Introduction / xiii

1 What is Paganism? 1

General Characteristics of Paganism / 3

What Does "Pagan" Mean? / 6

Who Is a Pagan? / 7

How Many Pagans Are There? / 12

Where Pagans Come From and What They¿re Like / 13

What Pagans Do and When They Do It / 15

An Earth-Centered Religion / 16

The Wheel of the Year / 16

Rites of Passage / 25

What Is a Ritual? / 30

What Happens in a Ritual? / 30

Ritual Tools and Symbols / 33

Is Ritual All Pagans Do? / 38

What Do Pagans Believe? / 38

Principles of Paganism / 39

2 You Are What You Believe 45

How Do Beliefs Work? / 46

What Is a Belief System? / 54

Claiming the Power to Choose Your Beliefs / 58

Search: Paganism¿s Spiritual Foundation / 66

3 A Pagan View of deity 75

Concepts of Deity / 78

What Do Pagans Believe About Deity? / 79

The God Map / 80

A God Map Story / 92

4 What About Satan? 101

How Do Pagans View Satan? / 102

Pagans, Witches, and Bad Reputations / 103

Why Witch-hunts? / 106

What Happened to the Accused? / 108

A Look at the Biblical Witch Bias / 108

A Fabricated Image / 109

The Social Roles of Satan / 111

The Mythological Roles of Satan / 113

Who Is a Satanist? / 120

Can a Satanist Be a Pagan? / 121

5 The Living Universe 131

The Current Western Mindset / 132

Unbroken Wholeness: Science and a Magickal Universe / 135

The Ground of Being: Mysticism and a Magickal Universe / 145

The Universe as a Cosmic TV / 155

Personal Experience and a Magickal Universe / 161

6 Magick 163

The Mechanics of Magick / 165

The Iceberg / 172

The Applications of Magick / 179

The Limitations of Magick / 184

Your Magickal Pager / 187

7 Ethics and Personal Responsibility 197

Who Are You? / 197

The Multidimensional Self / 199

The Afterlife / 201

Ethics: What Are They? / 206

The Western Religious Ethic / 207

Ethics: The Pagan Approach / 210

Pagan Ethical Systems / 214

Notes / 225

Glossary / 231

Bibliography / 235

Recommended Reading / 239