So neo-Paganism, in all its many forms, is a radically different religious experience, unique perhaps in the whole history of religious expressions. We're not encouraged by parents, society or tradition (quite the opposite in many cases, I suspect) - we're doing something new here, albeit something new inspired by something very old.
Something that's been annoying me lately is the repeated claims that neo-Pagans do not take their religion as seriously as Christians or other established religions do. You've probably heard it yourself. I hear a lot of people expressing this belief, and quite honestly, even though it's irritating in the extreme, I can't blame people for thinking that.
First of all, there are so many different kinds of neo-Pagan, and in smaller towns, people are maybe not likely to meet more than one or two, who may come from very different Pagan traditions. At least where I live, there are no massive Pagan congregations that assemble every full moon. We're not very easily identifiable, and at first glance people might not see any great amount of unity between us.
Also, seeing as how we're not that visible in the 'established' religious landscape, as it were, I think a lot of people aren't that aware of the ways in which we worship. It's fair enough. I don't know the ins and outs of every religion in the world, either.
Then there's the small matter of popular culture. I don't think you see God Almighty or Allah portrayed as comic book superheroes in unlikely spandex costumes very often.
Something occurred to the other day. It's obvious when you think about it, I just hadn't up until now. If most of us come from some part of the Western world, chances are we're brought up either as Christians or at least aware of the particulars of that religion. So we are raised to approach sanctity in a particular way - the Christian god is outside His creation, not inside it as an integral part. That which is holy, in the Christian line of thinking, is above nature, purer than anything 'earthly,' and must be revered in special, clearly delineated places - i.e., inside stone churches. The saints became saints because they were un-earthly, purer than anything in the natural world. When you are approaching that which is holy in the Christian sense, you do so in a spirit of complete humility, denying that which is earthly and natural in the hope of experiencing something heavenly and pure.
The way I see it, this is the normal way of approaching sanctity in the Western world, whether one is a Christian or not. It is just the way we have gotten used to thinking about sanctity and the divine.
But Paganism presents a radically different cosmology, and a completely different way of approaching sanctity. The Pagan gods of old are thought to be inside their creation, as an integral and all-pervasive part of it. Gods and goddesses of birth, life, sexuality, death and rebirth, gods and goddesses of strength, wisdom and power. We speak about them in a language of thunderstorms, floods, blizzards, sunlight at dawn, moonlight on a howling winter night, and so to us it makes less sense to shut ourselves up inside stone churches to revere them. Granted, many of us do worship in temples or at personal home altars, but I think that we also see the influence of our deities in the world around us.
I'm no theologian, and these are only my personal opinions. But in my line of thinking, the reason people think we are less serious about our religion has to do with the fact that we do not approach sanctity and the divine in the 'traditional', accepted way. Nor do we want to. Many Pagans see something of the divine in human sexuality and romantic love, for instance - something which, in the Christian worldview, is earthly and mundane and therefore cannot be holy. We don't have the dualist element in our worldview, where heaven, spirit and 'father' is purely good, and earth, body and 'mother' is purely evil. In the Christian sense, anything to do with 'earth, body and mother’ is opposed to the divine, and therefore morally questionable. Not so for us.
And with a heritage like that, I argue that it's difficult to convince people that we are just as devout, just as sincere and just as religious as Christians - only in a radically different way.
Do we need to do anything to remedy that? That's obviously not for me to say. I think it is going to be quite difficult to get people to see things our way without getting into a serious theological discussion with them. Old habits die hard, very hard, and the Christian habit is something that has informed our Western civilizations for a very long time. I have no interest whatsoever in trying to 'win people over' to my line of thinking, but you know, it would be rather nice to feel that my religion was taken as seriously by the public at large as Christianity and other large 'mainstream' faiths.
Something that's been annoying me lately is the repeated claims that neo-Pagans do not take their religion as seriously as Christians or other established religions do. You've probably heard it yourself. I hear a lot of people expressing this belief, and quite honestly, even though it's irritating in the extreme, I can't blame people for thinking that.
First of all, there are so many different kinds of neo-Pagan, and in smaller towns, people are maybe not likely to meet more than one or two, who may come from very different Pagan traditions. At least where I live, there are no massive Pagan congregations that assemble every full moon. We're not very easily identifiable, and at first glance people might not see any great amount of unity between us.
Also, seeing as how we're not that visible in the 'established' religious landscape, as it were, I think a lot of people aren't that aware of the ways in which we worship. It's fair enough. I don't know the ins and outs of every religion in the world, either.
Then there's the small matter of popular culture. I don't think you see God Almighty or Allah portrayed as comic book superheroes in unlikely spandex costumes very often.
Something occurred to the other day. It's obvious when you think about it, I just hadn't up until now. If most of us come from some part of the Western world, chances are we're brought up either as Christians or at least aware of the particulars of that religion. So we are raised to approach sanctity in a particular way - the Christian god is outside His creation, not inside it as an integral part. That which is holy, in the Christian line of thinking, is above nature, purer than anything 'earthly,' and must be revered in special, clearly delineated places - i.e., inside stone churches. The saints became saints because they were un-earthly, purer than anything in the natural world. When you are approaching that which is holy in the Christian sense, you do so in a spirit of complete humility, denying that which is earthly and natural in the hope of experiencing something heavenly and pure.
The way I see it, this is the normal way of approaching sanctity in the Western world, whether one is a Christian or not. It is just the way we have gotten used to thinking about sanctity and the divine.
But Paganism presents a radically different cosmology, and a completely different way of approaching sanctity. The Pagan gods of old are thought to be inside their creation, as an integral and all-pervasive part of it. Gods and goddesses of birth, life, sexuality, death and rebirth, gods and goddesses of strength, wisdom and power. We speak about them in a language of thunderstorms, floods, blizzards, sunlight at dawn, moonlight on a howling winter night, and so to us it makes less sense to shut ourselves up inside stone churches to revere them. Granted, many of us do worship in temples or at personal home altars, but I think that we also see the influence of our deities in the world around us.
I'm no theologian, and these are only my personal opinions. But in my line of thinking, the reason people think we are less serious about our religion has to do with the fact that we do not approach sanctity and the divine in the 'traditional', accepted way. Nor do we want to. Many Pagans see something of the divine in human sexuality and romantic love, for instance - something which, in the Christian worldview, is earthly and mundane and therefore cannot be holy. We don't have the dualist element in our worldview, where heaven, spirit and 'father' is purely good, and earth, body and 'mother' is purely evil. In the Christian sense, anything to do with 'earth, body and mother’ is opposed to the divine, and therefore morally questionable. Not so for us.
And with a heritage like that, I argue that it's difficult to convince people that we are just as devout, just as sincere and just as religious as Christians - only in a radically different way.
Do we need to do anything to remedy that? That's obviously not for me to say. I think it is going to be quite difficult to get people to see things our way without getting into a serious theological discussion with them. Old habits die hard, very hard, and the Christian habit is something that has informed our Western civilizations for a very long time. I have no interest whatsoever in trying to 'win people over' to my line of thinking, but you know, it would be rather nice to feel that my religion was taken as seriously by the public at large as Christianity and other large 'mainstream' faiths.
Another excellent post, Selkie! You beat me to the punch. I know we talked a bit about this but I haven't found time to write my piece. As it happens, I agree with your point of view and like you, I think it would be nice to be taken seriously. And so we type away, trying to educate and enlighten! It's strange, isn't it, that nature is not natural to Christians?
ReplyDeleteI could not have said it better myself. I certainly will try, and certain I will fail. WELL said!
ReplyDeleteA great post, and a lot of very valid points and ideas. I admit that as an old witch I don't really give much thought to whether the sanctity of my practices is appreciated by others. As long as I'm living a magickal lifestyle it is a sacred one whether it's recognized as such, or not. I find it somewhat amusing that what western mainstream religion considers as devout is a weekly attendance at a service that half of them sleep through.
ReplyDelete13 ways to Manifest Abundance
Great post. Personally I am not interested in trying to compare my spiritual practice to my old spiritual practice (Catholicism). Apples to oranges. And trying to explain anything to any group of people who refuse to see the world from any vantage point but their own is just an exercise in frustration.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting point of view - and one which I'd never really thought through clearly, but which very nearly mirrors my own beliefs. I remember a "discussion" with a friend who is - I won't name his particular religion - about prayer and worship. He had an issue with his church over working on Saturday - the work we did, for the record, was service in the true sense. We worked with autistic children in a residential setting. He was struggling with a way to explain to his pastor why he didn't feel he was sinning by going in to work on a Sabbath. It was such a simple thing in my mind - every single thing I do in my life is worship. I don't need to be inside a church or with a specific "congregation" to make my prayers.
ReplyDeleteThank you all for your comments! I'm glad you enjoyed the post. Thornesworld and Celestite, I completely agree, when it comes to discussing these things with others, 'picking ones battles' definitely applies! Trying to have a discussion with some of these brain-washed fanatics is like talking to a door.. And ultimately, we all know what we find sacred and find joy in that every day, and that's what really matters. A while back, the Asatro community in Denmark were campaigning to have their faith formally recognized by the state, and I remember asking some of them why they would care what the state thought? They replied that it was important because their marriage ceremonies would be legally binding - otherwise couples would have to go either to the town hall or (gulp) a Lutheran church afterwards! I hadn't even thought about that, but it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it's a bit tiring to have to delve into deep discussions and long, potentially boring explanations about my beliefs when I'm talking with others. It would be easier if my beliefs were as easily recognisable as some of the major religions out there! But at the end of the day, it is a bit of a luxury problem that I have there. I'm free to believe what I want, and I think one of the best things about being pagan is that we get to decide, each of us, how to approach these issues. We don't have any dogma that we all *have* to adhere to.