Pagan/Witchcraft practicing Merfolk? Anyone?

[TheChimera]

True, they aren't a religion per se since they are based on Freemasonry, but Gardner built a religion out of his experience with them. There is a lot of overlap between traditional ceremonial magick and what Gardner eventually came up, particularly in regards to initiation rites.

Probably where the idea of our modern interpretation of casting the circle came from, the mix of ceremonial/ folk magick, so could calling the quarters, I could be wrong but just a thought.


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[MidsummerMermaid]

Most of what Wicca is today, from what I understand, are what a local coven told Gardner and he came public with his findings.

[tealmermaid]

I agree, and Gardner was the one to bring Wicca, an ancient nature religion, back into the public eye.

If I may ask, how do you define "Wicca" such that you consider it an ancient nature religion?

Probably where the idea of our modern interpretation of casting the circle came from, the mix of ceremonial/ folk magick, so could calling the quarters, I could be wrong but just a thought.

That's all derived from ceremonial magick: very formal and ritualistic. Freemasons do much the same thing, for what it's worth.

Folk magick is taking a couple of pins and a bit of cloth (or something along those lines), and making the best of it. It's nothing formal.

Most of what Wicca is today, from what I understand, are what a local coven told Gardner and he came public with his findings.

Whatever the New Forest coven may have told Gardner, the coven was, if I recall correctly, later shown by researchers (Hutton et al) to have been founded shortly before contact with Gardner. It's difficult to claim "ancient unbroken line" with such a timeline.

In addition, Gardner was IMO sufficiently well-read to created a religion by playing mix and match with whatever elements appealed to him. He himself was familiar with Murray's now-discredited The Witch-Cult in Western Europe to the point that she wrote the preface to Witchcraft Today. He was initiated into the Rosicrucians and the OTO. He had ample folkloric references at hand to fill in the gaps if necessary.

It doesn't invalidate the resulting religion if he made it up any more than, say, the Church of All Worlds being invalid because it's based on a sci-fi book. It's not like there aren't plenty of what might be termed "reconstructed religions" around nowadays. The Diaspora religions are not the same as the original localized cults in West Africa. Modern Hellenic paganism is far different from the genuine article. So is modern Norse paganism. Etc. That's why this sort of thing falls into the category of Neo-Paganism.

[MidsummerMermaid]

Wicca is a nature religion in that it worships the earth goddess and sun God and rotates within the seasons. However they only worship these two gods, making them separate from pagans. However they can also see the goddess in other goddesses and the same for the God if this makes sense.

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[Little_Orca]

I found this great app I wanted to share with you lovely, magickal fishes. You can get it on iPhone and Android and it's called Pagans and Witches by Amino. It has blogs, articles, inspiration, and chats. It's amazing so far. I recommend it. If you get it, you can find me on there as Mermaid Merlissa.

[MidsummerMermaid]

I prefer good old fashioned spellsofmagic.com. they're a decent community and it was one of the first pagan sites. I'm weird I guess

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[BlueCorvidae]

I'm noticing a lot of confusion on what paganism is here, guys.

The original definition of Paganism is any religion that isn't Christianity. (This included atheists.) The modern definition of Paganism is any religion that isn't a "main world religion" which at this point in time is Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. (Also Shinto, depending on who you ask.)

Wicca, Hellenism, Norse mythos, witchcraft, and anything involving the worship of old-world gods, nature, or magic is all paganism. It's a very broad umbrella term, I know. "Paganism" on it's own isn't a religion, but most faiths discussed here fall under it.

[tealmermaid]

A bit late, but I got busy.

A joyous Midwinter, Saturnalia, Yule, and Dies Natalis Invicti Solis (and anything else I may have missed) to everyone here!

[darksiren]

A bit late, but I got busy.

A joyous Midwinter, Saturnalia, Yule, and Dies Natalis Invicti Solis (and anything else I may have missed) to everyone here!

And to you!

[Vantin]

the closest I've gotten to witchcraft is a deck of tarot cards. I wouldn't mind expanding but my fiance doesn't like any of that stuff and can't stand to be near my cards. I'm not going to push him and his feelings aside to practice it even though I want to try it.

[PearlieMae]

Oh my gods. Kill me now.

(Teal, thanks for stepping up. I have no patience anymore.)

Vantin, tarot cards are not witchcraft. They are a tool used for divination.

Wicca, derived from the ancient Scottish word "wicce" (pronounced wee-chay) means Wise One. Usually the village healer, versed in natural medicines and herbology, was the wicce (sounds like witch, huh?) This is the roots of western European pre-Christian, earth-based religion, recognizing both the male and female aspects of all nature.

Modern Wicca is, at its core, the worship of deity through nature, both male and female aspects.

Paganism, as Teal explains above, is any non-Christian religion. (Kudos, Blue)

"Witchcraft" in the modern vernacular, has become a blanket term for magick/spell casting. Magick is nothing more than the manipulation of energy towards a goal. Traditional prayer is magick. Carrying a four leaf clover for luck is magick. Knocking on wood is magick. Wishing on a falling star is magick. The main difference between prayer in its current (read typical) form is that prayer is supplication, where neo-pagan magick is application of energies.

Do your research. There have never been more resources so easily available as there are now.

Everything in the universe is energy. Direct it wisely.

[Mermaid Mia]

Oh my gods. Kill me now.

(Teal, thanks for stepping up. I have no patience anymore.)

Vantin, tarot cards are not witchcraft. They are a tool used for divination.

Wicca, derived from the ancient Scottish word "wicce" (pronounced wee-chay) means Wise One. Usually the village healer, versed in natural medicines and herbology, was the wicce (sounds like witch, huh?) This is the roots of western European pre-Christian, earth-based religion, recognizing both the male and female aspects of all nature.

Modern Wicca is, at its core, the worship of deity through nature, both male and female aspects.

Paganism, as Teal explains above, is any non-Christian religion. (Kudos, Blue)

"Witchcraft" in the modern vernacular, has become a blanket term for magick/spell casting. Magick is nothing more than the manipulation of energy towards a goal. Traditional prayer is magick. Carrying a four leaf clover for luck is magick. Knocking on wood is magick. Wishing on a falling star is magick. The main difference between prayer in its current (read typical) form is that prayer is supplication, where neo-pagan magick is application of energies.

Do your research. There have never been more resources so easily available as there are now.

Everything in the universe is energy. Direct it wisely.

I have been practicing on my own or in groups for years and this is still the best/closest explanation of how I feel about magic that I have ever heard.


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[PearlieMae]

Thanks, Mia!

Being a Crone has its advantages

[PearlieMae]

I use spellsofmagic.com They're a good community as long as you do as the mods say and obey the rules

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http://witchvox.com/ probably has some more in-depth information than spellsofmagic.com - check it out and make your own determination.

[tealmermaid]

Spellsofmagic appears to consist of content that the so-called authors are taking from other sites. There are more than a few articles that are lifted word-for-word from the source URL -- if they credit a source at all. Not a lot of good copyright karma going on there.

WitchVox is in dire need of a good cleanup IMO. It used to be a nice site when the owners first got out from Laurie Cabot's thumb to set up the site, but I don't think anyone wants to read about event reviews, front page updates, or bardic press releases from 1998 at this late date. Their resource section also has a lot of broken or spammy links.

I think a lot of Neo-Pagans are simply moving to social media rather than a more traditional forum or web site.

[TheMerthropologist]

Social media does seem to be the way to go

ThePaganStudyGroup over on Tumblr used to be pretty great I think, they had a lot of info and resources and did their best to answer asks and acknowledge where they didn't have enough info and always encouraged doing your own research and fact-checking, although the blog is on infinite hiatus now.

I still follow MagpiesMagicNest and enjoy their content.

I think with social media it's a lot easier to be well...social.

[tealmermaid]

I want nothing to do with Tumblr, frankly. There's quite a few individuals who do not seem to get the concept that listing a source does not excuse the fact of lifting entire articles from websites -- or worse, pretending they wrote it themselves rather than list a source, then getting social "headpats" for posting great info.

For example, I see several people passing around my sea magick articles even though I have had copyright info posted on my content since 1995. One particular individual on Tumblr seems to have carted off my entire site in the space of two of their(?) lengthy posts. Since I don't have an account over there, I can't contact them to take it down. Ditto for Facebook content thieves, for what it's worth.

And this is why I'm not a social-media-using Neo-Pagan.

[gay-mermaid]

Man, i really wish i could find more modern sources that didnt use wicca as the basic for what all witchcraft is. I see too many people who think you have to be wiccan to practice witchcraft, and as such, many sources push wicca on anyone looking to practice witchcraft

pronouns are they/them/their

[tealmermaid]

Man, i really wish i could find more modern sources that didnt use wicca as the basic for what all witchcraft is. I see too many people who think you have to be wiccan to practice witchcraft, and as such, many sources push wicca on anyone looking to practice witchcraft

I hear you on that one! Wicca and Witchcraft are not the same thing. Nor are "Pagan" and "Wicca" interchangeable, even though there are many "Pagan" books only talk about Wicca and its practices. Any practices outside of that seem to be a foreign concept.

Also, I keep running into people who stretch "Eclectic Wicca" so far that they might as well say they're a Wiccan-Shaman-Druid and be done with it. Wicca is a specific set of practices. If you go too far outside that, it's no longer Wicca.

I don't know, is there a problem nowadays with just staying under the Neo-Pagan umbrella? (I live under a rock, so I really don't know what the current trends in Neo-Paganism are.)

[Mermaid Lily Dewdrop]

Well hello fellow merfolk! I have done a wide search for the last few hours and came up with...almost nothing! A few posts here and there on other threads but that's about it really...

So there's a Christian Mer thread, and an atheist one as far as I know...and so I'm reaching a fin out to those of similar beliefs to mine! Anyone really who identifies under the labels 'Pagan' or even 'Witch'! or even just those of you who like studying or learning of such things! And so yes...it's a WIDE and broad reach out! As it should be.

So come on in, chat and tell us about your beliefs if you wish! And where they spawn from! And pleeeeeease don't come in her under the intention to tell us how sinful we are, or how ridiculous we are for believing in what we do...as the biggest annoyance on the Atheist Mer thread was literally a person stating why Atheists were wrong...or people going on there saying how atheists believe 'nothing'...just don't, it's literally ridiculous and pointless...save your fingers and go onto a topic you can contribute to and be a little brighter of mood in, no one likes a know it all or an arrogant prat. Thaaanks.

So happy posting and I hope I can connect with few like minded Merfolk!

It’s nice to find fellow Pagans in the community, that was something I was a little worried about (I live in a primarily Christian community). Just glad there’s others out there in the Mer community