Paganism and Nature

[The Hammer]

Does being a Pagan to you require any sort of reverence for Nature and the Natural world.

What about learning the natural world of your chosen pantheon(s), and how the gods and ancestors would have seen those lands?

What about becoming familiar with your local environment and ecology?

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Does being a Pagan to you require any sort of reverence for Nature and the Natural world.

What about learning the natural world of your chosen pantheon(s), and how the gods and ancestors would have seen those lands?

What about becoming familiar with your local environment and ecology?

I don't think it's required, but I do think all of the above is very important. Understanding the world around you is getting to know yourself and how you fit in with the rest of the Universe, and what else is spirituality if not that?

 

[Rival]

Does being a Pagan to you require any sort of reverence for Nature and the Natural world.

Not really. I think this is a trope, tbh. In fact I'd argue that, at least in Kemeticism, civilisation away from the wilds was seen as the crowning achievement; that we dominate nature, because it's frightening, unpredictable and often trying to kill us. This includes the weather, the animals, the water, toxic things that look edible etc. I think having a healthy fear of nature is a better way of looking at it. A lot of folks love nature until they have to live in it, realising it doesn't love them back.

What about learning the natural world of your chosen pantheon(s), and how the gods and ancestors would have seen those lands?

This is needful for me as Kemet was seen as the Holy Land, but only up to a point as I don't live there so it's less relevent.

What about becoming familiar with your local environment and ecology?

Any responsible person should do this, imo.

 

[Ashoka]

Definitely not required, but it is part of my path. The God and Goddess personify nature; so it makes sense to honor and revere nature. This can be done in many ways; like the op mentioned, learning about the local environment, doing more outdoor activities, and perhaps even developing a green thumb.

 

[Hildeburh]

Does being a Pagan to you require any sort of reverence for Nature and the Natural world.

What about learning the natural world of your chosen pantheon(s), and how the gods and ancestors would have seen those lands?

What about becoming familiar with your local environment and ecology?

I tend to think that familiarity with ones local environment would have been a matter of life or death for our pagan ancestors. I would characterize our pagan ancestors relationship with the natural would as one of necessity, awe, fear and interdependence not reverence.

The disconnection of Abrahamic traditions with the cycles of nature and disregard for the mother nature is what encouraged many modern people to look for alternate belief systems. If you choose to worship pre-Christian deities I would think it would be incumbent upon us to at least understand their history and mythos.

Many of the old gods/esses represent aspects of the natural world, isn't just respectful to try to understand how they connect to your local environment? Otherwise asn't we just blindly following a celebratory calendar that does not reflect the realities of our environment?

 

[The Sum of Awe]

Even though humans are part of nature, something about things happening through a lot of unconscious forces just makes it seem more authentic and therefore closer to God.

 

[rocala]

I am not sure about required but for myself, I would say inevitable. Since my early childhood, I have often experienced something very profound in nature. It took quite a long time to realize these were spiritual experiences, but the feeling of relief was powerful. Like finding the missing piece of a puzzle.

 

[rocala]

I mentioned childhood in the previous post, I think this may be very important. Children seem to be very receptive to certain things but they may have difficulty in interpreting or expressing this in ways suitable for adults.
Not long ago I was involved in a related discussion on another forum. This jogged my memory to a quite powerful childhood incident. I wrote about it on that forum and got a very good response. Clearly, I am not alone in having such experiences. Below is a copy of my post. I wonder if any here can relate to it?

"...I think this stirred up things in my memory. About a month after making my post I was sitting in a local park, just relaxing when I had a very clear recollection of a childhood event.

I was about nine or ten, more than half a century ago now. We were on a family day out in the Epping Forest area. It was on the return journey, I was in my uncle's car, and it was getting dark. The road was tree-lined, at a certain point I noticed that the trees were big enough for their tops to touch, forming an arch over the road. At that precise moment, very briefly, there was a feeling of being in two places at the same time. The feeling that the trees formed some sort of entrance was powerful but over in a second.

I have so far been unable to find any similar accounts. What I experienced was very real, I don't know what it was but I feel sure that the trees are an important element."

 

[The Hammer]

I mentioned childhood in the previous post, I think this may be very important. Children seem to be very receptive to certain things but they may have difficulty in interpreting or expressing this in ways suitable for adults.
Not long ago I was involved in a related discussion on another forum. This jogged my memory to a quite powerful childhood incident. I wrote about it on that forum and got a very good response. Clearly, I am not alone in having such experiences. Below is a copy of my post. I wonder if any here can relate to it?

"...I think this stirred up things in my memory. About a month after making my post I was sitting in a local park, just relaxing when I had a very clear recollection of a childhood event.

I was about nine or ten, more than half a century ago now. We were on a family day out in the Epping Forest area. It was on the return journey, I was in my uncle's car, and it was getting dark. The road was tree-lined, at a certain point I noticed that the trees were big enough for their tops to touch, forming an arch over the road. At that precise moment, very briefly, there was a feeling of being in two places at the same time. The feeling that the trees formed some sort of entrance was powerful but over in a second.

I have so far been unable to find any similar accounts. What I experienced was very real, I don't know what it was but I feel sure that the trees are an important element."

I've had that feeling crop up in other instances myself. One time it was while walking through an archway leading into a Japanese Shinto temple. That time stands out for me because my now wife was with me, and she felt it as she walked through after me as well.

 

[rocala]

Hi Hammer. It is gratifying that you know what I am talking about. It is nice that you both experienced this, I should imagine that felt quite special. Nobody can say it is all in your head either.