Why isn't Paganism generally taken seriously?

[Desert Snake]

The response was usually "what is paganism?" They had never even heard of it.

Lol I don't know how you would answer that.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Not all of us view the Gods as mere archetypes. I see them as literal beings.

I'm not sure what you expect from Recons. Often they're working with religions that have been heavily persecuted and driven underground, so it's impossible for them to recreate them 100%. Also, it's not the goal of Recon to 100% recreate the societies those religions were from. Everyone has to adapt their religion to their needs in the here and now.

I don't expect any 100% relation to ancient belief systems, but there are many who are very sloppy in their research. And it is a personal pet peeve of mine when people try to sync two different pantheons, it's very annoying but I haven't an actual reason to be annoyed by it.

 

[dgirl1986]

Lol I don't know how you would answer that.

And that is why I ended up sounding like a hippie that played with crystals lol

 

[Desert Snake]

And that is why I ended up sounding like a hippie that played with crystals lol

Crystals are cool.

 

[Sees]

I don't expect any 100% relation to ancient belief systems, but there are many who are very sloppy in their research. And it is a personal pet peeve of mine when people try to sync two different pantheons, it's very annoying but I haven't an actual reason to be annoyed by it.

That's the Christian influence gnawing on ya I don't know any recons or traditionalists who have a problem with a person doing any synchronization they wish - only misrepresentation, appropriation, etc. - claiming it's something it isn't. Personal practice, belief, you name it - is free. Christian influence struggles with unorthodoxy though and causes constant transposition. Synchronization is historical and set/static systems, especially with focus on beliefs, are modern.

With organic traditions, change and evolution is welcomed. Reconstruction is more about grounding, foundation, and connection while weeding out unwanted foreign concepts, aspects, etc. It's having a hand in drawing a map or writing a song instead of starting from scratch.

It all depends on what we personally demand for the label of "authentic." Are completely contrived beliefs and practices based on some history texts or archeological finds more authentic? For a living tradition, even if revived, not so much.

By the book orthodoxy is an Abrahamic and relatively modern notion we all have to shake off. Religion, spirituality, philosophy doesn't really fit into the neat, little containers that intellectuals thought up in the past few hundred years. Obsessive labeling and compartmentalizing seems to cause more problems with this stuff and leave lots of "seekers" endlessly roaming.

 

[The Hammer]

I know from the many pagan podcasts that I used to listen to that they would receive prejudice and discrimination much similar to atheists. Here in australia however when I said I was pagan people didnt know what it was. When I tried to explain it I ended up sounding like a hippie who played with crystals and tarot cards.

What's wrong with Tarot cards? I personally like mine haha... I have crystals on my altar too, just not for any new age-y reason... Dammit I am not a hippie :computer:

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

What's wrong with Tarot cards? I personally like mine haha... I have crystals on my altar too, just not for any new age-y reason... Dammit I am not a hippie :computer:

Yeah, well, I was....

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I don't expect any 100% relation to ancient belief systems, but there are many who are very sloppy in their research. And it is a personal pet peeve of mine when people try to sync two different pantheons, it's very annoying but I haven't an actual reason to be annoyed by it.

Syncretism was rampant all over the Greco-Roman world, for example. People back then didn't seem to have much, if any, problems with worshiping the Gods of other cultures they came in contact with.

For example, Zeus Ammon:

 

[Glaurung]

You guys overthink this.

It's because Neo-Paganism is generally seen by the wider public as a modern contrivance.

 

[LegionOnomaMoi]

Why is Paganism (in general) not taken very seriously? What could people do to make it less of a joke in the eyes of many people?

A few thoughts:
1) Alas, many a media report doesn't just make (neo-)paganism into a joke, but a serious threat, constantly equated with Satanism (which is likewise misunderstood). For Fox News and the like, paganism isn't a joke, but a threat.
2) Pagans and Neopagans themselves have been unable to define what such categorizations amount to. I recall heated debates among insiders regarding "wicca" vs. "witch". That's nothing compared to inside debate over what "pagan", "neopagan", and "paganism" is.
3) Aside from sources read by pagans, most of the information about paganism is inaccurate, sensationalist garbage by mainstream media and thus the only exposure most will ever have.
4) Alas, the origins of paganism are fraught with internal confliction. Battles over authenticity resulted in the disparaging and dismissal of neo-pagan/new age movement by others of the same ilk almost as soon as Gardner developed Wicca.
5) Despite the vastly greater understanding of nuances between Christian denominations, mainstream (and most of underground) media has failed to accurately depict anything other than the disconnects among both new-age movements and between them and the traditions they intend to represent. Horrific damage to many individuals was dealt by psychiatrists and other mental health professionals during the recovered memory movement which created "satanic cults" that never existed.

 

[StarryNightshade]

You guys overthink this.

It's because Neo-Paganism is generally seen by the wider public as a modern contrivance.

Isn't that what people have been addressing? That the public (by in large) doesn't think that it's "real" or "authentic"? I don't think anyone has been "over thinking" this.

 

[Aupmanyav]

For example, Zeus Ammon:

Or the Hindu pantheon, Aryan, indigenous, and whatever else.

 

[dgirl1986]

You guys overthink this.

It's because Neo-Paganism is generally seen by the wider public as a modern contrivance.

If this is true I think that would be because of how quiet practitioners keep it.