I was writing a fellow pagan in a Tennessee prison this morning. She described to me how pagan were treated there compared to Christians – much worse of course and with great skepticism. The roots of that being arrogance and bigotry but also of our own doing. There was a Nazi Ásatrú group in the prison that spoiled it for all other pagans. This is very common. I hear from prisoners all over North America. And the results of the actions of a few paint a very destructive view of the rest of us.
So how do we change this perception of pagans here in the States? We are perceived quite differently in Europe. I think we as pagans need to come out of the proverbial broom closet and let the world see who we are. We need to collectively demand equality. I am a pagan because Paganism’s ethics and practices go so much deeper than the revealed religions. It makes me a better person. This is something to celebrate, not hide away. The occult approach to paganism needs to go away. It doesn’t serve us well. Our history in America is dominated by occult magical traditions that came here in the 60’s and 70’s. These traditions keep teachings secrets. People have to pass through levels to get the next teaching. I see this as a dynamic antithetical to equality. I find the whole dynamic very troublesome. People love to have power over others.
Nature just doesn’t support this hierarchical dynamic. There is no top of the food chain. That is a very crude and mechanised way of looking at Nature. In Nature, there is only interdependence. Which his higher, the lion or the Ebola virus? The hierarchy falls apart when you look past the surface and try to comprehend (and even more deeply, participate in) the relationships that Nature is built upon.
Those of us that follow “Nature-based” religions, need to let go of occult and hierarchical dynamics in our religious traditions. It isn’t helpful. I think there are so many pagans in the US now, we could be a political force if people were willing to stand up for their civil liberties and fight for the Earth. Many pagans feel this isn’t an issue. But I can tell you I talk to people every week in prison that are having their religious freedoms stomped on. Many can’t gather as a group, or pray over food, or celebrate ritual and holidays in any way that is visible to anyone else, and they can’t even receive pagan elders as clergy. So many of our brothers and sisters are suffering. Also, when I look at all the environmental degradation all around me, I feel like I have no choice but to stand up and say I am pagan and paganism offers a better way of being in the world, one that doesn’t destroy the Earth. I hope our community starts doing this more. The need is great.
I am not suggesting we proselytize. I only wish we would remove the cloak of the occult and focus on the ethics and our way of living in a sacred manner. This begins to eliminate fear and ignorance and build common ground. So the question for me boils down to this:
Why are we hiding our spirituality, the living expression of our human soul in relationship to the universe?
I agree that paganism and the occult are too easily conflated (by pagans!). I think that separating the two, conceptually, makes a great deal of sense.
On the other hand, I don’t necessarily agree with your conclusions about hierarchy. The fact that nature’s chains and cycles can’t properly be said to have one ruler at the top doesn’t necessarily suggest the radical alternate of no hierarchy at all. Within lion society there is a hierarchy, and the fact that the alpha lion is prey to the Ebola virus doesn’t mean lion society is meaningless. Pagans–and all humans–are a part of the same set of chains and cycles. Our leaders are subject to disease and death the same as the male lion, but it is a non-sequitur to suggest that we should therefore have no leaders.
I also don’t necessarily agree with you about secrecy: esoteric traditions and teachings have been a part of almost every religious stream in human history. There’s nothing inherently pagan or antipagan about esoteric teachings.
Kullervo,
Thanks for the great response. I should have taken the time to write more clearly. I knew someone would challenge my post with the idea of leaders.
I didn’t mean to imply there wasn’t natural leadership or that leadership wasn’t important. Leadership is clearly vital and a part of Nature. Certainly in my own grove, I have functioned as the default leader much of the time. Souls with greater strength or knowledge than those of their community naturally have a place of deference. But deference doesn’t mean their soul is of any more importance to Nature to than another.
Having leaders doesn’t necessarily imply hierarchy. And I stand by my statement that Nature isn’t hierarchical. I see Nature as a beautifully functioning anarchy. Even in the case of lion society, I think if we look deeply at all the energies at play, all the souls in relationship to each other, we would find that what may appear on the surface as hierarchy is in fact a functional anarchy.
What I was really trying to express was I don’t think it serves us well within our spiritual traditions to have people with authority over others. Equality is essential.
Secrecy and occult teachings almost by default bring a level of authority and hierarchy that I think is a hindrance to spiritual development, both for the student and the authority figure. What is so vital a spiritual teaching that it needs to be held in secret and only given at the right moment when a student has proven themselves ready? What is so amazingly powerful that brings people to greater spiritual connection with the land, the people, and the gods, that hasn’t already been recorded in the great religious and philosophical writings and collections of the world’s mythologies? I am very skeptical of anyone who would claim to possess such a knowledge or teaching that isn’t sharing it freely to people who are sincere.
In regards to esoteric teachings, I don’t believe I said they were pagan. Of course many religions around the globe have these. This is nothing pagans have a patent on :>) Again, I just see these more of a road block to learning than something that brings more clarity. In the case of paganism and the greater society, it is a real hindrance to finding common ground, acceptance, and a sense of equality. I experience weekly within the prison system where I focus my energies as a priest.
It is also important to say, we needn’t be open to sharing everything about our lives with other people. We can of course decide not to share with others. This is natural and very important to our own well being. If people are creeps, I have full right not to relate to them on any terms other than my own. But their is no more importance to the teacher than to the student. And any knowledge I have in Druidry or any of the other teachings I have received are freely available to anyone wanting to learn. They needn’t be shared in secret. There isn’t a single teaching I have received, or a piece of wisdom that I’ve learned through experience, that couldn’t be share sitting in the public square.
This isn’t to say that my every action is something that should be witnessed by society. The expression of grief and sorrow, anger and even joy, may not be appropriate for public display. The rituals of celebrating lust and sex between my wife and I, rituals of cathartic release, rituals of self reflection, these should not be public. But the teachings behind those rituals most certainly could be.
Anyway, great discussion and thanks for the ideas and input. I put things out there is hopes of spurring intelligent respectful discourse. So thank you very much! I learn much from this.
Be well and blessings,
Snowhawke
I hate to say “Amen” to this, but that’s what popped into my head. I never understood the hierarchical, occult-like traditions.
Ian
“Occult” means “hidden.” When people speak of the occult, I think it has bastardized into power-over based structures of education and practice, the ones you are railing against.
However, when I think of “occult power” or wisdom, to me it means finding the hidden spark of inspiration in everything around us, to learn to see on levels that are conditioned out of us in this society.
This of course takes us back to the Druidic teachings of relationship, focus, and awareness. This is the true wisdom of finding awen, hidden in everything around us.
JWL,
Beautifully expressed my friend. This is at the core of experiential religion. Most of reality is hidden to our human consciousness. And it is the goal of most religious practices to bring more consciousness to our existence.
I was indeed speaking directly to the power over structures that I encounter. These are not helping bring more conscious to the human collective.
Peace, beauty and inspiration,
Snowhawke