Skip the cow, eat the grass

I got an email from Amazon.com the other day listing books that they thought I would enjoy based on my previous purchases. The list included some Neil Gaiman, Laurell K Hamilton, Sue Grafton, as well as some religious books. One of them was touting the religious history of Irish Wicca. I clicked on the link and became amused. After checking it out I heard something in my head...laughter. It was fluff. There was no real content that would garner me spending my hard earned money on it. It made me think about a vegetarian friend of mine. I asked him why he was a vegetarian and he said I used to eat beef then I realized cows eat grass, so why don't I skip the cow and eat the grass. What does that have to do with this you may ask . This is my point...

Why are we as pagans, people in charge in our own faith relying on other people to learn our history for us? Why aren't we searching for ourselves? I understand to some degree that having an intermediary to decipher history for us is not always a bad thing, but accurate history is not always what filters through to the reader. Those writers did the same thing I encourage all of us to do, they sought out the truth for themselves. They spent the time doing the research. Learning the past they in turn pare down and deliver to us freshly washed and in convient bite size nuggets.We have no governing body yet we believe anybody who says that they know better than us. I think as a measure of our own commitment to our faith is to do the leg work for ourselves. It is time for us to pass over the newest, latest and greatest novelesque pagan how to book. and pick up a history book. Heck pick up two of them. There are very few authors who teach a history you cannot go out and learn yourself. You want to know about the Greek pantheon grab a textbook on greek mythology from your local library Learn from history itself. Not only are you more like to get a better source of information but you will save yourself some money as well. Now I know I mention textbooks and I realize that for the most part textbooks read like a stereo instructions, but not all of history is spicy and juicy. Some of it just well, plain boring. That does not mean it is not worth knowing or seeking out. Don't limit yourself to to just dry history books. It is amazing what you can learn about a culture from their myths, lore, and sacred texts. It tells us how they loved, prayed and lived day to day.
If we as pagans ever want to be taken seriously by society we need to start acting serious about ourselves. That means being our own historian, as well as being our own Priest/ess. Taking the time will be worth the time and effort it takes to learn it.

What I am saying is as Pagans is it is time for us to Skip the cow and eat the grass