Following on from Seeker's posting about hesitating to raise a topic, here is one that I have been contemplating for a while.

It has become obvious that very many of us on this board have suffered very deep and painful psychological or emotional problems, me included, and I have also noticed this with other pagans I have met IRL.

Now I am faced with three possibilities here and I'd like other people's views.

Are we, because of our spirituality, made more sensitive to things around us, other people's negativity and all the other things that can cause depression and consequently more prone to mental anguish?

Are we drawn to paganism because we have suffered? Is there some connection between an earth based religion and previous problems and no that does NOT mean, are we all potty and therefore pagans!!!!

Or is this just a simple reflection of the percentage of the modern population who are suffering in this way? Reports saying that more and more people are subject to stress are endless, is modern life driving us all to distraction?

I'm not asking anyone to reveal their own suffering or problems, just wondering why.

I think that option number 3 would cover my stance on that particular subject. So I don't really believe that there is a direct correllation between the connection to paganism and personal tragedy.

Although there is a theory that those who are drawn to magic or a religion in which magic can be practiced, may be those with a psychological need to change things. I beleive wicca suffered under this lable willingly for a while in the states, tellingly with the word "empowering". ( Wrong reasonsfor taking up a religion. If you don't feel it, don't go for it!) There was a couple of essays written about it, I'll try to find them on teh net.

Personally I've not had a large trauma in my life; apart from the stuff that will happen to everyone. ( deaths in family + friends etc.)
It'll be interesting to see what others think about this one.

Actually no I don't think it's got anything to do with anything. In my experience you find people who've been through terrible things everywhere, DSS staff were a hotbed of childhood trauma but not a pagan among them.

Gonna shift into Gen Pag now

Thanks Esk - wasn't sure where to post this.

Number 3.
I was pagan before i got depression.
Just society in general.
Sometimes things just get to you and everything looks black.

I don't know Ma, what the answer(s) is. My life has been quite straightforward and trauma free, apart from a dose of Catholicism!

It could be that the Pagan beliefs and ways are so much kinder than the mainstream religions and people who have problems have found no solace there, but do find understanding from Pagans?

And yes I have noticed a lot of people who have problems, but they do feel confident enough to not only reveal them but talk about them too.

Good point - I hadn't thought of that one! It might just be that we are more aware of other people's problems on this board because we feel safe to discuss them, therefore it is possible that everyone out there is in just as bad a way but has no outlet.

Can't begin to judge by people around me here as we are well known as the "Hypochondriacs Cum Laudae" of Europe. At the last count 65% of our population were on some form of tranquiliser or anti depressant.

Cos people suck? Sorry. People as a whole are stupid. Individuals are worth knowing though.

Sort of on topic was what I said to Herne the other day. I feel that the reason why bad things happen to us is that the universe (God / Goddess / Great Spirit - whatever you influencing factor is in your life) would only give us pain they know we can handle. To not take it as a test or as a "why are you picking on me" but as a compliment. That they believe you will be fine and that there is a justifiable reason. I mean it may sound a little pig headed of me but I feel that I will do something important in this life. I don't mean earth shattering, centre of attn sort of stuff. But if I survive what I do and thus am able to help someone else cope they in turn may help someone else. Somewhere they prooved that in a normal life span you affect thousands of people around you, often indirectly. If I am able to make just one person smile each day I think I am doing okay.

umm think I rambled again.... sorry all

I think its just people. Bloody 21st century way of life. Being pagan may mean a better ability to recognise and deal with the symptoms and be more open about talking to them to others.

As you infer, most people nowadays have their bundle to carry. But different strokes for different fokes or rather different cases for different nuts. I would opt with number two.

Certain aspects of the various pagan paths are attracting people who have a need for them and who fit in there. I would say the same is true for every live choice (path) we make. If someone was full of negative energy and hate, would love death and destruction, he surely wouldn't come to us he would go somewhere else.

But does it really matter to an individual why it made the choice? Isn't the most important thing to have a good feeling about oneself and that the things one is doing are right, too? And if one realises that the choice for this path has been made because of previous problems, so what? Who would reject medicine because it is associated with the illness it is treating?

Still Ma, it is a very interesting subject to talk about and to analyse.

But I think that there are many motives why to become a pagan. To be honest, I looked deeper into Odinism when I was a teen to provoke people. It was simply great to wear my "Odin statt Jesus" shirt to catholic religious education in school and my parents liked it specially. My poor mother always hung the shirt inside out on the line to dry... Motives changed when I got older. I was seeking for an answer to all my questions and have a philosophy I could follow and all-father gave them to me....

Keep well,

S.

LOL, funny, this echos what I just posted on the pet peeves thread right before I came to this one!

I never faced much emotionally either - and in general I usually don't care much about the suffering of other humans. I know that sounds harsh, but that is maybe a subject for another thread sometime....

So, no, emotions didn't lead me to this path. I am Pagan because it is the path that fits my beliefs - nothing more, nothing less.

Regards,
Seeker

I've had depression for a long time, but the last big spell of it was about five years ago now. It was four years ago that I began to meditate, and last year that I began to tune in to various energies, resulting in coming here about a month ago.

Yes, I have had some very shitty times in my life. Am I a pagan because of this? I don't know. I've done a lot of soul-searching in my life, and thinking about important matters, and maybe a lot of that has been prompted by depression. Maybe if I'd been happier I wouldn't have done so much thinking, and so wouldn't be here now.

All I can say for certain is that I'm currently not suffering from depression, and haven't been for a long time, and feel that paganism (in some form) is the right spiritual path for me. There may or may not be a link.

I think it is a reflection of society in general, but I have to agree with Sherringham, the Pagan belief systems offer more to those of us with problems.

In my experience the Pagan community is much more understanding, helpful and far more closely knit than the rest of modern society, so we feel more able to be open about our problems to eachother.

Storm Raven

I've thought about this myself, not in the sense of people who have had a more unpleasant time being more likely to be Pagan specifically, but in terms of simply being more open-minded. Obviously there are two ways to go with this-- one can either decide that the world has screwed one and one might as well be enraged and curmudgeonly. But I've been fortunate enough to know a great number more people who have come to realize through their own unfortunate experiences that people come to their conclusions for reasons, and thinking about those reasons will sometimes lead one to understand them. Unpleasant experiences have made a lot of my friends more willing to accept people as they are, having been rejected too often for what they themselves are or have been. Besides, I think there's kind of a Fraternity of Social Rejects out there-- once outside of society's statistical average onesself, one is less likely to automatically censure those who are outside it as well, even if for totally different reasons.

This DOES relate, in that people who are in the position I have described, if more open-minded and less satisfied just accepting what they're told without question, are more likely to seek out alternative ideas. Including non-majority religions, if they suit them. This sort of covers the initial question at one remove: rather than bad experiences making someone Pagan, they may just make that person a seeker. And since Pagans are far less likely to be brought up with their religions than members of larger ones, seekers are necessarily going to be the ones who end up here.

That said, I do think it's more that everyone has a few traumas lurking back there. And I don't think that's just modern life, though certainly overpopulation aggravates the number of nasty things people do to each other (in part because there are more of them to do the nasty things); I think it's always been this way, life has always been pretty unpleasant, and we only notice the current Bad Things so much more because they surround us.



That, I think, is probably the best explanation for it. Excellent point, and excellent description. And I think that describes my position pretty well too.

I agree with the fact that many people go through a lot of crap during one's lifetime, some more than others but I don't think people who suffered a lot gravitate toward Paganism for that reason alone.

Most gravitate toward Paganism I think because of a dissatisfaction or disillusionment in the main stream religions or perhaps outgrowing the beliefs of others and a search for a belief that makes sense.
We appreciate the natural world rather than the attributes of greed that can ruin the planet, seek solutions to human expansion into the animal/wildlife world rather than just pushing them into non-existance and we don't see us as greater/lesser than they are.

Pagans for the most part understand that bad things happen and sometime it's not your fault, nor is it the fault of some evil entity. We understand it's your attitude about the problem that is important. You can wallow in self pity and become static or you can learn from the experience and find ways to deal with it.

I Find that if everyone went to a more spirtual religion it would
keep the peace more, less depressions ect.

I believe that fallowing a path can help you get trough the stress and
depressions , and get negativity out of your self. But I personaly
believe that everyone are at diffrent 'levels' in life.... some people
have it harder because they need to learn more lessons, and others
have it easier since they have less lessons to learn. (i believen recarnation,once your done your lessons your finish in recarnation ect)

I've had very crappy times in life, and im sure many more to come.
But i think of it as a lessons, what i can learn from it. Where did i
go wrong? ect ...

Also modern people think of doing everything at once, it just piles
up they must learn to do 1 thing at a time, and not stress out.
Alot of people have that problem these days.And it can cause
stress and depressions. Your so use of doing more than
1 thing that you have problems doing only one thing you have
to train your self.,

Anyways thats just my idea...Many blessings,

-W.S

(Alex)

Aye I don't really think being miserable or having bad things happen to a person is anything to do with Paganism. Looking back I suppose I've held pagan beliefs all my life, just didn't realise untila few years back... so when I was technically non- pagan is when most of the crap happened in my life... and interestingly, it was while a Christain that an ex boyfriend beat the crap out of me etc (I did get revenge ) So, no, I really really don't subscribe to the idea it might be something to do with paganism.

And yes attitude is very important, we can either wallow in the bad, or get up dust off and try to make it better. What is past is past, it can't be changed, its the now and the future that matters.