For Pagan Parents

Spiral Scouts

A great group for kids in earth centered religons!

 

I choose not to indoctrinate my children into any belief system, not even my own (not that I follow any one in particular), but rather allow them to find their own paths.

...just doesn't sit well with me. Maybe it's the "hearth, clan, tribe" thing, maybe it's just a sneaky form of indoctrination ("raising children into a tradition" - aka brainwashing), either way, something about it rubs me the wrong way.


What's wrong with Roots & Shoots?

 

brainwashing is telling your children it is like this because i say so, "hearth, clan, tribe" is its like this because......fill in the blank. Raising a child with a tradition is raising them with knowledge.

Do you also not teach your children math or science, figuring they will learn it on their own?

I hate the way they brainwash children that 2+2=4, i mean come on, they could grow to add it how ever they want right?

 

Wait... linear mathematics isn't a tradition? Holy shit, I'm a horrible parent!

 

actually, I'm a firm believer in unschooling as well, taking children seriously, non-coercive parenting, etc. Their education is entirely up to them... I answer their questions when they ask, but I do not tell them such and such is true just because I think it is true. I do try to expose them to a wide variety of beliefs and ideas. I do not share my religious beliefs with anyone, especially not my children, unless they ask specifically what do I believe. Usually I say "some people believe" and then I ask them what do they think of that (this includes questions of Jesus, Santa Clause, God, whatever). The only difference between indoctrination and brainwashing is the age of the person you are manipulating into believing what you want them to believe. Equating math and faith/spirituality is not fair, the two are entirely different. I still don't force them to sit down filling in pages from workbooks, they learn things like math as the need arises for them to know it.

 

Math is as universal as spirit, math is the language of the universe. So the two are entirely the same. My parents raised me the way the wanted me raised, but left my mind to be my own for when I was ready to make my own decisions and learning.

I raise my children to know what I know and to celebrate what I celebrate and to know the knowledge and ways of our ancestors. What they do after that, or with it, is their own. But i believe in knowledge being shared and passed on. It is our roots that make us who we are.

 

Thankyou!!

And mamaboogie...that is why I titled the thread for pagan parents.... Spiral Scouts is a GREAT organization for learning respect and love for our Mother Earth.

 

Well I suppose we all see it differently and I think thats OK.
Im raising my children Pagan and it works really well, they also know that when they are older if it doesn't work for them they have my support to seek out what fits for them.
My oldest who is 9 just recently told me that she is so glad we are Pagan and celebrate our Mother Earth.
So to each their own, right?

BUT~ to those who are raising their children in a Pagan path...I started this thread for YOU

 

Looks interesting. Definitely checking this out. Thanks YBH, for posting this.

 

It is my experiance that makes me who "I" am, and yours who "YOU" are,
buts its our roots that connect the "WE".

Each people are but a branch on the World Tree, each growing towards the sun in its own direction, but it is the roots of that tree that holds it to the earth, and sustains the life of all.

its in the roots man.

 

ok, im not even going to bother with that.

 

perhaps i was being polite and not saying how shallow, and flat out retarded what you said was.

Oh, and obvious and cliche as well.

 

who said i was angry? that is twice that you assume my mind.
Like I said, i thought what you said was pretty dumb, but said
nothing. You assumed that my being polite was a sign of submission,
so, upon your request, i spoke my mind.

It was not a pointless insult, but mearly my personal thought on what you said.
And it was brought out because you wanted it.

And, in your retort, you say that pointless insults are childish, and call me an idiot in the same point.

It is obvious, because obviously we are connected through this website/thread, takes little thought. Just like if we were on the phone, we would be connected by the phonewires. My 5 year old could have concluded the same.

It is retarded, because it just sounded stupid, to me that is. Not saying you are retarded, just that i took it to seem that way.

It is shallow, because it required no thought beyond the obvious, see the above for re-explaination.

There, i went into detail, and attempted to back up my "pointless insults"

I hope that helped.

Now, tell me, what is it that makes me an idiot? and at what point was it apparently "pointed out"

 

Don't have any children of my own, but the spiral scouts thing sounds interesting.

Not sure how I wish to raise my future children with regards spirituality. My own parents baptised me (which I'm still kinda pissed about it) but otherwise left us to our own devises. Do prefer it that way because then everything came from my own personal growth and experience, which is quite empowering.

Of course my children will know Mama is pagan, am not going to be all secretive about it. Can see myself telling them myths as bedtime stories, naming a daughter Gaea then teach her and her siblings all about that glorious namesake.
Really though as long as they have open heart and minds, and a good core morality* then that's fine by me. Will teach them about diffrent religions because thgat interests me too, then if they express an interest in paganism or anything else then I would suppourt them on their path, but would let them intiate it.

*mine came from being raised by agnostics, so religion is definetly not a factor in that process. At least not overtly.

 

Truth doesnt spare criticism, all i said is that it was shallow, which a truth can be shallow. Not like i made some unrealistic slander of your point.

You say elementary the same way i use shallow and retarded.

And i am sorry, i never meant that my ancestors connected me to you, so the whole argument of how you and I are personally connected is moot.

and as an existentialist, i wouldnt expect you to grasp a concept of origin and why its important to who we are now. But as a pagan, it is important. If you did not notice, this was a thread for pagans and parents, of which you are neither.

 

but I am a parent, and consider myself to be pagan. I know very few adult pagans whose parents raised them pagan. I mistakenly thought perhaps more of you here would see my point about indoctrinating children into the parents' faith since most every pagan I know comes from a Christian background in the first place, and is in the process of rebelling from that sort of upbringing. sorry.

 

I am not rebelling against my parents at all. I took what the taught me, studied it and found answers for myself. Answers which arent the ones they gave me.

A whole lot of young pagans are doing just what you say, "rebelling" against their parents faith. That is a wrong reason, and the novelty will wear off for them in time.

You consider yourself pagan, at the same time saying you dont really subscribe to a particular faith. Sadly, that is what lots of people think being "pagan" is. That you dont have to believe any one in particular, just a make-it-yourself combo of all the coolness and none of the discipline.

My spirituality is one of knowledge, and had my parents raised me the way i am raising my children, then i would be leaps and bounds beyond where I am today, rather than having to learn all i know up till now. Why would I rob my children of that? Why make them learn it on their own later, and suffer the lack of advancement because of it.

The knowledge not being passed on is the major reason we have lost so many things that our ancestors knew. They understood the world in ways we can only imagine, and can never fully restore. Their magic is lost to a large degree. Granted, it was the lies of the Christians and their desert god that were passed on instead, leading to your indoctrination of the masses idea. They were lied to and owned over, and ruled by the church. That is a major difference in raising your child with Earth knowledge.

With your ideal of teaching, or lack of, we would still be using raw rocks and bones as tools, because nothing would have been taught to build the advancement on. Had not the flint knapper made his son sit down and learn it, the son would have never progressed past his father in his technique, but since he did, he was able to make a better spear, and bring more food for the tribe and family.

I dont see how that is wrong.

 

if you wish to address my teaching style, we can take it to the homeschool forum, where there are several current threads on the subject. Unschooling is not a lack of instruction, rather it is child-led instruction. My kids are learning lots of things from me, but I am not forcing them to sit down and learn what I think they should know. They get to decide what they want to know more about. I am learning lots of new things with my kids, especially when they wish to learn about things I have no knowledge of myself.


I am a spiritual subjectivist. My children are most definitely learning about spirituality, but I am not forcing them to see things from my perspective. They have their own take on things, and already disagree with me on some points, which is how it should be. They have their own intuition that I want them to learn to trust and be able to follow their own inner guide, no matter what form that inner guide takes, or where it leads them. The only true path is the one that comes from within our hearts. Organized religions are tools used by those in power to control the masses, and it works most effectively. My children will be raised to think for themselves and always question authority, even when that authority is me.

 

I think it's fantastic that there is something like this available for pagan families!

 

Then this sounds like we take two different roads to the same destination.

I dont "force" my kids do learn my ways either, but i do make a point to tell them, and i will answer their questions from my own learning and understanding, surely expecting them to form their own.

That is what i was saying before, teach them my ways, and let them build their own from what i taught.

I do enforce holiday rules, only celebrating ours and no others, but i explain the reasons behind it. I tell them straight out why we dont celebrate Easter and Christmas, and why we celebrate Ostara and Yule.

I think we have both misunderstood each others intentions. Though i do believe that children are not "little grown-ups" and do need discipline and authority for the first parts of their lives. I will always be their father, it is my job to make sure they are good people, regardless of how authoritive i have to be to get there, but i will also always be their friend, assuring that they grow up happy and loved, it takes both in balance for the goal to be reached.