D is for Dragon Spirit Tradition

Posting number 7 for the Pagan Blog Project.  Dragon Spirit Tradition is my brainchild of over at least 10 years of study of ancient religions and cultures, other contemporary groups, general anthropology, and psychology.  If one counts my tentative questions as a child and fascination with the ancient mythologies and cultures, it's really something I've been working on my whole life.
We are a highly intellectual and eclectic tradition of Contemporary Paganism that combines panentheism, duotheism, polytheism and animism.  We believe that the Divine speaks to us in the manner we are each most likely to hear and respond to in an active (hopefully positive and constructive) manner.  Have you ever noticed that every, single religion practiced today has "true believers?"  People who believe they've had some sort of experience that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that whatever they believe in must be true and real.  Maybe there's a good reason for that.  Notice I said maybe.  We aren't talking about absolutes.  While reasonable explanations can be found, we acknowledge that there could be other valid explanations.  It's just that we like our explanations.  :)

Pagans.  Yes, Yes, I hear you nit-pickers!  Technically, the word pagan is from the Latin adjective paganus meaning "rural", "rustic", or "of the country."  Or as a noun meaning "country dweller" or "villager".  Some even claim it was used as a pejorative like hick, redneck, or country bumpkin.  Well, whatever it might have once meant, today it is a pop culture umbrella term for those who are just plain not Judeo-Christian and/or those who favor nature based, polytheistic religions.

We use the term "contemporary" because the Tradition isn't something that existed in the past, although it is heavily influenced and inspired by ancient history.  At the most basic, we see it as something similar to the Unitarian Universalists, but with a more decided Pagan influence and practices.  We've come to feel that all religions have something of value to contribute to one's personal growth and spirituality.  If one were to take a look at each religion (of light/good) with both an objective and idealized view, one would see that at the heart of all religions are guidelines for being a good person.  The differences are in the accessories.   

We are eclectic because we believe in using the best tool possible for the job and don't wish to limit our "toolbox" by adhering to only one brand, as it were. 

We are an intellectual group in that we expect members to be able to read, research, study, experiment, and report back on findings.  It's okay if one needs guidance in these areas or help getting started.  However, if you're looking for a group to spoon feed you all the information you need or will ever need to know:  this might not be the place for you.   

If you should decide to study with the Kindred of the Dragon Spirits, you will find that one of the biggest differences is that we go into detail about why we believe something to be the way it is or why we do something a certain way.  Just because something's been done a certain way for (insert number of years) by (insert large number)s of people, doesn't make it worth believing or doing.  What makes something worth believing or doing is if it makes sense and works for you.  The whole point of our study groups, Hearths, are to help people find what makes sense and works for them, even if it's not with us.