What Type Of Mage Are You?
Mood:  lazy
Topic: Fun Stuff
Here is a quiz I found...below is my results...
find your element at mutedfaith.com.

Christmas! Is It Christian or Pagan
Mood:  don't ask
Topic: General Discussion
I was researching the history of Santa Claus the other day for my daughter's school project and as I was doing this research I came across the following article.
The Christmas celebration as we know it today, is clearly pagan in origin, that is it has Satan's prints all over it. When researching it anyone can see it is clearly not a Christian holiday. What bothers me is so many preachers know what it is and still do nothing about it. They stand in the pulpit year after year and do not tell the "flock", that it is one of the pagans most sacred days. Why is this? Do these men of God not know about it? The reason is the "flock" would not accept it and would run the preacher off!! They will let the "flock" drown in sin at risk of loosing their pay check and position. It boils down to no GUTS!! I get mail daily from pagans and once in awhile they will slip in the fact that the church celebrates their holiday, and they are correct!!! Its time for Gods people to get some backbone and stop the non-sense. We best do something or God will.

Some will argue that as long as one knows that its is Jesus that we celebrate, it is ok. How wrong that thinking is. We see in the old testament time and time again, that when Gods people incorporated paganism in worship, God brought judgment to the nation. It is no different today. The Roman Catholic church in is desire to convert the heathen, mingled the ways of the pagan's (witchcraft), into the church. Easter is another one that has paganism mingled with Jesus.

Christmas as it is, should not be in the church or a born again Christians life.

This article can be found at Christmas! Is It Christian or Pagan?

Just An After Thought
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: General Discussion
I am a member of several Pagan & Wiccan Groups on Msn....one of those groups, no longer excists...some of the information that I will or have posted is in reference to what I have learned from that group...

Basic Pagan Beliefs
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Pagan/Wiccan/Witches
Most Pagan traditions practice the worship of a Goddess and a God. This duality of deity helps to bring about a better feeling of balance for most Pagans. This duality is experienced in everything that surrounds us. Every physical object, and every form of energy, are viewed as being a part of the Goddess and God. The presence of both feminine and masculine attributes in all things is one of the most fundamental elements of most Pagan traditions.

One of the most noteable exceptions to the worship of a feminine and masculine deity is the Dianic Tradition. Most Dianic Traditions acknowledge the presence of both a feminine and masculine presence, but generally worship only the feminine deity.

Pagans worship in many different ways. There are so many different traditions out there, it would be next to impossible to chronicle all of them. Pagans are always free to choose which path they wish to follow. Pagans do not believe in admonishing others for the manner in which they choose to worship, nor do they admonish others for who they worship. Most of us prefer to communicate with others intelligently, and use the knowledge we acquire from others to help us along our own spiritual path.

Whether or not a Pagan agrees with another tradition, they still respect and love the members of other traditions. The Pagan community considers itself as one with each other. All members of the Pagan community learn and grow by learning from each other. We find that more preferable than dividing ourselves and arguing with each other, because of some minor theological differences. Who and how you worship is not nearly so important as who you are inside, and how you treat others.

The most highly respected people of the Pagan community are generally the elders. People are respected for their experience and knowledge. Most elders give their knowledge and experience freely. It is common practice among the Pagan community for people to help each other, in the quest for knowledge.

Most Pagans and Wiccans believe in the "Law of Three" which, simply stated, says that any action you take will be returned to you three-fold. This applies to both positive and negative actions. Any positive actions you take towards others are returned to you three-fold. Any negative actions you take towards others are also returned to you three-fold. This is one of our main laws, and it prohibits us from harming others.

Another law which most Wiccans, and some other Pagans, follow is known as the "Wiccan Rede". There are long and short versions of the Wiccan Rede. The long version is shown in it's own area of "Mjolnir's Pagan 101. The short, simple version of the Wiccan Rede states "An' it harm none, do as thou wilt". The emphasis on the Wiccan Rede is always placed on the part "An' it harm none". This means that you are free to do as you wish, as long as it does not bring any harm to others, or to yourself.

Many anti-Pagans (please note: ANTI-Pagans, not NON-Pagans) choose to tell others about the Wiccan Rede, but omit the "An' it harm none" portion. They say that the Rede is simply "Do as thou wilt", then go on to say that Pagans advocate pure self-gratification, without regard for consequences. This type of selective editing and outright twisting of meaning and purpose is ridiculous. It has the same type of effect as someone taking a tenet such as "Though shalt not covet" and changing it to "Though shalt covet". Do you see the difference a little selective editing can make, when you wish to twist the meaning of a tenet which is supposed to have a positive meaning? Please, be aware of such subversive tactics while surfing the web. Many sites are obviously geared toward trying to convince people that a particular religion or belief system is wrong, and employ such tactics as just described.

One of the major activities Pagans frown upon is proselytizing (recruiting). We do not actively seek others, and try to convert them to Paganism. If an individual feels that Paganism is the right path for them, they will learn about Paganism, and follow a Pagan path. The Pagan traditions teach love, caring, understanding, compassion, respect, and a myriad of other ideals. People choose to become Pagans because of Pagan value systems. To attempt to force someone into Paganism would be to blind them to another path that may be more suitable for them. People become Pagans of their own free will. It is not necessery to recruit Pagans through force, threats, peer pressure, or coercion. Stories of Pagans stealing children in the middle of the night, to force them into a coven are untrue. This wouldn't be much of a religion, if we had to scare people into becoming Pagans.