A question for(or about) modern day pagans/wiccans etc.

[white_wolf]

First off all if this question comes across as offensive I apologize, I know religion is a sensitive topic so if I offend anyone I do apologize. I have nothing against paganism or Wicca, in fact in a lot of ways I prefer them and their beliefs to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

I am interested in the pagan religions, but my biggest problem is the fact that historically myths were used to explain things we didn't understand such as why the sun appears to move in the sky. The Greeks believed it was Helios's chariot, however we now know that the earth rotates around the sun due to gravity.

I guess my question is that since the need for those myths and the questions they tried to answer have been answered by science does that not invalidate the need for those Gods? I mean are myths considered sacred to Pagans the way the Bible or Qur'an is to Christans and Muslims or am I missing the forest for the trees here? Any answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Doctor Hurt]

1. No neopagan I know believes in divinities as explanatory entities

Most of my friends seem to regard the deities as personifications of abstract spiritual awarenesses associated with particular physical phenomena.

I mean, since we don't have a clue what causes consciousness, why not?

[edhopper]

9. We know quite a bit about consciousness.

Not all the answers by far. But a very good bio-mechanical model.
To say we have no clue is excessive and wrong.

[Angry Dragon]

2. I believe that the Catholic Church has part of their collection

a Museum of the Profane (pagan) so it would seem some still believe there is some validity to pagan religions.........

[white_wolf]

3. I consider them to be as valid as any religion and more than some such as Scientology

I'm just curious to understand the relationship modern Paganism has with the old myths that they draw some of their Gods from.

[provis99]

4. I guess the real question is do pagans interpret these stories literally.

Frankly, many of the ancient Greeks themselves didn't believe the Sun was a chariot; it was just a big hot fire in the sky. Aesop for example, didn't believe that rabbits and turtles could actually talk, but the stories were used to illustrate moral points. It is possible that ancient Greeks did believe the individual gods existed, and worship was made to them, but they also preferred to explain natural phenomena using (proto)scientific thinking.

I think that's really why paganism died out; the pagans didn't literally believe in the stories of the gods, but looked at them as allegories for the most part, while Christians were convinced every story in the Bible was literally true, whether they made sense or not.

A similar attitude probably applies to neo-pagans. They like the rituals, the feeling of connectedness to others, and the values taught by their belief system, but don't interpret the stories literally.

[Odin2005]

5. In my experience most Neo-Pagans are Pantheists.

Much like Hindus do, they views pagan deities as avatars of a pantheistic conception of divinity.

[okasha]

6. Spot on.

This pagan agrees entirely.

[deacon_sephiroth]

7. If that was the case...

If scientific fact could so neatly allay the fears and questions of the masses, there would be no need for ANY religion these days, pagan or otherwise. Seems it's not so simple for most

[trotsky]

8. No doubt.

The universe is a cold, scary place that is clearly indifferent at best, and hostile at worst, to our existence. Science has only reinforced this concept. Some folks just need to hang some meaning on a myth or other creation of the imagination to provide some solace.

[okasha]

10. You're making some rather narrow assumptions.

Not all of the stories of the old gods, and certainly not all of the gods themselves, are explanations or personifications of natural phenomena. They also address the same existential and moral/ethical questions as the non-pagan faiths.