Is it a Reality or a Fad?

i respect all kinds of belief and religion, everyone has a right to believe whatever they want to believe. I also believe that paganism started even during the ancient times because that is what the people back then see, all they see are nature itself, the trees, the stars, the animals, the moon, that is why there are those people who believe that the trees, the plans have spirits of their own and should be respected. In a way i believe it as well and i call it mother nature, i believe in her power. I am a roman catholic myself and there are ways in my religion that are rooted from paganism, ( sorry for those who do not believe what i am saying, this is just from my own point of view) catholics have statues of the Virgin Mary, Jesus and all those saints and this practice of praising in front of a statue is like paganism.. and in a ways i do not find anything wrong with it. It is a matter of how strong you faith is. and how well you treat others. But really i am amazed your grandmother was witch? how cool is that! really i am amazed to hear about it, it seems so real to me, i used to read books about witchcraft and all those amazing things they can do with the help of nature! And i don't think it is wrong too and i also do not believe that it is the work of the devil... It is matter of how we see things, how we perceive things and how we believe and you have a right to believe and follow what you believe

well, quite clearly, anyone thinking it's a fad, or not a real religion, is an idiot. basically.

Like the dear lady above me said...probably a little of both, heh. Been around for a loooong time, but it's been becoming less and less taboo in the west, at least. So that could be termed as "becoming somewhat mainstream". Of course, some people...especially the young, I'm sad to say, like to jump into things if they think it's "cool" and act silly. So, basically the logic goes..."If it wasn't becoming somewhat mainstream, they wouldn't be doing this".

Paganism is such a huge blanket term covering so many diverse philosophies and religions. As with any beliefs some are born into them, some find the path on their own. Some will stay with it for the rest of their lives and be very happy and fulfilled, some will leave in short time because it didn't answer their questions, some will leave after they've sufficiently ticked off their parents enough. But with any beliefs there will always be people who start down a path for the wrong reasons. Being a Pantheist my beliefs are a philosophy rather than a religion. Several Pagan and Eastern Asian philosophies are very similar. Much closer than to any of the mainstream religions. So I get along with most Pagans pretty well! A little late but welcome to myLot! You'll find some interesting conversations with people of similar paths with lots of variations.... and the ever present fundies who will drive you nuts on occasion.

I selected pagan as an interest because I liked the icon, but also because, per definition I am a pagan in that I am not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew. And because I am a hedonist in the nth degree. Paganism has been around a pretty long time to be 'just a fad' don't you think?

It's an interesting procession, isn't it? The entire "I need to come out of the broom closet", when we didn't really have one to begin with. No,I'm not trying to over simplify, but I think in today's society it's about time we were able to say exactly what we are, however I agree with Bonewits on the problem calculating how many pagans there are would be difficult, so if that is so how can we really come out about anything other then the blanket term of "I'm pagan". I tend to use the term Student of Life to describe my own beliefs when asked. It tends to sum it up nicely. As a school teacher though, I understand that it's often difficult to share one's beliefs because of the fear of losing one's job, being judged, etc. I definately don't think of the pagan world as being a fad though. I think it is just a very diverse population that today is getting more attention, or so it seems, because of our connection through technology. Namaste-Anora