2
Paganism: Healthcare, Childbirth, & Child Rearing
Justin Osborne
Paganism: Healthcare, Childbirth, & Child Rearing
February 12, 2016
RNSG - 2462
Paganism is a belief system that holds to the ideology of the existence of gods and goddesses, which the Pagans believe affect and interact with one?s daily life. Most pagans hold to a polytheistic view of theology. Some pagans choose to worship a pantheon of deities, while other seek to have a more intimate and personal relationship with only one of their gods. They hold to the view that their gods embody certain attributes such as strength, love and intellect. Some modern Pagans define their spiritual beliefs and practices as being ?Earth-based.? You will often hear the
…show more content…
In history the pagans have been viewed as godless infidels. Many who practice paganism live in fear related to the judgment of others that hold differing views on religion. Much of the persecution of the Pagan has been related to their practice of magic. What is amazing is that much of the magic once practiced by pagans was similar to that of modern medicine (Some Basic Pagan, n.d.). Despite their apprehension and fear of persecution, it has been reported that Paganism has been described as one of the most rapidly growing religious movements in the world today (Eilers, p. …show more content…
They often prefer to have complimentary therapies that accompany modern medical practices. They may request a healing ritual to be performed over them, by a Pagan who is skilled in this area. There are some Pagans who view illness as a trial from one of their gods or goddesses. They often see this trial as a road to enlightenment (Hollins, p. 99). They do not hold any religious views that would cause them to refuse a blood transfusion. They also are not opposed to contraceptives. Pagans hold a strong belief that the woman has power over her body, and has the right to make all decision related to contraception. Pagans view the dying process as a natural cycle of life. A pagan patient will desire to know when they are dying, so that they can make the proper preparations for death. Rituals may take the form of 'last rites' performed by one or more Pagan members to help the spirit of the dying person to go into transition peacefully (p. 100). There are some pagan families who request to take the body of their deceased love one home to prepare it for burial or cremation. There are other pagan families who will request the assistance of a mortician. Most Pagans believe that after death, the spirit is reborn in another body (Some Basic Pagan, n.d.). Pagans are not opposed to autopsies or organ donations, though it varies based upon the
Christian Church's Influence on the Medical Progress The Christian Church was very powerful and had influence on many things which you wouldn't imagine they would have, one being medicine. The Church mainly hindered medical progress but we will see how it did and see if it helped medicine in any ways. When it came to developing new medical ideas the Church hindered its progression. An example of this is when Roger Bacon, a 13th century priest, was imprisoned for heresy after he suggested that there should be a new approach to medicine and original research should be thought of instead of using old ideas such as Galen's.
Puchalski, C. M., Dorff, D. E., Hebbar, B. N., & Hendi, Y. (2012). Religion, spirituality, and end of life care. RELIGION, SPRITUALITY, AND END OF LIFE CARE. Retrieved from http://www.uptodate.com/contents/religion-spirituality-and-end-of-life-care?source=search_result&search=Religion%2C+spirituality%2C+and+end+of+life+care&selectedTitle=1%7E146#
In discussing the Jewish sentiment about paganism, Plaskow reveals that hatred of other religions, reinforced by religious texts and aspects of culture can cause Jews to not know how other traditions have shaped their own. Plaskow argues that by hating paganism, the Jewish community misses out on parts of their own history. By pushing away paganism, Jews disguise “the important role that concrete artifacts played in ancient Jewish practice” (Plaskow, [Jewish Anti-Paganism], 1999, 111-112). By ignoring this fact, Jews prevent themselves from seeing the entire picture and the history of their tradition’s beginnings. Additionally, by being uneducated on how women played roles such as “dancers and diviners, musicians and priestesses” in the early days of their religions, Jews have allowed their tradition to exclude “women from religious leaderships” (Plaskow, [Jewish Anti-Paganism], 1999, 112). While Plaskow does not believe that paganism be directly incorporated into the Jewish tradition, only that the paganism should be attended more “closely and critically” in order for the tradition to not suppress “real human beings and distort our understanding of ourselves” (Plaskow, [Jewish Anti-Paganism], 1999,
Magliocco defines "Neo-Paganism" as others have before her as "a movement of new religions that attempt to revive, revitalize, and experiment with aspects of pre-Christian polytheism" (Magliocco 4). She continues to tell us that the Neo-Pagan goal is to gain a "deeper connection with the sacred, with nature, and with community" (4). This definition does not include any acts performed in the religion that may turn off any scientific readers from the start. Instead it is a broad yet exact definition that describes the religion from a rational standpoint.
Defined by Margot Adler, writer for Reader’s Companion to U.S. Women’s History, “Wicca is the term commonly used to describe several different traditions of contemporary Paganism—an earth-centered religion that reveres nature; celebrates seasonal and lunar cycles; and worships a goddess, or many goddesses, or sometimes a goddess and a god” (637-638). It is a religion that focuses on worshipping an earth god or goddess, using their power and the earth’s elements for good. For a misunderstood religion it has much history behind it and a deep core belief system.
Wiccan Religion: The Goddess and Gods of the Wiccan Religion. "Wicca is the most prevalent form of reconstructionist neo-paganism in the United States and is the pre-Christian spirituality of the Celtic peoples who resided in the British Isles and Brittany and on the western coast of France. " Wicca is a religion based upon a deep personal understanding of oneself and the multi-verse in which one resides. They work with the Gods and Goddesses that call to us, and we develop relationships with them that help and support them in their evolution. Wicca is a spiritual path, a way of seeing the world and Divinity, and our relationship to it.
In order to understand the game of Runescape, a player must first understand the pagan religion. The pagan religion concentrates on witchcraft and wizardry. A lot of the game centers on witches and wizards and the ability of a character to use magic. Pagans today still believe in witch craft and the ability to cure or even prevent certain illnesses from spreading to a community of people. The world of Runescape will help players delve deeper into the pagan traditions and help them understand more about their religion.
Wicca, like many fellow Pagan traditions, focuses on the beliefs of the deities that all share a different, yet common purpose in the universe-to keep balance and harmony in the world. Wicca, unlike other religions, categorizes the divine; honoring the Goddess in form of the Triple Goddess of sometimes referred to as the Patron Goddess, whose aspects are the Maiden, Mother, Crone; representing the three phases of the moon: Waxing, Waning, Full Moon, and Dark Moon (Morrison, 2001). In form of the Maiden, as stated by M...
traditions and practices within Pagan religion. Among these various traditions and practices there are commonly shared beliefs such as respecting all life, the honoring of male and female energies, a Father God and a Mother Goddess and that all things within the universe are interconnected. Pagan religions also share an ethic of self responsibility in doing as you choose, so long as it brings no harm to anyone or anything.Among the first hand accounts of a group of practicing Pagans of varied levels and years of experience, the majority were raised within the teachings of main world religions such as, Catholic, Baptist, Christian and Protestant religions.
Witchcraft has been shown onscreen as evil, black magick, rather than a faith, and most people see spells cast by wiggling the nose or pointing a finger to be valid of the witchcraft fable'. Is witchcraft a true, spiritual religion, and if so, are people willing to tolerate it? Many are uninformed of the religious aspect of the Craft, and those that are believe it to be false or wrong according to Jeffrey Mann. In today's society, religious tolerance of different groups of people or cultures is extremely important. By understanding and accepting the differences of real versus imaginary using witchcraft as the prime example, people will be able to see these groups as part of actual society and not just a fictitious, magickal portrayal in entertainment such as Bewitched, Charmed, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and The Craft. Hollywood's portrayal of witchcraft in movies and shows is invalid. Now on reruns, the television show, Bewitched, was once very popular. Samantha and Tabitha are shown casting spells nearly every other minute of the half-hour. The show brought forth a revival of the knowledge of witchcraft. In history, before Christianity, Paganism was a primary religion in Europe. Witchcraft is a form of Paganism, just as Wicca, Shamanism, and others are. When the Christian religion was being formed, many Pagan beliefs were still used. The Pagan tradition of Yule, the winter solstice holiday, was to bring a live tree into the house and decorate it with food, balls, and a star on top to protect the household from the evil spirits.
There was a huge influence of both paganism and christianity that can be noticed in Old English Poetry. To better understand these two values, let us explain what paganism and christianity mean. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. As presented in New Thestament, Christians believe Jesus to be the Son of God and the Messiah prophesied in The Old Testament. Christianity began in the 1st century AD as a Jewish sect, and shares many religious texts with Judaism, specifically the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament. The name Christian means belonging to Christ or partisan of Christ. As far as Paganism is concerned, the word comes from latin paganus and means a country dweller, rustic. It is a term which has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or cultic practises or beliefs of any folk religion a nd of historical and contemprorary polytheism religious in particular. (...) Characteristic of pagan traditions in the anscence of proselytisation and presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice. The term Pagan is a Christian adaptation of the goy of Judaism.
Pratt, S.A.M., 1915. The Attitude of the Catholic Church towards Witchcraft and the Allied Practices of Sorcery and Magic, Washington D.C.: National Capital Press, Inc.
“If anyone, deceived by the Devil, shall believe, as is customary among pagans, that any man or woman is a night-witch, and eats men, and on that account burn that person to death... he shall be executed” (Charlemagne) When the words witchcraft or magic are spoken, most people think of the Salem Witch trials or the popular television characters that we have today. But do we really know what happened centuries ago that caused the creation of these ideals and these characters we have grown to adore? Witchcraft still has a tight hold on the mind of many and continues to influence the gap between the popular and elite cultures of today.
Russell, Jeffrey. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics, and Pagans. New York: Themes and Hudson Inc. 1983.
III. Smithson, Jayne. “Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion.” Class lectures. Anthropology 120. Diablo Valley College, San Ramon 2004.