The following are a set of general descriptions authored by Frater HWRIM, written specifically for the wanderers in our society, so that they may find peace and belonging.
If the reader hasn't yet guessed, there are many other religions, many of them far surpassing christianity in spirituality, existing in the world. Some of these religions (such as Budhism and Hinduism) have existed all throughout the reign of the church. Others have just recently begun to resurface, after having their followers slaughtered by the "Minutemen" of christ. Below is a list and general description of each which I have knowledge of.
Hinduism
Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, originating in india. It is based around the idea of a balanced , cyclic triad in which the three members represent the different powers of time, and nature. The first being Shiva or the Creator, who summoned the world into existence and continues to do such. The second is Brahma ( excuse the spelling its been a while) who represents the powers of permanence and is the sustainer/protector of the world. The third is Vishnu, and you guessed, she represents the powers of opposition and destruction within the world, in fact her main objective IS the destruction of the world. Only one sect of Hindus has ever worshipped any of the various aspects of Vishnu, they were known as the Fuggi ( again spelling may be off). They were known for strangling their victims to death with a silken cord, in the name of their goddess (mainly an aspect of Vishnu known simply as Kali).
Along with the 3 main gods their are millions of variations of them that have grown up among the overwhelmingly HUGE population of India. These gods are not different so much as they are said to be different aspects or representations of the supernal three, which I indicated earlier.
Hinduism shares a very common belief system, as far as the afterlife is concerned, and that is the belief in reincarnation and the eventual ascension of mankind to a state of unity with the eternal gods. In fact they once had a Caste system built up around this belief. One caste was always greater than the other, it was believed criminals or any person who committed many a foul deed in their former life were reincarnated as the lowest class of Hindu : The Untouchables. Through the efforts of Ghandi and his followers, Untouchability became outlawed, as it condemned those under its classification to a lowly miserable life of drudgery. Hinduism has become an established religion in our country as well, with the hundreds even thousands of Indian Immigrants flocking to our lands. As all other religions listed in this section, it is an established church of state and so enjoys the same priveledges as Christianity.
Budhism
Budhism is more of way of life, than a religion, depending on the sect. Tibetan Budhism has a belief structure based around Sidhartha Gautama (the founder of Budhism) as a god, while other sects only recognize him as having been their greatest spiritual leader. Budhism is based primarily around the achievement of enlightenment, and divine ascension ( or nirvana). The budhist lives a life of goodness and benevolence by following the eightfold path and several other sets of philosophical systems meant to speed up the rate at which divine union is attained. Budhism shares many of Hinduisms beliefs, but stresses the belief in no god. That is where budhism has its strength, it seems to follow a set pattern of agnosticism where no god can be clearly percieved by mortal man, therefore the goal is not abasement to but instead a search for divinity.
Several sects of Budhism teach various states of mysticism, including the martial arts form of Zen, creative visualization and meditation and a means of ascension.
Kabalism
Kabalism is a philosophical system that, although has its origins in Judaism, has succeeded in blending itself with any religious system in existence. Kabalism and Budhism are two sides of the same coin. While Budhism teaches passive attainment of ascension, Kabalism teaches the active pursuit of ascension, through ceremonial magick, invocation, and the pursuit of the great work.
The great work is the path of ascension that all kabalists, including myself, must dedicate themselves to. We root out the destructive tendencies at work in our lives, and dissolve them. This path is not the path of a coward, as many an unsavory being is drawn to the practitioner in order to delay, turn him from, or halt his studies. I have had many encounters such as this. Usually they are the result of impetousness and lack of patience. Kabalism is hard because it requires much will and discipline to master. One failing is usually the shirking off of daily practice, as I suffer from, from time to time.
The following organizations are responsible for the perpetuation of Kabalistic Lore:
The hermetic order of the golden dawn
The thelemic order of the golden dawn
The Ordo Argentum Astrum
The Ordo Templi Orientis
The Rosucrucians( if they're still around)
The European Freemasons
The Templars (good luck with this one)
The Jewish church ( if you're 40 years of age and up)
Wicca
Wicca is a VERY peaceful nature based religion whose main deities are the god and goddess, respectively the male/solar and female/lunar aspects of nature. Wiccans stress pacifism and the dedication of one's self to the healing of the earth. The Wiccan Church is a loosely based organization that subdivides itself into various groups and orders known simply as Covens. Their is a coven in nearly every city of every state. Covens can be from 2 to 20 people in size ( usually no higher) and have two leaders: the high priest and the high priestess. This religion is closely related to the norse religion of Asatru, except that where Asatru places more emphasis on the worship of its gods and the acceptance of the male aspects of nature : warriorship, etc. Wicca places more emphasis on all things feminine. Wiccans often are very open people, who have a very close relationship with nature. Many are clearly not burdened with the weakness of modesty that society has engrained in us, as most religious rites are performed nude( within some circles).
Wiccans have no one set identity for their god and goddess, some accept the arthurian archetypes, while other worship their goddess as the greek diana. It really doesn't matter one way or the other. They all represent nature, and that is the main symbol of adoration in all wicca.
Asatru
And now we have come to my religion. Asatru is based around the worship of the great nordic pantheon: mainly the worship of the gods: Tiw, Thor, Odin, Frey, Heimdall, Balder, and Njorth, and the godesses: Freyja, Frigga, Idunna, and Sif. Wiccans are closely tied to the Asatru as they are thought to worship the Vanir or the God and Goddess: Frey and Freyja. Asatru priests are trained to be living embodiments of ALL religious and cultural lore mainly: Wood Craft, Metal Craft, the old languages : old norse, old english, german, and middle english, the lore of seith(shamanism) and runic galdor(rune magic), and the skaldic talents (or poetry). They are also trained in the various fighting styles of the world, such as the summoning of an artificial fury (beserking) that makes them incredibly potent fighters and the more mystical forms of martial arts, mainly Tai Chi.
The asatru movement is not quite as large as the wiccan, but then they've had more time to rebuild than we have. Our entire people were murdered by the christians, as well as beaten, raped, and tortured. The christian monks destroyed our temples and burned our works, rooting out the source of our knowledge whereever they could. Luckily, through the work of many an archaeologist and the sage snorri sturlison(spelling may be off), the myths, religious practices, and magic of our forebears has been recovered, if not completely.
Our people are fiercely loyal to their friends and family, and are not very pleasant when affronted. We have a strong sense of honor and take any oath made VERY seriously. Our main afterlife belief is not very standardized. Some believe in Valhalla, some in reincarnation, some in the domain of the goddess Hela(the world of the dead), all believe in the existence of asgard (the realm of the aesir or gods).
Druidism
Druidism is a solar based religion, hailing from the continent of ireland. The druids place strong emphasis on the worship of the collective forces of nature, personified within trees. They often are closely related to the faerie and have their own pantheon of gods and goddesses as well. Their system of magic is highly poetic and artful and has many a parallel to the ceremonial magick of the western traditions, only more earth based. The druidic arts are so potent, because they have all the powers of nature to support them, and therefore can accomplish exactly the same things ceremonial magick can, with the singular exception of evocation and formalized invocation. The druids often picture the world as the archetypical dragon. In fact one of the major evocations that the druids DO use is known as the grand evocation of the dragon. Often when performed by many druids, at the right place, at the right time, using the proper tools, the grand evocation of the dragon can have powerful PHYSICAL effects on the surrounding area. This does not happen in most systems of magick unless the adept is a very powerful one. The last time, I believe, that the evocation of the dragon was recorded as being so successful was in the mid 80's, where a dragons head took form in the actual flame itself and remained there for several minutes. Photos and records of this event are available in "the 21 lessons of merlyn". As for the belief in an afterlife, the druids saw long ago, that everything in nature is cyclic, and so have simply come to believe that life and death are such, and therefore believe in reincarnation.
Wicca is closely related to druidism, in fact druidism is one of wicca's predecessors. Originally the island of ireland was inhabited by a religious sect that worshiped a lunar goddess. When the druids arrived bearing the belief that all gods were one god, and that he was primarily solar, the two religions were fused together forming the ancient wiccans, which through time and major reconstruction, became today's wicca.
Not to worry I will continue updating this site with more information as time passes.