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Prepared by Magus Thom Potter; AA, AS. [1998, 2003].
Someone has said that if you asked thirteen Pagans to define Paganism you will get fifteen answers, with no one knowing where the fifteenth came from. The fourteenth would come from someone like me trying to sieve the whole thing into its common denominator. Not an easy task with Paganism, let me tell you! These central themes are the best I could manage safely (I hope). Some may agree and say they favor one over another. Others may feel I have missed something important, to them at least. Bear with me as I do what I can with as vast a resource as I am appealing to.
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What is a Pagan? What is Witchcraft? What, or Who Is God to You? What Is Magic? Are You Satanists? What Are Your Ethics? Home Education? Other Authorities A Pagan Glossary Reading List The Dragons’ Nest Back to Where You Where. |
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I could argue that Paganism is the oldest spiritual tradition on Earth as if it were obvious. Traditionally a Pagan is directly associated with the Earth. This dependence requires both a reverence for and an awareness of the process of nature. I could argue that Paganism is one of the newest cultures of faith on Earth, as well. You see, Paganism is like a rope. Each individual is a strand. Each strand contributes to a thread, each thread to a cord, each cord to a rope, each rope to a larger rope. No strand, no thread passes the entire length of any cord or rope. Yet each strand adds to the strength of the whole. We don’t expect that any thread will last the centuries. Each strand dies, making room for the next. I draw my strength from those who have gone before me, and those who travel with me. I lend my strength to those who are with me, and return it to those who will follow.
Minimally, a Pagan was a country dweller, the term often used to degrade the folk, a little like calling someone a “hillbilly.” Their direct association and dependence on the Earth and Her natural cycles inspired reverence for these forces. Today the neo-Pagan — a modern reconstruction — strives for that same degree of reverence. How we express that reverence is where I believe we most often differ. We may identify neo-Pagans as having some combination of the following:
Pantheism is the belief that All is God, or that the Universe is God. Panentheism is the position that All is in God, or that the universe is a part of God. Either way, the Pagan holds all of nature as sacred. Pantheism is not reverencing Nature above God. It is reverencing Nature as God, or rather God as Nature.
This is the belief that Nature is saturated with spirit. This spirit imparts those parts with some level of will and awareness. Now, a water molecule may have more awareness than a hydrogen atom, and an ocean may have more awareness than a water molecule. This Dynamism can evolve into:
Polytheism is the belief that there are several independent definitions of a Single Deity, or several independent Deities, or some combination of both. This belief may include the existence of the fairy folk, Divine Ancestors, angels (just a god, a little like a servant of a king, rather than an itinerant resident) and other “Virtual Beings.”
Some years ago as I was sitting in a Christian Church (Assembly of God) the Minister said something that has had a profound influence in my life. He said, “Satan sits on the doorsteps of many a church, crying his eyes out. You see, he is getting blamed for so much he did not do.” He went on to let us know that we must take responsibility for our actions and responsibilities.
Satan and devils seem defining notions for Christianism, more so than Christ. Anton LaVey has observed, (too often rightly so) that, “Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all these years.” Counter to this position, Pagans — indeed many Cultures of Faith — do not need a Cosmic Boggie man for anything. Also, the Satan of the modern Churches is not the Satan of the Islamic testament, who is not the Satan of the Christian testament, who is not the Satan of the Hebrew Testament, or the Satan of the early Hebrews.
When human awareness was still rather simple, we saw the very forces of nature with awe. We do not like to be afraid. In our dreams, when we become irrational and see what our rational minds ignore — or in those days when lightening and mighty winds would still terrify us — we would look to demons to sort them out. In time, we simply blamed them for our problems, and expected them to take the punishment accordingly. The Shadow is the antithesis of the Ego, our anti-ego. Where the Ego is our public face, the Shadow is our private one. This Shadow is the guardian of every secret thought, even those desires that are too young or too fragile to be brought into the light. We may even put her in charge of those desires that society has declared taboo, such as voyeurism. If we do not give these tabooed desires a healthy place to air out (those who like to look are placed with those who like to be looked at) the Shadow can become a personal demon, interfering with every other thought. I believe this is where many psychological and social disorders arise.
There may be virtual beings (translate as “spiritual beings”) who have a malevolent purpose. These are no different from humans or other animals with malevolent interests, and are just as miserable for similar reasons.
A Pagan is more likely to weigh his or her own spiritual experiences with the Divine with greater authority than any other’s experiences. This does not mean that the Pagan will discount another’s account. The problem is that my attempt to put into words what is intrinsically indescribable will often fall short in the effort. A picture of a flower or of the sun will not do the flower or the sun justice, and another’s report will not be the same as yours.
Imagine this, someone stands on the moon and takes a breath taking picture of Earth with Mars behind. Now this person has seen and experienced all of this personally, and has taken a good picture of it. Now, you can enjoy the picture, and try to imagine what it was like at the moment this someone saw that alignment at that time. Yet, imagine all you can, you have never been to the moon. Even if you could occupy the very same spot at the very same time, (ignoring the exclusionary theorem) you would have still seen the event through your own gestalt.
They say that faith without work is dead. We can also say that work without faith is just as dead. Without meaning in our lives (and there is no meaning guaranteed to any existence) life is little more than a pursuit of pleasure while we avoid pain. This is the meaning of life to an amoeba. Humanity is more complex than that. Living solely by the guidance of the Id can lead to depression, and burn out. The Sabbaths, great and small, each serve to help us find meaning in everything we seek to do in this life. The greatest Sabbath is helping another human live their life. Finding or making some time to rest and reflect is good. This adds moral, restores energy, and repairs physical and emotional damage from stress. Making the day somewhat symbolic can enhance one’s pursuit of meaning, and inspire us to be better.
In Paganism, in any Culture of Faith, the sacred are set off from the ordinary. Time and place are set apart with some ritual or ceremony. Candles are lit and Sabbaths have begun. The song of farewell marks its end. Sacred script, tools, and garments are placed with reverence into special places. Some words are spoken only under special occasions or circumstances. The real difference between the sacred and the ordinary is solely in the mind of she or he who holds it as such. Should one choose to make a time, place, person, or tool sacred, she or he should take care to keep it so.
The eternal present is an emphasis on the spiritual reality of cyclical and mythological events in an ever returning spiral. Events are very likely to recur. This is opposing time held as linear, that is, time has a beginning, a present, and an end.
I am indebted to Gus diZerega and his book, Pagans and Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience in developing these definitions. Please see my Current Project on this subject; Pagan Apologetics at the Pagan Ministers’ Counsel
The flavor. We might consider it this way. The Pagan recognizes a direct association and dependence on the Earth, and Her natural cycles inspired reverence for these forces. The Heathen’s focus is on the Hearth (hence the name) and by extension, the family that relies on her.
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