{"id":2084,"date":"2014-03-09T16:00:16","date_gmt":"2014-03-09T22:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=2084"},"modified":"2014-03-08T11:00:26","modified_gmt":"2014-03-08T17:00:26","slug":"the-pagan-world-in-2064","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2014\/03\/the-pagan-world-in-2064.html","title":{"rendered":"The Pagan World in 2064"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Patheos Pagan Managing Editor Christine Kraemer has thrown out a challenge for bloggers for March.\u00a0 She asks \u201cAs Pagans, what do we hope to build?\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s Christine\u2019s full question:<\/p>\n

Much of the current dialogue in the Pagan blogosphere is about carving out ways to explain and justify our personal experiences and beliefs in relation to other traditions, but without a clear vision of the place our own traditions and experiences might have in an ideal world. Will the Pagan movement become one tradition-heavy set of religions with several \u201cfringes\u201d? Will it split apart into competing factions? Or will we find a way to unite using some shared cultural language? What institutions will we build, or will we build institutions at all? What rights or recognition will we have in the larger society?<\/p>\n

What does your Paganism look like in 50 years?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What we can build is limited only by our imaginations.\u00a0 But our imaginations are far more limited than we like to think.\u00a0 Ask a typical Pagan what he or she would like to see in 50 years and you\u2019re likely to get one of two answers.\u00a0 A Pagan who dislikes institutions will speak of individual spirituality, political activism and alternatives to mainstream culture.\u00a0 A Pagan who likes institutions will speak of temples<\/a>, clergy<\/a> and Pagan schools and universities.\u00a0 The first looks a lot like Paganism today, only bigger and better.\u00a0 The second looks a lot like mainline Protestantism, only with more Gods.<\/p>\n

Building the Pagan world of 2064 requires thinking beyond what we see in front of us today.<\/p>\n

Vibrant, growing religions are vibrant and growing because they respond to the needs and desires of people where and when they are.\u00a0 So part of the problem in figuring out what to build for 2064 is figuring out what the world as a whole will look like in 2064.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
My favorite kindergarten book. Things didn\u2019t quite work out this way.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1964 the future was supposed to be flying cars, cities on the moon, and 20 hour work weeks.\u00a0 Instead, we got the internet, smart phones, and Wal-Mart.\u00a0 Can we do any better at predicting the future?<\/p>\n

The driving forces in today\u2019s world are globalization, population dynamics (falling birthrates in the West, exploding populations in the global South), climate change and peak oil.\u00a0 Will 2064 in the West look just like 2014, only with worse weather and higher energy prices?\u00a0 Or will we see dense, compact cities for the rich, decaying suburbs for the poor, and exurbs returned to farmland?\u00a0 Or something else only some random futurist is even contemplating?<\/p>\n

We cannot draw a blueprint for the Pagan world of 2064.\u00a0 However, Paganism is well-suited to a future that is uncertain and challenging.<\/p>\n

Nature centered Paganism gives people religious reasons for building stronger connections to the Natural world and for changing their lives in ways that will limit further environmental damage.\u00a0 Self centered Paganism gives people tools for dealing with difficult situations and for confronting unhelpful and unjust institutions.\u00a0 Community centered Paganism builds networks of mutual support which will be critical if \u2013 when \u2013 today\u2019s structures fail.\u00a0 And Deity centered Paganism calls on the wisdom and power of beings far older and wiser than us.<\/p>\n

My dream for 2064 includes exponential growth and a Pagan restoration on a scale that\u2019s never been seen.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s unlikely.\u00a0 So instead of my wish list, here\u2019s what I think the Pagan world in 2064 will <\/em>look like, if things go reasonably well for us.<\/p>\n

Nature Centered Paganism<\/strong>.\u00a0 This is where we will see the largest growth and the most impact on the mainstream culture.\u00a0 The effects of peak oil will force ordinary people to use less, commute less and travel less.\u00a0 Only a few will take up rural homesteading, but we\u2019ll see more back yard and window sill gardens.\u00a0 Climate change will cause most people to reconsider their relations with the natural world.\u00a0 Concern for other species and ecosystems \u2013 and action to support that concern \u2013 will become mainstream.<\/p>\n

So will the celebration of the equinoxes and solstices, although I won\u2019t guess at what the mainstream observance of them will look like.\u00a0 Samhain will grow, as some Halloween partiers look for deeper meaning in the holiday.\u00a0 Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh will remain ignored by all but Wheel of the Year Pagans.<\/p>\n

Self Centered Paganism<\/strong>.\u00a0 Magic will become the spiritual wing of the Big Tent of Paganism, and at least a few Pagan spiritual practices will become mainstream.\u00a0 Mystery traditions will be revived, reimagined and expanded, and one or two will become widespread.\u00a0 Initiations will be in demand, which will inevitably inspire a few high-dollar ego-stroking ripoffs.\u00a0 One or two monasteries will arise for those who wish to spend their lives in contemplation of the mysteries \u2013 and in extreme simplicity.<\/p>\n

Community Centered Paganism<\/strong>.\u00a0 This is where I\u2019m least confident in my predictions, where I have the greatest trouble imagining something that doesn\u2019t exist today.\u00a0 Child care, elder care, and general mutual support are going to become more and more necessary as our national infrastructure (i.e. \u2013 public programs) fades.\u00a0 Does that mean returning to multi-generational households?\u00a0 A revival of fraternal organizations (Freemasons, Oddfellows, etc)?\u00a0 Communes have been a near-universal failure every time they\u2019ve been tried, but individual housing centered around a common area has worked before.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have to all live next door to each other, just close enough to check up on each other from time to time.<\/p>\n

Large intentionally Pagan communities centered around a temple or community center is a 200 year dream, not a 50 year plan.\u00a0 I see no way we can grow enough to make something like that feasible in the lifetime of anyone reading this today.<\/p>\n

Deity Centered Paganism<\/strong>.\u00a0 Polytheism will become the religious wing of the Big Tent of Paganism.\u00a0 Practice will be centered on individual traditions, and in some cases, on individual deities.\u00a0 But there will be extensive communication and cooperation between traditions.\u00a0 We\u2019ll see the development of robust polytheistic theologies and good techniques of devotional and ecstatic ritual will be shared across traditions \u2013 the \u201creligious tech<\/a>\u201d that works for Heathens will work for Kemetics too.\u00a0 Individual traditions will add their own unique observances and practices, some revived from the ancients and others \u00a0which will arise in response to a need here and now.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Temple of Isis at Pompeii. A few dozen people could stand in the courtyard, but only a handful of priests would fit inside the sanctuary itself. Temples don\u2019t have to be large.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Temples and shrines will spring up, but they\u2019ll be built as houses of the Gods<\/a>, not as churches or community centers.\u00a0 They\u2019ll be smaller than churches, less costly, and they may even be portable.\u00a0 Priesthoods will arise around the temples \u2013 most likely, the priesthoods will come first and then the temples will follow.\u00a0 Each priesthood will have its own requirements for entry and training, and priests will be expected to support themselves with full-time or part-time employment.\u00a0 No tradition will develop the necessary combination of size, commitment, and desire required to support full-time paid clergy on a widespread basis.<\/p>\n

This is what I expect Paganism will look like in 50 years.\u00a0 But religions \u2013 even minority religions \u2013 are impossible to separate from the culture in which they live and breathe.\u00a0 Changes in the wider world and mainstream culture that we aren\u2019t expecting will have an effect on Paganism.\u00a0 We can\u2019t design for what we can\u2019t see coming.<\/p>\n

What we can do is to develop the skills and build the institutions that will help us become the kind of grounded, dedicated, and resilient Pagans who can thrive under any circumstances, who can serve our human and other-than-human communities in any environment, and who can teach others to do the same.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What will Paganism look like in 50 years? What we can build is limited only by our imaginations, but our imaginations are more limited than we like to think. Here\u2019s what the Pagan world in 2064 will look like if things go reasonably well for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":2086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[42,64,4,332,5,8,223],"class_list":["post-2084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-2","tag-magic-2","tag-nature-2","tag-pagan","tag-pagan-temples","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism","tag-temples"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Pagan World in 2064<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What will Paganism look like in 50 years? What we can build is limited only by our imaginations, but our imaginations are more limited than we like to think. 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