77 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
77 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
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THE MEN'S CIRCLE
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Here are are some thoughts, not particularly original, on
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the nature of Paganism, and some beliefs common to most modern
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Pagans. This is part of what I teach to beginning students. Any
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additions, comments, criticisms or outright disagreements are
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welcome.
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Pagans view the entire universe, Seen and Unseen, as a seam-
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less unity with structure inherent throughout. This structure is
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often expressed simply: "As Above, So Below".
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A fundamental tenant of Paganism is love of ourselves, of
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others and all of Nature. We feel that the natural world is
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inherently good. A Pagan does not believe that human beings are
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born innately sinful and holds that the concept of "sin" is
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harmful to human nature. Nevertheless, we do recognize the
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reality of specific acts that are evil, and by extension identify
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attitudes and patterns of behavior that we consider wrong. We
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consider ethics to be an important part of our philosophy of
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life, but do not try to impose a morality on others. A
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fundamental ethic espoused by almost all Pagans is "Do as you
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will, so long as none are harmed". By implication, Pagans are
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expected to exercise thoughtful good judgement, as well as being
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loving people.
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We are aware that many of the powers of the universe are
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persons, we call them Gods, and they are not only "out there",
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independent of us, but are equally within us and part of us.
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Ours is an experiential religion; by living in harmony with
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ourselves and the universe we can get in contact with the Gods
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and benefit from the experience. When we do this through prayer
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or ritual it is called worship.
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We hold that there are natural cycles in the universe that
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directly affect our lives, the evolution of humanity and the
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course of direction of all that is manifest. We celebrate,
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through regular rituals, the lunar cycle and the seasonal cycles
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of the year, and through them other less obvious cycles, thus
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attuning ourselves to the ebb and flow of the tides of Nature.
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Pagans recognize and harmonize themselves with those
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fundamental patterns of the universe that we call polarity and
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complementarity - masculine/feminine, light/dark,
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positive/negative, force/form, etc.
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Through training, study and ritual we bring ourselves into
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harmony with the great natural forces of the universe and can
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effect changes in the world and ourselves at need. This is
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called magic.
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Paganism is not fixed or dogmatic. Our ideas are constantly
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evolving, and we learn from one another. In our differences is
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our strength. We recognize that the Gods are ultimately beyond
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our understanding and respect the different aspects that others
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worship.
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Most Pagans believe that our essential selves, the core of
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the spark of life that is within us, shares divinity with the
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Gods and does not end with our deaths but returns into
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incarnation again and again, learning from each lifetime's
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experience. .....Robin
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........from R.M.P.J. 8/86
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This article is excerpted from the Rocky Mountain Pagan Journal.
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Each issue of the Rocky Mountain Pagan Journal is published by
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High Plains Arts and Sciences; P.O. Box 620604, Littleton Co.,
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80123, a Colorado Non-Profit Corporation, under a Public Domain
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Copyright, which entitles any person or group of persons to
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reproduce, in any form whatsoever, any material contained therein
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without restriction, so long as articles are not condensed or
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abbreviated in any fashion, and credit is given the original
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author.!
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