This section will help you to find information on Pagan paths other than
those based upon witchcraft and Wicca. Just like all witches are not necessarily Wiccan,
not all Pagans are witches.
Furthermore, the definition of the word Pagan seems to vary depending upon who you talk
to. To a lot of Christians, anyone who isn't a member of a Judaic, Christian or Islamic
faith is a Pagan. That would include all of the Hindus and Bhudists, for instance, who
don't consider themselves to be Pagans. So for our reference, a Pagan is someone who
follows an earth-centered religion based upon pre-Christian beliefs. Not everyone who
follows a Shamanistic path considers themselves to be Pagan, either, but many do.
I follow the Wiccan path, but I do want to provide my readers with information on all of
Paganism, not just my particular path. So, I've listed links to help you find information
on Druidism, Celtic traditions, Asatru, Slavic and Egyptian lore and Shamanism. People who
follow those paths are much more able to tell you about their belief systems than I am.
Let's start with a site that has information on the religions of the world and promotes
tolerance of each other's beliefs. This site is well-known and presents reliable
information about the different religions. Visit religioustolerance.org.
For further study, there is an awesome website that has a vast collection of the sacred texts of the religions and mystery
traditions of the world. Paganism is only one of the religions covered, so this site
is a great place for studying comparative religion or looking up references to several
religions.
Also, I've found a site with listings of the Gods and Goddesses of different
regions of the world, including several I wouldn't actually consider Pagan but which are
revered by many Pagans.
You can also find loads of information at the Witch/Pagan Resources site, but it is a
privately-owned site that you have to join to use.
Asatru, Northern Heathenism, and Norse mythology
The Ring of Troth is an extensive
site that explains a lot about Asatru and related subjects.
The next site is dedicated to information on Asatru, or Norse Heathenism, the
identification preferred over Neo-Paganism by the followers of that path..
This site is dedicated to traditional
Asatru.
These beliefs are based on the Germanic and Norse beliefs and mythos. This site has quite
a bit of information on Norse/Teutonic
mythology (legends) as well as an alphabetical list of Norse deities and much more.
The front page is links to the information.
The Gods and Goddesses of Odinism site is a
handy resource to some introductory information.
This Eddas site is dedicated to the Prose Eddas and
Poetic Eddas, the traditional Norse folklore.
The following site has information on Asatru and
the Norse Traditions. It includes some relevant Celtic and Slavic information.
The Vingolf Fellowship is
physically located in New Jersey, in the northeastern United States, but has members from
other states and does meet offline.
Egyptian/Kemetic Orthodoxy
The ancient religion of the Egyptians
is practiced today as Kemetic Orthodoxy. You can find out more about the deities and
practices at this site.
This Medea's Chariot site also
describes several links to information about the Kemetic faith.
You'll also want to read this 1996
essay by Vincent Bridges about the Egyptian religion and the Great Myth. He covers the
five Great Traditions, mythic structure, and the Priesthood.
If you want to study Egyptology, this Egyptology
Resources site is a must-see.
If you're interested in a list of Egyptian
deities, this page describes both Gods and Goddesses in alphabetical order.
If you want information in Isis, Osiris, Ra and the Egyptian Book of the Dead, check out Dream's Egyptian
Mythology page. All Things Sekhmet is a website devoted to
the lionheaded Goddess of ancient Egypt.
Slavic/Russian Paganism
The Pan Slavic
Traditions and Beliefs site is thoroughly researched and informative guide to essays
on Slavic mythology and history, interspersed with beautiful Russian artwork.
Another very informative website is called Slavic Paganism and Witchcraft.
This site has pages in several categories relating to Slavic beliefs.
Another site deals with Polish/Slavic
Paganism, with a Polish emphasis. Iron Crosses is a site devoted
to Lithuanian Paganism. Lithuania was the last country in the Baltic area to be converted
to Christianity and it appears that the old ways were never really abolished in some
areas.
An excellent page explaining Ukrainian
customs and traditions is right here, or you can learn about the ancient Latvian religion and dieties.
I also found a pretty good essay on the Pre-Christian Slavic
religion at a Christian site. The information seems sound and the page has some
pictures from the area.
There is a list of Baltic and
Slavic Pagan deities that is pretty extensive here.
If you'd like to read some delightful translations of Russian folk tales
and learn the lore of the common people, this is a great site to check out. There are
magic tales and animal tales. One story of interest to women may be the legend of Baba Yaga.
On a related note, the Russian Orthodox church had a difficult time converting the Alaskan
Eskimos, who revered their shamans and held animistic beliefs. This site tells a little of
the Serbo-Eskimo conversion.
If you go about 1/3 of the way down this page about ancient Russian marriages, you will
start reading a section which describes 2ce yearly festivals that
sound quite a bit like what the Celtic people did for Beltane. These celebrations were
held at the times of Yule and Midsummer, but I wonder if that quarter year shift had
something to do with seasonal variations due to location and climate.
Thelema/Order of the Golden Dawn
The Hermetic Order
of the Golden Dawn is also known as the Western Esoteric Tradition and followers don't
consider it their religion, although there are spiritual components to what they do.
The Order of the Thelemic
Golden Dawn is a magical, scientific order dedicated to the teachings of famed
occultist Aleister Crowley.
The College of Thelema and Temple of Thelema site is
very large, but seems quite secretive. It will only be informative to someone who has
already studied this belief system.
There is a listing of A.'.A.'. Publications
that is only links to titles.
Then, there is the Hermetic Alchemical Order of the QBLH.
The Gnosis Archive
Menu is a large list of links to what looks like just about everything a person would
need to know about Gnosis/Gnosticism.
