This is a synthesis of the responses of a survey of Pagans to the question, what is the most important thing you want to tell people:
We are not evil. We do not worship the Devil. We don't harm or seduce people. We are not dangerous. We are ordinary people like you. We have families, jobs, hopes and dreams. We are not a cult. We are not weird. This religion is not a joke. We are not what you think we are from looking at T.V. We are real. We laugh, we cry. We are serious. We have a sense of humor. You don't have to be afraid of us. We don't want to convert you. And please don't try to convert us. Just give us the same right we give you--to live in peace. We are much more similar to you than you think.As I describe the modern pagan movement, keep that last sentence in mind. We are much more similar to you that you think.
Those of you who have attended General Assembly may have heard about the growing presence of a group calling themselves the Coven of Unitarian Universalist Pagans or CUUPS. Over the last five years the CUUPS booth at GA has gotten bigger and more workshops on paganism have been presented. Two years ago a Pagan congregation in Chicago, Panthea, was admitted into our association's membership. At this past GA, an addition to our purposes and principles was proposed to include earth centered spirituality as a foundation of our faith. Given that we have an increasing pagan presence in Unitarian Universalism, it is important that we begin to pay some attention to who they are, what they think and how they practice their ideas. If my sermon peaks your interest, I recommend the book Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler which helped me better understand the modern pagan, what I'll call the Neo-Pagan movement.
Let's first look at the word 'Pagan'. Many complaints have been leveled at CUUPS for using that word rather than something else. The word Pagan is like waving a red flag in front of the fundamentalist bull inviting it to charge. The truth is that every single one of us has thousands if not millions of pagan ancestors. Before the major monotheistic religions and before the rise of the city, we were all country dwellers. This is the original meaning of the word Pagan. Up until the time of the rise of Roman Christianity, the term Pagan was a celebrated term. Negative associations with these words are the end result of centuries of political struggles during which the major prophetic religions, notably Christianity, won a victory over the older polytheistic religions. In the West, often the last people to be converted to Christianity lived on the outskirts of populated areas and kept their traditional ways1.
The Neo-pagans are not directly connected to these original pagans except in spirit. Almost all European pagan culture was destroyed by the inquisition, the persecution of witches, and the systematic assimilation and destruction of indigenous religion by the Christians. Only echoes of the past remain as we celebrate traditional pagan holidays such as Halloween, Thanksgiving (harvest celebration), Christmas (solstice), Arbor and May day.
It may come as no surprise to you that Unitarianism can take some credit (or blame depending on your perspective) for the rise of Neo-paganism. Starting with the Transcendentalists we have been willing to look to religions other than Christianity for religious truth. As one investigates indigenous religions one finds that many are polytheistic religions of the land that share a kinship with European Paganism. Scholarship and cultural voyeurism has "disclosed the consistent religious meaning and cultural function of a great number of occult practices, beliefs, and theories, recorded in many civilizations, European and non-European alike, and at all levels of culture.2" In the process of discovery we have gained a greater appreciation for the harmonious relationship cultivated between the tribal person and the natural environment.
In a time when many urban dwellers are feeling a sense of powerlessness, alienation and separation from the soil, people are looking for a feeling of connection to the natural world. We have disconnected ourselves from the cycles of hot, dry, wet and cold weather in climate controlled homes, cars and offices. Much of our food is heavily processed before it touches our lips. Many Neo-pagans sit in front of computer screens all day long. I remember sharing many of these feelings when I worked in Silicon Valley. Everyday was the same with little variation as I tested my circuit boards on an assembly line. Change didn't come via the weather or the seasons but rather by order from the engineers, the salesmen or corporate headquarters.
The last two social forces had their birth in the political realm. The first is the environmentalist movement. Environmentalists believe that the natural environment must be protected from human incursion and destruction. This belief advocates a harmonious symbiotic relationship with the insects, fish, birds, plants and animals rather than destruction of habitat and forcing endangered species into extinction. If one turns to the Bible for spiritual guidance, one hears the voice of the Lord telling Adam to go and subdue the earth. In Christian teaching, this world is just a depraved sinful stopping point on the way to heaven. The next world will be our reward, not in this God forsaken place. The ancient people felt they were at the mercy of environmental forces not their masters as we shall soon be as we destroy the ozone layer and pump carbon dioxide into the atmosphere raising the global temperature. When environmentalists face the juggernaut of technological suicide they feel a strong need for new paradigms to inspire their work.
Another important social force, especially in Unitarian Universalism is feminism. Women seek spiritual sustenance in their fight for equal rights, equal pay, appreciation, and power over their bodies and destinies. This power to effect change and control one's life comes from one's beliefs and assumptions about the meaning of life. If you follow St. Paul and believe you must serve your husband selflessly, yet feel deep in your heart there is more to who you can be, you will may feel an emptiness of self and vision. The dominance of men over women is pervasive in the Bible. Even if you do follow your dream of being a doctor or lawyer, your religion will feel like a ball and chain as you face the task of being super woman doing the cooking, cleaning, child raising, and fulfilling the rest of the traditional female roles.
What are they attracted to in Neo-Paganism to satisfy these needs? Surveys 3 have revealed that many are attracted by the beauty, vision and imagination found in Neo-Pagan ritual and ceremony. Some found a sense of intellectual satisfaction that comes from the many books circulating today about the parallels in the world's primal religion. Another important reason was the desire for personal growth. The feminists felt that Goddess worship is an attractive alternative to patriarchal hierarchical Western world view. The environmentalists saw in the reverence for nature a personal response to a planet in crisis. Lastly they wanted the freedom to have a direct experience of their religion "without the middleman." They wanted to free themselves from the notions of sin and guilt. Doesn't this sound a little like Unitarian Universalism? That's why they've joined us.
Probably the most significant belief of these Neo-Pagans is polytheism. This is a very different view from the monotheism of Western Religion. Matter is not dead and separated from spirit but "All things--from rocks and trees to dreams--are considered to partake of the life force4." Divinity is inseparable from nature and that deity is immanent in nature as a thousand faces and forms. Through ritual the participants can become one with an aspect of divinity if just for a moment. The idea of polytheism is grounded in the view that reality is multiple and diverse...all nature is divinity and manifests itself in myriad forms and delightful complexities. To some this worship of forms may smack of idolatry but to the Neo-Pagan, the worship of the form, be it statue, tree, or sacred rock, is an entrance way to spiritual experience which transcends the image connecting them to the sacred. Remember men like Jung, James Hillman, David Miller and Joseph Campbell? Much of the theoretical basis for a modern defense of polytheism comes from Jungian psychologists, who have long argued that the gods and goddesses of myth, legend, and fairy tale represent archetypes, real potencies and potentialities deep within the psyche, which when allowed to flower, permit us to be more fully human. What the Neo-Pagans are doing are ritualizing these words.
The belief in the sacredness of all life has philosophic consequences. If all life is sacred then no one form has the right to dominate the other. Fire ants and Palmetto bugs have no more right to domination than we have over the spotted owl in the redwoods. The goal is interspecies harmony and the celebration of greater and greater diversity. Polytheistic thinking is expansive rather than reductionistic. The more gods and goddesses the merrier!
The Neo-Pagans translate pantheism, animism and polytheism into ritual and magic. Their use of the word ritual parallel's this definition: any ordered sequence of events or actions, including directed thoughts, especially when repeated, which is designed to produce a predictable altered state of consciousness which may be then directed towards achieving some effect or end. The ritual connects the participant parts of oneself or powers that they may not normally have access to. Almost every magical-religious ritual known performs the following acts: emotion is aroused, increased, built to a peak. A target is imaged and a goal made clear. The emotional energy is focused, aimed and fired at this goal. Then there is a follow through; this encourages any lingering energy to flow away and provides a safe letdown5. Magic is the methods used to develop and utilize this power via chants, spells, dancing around a fire, burning candles, the smoke and smell of incense to awaken the "deep mind" - to arouse high emotions, enforce concentration, and facilitate entry into the altered mental state6.
Let me read for you an excerpt from a training manual on ritual and magic by the Dianic Covenstead of Morrigana in Dallas:
Before you begin to doubt my use of the word magic, let me describe a study that was done on the Aborigines of Australia...It was verified that they really knew where a herd of game was though it grazed beyond the horizon; knew when a storm was approaching; and knew where water was--though it lay some ten feet below the surface. These are abilities that our society calls "magic"...These talents are achieved, not by any sixth sense, but by using the five senses to their full capacity...It becomes possible once we recognize our real environment and begin to regain our kinship with it. The Aborigines knew about the distant animals because they heard them. In the same but more obvious way, Amer-Indians heard distant sound by placing an ear to the ground. The Aborigine knows when a storm is forming through a very important sense. The aware native feels the storm, feels the change of barometric pressure. That same highly developed sense of feeling can also...increase the odds for the storm to bring rain7.
The goal of altering one's experience of reality is to heighten and expand it rather than to conjure up the devil or supernatural forces. For example, juggling cannot be mastered by watching a performance or reading a book. The archer cannot become proficient without bending a bow many many times. There is a tremendous amount of untapped ability and power which the intellect cannot initially uncover and develop.
This experiential learning through ritual and magic happens because the ritual temporarily lowers the boundaries of the self. In this space of group consciousness one can exercise capabilities we may not know we have. These experiences are not really so much different than what one may encounter in a therapeutic setting or some of the more innovative techniques created by psychotherapists.
I hope by now you are seeing that there are some overlaps here with our thinking. Since Unitarian Universalism tends to ride the intellectual and spiritual currents of the day, it shouldn't surprise us that pagans are showing up in our midst and looking for recognition. The basic question which confronts us is whether we should make them welcome.
On the pragmatic side of the issue, saying we accept pagans is the same as saying we are pagans to the fundamentalists. Right now they tend to see us as confused souls who have lost their way. If we were just willing to hear Jesus's message, we'd be saved. But to identify with the pagans is to join the enemy camp. In their eyes, we will have chosen sides in the battle against the monotheistic view of God which Christendom has fought for two thousand years. If you're not for the one God, you must be for the devil. It's either/or.
On the other hand, if we do research this evolving religious form as I have and find value in it, can we turn them out if they seek shelter in our midst? Don't we claim as one of the principles of our association a free and responsible search for truth and meaning?
There has been a trend among U.U.'s to clamor for more spirituality in their churches and fellowships. Now that a religious group appears which seems overflowing with this component and wants to share it with us many complain that it doesn't come in the right package. That name Pagan just has too much baggage attached with it. Yet do we fret about Jews joining our faith and ask them to leave their beliefs and practices behind for fear of anti-Semitism? Do we limit Black, Hispanic or Asian, involvement in our association because we fear racism?
The most troubling argument has to do with institutional identity. Just how wide an embrace can we stand? What are the practical limits of diversity? Can Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Humanists, and Pagans, monotheists and polytheists all get along under one roof? Are we willing to put our association's reputation on the line for the Neo-Pagans if and when the fundamentalists decide to target us? These are hard questions without easy answers.
I think we can learn much from the Neo-Pagan movement which is beneficial and can be incorporated into our Fellowships and Churches without accepting the whole package. If we take a hard look at what we already do, we will see plenty of the pagan already in Unitarian Universalism, and Protestantism and Christianity and Judaism.
The essence of what makes Unitarian Universalism great is seeing all these divine images as metaphor for that which cannot be contained by words. Whether praising Jesus, Einstein or the Goddess, we direct our attention to the imaginative beauty we see outside ourselves which in reality is but a reflection of our own nature. Our challenge is to continually expand our thinking to include more and more authentic life affirmation.
Neo-Paganism contains this authentic life affirmation. It isn't a perfect vessel or revelation -- but neither are we. May we open to it, learn from it, and respect it.
Copyright (c) 1995 by Rev. Samuel A. Trumbore, All Rights Reserved
1 Adler, Margot Drawing Down the Moon, 1986, Beacon Press, p. 9 2 ibid. P 365 3 ibid. p.22 4 ibid. p. 25 5 ibid. p. 161 6 ibid. p. 157 7 ibid. p. 156