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Paganism at Universal Life Church

Master of Paganism ..............................$60

This course is a beginner's course on Paganism. In this course, you will learn all the basics of Paganism from the beginning, looking at creation, to more advanced concepts and beliefs. If you are a follower of Paganism, or you'd just like to find out more about this very old religion, then this is the course for you. The course is written in very easy-to-follow language and contains many useful facts and ideas.

Some of the lessons included are:

  • Creation
  • Deity
  • Pantheons and Cultures
  • Magickal Beings
  • The Afterlife
  • Celebrations throughout the year
  • Sabbats
  • The Four Guardians
  • Sacred Place
  • Sacred Space
  • The Great Rite
  • Rituals
  • Sacred Symbols
  • Sacred Rites
  • Divination
  • And much much more!
Sample of Course

MASTER OF PAGANISM

Master of Paganism

Written by Rev. Phoenix


    Welcome to a sample of lesson one of the Masters of Paganism program. Each week you will receive a discourse that talks about the Paganism.


Master of Paganism

www.ulcseminary.org

  Universal Life Church Seminary

**********

Lesson 1 -- Introduction

Introduction

For many years now many people all over the world have been looking upon the Religions of the Ancient World.  Some leave the “book” religions because they see too many spots where questions go unanswered.  Others do so because they feel an affinity to the older religions.  The Old Religions have been around since the beginning of time, it seems, and they continue to thrive, as new people join their ranks of believers.

 

Of course there are the Cowans (outsiders of the old religion) who frown upon it saying, “This isn’t the same as the old religions; it is all made up and changed around. It’s a modern invention.”  Well if that is so, then is it not also true that all religions are of modern invention?  Things in religion, as with all things, will change to suit the needs of the people of the times.

 

Look at the United States. Every now and then a new bill is passed and made into a law.  Is the United States still a democracy then?  Yes, it is!  That new law was made because it was needed for the people of the times.  Look at Christianity; it is clearly not the same as it was 2,000 years ago upon its creation. In those times, Christians had to fear the Pagans of Rome who would place them  in jail and kill them. And moving forward in time, Pagans had to fear the Christians for the same reason. But now, as we move into present time, Pagans are beginning to be fearless in the face of persecution and are finding a peaceful ground.

 

As I have heard a wise Priestess say, “Pagans are the rams that lead, not the sheep who follow.” Pagans are the strong-willed, the mighty. We are here to stay.  We shall not fade away into hiding and darkness.  We shall be leading the tribes back to the prominence that they once were.

 

A Pagan Story of Creation

 

In the beginning, there was the Chaos: the One and the None; that which was everything and nothing.  It was the eternal and primal force of energy and matter.  It was the bleak and black void of nothingness.

 

In time, the Chaos began to move -- although the motion was so slow it was as if it were not moving at all. But with this microscopic movement came a sound. This sound was so small it was almost not even heard.

 

Eventually it was noticed that as the sound became slightly louder, the movement slightly picked up pace.

 

The sound grew to a deafening roar and the Chaos began to spiral. Suddenly the deep roar grew louder, getting higher and higher in pitch. With it, the spiral spun faster and faster. Now the deep roar became a piercing scream and with it twinges of light shot out from the core of the Chaos.

 

The piercing scream continued to grow and the spiral became faster. The twinges of light became blasts of lightning. Soon the scream became soundless and unheard, the lightning blasts became constant and the spiral moved in an un-seeable motion.

 

The Chaos finally burst open in all directions, scattering its many pieces all across what had become space. In the core of the explosion sat a giant orb of glowing white fire and radiance.

 

But this massive orb was a collection of even smaller orbs that were scattered around it as well. These tiny orbs began to dance to a light sounding beat. These orbs too, began to spiral. As the beat quickened, so did the dancing.  Eventually a soft singing voice accompanied the beat. The voice grew louder and the orbs danced faster until they too were blasted forth in every direction into the emptiness of space.

 

And there in the once empty space, now stood the Illuminated One, the being known to many as Goddess.

 

She stood in complete radiance. The corners of Her eyes were speckled with glowing stardust. Her hair was dark, golden, or brown as she chose. Her body was laced with what appeared to be diamonds but was the dust of Her many stars. The stars greatly adorned Her breasts and hips, creating clothing.

 

She looked forth into Her creation of space and stars. She smiled and began to twirl. As She began the Spiral Dance once again, she continue her song. Her voice echoed off the stars and shimmered through space. Her movement got the stars of space to move with Her. Soon the universe danced with Her to Her tune.  Every stamp of Her feet sent a flash of light in all directions.

 

As She continued the Spiral Dance, stars began to creep closer and closer to Her. She paid no mind to the stars coming at Her; instead She gave a smile and a wink. Soon the stars entirely surrounded Her: above, below, and around,  encasing the Goddess. She danced on as they spun faster around her forming an orb of light. She pulled the stars in on Herself, embracing them. The orb further enclosed her body.  When they spun together, it appeared as a spinning pillar of light.  Finally, She let go of the stars, which shot out a burst of light in all directions. This light was constant, lighting up the universe and radiating a white-lighted energy.

It was not until Goddess began to slow down that the universe dimmed into a normal glow. And as She slowed it was apparent that another being had danced with Her.

 

This being had hair of gold and eyes of glowing amber. His skin was bronzed and decked with stars of gold. His hips also bore a decadent skirted fashion. This being was God.

 

Goddess and God looked intently upon each other and kissed. Their love was the love that bonds life to death.

 

The last of the Spiral Dance kept the universe in motion. Galaxies, Solar systems and such were birthed into form.

 

In search for a gift for the God, Goddess stumbled upon the most radiant of the stars. It glowed as golden as His eyes and burned with the power that created Him.

 

God also searched for a gift for the Goddess. He looked about but found few worth Her majesty. In sight of where the Goddess looked, He crept close to Her searching area. Then He saw it, the gift that would please Her the most of all.  It changed form, as She had in order to create.  It reflected the light of a star that is symbolic of their connection of love.

 

When Goddess approached God to give Him Her gift, She was surprised to see Him in the area where She found the gift for Him. God was shocked in a slight fear that She knew of Her gift. She drew closer and pointed to the orb of burning light. He was overjoyed with it. He then pointed to the orb that reflected light. She was too overtaken with joy. Goddess and God both smiled in recognition and love.

 

It was then that they realized that the perfect home for them would the place where both orbs could be seen. They looked about and found the small orb close to the Goddess’ orb and fairly close to the God’s orb. They descended to the small orb and began life there, upon the soils of Her child known as Earth.

 

Goddess and God feared that the Earth might stray away from the God’s and Goddess’ orb. And so God bound the earth with a ring to His orb that He fancied to call “Sun.” Goddess did the same with Her orb that She called “Moon”, binding it to the Earth with a ring.

 

But the Earth cried out that She did not want Her brothers or sisters to leave Her behind. And so to remedy this, Goddess gave a ring to each of the Earth’s siblings. And these became the Planets.

 

While on Earth, Goddess’ star children cried out to her in sorrow. The star children had missed Her and wanted their Mother to watch over them. And so as a caring Mother, Goddess went out and gathered Her star children and bound them in a cradle about the Planets. This became the Celestial Sphere. She named Her first generation of star children as the Zodiac. She also named them individually: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. She told Her children that as a gift, each shall rule over a period of time as the Earth moved around the Sun. She also granted each star child a gift for its birthday. And so every 2,167 years each star child governed an era of the earth.

 

Now after the care of Her Planet children and Zodiac children, Goddess finally settled down onto Earth with Her lover, God. Being gone so long, Goddess hadn’t seen how bleak the Earth was. It was nothing but rock, ice, and water. She asked the Earth if She wanted to be beautiful and the Earth replied, “Yes.”

 

And so Goddess grabbed one of Her many stars and crumbled it into dust. She spread this over the rocky surfaces of the Earth. The Earth shook in joy and waters nourished the dust into to soil. God showered the Earth with His Sun’s light. The Earth smiled in warmth and soon began to grow grass, trees, shrubs, bushes, flowers, and other plants. The Earth was now made beautiful.

 

Goddess enjoyed the Earth’s newfound beauty but wanted more. And so God took stardust, soil, and water and crafted what he called “animals.”  In order to animate the animals, Goddess breathed into each one giving it life. At first God created the many dinosaurs, fish, and other prehistoric beasts. God entertained the Goddess by creating more animals like birds, dogs, felines, horses, elephants, and others.  But each animal was created in a pair, male and female in order to reproduce. In time the earth was populated with animals of all kinds and appearances. But Goddess desired beings like the God and Herself. And so the two joined in love this time bearing twins. One like the Goddess and one like the God. These beings were placed all over the Earth. They were similar to the ape species but were more advanced in terms of the mind and body.

 

These beings came to be called humans…

 

Pagan Creation mythology in contact with other beliefs

           

            This Cosmology bears within its words many traditional theories to the origin and very beginning of existence itself.

 

            It started out with Chaos or Kaos in its Greek form. Both of these words generate the same meaning. It is the ‘everything and nothing’ of creation that is after the destruction of a universe and before the creation of a universe. It is raw power and essence in a relaxed state. Scientifically one could say that Chaos is Potential Deity as Creation is Kinetic Deity. Potential inferring that it is stored Deity, not in use and not in form.

 

            Suddenly Chaos begins to move by the generation of a sound. This correlates to the Hindu beliefs that sound forced creation to be. This sound is the “Om.” This is a sacred sound to the Hindu peoples. Sound is also referred to in many religions, at least in its form as words. In the Bible of Judeo-Christian-Islam religion, the first thing God [Deity] did was speak and something was brought into existence. Keeping with the gist of sound and words, names were considered very sacred by many peoples. The Kemetic religion [Egyptian Paganism] states that every deity, spirit, and so on has at least two names. One name is its common name [in human form its like a nick name] and its other name is its secret name [in human form its like the entire full name].

 

          The common name is used to draw attention and say, “Hey, I’m talking to you.” The secret name is used in ways of command and might such as, “Hey you! You need to get your little bum down here or else!” The secret name is like how your mother would always sternly speak your full name and you knew you were in some serious trouble. The common name is just what your friends might say when you meet them at the mall. Because of this theory of names, it is said that to know the true name of something or someone is to have power over that thing or person. This is why the Judeo religion says that God has a secret name and it should and must not ever be spoken aloud.  And in old times only the Rabbinical Priests were blessed with the privileges of knowing God’s name.

 
 
Copyright Notice
 

Copyright 2007 by Rev. Phoenix. All rights reserved. No part of this lesson may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

 

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