Paganism and the Threat of Assimilation

[Chovexani]

Pagan author Gus diZerega has something interesting on his blog about Paganism and assimilation. He brings up a lot of really interesting points in the article, and there's much food for thought here.
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Paganism and the Threat of Assimilation
January 12, 2008 on 4:13 pm

When a new spiritual tradition becomes established within a society, both are changed. In a way this is like when one of us enters on to a spiritual path. While certainly changed in the process, we cannot each help but give our practice and beliefs an individual interpretation. This is the core reason spiritual traditions diversify over time, as is certainly the case with NeoPaganism.

At the individual level, this growing diversity often reflects the richness of individual encounters with the sacred. As such, I think it is a good thing. That’s probably good because whatever I might think about this happening, it takes place within every tradition anyway.

But to say that diversification at the individual level is good does not imply that diversification due to societal impact is also good. Sometimes it is bad, and sometimes it is very bad.

This negative side is particularly the case when a culture assimilates a new religious tradition, one of the worries that triggered my Solstice post. Usually a new religion’s initial adherents will be people dissatisfied with their society. It speaks to them of something otherwise missing, as Paganism most certainly spoke to me. The nature of reality takes on new dimensions, dimensions that do not fit with the dominant cultural norm, and creating pressure for it to change.

http://www.dizerega.com/?p=104

[icymist]

1. Great find. Kind of hits to the point.

When a religion becomes too mainstream, the mainstream drowns what's meaningful in that religion. Society has a fear of the genuine experience:
<snip>
The utter irrationality of our “War on Drugs” indicates the fear our society as a whole has of gaining nay(any) deeper understanding of itself. Both of its major sources of authority about the nature of reality fear altered states of awareness. Reality can be learned only through mainstream science or, alternatively, by reading a book.

The early Christians had a very different experience of spiritual reality before mainstream society dumbed it down. Shaminism produces very powerful religious visions and experiences only to have it's ways persecuted and outlawed by those members of the dull, dumbed down mainstream religion. Only thing is, real Shamans really do exist as do real witches. There is no hierarchy here. No powerful book written thousands of years ago proclaiming an 'only truth'. Only experience. With such independent individuality, I do not foresee a dumbing down of Wicca or any true pagan religion, even with fluffy bunnie mainstreaming. Persecution by the base element of mainstream society fueled by fear, well, that's another thing.

[Chovexani]

2. That's true

I also like the point he brought up about the types of people being attracted to Paganism now. With new spiritual movements come pioneers and revolutionaries, people who are not content with the status quo and are looking for a radically different experience. But as these movements grow and become more well-known, they start attracting people who are drawn to it for different reasons.

I think the biggest problem Paganism faces is the fact that at its core, no matter what the path is, it's really a collection of mystery religions and that is something modern, Christianized Western society doesn't know how to deal with. The trappings and methods may vary, but that's really what it's about. Something like that is not meant to be mainstream, because everyone can't handle that. Especially not folks coming from Christian backgrounds, which is the majority of the people coming into Paganism. Like diZerega said in that article, ecstatic experiences and mysticisms exist in Christianity, but they're in the minority and they're very tightly controlled.

One of the reasons I left Wicca is that the old ideal of every Wiccan being his/her own priest/ess has completely gone out the window. It's not even a question of people claiming grandiose titles without having done the hard work of training, though that's as big a problem as it's ever been. I'm seeing a growing number of people that come into it who just aren't interested in that. They don't want to be priest/esses, they just want to passively be fed an experience. This pseudo-Christian congregational model of doing things is going to take over and it's going to drive the "Craft" out of the Craft. Already you have Wiccans who don't cast spells! :wtf: It's not that they don't feel a need to, they just want to "worship the Goddess". They stick Jehovah in a skirt and exchange hymnals for Books of Shadows and call it Wicca. That's all well and good but it's not the Wicca I came into and it's certainly not anything I care to associate myself with. If I wanted to be a passive consumer in a spectator sport spirituality, I'd have stayed an evangelical Christian.

Incidentally, for the most part these are also the same folks who whine about the "weirdoes" making Paganism look bad and insist we should all look and behave like suburban WASPs like them. The ones who are always telling people how to dress and carrying on about Goth Pagans and "the Ren Faire crowd".

[icymist]

3. I hear ya.

There are some who feel they get shunned for being too 'weird' to practice within a circle and this is a down-right shame as well a dilemma for the HP and others who feel uncomfortable working with that person. One of the more memorable examples of this, as I recall, when a friend was asked to leave a long time coven membership after announcing that he was getting a sex change operation. This totally devastated this person. Obviously, the other members of this coven felt too uncomfortable to work a circle with this person. This is why witchcraft's intent is that everyone be their own Priest/ess. Not everyone can work together at all times. We all need to remember that to be touched by the Goddess is to change. My friend forgot that and it took many years of letter exchange (I live on the other coast) for her to realize that sometimes you have to pull up your big girl panties and move on. She has since found her own in a more transgender friendly group.

Was the original circle too mainstream to work with a transgendered member? Not necessarily. Just uncomfortable working in such an intimate manner, as some covens do, with this person. I myself am a weirdo, as you say. Hell, I was goth and in a punk band in the late eighties.... does this affect my devotion and practice in witchcraft? Nope. Not in the least. If anything, it's made me stronger, in my faith, my perseverance of will, and my confidence in myself to overcome any situation.

Those who are sheep will always be sheep, no matter what religion they practice. Unscrupulous usurpers usually find these and suck their blood, selling them those horrible fluffy/new age-ish books and overpriced crystals. And they can have them. As for me, I stay outside of society.

[Hestia]

4. You state that 'already you have Wiccans who don't cast spells!"

Why do you have to cast spells? My problem is I have no idea what to cast spells for! No family member is sick, I stay out of all frays and rows, so no protection there, our health is good, my DH & I adore each other, so no problems with love life.

If your family, friends and yourself are happy and healthy, why cast spells? I certainly do not see telling someone to cast spells for the sake of casting spells - I think that what some of our troubles in Astral/Earth are part of now. There is some clean up work down here that needs to done from people either dabbling or down right maliciousness. These actions are 'clinging' to us and to Earth.

I've broached this subject on some yahoogroups and was slammed! Some practioners stated that they had to do malicious reciprocal magic because 'someone was bothering them'. My answer was, what in the hell are you doing to get them to bother you; if nothing, why the hell are hanging out with a person who means you harm? A little personal responsiblity people.

My DH & I are Hermetic Lightworkers who will do candle magic, but we do on a global basis for the benefit of all. Ours is more of a cerebral, personal path, nothing to do with ritual at all, unless we chose to do so.

Oh yeah, hiya!