How do we think of death as Pagans? The monotheists [1] tend to think of death all the time. Indeed religion can in many ways be described as our reaction to our ability as a species to understand and foreshadow our own deaths. Much theology has been built up by the monotheists around what happens after death, and how one should comport oneself in order to ensure that the result is a happy one. Death has been misused as both a tool and rationalization: a tool to ensure compliance with doctrine, and a way to rationalize sacrifice and behavior in this world in favor of better luck in the next one. Contemporary neo-Paganism has two general threads that run through discussions of death: reincarnation and the Summer Lands. A common theme is that all life is a circle, with life returning to death and back again as the God rises and dies through the year. Thus reincarnation is seen as fitting into a Witch’s concept of the Universe. Likewise an old theme in Witchcraft [2] is the use of the fact that other belief systems believe in reincarnation. This fact is, somewhat mysteriously, used to justify and explain Pagan and Witch belief in reincarnation. These are the themes often found in many popular neo-Pagan writings on death: that reincarnation reflects the circle of life;
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 20:23:15 +0000
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