The weekend Pagan Conference at Claremont Graduate University on “Building Community” was packed with many presenters exploring a myriad of ideas. There is no way to do justice to the whole experience in one article, so here are some highlights that may be helpful to the Pagan community.
The conference started with two presenters discussing music. Julia Wason Cook, a doctoral student of music who studied Asatru music in Germany and Alfred Surenyan, DMA, ethnomusicologist and High Priest and founder of the Temple of Aradia both basically argued for what she called “the power of music to create and strengthen community.” The Heathen and Pagan communities have more and more started to create their own music, creating a sense of a unique community. Chants, in particular, he said are good ways to promote “magical unity and a sense of community.”
Joseph Futerman, MFT, Ph.D., a practicing psychotherapist and practitioner of ceremonial and chaos magick, said the role of Priest/Priestess is more in line with the Priestly Caste, not the magick user. The Wizard’s job is to be “a walker between the worlds,” a shaman who has “powers to control perception,” stands up for revealed truth and “speaks truth to power.” This is not a pagan community leader, but someone who has access to secret and sacred knowledge and can advise leaders. We need to look at who is in charge of our communities, he said, and see to it that there is a separation between the two roles.
One of the most important presentations came from Kimberly Hedrick, Ph.D., a cultural anthropologist, Druid, and a founder of the TriWinds Institute. She conducted a 41-question survey about Pagans and health care that you may have seen around the net, since 1,598 responses were received in just two months. Through that research Pagans can hope to be better served by the medical community. You can read more here about an interview Kimberly did recently.
Kimberly also said, “Stories we tell ourselves put constraints on our power to effect change.” As a community, we Pagans tell ourselves we are too small and lack resources. The truth is there are over one million Pagans in the U.S. now and that population is rapidly growing and evenly distributed across the country. And Pagans are not just trying out their spirituality, since they reported being on the path for an average of 17 years. Another way to look at it is to compare ourselves to other groups. We are on par with 7th Day Adventists, Buddhists, and Muslims while “rapidly we are catching up to Jews and Episcopalians,” she said. These groups have institutions and schools.
Another popular myth is that we’re all starving artists, but the numbers show that 33.6% have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher. Half of us are middle class, with 15.4 % with annual incomes of $50,000 to $70,000 and 18.7 % over $75,000. “We are not as financially undersourced as we claim,” Kimberly emphasized.
Joseph Futurman asked us all, after Kimberly’s presentation, “What rituals do we need to be practicing that tells the story of inclusion or helps us tell another story?”
Pagan literature was also discussed. Kat Robb, author of Pagan children’s literature and a priestess in the Fellowship of Isis, said that we need to write down our stories, the Pagan stories with your Pagan values. This kind of children’s literature will keep Paganism alive. She found that few Pagan children’s stories were easily accessible on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble.
Carol Cunningham, MLIS, independent scholar, and Druid said that Pagan literature is often hidden in public libraries or never shelved. Under the Dewey Decimal system, she said, Pagan books should be shelved in the 133 section. This section houses astrology, paranormal, dreams, etc. The religious call numbers, the 200’s, are broken down this way: 200 to 280 strictly Christian, 290’s for Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, and 299 for all other religions and spiritual paths. She also said that so few books on Paganism in the libraries incorrectly suggests that Paganism is not a religion. The use of Web 2.0 in cataloguing brings in the public when categorizing books and so Pagans can have a say. It is also important for us to donate Pagan books to our public libraries.
The last point of great significance is inclusion. Joseph Merlin Nichter, a Pagan prison chaplain, Wiccan Priest, and founder of the Mill Creek Tradition and Seminary found that men in prison “acknowledged that they are in prison because they were trying to become men.” Because our society lacks rites of passage for boys trying to become men, many spend their lives looking for the validation such rites would provide and often create their own rites of passage. Sometimes these are things like a first crime and/or first prison sentence. In Joseph’s experience he has noticed a sharp increase conversion to Paganism in prison. Three years ago he had twelve Pagans prisoners in his care and now has 120.
Often when released, he said, these men seek to connect with other Pagans on the outside, but unfortunately have trouble being accepted by Pagan groups. Joseph tries to contact many Pagan groups for these prisoners before they leave, but most don’t respond or refuse to take the newly released men. He also noted that half way houses are often faith-based – usually Christian – and won’t accept Pagans.
Another way Pagans can become more inclusive as a community is by welcoming people with mental difficulties. Ragnarulf was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, and felt left out growing up. When he found his Heathen path the people accepted him, they liked that he thought differently. He found being accepted and being treated normally was very healing. Now he stands up for people with all mental differences and calls upon us all to put these people in places in the community that nurtures and makes good use of their differences.
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