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This is from a talk I gave on the 21/8/02 at the Open Forum held at the Humanist Society of NSW ...
Aspects of Neo Paganism & Eclectic Paganism
Following the release of the 2001 census results, the word Pagan or Paganism has recently found its way into the mainstream media on many occasions. The reason being that the 2001 census found the number of people declaring themselves to be pagans more than doubled from the 1996 census figures to almost 11,000 and the number of people declaring themselves to be witches jumped from 2,000 in 1996 to almost 9,000. Although these figures pale alongside those for mainstream faiths, they none the less show Paganism to be a growth trend while in comparison, most major Christian denominations are showing a decrease in numbers, since 1996.
So what is Paganism?
The Macquarie dictionary says a pagan is one of a people or group believing in some religion other than Christianity, Islam or Judaism. If this is true, then surely these census results fall far below of the actual numbers of pagans in Australia. The word pagan then is obviously a rather broad term. Therefore I would prefer to use the term Neo Pagan as it better suits the topic of this talk.
To start with, I’d like to use a quote from Lynne Hume’s book “Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia”:
“The ideas contained within Paganism reflect influences from a variety of sources, with a basis in Neo-Platonism: the alchemists, the Rosicrucians, the Spiritualists and Theosophists of the nineteenth century, the symbolism of Freemasonry and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, material from Aleister Crowley, and much of the discourse of the New Age. Paganism is based on the concept that pre-Christian Pagan religions held a spiritual reality and worthwhile values that were suppressed and replaced by monotheism, especially through the spread and dominance of Christianity and its repression of other religions.”
So What is Neo Paganism then?
To begin with:
• Neo Paganism is a religion, in the broad sense of the word.
• It is a religion generally without hierarchy, that is to say there is no world leader or guru
• It is a religion apparently without dogma, that is there is no basic doctrine or theological assumption, instead there is what could be described as a generally accepted ideology which incorporates a worldview of current issues and concerns such as the environment, human rights, animal rights and women’s issues.
• Neo pagans can be found all over the world although the greater concentration seem to be found in western countries.
• Neo Pagans draw inspiration from an extremely broad palette and perhaps the very ancient ways of the so called Old Religion could be said to be a basis of many Pagan ideals.
• There are many Pagan sub groups to be found under the term Neo Pagan which may have a particular cultural or ethnic mythology at the heart of its practise. These sub groups are often refered to as paths.
• Neo Pagans embrace mythology from every culture both ancient & modern and draw from all schools of philosophical thought.
Paganism is largely an individual journey. A Pagan may first be attracted to their path through an interest in the psychic arts like tarot, runes or crystals or perhaps through an interest in the occult or by reading metaphysical books or simply by way of a personal search for meaning, a search which is both intellectual as well as spiritual. It is almost impossible to say what a Pagan or Neo Pagan believes in as each individual is seen to be on their own path, therefore there is almost as many Pagan paths as there are Pagans though, having said that, Pagans on a particular path will often refer to themselves in a manner that reflects their primary interest such as Druid, Celtic, Shaman, Green Witch or Environmental Pagan, Chaos Magician, Goddess Worshipper, Dianic Wiccan, Faery or simply Eclectic Pagan.
• ‘Eclectic Pagan’ is perhaps one of the broadest term under the Pagan/Neo Pagan umbrella, a term which I believe indicates the almost endless pool of spiritual & philosophical inspiration that Pagans can draw from, both theoretical & practical.
• Pagans are also usually reluctant to accept something without personally investigating it but are often open to any idea or concept regardless of its origin.
• An eclectic Pagan’s beliefs are often an unashamed reconstruction of a combination of ancient religions, cultural archetypes and various mystic and spiritual disciplines.
However, in spite of the many differences, there nevertheless are ideals which arguably could be said to be common ideals, such as:
• There are many levels of reality of which our physical world is only one, and events set in motion at one level can affect other levels
• There is a ‘oneness’ and interconnectedness of all things, and a system of correspondences between great & small
• The human being is a microcosm of the macrocosm
• Human willpower has a force of its own and by cultivating the imagination, one can achieve desired goals through visualisation, concentration and willpower, aided at times by certain procedures
• The earth, the universe & all of nature is sacred
• All sincere religions are different paths on the same spiritual journey
• The concept of reincarnation in some form or other
The lack of any widely held set of beliefs among Pagans reflects the general dislike for dogma. Most Pagans feel that creeds and dogma try to explain the inexplicable, rationalise the irrational and try to give form to that which is formless. While rational, intellectual explanations are often considered to be irrelevant as they can invariably prove to be an impediment to furthering self-discovery and spiritual growth.
Paradox is often held in high regard by many Pagans. However, having said this, it this is not to say that Pagans have no regard for mainstream thought or philosophy, far from it in fact. An example of this is the influence of Jungian psychology on Pagan ideas & practises. Many Pagans turn to Jung particularly for interpreting dreams but also Jung’s notion of the collective unconscious or archetypal psyche is often used as a means of understanding the relationship between myth and the so called mundane life.
In fact, Pagans regard Myth as important for religious expression and delve into many cultural mythologies in their quest to discover an inner symbolic life and a way to understand their own experiences of life. In this way mythology plays a large part in many aspects of Pagan spiritual practise. Often myths are used to anthropomorphise events in nature which some Pagans see as symbolic while others use as a literal expression of the Divine world.
For example, Pagans honour the earth and all its cycles by celebrating what is called the Wheel of the Year. The Wheel of the Year is a cyclical calendar based on the seasons, the path of the sun and the phases of the moon. Many Pagans make correspondences between these natural events using myths and tales which is essentially an expression of the concept that the Divine is immanent in all things. In this way, Divinity, or the God and Goddess, becomes very accessible.
The exsistance of both the God and the Goddess is a fundimental precept to most Pagans.
The Goddess is often associated with the earth its self, Mother Earth and the God is seen as the Horned God, the Lord of animals. The union of the Goddess and God is usually translated as the union of opposites or the Great Rite.
Quoting from the book “Witchcraft and Paganism in Australia”;
“Males and females have specific roles, which reflect the complementary, non-hierarchical nature of the God and Goddess. The God does not dominate the Goddess but is there to protect her. Pagans believe that they must seek the qualities of the Goddess and God within themselves and their fellow beings before they can find them in a deity beyond understanding, and it is in attempting to attune to the divine source of the universe that one can come to some understanding of the great mystery.”
The interplay between the Goddess and the God as the Wheel of the Year turns sets up the eight seasonal celebrations, or sabbats.
• The start of the Pagan year traditionally is not the 1st of January but actually the 1st of May (in the Southern Hemisphere) and is generally called Samhain, a Celtic word otherwise known as Halloween. This is a time when the Goddess is in her dark phase, the crone and the God has decended into the underworld.
• Winter Solstice or Yule follows and is when the Godess gives birth to the Child of Promise which represents spring & summer and the time of plenty.
• End of Winter & beginning of Spring is called Imbolc and this is when the Goddess becomes a Maiden again.
• Spring Equinox or Eostre (the origin of Easter), the Child of Promise is realised and becomes the Sun God.
• Beginning of Summer or Beltane cames next when the union of the God & Goddess is translated into the Great Rite.
• Summer Solstice (Litha) is when the God and Goddess are of equal power.
• Summers end (Lammas) is when the Goddess gives birth.
• Then at Mabon or Autumn Equinox, the God king & Son fight & decend to the underground where the cycle eventually returns to Samhain.
This is obviously greatly simplified but hopefully expresses how the seasons are celebrated by most Pagans.
Paganism can be polytheistic, animistic and pantheistic but, strangely enough, Paganism is ultimately monotheistic in as much as there is a widely held belief that there exists a ‘oneness’, a one creative force which is omnipresent and omniscient but ultimately beyond human understanding. This idea is perhaps central to why Paganism is considered essentially an earth based religion.
Most Pagans respect nature and believe that the Divine is contained in every aspect of nature, a belief which is reflected in the frequently used saying ‘as above, so below’, expressing the microcosmic earth, macrocosmic universe principle. Some even feel the earth is actually conscious, as in the Gia focused paths.
It is the Divine aspect of nature which makes ecological awareness almost a ‘religious’ duty and, in fact, leads many pagans to becoming vegetarian or vegan, though this is not essential. This close connection with nature lead many Pagans to work with herbs, often as symbolic triggers as well as for healing. It could be agrued that the village healers of old were Pagans and in fact were probably burnt as Witches during the 14th century.
A fundamental precept of Paganism is that each individual must accept responsibility for their own actions and make up their own minds on moral issues. So it can be said that there is no commonly held Pagan morality, except perhaps for the adage ‘and harm ye none’. All moral issues are regarded as personal viewpoints. Pagans generally do not believe that humans are inherently sinful or that there is a heaven or hell (or for that matter a devil which is actually a Christian concept). Though some pagans hold a belief in an afterlife world called The Summerlands.
As I mentioned earlier Paganism is ultimately monotheistic from the perspective that there is a widely held belief in a One Creative force, a ‘oneness’ and this is perhaps primarily where aspects of the Old Religion comes in.
Early humans, in prehistoric times, created a God who was the First Cause of all things and Ruler of heaven and earth and the belief in such a High God (sometimes called the Sky God, since there was an association with the heavens) and is still a feature of the religious life in many indigenous cultures today.
At this point I’d like to use a quote from Karen Armstrong’s book “A History of God”:
“In the beginning, therefore, there was One God. If this is so, then monotheism was one of the earliest ideas evolved by human beings to explain the mystery and tragedy of life. … It is impossible to prove this one way or the other. There have been many theories about the origin of religion. Yet it seems that creating
gods is something that human beings have always done. When one religious idea ceases to work for them, it is simply replaced. These ideas disappear quietly, like the Sky God, with no great fanfare. In our own day, many people would say that the God worshipped for centuries by Jews, Christians and Muslims has become as remote as the Sky God. Some have actually claimed that he has died. Certainly he seems to be disappearing from the lives of an increasing number of people, especially in Western Europe. They speak of a 'God-shaped hole in their consciousness …”
It may be said then that Paganism is a response to filling this “God shaped hole” and in doing this, most modern Pagans encourage a return to the ’old ways’ and talk about the Old Religion in a generic, all encompassing sense while, at the same time, introducing new & reworked perspectives.
But generally speaking, Neo Paganism and modern Wicca or Witchcraft really only dates back as far as the 1940’s, although many Pagans will attempt to legitimise this relatively new religious movement through maintaining the premise that there is a direct link with an ancient past. Some Pagans will even profess family or ancestral links that date back to the 1600s, though this mostly exists in the Witchcraft or Wicca traditions of Paganism.
I won’t be going into the history of modern Paganism or Neo Paganism but there are many notable people who could be said to have directly influenced the development of this religious movement and still influence it today, all be it largely indirectly. Gerald Gardner (who is the names sake for Gardnerian Wicca or witchcraft), Doreen Valiente, Margaret Murray, Aleister Crowley and the Golden Dawn, Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society, Krishnamurti, Charles Leland and his book “Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches” (first published in 1899), Dion Fortune, Alex Sanders (the name sake for Alexandrian witchcraft or Wicca), Stewart & Janet Farrar, Starhawk … the list (and not particularly in that order although roughly) goes on probably with names most have never heard of unless they too have begun a personal search that has crossed the Pagan path.
I have managed to come this far without using the word magic although earlier on, in a list of commonly held ideals, I did mention this:
“Human willpower has a force of its own and by cultivating the imagination, one can achieve desired goals through visualisation, concentration and willpower, aided at times by certain procedures”
So do Pagans cast spells?
Alphonse-Louis Constant, the French occultist who wrote under the name Eliphas Levi (1810-75) was the principal intellectual source of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn or the OGD. It is a matter of interest that the OGD included among its members W. B. Yeats, Bram Stoker, A. E. Waite, Evelyn Underhill, and its most notorious member, Aleister Crowley, who joined in 1898.
Levi proposed three fundamental principles of magic, which the Golden Dawn sought to put into practice and which also form the basis of modern Paganism:
1. that the material universe is only one part of total reality and there are other planes of existence and other modes of consciousness;
2. that human willpower is a force in itself and when properly trained and concentrated can achieve even seemingly supernatural results;
3. and the notion that man is a microcosm of a macrocosmic universe and is able bring about changes at one level that will have effects at another level by using a system of correspondences.
The OGD added its own fundamental fourth principle:
4. the power of the magical imagination, by which a desired outcome can be attained through seemingly magical means using visualization and the concentration of will.
Certainly the use of magic goes back much further than the OGD, many indigenous cultures still practise ancient forms of magic, such as the Haitians who practise vodou which, incidentally has a place in some paths or traditions of neo paganism.
While magic appears to be an integral part of Paganism in general, it is in fact a wide and varied concept which takes on many forms. At its most simple it could be said to be purely the power of positive thinking and, at its most complex, ceremonial high magick.
Obviously then, the definitions of magic are greatly varied. Isaac Bonewits, a magician who holds a degree in magic and thaumaturgy from the University of California at Berkeley, defines magic as a 'science and an art' which uses emotional energy to bring about changes in other energy patterns. Though I would like to add that many Neo Pagans or wiccans would also include a connection with or acting in accordance with Divine forces or energy. So in this way, magic can be described as a point of intersection between religion and science. As Starhawk says in her best selling book “ The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess”;
“Science and religion are both quests for the same truth – they differ only in their methodology and (the) set of symbols they use to describe theirs findings. The field of inquiry is the same.”
But Pagans use science to both explain how magic works as well as to give it credibility. In brief the connection is largely made via Quantum or ‘New’ physics, the study of sub atomic particles in the micro world. The weird ‘behaviour’ of particles can quiet easily be made to fit magical events in the macro world. As Starhawk also says in her book:
“The theoretical model that witches & pagans use to explain the workings of magic is a clear one and coincides in many ways with the ’new’ physics.”
So yes, essentially most Pagans cast spells in some form or other but this is actually a very small part of Pagan spiritual practise.
Paganism is a holistic system of belief, that imbues the whole of a
Pagan’s personal life. Pagans strive to make a conscious connection with the spiritual through the practises of their particular path. This may include meditation, study, practising psychic arts, gardening, bush walking, star gazing, cooking, political and community activities and ritual.
Rituals can be as simple as a single Pagan standing in their own back yard observing the full Moon, to a gathering of hundreds performing a seemingly highly choreographed ritual at a festival held over many days.
As Paganism is largely an individual journey, most Pagan would see themselves as essentially solitary practitioners, although many are members of large organisations such as The Church of All Worlds, which is a worldwide organisation with a diverse membership to reflect its equally diverse philosophy. Pagans also come together to celebrate the sabbats, Full Moons or to study in smaller groups often called circles or covens.
Ritual is an important element in most Pagan paths and can be seen as a sacred drama which involves all who participate and engages them on all levels, physical, mental and spiritual. In the dictionary, ritual is described as an established or set procedure, code, form or system. Certainly there is usually a set procedure for most rituals though, as with everything in Paganism, it varies greatly from tradition to tradition and path to path. But the word ritual implies repetition therefore most rituals endeavour to use a set of physical triggers such as visual symbols, aromas, colour, music, body movements and even costumes, not unlike a Catholic, Jewish or Muslim religious service.
In the book “The Goddess Celebrates: An Anthology of Women’s Rituals” Norma Joyce writes:
"What a ritual does have is emotional satisfaction and the use of symbolism to help us achieve it. A ritual, to be effective and serve its purpose, needs to trigger the subconscious. It needs to make the subconscious know that something important, something that the subconscious needs to pay attention to, is happening.”
All rituals have a beginning, a middle and an end. The beginning for most rituals involves casting a circle which is essentially:
• creating a scared space by way of purifying the chosen area
• invoking the elements (Earth, Air, Fire and Water),
• calling on the chosen form or forms of Divinity
• then visualising a protective circle, or in actual fact a sphere, which incubuses the space and the participants of the ritual forming a ‘world within and a world without’ or “a world within worlds”.
As Pagans see Divinity as immanent in all things and all places, Pagans generally don’t have to perform rituals in special buildings or special outside areas, though an outside area is usually preferred as it is concidered more conjusive to connecting with the Divine. With this in mind, Pagans generally like to respect the sacredness of a place as held by the indigenous peoples and will often choose a place in relation to this knowledge.
The middle or body of a ritual can incorporate many things but most will include raising energy, through chanting, dancing, drumming or even visualisation. Then the energy is either sent out to a particular destination, person or purpose by the will of the individual and the intent of the group as a whole or it is used for personal transformation via meditation or trance.
The end of a ritual usually involves grounding ‘spare’ energy through food which sometimes takes the form of a feast and then thanking the elements and the Divine forms for attending and assisting.
In conclusion, Neo paganism is emerging at a time when society seems to be growing more & more secular. If you asked a Pagan why they are a Pagan many would state that mainstream religions fail to answer the big questions in life and many might say they are unable to accept the ideology of religions which appear to be dogmatic and primarily patriarchal in nature at the apparent expense of humanity on the whole.
However, at a time when globalisation is effecting all areas of our lives, maybe the most important reason why Paganism is the fastest growing religious movement in Australia is that it satisfies a growing need to create and individualised a personal moral, cultural and spiritual philosophy.
This idea is expressed succinctly in the last chapter of Lynn Hume’s book “Witchcraft & Paganism in Australia”:
“With increasing value being placed on individualism in a pluralistic society, religion has almost become a marketable commodity, with buyers 'shopping around' for one that suits their individual tastes. We now live in a multicultural, consumer-oriented world which offers us choices in every conceivable aspect of life, including worldviews. In the relatively short history of the colonization of Australia, we have digested the whole gamut of religious plurality, from versions of Christianity brought over by early British convicts, settlers and missionaries, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism, through a uniquely Australian laconic disinterest in religion in general, atheism, secularism, Asian and other ethnic imports, and now a pan-global smorgasbord of beliefs and practices which include new religious movements and New Age eclecticism. A thin thread of interest in occultism has also woven its way through this tapestry of ideas and cosmologies, together with a revised and expanded interest in nature religions and environmental issues, and other modern interests such as feminism. People are searching for a spirituality that is stimulating and exciting, a faith which provides its own 'private ecstasy'.”
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