Recently, in a PM discussion, I was asked "why Paganism?" It is not the first time I've been asked this question. Some people feel that Paganism is an "old" way of thinking about religion and spirituality (and I mean old as in, out-moded).
So why is there a minority of us- a very rapidly growing minority- that are returning to earth-based traditions? What is it in these religions that calls to us?
I'm curious what different Neo-Pagan traditions we have represented here, and why/how we ended up in them.
I consider myself a Christian Druid. That is, a Druid that follows Christ's teachings (as a gentile, obviously, not as a person trying to be Jewish). For the sake of this discussion, I will just focus on the Druidry, as I find Christ's teachings in the gospel to be easily integrated (granted, I don't integrate much of modern Christian doctrine, however).
So how did I end up a Neo-Pagan?
While Pagan traditions are ancient, modern variations are not "stuck in time." My own Druid order fosters a self-aware reinterpretation of the ancient myths, legends, deities, and practices with an eye toward life here and now.
I think I became neo-Pagan because I am fundamentally drawn to nature in my spirituality. I experience the Earth as a being in her own self. I have always, since a young child, experienced my greatest connection to God (whom I call the Divine One) in nature and not in churches. I always had a very strong intuitive sense, and sensed spiritual entities- spirits of place, of ancestors, of trees, of animals, of other humans. I mostly tried various Protestant denominations as a kid and young adult but none spoke to my spiritual experience in nature. They spoke to my spiritual experience with Christ, but were silent or (worse yet) negative about much of how I experience the world-- and these are things I cannot turn off within myself. I can no more stop sensing spirits and energy flows (at least not without the practice in energy shielding Druidry taught me) than anyone else can stop hearing a loud noise because they wish it.
As Christianity did not adequately address my own spiritual experience, and many even were very negative against fundamental aspects of my nature, compounded with the lack of respect for nature and the earth that many churches display... I searched elsewhere. I studied Eastern traditions in college as my minor, and I began meditation and utilized some of the concepts of Zen. I most deeply connected with Taoism. I read many ethnographies of indigenous people and their shamanic traditions, and these deeply resonated with my own life experience. But at my core, I felt drawn to the land of my ancestors. I felt inexplicably drawn to the UK and to find out what could be known of my own ancestors' traditions. In doing research for teaching a class on comparative traditional religions (ancient and modern), I found modern Druidry.
I found that Christianity addresses my journey with Christ. Druidry addresses my journey with the Earth (Gaia) and the Otherworld (the realms of spirits). Essentially, I became a Druid because it addressed the experiences, gifts/abilities, practices, and beliefs I already formed on my own.
Furthermore, in an age where we are unsustainable, where we exploit our fellow human beings and our earth, in an age of profound social injustice, unrest, and inequality... Paganism and the earth-based traditions present a radically different perspective- one of simple living, of sustainability and respect for all beings, of reconnection with a web of life rather than a distance from it, of embracing one's body and life as a good thing rather than living in guilt or fear, of working toward equality and peace.
Before I found Druidry, I was often profoundly unhappy in my body, in my life. I yearned to be free from society and from my body, that I felt was a prison, a limitation. The focus in many Christian churches I tried was a focus on the afterlife, and the present was disregarded as fallen, as a trial, as something to bear until we could get to heaven. None of this helped the deep depression I often felt (and had felt my whole life) at the limitations and pain and suffering in this life. When I finally acknowledged to myself that reincarnation made much more sense to me intuitively (there's a whole back-story on that I won't get into at present), it became even more difficult-- heaven was not just years away, it was (for me at least) an impermanent place.
Druidry reconnected me with the joy of being incarnate in a body. It is a profoundly sensual and joyful, in-the-now religion. I found I could embrace even suffering as the birth-pains of a better world to come, and I am one of many midwives in this process. Rather than distance myself from life and limitation, striving for and dreaming of heaven, Druidry tells me to live fully in the now. I found peace in life, joy! Living itself became art. And I can fully embrace anything that comes after I die- reincarnation, time in the Summerlands, heaven (if there is such an eternal state of being), and so forth. I found that I could have peace and joy in whatever the Divine One brings me, because I need only foster communion with all beings to feel the deep meaning of it all.
So far as I can tell from my own practice and reading about others', Pagan traditions are communal, deeply personal, and non-authoritarian. I write my own rituals for God, I have responsibility for my own study of religion. I am empowered but also held responsible for my own spirituality. "Church" is a community of mutually and equally responsible people, rather than a group under an authority figure. This structure better fits my own experience and path.
So... very long story longer... this is why I am a Neo-Pagan and how I came to be there.
I'd love to hear how others address this question of "outmoded religion" and how/why you came to be Neo-Pagan.
Blessings,
Path
