Pagan me

Source

The author of the blog that I copied this image from, Kim Greyson, explained it this way:

"I gave this drum to my firstborn Granddaughter who was 4 years old at the time....I really like this symbol because in addition to associations with migration and independent movements, it is sometimes suggested to represent the Triple Goddess of the three ages of womanhood. It holds a special meaning to me having made this drum as a Grandmother - for my firstborn daughter's - firstborn daughter. Another perfect path of 3."

A friend said that I am an atheist, and therefore pagan. I investigated a little and realized that what characterizes the pagans is that they are everything except monotheists. This is quite a big bunch of beliefs. I wrote him somewhat flippantly about my doubts on the matter, but now think I may develop this topic; it could be good for my spiritual spirit.

It seems that the term pagan is complex, and is not at all like those of “barbarian” or “primitive” even though it is applied to the precursors of the more abstract and complex religions. For example, it has been used to describe a supposed evolution from an archaic totemism to polytheism, and finally to monotheism. The pagans would be the first two systems of this trilogy.

Used by the Christians, the word pagan is similar to that used by the Jews to indicate the other: “gentile”, or the one the Muslims use for the same purpose: “infidel”. That is, it is a pejorative term for the outsider.

Recently nevertheless, the ethnologists have been using it to designate three groups of beliefs: a) historical polytheism like the Celtic and the Norse, b) indigenous religions such as Chinese and African folk beliefs and c) neo-paganism (like the “Wicca”). It can, consequently, refer quite complex systems of beliefs.

From a broad point of view paganism also includes Eastern and mythological religions. The Buddhists, on the other hand, really are not a proper religion; they don’t worry so much about the existence of gods, but rather about “dharma”, that is to say, truth and individual compassion. The Buddhists do recognize some divine beings, but they are not gods in an Occidental sense. Rather they are spirits that are similar to us humans, and they accompany us in our cycles of "samsara", the cycle continued of life, death and rebirth.

I had to look all this up on line.

I answered my friend in a very trivial way declaring myself to be Buddhist and Totemic. If that were true my totemism would take some transcendental ecological form (I talk to animals). Or perhaps I could identify with a reformed and informal neo-Buddhist approach. I really do not dare to describe myself as an atheist; perhaps “agnostic” is a more appropriate term.

People defend their own form of spirituality at sword-point, but it’s really a private matter, isn’t it. Cults’ obsessive/compulsive efforts to impose their own belief systems on others are just like attempts to control other people's sexuality. But this is another subject.