| Safe Paganism |
Like most of you, I'm sure, I am on several pagan mailing lists, most of which post event
notices. This morning I received a number of these, some for the upcoming feast of
Lughnasadh. All had something that struck me as peculiar, a caveat about one or more
perfectly "normal" pagan practices that were prohibited at the event. Mostly this
involved alcoholic beverages, but one festival which claimed to be "about spirituality, not
partying" prohibited nudity. (Nudity, ritual or otherwise, is a common enough -- and quite
optional --
practice at American pagan festivals.) One gathering will have a community altar
upon which participants may place items sacred to them, but wands and athames are
prohibited!
Granted some of these events will take place at (US) state parks, and if one uses such
facilities, one should be willing to comply with their rules. My point is not to criticize the
events or their organizers (hence they remain nameless examples here), but it does
make me wonder where the American Neopagan movement is headed. How much are
people willing to compromise what they claim to be able to do with the ability to do it
conveniently via arrangements with public park authorities? How much are they willing to
circumscribe their practice for the sake of their prudish or teetotaler neighbors?
What would Lughnasadh or Lammas be like without John Barleycorn? "they pour him out
of an old brown jug and call him home brewed ale." Or what of the exhortation in the
Charge of the Goddess to "be naked in your rites"? Are these merely incidentals which
may safely
be discarded at will or do they have deeper meaning? And where do we draw the line
between essential spirit and outward form? If a Wiccan can use soda pop for wine and a
plastic knife for an athame, can that same Wiccan walk into a Catholic church and adore
his Goddess? My apologies for the Wiccan focus here, but it is the path I know best after
twenty years in it, and the same questions could be raised of any other pagan path.
I must confess, I am a traditionalist Witch. I have been taught that certain ritual forms
and practices are essential parts of the path. They may be added to, but they may not be
ignored or subtracted from without serious impairment to one's practice of the Craft. And
as a traditionalist, the noticeable trend toward "safe" paganism is quite disturbing to me.
Of course I realize that traditionalist Wicca forms but one of the many paths in modern
paganism, and the Old Wicca are taught tolerance, that even those who would practice
"safe" paganism have a path or paths satisfying to them and worthy of our respect. We
do not always get either tolerance or understanding in return.
The Witches of old had a solution for this: secrecy. If the general public did not know who
they were or what they did -- and both forms of secrecy had an important function in the
Old Craft -- the Wicca could do as they were
taught, or in the case of eclectics, as they chose. In other words, secrecy was the price of
uncompromising adherence to one's spiritual ideals. I am not sorry that Witchcraft has
come part way out of its broom closet, but a day like today with its
reminders of public but "safe" paganism makes me wonder whether we didn't pay a bit
more than we should have.
-Raymond T. Anderson
notices. This morning I received a number of these, some for the upcoming feast of
Lughnasadh. All had something that struck me as peculiar, a caveat about one or more
perfectly "normal" pagan practices that were prohibited at the event. Mostly this
involved alcoholic beverages, but one festival which claimed to be "about spirituality, not
partying" prohibited nudity. (Nudity, ritual or otherwise, is a common enough -- and quite
optional --
practice at American pagan festivals.) One gathering will have a community altar
upon which participants may place items sacred to them, but wands and athames are
prohibited!
Granted some of these events will take place at (US) state parks, and if one uses such
facilities, one should be willing to comply with their rules. My point is not to criticize the
events or their organizers (hence they remain nameless examples here), but it does
make me wonder where the American Neopagan movement is headed. How much are
people willing to compromise what they claim to be able to do with the ability to do it
conveniently via arrangements with public park authorities? How much are they willing to
circumscribe their practice for the sake of their prudish or teetotaler neighbors?
What would Lughnasadh or Lammas be like without John Barleycorn? "they pour him out
of an old brown jug and call him home brewed ale." Or what of the exhortation in the
Charge of the Goddess to "be naked in your rites"? Are these merely incidentals which
may safely
be discarded at will or do they have deeper meaning? And where do we draw the line
between essential spirit and outward form? If a Wiccan can use soda pop for wine and a
plastic knife for an athame, can that same Wiccan walk into a Catholic church and adore
his Goddess? My apologies for the Wiccan focus here, but it is the path I know best after
twenty years in it, and the same questions could be raised of any other pagan path.
I must confess, I am a traditionalist Witch. I have been taught that certain ritual forms
and practices are essential parts of the path. They may be added to, but they may not be
ignored or subtracted from without serious impairment to one's practice of the Craft. And
as a traditionalist, the noticeable trend toward "safe" paganism is quite disturbing to me.
Of course I realize that traditionalist Wicca forms but one of the many paths in modern
paganism, and the Old Wicca are taught tolerance, that even those who would practice
"safe" paganism have a path or paths satisfying to them and worthy of our respect. We
do not always get either tolerance or understanding in return.
The Witches of old had a solution for this: secrecy. If the general public did not know who
they were or what they did -- and both forms of secrecy had an important function in the
Old Craft -- the Wicca could do as they were
taught, or in the case of eclectics, as they chose. In other words, secrecy was the price of
uncompromising adherence to one's spiritual ideals. I am not sorry that Witchcraft has
come part way out of its broom closet, but a day like today with its
reminders of public but "safe" paganism makes me wonder whether we didn't pay a bit
more than we should have.
-Raymond T. Anderson
