Okay, that was a bit narrowed down. Let’s see, for starters, I’m 20 years old and going to Florida State University. I’m a criminology and sociology major, and I’ll be about halfway through my sophomore year credit-wise by the end of this semester. I’m a member of the LGBTSU (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Student Union) and an active member seeking to be on the executive board of the PSA (Pagan Student Association). In addition to this, I’m a member of Lambda Alpha Epsilon, which is a coed criminology fraternity. At the moment I’m not a member in good standing due to financial circumstances. Feel free to ask me whatever comes to mind.
Do your Pagan activities include just college students, or Pagans of all ages?
Do you have a specific Path or Trad - or not?
Are you actively studying Paganism (whatever flavor you are), actively practicing, or not?
My sister has a Criminology degree from FSU (I went to UF), and she does nothing now that has anything to do with her degree. My question is:
What will you do with your Criminology degree?
At the moment I don’t have a specific tradition, but my beliefs are mostly a blend of Norse and Eastern beliefs, which also happen to be the two areas that I identify with most readily. I tend to use the term Animist in reference to myself: it essentially means that I believe “there’s a little bit of God/dess in everything.” Because I haven’t settled into a tradition, I haven’t really been a practicing magick user, if that’s what you’re asking, Broomstick. With my studies of Paganism, I’m looking to learn more in general and focus the area that I want to be practicing when I do begin practicing on a regular basis.
Bob55, I currently have two different thoughts on what to do with my criminology and sociology degrees: I’ll either go on to law school, or I’ll attempt pursuing a masters degree in sociology, where I plan to do group studies on criminal behaviour… ie. gangs, organized crime, juvenile group crime (shoplifting in groups is something a bit more popular amongst some younger teenagers, and some older ones as well). I’m hoping either will work well for me. Long term plans are to possibly get a good position in a government agency, possibly even the CIA or the FBI.
Did you grow up with religion in your household, and if so which one? How were you introduced to paganism? And what are your parents thoughts on your being a pagan?
Further, of the members of your PSA what would you estimate is the breakdown of the traditions people follow?
Sorry for so many questions…
I grew up with a fairly secular brand of Lutheranism in my household: neither of my parents really had any commentary on religion with the exception that my mother insisted I get confirmed in the Lutheran church she occasionally made me go to for Sunday school. Being that I grew up in a household that was fairly Icelandic in values/traditions and my mother’s friends were always around, I got lots of little doses of things I consider to be Pagan-related… such as psychic experiences or just generally sensing things that most people wouldn’t consider to be there. It never really occured to me as not being real or being wrong, and it had nothing to do with religion; it just happened to be part of life. I don’t really think there was one specific point where I was intially introduced to Paganism; it was sort of integrated into my life through family values that weren’t necessarily religiously connected, and I always had a sense that Christianity didn’t quite work for me. I didn’t quite get into serious studies of other religions until I was in middle school, though, and I didn’t really narrow it down to earth-based religions until about high school. That was when I started having more friends with “non-traditional” religions. It’s kind of funny that my mother initially sh*t a brick when she heard me identify myself in terms of religious belief as a Pagan: she just didn’t understand it, and therefore got angry at me for being obstinate. Now she’s kewl with it, but seems to be a bit condescending when mentioning it in conversation to anyone else.
Let’s see if I can break down the areas that members of my PSA follow (I might miss some):
[ul]
[li]There’s one Hecatian witch: that means he worships a goddess named Hecate[/li][li]One ecclectic that leans toward Hinduism and other Eastern religions[/li][li]A handful of ecclectics that have Wiccan tendencies[/li][li]A couple of [url=“http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm”]Wiccans[/li][li]At least one ecclectic with Taoist leanings[/li][li]One ecclectic that has elements of Norse deities in a system that resembles Shinto[/li][li]One Otherkin[/li][li]And a whole bunch of others that are still figuring out the basis of their path[/li][/ul]
Also, there’s a difference between Wiccans and witches/magick users. Wicca is an actual system of belief, while calling oneself a witch/magick user just means that you use magick. Wiccans can be as such without use of magick, and magick users can practice without the guidance of a specific tradition.
I grew up with a fairly secular brand of Lutheranism in my household: neither of my parents really had any commentary on religion with the exception that my mother insisted I get confirmed in the Lutheran church she occasionally made me go to for Sunday school. Being that I grew up in a household that was fairly Icelandic in values/traditions and my mother’s friends were always around, I got lots of little doses of things I consider to be Pagan-related… such as psychic experiences or just generally sensing things that most people wouldn’t consider to be there. It never really occured to me as not being real or being wrong, and it had nothing to do with religion; it just happened to be part of life. I don’t really think there was one specific point where I was intially introduced to Paganism; it was sort of integrated into my life through family values that weren’t necessarily religiously connected, and I always had a sense that Christianity didn’t quite work for me. I didn’t quite get into serious studies of other religions until I was in middle school, though, and I didn’t really narrow it down to earth-based religions until about high school. That was when I started having more friends with “non-traditional” religions. It’s kind of funny that my mother initially sh*t a brick when she heard me identify myself in terms of religious belief as a Pagan: she just didn’t understand it, and therefore got angry at me for being obstinate. Now she’s kewl with it, but seems to be a bit condescending when mentioning it in conversation to anyone else.
Let’s see if I can break down the areas that members of my PSA follow (I might miss some):
[ul]
[li]There’s one Hecatian witch: that means he worships a goddess named Hecate[/li][li]One ecclectic that leans toward Hinduism and other Eastern religions[/li][li]A handful of ecclectics that have Wiccan tendencies[/li][li]A couple of [url=“http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm”]Wiccans[/li][li]At least one ecclectic with Taoist leanings[/li][li]One ecclectic that has elements of Norse deities in a system that resembles Shinto[/li][li]One Otherkin[/li][li]And a whole bunch of others that are still figuring out the basis of their path[/li][/ul]
Also, there’s a difference between Wiccans and witches/magick users. Wicca is an actual system of belief, while calling oneself a witch/magick user just means that you use magick. Wiccans can be as such without use of magick, and magick users can practice without the guidance of a specific tradition.
[sub]*Note the use of “magick” instead of “magic.” I use it to differentiate between the magic of magicians who perform tricks for entertainment and the magick used by people for influencing an outcome. I personally think a spell is muchly like a prayer, just a bit more intricate and involving “props,” which the community refers to as tools.[/sub]
Scheize fikken… Excuse the double post. It attempted to post for me before I was ready to post. :embarassed:
I helped found the Pagan Academic Network at Purdue University back when I was an undergrad there. Last I checked, it was still running.
I no longer claim to be pagan anymore, though.
The organization that I’m a member of has only been around for a little over a year, so we’re still working out the bugs in the system and hopefully we’ll be more organized in the future.
Just out of curiosity, KellyM, what do you claim to be now?
I have no religious affiliation; if pressed I will say that I am an apatheist. I don’t care whether any gods exist or not. The existence, or lack thereof, of divine beings has no affect on my life or how I conduct it.
Perfectly understandable. I can definitely say I’ve had those feelings in the past… for some reason, I got more spiritually connected as I got older, though. I’m always wondering what my spiritual path has in store for me in the future, though.
Ok, well I think this post might be older, but I have a question for you that I doubt you’ll be able to answer in a short post, just so ya know. But could you explain the whole concept of the Pagan religion (is it classified as a religion? wasn’t really sure about that one, either), as well as how it is practiced (rituals, traditions).
Thanks much,
**Jamie
Paganism - sorry to steal from MIS, but maybe she’ll get overworked if nobody pitches in - isn’t a religion in itself. Paganism would apply to a large number of religions; it’s a classification like theistic or atheistic. I don’t know whether MIS would classify what she does as a religion, that’s up to her.
By the way, Mirrored: I’d suggest you search for Cecil’s explanation of why witches are traditionally depicted on broomsticks, might get a rise out of you. 
This is an interesting thread. Mirrored Indigo Shadows, is there any animosity directed towards you or exclusion by your peers because of your beliefs? Such a thing would be unbelievably ignorant, but as a fellow college student, I know that some people our age are just that bad.
Marley23, if it has anything to do with the whole “fornication with the devil” concept, then I probably already know about it. ::goes and reads the article:: You know, that’s funnier than I thought it’d be… but wouldn’t ya be afraid of splinters?!?
Vixenation, its a mixed barrel of reactions. The more conservative people don’t seem to have too much of a problem with it unless they’re connected with notoriously evangelistic religious groups on campus… and even those people are at least curious as to what our beliefs are. Some of my friends that I’ve made have been curious, sometimes to the point of asking me funny questions referring to my Thor’s Hammer necklace that I wear. [note: to a lot of people, it looks like an upside-down cross from far away. It’s more a symbol of my heritage, but it’s also symbolic of my own spiritual path.] The hairdresser at the salon on campus makes jokes every now and then, but it’s she pokes fun at everyone, herself included. It’s just more of a misinformed thing.
She had asked me one day if I had ever seen an older [over the age of 30 was her definition] Pagan, in which I could honestly reply that, yes, I had. It might sound a little blasphemous to my mother, but I consider a greater portion of her friends whom I grew up around to at least be leaning Pagan if not being as such with the self-imposed title of “Lutheran.” Considering that 90% of said people happen to be Icelandic just leads me to the thought that Paganism never fully got all that far away from belief in Iceland. A good example would be the fact that it’s still an extremely common thing to celebrate the transition from winter to spring with a Thorrablot… it’s more of a cultural thing these days, but in a lot of ways you could connect it with Imbolc b/c of the time of year and the significance with it being in anticipation of spring… [yeah, I know, it sounds like I just pulled that one out of my ass.]
Just to stir things up, I might link one of my LiveJournal posts on here about the left-handed and right-handed paths… but I think I’ll save that for when someone asks a more in-depth question about it.
Hi Indigo. I never knew you were a fellow Icelander! One of the things I love about being Icelandic is the obsession with genealogy, so most Icelanders can trace their ancestry back at least to the settlers of Iceland and often to Viking kings and such. A while back, I figured out how I’m descended from Odin, but the genealogy is almost certainly folklorical at that point anyway. Still, it does sort of bring one closer to the Norse gods (I’m not a pagan, but I do occasionally wear a Thor’s Hammer and have always liked Norse mythology).
So not really a question, just a “Hey, we’re probably related!”
Already In Use: Although I’m only half Icelandic, it’s my strongest cultural tie. That’s pretty damned kewl to see other Icelanders on the boards, though, ain’t it? (I miss Iceland so much; I shall have to visit again someday, and perhaps find a way to live closer to it or in a place with a similar atmosphere and lack of cement wasteland…) I’ve got some relatives that have the geneaology books that are really well mapped out, and it’s got this really outdated photo of my family in it, from probably around when I was 8 years old or so. ::giggles:: I was goofy lookin’ back then. I should’ve never cut my own hair when I was 3 years old.
It sort of makes me glad I’m not the only one who thought of that.
This is why man invented sandpaper… and varnish! :eek: