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Vainamoinen
Paganism Forum Moderator
USA
232 Posts |
 Posted - August 25 2006 : 10:14:32 AM
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When did you first notice or encounter anything having to do with Paganism or Neo-Paganism?
This is open to non-Pagans as well, when did you first notice it, or what was your earliest experience of it, and what were your thoughts?
How does that differ from today? (If it does)?
"Ready for the action now, Danger Boy?"
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middleground
Middle Ground Administrator
USA
215 Posts |
Posted - August 25 2006 : 11:09:49 PM
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My first encounter with it was young in my life. A friend of the family was into it. And I followed suit shortly after. I later joined an Order, and began my training in Ceremonial Magick.
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"You have your way, I have my way.
As for the right way, the correct way,
and the only way, it does not exist..."
- Friedrich Nietzsche |
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Vainamoinen
Paganism Forum Moderator
USA
232 Posts |
Posted - August 26 2006 : 09:00:02 AM
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Middleground: Sounds pretty lucky. My first encounters with anything Pagan were through literature, so I'm sure I got the wrong impression (I was also fairly young at the time). Eventually I read my way through to good texts on the subject, though, and went from there.
"Ready for the action now, Danger Boy?" |
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ChainLightning
New Member
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - August 29 2006 : 01:15:26 AM
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I had two different sources for *first encounters*. One was in the private elementary school I attended (I was raised Roman Catholic) the other was through literature. One was seemingly purported as *mythological*; the other as Godless, hopeless or at the very least, uncivilized.
I picked up better impressions as I moved to public schools and public libraries, though. I even had a teacher in high school that attended some gathering of Pagans in the 70's in Minneapolis (I lived in one of it's suburbs). But it wasn't really until I went to treatment that I started studying specific traditions in earnest. And in 1985-86, there wasn't alot to work with. But, since one of my treatment counselors (and several friends I grew up with) was/were Ojibwe, I started researching there, really.
[I'm not saying that it's actually (Neo)Paganism, but American Indians in my earlier reading and lessons were always referred to as either *savage* or *pagan* - and I KNEW they (the writers et al) were ALL wrong about that *savage* part!] |
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Vainamoinen
Paganism Forum Moderator
USA
232 Posts |
Posted - August 29 2006 : 09:53:46 AM
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Chain: I've always kind of liked being called a 'savage', in a snarky sort of way. As Jay Naylor once said: "I don't mind being called extremist. It reminds me that I have nothing in common with you." ;)
...dabbling all the way down... |
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MiseryMadeBeautiful
Starting Member
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - August 29 2006 : 11:36:24 AM
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My first encounter was in high school. I had a friend that was Pagan and I was intrigued. We started hanging out more and more. He bought me my first tarot deck. Since then, I've done quite a bit of reading and exploring on my own... and out of all the religions I've explored, this one makes the most sense to me. I still have a LONG way to go, though.
The thing with me is... I always thought I was born wrong. Growing up, most of my friends went to a Christian church and talked about believing in God and Jesus and all that was just lost on me. I didn't "feel" all the things they felt. I just chalked it up to me being born without the "God gene." Over the years, though, I've been dabbling and searching for SOMETHING to believe in. So, that's where I'm coming from.
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." ~Eleanor Roosevelt |
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First Encounters
