Asiya's Shadows

Video Descriptions

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 00:30:23 -0600

Golden Dawn Magick with no Scripts
Group ritual without scripts; openness; leading a double life!

Vlog Update
Instructional and informational videos on magick and the occult planned for the future! Be sure to subscribe!

Ego and the Hiereus
Quieting the mind and ego; the energy of the Hiereus Golden Dawn officer position.

The Disembodied Head
Rambling in a pensive yet happy mood. Some things would probably make more sense if I gave specifics, but I'm unable to do so at this time.

Happy New Year 2010
My New Year's religion

Quit Smoking Pep Talk 12.19.09
Recording my magical reasons for quitting smoking - in case I need reminding later ;)

Theoricus Effects 12.14.09
Social anxiety � Effects of Theoricus � Dream work � Quitting smoking

Prologue 11.28.09
Introduction to Magick Word, a video blog that will discuss issues/debates within the magical community, and will chronicle Asiya's personal magical work and progress.

Moon Phases and Magick

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 18:00:50 -0600

Using the energies of the New Moon, Waxing Moon, Full Moon, and Waning Moon for magick.

New Moon

The New Moon is the beginning of a new cycle, and so is a time of possibility. The New Moon energy can help you prepare for new phases in your life and environment.

Beginnings
New projects
Spiritual development
Transformation
Gardening (planting seeds)

Waxing Moon

During the Waxing Moon, its light is noticeably increasing, so this is the perfect time to hone in on the positive things in your life. Magical goals with this focus include:

Growth of any kind
Attracting things towards you
Healing
Prosperity
Blessings for beginnings and new projects
Creating
Giving to others
Youthful energy
Beauty
Love and friendship

Full Moon

Because the Full Moon represents the Goddess at Her strongest, magick for most goals is more powerful when performed during the Full Moon. Wiccans do this as part of an Esbat ritual. Traditional goals for magick during this time include:

Invoking
Cleansing, consecrating, and charging
Blessings and protection
Healing
Gardening
Marriage
Fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth
Family matters
Developing intuition, awareness, and mental power
Divination and guidance in life decisions
Spiritual direction
Strength and safety
Manifestation

Waning Moon

The Moon is Waning when the Moon�s visibility deceases. Correspondingly, the Waning Moon�s influence will aid you with magical goals of decreasing, ending, and repelling.

Banishing
Releasing and letting go
Lessening
Quitting bad habits
Finishing
Repelling
Binding (as an alternative to cursing)
Peace and rest
Reflection and introspection
Transformation of negative situations into positive situations

The Witch's Square

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:01:51 -0600

Discusses the Witch's Square, a little-known method of creating a personal symbol related to the four elements.

The Witch's Square has for its base an equal-armed cross. The equal-armed cross represents the earthly plane of existence, as well as the four magical elements of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth in equilibrium.

The Witch�s Square has two purposes, which may sometimes be in conjunction. It can be likened to a family crest, as a depiction of what the four elements mean to you magically, to be used as a personal symbol. It may also be used for meditation. If you wish to understand more fully the relationship among a particular type of correspondence for the four elements, create a Witch�s Square using those correspondences and then contemplate. A visual aid such as this will usually bring you deeper results than studying words alone.

Each line, point, and quadrant of the equal-armed cross corresponds to the four elements. In creating a Witch�s Square, single words or phrases representing the elements are placed on the points or in the quadrants. The lines or the quadrants are colored to match the four element colors. Icons (such as the four elemental alchemical symbols, the Tetragrammaton, four runes corresponding to the elements, etc.) may also be placed in the quadrants.

When designing your own Witch's Square, choose four concise phrases, single words, or symbols that represent each element. They should either have deep meaning for you, evoking a sense of mystery and magick in you, or be things of which you wish to gain a deeper knowledge. The four things together should also be of the same "type". For example, you wouldn't choose "eagle" for Air and "to dare" for Fire; you would want to choose animals or Powers of the Sphinx for every element.

Color either the lines or the quadrants with the four element colors. Choosing between lines or quadrants is a matter of personal preference. Place your four words or symbols in the center of the quadrants or at the points.

For ideas on some phrases, words, and icons you could use for your own Witch's Square, see the Earth, Air, Fire, and Water Correspondences pages of this website.

This is the template for the Witch's Square.

Point	Quadrant	Element	Color
1	A	Earth	Green
2	B	Air	Yellow
3	C	Fire	Red
4	D	Water	Blue

Here are three examples of words and symbols to use for the points.

New Site Design

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:30:37 -0600

The last time the Asiya's Shadows site design was revamped was January 2003. It was definitely time for an upgrade.

The biggest change is that the coding behind this site was switched from HTML to PHP. PHP automates some features that are manual or impossible with HTML, and allows for greater control over the way content is presented.

The menu sidebar categories have changed so the pages are grouped more logically now. If you are looking for a specific page or topic, I hope that you will be able to find it easily. If not, check out the new Advanced Search feature. :)

You can now comment directly about content on the page itself. This feature replaces the Guestbook.

I removed several pages and features as I felt they had outstayed their welcome. They are still HTML-accessible via search engines and bookmarks, but they do not have a place on the new site.

Let me know what you think of the new design by posting a comment!

Old HTML home page:

Magical Names and Mottos

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:00:58 -0600

Discusses the process of choosing a magical name and motto.

In Paganism, a magical name is a name that represents your magical being. It is usually a name you choose for yourself, though I have heard of a few groups choosing names for their new initiates. A magical name should either describe your present strengths or interests, reflect qualities you would like to grow into, or embody what you perceive to be your magical persona.

In ceremonial magick, a magical motto is a phrase that describes your spiritual goal. It is usually in either Latin or Hebrew, but can be in any language besides your native tongue or everyday language. The motto is typically abbreviated so others will not know what the actual motto is, so you would refer to yourself as, for example, "Frater AMAG" or "Soror SA".

Magical names and magical mottos both serve the purpose of separating your magical work from the so-called mundane world.

Some Wiccans take two magical names, a public name and a private name. The public name is the name you go by among fellow practitioners. The private name is a name known only to you and the Divine, only used in sacred space.

The process of choosing a magical name varies from person to person (like so many things in magick). Some choose names related to their patron deities (please don't name yourself directly after a deity). Some choose names from old legends, folklore, or history. Other possibilities include animals, herbs, flowers, the elements, or gemstones. Magical mottos are often chosen from Biblical passages, Kabbalistic texts, or Gematria dictionaries, such as Sepher Sephiroth by Aleister Crowley or Godwin's Cabalistic Encyclopedia by David Godwin.

Research thoroughly the names or phrases that have caught your eye. Learn as much as you can about their origins and symbolism. This will help you decide if the name is right for you. Be mindful of how the name or motto sounds, what negative connotations it may possess, and whether it lends strength to you or whether it detracts from who you want to be. Some feel that adding numerology into the mix helps to "attune" the name to you, by using Gematria for a magical motto, and using the Pythagorean numerology system for a Pagan magical name.

To decide on a Pagan name based on numerology, add up all the numbers in your date of birth, and continue to add until it is reduced to a single digit. For example, say you were born January 1, 1970: 1 + 1 + 1 + 9 + 7 + 0 = 19. Then 1 + 9 = 10. Then 1 + 0 = 1. This final single number is called your Birth number. Your goal would then be to find a name that numerologically matches your Birth number. This is done using the Pythagorean system of equating the letters of the English alphabet with the first nine numbers:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
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

Say you researched and like the name Amber. Under the Pythagorean system, A = 1, M = 4, B = 2, E = 5, R = 9. Therefore "Amber" would be 1 + 4 + 2 + 5 + 9 = 21 = 3. Sorry, it doesn't match your Birth number. Using this example (Birth number 1, name number 3), you would need to add a "7" to the name to make it match your Birth number. So you could experiment with modifications to the name such as adding a "G", "P", or "Y" to it. This, though, usually ends up mangling the name beyond all recognition, in which case it would be best to just try another name.

Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP)

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:00:44 -0600

Instructions on performing the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, also known as the LBRP.

Part I: The Qabalistic Cross

Face east. Visualize yourself growing larger and larger, taller and taller, until you tower above the room you are in. Continue this visualization until the city you live in is small beneath your feet. See the continent as tiny compared to your majestic body. Now even the Earth is small beneath your feet. However, no matter how small the Earth is, it is still firm and solid beneath your feet, anchoring you to the ground. You will not float away. Next, visualize yourself growing so large that the planets of our solar system are as tiny toy balls spinning near your feet. Soon they are too small to see as even the Milky Way galaxy becomes a small dot of light at your feet.

Now visualize a dot of light coming from far above your head. This is only a tiny bit of the light from this source, and if you saw its full brightness, you would immediately be blinded. As you grow nearer to the light, it forms a brilliant white sphere just above your head. It is nine inches in diameter, about the size of a dinner plate. It is brighter than 10,000 suns but still only a tiny portion of the source of this divine white light. Point to the sphere above your head with your finger and "draw down" a beam of the light to your forehead, just above and between the eyes (at the third eye). While pointing to your forehead vibrate: AH-TAH.

Bring your finger firmly down your body until you are pointing toward the ground, your hand covering your groin. As you do this, visualize the light at your forehead coming down along with your finger, down through your body and beyond your feet. Vibrate: MAHL-KOOT.

Now bring up your finger to your right shoulder. As you do this, visualize the beam of white light moving along with your finger so that the light protracts to your right, past your hand at your right shoulder. See this beam of light extend to the end of the universe, and beyond. Focus on this beam and vibrate: VIH-GIH-BOO-RAH.

Move your finger horizontally to your left shoulder. As you do, visualize the beam of white light now extending through infinite space to your left. As you focus on this beam of light vibrate: VIH-GIH-DOO-LAH.

Clasp your hands at your chest as if praying. Visualize within your chest, at the point covered by your folded hands, a brilliant golden glow. Vibrate: LAY-OH-LAHM, AH-MEN.

You have been spiritually strengthened by acknowledging yourself as the center of your universe with only the divine light coming through you.

Part II: The Formulation of the Pentagrams

Focus your attention now back to the center of your magical space; you are no longer at the center of the universe. Move to the eastern side of your space and continue to face east. Here, draw a banishing earth pentagram. The pentagram is made of flaming gas-jet blue light.

Inhale through the nose. As you do, feel energy flow from the ends of the universe through your nose and body, and down and out of the bottoms of your feet to the center of the Earth. As you inhale, raise both hands to the sides of your head by your ears.

Step forward with the left foot. At the same time thrust your arms forward so that your hands point to the middle of the pentagram in front of you. (This position is called "the sign of the Enterer".) As you do this, exhale and feel the energy come back up your body, out your arms and hands, through the pentagram and to the ends of the universe. Use the entire exhalation to vibrate the God Name: YODE-HEH-VAHV-HEH.

Bring your left foot sharply back next to your right foot. Stomp the ground once with your left foot as you place it besides your right. Raise your left hand to your mouth and touch your lips with your index finger. As you do this, drop your right hand to your side. (This position is called "the Sign of Silence".)

Point to the center of the pentagram with your right index finger. Trace a line in the air at the height of the center of the pentagram as you move in a clockwise direction around the edge of your circle's space. Go 90 degrees so that you end up in the south, facing south. As you trace the line in the air, visualize a brilliant white light emanating from the tip of your finger. At the south, repeat what you did at the east: draw a banishing earth pentagram, inhale, make the Sign of the Enterer, but instead vibrate the God Name: AH-DOH-NYE. Then give the Sign of Silence.

Repeat as above, but move to the west and vibrate: EH-HEH-YEH.

Repeat as above, but move to the north and vibrate: AH-GLAH.

Complete the circle by connecting a white line from the north to the east where you began. Then moving in the same clockwise direction, come back behind the altar. You should once again be facing to the east.

Now visualize the brilliant white circle expanding up and down to form a sphere above, below and all around you. You have created a brilliant white sphere all around you with electric blue pentagrams at the quarters that have been charged and sealed with names of God.

Part III: The Evocation of the Archangels

Spread your arms straight out to the sides, so that your body forms a cross. Take a second or two to feel once again the energy flowing through you and making you a brilliant cross of light at the center of the universe. The cross also represents the four magical elements of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth in equilibrium.

Note: The following uses masculine pronouns for simplicity�s sake when referring to the Archangels, though they are genderless.

In front of you, visualize a figure standing on clouds. He is dressed in a yellow robe with purple trim. He carries a caduceus wand (the symbol used by doctors, a wand entwined by serpents). His robes wave in the wind. Feel a breeze coming from behind him. Say, "Before me, RAH-FAY-EL." (Vibrate the name of the Archangel.)

Visualize a figure behind you surrounded by waterfalls. He is dressed in a blue robe with orange trim. He holds a chalice. Feel the moisture in the air. Say, "Behind me, GAH-BRAY-EL." (Vibrate the name.)

To your right, visualize a figure in the desert. He is dressed in a scarlet robe with green trim. He holds a flaming sword and you feel heat coming from this direction. Say, "On my right hand, MEE-CHAI-EL." (Vibrate the name. The "CH" is a guttural sound as in the German "ach" or the Scottish "loch".)

To your left, visualize a figure on a fertile landscape. He is dressed in greens and browns and holds a pentacle. Feel the stability and strength of Earth. Say, "And on my left hand UR-EE-EL." (Vibrate the name.)

Move your left foot out to your left side so that your body is in the shape of a pentagram. Visualize another blue pentagram all around you, outlining your body. Say, "For about me flames the pentagram..."

Visualize a golden hexagram, a six-pointed star sometimes called a Star of David, within you, where your heart is. Say, "...And within me shines the six-rayed star."

Part IV: Repeat Part I, the Qabalistic Cross.

Summary of Steps

Here is a summary that gives a schematic of the LBRP without the explanations.

1. Touch forehead, vibrate AH-TAH.
2. Point down, vibrate MAHL-KOOT.
3. Touch right shoulder, vibrate VIH-GIH-BOO-RAH.
4. Touch left shoulder, vibrate VIH-GIH-DOO-LAH.
5. Fold hands at chest, vibrate LAY-OH-LAHM, AH-MEN.
6. Go to east, draw pentagram, give Sign of Enterer, vibrate YODE-HEH-VAHV-HEH, give Sign of Silence.
7. Carry line to south, draw pentagram, give Sign of Enterer, vibrate AH-DOH-NYE, give Sign of Silence.
8. Carry line to west, draw pentagram, give Sign of Enterer, vibrate EH-HEH-YEH, give Sign of Silence.
9. Carry line to north, draw pentagram, give Sign of Enterer, vibrate AH-GLAH, give Sign of Silence.
10. Carry line to east, return to center.
11. Hands out, say, "Before me, RAH-FAY-EL; Behind me, GAH-BRAY-EL; On my right hand MEE-CHAI-EL; and on my left hand UR-EE-EL. For about me flames the pentagram, and within me shines the six-rayed star."
12. Repeat steps 1-5.

The instructions for the LBRP may look complicated, but once you are comfortable with the ritual, it usually takes just five to ten minutes.

About Asiya

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:00:39 -0600

Or: The Brief Magical History of Asiya

Asiya has the astrological stuff Aleister Crowley craved - she is a Leo with an Aquarius Ascendant, born on August 5, 1977. She was born and raised for her first ten years in the American state of Illinois. Then she and her parents moved to Phoenix, Arizona where she lived until just recently.

Asiya discovered how to lucid dream when she was five or six years old. Lucid dreaming has been such a natural part of Asiya's sleeptime that she didn't realize until she visited the newsgroup alt.magick that it was a "skill" many people had to work towards. Asiya also took a great interest in and practiced things such as handwriting analysis, self-hypnosis, meditation, yoga, affirmations and the like when she was a child. Oddly, her fundamentalist Baptist parents didn't seem to mind (or rather, have a clue).

Asiya was introduced to magick by her first boyfriend when she was fourteen. He was a Wiccan and they dabbled in, ahh, certain magical techniques. After the relationship and friendship drifted apart the memories of magick lived on but they were just that, memories. Later on down the road, shortly after Asiya turned eighteen, a different boyfriend introduced Asiya to vegetarianism (and she has been a vegetarian ever since), introduced her to concepts such as holistic health and fruitarianism, and reintroduced her to affirmations and self-hypnosis. During their time together, they also acted upon various causes that Asiya has always been concerned with, such as environmentalism, animal rights, and human rights.

But Asiya didn't realize magick could be serious until she came across a creature that most Wiccans dread: a Satanist. Asiya had just turned twenty-one, was (is) a really hot babe, and was single for the first time ever. And this sexy, eighteen year old heavy metal guy just moved in next door. He was really just a dabbler in magick, someone who liked to perform an "evil" spell every now and then, and he enjoyed looking at spooky books and websites. Asiya didn't have the experience to know that he wasn't serious about magick, but that didn't matter because he opened the door to her serious practice. He tried to impress her by showing her some spooky-looking Crowley, Thelema, and Satanist websites. She was a bit weirded out by that stuff but was still curious. While surfing the net (by herself) for connected things, she discovered Wicca. And the beliefs and magical practices of Wicca spoke to Asiya like the practice of lying speaks to court-appointed Bush.

Asiya and the Satanist dabbled in various things for only about a month, but it took a dabbling Satanist to awaken Asiya to the wonderful concrete experience of serious magick. Asiya lived and breathed Wicca for about three years, always as a solitary, writing her own rituals, experimenting, learning by trial and error. During her Wiccan days, she experimented with chaos magick, Egyptian magick, and Thelemic techniques, and spent a great deal of time on the Tarot.

One day Asiya realized she was too comfortable, and with this, she realized something was missing. She began to crave "higher" things. Wiccan magick had made her content with her outside world, and the religious aspects were satisfying, but what of looking beyond the way things seem to appear? What of the true nature of reality and things like "spiritual attainment"? Asiya began to live in the 10 of Cups, the stagnant dreary place where once you reach the end of the road and get what you wished for, you realize it's boring as fuck. Asiya tried for a while to make Wicca compatible with her newly expanded interests, but she soon learned that it's no good trying to force something to be what it isn't designed to be. Asiya discovered that supposedly "advanced" Wicca was generally just Wiccan rituals dressed up with more ceremonial aspects, or discussions of leading covens, which Asiya had no interest in. Now was the time to work on herself and towards goals that were more "spiritual". Asiya had practiced Wicca for three and a half years, and it was time to experience more.

So Asiya remembered her vague interest in Thelema, and began to earnestly read, study, and branched out from there. Asiya learned more about Thelema, the Golden Dawn, Typhonian and Kenneth Grant, Jack Parsons, "Ma'at magick", chaos magick, Qabalah, alchemy, Rosicrucianism, etc etc. Asiya was pretty damn confused for a while (and sometimes still is), but it seemed the best way to go was to start off simply with the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP), a ritual from the Golden Dawn. After a while, Asiya realized she no longer felt Wiccan, she kept forgetting to celebrate the Esbats and Sabbats and didn't actually care. So she stopped calling herself a Wiccan.

For the next three years, Asiya followed the Golden Dawn curriculum, and occasionally threw in some 'Thelemic' exercises. Asiya finds most aspects of Thelema and certain aspects of the "156" current agreeable. When Asiya needs to get something practical done in a magical way, she usually turns to chaos magick techniques. Hermetic Qabalah and the Tarot have an especially warm place in Asiya's heart. Asiya is continuously drawn to Typhonianism and Kenneth Grant's stuff, though she's not quite sure what to make of it, especially since she knows it's mostly bullshit (but it's interesting bullshit anyway).

Asiya has practiced magick alone as a rule (barring a few exceptions). But after careful research and contemplation, Asiya joined a magick order in 2005 that has exposed her to new concepts, ideas, and practices that go to a completely different level.

Drawings

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:45:30 -0600

Digital occult art

A Satire of Satanist Websites

A livened up Orphic Egg -
Ever notice that online representations of the Orphic Egg are always in black and white? Well I took matters into my own hands!

Qabalistic Tree of Life in the King Scale of Color

Qabalistic Tree of Life in the Queen Scale of Color

The Right-Hand Path and the Left-Hand Path

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:45:12 -0600

The differences between the right-hand path, left-hand path, and the middle path from a magical point of view.

The terms "right-hand path" and "left-hand path" originate in India with the metaphysical discipline of Tantra, and are used in both the Hindu and Buddhist forms of this practice. Left-hand Tantra (Vamachara in Sanskrit) differs from right-hand Tantra (Dakshinachara) by the use of elemental sacraments in rituals. Left-hand Tantra uses the actual sacraments while right-hand Tantra uses symbolic substitutes. Left-hand Tantra employs tools and practices that are taboo in Hindu Brahmin society. Based on these original concepts of explicit and implicit worship, to give a Wiccan analogy, the Great Rite performed symbolically using the chalice and athame is a right-hand ritual. When the High Priest and High Priestess perform the Union by actually having sex, it is a left-hand ritual.

The right-hand Tantrics often view the left-hand Tantrics with suspicion, given their violation of social taboos by their sex rites, beef eating, and alcohol drinking. In the West for centuries, things associated with the left and left-handedness have had a social stigma. This is even reflected in the English language with the word "sinister", which is the Latin word for "left". In the late 1800s, H.P. Blavatsky incorporated many aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism in her work. She either misunderstood or deliberately changed the meaning of the term "Vamachara", as the right-hand Tantrics' suspicion suited her Theosophical ideas. She mentioned the term "left-hand" throughout her books as being synonymous with "evil" or "black" magick, and "right-hand" as being synonymous with "good" or "white" magick. Madame Blavatsky was highly influential to Western occultism. Today many magick practitioners and adherents to esoteric doctrine take it for granted that "left-hand path" means "bad" and "right-hand path" means "good", without knowledge of their original context.

In today's occultism, these terms can only be generalizations and simplifications. There are some magical and occult organizations that apply the term "left-hand path" to themselves, with definitions, beliefs, and practices varying from organization to organization. When people who consider themselves "right-hand path" magicians use the term "left-hand path", it often means little more than "we don't like what they do" and is an attempt to demonize the others. Similarly, when self-described "left-hand pathers" call people "right-hand pathers" they often mean they think those people are too conservative in their approach. Interestingly, "left" also means a more liberal approach in Western politics as well.

Magically speaking, the difference between the left-hand path and right-hand path are modes of operation, methods. Generally, the left-hand path is more explicit, direct, and carnal in practice, if not in spiritual objective. The right-hand path is more orderly, passive, and socially conventional, and in the opinion of its practitioners more in tune with a spiritual aspiration. The middle path strives for balance and moderation, partaking of methods and views from both left and right, to form a synthesis. The over-arching goal is improvement of self and/or world; just the imagery and rituals differ. However, it must be pointed out, as in all occult practices, there are exceptions and occasionally extreme views about these matters, and certainly some practitioners have adopted Blavatsky's distorted image of the left-hand path as a fulfillment of a personal aspiration to oppose what others identify as the good.

The Meaning of Paganism

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:30:57 -0600

The meaning and definition of Pagan and Paganism in modern times.

What does the word "Pagan" mean in a modern context? What does it mean being a Pagan?

First, a little history. The word "Pagan" is derived from the Latin word "paganus", which means "country dweller" or "peasant". In the Christianized Roman Empire, in the 4th and 5th centuries, paganus became slang among the military officers meaning "civilian" (that is, a person not enrolled in the army of Christ). Christianity spread much quicker in cities, so that by the Middle Ages, the word for "country dweller" became synonymous with one who was not a Christian.

Today the dictionary definition of Pagan is "a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions". That's from the Oxford American dictionary. Yes, that describes adherents of Wicca and Asatru for instance, but it's not terribly specific, as it applies to millions of people whose religions don't really fall under the same umbrella as Wiccans and Asatruar.

What we are really talking about is Neo-Paganism. Neo-Paganism is a group of religions that have beginnings in and elements from the 20th century, while building upon ancient roots. Nature worship, mythologies from antiquity, shamanism, occult works from the Middle Ages and Industrial Age, modern environmentalism - all these elements combine to help form Neo-Paganism. Neo-Pagan religions are either polytheistic, panentheistic, or pantheistic. Polytheism is the belief or worship in multiple deities. Panentheism is the view that God is transcendent and immanent (inherent or indwelling) within all creation or that God is the animating force behind the universe. Pantheism is the view that God is all; the universe, nature, and God are equivalent.

Besides these "formal" descriptions, modern Paganism, to me, means paying attention to Nature and recognizing the harmony in natural things. Observing the cycles of the earth, like the sunrise, sunset, the Solstices and Equinoxes, the moon phases. It means having a belief in or adopting a worldview that there is a Force or Forces around us that can help us or guide us if we contact it/them, whether they are called gods or goddesses, elementals, or angels. It means taking responsibility for your words and actions. It means being connected to the "here and now", living "in the moment", while working towards goals that improve your life and your world. Being a modern Pagan means to feel awe and wonder at Nature and life, whether you live on a farm, in a village, in a suburban house, or in a skyscraper in a global city.

For more specific beliefs, values, and practices, you can consult practitioners or texts of particular Neo-Pagan religions, such as Wicca, Asatru, Druidism, Stregheria, etc.