| Note that this is deliberately a text-based page, with no graphics to speak of. I'm trying to convey information more than tone. There are a couple of neat graphics (that'll change from time to time) on my Ephemera Page. |
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How so? Well, the gods put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die! <grin> |
To all participants in any branch of the Old Religion, welcome. And to all who are interested, seeking, or just curious, also welcome. This is one place to start finding out what's out there.
Wicca doesn't go out trying to get people to "convert". Indeed, traditionally it tends to be rather secretive and hard to find, though that's becoming somewhat less true. What often happens is that someone develops her/his own feeling that the "normal" religion isn't quite what she/he is looking for, and possibly even develops a personal religious and philosophical system, and then finds out that other people are already doing the same things, feeling the same way, and calling it Wicca. But because of the monopoly that standard-brand monotheism has on how most of us were brought up, it can be difficult for us to accept what our own hearts and minds are telling us. Path to the Goddess may help you with that.
And maybe we're even getting to be respectable! At least, there's a very interesting write-up on the Old Religion in a publication put out by that radical leftist organization, the US Army. Check out this excerpt from the Chaplain's Handbook.
For some different thoughts on where God came from, and what it all means to us, try on the Genesis of God. It might tweak your fancy! What does this mean in terms of the "reality" of the Goddess and the God? Try some advice on getting started for my opinions on that. And how this expresses itself in worship and ritual is the subject of Ritual vs. Worship.
If you'd like a glimpse of the Wiccan approach to "organized" religion, check out the COGWEB Home Page. The Covenant of the Goddess is the biggest of the Wiccan "churches" in America -- set up as such strictly legitimately under the US Tax Code. They're involved in all sorts of important projects.
Another group is the Church of All Worlds. Their starting impetus came from Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land. This is fascinating to me personally, because it was reading that book in the early '60s that began the philosophical transformation for me that made me a Pagan. Other Heinlein books continued the process. Check out Job: a Comedy of Justice if you want an eye opener!
There's some stuff that might be fun or interesting, but isn't likely to be around very long, linked to from my Ephemera Page. Some other on-net Pagan references that might be of interest follow. Over time I'll be (a) adding more links, and (b) putting in more of an introduction here to what they're about, or why I'm interested, or what they're particularly good for. All of these sites are checked out from time to time as at least still being reachable. In an earlier version of this page I also said that I would be having more info on activities Pagan-wise in the Philadelphia area. I'm happy to say that a group I'm involved with has been working on that. Check out the results at The Broom Closet, for activities calendars, resources, and organizations.