Different languages allow
us to see the world through different lenses. The perspective through which
English and say Gaeilge, or Cantonese or Spanish, etc, present the whole of
existence to us are not the same. They present human experiences tented,
flavored, with colors and/or seasonings that are not the same. I know, I know,
I’m being redundant. The point though is that the core sets of symbols through
which we interact with the world directly influence how the world is viewed.
Language is one such core set of symbols, religion is another.
The Craft of the Wica is a
purposeful construction of such symbols to pass through to present a specific
mystery for the initiate to participate in via our rites. Though not all of
the Wica also identify as members of the Contemporary Pagan community, many do. I
used to think of this as an interesting conundrum in the context of the major early
influence that one has had upon the later development of the other. I, however,
get it, especially having seen it. Not every initiate’s expression of the Craft
intersects between the two.
On the metaphorical vinn
diagram though, I sit in that spot where both circles overlap. As such, I have
been thinking about the core symbol set that the religious worldview that the
Contemporary Pagan community presents, and I worry about it.
I worry about it because every
elder from my childhood left to go seeking somewhere else, and even now into
adulthood so many of the Priesthood that I have known and whom influenced me
have also gone. Many of them because their own spiritual needs lead them
after the white stag through the forest to other lands. However, for many it
was from exasperation with the community faults that our community exhibits.
One of the central appeals
to Contemporary Paganism, and New Religious Movements in general, is the intense
focus upon the spiritual development of the individual. For many, it is what
brought them seeking at our door in the first place. At the same time, this
makes for a community that is not cohesive and often times selfish in that we
consume and want the things in which community brings but we do not commit to
communally supporting the growth and development of the same. It is a common
topic of those whom have been in or around leadership to speak of “burning out,”
and to warn others to be careful before they too burn out.
I don’t have a readily
available answer either for how to fix this in mass. For us to move from where
we are now to have long standing institutions, such as functioning temples and
seminaries (assuming such is for our future and not another expression of our
religious paradigm), then it will take each of us to make purposeful effort to
do more than just consume, we must contribute. We must contribute our time and
our money, and we must learn to do so when it is not us that reaps the
immediate and individualistic benefit.
I hope that we are up to
it. I believe that we are but sometimes I worry.
Boidh Se,
-SM
“Lost in a thicket,
bare-foot upon a thorn path.”
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