Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Phosphoros’ Illuminations: The Concept of Sin in Paganism

Phosphoros’ Illuminations: The Concept of Sin in Paganism

Last updated on: March 26, 2019 at 6:34 pm by Phosphoros

Phosphoros’ Illuminations: The Concept of Sin in Paganism 2019-03-26T18:34:22+00:00 Phosphoros

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Shedding Unwanted Vestiges of the Religions We Grew Up With, Part 2: Sin

In Part 1, I introduced the subject that many of us have values from our former religions that are not in our new religions. I explored how we may want to leave those behind in favor of the values of the new religion we’ve found, but how it can sometimes be hard to recognize all of the things we brought with us from the old that we may wish to jettison. I described my own experience having been raised Zen Buddhist and what ideas I was raised with, and also discussed what I’ve seen of people who were raised in an Abrahamic religion. I dealt with the issues of pride and humility, suggesting that we Pagans tend to encourage healthy self-esteem in combination with ethical behavior over selflessness, and described mysterious ways in which I’ve glimpsed true pride and true humility as the same. Ultimately, I suggested how we might elevate ourselves along with our community, society, and, indeed, even in a small way, humanity. That is through seeing all human beings, including ourselves, as people to be proud of. I concluded by suggesting a spiritual practice to align ourselves with that goal.

In this next part, I’ll talk about the issue of Sin. Sin is not so present in Buddhism, but it’s ever-present in most forms of Christianity. I suspect it’s also common in Islam and Judaism, and possibly some other religions as well. Sin, in a monotheistic context, means disobeying God. The idea is that God has given us a set of rules. In Christianity, this might be the Ten Commandments and/or they might also be the teachings of Jesus. These rules define a morality for that religion. To follow them means to be what that religion would consider to be “good”. To disobey them, even to stray from them accidentally, would be to “sin”, and that’s considered “evil”. Although I realize that I was not raised in an Abrahamic religion, I’ve observed a lot of people who have moved from a religion with the concept of sin into Paganism, where we tend to talk about ethics in a very different way. I see a lot of Pagans holding onto their old sin baggage.

Apples, photo by ulleo via Pixabay

There are several problems with sin in Paganism. First, we don’t typically have scripture. Although we have sacred texts full of wisdom, lore, tradition, and plain old good advice, we don’t have scripture in the sense of commandments from a Deity on high.

Secondly, rather than having faith in scripture, we tend to seek experiences that allow us to commune directly with our Deities. This may be through divination, dreams, or some other method. Rather than insisting that what we receive is for everybody, we tend to take any apparent communication as just for us, or for our little group, holding out the idea that the same Deity may have different advice for different people, because we all may have different needs, different lessons to learn, and different paths to walk. The same Deity can tell the same person one thing one month and something else another and someone else, something else entirely, all custom-tailored to each individual’s needs at any given time. These revelations provide wisdom and guidance, but not rules for all.

Thirdly, since many of us have multiple Deities we try to listen to, our lives would get very complicated very quickly if we took every revelation from every Deity as commandments. What would we do when they conflict? Multiple types of wisdom can all be valid, even if they seem to contradict. So, what we have instead of commandments is a pluralistic religiosity that provides multiple fonts of ethical guidance.

We definitely have ethics. Even though we may not see one set of rules coming from one God on High, every Pagan religion I’m aware of has ethics and values that inform its adherents as to how to act. Often times, one of the most central of these is that each of us needs to figure out our ethics for ourselves and follow them. In every case, people are held accountable and expected to take responsibility for their actions. I know of no form of Paganism in which bad behavior is permissible, it’s just that our understanding of bad behavior is different from the concept of sin.

Finally, many of us Pagans, including me, have major problems with the idea of an arbitrary set of rules to begin with. The philosopher Immanuel Kant thought that it’s immoral to do something only out of fear of punishment or hope of reward. In The Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, he encourages us to question even God. His point is that we should do what’s right because it’s right and for no other reason. To do so for any other reason would be morally bankrupt, since it would be selfish. Yet, religions that have a concept of sin often have a parallel concept that obedience will be rewarded and sin will be punished. Many of us Pagans agree with Kant. We should do the right thing because it’s right. If that’s true, the Deities need not motivate us with a carrot or a stick. All They need do is advise us with their wisdom. The rest is on us. Rather than being motivated by fear of damnation or hope of salvation, we should be motivated by having enough love and compassion for our fellow human beings that we honestly want to do what’s right.

Compassion, photo by johnhain via Pixabay

Kant thought that every human being has autonomy and that this is part-and-parcel of ethics. Each one of us must determine for ourselves what’s good and bad. When we do, he suggested, we should strive our very best to follow our ethics and be honest with ourselves about what that really is. We should check our ethics by asking whether or not we apply them the same way to everybody (e.g., if we think it’s wrong for others to punch us, it’s wrong for us to punch others).

So, how do we know what’s good? The short answer is that we don’t, not for sure anyway, and neither does anyone else. Abrahamics have often opined that there are false gods, who are not the one, right, true, and only God, but how do these monotheists know that the God of Abraham isn’t one of these false gods? They often believe that some devil can perform miracles too, or at least trick humans into thinking he can. Many conservative Christians, for example, would say that our most loving healing Gods are false gods or fallen angels who try to deceive us. How do they know that their God isn’t such a being? They don’t. That’s not in any way to disparage them. They have faith, as do we. Their religion teaches peace and love, and that’s beautiful. I’m not actually suggesting that their God is a devil (I cannot imagine that Jesus is such, not with all his wonderful teachings), but merely pointing out that none of us knows the truth. Many of us Pagans opt for an autonomous, human-defined ethical system because we tend not to see morality as one set of Divinity-given rules for all humankind and would rather trust our own thoughts and intuitions, with Divine inspiration, than risk imposing false morality on the rest of humanity.

Our Deities, our practices, and our resolute walking of our chosen path all help us follow our ethics. However, this is very different from avoiding sin. So I invite you to throw off the idea of sin and replace it with a fervent adherence to doing what you honestly think is right. Throw out your fear of Divine wrath or your hope of Divine reward and, instead, follow your ethics simply because it’s the right thing to do. Do this under the advisement of your Deities, spirit guides, ancestors, etc. To put in better words than mine, “keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever toward it; let naught stop you or turn you aside” (“The Charge of the Goddess”, Doreen Valiente).

“The Tree of Knowledge” from the Open Clip Art Library. Public Domain Image.

One last point. We Pagans look at all forms of consensual, adult sexuality as sacred and, basically, good. We look at pleasure as essentially sacred and good (while acknowledging that imbalanced pleasure can cause problems). Religions that have a concept of sin, though, often have the concept that sexuality and pleasure are fundamentally bad. Thus, the word sin is often used to describe these things, even if we use that term in a way that supports them (such as “let’s sin!”). If, like many of us, you truly have no concept of sin, I’d encourage you to avoid using this term to describe your own deeds. However much we might be joking, we Pagans know that words have power. Sex and pleasure are not sins to our way of thinking. So, I’d encourage you to rephrase being “sinful” in more positive terms. Otherwise, we might be telling some deep part of ourselves that, say, it’s okay to have unprotected sex, or even to violate others. If we conflate pleasurable experiences with unethical behavior, there’s a danger that we’d be essentially casting a spell on ourselves to forego our ethics, and that would be un-Pagan of us.

As with the last post, I have a spiritual exercise you may want to try. Once again, since we all have different ways of creating sacred space, I’ll leave it to you to do that in your own way. As I also said last time, I’ve found that we can never rid ourselves of something within us. We can only change it. As the Thelemites say, “there is no part of me that is not also a part of the Gods”. So, I’d encourage you to look deep inside and see that part of you that still clings to the idea that there’s such a thing as sin. The goal of this exercise is to change this inner misguided spirit.

1. Visualize it. What does that look like to you? You might even visualize it as a creature of some sort: an unruly spirit within you waiting for guidance. You might even include the sound, smell, touch, and, yes, even taste of this being. Remember that it’s a part of you.

Photo by OpenClipArt-Vectors, via Pixabay

2. Create sacred space however you do that and call on whatever Deities or spiritual beings you work with, particularly any patrons you might have, and particularly any ones that are good at this sort of work. Deities of transformation come to mind, as do healers, since this is really a type of healing.

3. See (and maybe even feel, smell, taste, and hear) this false, sin-defined morality within you that you want to get rid of. Know it inside you as a being, perhaps a sort of misguided spirit.

4. Talk to this being. It’s part of you, so you can talk to it. Find out why it is the way it is. Rather than being adversarial to it, I strongly suggest coming to it with compassion. You may find that, misguided as it is, it’s doing all these things for reasons that it thinks are good, or what we want (and maybe, at some level, we have been encouraging it, even if we now need to stop doing so).

5. Thank it for all it’s done, but explain to it why its behavior and outlook are problems. Explain that you’re communicating with it in a non-judgmental way, but, also explain that it can serve you better by relinquishing this notion of “sin” and, instead, helping you follow your ethics.

6. Will that, for the greater good of both you and humanity, it transform itself from a being that believes in “sin” to a being that promotes true ethics. Visualize this (and maybe smell, hear, touch, and perhaps even taste it) until you see a full picture in your mind of a new being: one who represents your Pagan ethics. See it transform into this. If you have any trouble, ask your Deities or spirit helpers for help, but remember that you’re just changing yourself, so you have the right to decide how you’re going to be. Rather than seeing it as a battle, transform it with love. It may take a great act of love and will to transform yourself from a person who thinks there’s sin and is afraid to disobey arbitrary rules to a person of strong ethical principle. So, turn on the love and try to get this being, which is part of you, to be on your side.

7. When you see (feel, sense, etc.) that this part of you has been transformed, thank it, and thank whatever spiritual beings and Deities you’ve called, and then open sacred space.

Afterwards, I’d encourage you to let this be the magical act that it is. Avoid talking to others about it or even thinking much about it. More than mere psychology, this is magic. It will transform you, so let it flow.

Theology, Ethics, Philosophy

advice

Pagan

Paganism

Phosphoros' Illuminations

About Phosphoros

Phosphoros is the high priest of Waxing Moon Circle and Temple of Inanna and Dumuzi in San Jose, CA, and of Coven Daoine Sidhe in Oakland, CA. He has been a Pagan priest and teacher since 2005. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

March 21, 2019

3 Pagans & A Cat: Feeling and Talking to Spirits

Next Post

March 27, 2019 Radical Pantheist: Radical Witchcraft, An Interview with Kristen Sollee

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Samson's strength came from his long hair.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE