Category Archives: Paganism

Paganism, Witchcraft

Speak not of such things for they frighten me!

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The following questions come from The Reverend Boy:

If I remember correctly, I believe you said you were a pagan or Wiccan. What about that faith / spirituality gives you fulfilment? Do you have a community with whom to share your experiences?

This is a great question in that it really makes me think. More importantly, it challenges me to express in words things that often defy description. And of course, it also forces me to talk about some things that might cause some of my friends to worry and even consider calling a mental health professional — or worse, an exorcist.

I’d say that my fulfillment from my spirituality is due to two closely related themes. The first is the tendency of Pagan spirituality to celebrate, cherish, and even honor this life. The second theme is the close and curious (if sometimes frustrating and nerve-wracking) relationship I have with Freyja.

Like I said, these two things are quite intertwined, because Freyja is all about life and its joys and sorrows. She is fascinated by people and social settings. There’s been more than one time that I’ve been at a gathering of friends at a coffee shop, dining with friends at a restaurant, or otherwise out and about with other people, and the next thing I knew, she was there with me, taking it all in. She’s fascinated (and sometimes disgusted, I grant you) by how people interact with each other and all kinds of details of my life and the lives of those around me. And seeing it all from her perspective in those moments turns even the most “mundane” experiences into moments of awe and contemplation.

The fact that she’s there at a moment’s notice in any situation is also incredible to me. It creates a very conversational relationship between the two of us. Talking to her is not something that’s limited to rituals (though rituals are wonderful and important things as well), but something that can come at any moment. It’s a comforting and casual thing. Well, okay, it does get annoying at times, like when she pipes up about my eating habbits. But in the end, it’s all worth it.

I’m also finding lately that my faith is becoming very community-oriented. I find myself thinking in terms of what I can do to help others, even in the smallest ways imaginable. To me, even building community is becoming and important way. And my Pagan faith gives me ways to go about helping in this manner (and the occasional kick to keep moving in that direction). And again, that’s all about celebrating life, not just as an indivdiaul, but as a group of individuals.

I’m going to hold off on talking about my spiritual community (though I will point to a couple of previous posts on that particular subject. But I have more on that topic brewing in my mind. So I want to give it a bit more time to percolate before I dump it out into the blogosphere.

Oh, and for anyone wondering, the title of this post is a paraphrase of the response that a witch was supposed to give whenever the subject of witchcraft came up, according to the Ardanes.

Paganism

Community as a Spiritual Discipline

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My previous post about what Pagan community looks like got me thinking about community and community building in general. To me, community building is in itself a spiritual discipline. The meal after a ritual is as important as the ritual itself. The regular covered dish dinners (one of the things I think the Baptist church I grew up in got right) are as important as the Sunday morning worship service. In fact, the charismatic church I attended my senior year in college understood this so much that they started having covered dish lunches every Sunday afternoon after the service!

From a Pagan perspective, each individual contains a spark of the Divine in their being. Perhaps some traditions don’t express it in exactly those words, but I think it’s universally (or nearly so) expressed in one way or another. For example, the Norse traditions hold to the idea that humans are descended from the gods. (How literally or symbolically this should be taken may be debated, but it’s there.) So there’s that sense of Divine origin and connection.

When I consider human relationships while holding this perspective in mind, even the simplest interactions become profound. Each time I laugh with a friend, share in his joy, or help dry her tears, the divine spark in me is reaching out and connecting with the divine spark in the other. In that moment, we are recognizing each other’s sacredness. A shared meal becomes a moment that strengthens our spiritual connection. And such connections should be strengthened, as they promote growth, both individually and collectively.

Paganism

My perspective on Pagan community

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We sit in a circle in the dimly lit room. Incense smoke wafts gently upward among the flickering candlelight from the small altar. One of the attendees, a woman in her forties, speaks of the spirit who just gave a message. The woman identifies the spirit as a great aunt. She mentions that the woman had been a midwife, explaining the deep understanding of “alternative medicine” the medium had sensed in the spirit. A small, hushed conversation ensues as stories and experiences are traded. A short silence falls, soon ended as another medium shifts slightly, preparing to give the next message.

The above paragraph is a factual account of a small portion of the monthly seance I attended a couple weeks ago. I’ve tried to capture (though not entirely successfully) the somber intimacy of the moment here because I feel that moment was representative of the essence and nature of my own spiritual community. That community is something that Erin recently asked me to write about.

Spiritual community among Pagans is a complex, subtle, and even elusive thing. In some ways, I don’t think we have a community so much as a network of intersecting and overlapping communities. Different groups of people get together for different purposes, and membership to multiple groups is perfectly acceptable. The people I attend seance with are different from the people I celebrate the Sabbats with. Other groups get together to participate in ghost hunts and other paranormal research activities. Another group gets together to do house blessings and cleansings. People gather and regroup based on common interests and everyone pretty much finds what they’re looking for.

The friendships that grow out of this kind of networking are amazing. Indeed, most of the activities of these various groups allows for and encourages such bonds of affection. There’s no occasion too serious that an appropriate bit of humor can’t slip in, and the sharing of each others’ lives becomes a natural result of working together.

Of course, a discussion of Pagan community isn’t complete without a discussion of the local New Age shop. Such a shop (and even multiple shops) is usually at the center of such a community. This is because in addition to selling helpful merchandise, these shops also tend to serve as learning centers and community centers. They often offer classes, workshops, and seminars in an array of subjects. They often also provide space for other covens, groups, and organizations to post notices about their activities. Indeed, once a lucky Pagan finds such a shop, they usually have the resources they need to find anything or anyone they need.

Of course, there’s a lot more I could say about Pagan community. After all, there’s also festivals, conferences, and many other events. And of course there’s the common problems that come up in Pagan communities (no, we’re not a utopian society any more than the rest of society). I suspect I may do more posts in the future. But hopefully this gives you a glance into my community.

Paganism, Personal Development, Spiritual Development, Witchcraft

Taking another bold step while quaking in my shoes

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One of the inherent problems with agreeing to enter into a working relationship with a specific deity is that said deity actually expects you to work. And eventually, that work will include tasks that require you to step outside of your comfort zones and do things you’re not sure you’re ready for. This morning, I experienced one such instance in my own life.

A small group of friends and I have been talking about getting together more regularly to do ritual. This is the group (or at least the core part, though I hope we invite a few of the others for Yule) that gets together every year to celebrate Samhain together. The rest of the year, we get together more sporadically. As I said, that’s something a few of us would like to change.

As I was driving in to work this morning, I got thinking about this fact, and the upcoming solstice. A couple of us had been talking about the fact that we really should do a Yule ritual. However, no one has sat down to actually make any plans. It was this last fact I was considering when Freyja decided to speak her mind.

“You know, you could plan the ritual.”

I blinked and immediately thought to myself that I’m not sure where I’d begin. Suddenly, I had a handful of ideas running through my head. Obviously, she wasn’t going to let me off that easy. So I thought about it for the rest of the drive to the office. Once I got here, I made a call and offered to plan the ritual. It turns out that this was a good thing, because the others had already agreed to do ritual for Yule and even set the date, but weren’t sure what they were going to do. So it looks like I’ll be taking the lead on the planning as long as they provide the space.

I’m also getting the inkling (another one of her ideas, I’m afraid) that I’m going to suggest that we trade off. I’ll plan the solstices and equinoxes if the others will take care of the other four high days.

Egads, what have I gotten myself into? But then, I keep getting told that I need to quit hiding and take on a more active role. I guess this is a step in that direction.

Darn goddesses, anyway.

Paganism, Religion, Spiritual Development, Witchcraft

Leaping into Darkness?

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I’ve been thinking about writing a spiritually-themed post for the past couple of weeks. However, until tonight, I haven’t gotten around to it. In part, this is due to laziness on my part. I simply haven’t taken the time to sit down and try to put my thoughts in order.

Of course, it’s also in part because we have entered the dark half of the year, and the part of the Wheel where silence tends to reign. So my thoughts have turned inward, and I find myself wanting to spend most of my time mulling about spiritual matters — especially how they apply to my life — rather than blathering on about them.

And then there’s the fact that my musings and experiences have taken me into realms that I’m simply not sure I want to talk about quite yet. In many ways, I’m still adjusting to recent events and new things in my life and I’m not ready to be broadcasting some of it. So in many ways, I expect this post will be short and somewhat vague.

It is clear that I have started a new leg of my spiritual journey, and one that will be guided and influenced quite heavily by my lady and patroness, Freyja. This is not surprising, as anyone who knows me well likely has a good sense of how dear and important she is to me. So it’s probably not too surprising that she has chosen to strengthen and deepen our relationship.

Of course, this has not been a sudden thing. Indeed, the first conscious indication that new things were coming occurred during the Friday night seance at the naturist festival I went to back in August. During that seance, Freyja began to prepare me energetically. I spent the entire evening feeling like my head was buzzing. (She even made her presence known to Belinda in order to confirm for me what was going on.)

Since that time, things have continued to progress between her and I, and it’s been an exhilarating if nerve-wracking experience. I’m not entirely sure where everything is going, though I’m becoming more comfortable with the overall experience.

I do know that it means that I’m going to end up taking a more visible and active role in the world around me. I have work to do, and I have work to do in order to get ready for it.

Online Life, Paganism, Religion, Society

Another great synchroblog

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Last month, I posted a bit about a synchroblog wherein a number of Christian bloggers talked about Christianity and Paganism and discussions between members of both faith groups. This month, the same group is having another synchroblog, with the topic being about Halloween this time. So far, I’ve read a handful of posts from the event and enjoyed them thoroughly. The link above is to Sonja’s post, where anyone interested can find links to the rest of the participants’ blogs.

I’m not going to say much about the synchroblog yet, as I’m still reading. I expect to have many thoughts to share by the time I’m done. I will briefly note that Sonja’s daughter cracked me up with her “emergency vampire protection” though.

Paganism, Religion

Thoughts on a Synchroblog post

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Yesterday, I posted a link to a syncrhoblogging event focused on dialogue between Paganism and Christianity. Today, I wanted to highlight one of my favorite posts among the excellent collection. I’ve chosen to highlight Paul Walker’s contribution on the grounds that in my book, the man deserves a medal for bravery (and quite possibly a second one for his steallar integrity).

Paul admits at the outset of his post that as he discovered what the topic for this month’s synchroblog (the first he planned to participate in, no less) was something he knew nothing about. However, he chose to press on anyway, which in itself takes guts. Talking about a topic you know nothing or very little about can be a frightening thought, as it opens yourself up to the possibility that a large group of people will happily point out just how little you know about the subject (and not always nicely, no less).

What impresses me more than that, however, is how Paul chose to alleviate his lack of knowledge in order to write his post. He didn’t choose to simply move on based on what he thinks Paganism might be. Nor did he choose to ask fellow Christians about Paganism. Instead, Paul chose a much more direct approach. Consider his own account:

Here’s what I decided to do : since I know pretty well nothing about paganism, I decided to try and find out more. I searched around to find one of the larger pagan forums on the Net, created a user account, announced to the members that I was writing a piece for my blog on Christian-Pagan dialogue, asked if anyone there would help me out, and sat back to wait for the fur to fly….

He found a group of Pagans and asked them questions. In my book, that shows a great deal of integrity. He didn’t want second-hand knowledge, but direct communication. Information from the horse’s mouth, if you will.

It also took courage, because based on Paul’s own statement, he expected there to be something of a negative reaction to his inquiries. Now, I will admit forthrightly that I don’t blame Paul for that expectation because when I got to this point in his narrative, I became worried about what kind of response he might report getting.

Truth be told, we Pagans sometimes have a tendency to respond to inquiries from Christians with a certain amount of hostility. (I know I’ve been guilty of it to some degree at various times.) And while I can certainly point out that this is because many Christians tend to make their inquiries disrespectfully or often are only making them to start an argument in order to prove us wrong, I think that only explains our tendency for a negative response. It does not excuse it, however.

Of course, even when Pagan’s don’t respond with hostility, we can sometimes be rather condescending and even arrogant in our attempts to “educate” the inquirer. Too often, we tend to like to think of ourselves as more learned or “spiritually advanced,” and it comes through in our dealings with people who honestly want to understand us better.

Unfortunately, this can have an unfortunate effect, as such condescension is far too often counter-productive to our stated goals of fostering mutual understanding. Such an attitude more often creates a further rift and resentment between the two groups. After all, who wants to enter into dialogue with someone who doesn’t treat you with the respect deserved by a fellow equal?

While I admire Paul’s courage, I do have to admit that his post and concerns about what kind of reception he might receive continues to give me pause. Based on some of my own past experiences with exchanges between Pagans and Christians, I do find myself wondering how well prepared Pagans as a whole are for sincere dialogue. In the past, Pagans have accused many Christians (and in some cases, rightfully) of not being open to sincere dialouge. But I have seen cases where some Pagans (myself included, in some instances) use that fact to hide our own lack of willingness to converse civilly. I hope that Paul’s very positive experience is a sign that we’re more open to such dialogue now than some of my own past experiences might suggest.

Friends, Paganism, Society

Fingerlakes Pagan Pride

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This past Saturday, I went to Fingerlakes Pagan Pride Day. As I was feeling lazy and wanted to do other things, I didn’t arrive until a little before 2pm. Once there, I immediately found Wendy and determined which Quarter I’d call during the closing ritual. Since they left it up to me, I chose to call Air. After all, both my sun sign and rising sign are air signs, and that’s how many groups assign quarters anyway. Of course, I realized after the fact (and after the other Quarters had been assigned, so it was too late to change my mind) that this meant I’d be the first one to call a Quarter during the ritual. As a rule, I don’t mind going first, but I’d never participated in a ritual organized by Wendy’s coven before. In such a case, I’d normally choose a Quarter to allow me to observe someone else call their Quarter first just to work out some of the details of how a given coven does things through observation. Fortunately, I did get a chance to ask someone about those details (e.g. “Do you normall call Quarters facing the Quarter or facing the altar?”) beforehand.

Pride itself was rather enjoyable. I can’t comment on a lot of details, as I didn’t participate in a lot. None of the workshops planned really tripped my trigger, so I spent most of my time just socializing. After all, as I said in a previous post, I find such events most valuable for networking anyway. And it gave me a chance to catch up with a few people I haven’t seen in a couple months or so.

I will say that one thing I like about this particular Pagan Pride is that because of how new it is, it’s still relatively small. It tends to give it a much more intimate atmosphere, and you feel like you can meet and get to know just about everyone. That may change in a few years, as I noticed a considerable increase in turnout compared to last year. Hopefully, those in charge can find a way to maintain the same style of atmosphere as it grows each year.

One particular moment from the festival I’d like to point out occurred during the closing ritual. Just after Wendy and Kiree served cakes and wine (well, cookies and water), a young man who identified himself as Zach asked if he could say something. After he received permission (not to mention heavy encouragement), he commented that there had been a time when he was afraid to identify as Pagan and speak up about his beliefs. He went on to comment that coming to Pride that day gave him the chance to meet kind-hearted and like-minded people, which both comforted him and gave him courage. His comments were deeply heart-felt and moving, and I think it once again reminded everyone in attendance just why we participate in such events.

Paganism, Religion, Society

Uptight people amuse me some days

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Last night, I went to the weekly Pagan Meet and Greet over at Jitter’s Cafe. By the time I arrived there, Belinda and Karen were already there. So I got my drink and ordered a wrap for dinner before taking my seat with them. I don’t recall much about what we talked about while there. That’s probably because I was too busy daydreaming and watching the rather good looking kid who was playing pool at the time.

Eventually two people, who I will call V and P since I’d rather not use their names without their permission, stopped in at eight. V and P are husband and wife, and Belinda and I had met them while at the naturist festival. We originally met them when they came to the Thursday night seance and kept bumping into them for the remainder of the festival. When we found out V and P were also from the Rochester Area, we told them about the meet and greets, because they seemed really interested in getting to know more about us and learning what we believed and practiced.

This means that V and P love to ask lots of questions, and the three of us (Belinda probably carried the conversation while Karen and I each chimed in when appropriate) spent at least an hour happily answering each query. We covered topics ranging from the meaning(s) of the pentagram to psychism and psychic development to totem animals, and everything in between. V also asked about the local Spiritualist church and how they compared to us. We gave the best answer we could give, having never been to the local Spiritualist church. When V asked if I’d recommend them, I told him that I wouldn’t make a recommendation for against something I have no personal knowledge of. However, I also pointed out to him that in general, I’m inclined that just about any experience is a positive experience, even if that experience leads someone to say, “This really isn’t for me.”

I found out later that our conversation had apparently upset another customer at the coffee shop. According to Belinda (I was too engrossed in conversation at the time to notice), a man sitting about twenty feet from us got fed up during the part of the conversation when we were discussing Wicca, witchcraft, and the pentagram. In fact, we apparently offended his sensibilities so much that he eventually stood up, walked back out to the front room of the coffee shop, and glared at us as he passed our table on the way. When Belinda told me about this, I just smiled in amusement and made a rather unapologetic comment.

About a half hour after V and P left, our original trio decided it was time to leave as well. After all, the coffee shop was closing in five minutes, and we try to make sure the owner doesn’t have to kick us out. As is our usual custom, the three of us stood by our cars gabbing for a while longer. As the coffee shop closed, a car drove buy us and the driver glared at the three of us. I glanced at Belinda and she confirmed (at least as well as she could be certain) that it was the same gentleman who stormed by us earlier in the evening due to our conversation.

At this point, I was amused beyond maturity and admit (though unrepentantly) to making a rather juvenile comment at this point. The idea that our conversation upset him so much that he was still stewing over it after walking away almost an hour previously simply astounded me. I cannot imagine letting someone else’s actions have that much control over my moods — especially for such a prolonged time.

I am assuming — and maybe incorrectly, though I doubt it — that this man was a fundamentalist Christian. I can’t think of any other group of people who would be so offended by our conversation, to be frank. And this experience just reminds me how completely worked up some fundamentalist Christians get over such topics. I just don’t get it.

He was not a part of our conversation. We did not direct our conversation towards him. And while I admit that it would’ve been rather difficult for someone in the back room of the coffee shop to overhear at least parts of our conversation (we’re a lively bunch, after all), I’d argue that’s merely the nature of such venues. It’s still no big deal. And if you don’t like what you overhear, you try your best to ignore it or move where you’re less likely to overhear without acting all uppity about it.

I’d certainly understand his reaction a bit better if we had been discussing Christianity negatively. But we weren’t. In fact, we barely discussed Christianity at all. The only time the topic came up at all was (1) when V mentioned his upbringing in the Catholic church briefly and (2) when I commented that Spiritualists often tend to get into some of the same practices some Pagans do (e.g. mediumship, healing work, trance channeling) but tend to do so from a more Christian frame of reference.

Now, to the man’s credit, I’ll admit his reaction could’ve been much worse. He could’ve become confrontational and openly hostile towards us. Or he could’ve made a complaint to the owner of the coffee shop (though I doubt it would’ve done him much good, as said owner seems to have an affinity for our merry band of gabbers). Instead, he chose to just keep his anger to himself. But even that seemed to be a bit of an overreaction.

But I guess what really gets me is when I ask myself who this man’s reaction will ultimately affect. If he gets angry so easily over such things — and he’s bound to come into contact with such conversations more than this one time — it’s not the people he’s mad at who will eventually develop ulcers and other problems.

Paganism, Society

The benefits of public Pagan events

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In an email conversation discussing the incident at MPPD 2007 involving the CCL of Maine, Tracie asked some interesting questions about the philosophy behind public Pagan events:

In other words, what is the motivation behind pagans doing big public events anyway? Why do we need the attention? In what way does it serve our Gods?

Over the past eight or so years, I’ve attended various public Pagan events:

As I mulled over Tracie’s questions, I thought back to each of these events I attended. And to be honest, with the possible exception of Starwood, I’m not sure any of them got all that much attention. And to the best of my knowledge, not even Starwood seemed to draw a great deal of attention from the non-Pagan community. So I find myself wondering how much attention we as Pagans are drawing or trying to draw to ourselves with such events, anyway.

As I think of each of these events, what sticks in my mind were the opportunities to meet like-minded people, make friends, and otherwise engage in networking. And to me, this is the true value of such events. They provide us with the chance to get together and find people and opportunities that we might otherwise miss.

Such events and the networking opportunities they offer particularly provide a great service to people who are new to a geographic area or are new to or just becoming interested in Paganism. Such publicized events provide them with a readily accessible and obvious starting point. In a single day (or however long the event lasts), they can meet many people and start getting an idea of who they fit with both religiously and on an interpersonal level. Similarly, established organizations and groups can get to know these newcomers and make similar evaluations.

Such events also offer the benefits of bringing together diverse groups for networking purposes as well. It provides groups the opportunity to touch base with one another and exchange any information or concerns that may effect the Pagan community as a whole. Such networking can help lead to a healthier community overall.

Of course, such events also tend to have workshops that can be educational and informative. While this benefit strikes me as secondary to the networking I’ve already described, I think it’s still important and serves a positive purpose. This enables people to learn new things and provides for an opportunity to exchange ideas. Again, this lead to the betterment of those in attendance, both as individuals and as a whole. And I cannot think of a better service to the gods.

Personally, I tend to see the attention such events might draw from the wider (i.e. non-Pagan) community as a side-effect rather than a primary goal. (I’m sure others will disagree, however.) Sometimes, that side effect has consequences that are unfortunate, such as the encounter with the Maine CCL at MPPD. However, I think that the clear benefits of these events — benefits that rely on the events being both public and widely publicized in order to be maximized — far outweigh the downside.