What are the sources of knowledge for paganism?

[llwyd blaidd]

The Abrahamic religions have divine scripture as their source of knowledge. Buda had a method to attain knowledge and I am not familiar enough with Hinduism to know their source or sources of knowledge beyond reading the Upanishads. What are the sources of knowledge for pagans?

 

[psychoslice]

The source is simply life, or nature.

 

[Quintessence]

For me, there are two sources that account for the largest share of my path:

1) Direct observation and experience that is firsthand and/or personal (aka, personal gnosis)
2) Direct observation and experience that is conducted under the methodologies of empirical naturalism (aka, science)

Traditional Pagan mythology, storytelling, or folklore plays a very minor role in my path compared to these two. This isn't to say I don't use it often – I do, but it's just not my focus as it may be for other Neopagans. Neopaganism in general heavily emphasizes the first source of knowledge, which is perhaps why these paths have gotten a reputation for being mystical or mystery traditions. You deal directly with your gods; you don't need any intermediary, whether it is a text or a clergy member. Written scripture is simply not a big element.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

There are none.

 

[Quintessence]

There are none.

That... that's just not true. :sorry1:

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Revivalistic Paganism probably best springs from human prehistoric civilizations, evidence found from hieroglyphics and other writings. Neopaganism probably comes from gathered people's opinions that don't tend to fit into modern day religions.

 

[Infinitum]

I second the first-hand knowledge, but I'm personally very interested in the historic roots of a belief or ritual. Finding information of how ancient religions really worked isn't however always easy. I recently took a university course in Celtic mythology where we were told a lot about the various sources we have relating to Celtic culture and belief and there are practically no first-hand accounts of their religious life. What we have are writings by people from another religion, namely the Romans and the Greeks. To make it more complicated Romans - as well as Romanized Celts - had a habit of calling the deities by Roman names and described them by comparing them to their Roman equivalents. This means we often can't know what's truly Celtic and when Roman belief has been added to it in some way. To make it worse, while Celts weren't illiterate, much of their culture was oral and only written down in early Christian times. It's a very similar story for many other Pagan faiths, especially when they've rarely been as strictly organized as our modern religions, but varied a lot between areas and even families. The best we have are academic guesses that are added to by our personal experience.

 

[llwyd blaidd]

I appreciate the insight. I myself see paganism as a nature religion with Nature as its primary source. This must include personal experience or gnosis (I am still trying to separate the idea of gnostics from gnosis). I also agree with imperial naturalism. Science is perfectly compatible with paganism in that it helps us learn about nature. This same empirical process is most likely what helped build the stone circles to determine winter solstice of the spring and fall equinox. In addition to science though there are the mysteries of life which are also important to paganism in which a different experiential process is used. I was surprised about the fact that mythology and folklore was less important but I agree with this. I have studied Norse and Celtic mythology and feel it can teach us about pagan beliefs of the past and can help with understanding paganism but it has come to us from the people were in opposition to the Pagans as in the Christian writers or in opposition to the Celts and Germans as in the Roman and Greek writers.

 

[Whiterain]

Look back to your ancestors as well.

 

[Gentoo]

Outside your window and inside yourself.

 

[mimpibird39]

I have to agree with the others who have said first-hand and/or personal experiences/etc. Reconstructionists though tend to also look to historical texts. Greek reconstructionists / Hellenists would look to classical texts like the Iliad and the Odyssey. I personally look more to the Aeneid and Metamorphoses since I focus more on Roman polytheism. You can look to classical texts for knowledge. The classical texts and mythology are just there mainly to help. Communication with the deities and rituals are more important in my opinion.

 

[Caladan]

The Abrahamic religions have divine scripture as their source of knowledge. Buda had a method to attain knowledge and I am not familiar enough with Hinduism to know their source or sources of knowledge beyond reading the Upanishads. What are the sources of knowledge for pagans?

Paganism is such a vague and extensive umbrella term. In various parts of the world, the pagan past can still be seen dotting the landscape, and various writings have survived for posterity. In addition even Abrahamic literature and lore are packed with heritage which is rooted in Near Eastern polytheism.
In my region, important libraries containing the literature of polytheistic civilizations have been found, and many ruins and remains of ancient temples and sacred sites still stand. We have Classical, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Canaanite religious literature which is being preserved by linguists, Egyptologists, Assyriologists, and archaeologists among others. We also have important literature which contain insight into the beliefs of other polytheistic cultures from different parts of the world.

Concerning nature and religious reverence, it is interesting to note that both the polytheistic and monotheistic societies incorporated the natural world into their convictions, architecture, and folklore.