{"id":1839,"date":"2014-01-12T18:08:39","date_gmt":"2014-01-13T00:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=1839"},"modified":"2014-01-12T18:08:39","modified_gmt":"2014-01-13T00:08:39","slug":"vision-of-a-pagan-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2014\/01\/vision-of-a-pagan-future.html","title":{"rendered":"Vision of a Pagan Future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In yesterday\u2019s Wild Hunt, Jason Pitzl-Waters had an excellent essay titled \u201cInstitutions vs Counterculture in Modern Paganism<\/a>\u201d where he asked if our efforts to \u201cmove towards infrastructure and institutions\u201d are in conflict with our efforts to embody and promote values that are very different from the mainstream culture.\u00a0 That\u2019s a very deep question and Jason gave it a deep exploration.\u00a0 Here\u2019s an excerpt:<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a>
Jason Pitzl-Waters<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m not arguing for institution or counterculture, I\u2019m arguing for conscious decision making. Many of us believe in magic, in Will, in shaping our own futures. As such, if we are going to be a part of this religious movement, then we should be clear-eyed about what we ultimately want to become. We are at a point in our growth and success where we\u2019ve allowed ourselves a moment\u2019s reflection on the future. I believe this is why we are having so many fundamental debates over who we are, and if we want to be a part of this movement. This question isn\u2019t even necessarily an either-or, but the way in which we \u201clean\u201d will shape our collective future. Eventually, some part of us will be seen as the fringe, as not representing the heart of our culture, and I want to make sure we are comfortable with the direction of our forward lean.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The original essay is good and the conversation that took place in the comments was even better \u2013 I encourage you to go read it for yourself.\u00a0 I don\u2019t intend this post to be a critique of either Jason\u2019s ideas or of the follow-up conversation, but rather an expansion of my thoughts on the subject.\u00a0 Those thoughts began with my first comment<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I want it all \u2013 which is why I continue to advocate for a Big Tent approach to Paganism. I want the multi-generational stability that comes from institutions, and I want the wild mystics pulling those institutions toward our ideals.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I\u2019ve discussed before<\/a>, I\u2019m not a radical in any sense of the term.\u00a0 But I recognize how badly dysfunctional our mainstream society is, and more importantly, how badly its values are at odds with my values and the values of many Pagans.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re paying the least bit of attention you know something is badly wrong:\u00a0 a dragging economy, growing income and wealth inequality, crumbling infrastructure, climate change, resource depletion, endless war, domestic spying, a record prison population, and a Congress that refuses to govern.\u00a0 You don\u2019t need a master\u2019s degree in divination to see that where ever this is headed, it isn\u2019t any place good.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s not enough to be against the mainstream culture \u2013 you have to offer a viable alternative.\u00a0 Otherwise you\u2019re simply a troublesome voice on the sidelines that\u2019s easy to ignore\u2026 or if you become too loud, to forcibly silence.\u00a0 The modern Pagan movement spent its first few decades too small to be anything more than that troublesome voice, and a refuge for those of us who felt called to magic, Nature and the Gods.<\/p>\n

Jason says things changed in 1983 when a group of Wiccans led by Selena Fox purchased the land that would become Circle Sanctuary.\u00a0 Modern Paganism took a major step on the path to becoming an institution.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard it said that conservatives believe people are inherently bad but are redeemed by institutions, while liberals believe people are inherently good but are corrupted by institutions.\u00a0 As a description of what people believe I think that\u2019s fairly accurate.\u00a0 As for me, I see institutions as an extension of the people who found and support them:\u00a0 a few are good, a few are bad, and most are a little of both.<\/p>\n

The primary benefit of institutions is that they bring multi-generational stability.\u00a0 How many covens die when their high priestess dies or moves or loses interest?\u00a0 How many independent churches wither when their pastor moves on?\u00a0 How long will Apple last without Steve Jobs?\u00a0 Institutions survive because they aren\u2019t dependent on one or two key individuals.<\/p>\n

Part of the universal (or very nearly so) religious impulse is the desire to be a part of something greater than ourselves.\u00a0 We know that when we die our bodies will return to the elements and we can\u2019t be sure there even is such a thing as a soul (I\u2019m convinced there is, but we can\u2019t be sure).\u00a0 But even if I don\u2019t live on after death, my Druidry will.\u00a0 The individual dies but the tribe lives on.\u00a0 By creating and maintaining multi-generational institutions, we can achieve immortality.<\/p>\n

One of the problems with institutions is that they are inherently conservative.\u00a0 Not in the political sense of the word, but in the sense that their mission is to conserve<\/em> \u2013 to preserve, to maintain \u2013 its values and traditions.\u00a0 That\u2019s mostly a good thing \u2013 by the time a movement starts to think and act institutionally, it usually has worked out what values and traditions are helpful and thus worth conserving.<\/p>\n

But does the third or fourth or tenth generation realize that the compromises made by the founding generation were trade-offs born of necessity and not some perfect way things were done back in a golden age?\u00a0 Does the institution remain a living, growing, changing entity?\u00a0 Or does it become a plastic replica of the reasons it was founded?<\/p>\n

I think of the Catholic abuse scandals.\u00a0 The suffering of innocent children could have been minimized if the abuse had been recognized and abusive priests removed immediately.\u00a0 Instead, the abuse was perpetuated by cover-ups intended to protect the institution.\u00a0 Instead of asking \u201cwhat values has the Catholic church preserved that we can apply in this horrible situation?\u201d bishops asked \u201chow can we protect the institution of the Catholic church from bad publicity?\u201d\u00a0 The institution became more important than the values and traditions it was created to conserve.<\/p>\n

As Paganism becomes more and more institutional, let us never become so arrogant as to think this crime of misplaced priorities can\u2019t happen to us.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And this is where we come to the second part of this vision:\u00a0 while I want the multi-generational stability that comes from institutions, I also want the mystics and witches and prophets pulling those institutions toward our ideals.\u00a0 Jason Pitzl-Waters worries that \u201csome part of us will be seen as the fringe, as not representing the heart of our culture.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019s right.\u00a0 Movements have centers, but they are pulled by those on the fringes and the edges, by those who are willing to take the risks those charged with conserving the institution cannot take.<\/p>\n

So yes, I want to build temples to the Celtic gods<\/a>, and I want advocates for the homeless reminding us to build houses for humans too.\u00a0 I want the turning of the seasons to be celebrated everywhere, and I want tree-sitters reminding us that Nature is more than something pretty for us to enjoy.\u00a0 I want Pagan libraries and seminaries, and I want devotees of Cernunnos running through the forest in ecstatic communion with the Lord of Animals.<\/p>\n

There are some who fear we\u2019re trying to make Paganism \u201crespectable,\u201d that we\u2019re trying to show it\u2019s no threat to a mainstream culture that doesn\u2019t care how many species go extinct so long as nobody interrupts Dancing With the Stars<\/em>, that doesn\u2019t care if 300,000 people have their water poisoned so long as the lights never flicker.\u00a0 But it\u2019s not about making Paganism \u201crespectable.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s about instilling Pagan values in \u201crespectable\u201d people and thereby changing the mainstream culture, little by little, soul by soul.<\/p>\n

Jason calls for \u201cconscious decision making\u201d and I agree.\u00a0 Paganism needs institutions if it\u2019s going to become the societal force our world needs it to become.\u00a0 Let\u2019s leave room in our Big Tent for the mystics and wild witches who will not let us forget why we became Pagans in the first place.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paganism needs institutions if it\u2019s going to become the societal force we need it to become. But let\u2019s leave room in our Big Tent for the mystics and wild witches who will not let us forget why we became Pagans in the first place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":1844,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[252,251,134,4,5,193,67],"class_list":["post-1839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magic","tag-institutions","tag-jason-pitzl-waters","tag-mysticism","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-the-wild-hunt","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\nVision of a Pagan Future<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Paganism needs institutions if it\u2019s going to become the societal force we need it to become. 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