Violence in Paganism
This article on Witches Voice goes into a lot of the “warrior” aspect of paganism. Well, mostly it’s about how the author, who is a martial artist, has met a lot of resistance in the pagan community due to his interest in what they consider “violence.”
I can’t say I’ve run across any of that type of resistance, though I’m sure it’s out there. There are fundamental pagans just like there are fundamental christians. I myself always followed a strong warrior and pioneering path in my spirituality. People think it’s cruel that I hunt, they’d never do it themselves, but it puts food on my table for the winter, and a hide to keep me warm. Hunting itself is a very spiritual thing for me. It’s almost like a battle of survival between me and a beast, and the ability to overcome that, respectfully. They are afterall, my brothers.
Marital arts can be a very spiritual experience. I took two different types for several years before I turned hellian, and I had a lot of respect for myself, and my studies. It’s something I’d like to get into again, for the discipline, both physically and mentally. But does it make me a violent pagan because of it? Does the fact that I hunt mean that I am not walking a true pagan path? The answer is simply…….No.
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One Response to “Violence in Paganism”
January 26th, 2006 at 9:18 am
Stuff like this crops up in all religions/beliefs, I notice. Yuo simply can’t please everyone! I grew up in a family that hunted, and we ate what was killed. Sport hunting is different, though…