(T. Thorn Coyle, filling in for Jason Pitzl-Waters)

Many Pagans and magic workers will attend the Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne this December. As an official Ambassador to the Parliament, I and other representatives of Solar Cross shall be among those attending.

The Parliament first convened in 1893 in Chicago, as an ancillary meeting to the World Columbian Exposition, and leaders from many spiritual and religious traditions met and talked for the first time. Swami Vivekananda addressed the gathering:

Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

If you wish to hear this speech, click on the link above.

The Parliament did not reconvene for 100 years, when a reprise was organized for the anniversary of this first, historic meeting. It has met every five or six years since, including many of the religions not in attendance at that first gathering, expanding Swami Vivikenanda’s dream. Baha’is, Sikhs, Earth religions, and Indiginous religions are all now active participants.

At a recent pre-Parliamentary event in San Francisco, I attended a meeting with Buddhists, Christians, Metaphysicians, Hindus, and Jews and spoke about what I hope to bring to the Parliament. Pagans, I feel, have something very important to add to the discussion, particularly addressing this year’s theme which is “Make a World of Difference: Hearing Each Other, Healing the Earth”. We experience the sacred within and around us. We believe that matter is not fallen and strive – at least in theory – to live in harmony with this great body Gaia we are all part of. We also have a chance to be good listeners, because, even if we are Monists or non-dualists, most of us are also Pantheists and Polytheists: there is no end to diversity and we dance with that, the sacred is ever with us, in myriad forms. In my direct experience and perception – which are so important to Pagans and magic workers – God Herself forms the fabric of all, and we weave our lives into this fabric, changing texture and color, adding to the glorious blend. Our Gods and Goddesses, too, weave in their sparks of light, their watery or earthy natures, as do animals, stars, trees, molecules and atoms. When we are at our best, our very lives and ways of worship open us to tolerance and deep listening.

We have the ability to carry this sense of connection, immanence, and wonder with us everywhere we go. I recently carried that sense to the chapel podium of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio and spoke of our deep need to connect with all of our parts – animal, human, and divine – to align our own soul in order to come into alignment with the soul of the world. I spoke of the sacred being among us, and how acts of social justice become as acts of prayer and meditation. I spoke of dancing the primal elements of air, fire, water, earth, and spirit. Each of us knows this dance, for it is as familiar to us as breathing.

All of these, I firmly believe, give Pagans and magic workers a distinct voice in inter-religious dialogue. We do not have to reach at all to come to a sense of the Divine within and among us. We do not have to reach at all to acknowledge that multiplicity is as sacred as unity. We do not have to reach at all to sense that every action, every thought and breath we take, affects and remakes the world. We do not always recall each tenet in every moment  but we don’t have far to go to reconnect. Despite our states of disconnection, the reality of reconnection is right here, right now, and something in our blood and bones knows this and responds. We carry these possibilities of connection with us everywhere we go. My friends and compatriots will carry this with us to the Parliament in Melbourne. We will talk, make ritual, shake hands, bow, and pass along our relationship with the sacred. Our Gods will walk the halls with us, as will the sense of our own divinities, and a sense of divine Nature. We shall seek the divinity in the eyes and in the words of every other participant. This is our practice. Thou art Goddess. Thou art God.

For all of you not attending the Parliament in Melbourne, I encourage you to think about going. I encourage local groups to raise funds to send representatives, who will then come back and share the experience at home. I ask that you seek out local pre-Parliamentary events to attend and talk about your practices there. And I encourage each of us, every day, to bring our sense of Divine connection with us as we work, play, dance, toil, and make love. If you do decide to attend, please let me know, for we are organizing so as to form a cohesive, though diverse presence. Walk the halls with us. Listen to the Dalai Lama, Sr. Joan Chittister, Cheif Oren Lyons and Margot Adler. Make ritual with us, and walk in the Australian summer sun.

I end with more words from Swami Vivekananda, spoken at the closing ceremony of the first Parliament:

Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, “Brother, yours is an impossible hope.” Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.

The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth; or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.

Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.

Blessed be.

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T. Thorn Coyle is a Pagan, mystic, magic worker, spiritual director, activist, and founder of Solar Cross and the Morningstar Mystery School. Author of “Kissing the Limitless” and “Evolutionary Witchcraft” she makes her home near the San Francisco Bay.