Resources on Paganism

[Arduinna]

Hi to all you pagan MDC members,

I thought it might be great if we had a thread with info for those seeking good sources for info on Paganism. Especially since I've gotten quite a few pm's from people in the past asking for recommendations. So I figured that we all could be of service to those seeking. So please post your favorite resources especially for those who may be new seekers. Websites, books whatever you have.

Here's some possible topics:

History, The Gods/Goddesses, Meditation, Divination, Magic and Ritual, Healing, Astrology, Mythology, Folklore, Herbalism, Holidays, Reincarnation. I'm sure their are more......


If your looking for an accurate history of modern paganism (especially it's British History) I suggest "The Triumph of the Moon" by Ronald Hutton. A bit dry reading but what do you expect from Oxford University Press??

His previous book which covers the history of the Sabbats is also excellent in uncovering how much we do and don't really know. It's title is "The Stations of the Sun" by Ronald Hutton. Again dry reading but the scholarship is excellent.




For online books check out
http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm They lots of ancient texts from world religions.

ok, I think I've gabbed enough, NEXT!

[Meiri]

Pagans & Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience by Gus Di Zerega is excellent from many angles.

I like Starhawk's perspectives, though her history in Spiral Dance is actually modern mythology.

Circle Round is good when working with children, I learn from it as well when I pick it up.

Celtic Ritual by Alexie Kondratiev is good for Celtic Paganism.

Being a Pagan by Ellen EVert Hopman and Lawrence Bond is interviews with various well known Pagans on various paths.

Sitting under a Full Moon.

[ladylee]

One of my favorite sites:

www.spiralgoddess.com

[Arduinna]

Meiri, do you have any suggestions for good Celtic mythology books? All I can think of is the Mabinogian but I'm not sure what the best translation is.

For Norse Mythology: The Poetic Edda

Here's my list for Greek Mythology books: by Hesiod; "Theogony" and "Works and Days". The works of Homer, especially the Homeric Hymns. The Hymns of Orpheus.

Roman Mythology: Metamorphoses by Ovid.
and here's a good website for anyone interested in Roman Paganism http://www.novaroma.org/main.html

[Greenfrogs]

I'd like to add "A History of Pagan Europe". I am in the midst of reading it now ( just finish the section on greek/roman/egyptian paganism and starting celtic now). I am generally a history nut and have been interested for a long time in the history of religion. This book is excellent at describing the evolution of pagan worship from family centered to state (government) centered in ancient rome (and it's empire). It also describes the rise of christianity and islam and the coincidence of events that allowed christianity to fluorish. Interesting it also discusses the survival of family oriented or peasant paganism in the context of government run christianity. This book is very general and paints a very large brush with out going into a hugh amount of detail (at least compared to other books I have read that discuss one century , civilization or god). It may be considered dry by some as it is written using standard history technique (quoting primary and secondary sources).

I am really enjoying it.

[asherah]

Greenfrogs that sounds interesting.. and I don't mean to go too off topic but I am curious how Egypt and the Asherah info you mentioned in another thread figure into a book on EUROPEAN paganism?

Maybe that's too complex for you to detail here and I should just read it.

Anyway: Back on topic:
I highly recommend Urban Primitive.. a guide for city-dwelling Pagans.. how to adapt rituals and practices traditionally celebrated in rural settings to the urbal lifestyle. Just a wonderful book.

[Greenfrogs]

Asherah,

The way that egyptian and european paganism is link is basically through trade. The peoples of europe frequently traded with peoples of north africa, arabian penisula, and northern India/pakistan. There is also reference to peoples of africa (ethiopia) living in large numbers in what is now spain around 200 CE. The intermixing and interaction of these peoples resulted in blending of religious practice and tradition. Therefore, this book and many others on ancient western culture often include discussion of cultural and religious practice from this entire region.

Ok that sounded a bit dry....in any case what I find particularly interesting is the similarities between what is considered sacred in many cultures and how it is represented.

[Meiri]

The Mabinogion is Welsh stories.

For Irish you want The Tain, which is one set of stories. I can't think of anothe title for other stories just now, but I'll try.

Instead of looking up "Celtic" look up IRISH.

[joyfulliving]

My faves:

www.lunaea.com (Beautiful goddess site with lots of links also her gorgeous online tarot cards.)

www.schoolofseasons.com (Waverly Fitzgerald's site on living with the seasons, goddess, etc.)

www.tarot.com (They have great readings and you get lots of free readings when you join - or at least you used to when I joined a while ago. membership is free!) It is also a great place to check out decks which you may be interested in purchasing.

Great thread Arduinna!
Joyfulliving

[Arduinna]

oh I forgot, for those following a lunar calendar, this is the best program that I've found for keeping track of the moon phases and what sign the moon is in. Also has sun rise and set times, and it can be configured for your longitute and latitude. Awesome!!! Runs in your task bar so it is always in sight.

http://clysmic.com/lunabar/

[Arduinna]

Here's is some more stuff

Anyone looking for info on Anglo-Saxon Heathenism ? Here is a link, but I cannot attest to it's historical accuracy (just not my area of expertise) seems pretty good though .. http://www.englishheathenism.homeste...roduction.html


Tarot:

Tarot Spreads http://www.tarotspreads.com/

Reviews of Tarot Decks http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/index.html

Source for hard to find Tarot Decks http://www.tarotgarden.com/

Meiri, I wasn't really thinking of Celtic=Irish. Do you have any good book suggestions for the Gaulish (continental Celts)? Thanks for recommending the Tain for Irish mythology.

[Meiri]

I don't know that much about the Continental Celts other then Epona is a Gaulish Goddess rather than Irish or Welsh or Scottish. Sorry

online resourses for Celtic:

http://www.imbas.org/
http://www.clannada.org/
http://www.celtic-path.org/
http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/gaidhlig/corpus/Carmina
http://www.belinus.co.uk/folklore/Homeextra.htm


This one is a big listing of the Celtic Triads. http://www.illusions.com/rowanhold/3things.htm

[Arduinna]

Just wanted to post this, not sure about copywrite issues, so just posting the link

Seeker's Bill of Rights

http://www.betwixt.org/bnb_info/seekers.asp

edited to update link

[DaryLLL]

Just bumping this up, as people seem to keep asking, and this covers it.

I might also suggest, just go to a bookstore like Borders, and start looking. The pagan section is huge these days.

[MamaSoleil]

Thank you thank you thank you!!!

[HipMomma3913]

I totally love Pagans and Christians. Also, while I have rear The Triumph of the Moon, there are disputes about his facts. Some others I recommend (especially for those coming from Christian backgrounds):

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess by Leonard Shalin

The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Great Goddess (can't think of the authors right now)

Stealing Jesus by Bruce Bawer

The Christ Conspiracy by Archaya S. (boring, but informative)

General Pagan knowledge:

I have just finished and LOVED "A Book of Pagan Prayer" not only is it full of actual prayers, it analyzes why and how we pray.

Hope this helps!

HipMomma

[MaWhit]

For those with kids...

Pagan Parenting

Someone already mentioned Circle Round, but it is worth mentioning again. The accompnaying CD is totally worth it too. Awesome.

I also really liek the kids' books: All I See is A Part of Me, and When the Wind Stops. Amazon has both of them with descriptions, I believe.

Could we make this a sticky?

[Arduinna]

could we make this a stickey??

I think that would up to the Spirituality Moderator????

[DaryLLL]

Good idea Arduinna.

I would like to add two books to this list. They are not about Celtic paganism, but about Egyptian/Greek (and surrounding Mediterannean areas) religion of "biblical" times. That is, Egyptian religion from about 3000 BCE on, Greek mystery religions of the last few centuries BCE, and leading into gnostic xianity of the first few centuries CE. Gnostic xianity was/is very unlike Literalist xianity, which is rigid and exclusionary. Gnosticism is more concerned with a mystical connection to god/dess. It is democratic and tolerant of various individual approaches to the One. It is heavily influenced by Plato and other Greek thinkers and their philosophies.

The Jesus Mysteries: Was the "Original Jesus" a Pagan God?

Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians

by T. Freke and P. Gandy

The books are simple, easy to read, but loaded with footnotes in the back, if you want to dig deeper.

[shamanmage]

newsletters

Thanks for the great resources.
I recently got a subsription to The Blessed Bee, "a pagan famly newsletter," which has great suggestions simple rituals for children and involving them in sabbats. www.blessedbee.com
The same company also publishes PanGaia. I've only gotten one publication of PanGaia, so I'm not ready to recommend it.
I will also advocate the cd Circle Round and Sing. There are some catchy little numbers and I find myself singing about witches to my 4 month old daughter a lot.