Edginess and Polytheism

In Gus diZerega’s blog today, I read an interesting article on the “edginess” of Paganism. Here. Read it. I’ll wait.

Edginess is hard to reconcile with Recon religions, such as Asatru and Celtic Reconstructionism (CR). On the one hand, they’re naturally edgy: many of the virtues and values are imported from over 1,000 years ago, which means you may or may not have a given Reconstructionist who adheres to “American” values. On the other hand, you’re speaking about groups of Pagans who are notoriously conservative in their interpretations of lore, and oddly at home with maintaining the status quo in modern politics, regardless of their political persuasion.

The reason I bring this up is that many polytheists are at some level Reconstructionists, or at least “Recon Lite”, such as ADF and similar groups (credit Ian Corrigan with that quip). The number of polytheists in the US who are more gnosis-based are very rare, and lore/gnosis balanced groups are also uncommon. In Recon religions, edginess and the ability to FReak Out the Mundanes (what I and my associates call “fromming”) seem to be largely a function of ancient culture rather than any actual modern attitude. Some of the freakiest Recons I know (who live in Denver, of all places) still are quite at home at a board meeting or in a “normal” social gathering. Their religion is something they talk about freely but don’t really display as a general rule.

On the one hand, it’s good to be a “normal” Pagan, especially in the workplace or in most public venues. Paganism is a way of life not unlike any other, in the sense that we value hard work and compensation for it. To be seen as a person first and a Pagan second is a worthy goal, and some of us have already achieved it. The question is, “Why?” Why do we wish to be mainstream, to not rock the boat or be outspoken, to go on with “business as usual?”

There is yet another question we should be asking. What is it that makes polytheism, and even Neopaganism, “edgy” or “mainstream”? There are several definitions of both words. A further fact is, Paganism need not be one or the other.

When I think of a mainstream religion, I think of a religion that is accepted as a viable choice of belief system according to the society of a given region. In this respect, Wicca at least has already gained some mainstream status, depending on your location. Being a Wiccan in Denver, for example, is about as important as being a plumber or a banker. It is just one more choice in a variety of choices available. On the other hand, down in the Springs, being a Wiccan still can earn illicit looks or put one’s job in danger.

There is another definition of “mainstream”, which I hope we avoid as polytheists, even as Wicca is succumbing to it. This is the “mainstream” of being available to the lowest common denominator, yet another selection with about as much flavor and importance as the green Jell-o you order at lunch. This is being a religion which does not counter corporate or consumerist values, a nice and safe predicament to be in. Our religion has never been “safe”, you want safe, join Christianity, that’s my opinion. Gus makes the same point, but seems to think that not being this kind of mainstream religion is being “edgy” somehow, as if countering consumerism in principle was somehow societally dangerous. It’s not, at least, not yet. What is dangerous is looking at a Recon and telling them the lore only matters so much in the long run, because it was all written by Christian monks when the old religions had all but been replaced. I’ve ducked more than one punch from that one.

Edginess is partially attitude. I don’t have an edgy attitude. Partially for that reason, people at my place of business can look at me and go, “He’s a little weird, but he’s OK.” They know I’m polyamorous, they know I’m Pagan, and this is in a fairly conservative district. It’s not Colorado Springs, but it is upper-middle-class status quo, and there’s plenty of Fundamentalist attitudes going around. Yet I’m treated as normal, even liked, partially because I try to be a nice guy, and partially because I don’t make a big deal about being different. I’m different, and I have different attitudes about things, yeah. No big.

Gus seems to imply that Paganism should return a degree of edginess to itself, in regards to countering the corporations and the consumer society they have created. I counter with, we don’t need to be edgy to do that. We can be normal, everyday people, and still tell a corporation to flock off. In fact, Paganism will have less impact if we designate and separate ourselves from others who feel the same way, but might not hold our world-view. This is where the Quakers succeeded: they weren’t they only abolitionists in that time period which Gus is speaking of; they coordinated with others who shared that viewpoint even if they didn’t agree with the Quakers religiously.  This is not edginess, this is cooperation, *ghosti. This is what needs to happen.

Prayer Warrior or Protester?

On the Wild Hunt recently, Jason mentions the 40 Days Over DC event. Most of what he says explains the situation, and most of the comments are calls to magical action, sitting in the comfort of their homes and casting spells to block, reflect, or deflect the power of prayer that will be directed towards the Nation’s Capitol. Many of these comments also state that the Neopagan response should be to publicly ignore it (or, in one case, laugh at it) to take away much of its energy.

The problem with the approach in many of these comments is that this is not just a magical event these “prayer warriors” are engaging in. They are essentially marching on Washington in a 40-day prayer & protest, then moving to Philadelphia for 11 days to do the same. A protest has a different effect on the world than a magical act such as prayer; it’s more public, it has more exposure, and in itself it can affect the opinions of hundreds. Added to the tactics of Fundamentalist Christianity such as prayer against LGBTQ, Paganism, and other religions, this tactic becomes even more effective.

As I have said several times, adding physical components to one’s magical acts will increase the power of the act. Everything from gestures to burning the written word to planting seeds in the ground has been used to enact magic in the world. This protest is a Christian version, though they would never call it magic. I agree with one comment which says that the Christian “prayer warrior” is much more dangerous than a magician because the prayer warrior doesn’t take any responsibility for the act – “it’s all up to God”. Therefore, praying to kill a lesbian Senator or remove rights for thousands of American Pagans is perfectly alright, because if it happens, then it can be explained away as “God’s will” rather than someone’s hatred or fear manifesting.

After all, everyone knows magic doesn’t exist.

This is not a world-view that I can continue to stomach. I am constantly reminded of a Marcus Aurelius quote which was floating through the ADF boards for a while:

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

I sit and continue to watch as Fundamentalists continue to venerate a god they claim is “good”, and yet continues to harm anyone unlike them, and calls upon them to do the same. It’s time to stand up to this stupidity and call it what it is. If God is love, their God isn’t God.

Therefore, when this 51 days of prayer event reaches Colorado’s “day” on October 15th, I’m going to be standing out in front of the state capital. All day. Preferably with a sign or some other protest of this “prayer war” that has been waged against me and anyone else who is of a different religion, sexual orientation, or political persuasion different from these so-called Christians. My act of magic, the physical component to the counter-prayers I will send to Freyja and Herne, will be risking derision, attack, and arrest to stand up for what I believe in; if there are prayer warriors there, maybe we can start a dialogue, though I truly doubt they’ll be interested in discussion.

The generation before mine spent many years facing no less than derision, attack, and arrest, in order to give the current generation a chance for religious freedom, a chance for freedom to love whomever we love. It’s time those of my generation stood up and started following in those footsteps, because the previous generations cannot continue to fight forever. We’ve lost many of our Pagan elders in recent years. I think it’s fair to ask, have we also lost our will to fight for our rights? How far will we fall in this desire to avoid conflict before we lose them?

Like me, I hope you will take risks to go to your state capital or town hall, or even travel to Washington, DC, to stand up and be counted, to oppose those who claim to follow the path of the Founding Fathers but instead ignore the writings of Jefferson, Franklin, and Addams to create a revisionist view of American values. If you are one of these brave souls, I wish you luck.

Full Moon Tonight

Alright, the full moon is actually tomorrow. No big deal.

I usually mark what I’m doing for the full moon, just to mark progress and work on things. Since the last full moon, I have finished some ordeal work, started on draft two of my book, read a few pages in Raven Kaldera’s The Northern Shamanic Herbal, and finally got back to D&D. Not a bad list.

For the next full moon, I need to continue writing, read more, and do a couple of journeys and get some information.

What begins, eventually ends

I’ve begun thinking about the rest of the summer.

For a couple of years, the district I work for offered summer work, leaving only two weeks in the summer for summer vacation. As of last school year, however, many of our schools voted to end year-round schooling (called track schools in DCSD parlance), and rejoin some form of 9-month calendar (called either traditional or modified, depending on whether the dates in session matched the high schools; only the elementary schools were ever on track schools).

The reason this is significant is the summer vacation is one of the major reasons I took the job in the first place. Back in 2004, I was just getting used to the idea of My Lady’s demand that I become her priest. For one, I felt that I had a long road of training ahead (oh, the folly of youth, leading to that understatement of the century!). I was working construction at the time and found it hard to perform any amount of extended spirit-work with the schedule I had. On top of that, I was working weekend Renaissance Faires. When I saw an opening for a bus driver at a school district near Columbus, I saw an opportunity to step up my practice, and took it.

Four years later, my summers were no longer free as they once had been, as I had come to Colorado and my present driving job. The rest, as they say, is history, but there is more to the tale. In 2008, I saw a change of scenery, a change of job location, and a change of identity, in many ways. I was somewhat well-known in Ohio and some of the Faires there. Here in Colorado, I was literally an unknown. Much of my summer’s extended work was put on hold while I established myself, eventually joining Silver Branch Golden Horn while we reformed the group into an ADF Protogrove. This hold lasted until July of last summer, and I regret to say I still feel like I’m playing catch-up on it. While the work done for SBGH and then The New Village Grove was quite useful, it was to the detriment of more personal forms of practice, at least the forms that require an extended leave from work and a certain degree of solitude.

So now, after catching up on quite a bit, I face the coming end of the summer break – route bids, dry runs, training, and finally student transportation. I look at it with a small degree of dread, because of all I’ve been able to accomplish this summer, but also with great anticipation: I enjoy both my work as a priest and my job as a driver immensely, and it would be hard to let go of either one. I have a strong feeling I may have to do just that, perhaps not right away, but soon. We’ll see. Regardless, an ending and a beginning is coming up, just as this 4th of July was the same for me. The end of one step, the beginning of the next in my life’s path.