does someone become a pagan or do they slowly realise they are a pagan??

I can remember when the light of faith finally came on for me but is it the same for anyone who believes in some type of faith ..
tell me your story??

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:I can remember when the light of faith finally came on for me but is it the same for anyone who believes in some type of faith ..
tell me your story??

Im lost now, thought you were a born again not a Pagan?

I wish I could be"born again" at about 18 yrs old and knowing what I know now.

nicko wrote:I wish I could be"born again" at about 18 yrs old and knowing what I know now.

Haha! Me too.

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:I can remember when the light of faith finally came on for me but is it the same for anyone who believes in some type of faith ..
tell me your story??

You can quote from my blog as much as you like, it's there to be read. Which reminds me, need to get back to it as I haven't had much time for a while. You don't scare me, never have, never will.

Nems wrote:

heavenlyfatheragain wrote:I can remember when the light of faith finally came on for me but is it the same for anyone who believes in some type of faith ..
tell me your story??

Im lost now, thought you were a born again not a Pagan?

it was merely a pre amble to get people talking about the faith they have chosen

nicko wrote:I wish I could be"born again" at about 18 yrs old and knowing what I know now.

not going to happen I 'm afraid....

both
Some people seek out alternatives and still 'need' some institution in their lives and Paganism is very broad and accommodating so you can find pagan groups that suit their spiritual needs.

then you have others like me that just have their own ideas based on meditations and studies and often 'paganism' is just a close enough explanation.. Plus the Pagans don't have a book saying I deserve to die and be tortured for all eternity for having my own ideas so Although I don't consider myself pagan I identify with them and the many similarities between our beliefs. and feel free to discuss religion with them without the risk of condemnation

Well since you asked HF...

in my case I drifted away from christianity (and any other abrahmic beliefs) for many reasons

firstly what it claimed patently wasnt so
I came to realise that the vairious books were NOT the inerrant word of some deity
since they are full of patently wrong "ideas" which can ONLY be understood in the context of primitive society
they were violent
etc etc etc....

But i was still aware of something "greater " out there

the process I suppose took a long while and a lot of thought...

but I can remember the first thoughts that started the process....

and that was simply that I dont NEED to attend a church full of stuffed shirts once a week to be told I was condemned simply for existing....

I can give MY thanks just as happily and sincerely wherever I am

........

I may have more to say ......

darknessss wrote:Well since you asked HF...

in my case I drifted away from christianity (and any other abrahmic beliefs) for many reasons

firstly what it claimed patently wasnt so
I came to realise that the vairious books were NOT the inerrant word of some deity
since they are full of patently wrong "ideas" which can ONLY be understood in the context of primitive society
they were violent
etc etc etc....

But i was still aware of something "greater " out there

the process I suppose took a long while and a lot of thought...

but I can remember the first thoughts that started the process....

and that was simply that I dont NEED to attend a church full of stuffed shirts once a week to be told I was condemned simply for existing....

I can give MY thanks just as happily and sincerely wherever I am

........

I may have more to say ......

Hey, I know we've been jousting but I really would like to hear how you first were introduced to paganism (along with anybody else who wants to chime in). It's not something that really gets shoved down your throat like mainstream faiths, after all.

well its gone midnight here so i will post something tomorrow......

HF has obviously been reading my blog as he posted two things from it tonight, so even though he knows the answer, I'm happy to post it for you Ben and Veya, and Vic as he set me on the path.

People often ask me why I became a Pagan.  I tell them, I never became a Pagan.  I came to the slow realisation that I have always been one.  Pagans find their own path, little by little.  Some believe in Gods and Goddesses, some don’t.  I don’t, but I do believe in the strengh and the force of Nature and the way it balances itself and how, if we do things to harm it, we are made smaller and weaker.  I believe in the spirit within all of us, our essential energy.  Energy cannot die, it simply changes form.  Even as a child I looked with wonder at the smallest things, the incredible veining of a leaf, the different colours in blades of grass, the sounds of the rain, the majesty of lightning.  Meditation is something I have done since the 60s and it has become part of my Paganism.  I don’t chant, I hold a piece of something natural in my hand, a leaf, a stone, a feather and focus on it’s beauty.  I try to see every spec of colour, every change in surface, every glint, every pattern.  I turn every other thought out of my mind and find the stillness within me that brings the object into high definition and I become calm and at peace. When I walk I try to connect with the weather and the life around me, the sound of the birds, the crunch on my shoes on the earth, the patterns in the clouds, the chill of the wind.

I don't belong to a group but onn speaking to other Pagans I have confirmed what I thought, I am a Hedge Witch, sufficient unto myself and I have the inner strength to overcome and learn to live with the adversities that life puts in my path.  I take no credit for it, it is simply the way I am and the way life has made me.  Those who are forged in the fire either melt or become tempered like steel.

(Hedge by the way simply means singular, stands by itself)