The Freedom of Paganism

Written by DarkMere of Pagan Heart

Recently on the forum a question was raised to try and sum up in one word what paganism meant to you. A very tall order, especially for someone like me who often follows the rule of ‘why use one word when a thousand will do’. One of our members, the controller of this blog in fact, posted the word ‘Freedom’. Freedom might have been something that I would have chosen myself, because the freedom of Paganism is one of the most important reasons why I myself am Pagan.

So what kind of freedom do we associate with Paganism? Paganism gives you freedom of thought, freedom of direction and freedom of choice. If you are for example a Christian, then you have to believe that Jesus was the son of God, the way the truth and the light. There is no other direction to choose, if you cannot embrace that then you are not a Christian. As a pagan I don’t have to adhere to anything. I can believe that there is a God and Goddess, or not. I can choose what feels right to my own common sense and reasoning. I can even believe that Jesus was the son of God if I want, which in fact I do, but then I believe that we are all sons and daughters of God.

Someone somewhere will point out that even pagans have to embrace certain concepts, and that we do not have total freedom. This of course is true. We believe in the concept of, ‘An it harm none, do what thou wilt’ there are a few variants of this, but this will do as they all mean the same, in modern words they mean ‘Do what you will, so long as it harms none’. If we are to follow this rede then its clear that we do not have total freedom. I do not have the freedom to harm you for no reason, or to steal from you, but you see when we talk about freedom we are talking about our right to follow a religion of our choosing, the right of free thinking. If I was to harm you that would take away your right not to be harmed. So yes we are not totally free but I am sure you will understand the concept of freedom as viewed from a pagans perspective.

If people were totally honest, which sadly is not always the case, then its true to say that for most people following many religions struggle with some parts of it. Again using Christianity as an example, and I choose Christianity again simply because I then speak from personal experience. Many Christians simply do not accept the concept that people who do not follow Jesus will burn in a hell, so they call themselves Christian but pick and choose what they want to embrace, but that is not being Christen. Being Christian is to except that no one has the right to be saved except by the grace of God, and so have to conform to this concept. You have to accept that your own reasoning and logic mean nothing and that you have to follow what you are taught without question. People who call themselves Christian but pick and choose what they want to believe are fine by me, each to their own, but they are then not really Christian, they are more like a Pagan. Some people will want to shoot me for saying that! :)

The freedom of Paganism is the opposite, you are expected to question, you are expected to give your heart, soul and even your logic the right to speak. You are also expected to allow everyone else to be free too, free to follow their own religion and the right to their own concept.

The above more or less sums up Freedom and Paganism. One of our other members posted ‘Balance’ to the question. Maybe I will write something on that in the future because ‘Balance’ for me is a massive part of Paganism.
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A question!

Imagine, you are given an opportunity to talk about your beliefs. Not only in a forum, or amongst friends, or with like-minded people, but to introduce paganism to a wider community -  a kind of Smörgåsbord of pagan beliefs together in one place. A mural to be filled with images and words, ritual, poems and prayers. This imaginary wall's purpose is not to preach, but to give an essence of practise, belief and lifestyle - a visual idea, an introduction of sorts, of what being a pagan might mean, to you, with all its many facets.
What, as a pagan, would you place on that wall?

Paganism covers such vast ground - so this is a very personal question, and your ideas about what might be included on that wall, could very well be different to what my ideas might be - and this is why I ask!

If you could place one thing on that wall, that, to you, says something about your pagan beliefs/religion - what would that one thing be? (it really is hard to think of just one thing isn't it! But the challenge has been made!!)

Remember, it could be an image, a word, a phrase, a ritual, a piece of music, a chant...anything! (and if you really have to stretch to more than one thing only, then, OK, go on then...let's not be dogged with rules!)

Your ideas and opinions, as always, are very welcome on the Pagan Heart Forum, all you need to do is click here.**

The Pagan Heart Website is here, and our Facebook page is here.

**If you are not already a member of the Pagan Heart Forum, there are many interesting threads waiting to be explored in the non-member's sections of the Pagan Heart community.