The meat and potatoes of this blog is TO LEARN! What I hope you will all learn is HOW TO USE YOUR BRAIN! There is a METHOD to learning and researching. This is the part that will get complicated. I will take you down the path that I walked, step by step, showing you how I learned to gather as much information as possible, sort out the crap from the most plausible, and then, USE YOUR BRAIN to put that information together to form a reasonable theory, and then, to prove or disprove it to the best of our human ability.
A huge chunk of our discussion will be the evolution and migration of civilization and society via their art, culture, language, mythology, lore, even music. This is the most fascinating part of the study of Paganism, in my opinion.
In order to do this, you, the "student," will have to do some work.
This means you are going to have to read a few books. The first book I reccomend is by an ancient dude named Hesiod. He was Greek, about 2500 years or so ago. He is recognized as THE dude who groked (totally understood) his religion, which was Pan-Hellenic, for lack of a better term today. The name of the book is "Hesiod's Theogony." Theogony means the words or description/definition/study of religion.
Why?
Glad you asked.
The Greeks had the most comprehensive written language that managed to survive time and several fires: the Alexandrian Library was burnt to the ground twice. Hesiod's Theogony managed to survive, hence, he's the "source" of our 'understanding' of Greek Mythology. That does not mean his interpretation was 100% accurate, just the most commonly accepted of what survived. The structure of the Ancient Greek Religion (mythology IS religion) is less complicated and more "humanistic" and is therefore easier to comprehend as compared to Egyptian or Celtic, which are more 'fantastic' or steeped in animalistic beliefs. The names of the dieties are easier to pronounce and remember, which is not surprising since the English Language is based on Greek and Latin roots. Furthermore, Christianity came up through Greece, so that modern Judeo-Christianity has such commonality with the Greek Tradition that it makes it easier to start your studies in Ancient Greece, or Homeric Greece. (Please google Homer and Homeric Greece for defintions) when you have been born into a culture that is based on the Judeo-Christian traditions. Wheather or not you grew up in that relgious structure is not the point, but that our society is steeped in the fundementals of this tradition is. Furthermore, Theologists in our culture, in most modern cultures, study Judeo-Christianity first and foremost. Therefore, it is 'easier' for them to continue their studies, should they choose, with their first stop being Homeric Greece. Once a solid foundation has been built in that, it becomes easier to learn the other traditions, such as Celtic, Egyptian, Norse or Hindu. (Note: The Celts were the Ionian Greeks and this can be proven through the migration of the people and the stories, traditions, art and lore they brought with.)
In order to start an education on any religion, you must start at the begining. Every religion/society has a genisis or creation myth. I'm sure you all know the traditional, modern, patriarchal, Judeo-Christian creation myth. Additionally, you can all probably tell me, or know someone who can teach you, who begat whom according to the modern "Bible." I want each of you to start with this very same concept in the Homeric Greek Tradition. So, Hesoid's Theogony is the place to start. We will discuss it from there, on the blog, and hopefully, live at our monthly discussion groups if you are local to the Kenosha, Wisconsin area. Who knows, with the advancement of Technology and my ability to access classes that I can learn how to use this thing, eventually, we may be able to SKYPE or webcast the discussions in the future.
So, your reading list:
Hesiod's Theogony
All the books you can get your mitts on by Joseph Campbell.
Larousse's Encylopedia of Mythlogy, edited by Robert Graves
Women of Classical Mythology by Robert Bell
and finally, there is an amazing website that has been put together by what may be the only human on this planet that has done as much or more research than I have. I have to look it up. Dude's name is Carlos Prada. I'll get that listed on here asap.
DISCUSSION HOMEWORK:
What creation myths do you know, besides the Judeo-Christian one? Please share on this blog.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Start Here
Ok, so I figured I should explain the point of this thing.
It's simple: there is a plethora of information out there, on the internet, in libraries (um, for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a place where you can rent books. Books have real paper and ink and a smell. Books are good. They are our friends. Many times, you are better off with actually reading a book than spending your life rotting your eyeballs out on the internet.) Where was I?
Oh, information. There is a plethora of information out there about "Wycca," Wycchecraft (witchcraft, you dillweeds!), Magick, etc etc etc. Most of it is, and many of you will not like this but tough, you've got a backspace button, is CRAP!
Why do I say that?
Glad you asked.
I say this because it's true. The vast majority of folks out there claiming to have knowlege about this got that knowlege from other people, usually MEN, who got the knowlege from more other people, usually MEN, who MADE IT ALL UP based upon CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. Yep, that's right, I put it out there. Most of those folks are, plain and simple, FRAUDS! They "created' their identies and made up their skill levels. They were not born with it. They were dissatisfied with their lives, their religions, everything so, like the Emperor Constantine, they went searching for something else. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS. I can't emphasise that enough. What is wrong with it is that the vast majority of people who have published web pages and books on the topics involving Wycchecraft based their systems off the Judeo-Christian mythology and ceremonies. The OLD RELIGION is a far older system and it is NOT as similar to Judeo-Christianity as many want to believe. It is nature based as it related to the specific climate and geography of the specific people of a specific location.
This site will explore these and other topics. We will have discussions and debates. I will introduce you to other teachers besides me. You will have a chance to ask real questions of real people who were BORN WYCCHES and not made up/adopted into it later in life. We will share our personal experiences and how we managed to live life in the broom closet without comprimising our fundemental nature (it is possible).
I wanted to create this site for several reasons. The first is to fill a void in the SE Wisconsin area that will soon be created by one woman who is leaving us to relocate to another state after opening some big doors for us. Her departure has left some of us with a mixture of emotions that will take time to sort out. Rather than allowing us to crawl back into our broom closets, I chose to attempt an online blog for dicussion and continued education on the subject. I have had a few people ask me if I teach what I know anywhere. Up to now, I have not. No students have yet to be ready for me as their teacher. I presume this is because I am not a "nice and gentle" teacher. I will tell you as I see it and I will do so with respect and blatant honesty. I expect the same from you. The other teachers I will be introducing on this blog share my feelings on this subject.
The next reason for creating this, is purely experimental, to see if it will go anywhere, if so, where, and what will it do to contribute to the improvement of our community.
The third reason was to myth bust the garbage that is out there.
And speaking of myths, the fourth is to give us something BESIDES the Celtic aspects of the old religion to read about and look at. I am personally appalled that so many people today are graduating high school or college without any knowlege of who Thor, Loki, Zeus or Artimas are (to name a few). What are we teaching in schools today? We aren't teaching reading or basic sceince or math and now we aren't teaching art, history, literature or theater. What are kids learning today?
Furthermore, when we open a book on the Craft, we always find CELTIC DEITIES, CELTIC TRADITIONS. I have news for you, there is more than one pantheon and more than one culture that compliments wycchecraft. I suppose I shouldn't be too upset about it because about 10-20 years ago, it was all EGYPTIAN THIS AND THAT. I guess, like anything else, it all comes in cycles. And don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong about the Celtic system, other than I have, to date, only picked up one of those books to get any actual knowlege of the Celtic gods/goddesses and mythos. How can you worship, or work magick through a group of deities if you haven't really "met" them? We will explore and compare a multitude of deities on this blog. While my primary pantheon is the pan-hellenic group, you will see how it is just easier to start in Greece and work your way out and you will see how many of the cultures and their religions are connected. The best part is one of the teachers of this site is as skilled in Celtic dieties as I am Greek, so you'll get a nice comparison when we're done.
The final reason why I wanted to start this blog was to heavily communicate the pagan image in society today. In fact, the very first topic we will discuss will be our image. We will never be able to take our power regarding freedom of religion in America and fight the Right Wing, Christian Fundementalist scourge if we do not look and act educated and presentable, professional and ethical. So if you're reading this with a face full of piercings and a body full of tatoos while eating chips and cookies and diet coke (no, the 'diet' coke does not counteract the fat of the other foods) and you are wearing lots of BLACK, goth stuff, you will very likely not like what I have to say: wycchecraft, being a "pagan" is NOT A FASHION STATEMENT! It is a way of life.
-More Later
AKA
It's simple: there is a plethora of information out there, on the internet, in libraries (um, for those of you who don't know what that is, it's a place where you can rent books. Books have real paper and ink and a smell. Books are good. They are our friends. Many times, you are better off with actually reading a book than spending your life rotting your eyeballs out on the internet.) Where was I?
Oh, information. There is a plethora of information out there about "Wycca," Wycchecraft (witchcraft, you dillweeds!), Magick, etc etc etc. Most of it is, and many of you will not like this but tough, you've got a backspace button, is CRAP!
Why do I say that?
Glad you asked.
I say this because it's true. The vast majority of folks out there claiming to have knowlege about this got that knowlege from other people, usually MEN, who got the knowlege from more other people, usually MEN, who MADE IT ALL UP based upon CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES. Yep, that's right, I put it out there. Most of those folks are, plain and simple, FRAUDS! They "created' their identies and made up their skill levels. They were not born with it. They were dissatisfied with their lives, their religions, everything so, like the Emperor Constantine, they went searching for something else. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS. I can't emphasise that enough. What is wrong with it is that the vast majority of people who have published web pages and books on the topics involving Wycchecraft based their systems off the Judeo-Christian mythology and ceremonies. The OLD RELIGION is a far older system and it is NOT as similar to Judeo-Christianity as many want to believe. It is nature based as it related to the specific climate and geography of the specific people of a specific location.
This site will explore these and other topics. We will have discussions and debates. I will introduce you to other teachers besides me. You will have a chance to ask real questions of real people who were BORN WYCCHES and not made up/adopted into it later in life. We will share our personal experiences and how we managed to live life in the broom closet without comprimising our fundemental nature (it is possible).
I wanted to create this site for several reasons. The first is to fill a void in the SE Wisconsin area that will soon be created by one woman who is leaving us to relocate to another state after opening some big doors for us. Her departure has left some of us with a mixture of emotions that will take time to sort out. Rather than allowing us to crawl back into our broom closets, I chose to attempt an online blog for dicussion and continued education on the subject. I have had a few people ask me if I teach what I know anywhere. Up to now, I have not. No students have yet to be ready for me as their teacher. I presume this is because I am not a "nice and gentle" teacher. I will tell you as I see it and I will do so with respect and blatant honesty. I expect the same from you. The other teachers I will be introducing on this blog share my feelings on this subject.
The next reason for creating this, is purely experimental, to see if it will go anywhere, if so, where, and what will it do to contribute to the improvement of our community.
The third reason was to myth bust the garbage that is out there.
And speaking of myths, the fourth is to give us something BESIDES the Celtic aspects of the old religion to read about and look at. I am personally appalled that so many people today are graduating high school or college without any knowlege of who Thor, Loki, Zeus or Artimas are (to name a few). What are we teaching in schools today? We aren't teaching reading or basic sceince or math and now we aren't teaching art, history, literature or theater. What are kids learning today?
Furthermore, when we open a book on the Craft, we always find CELTIC DEITIES, CELTIC TRADITIONS. I have news for you, there is more than one pantheon and more than one culture that compliments wycchecraft. I suppose I shouldn't be too upset about it because about 10-20 years ago, it was all EGYPTIAN THIS AND THAT. I guess, like anything else, it all comes in cycles. And don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong about the Celtic system, other than I have, to date, only picked up one of those books to get any actual knowlege of the Celtic gods/goddesses and mythos. How can you worship, or work magick through a group of deities if you haven't really "met" them? We will explore and compare a multitude of deities on this blog. While my primary pantheon is the pan-hellenic group, you will see how it is just easier to start in Greece and work your way out and you will see how many of the cultures and their religions are connected. The best part is one of the teachers of this site is as skilled in Celtic dieties as I am Greek, so you'll get a nice comparison when we're done.
The final reason why I wanted to start this blog was to heavily communicate the pagan image in society today. In fact, the very first topic we will discuss will be our image. We will never be able to take our power regarding freedom of religion in America and fight the Right Wing, Christian Fundementalist scourge if we do not look and act educated and presentable, professional and ethical. So if you're reading this with a face full of piercings and a body full of tatoos while eating chips and cookies and diet coke (no, the 'diet' coke does not counteract the fat of the other foods) and you are wearing lots of BLACK, goth stuff, you will very likely not like what I have to say: wycchecraft, being a "pagan" is NOT A FASHION STATEMENT! It is a way of life.
-More Later
AKA
Friday, February 27, 2009
Welcome and help me Heph
Hello all curious visitors.
I'm new at this--yes a blogging virgin. I'm also a techno-illiterate so here's asking Hephestus AND Prometheus for their assistance with this stuff. Please bare with me as I construct this thing. I promise it will be educational and entertaining.
Stay tuned.
-AKA
I'm new at this--yes a blogging virgin. I'm also a techno-illiterate so here's asking Hephestus AND Prometheus for their assistance with this stuff. Please bare with me as I construct this thing. I promise it will be educational and entertaining.
Stay tuned.
-AKA
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