In the last 30 years, paganism and related paths have made leaps and bounds in the number of resources and practitioners. But, we still have a ways to go.
Challenges
1. There is still religious discrimination going on everyday. In the last two years, Firefly has been turned down for a hotel when scheduling a conference, we have been turned town for liability insurance, and I have been turned down to rent a public park for a Pagan Pride Day event.. Most of them don’t tell you that in so many words, and unless it’s in the title, I do not disclose it, but it still happens. The insurance agent straight up said to me in an email that they don’t cover witchcraft. He googled The Firefly Academy.
Recently, there have been multiple stories of pentagrams next to nativity scenes around the holidays, and towns either denying the pagan symbol from being placed or disallowing any religion to place symbols on those public grounds.
And, there was this fight over the Veterans’ Pentacle in that the US Veterans Administration did not want to recognize Wicca as a formal religion and allow fallen soldiers to have the symbol placed on their tombstones.
In many places, it’s not safe to wear a pentagram. Some people seriously fear for their lives because if their family or neighbors found out that they were pagan, there may be serious or deadly consequences. I just got told that I was going to hell on more than one occasion. I didn’t have to worry about my life, but it is a serious risk. There was recently a story that came across the web about a woman being burned alive in another country because people thought she was a witch.
2. There are still anti-witchcraft and anti-divination laws on the books in some places. In the past few years, Livingston Parish in Louisiana had a witchcraft law passes and repealed. In Montgomery County, MD, divination is still illegal. In the UK, they passed a law that made it much easier for consumers to claim that folks offering spiritual and magickal services and divination could be charged with fraud if the consumer felt that they didn’t get what they paid for.
3. Despite all of the internet resources, it is still hard to find a local group or a coven. There are a lot more groups out there than there were 50 years ago, and there are a lot more ways to get in touch with groups, such as metaphysical shops and the internet. But, many groups keep to themselves. Ongoing promotion is difficult and can wear people out. And, when you find a group that mirror your path, you and the group might not have chemistry or mesh well. Let’s put it this way…you know for damn sure that there is a Christian church in whatever town you move into. But, you may not find any pagans in the town, let alone a group. Many people resort to starting their own groups, which is super in most cases, or practicing solitary.
4. Our books and our groups are not as mature as the majority of churches. We write more about how to practice paganism or what paganism is than we do about how to live a pagan life everyday. Or, about how paganism addresses life when times get tough. How d paganism addresses life we be pagan when the country is at war? How paganism addresses life when we’ve lost our jobs and the country is in recession? How paganism addresses life when we are coping with the loss of loved ones? How do we as pagan leaders start churches and counsel our members? Though we are on our way, our resources do not yet address many of the issues that other faiths are able to address.
5. There are very few physical pagan spaces. Sure, we have metaphysical shops here and there and Mother Earth and everything in nature can be considered a pagan space. I tend to consider anything that I relate to paganism a pagan space….such as the National Masonic Temple, the walking labyrinths you might find around, the Museum of the American Indian, and the Cherry Blossoms that were given to us by Japan.
But, most of our churches….most of our physical buildings and places of worship are our homes. These homes come with a price that everyone pays. Our leaders constantly split their homes between the private and the public space. And, our members will feel as even though they are welcome, there is a line where the group space becomes private space. When the class is over, when they don’t know where the dishes go, or that the space is usually only open when there is a scheduled activity. Collective pagan space allows us to have a sanctuary or sacred space, a place to put our stuff when we are not using it, and a place where everyone feels as if they have a stake of ownership.
I only know of a handful of current pagan spaces that don’t include nature or metaphysical shops. I am not counting the place that we’re pretty sure is becoming a cult or the other place where the priestess woke up one day and decided the whole church was converting to Christianity.
That said, Paganism has had many triumphs that benefit us all everyday.
1. Books. Over the last 30 years, there have been so many books about paganism and related topics written, printed, and bought. Every Borders and Barnes and Nobles has some sort of paganism section.
2. The internet. From witchvox.com and Wikipedia.org to yahoo groups and the general ability of anyone to make a website…Paganism has made leaps and bounds as a result. Because of the internet, TFA exists, and because of the internet, our administration board lies in the UK, PH, FL, and DC.
3. The resources for solitary learning is much more available. Thought some people will disagree with me, it’s no longer necessary to seek out one of the traditional covens and petition to be a student of the Craft. You can sit at home and find out so much through books, websites, and podcasts about many pagan paths.
4. Social Networking is a superstar triumph of paganism.
I am Facebook friends with many of the people listening to this podcast right now. And, on top of that, I am Facebook friends with Christopher Penczak, Starhawk, Raven Grimassi, Selena Fox, and other notable pagans. Any of us could drop them a Facebook message at any time. I am friends with local pagan leaders in the DC area, and that helps us find a mode of familiarity necessary in communicating. I am Facebook friends with my coven members and the people in my meetup group. I am Facebook friends with many of my students. I am Facebook friends with total strangers that understand when I post a picture of the full moon that I was having a religious experience.
Sites like Facebook, Myspace, Paganspace, Covenspace, Twitter, and Friendster help us connect with each other and communicate on an instantaneous level.
Not only do we have instant access to other pagans, but we have instant access to leaders, teachers, and clergy persons. If you need a prayer, just tweet. If you need a candle lit, just update your status. If you need a friend, just look to your profile.
5. Pagan paths are getting talked about. This year, there have been so many shows involving witches. From religious discrimination in the news to television shows, the chatter is happening. Eastwick is a primetime show on ABC about witches. The Simpsons episode this past Sunday was about Lisa joining a coven. The Mentalist recently did a show involving a Wiccan girl. Hallmark did a made-for-TV movie about a witch who moves into town and how the town treated her. House, the lead character on the show with the same name, is Wiccan. And, there are rumors that the gothic forensic scientist on NCIS, Abbey, is Wiccan.
That is all for this episode.
I know that there are many more challenges and triumphs than I talked about, but these are just the ones that came to mind. I would love to hear some of your experiences or opinions. Visit fireflychronicles.org and comment on this episode.
Blessed be.