pagan verse of the day

I promise I’m not trying to start any drama or controversy here.  I was thinking about it, though, and it occurred to me that this is not just a physical and emotional journey, but it is also a spiritual journey, at least for many of us.  I wanted to provide some spiritual “food for thought" for those of us that lean toward a more earth-centered spirituality.

"When one defines oneself as Pagan, it means she or he follows an earth or nature religion,
one that sees the divine manifest in all creation.
The cycles of nature are our holy days, the earth is our temple,
its plants and creatures our partners and teachers.
We worship a deity that is both male and female, a mother Goddess and father God,
who together created all that is, was, or will be.
We respect life, cherish the free will of sentient beings, and accept the sacredness of all creation."

Edain McCoy - Wiccan Author

I'm not going to provide a lot of commentary because I think we can all interpret things for ourselves.  I will just say that want stands out to me from this verse is the important of the sacredness of all creation - and that includes ourselves, and our bodies, imperfect though they may be.

 

Definitely not a pagan, but I do appreciate that last line!!  I believe that goes for all of us -- or should!  Best wishes.

I like that! I honestly think that the term "pagan" is used to simply describe people who are connected or who embrace connection. As humans we've learned to separate ourselves from the earth. So ok...it's coincidence that our menstural cycles are the same number of days as the lunar cycles? It's coincidence that when you bring two women of child bearing age into the same household, their cycles gravitate to unison? No! We come from the earth and belong to earth and the earth belongs to us. We are connected to it, by it and through it. We should respect all life (except that of ****roaches...flame me if you want but those *******s can burn in hell!) and also respect the rhythms of the natural world that inherently affect us all.

At the very least we can usually cop to the fact that when there is more sunshine, most of us exhibit better moods, right?

I think "embracing connection" is a very good way to define the term "pagan."  It is about connection, our connection to other people and to other living beings and to nature and the earth and everything.  I think it's also about connection to ourselves.  I think we often get so disconnected from our bodies, from our own emotions, all that important stuff.

And I don't like ****roaches either.  Or any bugs, really.  I do respect their right to live, but prefer them to do so far away from me.

I kill the sum*****es. Creator forgive me!

Thank you very much for that! I am Wiccan and your post pretty much made my day! I happen to have that quote by Edian McCoy as one of my favorite quotes on FB. It is a very beautiful quote!

Again, thank you for that!

Thanks for this Kelly.  I am a self proclaimed Pagen and appreciate this very much.

I too appreciate what you posted. One dictionary definition of pagan is "a person who follows a polytheistic or pre-Christian religion ( not a Christian or Muslim or Jew)." Pagan comes the closest to describe my spiritual beliefs. It's good to know there are many others here, and/or can appreciate it.

My feeling is that God/Goddess doesn't care what brand we are. It's what's in our hearts and how we live that matters.

I've sometimes described myself as an ecclectic pagan.  I draw from any spiritual traditions and kind of take what works for me and let the rest go.  I don't believe that what brand we are matters, either.  I think it's very much about the way we live.

17 year pagan here, and love this quote!