Why I (sometimes) say I am Fam-Trad.

2/13/99

I just got back from visiting my parents and I am very motivated to finally write this article.

My parent left the churches they grew up in and were not inclined to force faith on their children. Therefore, my sisters and I have always been free to make our own paths and each of us has chosen a different path.

Our parents sent us to a Catholic school although we were not Catholic. So we grew up surrounded by people whose religious beliefs we did not have to share.

Because my father is very knowledgeable on the subjects of Germanic and Vedic mythology, any questions I asked were likely to receive answers from those theologies.

My parents do not consider themselves Pagans. My grandparents certainly did not consider themselves Pagans. However, my father keeps saying things that make me wonder.

When I was in second or third grade my father told me he was a pagan. I don't remember why and he doesn't remember saying it so it was probably one of his cryptic remarks meant to confuse his children rather than a statement of faith, but it made an impression on me.

A couple of years ago two of my Braided Wheel students took my father's Medieval German literature class. They came to me after the first class and told me my father was teaching magic. I called my father about this and we had a very informative talk about Germanic and Celtic magical practice. I used some of what he taught me in the quarter call I was writing for a friend's handfasting.

Since then, I frequently call my dad when I need to know a Norse kenning or Hindu god name.

Tonight we discussed monotheism in the Upandisah, and he got me to memorize the number of Hindu gods (Three hundred and thirty three, three thousand and three, thirty three, six, three, two, one and a half, and one).

How many generations must your ancestors be Pagan before you can claim to be Fam-trad? When I pointed out to my mother that my pagan ways come from my father, she agreed that I am indeed following a family tradition.

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