I am Heathen or Pagan!

This statement makes a declaration about your spiritual pathway.

But what does it really mean to you in the manner in which you practice your lives? What does it mean in terms of life priorities?

It would seem that for many people it means the following!     Is this you??

  a.. I am Heathen or Pagan whilst sitting in front of my computer!
  b.. I am Heathen or Pagan when there is nothing better in my life to do!
  c.. I am Heathen or Pagan provided it does not cost me anything in terms of time, effort, inconvenience or money!
  d.. I am Heathen or Pagan provided other people keep running after me and stroking my ego.
  e.. I am heathen or Pagan and would much rather talk or sit on the net than actually DO anything.
  f.. I am Heathen or Pagan while things are going well in my life.....
  g.. I am Heathen or Pagan provided I like everyone else in the group and they go out of their way not to upset me or tell me any home truths.
  h.. I am Heathen or Pagan but I will listen to and be influenced by any juicy bits of gossip about anyone else who is Heathen or Pagan. I will also spread it around.
  i.. I am Heathen or Pagan but love the feeding frenzies on anyone who actually does anything for and in the Heathen or Pagan communities.
  j.. I am Heathen or Pagan but it is OK to break Oaths and commitments if convenient to me of if I don't like someone or in a fit of pique.
  k.. I am Heathen or Pagan but it is NOT OK for my friends to know!
  l.. I am Heathen or Pagan but I really do not know anything much about it because I am too lazy to study and I want to be spoon-fed.
  m.. I am Heathen or Pagan and can talk about it a lot and be chief critic.
  n.. I am Heathen or Pagan and am a big Frog in my Lily Pad - do not bother me with wider issues or the fact that I am really not all that significant  in the wider scheme of things. It is fun to show how tough and significant I
am.

So what does commitment to a spiritual path really mean?

  a.. It means that it is life itself to us.
  b.. It means that it will be a priority for time, resources, and convenience.
  c.. It means that we will die before we have the Troth of my ancestors forced from us.
  d.. It means supporting my Folk/Tribe/Hearth/Group/Fellow Travellers even when it costs time, money, inconvenience, and social schedule.
  e.. It means being concerned about the welfare of my spiritual kinfolk and will go out of the way to assist them.
  f.. It means that caring for the elderly, sick, disabled and distressed
  g.. It means being supportive of Kith and Kin and not participate in gossip and tearing down.
  h.. It means actively being a builder and not a destroyer.
  i.. It means understanding others and let "the small stuff" go.
  j.. It means supporting reconciliation and focus on the big picture.
  k.. It means actually getting out there and DO things and freely and unreservedly giving time, hospitality, and yes even money.
  l.. It means getting out from behind computers and DO something real.
  m.. It means working with others, rather than against them.
  n.. It means agreeing to differ with people and being polite and professional to people I do not personally like. We do not have to like someone to stand in the shield wall with him or her, or work with them for a common goal. It means being mature enough to recognise that we are a spirituality and religion NOT a social club.
  o.. It means focusing on where we can work together rather than magnifying differences and conflict.
  p.. It means not hanging on to issues but let them go, and getting on with both the job and life.
  q.. It means that forgiveness, compassion, and love, hard work, loyalty and honour are not outdated Christian concepts but very relevant universal concepts that will determine whether we fail or succeed.
  r.. It means recognising that our "leaders" have human frailties and "bad days", forgiving them for their failings and support them in their loneliness.


This is a call to self-examination and thinking about how our Heathenism or Paganism is portrayed, and our own commitment to what we SAY we believe.

Unless we get past the lukewarm attitude of many of our so-called adherents we shall be nothing more than a passing fad and an oddity consigned to the dustbin of history.

What has stimulated this?

According to some it would seem that my crimes are often talking to and meeting people that someone else does not approve of, and/or has personal issues with, and further to that, actually being on the same email lists as they are.

Let me say quite categorically - I do not get involved or take sides in personal disputes! Nor have I discussed the issues that one person may have with other people, out of respect for both parties, and I am NOT taking sides in any personal disputes.

I will not be dictated whom it speak to and whom I meet. In my capacity as Gothi of this Kindred, I make every attempt to adopt a professional approach. Sometimes I fail and let my own shit get the better of me.  I
trust that people will be mature enough to understand that sometimes there ARE cracks in the armour, and that all of us have our "bad days", get tired and worn out, get sick, and have a whole range of pressures. In one
situation very recently both of us let our own situation get the better of us and responded to someone's needs inappropriately.  Fortunately that person has been I believe mature and understanding enough to accept our
apology and we are all able to move on from that and help meet that persons needs.

I will neither adopt nor accept the playground tactics of "you talked to someone who is not my friend so I won't play in the sandpit anymore."

It is my responsibility to encourage all Folk to rediscover and grow in their dreamtime and our Folkway regardless of my personal likes and dislikes. It is not about being a social club.

I realise it can be difficult to stand in Ring with someone you do not like, but that is part of the discipline of being True. You may not like all for your relatives either, but they do not cease to be your blood kin, just
because you do not like them. At family gatherings you can choose to be polite, but otherwise have minimum interactions with them. Just so with spirituality and Kindred

Forgiveness, compassion, and charity and love DO have a place within our Way. In fact, without them we shall ever be fighting and splintering and when our Folk are old or incapacitated they will be forced to throw
themselves on the Charity and good graces of the Christians. Unless we show an exceptional, and unusual degree of tolerance and commitment, that is what we shall be doing and we shall be little more than a historical oddity and irrelevant.

Does Our Way mean?

"Doing what you say you are going to, do regardless of the cost."

"Living your life according to your beliefs"

"Recognising that sometimes "shit happens and it is no-ones fault"

"Standing firm in the shieldwall'

"Getting over personal likes and dislikes for the sake of the big picture"

"Recognising that difference is ok" Including different variants in the Pathway, sexualities, lifestyles.

"Recognise that building for the future is fucking hard unrewarding work"


Is Heathenism or Paganism the religion you have without really having a religion? A religion of convenience? A cyber religion? Or a religion to shock the establishment? Or is it just a toy and a game you play with?

Wes Thu Hael

(c) Leif