2. NEOPOGANISM
Neopoganism is bracketed together to contemporary
religions. These denominations were formed as a
result of renovating beliefs of gods, symbols,
practice and other elements of ancient religions.
Amongst believers, the name neopaganism seems
to be offensive. A religion can be an example of
such 'druid' cult, as it is based on practice and
customs of old Celts. In Poland, we can also find
followers of this religion. This religion was
common on Polish soil, before the
Christianization was introduced.
3. HOW DID THIS RELIGION COME INTO
EXISTENCE?
Wicca is a modern pagan religion that draws upon a
diverse set of ancient pagan religious motifs for its
theological structure and ritual practice. The
religion usually incorporates the practice of
witchcraft. Developed in England in the first half of
the 20th century, Wicca was later popularised in the
1950s and early 1960s by Gerald Gardner. Gardner
was a retired British civil servant, and an amateur
anthropologist and historian who had a broad
familiarity with pagan religions, esoteric societies
and occultism in general. Wicca is traditionally and
primarily a duotheistic religion centred upon the
idea of gender polarity and the worship of a Moon
Goddess and a Horned God. The Goddess and the
God may be regarded as the Divine Feminine and
the Divine Masculine. They are complementary
opposites or dualities, bearing similarities to the
concept of yin and yang in Taoism
4. PRINCIPLES OF NEOPAGANISM
- Right of the Triple Return - „Everything you do,
whether good or bad, will return to you three
times"
Wiccan advice – „Do what you want, provided
that your acts hurt nobody".
6. CONFUCIANISM
The Confucianism is rather a philosophical-religious
system, rather than a religion itself. It was
initiated in the 5th century BC by Confucius in
China. The core of Confucianism is humanism,
the belief that human beings are teachable,
improvable and perfectible through personal and
communal endeavour. Confucianism focuses on
the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of
ethics. Confucianism holds that one should give
up one's life, if necessary, either passively or
actively, for the sake of upholding the cardinal
moral values of ren and yi. Although Confucius
the man may have been a believer in Chinese folk
religion, Confucianism as an ideology is
humanistic and non-theistic, and does not involve
a belief in the supernatural or in a personal god.
7. WHAT NEXT?
Confucius never stated whether man was born good
or evil, noting that 'By nature men are similar; by
practice men are wide apart' —implying that
whether good or bad, Confucius must have
perceived all men to be born with intrinsic
similarities, but that man is conditioned and
influenced by study and practise.
Filial piety is considered among the greatest of
virtues and must be shown towards both the
living and the dead (including even remote
ancestors). The term "filial“ characterizes the
respect that a child, originally a son, should show
to his parents.
8. HOW TO FULFIL HEAVENLY ORDER?
In order to fulfil Heavenly Order one should have a strong willpower and
fulfil one's role in the society. Every man should know his place in the
social hierarchy. A master who is teaching you has an absolute power.
Since the society is treated as the family, the master is treated as the
father. Confucius divided people on noble (jünzi) and boors (xiaoren).
The first group is guiding light, these are virtuous people, "natural-
born" for exercising clerical positions. Whereas the second group have
all negative features, but can become noble through the education. The
Confucianism assumes that the society should be based on five
connections of the relation and mutual obligations:
The Five Bonds
Ruler to Ruled
Father to Son
Husband to Wife
Elder Brother to Younger Brother
Friend to Friend
9. MORAL LAW
Humanism is at the core in Confucianism. A simple
way to appreciate Confucian thought is to
consider it as being based on varying levels of
honesty, and a simple way to understand
Confucian thought is to examine the world by
using the logic of humanity.
Confucian ethics is characterized by the promotion of
virtues, encompassed by the Five Constants. The
five virtues are:
Rén
Yì
Lǐ
Zhì
Xìn
