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The Article below may be of interest to some of you that are confused.
A Rant on these Godless Pagans
By: Keitha (FireWind)
Posted: April 3rd, 2002

I wasn't always Pagan, you know. Like many of you, I used to be Christian. I have been baptized, had my first communion, been confirmed. I went to a Catholic highschool where I wore a uniform every day. When I was 17, I used to drag myself out of bed after working until the wee hours, just so I could go to the Church an hour early to sing in the choir. I have read the bible, Old and New testaments, from cover to cover. Some might have called me a good Catholic.

But I wasn't a good Catholic. I tried to follow the teachings and rules, and I went through the motions. But I never felt the connection I craved to the Divine. I never really felt I believed in the Christian mythology or philosophy. To my mind as a strong and opinionated young woman, the Christian God seemed far too chauvanistic to be the wise creator I was told He was. I was constantly questioning and fighting with what I thought I should believe.

Years later, as I happily started off along this path known as 'Wicca', I still didn't really understand a connection to the Divine. All I knew was that I felt moved, somehow, by the rituals and experiences I had encountered along the way. The idea of being able to think freely, to believe what my heart informed me was true, was so liberating that I went every which way at once. I believed in everything; I believed in nothing. Mostly, I believed in magick.

So I read, I studied, I learned. I picked up a beginner book and followed the rituals closely. I did rituals at the new moon and full moon; I gave offerings of bread, milk and honey to the Earth and Her creatures. I bought expensive incence, herbs, powders and oils so that I could cast "spells" with extra care. I did rituals at the Sabbats, even if I didn't really know why or exactly how. I learned about the Pagan mythologies: about the Greek gods, and the Romans, the Celts and the Norse. But they were like characters in a book: I didn't really understand them, or what they were "for".

More and more frequently lately, I have been getting questions about the gods. What do they do, what are they "for", do you really have to believe in them. Can you believe in the Christian God but still be Wiccan. Can you still be Wiccan if you don't believe in pagan gods.

In my not-so-humble opinion, the answer is as simple as it is contentious: No. You cannot be Wiccan if you do not believe in pagan gods. You can cast spells, you can do magick, you can celebrate the moon and the Earth and you can think freely and believe in whatever you like. It may be Witchcraft, but it's not Wiccan Witchcraft.

Now that the hornets are out of the proverbial nest, please give me a moment to explain how I came to this opinion. I'm not telling people that what they believe is wrong, or that they have no right to believe something, or that my belief is any more worthy of consideration than anyone else's. I am simply stating my opinion as I have formed it at this time. And I have a right to it, as do you to yours. To accept everything is to believe in nothing.

Wicca, like it or not, is a belief system. It is an open, tolerant, free-thinking belief system. But a system it is. It has a somewhat coherant philosophy, a way of thinking, and a set of common beliefs. We believe that everything is sacred. We believe that as long as we "Harm None", we can do as we will. We believe in magick. We believe that women can be strong and spiritual, not just men. We believe that we can be responsible for our own actions. We believe that joy is sacred. We believe that there is more than one "truth"; that an individual must seek their own path in their own way. Stop me if I've said anything that's really out of line with the general spirit of Wicca.

Wicca generally works in a philosophical system of interconnectedness and balance. All things are fine strands in the web of life, all things are an equal part of the whole, and all things support the correct amount of weight, and cause the correct amount of tension on the rest of the web. Okay, so I'm waxing poetic here, but I think I've made my point. Now, drop a big Monotheistic "I'm the one-and-only I'm-going-to-smite-you-if-you-challenge-me" God on there. There is no longer equillibrium: everything is no longer equal with everything else. Something is guiding the web; something is in control. Something has become a power higher than the web of life itself, and perfect balance has been lost.

If you believe in a Monotheistic, Omnipotent ("All-Powerful") God, then you may have free will, but you have it with your God's permission. You can do magick, but you do it with your God's permission. And if your God is "a jealous God", then also walking the Wiccan way can bring many spiritual and philosophical roadblocks. Not that I'm picking on Christianity in particular; that's just where my experience is. Any monotheistic God is fundamentally incompatible with an open pantheistic ("All gods are One/face of the All") or polythestic ("All gods are separate") system. Can you be tolerant and respectful of beliefs in other gods? Absolutely. If you believe in many gods, there is no reason at all to be at odds with those who believe in one God. And the reverse is true if you believe in One God. But how can you believe that your God is the only God while simultaneously believing in many gods and the balance of all things?

Wicca is a Pagan path. We celebrate the Old Ways. I firmly believe that it is not monotheistic. If you are called to the Wiccan path because you want to do magick, ask yourself how magick works. Why do you need Wicca to do magick? Why do you want to ask things of gods you do not believe in? Instead of picking up a Wiccan book and doing a "spell", why not just sit down and ask the god you do believe in for help? If you are Christian, it's usually called praying. And it's magick. If you still feel the need to do more, perhaps to do a spell, then you are absolutely entitled to. Like I said, it's Witchcraft, but it's not Wiccan Witchcraft. If you still feel the need for Christianity and Paganism, then you might want to try Christopaganism. A perfectly valid, and as I understand, thriving path. But again, not Wiccan.

I found my gods because they called me, and because I made the decision to listen. They had been with me all my life, but I was too afraid to hear them. It took some time, but after I started to open my heart, I began to hear them, quietly. It took 21 years before I stopped being afraid. I have nothing but respect for those who still follow the path I once walked. But my place is here now. I am a Pagan. I am Wiccan. Both Lady and Lord stand with me. And I walk my path with many gods.

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