BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Pagan want to learn more about paganism

I feel compelled to be here posting this question as I would really like to know more about this religion.Can somebody please help me?

Welcome, freespirit!

I'd suggest you start by reading Pagans and Paganism which will give you an idea of just how broad a topic Paganism really is.

After that, I suggest you take a look in the Pagan Article Archive where you can find further info. I suggest that people sort the archive by title if they want to browse more easily.

Thankyou very much for taking the time to post.I will have a read now...

I took a quiz on beliefnet.com and they said from the results of my quiz that I was Neo-Pagan. I would like to know more about the religion, and I would like to explore the options on my own. Two of my children are Pagan, but neither of them really does the exact same thing as far as their practicing goes. They both have different ideas of paganism I guess

Rayetta,

There is no one religion which is called "Pagan." It' a term that refers to a family of religions and spiritualities. That's how two people who call both call themselves Pagan can have different practices.

Many contemporary people choose to use the term Neo-Pagan to define their beliefs as they are practicing a tradition that has drawn from previous traditions and has not been handed down specifically.

Take a look at the article that I first pointed freespirit too, and then take a look in the article archive. There's a lot for you to explore.

I have just ben reading up on pagenism and wow its very interesting.I guess because it doesent have many followers alot of people dont understand it.
I really like how pagens respect mother nature - pitty the rest of the world does not

It's hard to say how many people in the world might be Pagan because it takes so many forms. Also, in places where they are in the minority, many people don't like to say what religion they practice.

In past times, there have been more followers of nature-oriented faiths and many people who practice them today were drawn to them for reasons of living closer to nature and respecting the Earth.

Yea true you make a valid point there...It really does take on many forms dosent it.

I sort of think of Paganism along the same lines as biodiversity of plants and animals. There are going to be a lot of little variations between forms and traditions, and having lots of variety is better for the Earth in the long run.

Merry Meet Freespirit!

I haven't posted in a while so I hope nobody minds my replying.

What I did when I first was learning about paganism is brought a couple of books (the Complete Idiots Guide to Paganism was wonderful for a first book) and I looked it up on religious tolerance.org which is a great site on all types of religion.

You can think of Paganism as similar to Christianity in regards to it's paths - in Christianity they are called denominations, ie. Baptist, Catholic, Presbytarian, etc. In Paganism some include Wicca, Shamanism, Dianic, etc. The neat thing about Paganism is that you don't have to follow a strict path - there is no dogma in Paganism!

And, as pp mentioned, there is a lot of info within this site so have fun exploring.

Good luck on your journey and I hope you find the information you're looking for!

Skyrah [color:"green"] [/color]