When one looks into paganism it helps to look into what one is most interested in, but also to look into other topics to see if a new interest arises. Personally, I view looking into books are being extremely important when learning about paganism or a specific path, as they tend to be a good place to start. Using the internet to research is another great source seeing as a variety of people are willing to help or have posted useful information.
For many people from what I have seen, when looking into books this means either looking into Western authors and books such as Scott Cunningham, Silver Ravenwolf, Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Not very varied but it can be a very good starting point, possibly even the right place to begin depending on personal interest.
Looking into the Tao Te Ching and I Ching is not uncommon, it however seems to be the two Eastern texts to go over all else. Other Chinese texts are also good to go to, Zhuangzi being a book of the Taoist Canon to go to right after Tao Te Ching, with many other books within the Taoist Canon to look into. For Chinese mythology two books stand out, Journey to the West and Creation of the Gods. Hindu and Buddhist texts are in their own right great to look into.
Books specific on a certain mythology or two, or one or two aspects within paganism, is a great tool as these books tend to specialize on its topic(s), but it may be an idea to look into a more general book if starting to look into paganism. A more general book can give an idea of what mythology or mythologies to look into, a better look at paganism as a whole and even help to look into a specific path to possibly follow.
Plenty of books are accessible to people if they just have the internet, with money typically being the only problem. Book stores help yet can lack much in certain areas, with a multitude of books typically inaccessible leaving the internet a great place to go. I would personally recommend using sites such as Amazon and E-Bay to get books seeing as going to book stores for books from experience tend to be unreliable.
How one goes about learning about paganism is a person choice and truly depends on resources to do so, which is where researching on the internet is great as one doesn’t have to purchase something to gain information but can be just as time consuming if not more. Where to begin in one’s path within paganism just relies on interest and willingness to learn.
Showing posts with label Odyssey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Odyssey. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2012
Friday, August 20, 2010
My Inspirations
As a youth I do have much to learn but like many others I do get inspired and what have inspired me throughout my life are the beliefs and mythologies of cultures.
I have been quite the fan of the game Age of Mythologies for many years and it has created much of my interest in religions across the globe. Though Age of Mythologies tells of the gods and goddesses of Egypt, Greece and of the Norse it gave limited knowledge and this is what probably gave the biggest spark with my interest in the gods and goddesses of Egypt. Though today my interest in Egypt is small I still watch shows about the beliefs of the ancient Egyptian’s and of the pharaohs when given the chance. And luckily today, I have more resources to learn about gods and goddesses of many more cultures then just of three to which I frequently use to my advantage. There are many inspiring stories to be told within mythologies such as to redeem oneself as it was with Hercules.
When I was between the ages ten to twelve I was learning Greek at school due to it being compulsory. I enjoyed it but after many years of not saying a word in Greek or having anything to keep my Greek as it was when I stopped learning the language, I remember nothing of it, but what has kept to my heart over the years from my Greek classes is of the Odyssey. To my luck I have been able to get my hands on the Odyssey itself earlier in the year thanks to needing to study it at school for one of my classes. The main man, Odysseus, I found to be a role model as soon as I originally heard the Odyssey. Odysseus himself continued on to get home to his wife and son despite the odds and the suffering he dealt with even when he got to his home land of Ithaca. It was also was his wits and quick thinking that kept Odysseus alive. This combination of a large will to do something aided with intelligence is what inspired me since childhood.
Since I am a small fan of Dragon Ball Z I do sometimes check up to see if there is anything new and one day I was wondering how the idea to create Dragon Ball Z itself came from. I did a bit of studying which lead me to Journey to the West and this is where the idea of Dragon Ball Z came from. Even the Japanese name of the monkey Journey to the West is mainly about, Son Goku, is where the name of the main character, Goku, from Dragon Ball Z is from. I eventually got myself Journey to the West to read and despite the large length of it I read from beginning to end. The monkey born from stone, Sun Wukong, is that monkey who went from a king of monkeys to a Buddha over the course of many, many years. Sun Wukong is the character who shows that even if you did great misdeeds in the past you can still atone for your previous actions and even reach Buddhahood, which I find highly inspiring.
This is what I have found inspiring within my life and many thanks to all of those have read this.
I have been quite the fan of the game Age of Mythologies for many years and it has created much of my interest in religions across the globe. Though Age of Mythologies tells of the gods and goddesses of Egypt, Greece and of the Norse it gave limited knowledge and this is what probably gave the biggest spark with my interest in the gods and goddesses of Egypt. Though today my interest in Egypt is small I still watch shows about the beliefs of the ancient Egyptian’s and of the pharaohs when given the chance. And luckily today, I have more resources to learn about gods and goddesses of many more cultures then just of three to which I frequently use to my advantage. There are many inspiring stories to be told within mythologies such as to redeem oneself as it was with Hercules.
When I was between the ages ten to twelve I was learning Greek at school due to it being compulsory. I enjoyed it but after many years of not saying a word in Greek or having anything to keep my Greek as it was when I stopped learning the language, I remember nothing of it, but what has kept to my heart over the years from my Greek classes is of the Odyssey. To my luck I have been able to get my hands on the Odyssey itself earlier in the year thanks to needing to study it at school for one of my classes. The main man, Odysseus, I found to be a role model as soon as I originally heard the Odyssey. Odysseus himself continued on to get home to his wife and son despite the odds and the suffering he dealt with even when he got to his home land of Ithaca. It was also was his wits and quick thinking that kept Odysseus alive. This combination of a large will to do something aided with intelligence is what inspired me since childhood.
Since I am a small fan of Dragon Ball Z I do sometimes check up to see if there is anything new and one day I was wondering how the idea to create Dragon Ball Z itself came from. I did a bit of studying which lead me to Journey to the West and this is where the idea of Dragon Ball Z came from. Even the Japanese name of the monkey Journey to the West is mainly about, Son Goku, is where the name of the main character, Goku, from Dragon Ball Z is from. I eventually got myself Journey to the West to read and despite the large length of it I read from beginning to end. The monkey born from stone, Sun Wukong, is that monkey who went from a king of monkeys to a Buddha over the course of many, many years. Sun Wukong is the character who shows that even if you did great misdeeds in the past you can still atone for your previous actions and even reach Buddhahood, which I find highly inspiring.
This is what I have found inspiring within my life and many thanks to all of those have read this.
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