Paganism and Tradition

It depends on the person. Since there is such a variety of pagan paths that are practised nowadays, from Wicca to Asatru to druidry to Hellenic reconstructionism, the spectrum of opinions is just as large. I'll answer your question for myself, as a Hellenic polytheist, but bear in mind that other members will give different answers.

rwhegwood said:

Given that prior to their displacement by Christianity, those things that pertained to the worship, ritual observance, etc. of a peoples' gods were passed down within select families, castes, or apprenticeship traditions (sometimes all three). And given that interloping where one was not properly innitiated into the tradition invovled the censure of the trbe...and presumably of the gods what does that mean for those seeking to recreate that worship as a matter of personal initiative.

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That's not the case with every tradition. In Ancient Greece, religion was a public matter. There were no initiations - unless you joined the priesthood and swore yourself to a particular deity, which most people didn't do - and no schools of thought you had to adhere to. There were schools of thought, of course (Platonism and Orphism are two examples), but nobody would be shocked if you just declared yourself a generic believer in the Gods.

The Hellenic religion was (and still is) very open. So long as they did the rituals properly and respectfully, anyone could join in. In special cases, such as people who participated in Mysteries or who were priests of a certain God, tradition was a lot more important and I don't think anyone could just start doing it on their own. That still holds today. I'm wary of people who declare themselves a "priestess of Hekate" just because they had a spiritual experience with her once. But if they did proper research (as in, for months and years) or if they were initiated by someone who was recognised by the community as having the knowledge and experience to do that, then I think the title is valid. But again, this isn't the case for most people, as the only initiation or confirmation into the Hellenic religion by honouring the Gods through prayers and offerings.

rwhegwood said:

I have read critiques by Buddhists who belong to an established tradition of those who merely adopt Buddhist beleifs and rituals without submission to one of the Buddhist schools and having a spiritual master one is responsible too. Similarly I've encountered comments from traditioanal practicioners of the Hindu relgion that speak in uncomplementary ways of ad hoc paganism for the reasons given above. They find make it up or remake it up as you go faith of any sort a bit of a modernist nonsequiter. It has no actual root. This is the same assessment I have seen of Protestantism from the perspective of the ancient liturgical traditions. Such worship is more rooted in personal preference than submission to the ancient tradition.

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The difference is that for all these religions that disappeared when Christianity took over, there no longer is a continuing priesthood or even an established tradition. If a person who "adopted" Buddhism is really serious about their religion, they can go to Thailand, Burma or Cambodia and learn from the masters. Modern pagans can't do that. Bearing that in mind, I think the Gods understand that we can't reconstruct their rituals in all their detail. It's not our fault - we simply aren't able to. But we do our best, and that's what matters.

Some pagans believe that devotion is more important than tradition. I personally believe that devotion is shown through our efforts to reconstruct tradition. After all, there's a reason why people followed certain rituals - it's because the Gods liked them that way I think they would rather see someone trying their best to honour them the old way, than someone who gives up because they don't have anyone to learn from.

Of course, best of all is when you're actually able to pracise tradition with 100% accuracy, but that's not always possible.

rwhegwood said:

Is this a problem for neo-pagan's and how do they address the historical disconnect and loss of the historical tradition of their adopted religion's priesthood and worship culture. Is there a sense that the mindset of some neopagan groups is similar to the create your own church end of modern protestantism? Or is it a kind of Noahidic style...do the best you can at what is left at the level of personal piety, but not it's more formal and historical cultic institutions?

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Some people are fine with just focusing on personal piety and creating their own path, as you say. As a reconstructionist, I must respectfully disagree. We may not have religious institutions now, but that doesn't mean we should stop trying to establish them. I'm lucky that my particular faith, Hellenic polytheism, has a multitude of sources that describe how it was practised, and while there is still much we still don't and may never know, we have a much greater understanding of ancient Hellenic tradition than we do of many belief systems. We also have many highly educated people who, given the opportunity, would do a great job of imparting this understanding to others and putting it to practise in temples and sanctuaries. If one day we are able to do so, we should.

Personal piety is good, but sharing it with others in a ritual context is better. As modern polytheists, I believe that our "job", so to speak, isn't just reviving a belief - it's bringing back a fully-rounded lifestyle as best we can