I think it\u2019s safe to assume a lot of these new readers don\u2019t know much about Paganism.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I do here \u2013 write about modern Pagan religion as I understand it and as I practice it.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been needing to put an introductory piece together and this is a good time to do it.<\/p>\n
There is no clear, generally accepted definition of Paganism.\u00a0 That\u2019s because Paganism isn\u2019t an institution \u2013 it\u2019s a movement.\u00a0 Institutions have boundaries:\u00a0 clear distinctions between who\u2019s in and who\u2019s out.\u00a0 Movements are more amorphous \u2013 they don\u2019t have boundaries.\u00a0 Instead, they have centers.\u00a0 You aren\u2019t in or out of a movement \u2013 you\u2019re more or less close to the center.<\/p>\n
The Pagan movement has four centers \u2013 four key concepts and practices around which modern Pagans gather.\u00a0 They are Nature, Deities, the Self, and Community.\u00a0 The Four Centers model was first proposed by John Halstead<\/a> last year.\u00a0 I found it to be very helpful in understanding the diversity of modern Paganism, and I\u2019ve incorporated it into my own writing and teaching.<\/p>\n Nature Centered Paganism<\/strong><\/p>\n Nature Centered Pagans find the Divine in Nature \u2013 their primary concern is the natural world and our relationship with it.\u00a0 You may hear terms like \u201cEarth centered\u201d \u201ctree hugger\u201d and \u201cdirt worshipper.\u201d<\/p>\n This may be a non-theistic practice, though not necessarily so.\u00a0 It includes Animism<\/a>, the idea that whatever animates you and me and the birds and bees also animates the wind and rain and even the mountains.<\/p>\n We know that life on Earth evolved once \u2013 all living things share a common ancestor and are therefore related.\u00a0 Nature centered Pagans understand the Earth is sacred in and of itself \u2013 its worth does not depend on its usefulness to humans, and so we treat the Earth with honor and respect.<\/p>\n Though none of them called themselves Pagans (and certainly not in the sense the term is usually used today) you see the ideas of Nature centered Paganism expressed in the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, and John Muir.\u00a0 You see it articulated for our era in Dark Green Religion<\/a><\/em> by Bron Taylor, Professor of Religion and Nature at the University of Florida.<\/p>\n Nature centered practices start with science, the study of Nature.\u00a0 Its creation myths include the Big Bang and evolution.\u00a0 Its daily practices include observing the sun, the moon, trees, and animals, and simply spending time in the natural world.\u00a0 Many Nature centered Pagans are environmental activists.<\/p>\n As for me, I do not have a commitment to Nature because I\u2019m a Pagan.\u00a0 I\u2019m a Pagan because I have a commitment to Nature<\/a>.<\/p>\n Deity Centered Paganism<\/strong><\/p>\n Deity centered Pagans find the Divine in the many Goddesses and Gods.\u00a0 This is usually a polytheistic practice, although we\u2019ve had a debate or two about just what \u201cpolytheist\u201d means<\/a>.\u00a0 Deity centered Paganism is mainly concerned with forming and maintaining relationships with the Gods, ancestors, and spirits.\u00a0 Much of this is done through acts of devotion: \u00a0worship, offerings, sacrifices<\/a>, prayers and meditation.\u00a0 Some traditions teach ecstatic experience of deities, while others are more reserved and formal.<\/p>\n Monotheists claim their God is the only God and that He (it\u2019s always a He) is infinite.\u00a0 Polytheists look at the world as we actually experience it and see little evidence of an all-powerful, all-good deity.\u00a0 But many deities of limited power and limited scope fits our world very well<\/a>.<\/p>\n Deity centered Paganism includes most ethnic reconstructionists:\u00a0 groups such as Heathens, Hellenists, and Kemetics who are attempting to reconstruct and reimagine the religions of our pre-Christian ancestors.\u00a0 They emphasize scholarship, both to learn how our ancestors worshipped these deities and to find and share the best ways to worship them here and now.\u00a0 We read Their stories, but we also study mainstream history, archeology and anthropology.<\/p>\n A commitment to the Gods is a commitment to embody Their virtues. Most of our deities have the title \u201cGod or Goddess of Somethingorother.\u201d This is not all they are any more than \u201cartist\u201d or \u201cengineer\u201d or \u201cmother\u201d or any of your roles and identities fully describes all you are. Still, it\u2019s an important part of who They are and what They have to teach us. They are different from us, but not so very different. The more we embody Their virtues, the more like Them \u2013 the more God-like \u2013 we become.<\/p>\n While Nature called me to Paganism, I was never able to devote myself fully to this path \u2013 and I was never able to fully extricate myself from the fundamentalist religion of my childhood \u2013 until I experienced the Gods first-hand<\/a>.<\/p>\n Self Centered Paganism<\/strong><\/p>\n Self centered Paganism doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s all about you and your ego.\u00a0 It means you find the Divine within yourself.\u00a0 It means the focus of your religious practice is to make yourself stronger, wiser, more compassionate, and more magical, so you can be of greater service to the world.<\/p>\n Wicca \u2013 at least in its traditional Gardnerian and Alexandrian forms \u2013 is Self centered.\u00a0 So is much of ceremonial magic, traditional witchcraft, and feminist witchcraft.\u00a0 There\u2019s a story that in the early days of Reclaiming, Starhawk would tell her students \u201cNow I will show you a Goddess.\u00a0 Turn and look at the woman beside you.\u201d<\/p>\n Self centered Paganism is perfectly described by the subtitle of Lon Milo DuQuette\u2019s book Low Magick<\/a><\/em>:\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s All In Your Head \u2026 You Just Have No Idea How Big Your Head Is.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s also exemplified by the famous quote from the Temple of Apollo at Delphi:\u00a0 gn\u014dthi seaut\u00f3n<\/em>:\u00a0 know thyself.<\/p>\n Self centered Paganism may be non-theistic, pantheistic, or monistic.\u00a0 It is frequently concerned with magic, which the legendary \u2013 and notorious \u2013 Aleister Crowley defined as \u201cthe Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will.\u201d\u00a0 Your Will isn\u2019t what you think you want or what you think you\u2019re supposed to want, it\u2019s why you\u2019re here in this world.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a Self centered Pagan because I can\u2019t do justice to my commitment to Nature and to the Gods without a commitment to excellence<\/a> in my spiritual life.<\/p>\n Community Centered Paganism<\/strong><\/p>\n Community centered Pagans find the Divine within the family and the tribe \u2013 however they choose to define those groups.\u00a0 Ancient tribal religion was (and is, in the few places where it still exists<\/a>) about maintaining harmonious relationships and preserving the way things have always been.\u00a0 Individuals are secondary to the family, and immortality is in the continuation of the family, not in the continuation of the individual.<\/p>\n It usually includes some form of ancestor worship, and may include offerings to the Agathos Daimon<\/em> \u2013 the \u201cgood spirit\u201d or guardian spirit of the household.\u00a0 Ancestors and family spirits are generally thought to be more accessible than Goddesses and Gods \u2013 a Heathen saying goes \u201cif you feel a tap on your shoulder, it\u2019s probably your grandfather, not the Allfather.\u201d<\/p>\n Humans are social animals \u2013 we live together, not as lone wolves.\u00a0 Our families of blood and families of choice provide encouragement, reinforcement, and accountability.\u00a0 Communities are their own entities \u2013 they are more than a collection of individuals.\u00a0 Communities exist to fulfill their missions and continue their traditions, not to meet your needs \u2013 being in community is being a part of something greater than yourself.<\/p>\n Community centered Pagans teach hospitality toward guests, including our divine guests.\u00a0 And they teach reciprocity \u2013 are you giving at least as much as you\u2019re receiving?<\/p>\n Communities are helpful and rewarding, but they require work by all their members.\u00a0 Avoiding the unpleasant parts of community marks you as a religious consumer instead of someone who is committed to the goals of the community.<\/p>\n Without the active, caring, and sometimes frustrating religious communities in which I live, work and worship<\/a>, my practice and my life would be far less than they are.<\/p>\n Synthesis and Exceptions<\/strong><\/p>\n In practice, most of us identify with more than one center.\u00a0 We feel the call of Nature, but we\u2019re also interested in magic.\u00a0 We worship the Gods, but we prefer to do so along with other Pagans.\u00a0 In general, it\u2019s better to dive deeply into one or two centers than to glaze over all four.\u00a0 You\u2019re certainly not doing it wrong because you aren\u2019t fully committed to all four.<\/p>\n I\u2019m primarily a Nature and Deity centered Pagan, but I also participate in Self centered and Community centered Paganism.<\/p>\n Not everyone who does these things is Pagan.\u00a0 There are atheists who revere Nature, Hindus who worship many Gods, Christians who practice magic, and Jews who love community.\u00a0 And there are people who I think are clearly inside the Big Tent of Paganism who simply don\u2019t like the term and prefer to call themselves something else.<\/p>\n This is Paganism<\/strong><\/p>\n There is no definition<\/em> of modern Pagan religion, but these four centers do a very good job of describing<\/em> what people who go to Pagan events, buy Pagan books, write and comment on Pagan blogs, and call themselves Pagans have in common.\u00a0 This is what Pagans think and do:\u00a0 revere Nature, worship the Gods, refine the Self, and support community.<\/p>\n What about you?\u00a0 Do any of these centers call to you?\u00a0 If you\u2019re curious, there\u2019s almost six years of material<\/a> here on Under the Ancient Oaks, and there\u2019s plenty more on the other blogs on the Patheos Pagan Channel<\/a>.\u00a0 Look around and see what seems to fit \u2013 and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n And if none of it seems to fit you, that\u2019s fine too.\u00a0 They call who They call.\u00a0 As long as you do the right things and as long as you treat other people and other creatures with dignity and respect, it doesn\u2019t matter which God or Goddess you do or don\u2019t worship.<\/p>\n Blessings to you on your journey through life.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Paganism is a movement, not an institution. You aren\u2019t in or out of a movement, you\u2019re more or less close to its center. The Pagan movement has four centers, four key concepts and practices around which modern Pagans gather. They are Nature, Deities, the Self, and Community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[106,103,304,42,64,4,5,8],"class_list":["post-2451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-theology","tag-community","tag-gods-and-goddesses","tag-john-halstead","tag-magic-2","tag-nature-2","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2014\/05\/Centers-of-Paganism.jpg\" "\\"Centers")
<\/a>If you aren\u2019t familiar with Paganism, or if you are but you aren\u2019t quite sure how to describe it, read on.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry \u2013 this isn\u2019t an exercise in proselytization.\u00a0 My job is to talk about Paganism, but in the end, the Gods call who They call.<\/p>\n