Lecture

I would like to discuss with you today my view of the basic philosophies of the neo-pagan movement. I would first like to discuss why it is emerging, what some of its basic principles are and then I would like to make it more personal and tell you why I have chosen this path for my own. My hope is that, when I have finished, you will a better understanding of Neo-Paganism. After the lecture, I would love to take your questions and I encourage you to write down any questions that might arise while I am speaking. I do not claim to be the spokesperson for the entire movement but I can answer questions related to my own practice and understanding of several years of study. Finally, if we have time, I have some simple exercises that we can do together to try and understand some of these concepts.

In the 1930s in Germany, the rising Nazi regime sought to identify enemies to their theories of the pure state by marking people with large symbols. By doing so, they were able to marginalize groups of people and, as we already know, were planning to eradicate them. The plight of the Jews who were forced to wear bright yellow six pointed stars is well known but the Jews were not the only group to be so identified. Gypsies, intellectuals, gays, Catholics, and others were treated with the same type of abuse and ruthlessness. Gays, for example, were identified with pink triangles pointed downwards to represent female genitalia. The Nazi regime tried to make these symbols and those who were forced to wear them into objects of great ridicule hoping that doing so would eventually lead to their extinction. They were wrong. After World War II, Jewish people came together and formed their own nation raising upon it a flag whose six pointed star stands today for religious pride and national unity. Similarly, gays around the world chose not to be ridiculed with the symbol of the pink triangle. In fact, they embraced the symbol. It now represents the pride of the emerging gay and lesbian community. In universities and other institutions, a pink triangle on an office door means that the space inside is a safe haven for gays and lesbians. These are but two examples of people who have joined together to reclaim a symbol and an identity.

There is now another group of people who are coming together to do the same. They are known as neo-pagans and are growing in number every year. In fact, some surveys claim that it is the fastest growing religion in America. Paganism in a general sense has been around for thousands of years. It outdates Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism and it is possible that some of the older religions such as Judaism and Hinduism had pagan beginnings. In the period around 50 CE when Christianity began to spread rapidly throughout the Middle East and beyond, standard pagan practices of the day were melded into the emerging practice of the new religion. Early church organizers wanted their religion to incorporate the practices of other religions but infuse them with new meaning. The original intent of the word “catholic” meant “universal.” Christianity was seen as a universal philosophy. However, around the year 300 and beyond, that began to change. Emperor Constantine declared that Christianity would become the new state religion and the Holy Roman Empire was born. The unifying religion became a means of accumulating power and control over a wide region. People could be controlled not only by the standard means of brute force made possible by a large army, but by the will of God whose wishes were known through the military religious leader. The policy of incorporation turned into a policy of intimidation. All religions which were not the official religion were either barely tolerated or banned. Small religions could be ignored but the large numbers of practicing pagans throughout the region posed a new threat to the stability of the emergent empire. Pagans became not only enemies of the state but were forced into conversion or were killed. The only way to survive was to make the traditional practices secret.

The new machine of forced conversion included scores of Christian writers who could spend their days writing about the ills and evils of non-Christian practice. Pagan symbols, icons, and practices were not only outlawed, they were vilified as sinful and those who dabbled in them were condemned to horrible torture and promises of worse torture in the afterlife. They were labeled as the work of a new deity created by the Christians who went by many names but who we know as the Devil. Please do not misunderstand me. I am not trying to engage in demeaning the religion of Christianity. The philosophy of tolerance and love which is at the root of Christian teachings is meaningful and relevant but, as we all well know, the actions of those who claim to be adherents of a theology do not always practice what is preached.

Intolerance in any setting, religious or not, causes great harm to individuals and societies. But why is it becoming a fast growing religion now? I believe it is because of some of the repressive polices of current major religions and because people want a new religious option that focuses more on self development rather than group conformity. In this country, so many people have come to feel hurt and damaged by the sense of repression created in traditional religious settings. We are a society that values individualism but does not encourage that individualism to grow in religion. People are crying out for a chance to explore spirituality on their own terms. Most have simply given up entirely on organized religion for this very reason. Paganism offers some the chance to grow and learn spiritually on an individual basis. With paganism, all practitioners can become priests and, therefore, be in charge of their own religious growth. Secondly, I believe that many have come to view the traditional patriarchal control and the subjugation of nature as elements of traditional religions that are in conflict with the realities of the postmodern world. People have been searching for a new religious paradigm. As an intellectual society, we consider religious freedom to be an important part of our social fabric. We even call it a civil right. As citizens of the United States, it is part of our guiding social documents - the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. To have a society with a written document as the leading principle of social order is a relatively new idea in the history of mankind.

There have been tolerant societies in the past but it usually only came by the good graces of a benevolent leader. The concept of civil rights for a society only developed during the age known as the Enlightenment. One of the guiding principles of that age was the concept that the individual members of a society rather than a ruling elite were capable of self-governance. It was this thinking that led to the democracies of which we are a part today. With the rise of the concept of individual freedoms and the idea that government does not have the authority to control our modes of thought and worship, there has come a new tolerance for different religious practices. Be that as it may, the legal condemnation of pagan religions remained a state policy in England, the United States, and other countries long after the establishment of their official policies of civil rights. There have been many battles, many deaths, and much suffering before we could come to the realization that freedom of religion must mean all religions. Fortunately, we live on the other side of that dark tunnel and find ourselves in a world where paganism is not only practiced regularly, it is recognized by the US courts as being legal and worthy of equal respect under the law.

Just as Jews did for their religion and just as gays and lesbians have done for their own recognition, there are now those who are attempting to reclaim paganism. From the ashes of hundreds of years of degradation and condemnation, people are reviving the philosophies and practices of pre-Christian spiritualities - theologies which believe that nature and all existence is sacred. They are taking the ancient symbols, so long and carefully vilified, and turning them into symbols of good and right. For like all major religions, modern pagans seek to make themselves and the world around them a better place in which to live. What, then, is paganism? Neo-paganism is actually a new religion. Though many of its adherents attempt to renew ancient practices, the truth is that no one knows exactly what these practices were. Many have put together a conglomerate of pre-Christian observances and have woven them together into a new tapestry of spiritual practice. There is no single creed for neo-pagans and this fact often makes it difficult to describe them. This means the practice of modern day paganism can have many variations but I would like to posit to you some basic similarities.

First and foremost is: a respect and reverence for Nature and all her cycles with an ongoing observance of those cycles through joyous celebratory rituals. These rituals are related to the cycles of the sun, the moon, and the stars in relation to earth. Most pagans celebrate eight sun ceremonies called sabbats related to the two solstices, the two equinoxes, and four dates in between. Other rituals include esbats which are celebrations of the full moon and astors which are celebrations of the dark moon when the stars are most visible. These rituals help the practitioner become in tune with the natural rhythm and cycles of the life. Connecting with these rhythms allows one to relate to a natural harmony beyond the self. This is the basis of all spirituality - to become in tune with and become a part of something greater than the self. This can be done by helping others, singing in a choir, worshiping a higher being, meditating, or in any number of ways. Pagans do many of these same things but their primary method of connection is through ritual and by observing the motions and energies of the cosmos.

Secondly is an understanding of the division of the one source of the universe divided into two forces: masculine energies represented by God and feminine energies represented by Goddess. (Some also recognize a third entity called The Child or the presence of life itself.) This is similar to the concept of Yin and Yang in that there are two universal forces that are complementary opposites and which exist to balance all of nature. Many pagans recognize a singular source but do not humanize it. They accept the idea that the true source may be an unknown mystery. Rather than trying to understand the unknowable, they choose to relate instead to the manifestations of this source. That is, the two opposites that are seen in all life. These two, named God and Goddess, are seen by some as higher beings and by others as metaphors for cosmic energies such as positive and negative or better yet, the active and the retroactive forces in nature. The Child is the metaphor for the manifestations of these energies into living beings. Neo-pagans may believe that we are here to become part of the act of helping the one source become conscious of itself. Thus, life is an equal part of divinity and not beneath nor subservient to it. Without life (the Child) the energies of God and Goddess would have no purpose and without God and Goddess, life would have no existence.

Thirdly is a belief that the physical world in which we live is not the only reality and that not only do other realms exist but that they may be experienced. Pagans understand the concept of a non-physical reality that is beyond time and space and believe that this reality has a significance on our daily life in ways that are mysterious and wonderful. They further believe that by learning to understand this realm, it may be possible to make the lives of ourselves and others more rich and meaningful by helping others. This concept may seem the most foreign and far out for non-pagans but many will tell you that the concept is not so unusual as you may think. For example, take the concept of beauty. If I were to ask you what is beauty and to show me where it exists, you might describe something you consider beautiful. In other words, you might show me something that was full of beauty - hence the word beati-full. But where is the actual beauty? Where is beauty itself? It does not exist within the physical realm. It is an idea. Neo-pagans might say that it exists in another realm - a mental realm of ideas. What about thoughts and emotions? We experience them but they do not exist as physical entities. They are parts of another realm. What about life itself? What happens to the body after death? Pagans say that we are not just physical beings but that we are each a spark of the universal life force that does not perish and that, to live, we must both possess a physical body and a body made of energy. These exist on different realms and interact together to produce a living being.

Fourthly, modern pagans have a belief in free will and choice with an understanding of the responsibilities and consequences of such freedom. Many believe that the energies of the universe are the same and exist in all things. Thus, actions which seek to harm are reverberated throughout the fabric of the universe and are eventually returned to cause harm to the sender. This is similar to the Buddhist principle of Karma but is understood in terms of universal energy patterns. Thus, Neo-paganism, as with any major religion, has an ethical underpinning that is deceptively simple. It bears much resemblance to the Golden Rule except that doing good is rewarded and doing wrong produces consequences that are brought about by the fabric of live of which we are all a part. There is no judgment or after-life punishment. There is only the realization that good produces good and wrong creates negative consequences. There will always be those who work the so called Òdark artsÓ but there have been and always will be abuses in all religious traditions.

Fifth is a precept I have already touched upon which is a respect and tolerance for all sacred paths and practices which cause no harm to others and the ability to incorporate these teachings into personal practice when desired. Many modern pagans call themselves eclectic to signify the fact that they have learned from different religious traditions and that they have added to their practice things which they have learned from other sources. Pagans realize that there is no one single truth. Rather they claim that there are a variety of ways of thinking and practicing which help one relate to the divine. It is an accepted and welcome fact that all neo-pagans practice and believe differently. What is important is that no harm is caused and that one remains true to one’s own practice. There are, of course, those who believe that one way and only one way is the right way but ALL religious practices have their fundamentalists. The basic premise, then, is a worship and celebration of the energies of the universe and the cycles they create in nature.

Observing how these interact in daily life is the religious practice and celebrating these cycles is the basis for worship and ritual. I might also add that pagans tend to be a joyous lot. For the most part, they believe that the body, the mind, the soul, and the heart are all special gifts of being alive and that they each should be celebrated as well for they are equally parts of the universal dance of life. Now that we understand a little better what a pagan is or maybe, as most pagans define themselves, by what they are not, one might ask - what might motivate someone to become pagan? Again, I cannot answer for all because each has his or her own reason. I can only answer for myself but for many like myself, finding paganism has often been described as being like coming home. Like me, many describe how they have been pagan all along in thought and action but did not know that a common religious experience existed. I can tell you that my personal spiritual journey has covered a wide spectrum from fundamentalist Christian to Atheist turning later to Buddhism and Taoism.

It wasn’t until I discovered Unitarian-Universalism in my late twenties that I began to feel as if I wasn’t a total freak. Growing up in a world where you believe that thinking the same as everyone else is the sign of a truly adjusted adult, I felt a wave of relief when I discovered a religious practice that held to no single truth. Like paganism, UUs do not have a central creed to which all must adhere. Instead, they believe that each has the right and responsibility to pursue individual religious truth. Within any Sunday in a typical UU fellowship, you may be joined by agnostics, atheists, humanists, Buddhists, Taoists, liberal Christians, Jews, Quakers, and, yes, even pagans, among many others. When I first observed this, I said to myself -these are my people. I had made my first homecoming. Though enriching to me, it still lacked something for which I was searching. Unitarian-Universalist congregations must constantly engage in a struggle for ways to bring so many diverse beliefs together into one community. That is their strength - the ability to bring together a community of people devoted to spiritual growth and learning while honoring and maintaining a respect for a diversity of theologies.

Its challenge to me, however, is that it cannot proscribe any one method of practice. This must be done through smaller offshoots of the community. Thus, at UU fellowships, you will find regular meetings of all these different faith practices I have mentioned. I wanted to find one that fit my philosophies and I found it when I attended my first pagan outdoor public ritual. I saw a group of free thinking, joyous nuts dancing around in robes and pendants having the time of their life celebrating the wonders of nature. I said to myself, these are my people! They provided for me some of the things for which I was searching. For example, I desired to have a personal connection to nature. Paganism provides methods of ritual based on honoring nature and natural cycles. There is a basis of tradition from which individuals can create their own individual practices but creating the actual rituals is up to the individual practitioner. This appealed to me. By calling cosmic forces God and Goddess, I felt as if I could have a more personal connection to the universe. It was no longer some dark mysterious force that was distant from me. I could believe that I was an equal part of the workings of the cosmos. This was a welcome change from the subservient stance of other religions. With paganism, I could celebrate my love of nature. I always thought that everyone shared this same appreciation but I soon discovered that I was wrong. Someone once asked me, “Did you ever do mean things to creatures when you were young?” This question was asked with an underlying assumption which was that, of course, all children did mean things to plants and animals when they were young as if such things were common and a rite of passage. No, I answered, never. Such an action would make no sense to me. I remember, instead, spending long hours watching insects and animals. I remember that they taught me more than most of my human teachers. I recall spending hours just watching an ant colony, for example. They readily accepted my presence without feeling threatened. I thought for sure they were looking back at me as if to say “See, this is what life is all about.” Then, I would watch crows gather in the woods and they would seem to be saying the same thing. I felt an affinity with trees and rocks and water.

Secondly, paganism seemed to me to be about celebrating real events. Pagan ceremonies are about connecting with the motions of the sun, moon, and earth. These are real events that affect our lives. Taking time to thank the sun for being alive, to observe the moon and the natural cycles that it both causes and represents, to stand in awe and be humble before the millions of stars we see at night, or to praise the earth for providing food and and a home did not seem like a foolish idea to me. What could be harmful about being thankful for being able to live another day? For many cultures, that which provides becomes a deity. The sun is worshiped as a god because it provides heat, light, and provides sustenance to the plants we consume. The sun provides life. If it were to cease to be in existence, we would all die. This fact is true regardless of cultural, philosophical, or theological background. Why not take time to recognize this fact and be thankful that the sun shines another day? That is what I asked myself and found no discomfort in doing so.

This leads me to another of my reasons for becoming pagan. As I have just mentioned, paganism works with astronomy - the workings of the planets. Paganism does not dismiss science nor does it reject scientific learning. With neo-pagan thought, science and religion merge. I could not understand how science and religion were always at odds with each other. Why cannot they be a part of the same world? Many modern pagans understand the energies of the universe as being the same energies of God and Goddess. The current discoveries in subatomic or quantum physics fit in very well with occult thinking and theories about the connections of all beings. Fritjof Capra’s famous book, The Tao of Physics discusses the apparent connection and interrelatedness seen at the molecular level. Standard concepts of time and space come into question that seem confusing and frightening to the Western scientist but not to the practitioner who has become to know these same things in a spiritual practice that does not deny the validity of personal experience. The language of the pagan practitioner becomes a metaphor for scientific reality but is spoken in terms of a personal connection and relationship to these strange and wonderful universal workings.

My final reason for this discussion of why I became a pagan is that I truly believe that if we are going to save this planet and ourselves, we must once again come to the realization that the earth and all its inhabitants are sacred and are to be treated as such. Now I know what you’re thinking. I’m going to stand here and lecture you about environmentalism and tree hugging and then I’m going to get into my pollution and greenhouse gas producing vehicle and drive to my energy consuming and wasteful garbage producing home. You would say I was being hypocritical and you would be right. I do not pretend that I am the model of the perfect and pious environmentalist. I still have to drive to work and I can’t afford to get off the power grid. Nor does my community make it possible for me to get to work with public transportation. But, I do believe that if any of this is eventually going to change, it must begin by first having the attitude that it needs to change. Too many of the mainstream religions have been preaching that the earth is here for our personal purpose. Too long have we come to see a grove of woods as an investment opportunity. We have been taught that all of this has been provided solely for our benefit to do with as we wish without consequence. We are slowly learning the fallacies and potential dangers of this philosophy. There must be a new attitude to take the place of this current devastating paradigm. We must believe in the sacredness of all life and of all the earth. It is not just something that flower adorned hippies do, it is something that may be necessary for all of us to do for our own survival. This, for me, is what paganism is all about.

The word paganism encompasses a great variety of thoughts, practices and philosophies but there are a few common elements that can be identified and discussed. This diversity, this love of natural things, of scientific concepts, this ability to develop your own personal practice, this freedom of thought without a singular creed, these are all things that attracted me to my current practice. I believe that these may be some of the same reasons that many others are also finding themselves attracted to neo-paganism. I thank you for the chance to speak about them.