Domination & submission _ the BDSM relationship handbook ( PDFDrive )

D/s and Paganism: Do What Thou Wilt
Paganism is simultaneously one of the world’s oldest and newest religions. For
thousands of years, the term was used derogatorily in reference to any religion
that wasn’t one of the “big three” Abrahamic religions; Judaism, Christianity or
Islam. In more recent times, the name
Pagan was used self-referentially in America for the very first time in 1964, and
gained popularity in the 1970s as part of the counter-culture movement which
readily embraced this new age, non-institutionalized expression of personal
spirituality and communion with nature.
Today, contemporary Pagans comprise just 0.2% of Americans who express a
religious preference, or roughly 1 in every 500 people, yet they seem to
represent a disproportionately higher percentage of those in the D/s and BDSM
lifestyles. That linkage may well be rooted in the
counter-culture character of contemporary Paganism which flaunts social
conventions and celebrates, rather than represses, the natural carnality of
man.
Modern Paganism is an umbrella term that covers a wide range of religious
beliefs and practices drawn from many cultures and traditions, spanning several
millennia. There is no single
organization, doctrine or sacred text that is recognized by all Pagans as being
authoritative or binding. Paganism includes a host of diverse
belief systems, to include Wicca, Witchcraft, Druidism, Shamanism, Animism,
Nature Worship, and the Goddess Movement.
Pagans rarely engage in theology, and generally prefer a holistic, nature-based
personal spiritualism that is often expressed singularly, rather than in doctrine or
as part of a congregation. What might appear to outsiders as a hodge-podge of
diverse religious beliefs and practices when viewed in the aggregate, superbly
serves each individual Pagan as a unique and practical expression of his or her