Pagan Parenting

For those with children (or plan to have children,) how are you going to handle being a Pagan parent? Are children to be dedicated at birth or will they be able to chose their spiritual path later? How do you explain topics like reincarnation, curses, and magic to a six year old? A ten year old? What about when your child comes home and asks why you don't celebrate -Christ-mas? Or when your child is being teased by other children and their parents for their religious beliefs?

I don't think being a Pagan parent would be any different from being any other kind of parent really. If it's who you are as a person, then it's part of who you are as a parent.

The idea of dedicating children at birth sometimes bothers me. However I think that a Pagan dedication is more open to allowing a child to choose his own path when he gets older. I would probably do a private dedication with just myself and my child within a circle, just as my beliefs are private and personal. I do not think I'd be open to having a child dedicated in my husband's religious traditions but I believe that's something we agree on.

Reincarnation I think is easily explained. I think the idea of death is a difficult one to grasp and I think that reincarnation might actually make death an easier concept to grab hold of. As for curses, I don't really believe in them myself so it's not an issue. Magic I think is not even to be explained. It just is. Magic is so much a part of a child's world that I think children have an easier time accepting magic than adults do. An older child (say around age 10) might be able to shift into the idea of magic as an element of her religion. When I think of how I was raised with religious concepts, I don't think I questioned them much until I was an older child. It all depends on the child and on your practices I think. My plan is to make witchcraft a part of our lives and to allow my child(ren) to explore my beliefs and my husband's beliefs for himself.

We do celebrate Christmas in our house. We also celebrate Yule. I don't think we're any different than other dual-religion households (for example, a family that celebrates Hanukkah and Christmas). I think Yule and Christmas mesh nicely together with similar traditions and stories. Our child(ren) might be teased about celebrating Yule but they could be teased about their hair color, height, bookbag, etc. All you can do is give your child confidence and support. My concern would be a teacher who treats my child differently, not a classmate who is young and ignorant.

Of course, we have no children so my opinions might change with experience. Since no one gets a parenting manual, the only thing to do is to feel your way along.