PAGANISIM : AN OVERVIEW FOR THE UNINFORMED
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           Written and given to the Public Domain by
           Ravensong of the Shadow Weaver Grove

   Paganisim is a revitalized version of the numberous ancient and
often forgotten or misrepresented Religions that were once predominant
throughout the world. These each break down into specific sects or
pantheons of gods and beliefs, but all have the following vital
similarities:

 1) All pagans believe in a multiplicity of beings refered to as Gods
or spirits or deities or Higher life forms or Entities, not the single
god of the Judeo-Christian religion.

 2) All pagans have a high respect for nature and natural ways, and a
dislike for anything that ultimately disrupts the biosphere for any
length of time (AKA Enviromentalists)!

 3) No pagan worships the Devil, Satan, Lucifer or any other Christian
or Jewish demon/devil figure. These are concepts of other religions
and their subdivisions (Satanists are Christians with a diffrent
viewpoint on who exactly is the power behind the reality). No pagan
would worship a destructive force outside of nature, as the power
inherant in nature is far too obvious (take a look at a hurricane,
earthquake or tornado sometime!) We might not all be what Christians
would consider morally perfect people, but we are careful to keep
ourselves attuned to how nature works and avoid self-destructing thru
improper use of power and knowledge (it can corrupt but those that
become corrupted fall by the wayside in the pagan community, unlike
those within goverment or other religions who simply cause more harm
as they grow in power).

 4) Although we are hardly unified in our thoughts or beliefs, pagans
are a living breathing community that tries to help its members pull
themselves up by their own bootstraps thru various activities, we band
together as needed and drop our in-squabbling when one of us is in
danger from those outside the community. Pagans, in other words, will
guard each others backs!

 5) Pagans are open minded to others, so long as those same others are
tolerant to them. We don't claim our ways or ideas are for everyone,
but ask that we not be attacked or insulted for our openess in belief
and need for certain factors in our lives. We are not perfect, we are
trying to overcome a feeling of being the down-trodden that is
hundreds of years old - dating back to the times when Christians
burned everyone for heresey in their dogmatic closed minds, some of us
fully resent the past and refuse to deal civilally with Christians
while others of us say 'you believe what you want anbd let me believe
in what I want'.  We do ask that you at least do the intelligent thing
and study all sides of the equation before claiming to know the one
solution...most equations contain complex variables, and philosophy
is no excuse.

 6) We believe in 'magic' that is, we believe in forces and natural
laws to the universe that science has not yet discovered. The universe
is a big place and mankind is a young race. Magic is the easiest term
for the extra laws that scientific theory has yet to explore. If you
can understand science and physics you have the potential to become a
pagan without even trying.