somehow makes humans more important than that.
We have to rethink about what we are doing with our time here on this earth if we want to really solve some fundamental problems in ourselves. Much of today's misery and stress is because we are so very out of sync with nature. Some even fear it! And this is where we find the difference between what Paganism is and what Heahtenry is. Because heathens want to live fully off the land as their ancestors did. In nature and with nature. Fully immersed. Homesteading and farming and not relying on government constructs to live.
Even as science proves the benefits of nature, that laying flat on the ground is good for you. Barefoot walking is grounding your energy. Fresh air is best! Natural grown food or foraged in nature is more nutritious than grocery store industrial farmed foods, so many people still cling to modern ideas of how the world should be, out of the sheer convenience of it.
But lets us be honest, it isn't convenient at all to choose a medical system like we have now as opposed to natural and holistic tried and true methods of healing without the immense costs. Or the grocery stores, or the electric bills or the insurence. Costs on top of costs all double and triple taxed out from your paycheck to your purchase. Is that convenient when you work 60 hours a week just to make ends meet and have no time for living your life and being with your family and friends? I, personally, don't think so.
Heathenry is living DIY. You learn how to heal yourself. You learn how to grow and forage. You learn how to hunt and raise livestock. You start back with the basics and do it on your own terms. And with respect to the traditions of sacrifice and the seasons of the year. Your family and community is healthier, more connected, you work together to live. You find common ground in common need. And that makes you a stable community everyone equally benefits from! And everyone knows who everyone is. We know who we can count on.
Science keeps telling us we are doing this all wrong. And we keep thinking that we must keep becoming more and more artificial. Superficial. Materialistic. We keep missing the memo. The truth of our ancestral success isn't in progress for progress's sake, but in practical, helpful, supporting ways toward all humanity within our own space. We have learned to destroy the earth before we learned how to heal it, or ourselves.
Today though, there is a growing concern for conservation, for preserving old traditions that long helped our species thrive, and for returning our youth to a version of reality where their ancestors mattered. Where their customs and wisdom mattered. We are helping them keep us from forgetting where we came from. They are the next generation that will either forget or remember these things. And that is up to us!
History tells us time and time again that to forget the past is to repeat it. And if we truly wish to "progress" we must learn to discern our mistakes better. Examine them. Realize where we went wrong and correct course. Right wrongs and create a world where people really can believe as they choose without desiring to harm others who don't do the same. Modern Paganism is where that future lies.
Pagans used to welcome new spiritual ideas openly. To learn of a new deity and understand their purpose was interesting, rather than threatening. And some also added these new deities to their own personal group of deities to interact with.
There is historical proof that even in the cold north of Scandinavia, some were buried with spiritual relics such as a Buddhist statue. To be buried with it means it wasn't some mere trinket. It was important to that person. Beloved.
So, it stands to reason that through trade, new ideologies were introduced to them, and they embraced them openly! What a way to be! To just say, ok, that is really resonating with who I am, I want to learn more. Fearlessly! Modern constructs are built on a foundation of loyalty to the One. To oneness. To being one with. And this is detrimental to the very nature of humans being so very diverse! Paganism doesn't expect oneness and all the conformity that goes with it, on the exact contrary, it demands autonomy!
There is nothing wrong per se with living in the modern world and enjoying modern things. It is only that we do our due diligence to educate and be open and honest about how we want this world to be, and then act accordingly. It is a matter of honor. This world needs Pagans now perhaps more than ever simply because we offer an alternative way of thinking to a world that is subjected to dogma and empirical thinking.
And the gods are always seeking people of honor to lead a cause of continuity and protection of what must be remembered. Why else did our ancestors build monuments to last thousands of years to remind us? That was their legacy. Their greatest contribution to our species! To help us retain wonder in a growingly dark world. To help us remember who we are.
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Heathenry vs. Paganism
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