Some people might think they know without a doubt exactly what religion is. I myself was feeling a little uncertain on the topic, so I looked it up in the dictionary. It had four different definitions. No wonder there are so many wars over religion, no one can seem to agree on one definition of what it is! According to Merriam Webster, religion is the belief in and worship of God or gods, or a specific system of belief, worship, etc., often including a code of ethics (544). To the Greeks religion was a way to explain away things such as the seasons. The seasons existed only because Persephone was kidnapped by Hades and because she ate the fruit of the dead she would have to remain in the underworld for three months of every year. This caused Demeter, her mother and Goddess of the Harvest and Earth, incredible sadness, so she made the plants wither and die during the winter months.
There has always been conflict over religions. That was how the United States of America was founded. One of the reasons the English came over here was for freedom of religion. In the picture I have on my blog is a list of several different religions and even gender and peace are included. If you look at the picture, one can see the word coexist. My question to the world is: Why can we not all just coexist peacefully? It’s true that some religions are more widely accepted than others. Wiccanism is one such religion that is not widely accepted. In some places it is known simply as witch craft, but it is so very much more than that. To me, it’s a feeling of being one with nature, of loving the earth, and knowing that when I die I will return to her. According to Christine Jarvis, Wicca is a nature religion that stresses the immanence of the divine rather than transcendence, which in turn leads to a strong emphasis on responsibility, rather than rules (44).
Adler says that paganism is simply an umbrella term under which wiccanism falls (3). If one was to look at the holiday calendar of a Wiccan, they would find holidays that fall around the same time as Christian holidays. Whereas Christians celebrate Christmas, Wiccans celebrate Yule. The Wiccans holidays are known as the Eight Holy Days. Other than the two solstices and equinoxes, Wiccans celebrate four other holidays. They are Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain. Imbolc is on February first and is the celebration of the awakened Maiden of the Goddess and for preparing for renewal and new beginnings (Conway, 79). Beltane is on May first and was originally a fertility festival. Lughnasadh is on August first, and it is one of the first harvest festivals. Finally Samhain is from October 30 to November 1, and it marks the ending of one Celtic year and the beginning of another. Also at this time the veil between worlds is the thinnest making it the easiest to communicate with the dead (Conway, 78-80). One difference in the calendars is that Wiccans actually celebrate the changing of the seasons. The dying of one season and the coming to life of another is something to celebrate don’t you think?
The “Coexist” picture I have chosen has the crescent moon and star of the Islam religion as the C. The O is the symbol of peace. The E is the gender symbols for male and female. The X is the Star of David which so many people died for in WWII because they were members of Judaism. The I has a pentagram atop it for the Wiccan symbol. The Ying Yang sign which some people just think is so cool is really the symbol of Taoism or Confucianism. Finally the symbol that is common to almost the entire world is the T which looks like a cross, does it not (Peace Monger)? How many people have died for their religion? How many people will still be prosecuted for a religion that just isn’t widely accepted? Why should one religion be any better than another?
Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon. New York: Penguin Compass, 1986. Print.
Conway, D.J. Wicca the Complete Craft. Freedom, California: The Crossing Press, 2001.
Jarvis, Christine. "Becoming a Woman Through Wicca: Witches and Wiccans in Contemporary Teen Fiction." Children's Literature in Education (2008): 43-52.
Peace Monger. Peace Monger. 2007. 2 March 2010.
“Religion.” Webster’s New World Dictionary. 4th ed. 2003.
There has always been conflict over religions. That was how the United States of America was founded. One of the reasons the English came over here was for freedom of religion. In the picture I have on my blog is a list of several different religions and even gender and peace are included. If you look at the picture, one can see the word coexist. My question to the world is: Why can we not all just coexist peacefully? It’s true that some religions are more widely accepted than others. Wiccanism is one such religion that is not widely accepted. In some places it is known simply as witch craft, but it is so very much more than that. To me, it’s a feeling of being one with nature, of loving the earth, and knowing that when I die I will return to her. According to Christine Jarvis, Wicca is a nature religion that stresses the immanence of the divine rather than transcendence, which in turn leads to a strong emphasis on responsibility, rather than rules (44).
Adler says that paganism is simply an umbrella term under which wiccanism falls (3). If one was to look at the holiday calendar of a Wiccan, they would find holidays that fall around the same time as Christian holidays. Whereas Christians celebrate Christmas, Wiccans celebrate Yule. The Wiccans holidays are known as the Eight Holy Days. Other than the two solstices and equinoxes, Wiccans celebrate four other holidays. They are Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain. Imbolc is on February first and is the celebration of the awakened Maiden of the Goddess and for preparing for renewal and new beginnings (Conway, 79). Beltane is on May first and was originally a fertility festival. Lughnasadh is on August first, and it is one of the first harvest festivals. Finally Samhain is from October 30 to November 1, and it marks the ending of one Celtic year and the beginning of another. Also at this time the veil between worlds is the thinnest making it the easiest to communicate with the dead (Conway, 78-80). One difference in the calendars is that Wiccans actually celebrate the changing of the seasons. The dying of one season and the coming to life of another is something to celebrate don’t you think?
The “Coexist” picture I have chosen has the crescent moon and star of the Islam religion as the C. The O is the symbol of peace. The E is the gender symbols for male and female. The X is the Star of David which so many people died for in WWII because they were members of Judaism. The I has a pentagram atop it for the Wiccan symbol. The Ying Yang sign which some people just think is so cool is really the symbol of Taoism or Confucianism. Finally the symbol that is common to almost the entire world is the T which looks like a cross, does it not (Peace Monger)? How many people have died for their religion? How many people will still be prosecuted for a religion that just isn’t widely accepted? Why should one religion be any better than another?
Adler, Margot. Drawing Down the Moon. New York: Penguin Compass, 1986. Print.
Conway, D.J. Wicca the Complete Craft. Freedom, California: The Crossing Press, 2001.
Jarvis, Christine. "Becoming a Woman Through Wicca: Witches and Wiccans in Contemporary Teen Fiction." Children's Literature in Education (2008): 43-52.
Peace Monger. Peace Monger. 2007. 2 March 2010
“Religion.” Webster’s New World Dictionary. 4th ed. 2003.
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