{"id":99,"date":"2012-06-25T19:10:00","date_gmt":"2012-06-25T19:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/06\/researchers\/"},"modified":"2012-06-25T19:10:00","modified_gmt":"2012-06-25T19:10:00","slug":"researchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/06\/researchers.html","title":{"rendered":"Researchers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Egyptian Summer Solstice \u2013 opening the temple<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

If you hold open circles and advertise them publicly, sooner or later a researcher will show up at your door. Some e-mail ahead of time and ask permission while others just show up. They\u2019re not hard to spot: most dress more conservatively than your average circle-goer, and while they try to be inconspicuous, they inevitably have a look of \u201cI hope I didn\u2019t make a mistake coming here\u201d on their faces. Carrying a notebook and pen is a dead giveaway. <\/p>\n

Some are taking classes in anthropology, some in sociology and some in comparative religion. Occasionally we\u2019ll see someone from a conservative or mainline seminary. They all have pretty much the same assignment: visit a religious service or ceremony in a tradition you\u2019re not familiar with and write about what you learn.<\/p>\n

Some Pagans don\u2019t like the idea of observers in a circle. They feel like everyone should either be fully participating or not there at all. I think that\u2019s a fair expectation for a closed circle, but an open circle will have different kinds of people at different levels of understanding and different levels of interest \u2013 and different levels of presence. <\/p>\n

Others worry about what will be done with the research and how they\u2019ll be portrayed in the reports. The ultimate bad example is Persuasions of the Witch\u2019s Craft<\/i><\/a>, the 1989 doctoral dissertation of anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann. Dr. Luhrmann embedded herself with an English coven, studied for initiation, took oaths and made her covenmates think she was becoming one of them\u2026 and then dismissed it all in her book.<\/p>\n

Luhrmann is an extreme case. Most of the researchers who\u2019ve visited Denton CUUPS have come for a one-time visit. The one or two who were doing more extensive research were very upfront about what they were doing. All were respectful. These researchers present an opportunity for some good public relations \u2013 they give us a chance to show someone whose only knowledge of Paganism is either pop culture or conservative diatribes exactly what it is we do and don\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

The last people into the building before Saturday\u2019s Egyptian Summer Solstice circle were a young couple who had \u201cresearcher\u201d stamped on their foreheads. I greeted them at the door and showed them into the religious education wing where we were gathering. It was time to start, so I shifted from greeter-mode to priest-mode and didn\u2019t pay any attention to them (or anyone else). After the circle was over, I asked them what they thought, as I try to do with all our first-time guests.<\/p>\n

At this point, the man (sir, if you\u2019re reading this, I apologize. You told me your name, I didn\u2019t write it down, and, well\u2026) said he was a doctoral student at Texas Woman\u2019s University and he was here to visit a different religious service. <\/p>\n

You can\u2019t get much more different from his Methodism than an Egyptian temple ritual presented by a group of UU Pagans!<\/p>\n

The conversation that followed was wonderful. These were people who wanted to learn and who stepped well outside their comfort zone to do it. We talked about Unitarian Universalism, its origins in 19th century Christianity, and how what we do in our Sunday services would look a lot more familiar to them than the Pagan ritual on Saturday night. They asked about our ministries<\/a> and I told them about our work with OUTreach Denton<\/a>, our work with various social justice ministries in Denton, and CUUPS\u2019 commitment to cleaning our little corner of the Earth<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Amun Ra, Isis and Thoth<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

They didn\u2019t know much about Paganism. I gave them my usual three-fold definition: a view of the Divine as both female and male, a connection to Nature and its rhythms and cycles, and a resonance with our ancestors and their beliefs and practices. It took a couple of tries before they understood that at least for me and the two lead priestesses of this ritual, this wasn\u2019t a historical reenactment and it wasn\u2019t a metaphorical or psychological exercise \u2013 we really were worshipping Amun Ra, Isis and Thoth. My polytheism has gotten harder<\/a> over the years \u2013 I need to remember that the concept of goddesses and gods as real, distinct beings is not intuitive for people who\u2019ve spent their whole lives in a monotheistic religion and culture. I gave them my card and invited them to call or e-mail if any questions arise at a later time.<\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t the best circle for first-timers to visit. Our Egyptian circles have a different flavor than our other circles: they\u2019re more formal, more verbal, and unfortunately, not very participative. I\u2019d rather someone\u2019s introduction to Paganism be the frolicking of Beltane, the feasting of Lughnasadh, or even the deep introspection of Samhain. But they\u2019ve become very meaningful for us (this was our ninth straight year for an Egyptian Summer Solstice<\/a>) and no one can accuse them of being fluffy!<\/p>\n

I hope that in addition to helping someone complete a class assignment we also gave them an appreciation for UUs and Pagans and our commitment to building a better world. I hope the next time someone like Pat Robertson makes a bigoted remark about Paganism, they\u2019ll remember us and understand just how wrong he is. And I hope that at some level, they have a better understanding of the gods and goddesses of Egypt and how those deities can be meaningful and helpful to 21st century Americans.<\/p>\n

The researchers were fine guests \u2013 I hope they enjoyed themselves and I hope they\u2019ll visit again some day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll sit here and talk about this stuff all night if you let me\u201d<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Egyptian Summer Solstice \u2013 opening the temple If you hold open circles and advertise them publicly, sooner or later a researcher will show up at your door. Some e-mail ahead of time and ask permission while others just show up. 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