{"id":296,"date":"2011-02-24T19:02:00","date_gmt":"2011-02-24T19:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/pagan-unity\/"},"modified":"2011-02-24T19:02:00","modified_gmt":"2011-02-24T19:02:00","slug":"pagan-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/02\/pagan-unity.html","title":{"rendered":"Pagan Unity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

If you aren\u2019t listening to the Standing Stone and Garden Gate podcast<\/a>, you should be. It\u2019s done by Brendan Myers<\/a> \u2013 a Druid and philosopher, and his partner Juniper<\/a> \u2013 a hedgewitch. It is the most intellectually-oriented Pagan podcast I\u2019ve come across. Brendan and Juniper approach Paganism very differently, and the interplay between them is excellent. <\/p>\n

The most recent Episode 28 is titled \u201cReasonable Doubt.\u201d<\/a> I\u2019ll have more to say about doubt in a future blog post, but today I want to talk about their opening conversation on Pagan unity.<\/p>\n

Brendan begins by discussing his admiration of the way Islam builds unity through three simple but highly meaningful practices. <\/p>\n

The first is the Shahadah<\/a>, the method by which a convert becomes a Muslim. It consists of reciting a statement of faith in the presence of a Muslim, and can be translated as \u201cthere is no god but God, and Muhammad is his prophet.\u201d It is a simple, straightforward, unambiguous way to declare your decision to become a Muslim. Brendan contrasts that with what it takes to become recognized as a Wiccan: study, trials, collecting tools, and initiation<\/a>. He wonders if Pagans could have a simple, unified way for dedicants to declare themselves Pagan, and offers The Charge of the Goddess<\/a> as a suggestion.<\/p>\n

The second is the Islamic practice of daily prayer facing Mecca. Here Juniper suggests that most (though not all) Pagans are already doing this \u2013 praying to (or at least praying while facing) the Sun and the Moon. <\/p>\n

The third is the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that every Muslim is asked to make once in his life. Brendan offers several options for Pagans, including Stonehenge. Here the discussion between Brendan and Juniper gets strong, with Juniper insisting that what\u2019s sacred is Earth below and the Sky above, and Brendan insisting that\u2019s too vague to be of use.<\/p>\n

As Brendan and Juniper agree, Pagans tend to be very individualistic \u2013 when people talk about \u201cunity\u201d we fear that someone is going to dictate what to believe and how to practice. When someone suggests using the Charge of the Goddess as a Pagan statement of faith, inevitably a hard polytheist insists that he can\u2019t do that since it implies that the Divine is One and his gods and goddesses are all distinct, individual beings. A Kemetic sees no value in a pilgrimage to Avebury<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Ritual unity such as practiced in Islam has value, but it isn\u2019t a cure-all \u2013 it hasn\u2019t stopped the Sunni and the Shia from trying to kill each other. The Nicene Creed hasn\u2019t stopped Christians from splitting into Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant, and sola fide<\/i><\/a> hasn\u2019t stopped Protestants from splitting into as many variations as Pagans. <\/p>\n

Contemporary Paganism is an organic religion \u2013 it is growing from the ground up, not from the top down. Paganism is a living thing, and as with any living thing it is subject to the process of evolution. Paganism is mutating constantly. Most of these mutations are harmful \u2013 from witch wars and coven splits to solitary practitioners whose insistence on doing their own thing keeps them from becoming part of something larger than themselves. But some are helpful \u2013 those mutations will grow and thrive and reproduce.<\/p>\n

Over many years (and most likely, many lifetimes), I expect Paganism to coalesce into three distinct forms: a hard polytheism (which will be practiced in many ethnic flavors), a soft polytheism (\u201call gods and goddesses are aspects of one God\/dess\u201d), and a Pagan naturalism (which reveres the Earth but rejects gods and magic). Some small traditions will survive independently, and there will be ongoing mutations (some of which may go in directions none of us are thinking about right now), but in general I think that\u2019s how the religious scholars of a couple hundred years in the future will see us. <\/p>\n

The real question is whether or not we build the religious institutions necessary for Paganism to continue over many generations and not die out when the current leadership is no longer with us.<\/p>\n

As much as I\u2019d like to see a Universal Pagan Profession of Faith or a Worldwide Pagan Covenant, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to happen. But I do see areas where Pagans of all flavors come together. We come together to work on issues and causes (particularly religious freedom and environmental concerns) and we come together for festivals and conferences. <\/p>\n

Pagan unity will always be about what we do, not about what we believe. Our unity centers on our mundane actions, not our spiritual practices. <\/p>\n

And if that\u2019s true, then what we need most is a robust communications network \u2013 a way to keep up with who\u2019s doing what and how we can all participate. Modern technology makes this very easy, and projects such as Jason Pitlz-Waters\u2019 Pagan Newswire Collective<\/a> need our support.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how I see it, anyway. Go listen to Standing Stone and Garden Gate and see what big ideas come to you.<\/p>\n

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If you aren\u2019t listening to the Standing Stone and Garden Gate podcast, you should be. It\u2019s done by Brendan Myers \u2013 a Druid and philosopher, and his partner Juniper \u2013 a hedgewitch. It is the most intellectually-oriented Pagan podcast I\u2019ve come across. Brendan and Juniper approach Paganism very differently, and the interplay between them is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPagan Unity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you aren\u2019t listening to the Standing Stone and Garden Gate podcast, you should be. 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