Order of Pagans

"You can't even understand the powers that I call upon."
 The Order of Pagans serve the Pagan Gods themselves and derive their powers from these primordial entities. In ancient times they were quite numerous, with shrines and temples placed in major urban centers or in the far-out wild places. Today, in our secular, modern age, the Pagans still exist but in a much quieter capacity.
But the Gods still exist, and every now and then their gaze returns to our world...
Paradigm: Pagan Gods. 
Pagan Degrees
== Facts: ==
-The Pagans were once the people of the wild places, the lands outside the maps, the frontier dwellers and foreigners who visited the other Orders only rarely. How different things are today when pagan groups now number across the planet and operate out in the open. From forest dwelling druids to modern ethnic-heritage groups, the Order of Pagans has certainly made a comeback here in the new millennium.
-Pagan Chantries tend to be deep in the wild places and are used for the celebration of life. This often takes the form of a bonfire, wine, food and plenty of dancing. Guests are allowed but it is normally invitation only. 
-Pagans are associated with hearth magick and lesser forms of witchcraft. 
-Pagan Adepts dedicate themselves to a particular Pantheon of Gods, or to a single deity in particular. The specific powers of that God will begin to emerge within the Pagan's own character, so Pagans who follow Thor would develop immense strength, toughness, immunity to cold, and could summon the mythical hammer of Mjolnir, etc. 
-Places and items of importance to the mythological cycles of the past will be where you can find modern-day Pagans. Pagans will often make pilgrimages to places historically important to their God or Gods, and Relics associated with their particular Pantheon will be closely coveted by the attending Adepts of said Pantheon. 
-A Pantheon is a specific 'family' or 'tribe' of Gods who share a common cultural heritage. Examples include the Nordic or Celtic Pantheons in Europe, or the Greco-Roman Pantheons in Italy and the Aegean. 
== Pagan Prayers: ==
Pagan Adepts have the power to communicate with the Pagan Gods and can call out to them for help and supernatural power. 
=== A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ===
== Nature Of The Gods: ==
Who or what exactly are the Pagan Gods? It's a hard question with no easy answer. The Gods at times appear to be immortal, gifted with immortality and aware of the cosmos' grandest secrets. And yet the Gods can be born, and they can even die. 
They grow, they develop, and they sometimes fall from grace. The oldest of the gods are immensely powerful, well beyond anything a mortal could comprehend, but the Gods are not above pettiness. More than one of the Gods has killed another, be it in war or out of personal grievance. 
== Mythological Cycles: ==
Collecting, memorizing and passing on the ancient lore of pagan religion is paramount to all members of the Order of Pagans. Pagan Adepts can only serve the Gods if they know about them, so preserving the ancient traditions of various Pantheons is one of the first things any Pagan learns to do. 
The ancient mythological cycles are not dry and dusty topics to the Pagans. They are vital to their success, and to the continuation of their Order.     
== Clash Of The Gods: ==
The Gods are far above mere mortals, but for all their vaunted power and abilities they are still prone to behavior that is strikingly human. One of these behaviors is warfare. Occasionally, a God or Gods will declare war on others, resulting in a brief but cosmic conflict between each deity and their attending followers. 
When such incidents occur, it naturally entails that Pagans loyal to any of the involved Gods will become embroiled in the conflict.  
== Gifted By The Gods: ==
Most Petitioner Adepts must painstakingly learn about their own particular paradigm and develop their powers slowly. Practice, education and no small amount of trial-and-error are the hallmarks of growth for most Orders. 
But the Pagan Adepts can often catch a break. 
Should they show strong devotion, or remain true to the ideals of their deity amid tribulation, it is not uncommon for the Gods to bestow special advances in power for a Pagan follower. This can take many different forms, and the exact nature of the gift is often in relation to the nature of the deity themselves. A follower of Thoth might be gifted with a powerful wellspring of magic (like a Grimoire) or a follower of Hephaestus would be gifted with intimate knowledge of smelting and metallurgy.  
== Primordial Gods:  ==
The oldest of the gods, at least to the knowledge of any present mortals, are those classified as the Primordial Deities. Purportedly, they were there at the beginning of our universe, among the first creations of the Supreme Himself. They were His attendants and companions in the cosmic act of creation that birthed existence as we know it.
Primordial Deities are very aloof and few Pagans ever truly develop a close bond with any of them. However, for the few who do, they gain access to untapped powers of creation and, thus, will develop abilities similar to those of the Order of Creators. 
== Elder Gods:   ==
The Elder Gods is another classificatio of the gods among mortals, this one denoting seniority or rank among the gods. It is often used in tandem, or confused with, the term Primordial Gods, but while all Primordial Gods are Elder Gods, not all Elder Gods are Primordial.
An Elder God is simply a deity with seniority or rank among other gods, usually within their own Pantheon. 
Because of this, Elder Gods tend to be very powerful, but not necessarily distant and aloof to mere mortals. Many Elder Gods have been very active among the mortal races and have developed large followings. Most of the better known gods in human mythology have been Elder Gods. 
== Alien Gods:  ==
The 'Alien Gods' are simply deities unknown to the residents of our Earth and so are even stranger and more foreign to us than those gods that we do know. Alien gods need not be hostile or unknowable, but they originate from other races and cultures totally separate from humanity. 
The Eldritch of the Order of Gnostics are widely beleived to be a type of Alien God. This casts doubt on whether the entire Gnostic Order is really an Order in and of itself, or is really a sub-faction within the wider Pagan Order? 
== High Gods:  ==
The High Gods are the gods of civilization, of science and the arts, of humanity itself (as a principle). The High Gods are, effectively, the opposite of the Old Gods (whom they frequently fought against). The Tuatha de Danaan of Ancient Ireland are one such example, a Pantheon of gods who brought a more civilized way of life and drove out the darker deities that inhabited Ireland at that time. 
== Chief Gods:  ==
The Chief Gods are those deities who act as the head of their Pantheon, the 'king of the gods' within their own holy tribe. One of the best known examples of this is Ra, the ancient leader of the Egyptian or Nile Pantheon. 
Because Chief Gods all share one concept in tandem, that of being leaders, they tend to favor individuals who are themselves natural or gifted leaders. They will also grant powers and abilities similar to that of the Order of Kings. 
== Outer Gods:  ==
A more extreme version of the Alien God epithet. Outer Gods aren't just deities worshipped by other races, they are beings who exist outside of time and space as we understand it. 
== The Old Gods: ==
The 'Old Gods' is a term applied to prehistoric deities, ancient beings of barbarian worship long before the development of the 'modern' Pagan Gods we are familiar with today. The Old Gods are darker and more savage than their more civilized counterparts. Old Gods tend to be closer to nature, more about survival and keepers of primordial secrets. They also tend to demand blood sacrifice and other darker acts of religious veneration as part of their worship. 
One good example of the Old Gods are the Jotun, the 'Ice Giants' of Northern European myth who were defeated and replaced by Odin and the Nordic Gods.
== References: ==
http://www.godchecker.com
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism
-http://www.paganfederation.org/what-is-paganism/
-http://www.pagan.com/
-http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/
-http://www.patheos.com/Library/Pagan.html
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gods
-https://www.smitegame.com/play-for-free/
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Category:Pagan