Paganism an overview introduction - South African Pagan Council

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• Hades - the underworld in Greek myth, ruled over by a god of the same name.
The underworld is the final destination of the souls of the dead; while some
descriptions suggest it is a misty and gloomy place, others suggest it is a
place of peace, and at least one realm within the underworld, Elysium, is a
blessed place destined for the souls of the heroic and the virtuous.
These and other such depictions of otherworldly realms offer insight into the variety
of beliefs that various Pagans might hold.
The Summerland
The Summerland is the name given by Wiccans and some other earth-based religions
for their conceptualisation of an afterlife. The common portrayal of the Summerland
is as a place of rest for souls in between their earthly incarnations. Some believe that
after one experiences life to its fullest, and has come to know and understand every
aspect and emotion of physical human life (usually after many reincarnations), their
deity will allow them to stay in the Summerland for an eternal afterlife, although this
belief is not universal amongst Pagans. Another common element is that the soul has
little, if any, recollection of the Summerland once it arrives on the mortal plane again.
The Summerland is also envisioned as a place for recollection and reunion with
deceased loved ones. As the name suggests, it is often envisaged as a place of beauty
and peace, where everything people hold close to their hearts is preserved in its
fullest beauty for eternity. In many ways, this ideology is similar to the Welsh view of
Annwn as an afterlife realm.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Summerland
PAGAN RITUAL, WORSHIP, DEVOTION and SYMBOLISM
Cycles of the sun and moon establish a sense of sacred time for Pagans, while some
ancient fertility or agricultural festivals are still celebrated today.
Ancient Pagan sacred sites, such as Stonehenge in England or Newgrange in Ireland,
often have an astronomical orientation, with key features of the site oriented toward
specific dates of the year. For example, Stonehenge is oriented toward the sunrise of
the summer solstice, while the doorway of Newgrange is oriented toward sunrise of
the winter solstice. Sites like these suggest not only a high degree of astronomical and
architectural sophistication among ancient Pagans, but also imply that the dates like
the solstices may have had ritual significance to their cultures.
The Pagan movement that emerged in the 20th century draws on a variety of folkloric,
mythological and archaeological sources to establish its own sense of sacred time. As
is always the case among Pagan religions, different traditions often observe different
holy days.
The mythological sources of Paganism are many, including Celtic, Norse, Greek,
Roman, Sumerian, Egyptian and others. Some groups focus on one tradition; others
draw from several or many — for example, Doreen Valiente’s text “The Charge of