Thank you to everyone that has responded (so far ) to my post The Pagan Inquisition (Questions about Paganism for Pagans). I am now a Pagan expert thanks to you all . Well, not quite, but I have gained insight into the Pagan community, through asking these questions. Plus the bonus of discovering more Pagan blogs, which basically dominate my feed reader now
I’m still lacking in my understanding of so many Pagan practices, and I’m still not sure I fit in with the Pagan community. I have from a very long time (over ten years) saturated myself with Pagan imagery and mythologies. I believe I have been learned much (while remaining aware I have so much further to go).
My main interest is the so-called Pagan God man (examples include; Dionysus, Osiris, Mithras, Orpheus, Attis, etc, who are Gods closely connected to with Mystery Religions). I have written much on the subject, both as a Born Again Christian, A Liberal Christian, and Christian heretic, and I have finally stepped outside of the Christian frame work, and want to continue learning about a divine figure I have recently started calling the Threshold God (who dwells in liminal space between destruction and creation of the universe, and has access to the solar gateway to paradise.).
For me the Threshold god has many names including Cernunnos, Moses, Dionysus, Noah, Uta-Napishti, Pippalada, Thor, Proto-Shiva, Shiva, Ganesha, Janus, Buddha, Lleu Llaw Gyffes, Samson The Celtic Dagda, and there are others, and to me they are all the same, regardless of cultural diffusion, integration and reinterpretation over thousands of years.
I also believe in a threshold Goddess, who I also refer to as Mother (Life aspect), Maiden (virgin aspect), and Crone (death aspect), associated with the moon, and the cosmos at large. While the Solar principle if often though of in masculine terms, or the transcendent realm of the Father. I no longer think of the transcendent as masculine, but rather beyond the sexes. Both the Goddess and God whose presence permeates the universe represent the immanence (as does the serpent) of my Panentheism, while the Solar reality represents the transcendent.
I choose for my celestial symbolism the waxing a waning moon (that I refer to as the double-door), and the ever-revolving nature of the cosmos. The solar aspect of my symbolism is the sun, which is a hidden portal (I call the Solar Gateway) in the darkness between the waxing a waning moon to the transcendent realm.
My Threshold God dwells in liminal space between destruction (corresponding with the waxing moon) and creation of the universe (corresponding), and has access to the solar gateway to paradise.). Instead of passing through the eternal gateway, the Threshold god, who dies like the moon and is again reborn as the moon waxes, chooses the remain a part of the cosmos, binding it all together and bestowing upon us many gifts from beyond the fiery gateway.
Much that has led me to this symbol ritual (that I have performed many times in my mind) is the result of reading large amounts of mythology and studying ancient iconography, mainly from the Orient, Near and Middle East, Africa, and Europe.
I feel that I can call myself a Pagan of the Cosmic Mysteries. Though, I assure you, I’m still nothing more than a low grade initiate of my own mythological system.
Am I a Pagan or is this just too far out there, even for Pagans?
Much of what I’ve read recently has made me feel more confidant in sharing my beliefs. A while back I gave up on them, but somehow I feel called to keep travelling down this eclectic, and possibly idiosyncratic path.
If you continue to read Old and New Moons, you will begin to see that I interpret a lot of mythology in cosmogonic terms, from my own perspective with a little help of my comparative studies into mythological themes and motifs.
An abstract representation of the labyrinth built by Daedalus.
The place of the double axe.
Minos aspired to the throne [of Krete], but was rebuffed. He claimed, however, that he had received the sovereignty from the gods, and to prove it he said that whatever he prayed for would come about. So while sacrificing to Poseidon, he prayed for a bull to appear from the depths of the sea, and promised to sacrifice it upon its appearance. And Poseidon did send up to him a splendid bull. Thus Minos received the rule, but he sent the bull to his herds and sacrificed another . . . Poseidon was angry that the bull was not sacrificed, and turned it wild. He also devised that Pasiphae should develop a lust for it. In her passion for the bull she took on as her accomplice an architect named Daidalos . . . He built a woden cow on wheels, . . . skinned a real cow, and sewed the contraption into the skin, and then, after placing Pasiphae inside, set it in a meadow where the bull normally grazed. The bull came up and had intercourse with it, as if with a real cow. Pasiphae gave birth to Asterios, who was called Minotauros. He had the face of a bull, but was otherwise human. Minos, following certain oracular instructions, kept him confined and under guard in the labyrinth. This labyrinth, which Daidalos built, was a “cage with convoluted flextions that disorders debouchment.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3. 8 - 11 (Theoi)
Religious symbols are different from signs inasmuch as symbols participate in the reality to which they point, he (Tillich) argued. Symbols and signs both point beyond themselves to something else, but symbols participate in the meaning and power of the reality for which they stand. They open up the deepest dimension of the human soul and reality, which is the ultimate power of being, and radiate the power of being and meaning of that for which they stand.
Dorrien, Gary J, 2003, ‘The Making of American Liberal Theology’, p.503 (Westminster John Knox Press)
The Shamanic Universe
According to Exploring Shamanism, the Shamanic cosmos consists of three layers:
The Lower World (the realm of death and rebirth)
Here, the Shaman, in the quest for spiritual knowledge (Shaman possibly means ‘to know’), is aided by Power animals.
The Upper World (The realm of transcendence)
Here, the shaman gains access to unlimited knowledge, and meets with ancestor spirits, gods, or supreme being (spirit teachers).
The Middle World (The physical realm)
It is here, that the shaman can experience waking reality beyond the limitations of the five senses.
This three layered universe is split into four directions and held together at the centre by an axis mundi, commonly in the form of a tree.
Archaic Cosmic Symbolism
Recently, I had become quite critical of this kind of archaic cosmic symbolism, questioning its value in the light of modern scientific understanding. We know that the universe is not constructed of three layers, divided into four directions, with a giant tree in the centre of everything. I was thinking about the need for a new mythology. A new set of symbols that represent the universe in modern terms.
And yet mythologies are not really about creating a photographic representation of reality. Mythologies work because they are limited representations of the limitless. Symbolic avatars that descend to our individual levels of understanding, so that we might ascend. Viewing the cosmos in mythical (and limited) terms is the first step towards greater (and expanding) awareness of the ‘hidden’ world around us, and within us.
“Viewing the cosmos in mythical (and limited) terms is the first step towards greater (and expanding) awareness of the ‘hidden’ world around us, and within us.”
The Shamanic cosmos makes more sense when we internalize it, placing our own microcosmic existence at the centre of the cosmos. The Lower, Upper and Middle realms, correspond the with sub, waking, and higher states of consciousness. Neither are these states of consciousness stacked on top of one another, but the symbolic arrangement of ‘higher’ and ‘lower’ and ‘middle,’ enables us to grasp the realities which they represent without mind bending difficulty.
I’m again appreciating the need for ‘out-dated’ symbols for our ‘up-to-date’ universe.
Comparative Cosmic Symbolism
The Upper and Lower realms can also be symbolized by Darkness and Light, Underworld and Sky, and Sun and (esp’ in its dark phase) the Moon. The Moon-underworld is closely connected with the visible-imminent waking world (the earth and cosmos), while the sun-sky is more elusive, representing the hidden-transcendent Upper cosmic realms, yet is also connected to the Middle realm of the universe. This is also understood in masculine and feminine terms; the visible lunar-earth reality as Goddess or Mother, and the invisible solar-sky reality as God or Father.
While the cosmos can be mythically represented by the sun and moon (The sun and moon tree is a common axis mundi), the Goddess-moon alone is a perfect mythic symbol of cosmic reality, representing both principles of darkness and light.
Erasing the Boundaries
In truth, however, these “parts” are no more separate from one another than threads in an ornate tapestry. At some point in the spiritual process, one must cease to think of such things in linear terms. The logical mind must let go of these delineations and erase the boundaries of separation.
Webb, Hillary s, 2003, ‘Exploring Shamanism’, p.38 (New Page Books)
In Exploring Shamanism, the author also presents another mythological representation of the universe as a “cosmic Stew.”
…one may think of the universe as a kind of vibrational stew. In a bowl of stew, the carrots take on the flavor of the meat, the meat, the meat is marinated by the broth, and the broth contains the essence of all the various flavors and spices added to it. In much the same way, these various levels of vibration flow through and around each other to make up the whole.
Webb, Hillary s, 2003, ‘Exploring Shamanism’, p.39 (New Page Books)
At first, it may be difficult to work with an image of an interconnected cosmos, without distinct boundaries, lacking edge or centre, that can be entered and exited at any point in space and time. “The centre of the universe is everywhere and its circumference is nowhere.” The Shaman does not need to climb the axis mundi to reach the upper realms or disappear down a hole to the underworld. The centre of all things is everywhere and within.
I’d still like loads more input, so if you are up for it, it would be great if you could respond either on your blog or in the comments section
I wonder if I’m taking liberties asking Pagans these questions. Perhaps I should just go read some books or websites, or something. Actually I’m doing both, but I prefer hearing what the Internet Pagans have to say I’m also hoping to put everyone’s answers and perspectives in a series of future posts.
Finding my spiritual path is not easy. What I know, or think I know, about the imminent and transcendent, is always a major influence on my thinking, but somehow I need to loosen my grip on my subjective projections onto everything, and try to elevate my thoughts and experiences to a different level. I need to embrace my ignorance positively, and not succumb to the chaos of agnosis.
The transition from a belief system that depends heavily upon correct understanding in order to gain admittance into the spiritual realms, to a place of uncertainty, is not an easy transition to make. It has taken me a few years to truly let go of my old beliefs, mostly because of fear of the consequence of being eternally separated from God. I found myself in a scriptural paradox that required me to trust I had the answers, while simultaneously maintaining that I was finite and incapable of knowing what they actually are1.
Knowing the answers to life, the universe and everything is of secondary importance to me now. What’s important is love, goodness, truth, and so on, that transcend the mechanics of the universe and it’s incomprehensible power source.
I still want to know the answers to the so-called big questions, but I’m no longer a follower of the path of Knowledge. We cannot know everything, but knowledge can be one among many tools and guides to lead us. Keep searching, but let the god’s, god/dess or the universe keep its unfathomable secrets. If you are due some enlightenment you will get it, and if not it’s not a problem. Don’t stress it.
In Broken Images
He is quick, thinking in clear images;
I am slow, thinking in broken images.
He becomes dull, trusting to his clear images;
I become sharp, mistrusting my broken images,
Trusting his images, he assumes their relevance;
Mistrusting my images, I question their relevance.
Assuming their relevance, he assumes the fact,
Questioning their relevance, I question the fact.
When the fact fails him, he questions his senses;
When the fact fails me, I approve my senses.
He continues quick and dull in his clear images;
I continue slow and sharp in my broken images.
He in a new confusion of his understanding;
I in a new understanding of my confusion.
Robert Graves
1) In the Christian tradition, I understand that the Spirit is meant to guide us into all truth, but you still need to trust your own reasoning to believe that. It all comes back to your own capacity for truth and knowledge (Back).
Ever since I was a teenager (I’m hitting 33 now), when I began thinking about religion, I was also very much entranced by nature, but I never really made the connection. Eventually I became a Christian.
Now I’m an ex-Christian who is seriously thinking about becoming a Pagan. I have so many questions for anyone willing to share their wisdom, faith and beliefs. I’m not asking everyone to answer all my questions, but if you feel you have something to share with me that might be helpful please don’t hesitate.
Paganism appeals to me on a few levels. I feel a connection with nature. I am suspicious of revelation handed down throughout the ages in written form. I am passionate about mythology, which has given me some second hand insight into Paganism. I feel that the truths of the universe, the real salvation style questions, are no longer important to me, and I believe that Paganism doesn’t place such emphasis on this kind of thing.
Links to helpful websites would also be great, especially blog entries where you might answer any of the questions below, and provide me with some insight into your experiences.
Choosing a Paganism
Is it OK you be just a ‘Pagan?’
As I understanding it is is an umbrella term used much in the same way as ‘Hinduism’ is used to represent a whole range of different beliefs and practices?
If so, is choosing a specific Pagan path essential?
Nature affirming Pagan
Are you a Pagan because you are drawn or feel a connection with nature?
Do city dwelling Pagans find it difficult to practice in the City?
Living with a community of Pagans
Is it easy finding a community of like-minded Pagans?
Are there any local Pagan communities where you live, and was it easy to integrate into your community? Perhaps it took a while to find a community that met your needs?
Do you find your community to be a group of loving people who deeply care for others, esp’ outcasts in society?
Is there a kind of leadership? Or are some members considered to be more authoritative than others without any rigid kind of leadership structure.
Is everyone encouraged to play an active role in the community, and look after those members that need more care and attention?
Perhaps you are a solitary Pagan, or your only connecting with Pagans on the internet, how does that work for you?
How do non-Pagans react upon learning you are Pagan?
Pagan Rituals
What is the most basic form of ritual in your Pagan tradition?
How do rituals play a part in your form of Paganism?
If you didn’t practice rituals would you be considered non-Pagan?
Can rituals be a guiding influence both inside and outside of the community?
Do Rituals have a transformative effect on you as an individual and as a group, and can ritual “break through’ to the otherworld, another realm or reality?
Have you ever met anyone, or heard about, anyone become mentally ill by participating in a Ritual.
Can ritual be in any other way dangerous?
Pagan ‘gods’
How do Pagan ‘gods’ have an active role in your life?
Do some pagans create their own gods?
Finally
Are there any more worthwhile things I might need to know?
Part one of a creation myth belonging to the fantasy world of Cortexia. Written and created by Mahud. Although this myth is Therazian, it has it’s origins in the mythical lore of the Nehar-Shahar. It is believed that this myth was transmitted to the Therasians via the Island of Moffia, who, according to legend, learned the creation story from Gavroc, the first of the Nehar-Khan. The Moffia, however, tell the story a little differently.
One night, the High Goddess Magnar told her husband Gnarma that she wished to create something new. A world full of living creatures, that could enjoy all the wonderful things that they themselves enjoyed. Magnar, thought this was a good idea, but suggested that she should ask the artisan Sun to create it for her, because she had no experience in these matters. Magnar objected, because she was every bit as skilled as Sun. She herself had created many of the wonderful lands in the realm of sky. “That is so,” replied Gnarma, “you create it then, but you have never created a living being, only I can do that.” Again Magnar objected, “I have created my son Veertepo, and he was born long before we first joined together in love.”
“Then let him be ruler of your new world then,” said Gnarma, “but I will create life!” Magnar liked the idea of her son as king of her new world, and so she agreed.
Gnarma had no intention of letting his wife create a new world, nor allow her son Veertepo to be king. Although Veertepo, with his blue eyes and golden hair was as handsome as his mother was beautiful, he was not yet wise enough to be a King. Also there were rumours that when Magnar first gave birth to her child he was ugly and covered in thick red hair from head to foot. To cure her child of his ugliness, she had Otu, the daughter of Sun, create a potion, and bathed the new born child in her gigantic cauldron until he was transformed. “How can I allow my wife to create such monstrous beings,” Gnarma thought!
Later, as the Goddess slept, Gnarma slipped quietly out of their bed, put on his dark blue tunic, picked up his silver staff, and went to find Sun. Sun’s hut was difficult to find, but with the light of the Silver staff to guide him, Gnarma eventually found himself standing before the door of Sun’s modest dwelling. He knocked three times with his staff before Otu finally answered. “Father is asleep, my lord,” she said, “I hope all is well with both you and the lady?” Otu invited Him in, and went to tell her father they had a visitor.
After Gnarma had told Sun everything, he agreed to help create the new world that very night as the Goddess slept. “In the morning, I will Kill Veertepo, take Magnar’s cauldron, and use it to create living beings, ” Gnarma said. Sun was not entirely happy with this arrangement. He loved the Goddess greatly and Veertepo was like a son to him, but he could not go against the wishes of the High God. He himself had fashioned the great cauldron and gave it to the queen, as a token of his affection. Sun whispered to his daughter to go swiftly and wake the Goddess up, before the situation got out of hand.
Otu soon found her way to the palace of sky. She crept through the window of the royal chamber and lightly tugged on the Great Goddess’s gown of night. “Wake up my lady, your husband has betrayed you.”
Magnar screamed and was about to fly out of the window and put an end to her husband, when Otu, afraid that Magnar might kill her father as well, grasped her lady by the ankles and said, “Have mercy my lady, I have a plan that will both save your child and put an end to your husband’s wickedness for ever!”
“Take this black stone and hang it around your son’s neck. It will act as a talisman against this deadly poison that Veertepo must drink if he is to stay alive. When my father has created the new world, your husband will return, kill Veertepo and claim your cauldron as his own. When Gnarma sends for your boy, I believe he will crush his head as he kisses his royal thigh. In that moment Veertepo must bite deep into his stepfather’s thigh. The poison will not be enough to kill a high god, but he will be paralyzed with pain, and yours to control as you wish.”
Magnar was pleased with this plan, and promised Otu that she and Veertepo would rule over the new world together as husband and wife. The Goddess went back to sleep and Otu smiled.
Sun was a skilled craftsman, and soon enough, the new world was ready to be placed in the furnace. Otu was still not back, and so he requested that he and Gnarma take a break. The High god had grown suspicious because of Otu’s absence, and refused Sun’s request until the new world was properly forged. When the work was complete Gnarma carried it back to his palace. It was still night, and so he decided to steal the cauldron first and begin his work, and kill Veertepo first thing in the morning.
with great difficulty Gnarma carried the cauldron upon his back into the royal throne room. He gathered together the secret ingredients according to the recipe of life and cooked them in the bubbling cauldron. Soon the smell reached the nostrils of the Goddess and she sent Otu to wake Veertepo. Otu told Veertepo what he must do to stay alive, and as daylight approached she returned to her father’s dwelling. Veertepo hung the black talisman around his neck and drank the poison, just in time to hear his stepfather summon him.
As Veertepo entered the throne room he saw his mother’s cauldron gently simmering. As he passed by he glanced inside and saw what appeared to be a god and a goddess in a beautiful garden, surrounded by a multitude of living creatures. He knelt down before his stepfather’s throne and went to kiss his thigh and bit down hard until he could taste the bone. Magnar cried out, “Scorpion!”, tossing Veertepo into the cauldron, before the paralyzing poison had it’s effect.
Veertepo entered the new world not as king, but rather as the yellow scorpion, that would become known among the tribes as the most deadly and despised of creatures, identified by a black mark on its belly.
Is anyone familiar with what C.S Lewis terms Joy, or Sehnsucht (German: Longing)? Have you ever experienced it, and what evoked the experience?
I plan on writing a fuller explanation of C.S Lewis’s definition of ‘Joy’ in a future post, for anyone who may be unfamiliar with the concept, and provide a few personal encounters of ‘Joy’, though movies, music and even video games.
But for now I’d like to share a piece of music that invokes (for myself) simultaneously feelings of both pleasure and grief, and a desire for something ‘other’, that is just within my reach, but cannot grasp.
I relate to this song in a big way.
YouTube: Joy Division (Atmosphere)
Joy Division: Atmosphere (lyrics)
Walk in silence,
Don’t walk away, in silence.
See the danger,
Always danger,
Endless talking,
Life rebuilding,
Don’t walk away.
Walk in silence,
Don’t turn away, in silence.
Your confusion,
My illusion,
Worn like a mask of self-hate,
Confronts and then dies.
Don’t walk away.
People like you find it easy,
Naked to see,
Walking on air.
Hunting by the rivers,
Through the streets,
Every corner abandoned too soon,
Set down with due care.
Don’t walk away in silence,
Don’t walk away.
) to my post The Pagan Inquisition (Questions about Paganism for Pagans). I am now a Pagan expert thanks to you all 
