More Than One Paganism

I had initially intended to have this article finished last week, in coordination with the wonderful “Future of Paganism” series, however as so often happens, life intervened. Still, I’m posting it now –better late than never!—because I think that this is something that needs to be said clearly and without compromise for I’ve worked in too many venues wherein the well-meaning people (most all committed to ecumenicalism or interfaith work) struggled mightily with this truism: “Paganism” is a multi-faceted umbrella term encompassing many different and varied faith traditions. In short: there is no “one” Paganism. Paganism is not a religion so much as a family of religions, plural. For those on the outside, that can be very difficult to understand yet it is, however, a very important point.

I have for years worked in the interfaith community, trying to build bridges of understanding between monotheistic traditions and various polytheologies. It’s not been easy. I have noticed that there is tremendous resistance in the interfaith community to embracing the scope of religious traditions within Paganism. Numerous times I have lectured on Heathenry only to be greeted afterwards with the question “so how long have you been Wiccan?” It is as though there is an unstated assumption that just because we all have many Gods, we’re all practicing the same religion when nothing could be further from the truth. There are different Pagan religions and within those religions there are differing denominations. I understand that for those coming from monotheism, it can be enough to make one’s head spin!

We have Reconstructionist Paganisms that are hard polytheist and draw heavily on specific cultural practices and historical writings for context and praxis. This would include Heathenry, Hellenismos, Nova Roma, Kemetic religion, Romuva, Celtic Reconstructionism, Caananite Reconstructionism and more. Each is its own religion with its own ideologies, theologies, and inter-denominational differences. We have many different denominations of Wicca, which tends to be more pantheistic and often but not always Goddess oriented and the same holds true here: this is a different religion from Asatru or Heathenry, or Romuva, etc. with just as many different denominations. And this is just brushing the surface. There are many, many more religions under this broad umbrella than just these two particular families. Each Pagan religion has a different theology, ideology, ritual praxis, and history. They cannot be lumped together, not accurately anyway, and to do so is an act of disrespect and ultimately of ignorance however well-meaning it may be.

I think that there’s a tendency in interfaith groups to try to fit the broad spectrum of polytheologies into a neat category, to make it as close to what is known and safe, i.e. monotheism as possible. I’ve even seen this tendency in Pagan and Heathen groups to some degree, particularly when it comes to the sheer number of Gods. There occasionally  seems to be a discomfort with the sheer multiplicity inherent in polytheism. It’s as though it’s simply not decent to have more than a handful of Gods! This, I would chalk up to a monotheistic and post-colonial upbringing, by the way, the unspoken prejudice that having dozens of Gods, and spirits…that’s what those primitive people over “there” do.  I think that as contemporary Polytheisms progress and evolve, this will, hopefully, fall by the way-side. When this happens outside of our own religions, it’s a bit more troubling.

There is a strong push in interfaith work to find common ground and to honor all paths to the Divine. That push to find common ground often leads to important differences being minimized. I chalk this up to an underlying fear of conflict, a fear that if there isn’t blanket agreement, this means there is intolerance. There isn’t yet the comfort with polytheism, or the understanding that not only are all faiths nuanced and complex, but that those complexities can be honored even, perhaps most especially where there are differences. Difference  need not preclude partnership.

To give a very, very common example: for a polytheist, using vague words like “Spirit” or “Mother-Father God” not only does not encompass our beliefs, but sometimes edges perilously close to disrespect for the Holy Powers. (Upon hearing these terms, I have a tendency to ask “which one?” which does not endear me to my colleagues!). This is not the polytheist being purposefully contrary; it is a matter of living one’s beliefs and being respectful to one’s Holy Powers. It’s not enough to include a vague feminization of “God.” All Deities may be worthy of respect, but They are not all the *same*, or interchangeable. To the pantheist, this may not be an issue and indeed I have seen pantheism embraced far more readily in interfaith circles than polytheism. The ongoing attempt in interfaith circles to make everything the same is immensely troubling and seems to be to belie the true aim of interfaith ecumenicalism. Granted, there actually may not be a solution that is comfortable for all sides, but true respect demands that the attempt to find one be made, that continuing dialogue ensue, that people work to educate themselves and also that we own our own prejudices. All too often in situations such as this, the polytheist’s concerns are dismissed, or met with a subtle arrogance, a holier-than-thou attitude of being more enlightened (since obviously polytheistic insistence on singular multiplicities is somehow primitive…see three paragraphs above).

While you will never find me arguing for anything approaching what my colleague L. Patsouris has so accurately referred to as a taxonomy of the spirit, I do think it is important to recognize the many rich and complex variations of Paganism that have developed over the last forty years. We would never think of dismissing Baptists, Lutherans, Amish, Catholics, and Pentecostals as one single religion. We have learned, as a culture to respect the often dramatic differences of theology and approach inherent in these religions, though they all fall under the broader umbrella of “Christianity.” They are individual facets of one tradition sharing at best a common core cosmology. That is more than can be said of Wicca and Heathenry. These religions share nothing at all, save that they both fall into the category of “Paganism.”

The religious world is changing. It’s growing and expanding in ways that we couldn’t have dreamed of even twenty years ago. Those changes may be uncomfortable. Some of them may be troubling. Ultimately though, they need to be met head on, addressed, and explored. Unintentionally marginalizing a growing body of faith traditions brings merit to no one. Even when we do it to ourselves.