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Pagan or Witch?
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Paganism is a
very loose term used by many to describe their belief in the Earth cycles
of nature and re-birth. Many suggest that Paganism is the basis of all
nature, but it must be considered that Paganism is far removed from nature. Nature
is all around us, from the cycles of the seasons to weather system
patterns. However, in turn, Paganism recognizes and embraces this aspect
within a very ‘grey’ system.
One
may first look at the first statement claiming that Paganism is not a main
world religion. This is a false statement. Pagan movements were
established all over the, known-world and has been proven by the discovery
of clay tablets and
records dating back beyond 7500BCE (Before Common Era, equiv. BC).
The evolution of religious practice
has permitted the dilution of scripture and belief systems in ways that
have taken the practice of the ancient art so far removed that it is
unrecognizable in the majority of Neo-Pagan groups.
Paganism
has started to move backwards in our current times, back to it’s source;
thus empowering the original source and wealth of information of times
past to be observed once more with a need of ‘elemental’ Earth worship
groups to identify with the past and more importantly, their ancestors.
People
will generally focus upon the New Age movement and classify Paganism as
‘New Age’ or even use the term ‘Wicca’ to identify the old
religion. One may consider that if Paganism in its true form dates back to
7500BCE then it is anything but ‘New’. Furthermore, the Wiccan
movement does not represent the old religion in its truest fashion; Wicca was
born in 1947 and is considered by most Craft as a new concept.
As
with most religious belief systems there are chains that when practiced
inter-link at varying stages, such core systems are best classified as
‘true form’ or as ‘Craft Order’. The key faults of Paganism in
today’s world is that there are too many ‘groups’ that profess to be
of the Order when the group leaders are classified as ‘keen seekers’,
being in need to seek the old path of the religion and although such
people have most likely read vast amounts of literature through books,
magazines, and the internet, their need to present themselves as
‘all-knowing’ hides the fundamental fact that they have not been
sought, dedicated, or initiated within the path of the old ones, leaving
Paganism in a place of misrepresentation.
The
Term ‘Craft’ is used to represent an individual who sought the path of
the old religion and came to the religion as a ‘seeker’, has been
empowered to be ‘dedicated’ to the Witch’s Circle, has moved onwards
and upwards to be initiated with an old religious circle in true form, and
finally having achieved such stages of their personal development, has
moved onwards to identify with a ‘core path’ within the religion, so
to work towards becoming a ‘Practitioner’ of the art.
It is important to recognize that although every Witch (or rather Craft) is a Pagan, not every Pagan is a Witch. A Witch is a Craft, a practitioner of the art who has come to realise the knowledge and practice of the ancients.
A
Pagan is one
who
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