Is it OK you be just a ‘Pagan?’
My first, knee jerk reaction is to state “it is ok to be anything you want and define youself any way you want, in and out of Paganism. ” And while I believe that to the core of my being I realize it isn’t what the questioner is really looking for. It is indeed OK to be just a Pagan. One of the things I like best about the label, considering how much I dislike labels, is that you can decide from moment to moment how you define Paganism for yourself.

I feel the same way about ‘Pagan.’ You are if you say you are.

If so, is choosing a specific Pagan path essential?

When pressed I usually call myself an Eclectic Kitchen Witch and have done so since the early days of the Aphrodite email list, back before The Internet, back when Pine email was God. I feel that I still very much fit under that umbrella. I am eclectic, although I try not to combine pantheons in one ritual, I still do kitchen magic, and I consider myself to be a Witch. That said, most of the time I decline to choose a specific path. I take what I need and leave the rest. And that pertains to all religions. My Pagan path includes some Buddhist principles, some principles from the teacher Jesus, and many others.

The longer I do this, the less I feel the need to call myself anything. I am welcome at our local pagan events for no other reason than that I participate in them and don’t run amok. And that is good enough for me.

Nature affirming Pagan

Are you a Pagan because you are drawn or feel a connection with nature?

This is most certainly a part of why I consider myself a Pagan although one can have a connection with nature and not consider themselves Pagan. It is what I do with my connection with nature that makes me Pagan. It is the ritual celebration of the wheel of the year with the sabbats that I believe makes me Pagan. My mother, a Quaker, considers herself to be very Pagan and so do I. She has howled at the moon, banging her drum while skyclad. Works for me. She finds no disconnect between that fact and her Quaker path.

Do city dwelling Pagans find it difficult to practice in the City?

For me it is not so very difficult. I am fortunate to have a large yard, a small garden, and old growth trees in the lot next door. I work on a beautiful university campus that is very treed and well planted. I have many friends who also have lovely gardens. There are lots of parks in the city where I live. While I find that the energies are muted here I have trees I talk to on a regular basis. I honor the Fae for they are indeed i n the city and in my garden. I feel much closer to nature when the sound of traffic is less and the stars brighter but I am very fortunate that nature abounds here and I find it every where.

The raccoons mating under my window, the squirrels protecting their tree, the crows dying and living, the cats that have left a permanent trail through my yard no matter how long or short the grass, the sound of the wind, the patter of the rain, the full moon. I have all of that in the city. I suppose I would say something entirely different if I lived in a high rise apartment but I don’t.

Living with a community of Pagans

Is it easy finding a community of like-minded Pagans? Are there any local Pagan communities where you live, and was it easy to integrate into your community? Perhaps it took a while to find a community that met your needs?

That depends on where you live. In my city there are a fair number of public groups available to Pagans. There are also many that are closed. Even today it can be difficult to find a group you resonate with as that is much more difficult to find than to just find a group. In all the years I’ve been a practicing Witch I would have to say that it has been very difficult in the past but that has changed for me. Most likely because I have changed so much. My boundaries are dropping, my rules and judgments lessening. My own self worth is increasing and many things that used to make me uncomfortable no longer threaten me.

I am also fortunate that I live in a part of the US that has a stone circle and a monthly ritual. We also have a monthly pagan church. Adults and children are welcome at both. This has changed my life dramatically.

Do you find your community to be a group of loving people who deeply care for others, esp’ outcasts in society?

Yes indeed I do. We are all misfits in this US society, us Pagans.

Is there a kind of leadership? Or are some members considered to be more authoritative than others without any rigid kind of leadership structure.

In one group I work with yes, in another no. Entirely depends on the group.

Is everyone encouraged to play an active role in the community, and look after those members that need more care and attention?

Absolutely. It’s at the very least required to participate in ritual, not just sit and watch. It takes little encourgement from others for the people I know to offer their care and attention. That seems to come naturally with almost all I know. Only the very young and not well parented folks seem to have a little trouble here but it is less about them not caring and more about them not knowing what to do or being shy.

Perhaps you are a solitary Pagan, or your only connecting with Pagans on the internet, how does that work for you?

I was a solitary Pagan at one time and only connected via the Internet. It wasn’t fulfilling for me, the internet part. I need the closer proximity of energy exchange to feel as though I am connecting with others. While most of my work that is not celebratory remains solitary, I can’t live without my real life community. Well I can, just not as happily as I would like.

How do non-Pagans react upon learning you are Pagan?

Mostly I don’t feel the need to tell people what my spiritual background is. For instance I have noticed some folks in a quandry about how to tell their co-workers. No quandry for me. Not work appropriate any more than I want my co-workers to make a point of their religion to me. If I do choose at some time to tell someone who wouldn’t or couldn’t know I do so after knowing them better or at least whether or not they are of open mind and then only if it is pertinent to our conversation or if I need to be honest before we move to a higher phase of relationship.

There are people, fundamentalists of one stripe or another, who guess I’m not one of their tribe but not because I tell them anything out right. And their reaction is usually either 1) trying to get me over to their side, 2) ignoring that aspect of me in order to remain friends, or 3) staying as far away as possible. I’m okay with 2 and 3. Honestly I’m too old to care what others think of my spiritual reality.

Pagan Rituals

What is the
most basic form of ritual in your Pagan tradition?

No tradition for me, it’s just my tradition. My daily devotions. Every day I do a brief devotion to the gods I work with the most. Typically it involves a candle, some incense, and a brief blessing.

How do rituals play a part in your form of Paganism?

Formal rituals of one kind or another take place at the Sabbats, everything else is on as needed basis. These are formal rituals mind you. My life is really one big ritual so I say hi to the trees, the animals, the humans as I pass. I try to do many things as reverently as I can with the understanding that I am human and sometimes forget. But I try to live mindfully. Some rituals for me include feeding the stray cats, recycling, bathing, create the art that I, well, create.

If you didn’t practice rituals would you be considered non-Pagan?

Not in my book necessarily. In the books of others, probably so. But I think what you really haven’t asked so far is how does one define ritual? We will all define it differently and if you look to my answer in the previous question you will see that my definition of ritual is very broad, it’s less about what and when I do something and more about HOW I do something.

Can rituals be a guiding influence both inside and outside of the community?

Hmmmm. I know that they certainly can on the inside. I’ve seen some rituals have an effect outside of the community but don’t know so much about guiding influence.

Do Rituals have a transformative effect on you as an individual and as a group, and can ritual “break through’ to the otherworld, another realm or reality?

Absolutely. All the time. But it only started happening to me when I noticed. I think those breakthroughs happen all the time we just choose to call it something else in our society. And if we think it isn’t happening we aren’t as likely to look for it. Also, while I don’t always experience a transformative effect in the ritual at that moment, quite often I find that transformation happening gradually (or suddenly) afterwards.

Have you ever met anyone, or heard about, anyone become mentally ill by participating in a Ritual?

No, but I have heard of and met someone who was mentally ill practicing ritual. That was a mess.

Can ritual be in any other way dangerous?

Yes. I believe in casting a proper container for your magickal work. There are indeed uglies out there that are at best simply attracted to the light and energy you are emitting and at worst, uglies looking to cause trouble and specifically looking for that kind of work. I would never do certain kinds of magic without casting some kind of protective container.

I wanted to add that I do most magical work in my home, which is heavily warded and protected.  I consider the entire house in a cast circle always.  With a few extra special boosts.  The garden I leave more to it’s own best practicies.  But the house I protect.  Only because I had a very nasty experience from that mentally ill practioner that required that I do so.  It worked so well that I keep it active and fresh.  You can feel the difference as soon as you enter my door.

Pagan ‘gods’

How do Pagan ‘gods’ have an active role in your life?

I talk to them every day and do my best to connect with them through the daily devotions.

Do some pagans create their own gods?

I’d say that the odds are very high that at least some do.

Finally

Are there any more worthwhile things I might need to know?

Jump on in, the water’s fine.  Have fun.  Find joy. Love others.