What is a Pagan?
This is probably the most difficult question of all to answer, because being a Pagan is a lot of different things to a lot of different people. At its most basic it is an Earth based religion, which has its roots in most, if not all, of the Ancient Religions of the World and branches out from there, to embrace modern day Druidry, Wicca, Traditional Witchcraft, Shamanism and Heathenry, with apologies for the missing ones!
It acknowledges that the primary deity is feminine, the Earth Mother, the Mother Goddess, with her consort the God, and can embrace numerous other Goddesses and Gods. But Paganism has no written rules, no holy books; it is free-flowing and innovative with no dogma. The emphasis is on the individual and the personal development of that individual and you may choose to just be yourself, or you may feel drawn to one of the more structured paths such as Druidry. The important thing is that you follow what you feel inside of you.
If you have a look at the ‘Pagan Basics’ section of this website and you will find there a ‘Wheel of the Year’, which will give you more specific information.
Who is ‘The Goddess’?
The Goddess is the female deity that most Pagans recognise as the Earth Mother or Mother Goddess. Although there are numerous other female deities She is ‘the One’.
An important aspect of Paganism is balance and the Goddess is balanced by her consort the God. This relationship is very well explained in the book ‘Hedgewitch’ by Rae Beth, which you should be able to locate quite easily either through your local library or through on-line ordering services such as Amazon, where you can probably get hold of a copy quite cheaply. This book does look at Paganism through the eyes of a solitary or Hedgewitch, but the message is universal and I think very well written.
Essentially pagans don’t ‘worship’ anything. Our Goddess is revered and honoured, but She does not depend on our worship to exist. She is present in each and every one of us and we are constantly in contact with her as her children. Pagans also revere all nature and may feel a particular affinity with a certain place, whether this be a stone circle that has been used for thousands of years, a river or stream, a hilltop, or any place that just feels special to us. This is generally known as the Spirit of Place.
Many Pagans also revere the Earth as a living being, a theory borne out in the books of James Lovelock in his Gaia series.
What do Pagans believe about life after death?
Many Pagans hold re-incarnation as a fundamental belief and view life as being a continuous cycle of birth, death and re-birth, with the same soul being re-incarnated many times over as part of its journey to supreme enlightenment. And, whilst like anyone else we are deeply saddened at the loss of a friend or loved one, death is never seen as an ending, rather a new beginning.
I remember when I first felt the need to meet like-minded people. I felt very alone. None of my friends or family showed the least bit of interest and this whole ’Pagan thing ‘was viewed with some scepticism.
But the need to find other like-minded people was a very strong one. At that time the internet was not the resource it is today and I couldn’t just visit the Somerset Pagans website and find out about events in my area! So instead I bought a copy of the Pagan Federation’s magazine ‘Pagan Dawn’, found there was a contact in my area and wrote to him.
There is of course no need to contact the Pagan Federation, there are now many websites which offer points of contact, the most convenient probably being your local ‘Moot’. Wherever you live, go for a pub one initially and do not go alone. Checkout the pub first if you like, most certainly checkout the moot itself. Go along anonymously on a moot evening and have a look at the people involved, see what kind of a set up there is and then if you feel comfortable with what you find, give the organiser a call afterwards so that when you do go along ‘announced’ you can be greeted and welcomed.
You will probably have to go a few times to get the feel for the event. It may not be for you. But if it is, then you will find that doors subsequently open, you will make longstanding friendships and benefit yourself and others by being there. But the important thing is what feels right for you.
This is a very difficult question and one that sometimes seeking formal training will actually answer for you. There is no necessity to be formally trained; an important part of Paganism is the freedom of thought, word and deed which it encompasses. But there is sometimes the feeling, particularly at the beginning of your path, that maybe you are missing something and might find it if you had formal training.
Initially I would recommend you read as much as you can to give yourself an idea of what path you might feel drawn to and if you are fortunate to know other Pagans then talking to them might help. A lot of self-preparation is necessary – the adage ‘when the pupil is ready the teacher will appear’ is a very true one. It is no good taking in someone else’s teachings if you have no points of reference of your own. You need as much knowledge as possible to enable you to make your own judgments based on solid facts.
If you do decide you would like formal training or even that you would benefit from being in a group with others you may decide to seek out a Coven. This is potentially a precarious situation and one where strong caution is advised.
A simple request on any internet search engine will turn up a few Covens in your locality. Or you may find them advertised in Pagan magazines. Have a very careful look at their website/advert; is their orientation one which you think might suit you? This is a much more important question than whether they can trace their lineage back to the Newforest Coven of Gerald Gardner.
Some Covens offer free correspondence courses which is a very good way of making contact with them and getting a feel for what they are about initially. An important point here is not to have to pay for this. Covering the costs of postage and printing is one thing, but knowledge should be given freely, in the spirit of helping others.
Alternatively, email or write or phone the contact as much as possible with as many questions as possible and when you meet a representative, arrange to meet in a public place and take a friend with you.
But, just as you are right to be cautious, so is the Coven. They are a close-knit, working group, who, whether they run a separate training group or not, are considering admitting a total stranger into their midst. They will need to know about you, for a variety of reasons, but from your point of view the most important one will be whether you are going to fit in.
A White Witch is something of a contradiction in terms. In Paganism, emphasis is given to the development of the individual as a whole person, recognising that in oneself as in the whole of nature, there is balance. And part of that balance is the understanding that there is a ‘darker’ side to everything. And to be a ‘White Witch’ implies that part of the human personality is repressed, rather than being acknowledged.
This does not mean that anyone who is not a White Witch is a bad person. Just look at nature and you will see that the darkness is a time of unique qualities that are very necessary to the balance of nature. At the very beginning of life we spend time in the womb, just like a seed in the ground during the winter, just like the Dark phase of the Moon. All these are times of quiet, of contemplation, of waiting, of growing new ideas, of introspection and are a very necessary part of life before we blossom out into the light.
Put at its most simple, a Handfasting is a Pagan Wedding. It does not have any legal status, but to the couple involved is potentially more sacred and binding because they are making promises in the acknowledged presence of their Goddess and God.
As part of the ceremony, the Priestess (together with her Priest) will literally bind together the wrists of the couple, using a length of chord or ribbon. The spiritual binding is the choice of the couple, but can be for a year and a day, for life, or for as long as there is love.