Paganism Course

Master of Paganism

Final Essay

PAGANISM

The pagan religions are all those religions that have evolved from primitive religion, keeping the polytheistic conception,

The name "Pagan" comes from the Latin Pagus (rural town) and was used in a derogatory way by Christians.

With the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire, as the official religion and the beginning of persecution against the pagans, the ancient religions seemed to disappear.

Many practitioners were hiding to escape persecution and cults were modified slowly.

The ceremonies, the first openly carried out during the day, were practiced in hidden mode and night.

The rites were transformed slowly overcoming all the persecutions Inquisition.

More recently revived the Ancient Greek religion, Roman, Celtic, Nordic and Slavic.

The tradition of the Italic witchcraft was recovering from giving birth to Gerald Gardner's Wicca Religion
Currently, we raise both the old religion but religions derived from old forms.

This is a phenomenon in the world for a greater awareness of the populations.

The Vatican is trying to oppose the revival of the polytheistic religion, but has lost much credibility and power after the shocking news stories involving the Vatican and its hierarchy.

Many countries are recognizing the ancient religions and their ministers. Exemplary case of Ireland and Scotland and throughout the UK. In many countries of Eastern Europe, Slavic cults are tolerated and are attracting a lot of people. In Greece, was built the first temple of the Cult of the Modern Hellenic.

In Italy encountered a number of different temples and sacred groves.

We also see the ancient religions of Central and South America flourish again and practice their religion, even in the presence and the wishes of top government of their nations.

In India (Hinduism) and Japan (Shinto), the two major ancient religions politicians keep their place and have managed to survive and stay strong to attack from the monotheistic religions.

European Paganism, in its diversity of Religious Affairs, commonly bases:
a pantheon of gods and goddesses very similar, albeit with different names
almost the same as a calendar: four major holidays, four lesser festivals, 12/13 lunations
great respect for nature and life forms
the abolition of the ancient blood sacrifices
respect for human beings
the lack of "missionaries" in search of recruits
the absolute freedom of worship
compliance with laws
the search for an official recognition in the states of origin.

Another important thing that characterizes the old policy is the natural inclination to live peacefully with other religions.

This would seem to conflict with what we were taught about the "persecution of Christians" made by the Roman Empire, but looking closely, we discover that we were taught notions "directive" of history.
The Romans never did religious persecution but only against what they put disorder. The most important was that against the Jews: the Jewish Diaspora. A punitive steps against a people who had rebelled in arms, not against his religion. Each religion was absorbed by the Roman Empire and temples were built for each Deity. But Christians behaved differently with religious intolerance began to attack the Pagan Temples, and this caused the reaction with some of the Roman state repression, often only small amounts and only in remote areas of the Roman Empire.

By Theodosius and the suppression of pagan religions the violence perpetrated by Christians assumed enormous proportions, as mentioned with satisfaction the reporters themselves Christians. Winners rewrote the history of persecution against Christians to exaggerate and create an epic of the martyrs, but History can not be erased completely and thankfully remained the historical evidence to confirm what was written.

Returning to the present times and to see the holiday calendar Pagano called Sabba (major and minor) and Esbat.

The four Sabba (major) mark the four main events calendar
Spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox and winter solstice

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The four Sabba (minors): Lupercalia (Imbloc), May Day (Beltane), Harvest Festival (Lughnasadh) and Day of the Dead (Samhain) and mark four times in the calendar year and the relationship with nature and its fruits .

The other holidays are those of the Moon Esbat and are called, as a rule but they are twelve years we have a thirteenth moon (Blue Moon) as the civil calendar differs from the lunar calendar.

The pagan rituals are very fascinating and very important rites of passage such as weddings and Presentation. Even the funeral rites are very intense and full of meaning.

Here is the formula taken from the bed "Rituals and Ceremonies" that I wrote for the Ceremonies of the Temple of the Gods and Goddesses - Old Religion:

FOR LIFE AND LOVE, IN THE NAME OF THE GODS AND GODDESSES, I ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I take you ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... IN MY HANDS IN MY HEART, IN MY MIND, THE AWAKENING THE SUN AND THE COURSE OF THE STARS. No death can separate us. Eternity At the same time we are reborn into the same space, and we meet again, and understand them,
AND WE REMEMBER And we love one another, YET

The formula of presentation that is made to the Gods of the New Born and the Company is very important and follows the ancient custom of the Romans:

OH GODS AND GODDESSES listen.
I AM HERE, YOUR PRESENCE TO SUBMIT TO YOU, gods and goddesses, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .... SON OF A ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. And ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
TOGETHER WITH WITNESSES AND THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY '.
Here before you, ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ....
Pour out of him or her your blessings, Infuse strength, health, Courage, Intellect, GOODNESS 'and a long and happy life.

AND THAT IS SO '

Now the road is open, the path is traced. silent pilgrims, once hidden, now shows in the sunlight and now cry that an invocation for thirteen hundred years have only had to whisper:

ITERUM SUSCITAMUS VESTAE FOCUM
(Turn on the sacred fire of Vesta)

And these sacred fires began to light up all over Europe.

We Europeans have much to American brothers and sisters. In fact, many battles for religious freedom have been taken from them. This encouraged us very slowly and allowed us to emerge from the shadows and begin to practice our public rituals.

That the Gods and Goddesses bless and protect us.
AND THAT IS SO '

Rev Massimiliano Militello

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To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link.

Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

Wiccan Studies

Dear Lord Starwalker, Dear Amy,

I started the ULC Dr. of Wiccan Studies Program in the beginning of January this year and received the final lesson a few days ago. Despite a little glitch of no consequence in the e-mail system, the course was very well delivered and very enlightening. It is clear that Lord Starwalker is well-learned on the subject of Wicca and Paganism, and he is very good at sharing this information. I appreciated his down-to-earth writing style, which could describe wide range of fairly difficult concepts in a straightforward way. He went directly to the point, making risks and potential pitfalls clear.

I liked the way the course was structured, moving from the history to the philosophy, to the mythology and theology, then to rituals only at lesson 15, and to spells only in the end. I find that a lot of books on Wicca tend to pass very quickly on the more spiritual aspects of the religion and dedicate most of their teaching to rituals. This in my opinion leads people to focus too much on the magic and not enough on spirituality, philosophy and theology. Not so in this course!

I have read quite a number of books on Wicca and Paganism, and this course was at the same time covering a number of topics I had already read on and meditated about, but it also very often put them in a new light. I liked the advices on rituals in lesson 16 and 17. You don’t read very often about them, and they are important things to think about when performing rituals. I also found lesson 21 on ethics very important.

The lesson on herbalism and herbology were interesting, but I think that I would need much more reading before I delve into more than only the most risk-free basics. Lord Starwalker did well to include a warning at the beginning of the lesson. The lessons on the holidays and the sabbats and esbats were very good. They put them into perspective from a historical and practical point of view, and I learned quite a lot there. It is true that the content of the Wiccan holidays can and does change from tradition to tradition and that their description is often different, but I think it is important to know the origins and reasons of celebration to be able to really know what we are doing at that time.

I have not been able to practice the lessons as much as I would have liked, but I have filed them all for further reference and I am sure I will go back to them regularly. I thank you very much for your time and efforts. Again, this was a great experience.

May the Goddess bless you and everyone at ULC.

Baudouin Heuninckx

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Paganism Course

Neo-Paganism in Post-Modern Canada

I have searched for sanctums. There is one in Toronto, I used to be in an all-male circle and before that I was in a female circle.

Paganism, Neo-Paganism and Wicca are at a crossroads. The three religions draw scholarly types, lonely young adult men and older spiritual women who want a second family

You would be surprised most right-hand path Wiccans of the male persuasion are mourning Jesus or another historical figure, and are trying to emulate a role model while learning about the casting and herbalism the faith offers

Sanctums are very rare and the domain of religious societies. Most Wiccans practice along or with some dedicated friends. Circles have to most followers but you must be invited within to take part.

I am trying to work my way back to right hand path

Part of my faith in the dark is personal and my way of honouring the environment

Most other wiccans use the faiths to stop others from hurting our families and also as a way to strengthen a community

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To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link.

Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

Wiccan Studies

 Wiccan

Final Essay

Mary McGar

This course was very interesting to me and helped me tremendously in my new volunteer position of co-moderator of a Unitarian Universalist Pagan group.  Without this course I would have been unable to assume this position.  When I started this course, while I was not new to Pagan philosophy, I was new to Pagan thealogy, mythology and practice.  I did not know anything about ritual tools, altar set up, Elementals, rituals, etc.  All of these topics were broken down and thoroughly explained so this course has served as a guiding light for me.  I liked the suggestion to look around at what you have that can be used as a ritual tool before running out and buying some.  I, also, liked the suggestion to look for tools in estate sales and garage sales.  I would have never thought to look in those places.

Learning some mythology was necessary to me at that point and I think the course covered the topic well.  Not only is the mythology important it is crucial in the preparation of a ritual.  I appreciated the information regarding consecrating the ritual tools because I had not learned that yet in my group.

The most fun lesson, to me, was the dousing lesson.  I did go out and buy a pendulum and have had lots of fun with it.  I was able to get the pendulum to work for me and give me answers that later proved accurate. 

Diving the holidays into two lessons was beneficial as there was far too much information in each lesson to absorb in one.  I found it helpful to learn about each ritual in brief and then being provided with a search engine, Northern Lights, for more detailed information was thee easiest way to grasp the big picture of the Wheel of the Year. 

The lesson that covered some of the attributes of the Deities in Celtic mythology was a great starting place for trying to learn a few of the many Deities involved in Pagan celebrations.

I recently prepared and led an Imbolc ritual for my group and, today, gave a talk in church regarding how the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans fits well into UU's perspective, Paganism in general, ritual tools, altar setup, Elementals, Deities, different paths and beliefs of Paganism, the mythology of Imbolc and a brief description of the ritual itself.  This course served as a basic guide for me in the preparation of both the ritual and the talk, so naturally, I feel I gained much from this course and enjoyed it.  The course stimulated me to learn more about each topic covered in the lessons.

I knew very little about the use of herbs and learned much from this section.  I purchased some eye bright and intend to use it as a healing spell on myself soon.  Of course, the lessons covering spells were fascinating but also very useful due to the detailed explanation of the instructions.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Irish sayings contained in many of the lessons.  The only suggestion I would offer is that it would have been nice, since this will serve as a main reference for me, to have an Index of the Lessons so I could more quickly find the topic I need.  Thank you for writing and presenting the course. 

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To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link.

Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

Wiccan

I began this course as a practicing Wiccan with a desire to learn different approaches to Wicca. As a teacher, I am in the habit of gathering and evaluating information. Some things I keep for future reference and others I discard. It was with this perspective that I entered this course.

As a Wiccan 101 course, it covered the basics very well. I enjoyed the different approaches you gave. You conveyed to the students the idea that Wicca is a personal relationship and not some tightly held dogmatic beliefs. I noticed a thread of Ceremonial Magic weaved into your Wiccan Tapestry. I also noticed that you touched on some Druidic beliefs as well. I applaud you on both.

I feel the course was a through presentation of Wiccan 101. Your presentation encouraged students to become personally involved in Wicca and to think for themselves. I enjoyed the course very much.

Rev. Angela Firmin H.P.S., D.D.

Lady Emeraldmoon

Rev. Angela Firmin

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.

Wiccan Studies

Jason J. Stone

ULC

Master of Wiccan Studies

Things Said and Left Unsaid

I have read many books regarding the path of Wicca and Paganism. Although they all have different authors and different subtopics, they all contain a similar message in them. NEVER STOP LEARNING!! I have been drawn to Paganism because it is so eclectic, I am constantly reading and taking bits and pieces of one form of Paganism and merging it into my beliefs and practices. This course helped me gain yet another aspect of Paganism.

I have read many books about how to be a Pagan, how to worship, how to perform spells, and what tools to use and how to use them. This course is the first place I have read a significant history about Paganism in general and specifically Wicca. I enjoyed reading about the beginnings of Paganism and some of the key individuals that had a hand in the rebirth of Paganism into Neo-Paganism. This section unfortunately left out a very influential person in many people's path to Wicca. To me, and many others, the writings of Scott Cunningham have been a strong guide along the Wiccan path. I think his name should have been mentioned in the history section of this course, although he did not found anything, I feel his writings were instrumental in opening the door to many individuals on the pagan path that wanted to learn about Wicca but did not have the means to obtain the information. Being that I am a solitary Practitioner, I consider two of his books on solitary Wicca especially important.

Another point I wish to address from the course is the "Responsibility" segment in Lesson #2. Growing up in a strict Roman Catholic family household, I have heard many unfortunate events get blamed on the Devil. My whole life I have listened to other people blame THEIR malignant actions or in-actions on a fictitious Character invented to instill fear. If more people would take responsibility for THEIR actions, instead of blaming their downfalls on a made up character, the world would be a much better place. I have read the "responsibility" concept many times in several books, but I have never read it presented as in this course. I thought it was an excellent idea to compare responsibility of our actions with being out on your own with only $400.

The final part of this course that I would like to discuss is the section on Metaphysical Energy. I enjoyed that portion of the course simply because it is nicely presented, and very important. How the sources of energy is broken down and presented really made it easy to comprehend. Most people understand that a person has a certain amount of "spirit" energy, but the elemental energy is overlooked in my experience. It is very important to be aware of your spiritual energy you possess, but it is equally important to be aware of the elemental energy that is out there and ready for your use. Without the use of that elemental power things like Reiki, Crystal or Herbal healing would not be possible.

I would like to close by saying I enjoyed this course and am looking forward to taking another in the near future as I continue on my path.

Blessed Be!

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To ordain yourself with the Universal Life Church, for free, for life, right now, click on the Free Online Ordination link.

Rev. Long created the ULC seminary site to help ministers learn and grow their ministries. The Seminary offers a huge catalog of materials for ministers of the Universal Life Church, as well as an online seminary program and a chaplaincy program.

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