Paganism's Biggest Problem

explaining the biggest problem within Paganism and how to fix it.

playlist mentioned in the video

[snusmumricken]

A very interesting video! As a Historian from sweden I have many many many opinions of asatru and norse pagans who refuse to change their beliefs when new historical information comes out. I tried to talk to a 'modern viking' once about how wizards and male magic users were most often gay men and he exploded on me because Um actually Odin used magic so I am a ducking idiot for saying that. I just had to roll my eyes. I literally study in sweden about swedish history my dude

[savvy]

So nice to see a very grounded take from the occult community in general. Like you said, there is a huge issue of people publishing their takes on x thought camp/practice as divinely ordained fact and they rarely state that this is in fact a personal experience/belief for them with no grounding in the greater meta of x thing they're discussing.

It's always hard to sift through to the root of these topics between the ages source material and biases of man. I really appreciate you bringing attention to this!

[samwiseraleigh]

Let's be real, monotheism has a big uncited gnosis problem too. Sure David Koresh is a well known example, but almost every priest/pastor is guilty of it at some point, and their congregations often don't do enough of their own independent reading/critical thinking to know when they should disagree because the leader's interpretation is presented as the truth.

[VVDCS]

Thank you for this better articulation than mine. I've encountered this problem *so many times* in modern witchcraft spaces, and its started to drive me away from those spaces.

[lilykatmoon]

I really agree with you on several points! This was an excellent discussion of several issues in neo pagan spaces. I’ve only been following this path as a witch for four years now and as an inclusive Heathen for about 2 1/2-3 years. It took me a minute to catch on and find content creators that made these very important distinctions between an individual understanding of the gods and a “universal” understanding such as they are. I often feel that even if we had excellent written records by every day people who practiced explaining exactly what every thing meant to them, we’d still have to find our own interpretations and meanings. Like you said, their world was very different than ours and so their world view was based on experiences so different to ours that we couldn’t recreate their religiosity even then. If a piece of upg helps an individual in their journey, then it is valid. I also agree though that we must be more open to the idea that others have different experiences that are just as valid to them as ours is to us. I loved the flash of BP from Fight Club over him as Achilles, lol. And, I might add that a Buick Skylark did indeed represent progress in My Cousin Vinny. Apologies if you’re too young for that reference. Excellent video. This is the first of yours I’ve seen and I will definitely check out more!

[williampatchen]

The definition of paganism is any religion that exists outside of the mainstream abrahamic religions
Or before the Abrahamic religions.
This includes all native religions. .
Historically this is the majority of all religions.
With an immeasurable variety of beliefs.
There’s no reason they should agree.
They come from different environments. With different histories.

[samueljackson]

10:14 I stumbled upon this video. What is an "urgee?"

[cajunguy]

You just educated me on a question I've had for awhile, and it's not even the videos topic! 😂

Seriously, I have begged people to tell me what hermeticism is. They talk about hermes tricemagetus (however it's spelt) and his book and duality and symbolism, but they never just come out and say "it's a philosophy of magic based on Egyptian stuff." That's all I'm looking for! I don't care what black and white checkered floor represent, dude, I just want to know what supposed hidden truths I'm about to uncover before I dedicate an afternoon researching the stupid thing!!!

[ДжесикаИванова-бф]

I am glad you do question faiths .

While my faith is hellenic polytheism, i put my gnosis and stories as the ancient greeks didn't always see eye to eye on every matter and they have unanswered questions .
I never hide when i say that, something is my view, actually makes me proud as i am improving something that was good, but i can male it great almost perfect

[TheDutchGame]

I really like a lot of points you brought up in this video!

Diana Paxson is also notorious for not citing what is and isn't her own personal interpretation of things which is a bit of a warning to anyone reading her work. Not that her work is completely worthless, but I surely think of it as a valid thing to keep in mind.

That point about the oak tree looking a bit like lightning isn't something I had recognized yet. Oak trees to me look very strong and very sturdy and so I thought the association might come from there.

One question I do have though: If ancient gnosis isn't considered more valid than contemporary gnosis then what is your personal opinion on the value of Verified Personal Gnosis?

[rudra]

This is one of the problems I have with modern paganism. There's the notion of "traditions" within Wicca - which are less than a century old, and some traditions are a year or a week old. Not that they are less valid than ancient traditions, but they are not AUTHORITY - personal gnosis is not authority, as you say! Nor does any particular initiation.

Traditions can be old, ancient, or even brand-new. For instance, we have traditions in our culture about how to celebrate mid-winter holidays. At the same time, there are brand-new traditions. I have a tradition in my home - which is now 3 years old -of making tamales on Christmas. I don't think either of my Grandmothers ever made tamales - I learned from a combination of books and internet. Still, I can make a case that the tamales are MORE valid than saying a prayer or song, as at least I've got something tangible to eat.

Importantly, even if something is an ancient, unbroken tradition of some culture, unless it is YOUR culture, you almost surely will not properly relate to it, cannot really follow it, and it doesn't resonate with you as it would someone from that culture. That's true of the quasi-Indian (from India) teachings and practices, as well as (nearly) all of the so-called "shamanic" practices that many neo-pagans adopt without full understanding.

[fenrisiangothi]

Interesting. I havent been going into paganism for some years, yet it came back to me cia algorithm. It seems to know a lot.

[Bjorn_Algiz]

Interesting analysis 😮 always love hearing all sides on a topic and practitioners on both sides. 😊 ps not gonna lie if you ended with a pistol or Westen gun with the outfit oof you would look epic! ❤

[saraknox]

Speaking of citations, where did Gerald Gardener say that he got Wicca from Freemasonry? I've read a lot about Wicca, and that claim runs counter to what I've read.

[PsychoJennya]

fantastic video. I really hope that spiritual related communities go through rehab or cleaned up a bit of the craziness, and immoral self centered bs. This stuff ruins all religions and communities.

Random thoughts:
With AI advancing so quickly (I know everyone says this at every time of human history it seems) I think anything related to spirituallity will become more important. i think it is no coincidence that say for example the ideas of the books and new films of Dune are hitting the zeitgeist again. These time periods happen in cycles but I think technology and the rapid change of society and the world order to come will accelerate the period of each cycle and the severity of the impact on people's daily lives.

Anyways in the future i hope for this kind of topic spreads even more. With advances in archeology, linguistics, and freedom of information; I think ignoring this is kinda topic dumb dumb 😊 Theres no reason for their not to be an air of intellectualism in the present. Again cool vid!!!

[kunalroy]

Today most Abrahamic branches follows the same route like pagans,
You can count on it.

[Brett-yqpj]

Looking at things with a modern view is a big issue in most research there's so much lost in translation that we can get a good idea of things but it will never be 100% true to the original. That's why people say romans or vikings were trans or queer when there's more evidence against it than there is for it.

Rap was used as a form of subjugation and punishment back then and homosexuality was not applauded a lot of people look at it though a modern lens and interpret quirks to be homosexuality too which isn't the case its just someone's interpretation there has most likely been instances of homosexuality throughout history but it was never in the open as it is now

[iainhousego]

I think your nosis, that my nosis is subjective, is in itself a subjective noisis 🤔

[universalflamethrower]

Paganism's biggest problem is LARP-ing fanfic for a religion

[joachim]

I do this to Eastern Orthodox Christianity on the internet, like, every day 🤫