Pagan Dating Chat

Finally, a pagan dating site has enabled chat, allowing members to communicate in real time, rather than resorting to conversing purely through the dating site. Most sites don't allow you to insert your mail address or telephone number even in private messaging and then, there are limits to the number or private messages allowed to individual members, making it difficult to make real life connections.

So, well done, Olde Souls, for installing a live messenger/chat section for us single pagans. I think I may be visting more often now.

Yet Another Pagan Dating Site

Its seems there are more and more sites for pagan singles, and here is yet another: Wiccan/Pagan Singles Club, which is part of the Ning social networking site. Again, it is based in the United States of America, but there are a few from the United Kingdom.

I do know of a few couples who found each other through these type of sites, so they must work on some level.

Sacred Texts

To paraphrase some statements I've read recently:

How does anyone know if story cycles and legends - which generally seem to be medieval, no earlier - can tell us anything much about belief systems that existed prior to Christian, medieval Europe? Aren't they refracted and distorted through the Christian lens? Rely on these texts is dangerous, surely?

There is also a problem with people basing their lives/belief systems on anything for which they have to rely on translation.

One reason to be a pagan is to reject living by any book or dogma. Sure, it's a way of life for others who can't break away from the lure of dogma, being told what to think by a written text or a liturgy. But for others, it has no authority.

And, on a more personal note from one:

I love "The Mabinogion" but I could never live by it, quite apart from the fact I can only ever read it in translation so can only pick up a shadow of what it's actually saying.

My thoughts follow.

Linguists are still making inroads into unravelling the texts, allowing us to see the influences, so I don't consider an inability to read texts in their original language a barrier. Besides which, I don't have the ability to read any of the texts in their original language, nor do I have the means to go to university and study linguistics, history and archaeology in order to confirm/deny for myself the validity of the translations. Then again, I suspect I'm not the only pagan in this position. I imagine a lot of heathens, celtic and brythonic pagans find themselves in the same position. I suppose western buddhists and other non-Christian groups would find themselves with similar dilemnas.

I can understand the statements made in the quotes above. However, there is a wealth of texts relating to stories (which can be traced back, linguistically and historically) prior to their being put in written form. I don't see any reason to dismiss any of them, just because I am unable to read, or listen to them in their original language and/or form. I prefer to seek out those who study the texts and then discern, for myself, what is valid and what is not.

And, what about SPG - does one completely ignore these when examining texts?

In my opinion, the texts are still valuable guides when seeking to verify UPG and, certainly, this seems to have been borne out over the years by various groups working towards a common goal.

That said, I have a lot of reading still to do in relation to myths, legends, folklore, history and languages of the British Isles. Just because my reading list is long doesn't mean to say I base the whole of my beliefs on texts alone. Experience, aligned with the stories in the text, is far more meaningful. Well, let's just say, I'm glad I have the written word to check against, rather than a long line of SPG. It makes my chosen spirital path less about faith and more about belief.

I would be interested to hear the opinions of others as to whether they believe the texts are useful or obsolete in relation to their chosen path.

Pagan Time - New Networking Site

I stumbled across an email for yet another new networking site. Its called Pagan Time and it is encouraging people worldwide to list their events, i.e. its a pagan promotion site.

Its obviously a start-up site and it the format could be better for the listing of various events such as moots, workshops and festivals, i.e. I have seen similar set-ups which are held in a calendar format, such as the listing at Pentacle Magazine. Even so, I'm prepared to give it a plug here. Perhaps it will improve as it grows.

Labels

Just a short note, in addition to the rather lengthy posts on "Defining My Use of the Term, 'Fluffy Bunny'" and "Begging, Borrowing and Stealing", on labels.

Do we need them? Yes, we do. We need them in everyday life and we need them to define ourselves, our beliefs and our practices. Its no good saying, "Well, one person's polytheist is another's animist".

I am not a skyscraper just because I am taller than most erections. I am not a freezer just because I have been known to give people the cold shoulder. I am a human being, I am a woman.

Each word in the English language has a basic definition that most can comprehend, allowing for differences in dialect and dictionaries. Hence, I feel its important to keep those definitions when talking with other people. This is my reasoning behind not borrowing terms from other cultures and traditions. It just muddles things for those trying to understand the differences.

So, when someone says they are a druid, you can assume that they adhere to a broad spectrum of practices amongst modern druids, can't you? Well, no. Not in today's pagan circles you can't. I have my own definitions, based on what I know of history, archaeology, relevant texts, the Oxford dictionary and my experience of those, of my acquaintance, who are tryng to follow the path of the ancient druids. Unfortunately, my definition does not seem to be the same as others; thus giving occasion for my posts of last week.

So, when you seen the word "pagan" before any other word, do not assume that the definition of the latter word is unaltered. It ain't always what it says on the tin.

A belief in in god[/gods] infers you are stupid??

So, I was home yesterday and had the chance to watch daytime TV. On "The Wright Stuff", they were discussing how a belief in God was almost absent from those of higher intelligence. There apparently had been reports of a study stating that 699 out of 700 nobel prize winners had no belief in god and, thus, that believing in god meant you were stupid. The topic originated from the following article:

Intelligence is a predictor of religious scepticism, a professor has argued.

Belief in God is much lower among academics than among the general population because scholars have higher IQs, a controversial academic claimed this week.

In a forthcoming paper for the journal Intelligence, Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Ulster, will argue that there is a strong correlation between high IQ and lack of religious belief and that average intelligence predicts atheism rates across 137 countries.

In the paper, Professor Lynn - who has previously caused controversy with research linking intelligence to race and sex - says evidence points to lower proportions of people holding religious beliefs among "intellectual elites".

The paper - which was co-written with John Harvey, who does not report a university affiliation, and Helmuth Nyborg, of the University of Aarhus, Denmark - cites studies including a 1990s survey that found that only 7 per cent of members of the American National Academy of Sciences believed in God. A survey of fellows of the Royal Society found that only 3.3 per cent believed in God at a time when a poll reported that 68.5 per cent of the general UK population were believers.

Professor Lynn told Times Higher Education: "Why should fewer academics believe in God than the general population? I believe it is simply a matter of the IQ. Academics have higher IQs than the general population. Several Gallup poll studies of the general population have shown that those with higher IQs tend not to believe in God."

He said that most primary school children believed in God, but as they entered adolescence - and their intelligence increased - many began to have doubts and became agnostics.

He added that most Western countries had seen a decline of religious belief in the 20th century at the same time as their populations had become more intelligent.

Andy Wells, senior lecturer in psychology at the London School of Economics, said the existence of a correlation between IQ and religiosity did not mean there was a causal relationship between the two.

Gordon Lynch, director of the Centre for Religion and Contemporary Society at Birkbeck, University of London, said that any examination of the decline of religious belief needed to take into account a wide and complex range of social, economic and historical factors.

He added: "Linking religious belief and intelligence in this way could reflect a dangerous trend, developing a simplistic characterisation of religion as primitive, which - while we are trying to deal with very complex issues of religious and cultural pluralism - is perhaps not the most helpful response."

Alistair McFadyen, senior lecturer in Christian theology at the University of Leeds, said that Professor Lynn's arguments appeared to have "a slight tinge of intellectual elitism and Western cultural imperialism as well as an antireligious sentiment".

David Hardman, principal lecturer in learning development at London Metropolitan University, said: "It is very difficult to conduct true experiments that would explicate a causal relationship between IQ and religious belief. Nonetheless, there is evidence from other domains that higher levels of intelligence are associated with a greater ability - or perhaps willingness - to question and overturn strongly felt intuitions.

Source: Times Higher Education.

Now, I know the report relates to the xian god or a single god, but what about polytheists and/or pagans who believe in a higher energy/source/[insert appropriate name here]? Are we considered less intelligent again?

For my part, and given the (what I believe to be) genuine pagans with whom I have contact, I would dispute this. Many have degrees or are in the process of higher education and, from what I can see, also have high IQs. I know that I am in the top 10 percentile for intelligence, and I believe in more than one god.

Personally, I think belief is more dependent on how you were raised. If you grew up in a household where religion played a factor (regardless of it being xian or non-xian), you are more likely to continue on some spiritual practices, whereas if you were raised in a family where rational thought was more valued, you are less likely to explore the unexplainable, or anything that may require faith.

To my mind, Profess Lynn's argument is flawed as it does not explore the backgrounds of the nobel prize winners. What's more, I thought Rev. Desmond Tutu was a prize winner, so it he the only believer?

I wonder what the rest of the polytheist and/or pagan community might feel about this.