snowcalla ([info]snowcalla) wrote in [info]academicpagans,
2007-06-28 12:41:00
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Distilling it down to one word

I know this is over simplifying things but I have been thinking about what one word is the essence of your religion.

For example...if I were to come up with one word that - to me - represents what Christianity is I would say Salvation. It describes a Christians relationship with their God and the backbone of the religion.

For Hellenists I would pick the word Reciprocation. That describes my relationship with the Gods and the backbone of the religion and it's feature element, sacrifice.

But what about Wicca, Judaism, Heathenry, etc? If you were to distill the essence of a religion down to one word, what would it be?

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  • 52 comments

[info]miriams_well

June 28 2007, 19:37:48 UTC 4 years ago

Let's see. I'd go with

Judaism: Dialogue. (It seems to me that the engagement of religious Jew with G-d is one of continual engagement with and dialogue with the text, hence the midrashim, the talmudim, etc.)

Feri: Ecstasy. (Alternately, paradox.)

Reclaiming: Immanence.

Thelema: Will. (Okay, that's a bit of a no brainer.)

Islam: Submission. (I.e., Happiness is submission to God.)

[info]friggasgirl

June 28 2007, 19:43:19 UTC 4 years ago

Those are really good. I would even suspect the words "accountability" or "gnosis" would also be appropriate for Judaism. Judaism strives for good living and being held accountable for actions in this life and strives for mystical and mundane knowledge on all levels (if my understanding is correct).

[info]tarr

4 years ago

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[info]witchchild

June 28 2007, 20:06:50 UTC 4 years ago

For Asatru/Heathenry, I'd go with frith.

[info]winterlion

June 29 2007, 06:32:58 UTC 4 years ago

Asatru - Frith (seconding) If you want English: Honour (although this is far incomplete by comparison)

however with Heathenry I'd say: Tribe
(Heathenry is a larger subset of peoples as I understand the adoption of the title)

[info]dancingwolfgrrl

June 28 2007, 20:10:39 UTC 4 years ago

My former advisor, who is a rabbi and an ethnographer, said the one-word essence of Judaism was mitzvot, because adhering to them was what made one a Jew.

I think "animism" a good core word for a lot of generic/eclectic pagan traditions, in that a lot of other beliefs and practices come from this. I also like "relationship" a lot, and have argued that it is a primary pagan language of meaning-making, but I'm afraid it only makes sense in the context of animism, which specifies what one can relate with.

[info]dreamsherd

June 28 2007, 20:50:44 UTC 4 years ago

IMHO, Wica = family

[info]snowcalla

June 28 2007, 21:05:25 UTC 4 years ago

Why "family"?

[info]dreamsherd

4 years ago

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[info]snowcalla

4 years ago

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[info]spiritof1976

4 years ago

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[info]nantonos

4 years ago

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[info]daurdabla

4 years ago

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[info]nantonos

4 years ago

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[info]nightwind2

4 years ago

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[info]jessofthebugs

4 years ago

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[info]frater_treinta

June 28 2007, 21:04:22 UTC 4 years ago

Chaos: Exploration

[info]ladyaurora1ca

June 28 2007, 21:19:36 UTC 4 years ago

Hedgewithery: Home

It's all about the home, the hearth, and the heart.

[info]ladyaurora1ca

June 28 2007, 21:24:01 UTC 4 years ago

The above was meant to be Hedgewitchery not Hedgewithery.

[info]hereatwitsend

August 6 2007, 20:13:37 UTC 4 years ago

Hedgewithery

Hedgewithery has it's own feathery charm. I like to think that I'm "at one with" the plants and animals here :-) I like the term. I think I'll keep it.

[info]daurdabla

June 28 2007, 21:56:34 UTC 4 years ago

Wicca

I can think of two that would be really good, and being a Gemini (no, I'm not really the astrology type, but it's as good an excuse as any), I'll give them both:
  • Balance

  • Connection

[info]cherokeepurple

June 28 2007, 22:23:22 UTC 4 years ago

Druidism = reverence

[info]cathal83

June 28 2007, 22:41:13 UTC 4 years ago

Celtic Recon = Study

[info]wire_mother

4 years ago

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[info]erynn999

4 years ago

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[info]wire_mother

4 years ago

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[info]alfrecht

4 years ago

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[info]wire_mother

4 years ago

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[info]alfrecht

4 years ago

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[info]wire_mother

4 years ago

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[info]cathal83

4 years ago

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[info]alfrecht

4 years ago

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[info]cathal83

4 years ago

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[info]morrisidhe

4 years ago

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[info]jeweledvixen

4 years ago

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[info]chalkhorse

June 28 2007, 22:39:22 UTC 4 years ago

I don't tend to think of Wicca or witchcraft as religions, per se...I guess that makes me a non-deist...but I do belong to an Alexandrian/Hellenistic coven.

but the notion of ascribing one word to a spiritual path is an intriguing one...

To me modern paganism is about "resacralisation."

[info]clare_dragonfly

June 28 2007, 23:31:30 UTC 4 years ago

Oo, I like that one.

[info]jadeserenity

4 years ago

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[info]sunfell

June 28 2007, 23:34:10 UTC 4 years ago

Hermeticism: Syncretism
Gnosis: Grokking
Traditional Witchcraft: Synchronization
Numenism: Celebrating
Magus: Communication

[info]saigh_allaidh

June 29 2007, 00:59:38 UTC 4 years ago

For Celtic Reconstructionism it would be Hospitality.

[info]wire_mother

June 29 2007, 04:06:30 UTC 4 years ago

that's another good choice (i chose "justice" above).

[info]erynn999

4 years ago

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[info]bantuathaid

June 29 2007, 01:37:23 UTC 4 years ago

Irish Reconstructionism: Triads


Triad defines the triune cosmos on one hand and on the other it gives me an excuse to choose various combinations of three more words.

[info]jeneralist

June 29 2007, 02:52:12 UTC 4 years ago

For my own private work, "Responsibility" -- but I can't think of what to call the religion it goes with!

I practice Blue Star Wicca, and I think a term for that trad as a whole would be "returning" -- the Law of Return, the turning of the year, and that way that finding the trad feels like coming home for so many of us.

[info]misslynx

June 29 2007, 05:05:08 UTC 4 years ago

For Wicca, I'd say Balance.

[info]alfrecht

June 29 2007, 08:32:54 UTC 4 years ago

For CR, you have my answer above.

For Ekklesia Antinoou, it's a tie between either Thankfulness or Liberation--and it is liberating to be thankful (in every sense!) and we are also thankful for the gift of liberation.

[info]scotiva

June 29 2007, 09:20:22 UTC 4 years ago

Heathenry, Frith.

[info]jezreell1

June 29 2007, 16:19:33 UTC 4 years ago

Heathenry - honour.

All else follows from that.

--
Jez

[info]caitriona_nnc

June 29 2007, 23:16:12 UTC 4 years ago

CR - Honor, Inspiration, Justice, Connection, Communion.

Can't even limit myself to three ;-)

[info]poetheather

June 29 2007, 23:20:55 UTC 4 years ago

Taoism: Balance (much more so than any other faith)
Buddhism: Compassion
Eclectic: Buffet
Kitchen Witchery: Sustenance
Bardic: Song or Story
Druidry: Nature

That mostly covers a few things.

[info]gwolfsong

August 4 2007, 17:45:28 UTC 4 years ago

For Witchcraft, balance.

[info]mageoflamancha

June 14 2008, 04:43:37 UTC 3 years ago

Witchcraft:Knowing (kenning)

Knowing: when to act, how to act, why to act, who to act with, who to act for, and as times who to act as.
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