What Do I Believe?

Firstly, I should say that I am a pagan. Not a pagan who follows any particular path, much more your eclectic type, but with leanings towards the Norse gods. I was brought up as a Church of England Christian, and I found from about being 10 or 11 years old that it really didn't appeal to me anymore. At the time I didn't realise that Christianity didn't answer any questions I had, so I just thought they were unanswerable. It was only much later that I found out that there were answers, and that paganism was the 'catch-all' term for the faith.

Now, I'm no expert on paganism, not by a long way, but I do believe in the following two guidelines most vociferously:

Do what you want, unless it hurts others

Basically, I think that this is saying that, providing something is morally sound, there should not be any reason why I should not do it. Of course, what I consider morally sound might well differ from what other people think, but at the end of the day only I can decide what is right for me.

What I do try to do at all times is consider other peoples feelings, but of course, this is not always the easiest thing to do. I make mistakes, we all do, but I really do try not to hurt people either mentally or physically (or in any other way, for that matter). However, if I do hurt them, the second guideline applies...

Nobody made me do anything, if I did it, I am responsible

When it comes to the crunch, I am responsible for the things that I do. No evil (or good) influence bore down on me, the Devil didn't make me do it (how could he, he's a Christian entity, therefore of no great meaning to pagans). No, if I made a mistake, I take the blame for it, for I am the one who made the mistake. By the same token, if I do something good, I should take the credit for that too, although my nature is to shrug it off. Like I say, I'm not perfect, not at all.

So, the question still remains to be answered. "What do I believe in?"

Well, one of the things that has always applied to me is my love of the environment, of green issues, and I guess that over the last few years, I've become much more 'in tune' with the world. Oh, you might think it's just a pile of mumbo-jumbo, but I don't see it that way. I don't see why any object shouldn't have a part in the overall make-up of the planet, and that stones are just as important to it as trees, as animals, as humanity. Anybody who has visited one of the ancient stone-circles will understand what I mean here. My favourites, the Rollrights have a fantastic 'feel' to them, and I hope to visit them again soon.

Page last modified on October 16 2018 09:20:08 by Andy Fawcett.