Your browser does not support script
TWV Presents...



Articles/Essays From Pagans

[Show all]


Views: 10,235,706


February 7th. 2010 ...

Why I'd Want Darkness In Me (Or, At Least, Not Mind It)

Understanding Magickal Royalty: Witch Queen / Witch King

Power of Polarity, Rose of Mystery

Don't Fear The Dark: A Discussion On Cursing

I'm Pagan. I Don't Pray.

Artemis and Hecate

Curses! And the Magical Mechanics Thereof...

Polarities of Power: Gender in Magickal Society

An Individual Approach to Tolerance


January 31st. 2010 ...

The Pagan Newbie

In Defense of Harry Potter and Star Wars

Out of the Broom Closet, Back in, and then Out Again...

Teen Covens: Do They Work?

Good Witch, Bad Witch, Evil Witch and Hogwarts' Sorting Hat

Instinct vs Research

The Child in the Forest

We Must Open Our Eyes


January 24th. 2010 ...

The Burning of Margaret Murray

‘An It Harm None’ and My Reality

Beyond the Ethics of the Wiccan Rede

Saucers and Symbols: The Pentacle and the Pentagram

Thoughts on Modern Paganism (Part 1)

Witchcraft Revealed

Touched By The Gods

The Primordial Goddess

A Revisionist Look at the Countess of Salisbury (Witch)

Dynamic Creation


January 17th. 2010 ...

Hip-Hop Rosaries and What Not To Wear

The Racist Mythology

Does Magick Work?

In Defense of the Devil: Museum Inspired Musings

Everyday, Worship

Feelings Do Not Replace Fact

Finding Your Feat

Religion and Me: An Inspirational Rant of Godly Proportions

Seeing is Believing... Or Is It?

The South African Pagan Rights Alliance


January 10th. 2010 ...

When Banishing Is Necessary

Gender-Bending and the Divine

Coven Governance: Which Style is Right for You?

A New Look At A Classic Movie: Bell Book And Candle

Taking on the Name of a Goddess

Gossip Craft: A Destructive Part of ANY Community

From the Tribal Mind to the Wiccan Mind

Some Thoughts on Leadership


January 3rd. 2010 ...

Lisa Simpson: The World’s Most Famous Wiccan

A Supplemental Reading List for the Well-Read Pagan

You’re Forgetting Something...

Modern Witchcraft: Make-up, Marshmallows and Moon-Shaped Glitter

The Goddess Within: Maiden, Mother and Crone

Reflecting on Witchcraft, Then and Now

The Athenia Project: A Proposal for the Promotion and Display of Creative Ritual


December 20th. 2009 ...

Wicca, Christianity and Blended Religions

Mundane in Pagan Clothing: Shifting Focus

The Yule Odyssey

The Primordial Image: Archetypes

The Origin of the Melek Ta'us Image: The Official Story (Part One)

Mantras: How and Why They Work


December 13th. 2009 ...

The Natural Witch

For the Goddess So Loved the World

Becoming a Buddhist Pagan

Dead Jesus: A Dream Interpretation

Helping Pets and Healing Hands


December 6th. 2009 ...

The Witch’s Blade – Some Athame Basics

An Easy Meditation Technique

A Witch In An RV

Finding Serendipity

Alternate Worlds

Family, Faith, and Isolation

Why Sacrifice Isn’t as Scary as It Sounds

A Call To Unity And Understanding Among All People Of Faith.


November 29th. 2009 ...

The Pagan Secret

A Synopsis of Evil

The Book of Shadows

Dress Rehersal

The Green Man: Myth and Inspiration

My Creation Myth

Robin Hood

The Storm of Life


November 22nd. 2009 ...

Caveat Mentor, or Watch That First Step!


NOTE: For a complete list of articles related to this chapter... Visit the Main Index FOR this section.












Article Specs

Article ID: 12007

VoxAcct: 308796

Section: words

Age Group: Adult

Days Up: 822

Times Read: 2,841

RSS Views: 36,616
John, Zach, David… Where Are All the Pagan Men?

Author: Silverwolf Sanctuary
Posted: November 11th. 2007
Times Viewed: 2,841

If you've ever been to a public circle dedicated to any Earth Based spirituality group, you may have noticed that the women practitioners vastly outnumber the men. Logging onto an Internet networking resource, strictly for Pagans, the female profiles overshadow the male nearly three to one.

However, in the United States, the population is roughly an even split, where men are actually slightly in the lead. Visit a church, temple or mosque dedicated to “conventional” religions, and you will in all probability find a ratio of genders that more closely resembles the population trend. Even should the proportion of participants favor women somewhat, it is vastly eclipsed by the fact that the ministers, deacons, adepts, sheikhs, and ritual leaders are all predominantly male.

So what draws so many women to the Pagan path?

Possibly, after several centuries of the woman's role being diminished by conventional theology, many women are enamored with the idea of Feminine Divine. Perhaps it is the concept of self-empowerment, something that women historically have had precious little experience with, that draws so many in.

Maybe it is the growing trend in the Pagan community for working against social injustice (one of the greatest being gender inequality) that brings so many female participants to the table.

Possibly it is for the reason that Paganism offers females the chance to become true Spiritual Leaders, in a world where women are seldom permitted to lead religious rites or offer significant theological guidance.

In all truth, perhaps it is a combination of all these factors and many more besides. Whatever the rationalization, it is clear, regardless of Path or Pantheon, women engaged in modern Pagan or Earth Based spirituality practices clearly and significantly outnumber the men.

The idea of personal empowerment for women and gender equality is relatively a new idea in the greater scheme of modern theological practice, where “modern” is loosely defined as over the last 500 years or so. Today’s women are suddenly becoming Pagan Ministers, Priestesses, and true Spiritual Leaders.

Paganism allows women not only to participate fully in religious rites, but also to lead these ceremonies themselves. These burgeoning opportunities grant a sense of spiritual purpose and sacred service, hereto inaccessible to women devotees.

It is a historic precedent that the position of women in theological context has been trivialized. Primarily, Christianity has demoted Goddesses worshiped devoutly for generations to sainthood.

A popular example, often noted by Pagan scholars, would be the uncanny resemblance between the Celtic Triple Goddess Brighit and the Christian Saint Brigit. Not only do the Goddess and the Saint share attributes of inspiration, cattle, healing and fertility, but both are represented by the same symbol – the Brighit or St. Brigit’s Cross; an interwoven, corn (grain) cross with equal arms.

Even the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, is not deified by the Catholic Church. Despite the lack of veneration, Christian women -- clearly illustrating that regardless of dogma, women identify with spiritual powers that are feminine in nature -- particularly revere Mary.

Contemporary Earth Based spirituality practices have brought a return of a pervasive reverence to the Female Divine – a nurturing Earth Mother, the mysterious and influential Lady Moon, not to mention innumerable named goddesses representing a myriad of Pantheons.

Is it any surprise that after centuries of repression and exclusion, women can identify intimately with the concept of a female divine? It appears the answer is clear in the overwhelming eagerness that women have pursued Pagan practice in recent decades

. Pagans everywhere give blissful praise to the Goddess, reveling in their newfound empowerment, and sharing their joy in feminine spirituality; Proud and Loud.

The question is where do we draw the line? Have Pagan women, in the name of empowerment, alienated men from what should be a spiritual movement based on balance and equality?

In that enthusiastic quest of exploring the Feminine Divine, has the Male Divine been thrust to the background and along with Him the male practitioners? Will soon the Horned God slip behind a mask of “sainthood?”

Will the Priest become a mere token at ritual, no longer an equal power and before long overshadowed by the brilliance of the Priestess?

It seems the scales may have tipped just as far in the opposite direction, encouraging a rapidly growing institution that's merely a negative polarity of the chauvinistic tendencies that led so many to this path in the first place.

What about the male portion of the congregation itself and their spiritual needs? It seems unlikely that men are uninterested in the fundamental theologies of Paganism, for the precepts of basic human spirituality are genderless.

Men have the same religious desires as women (even if they articulate them differently) and the ideals of Love, Nature, and Balance have no sexual bias. It leads to logical conclusion then, that it is not the principles of Pagan ideology that alienate men, but the practice. It must be the method of expression that makes men uncomfortable.

So how do we bridge the theological gap between the sexes and bring singularity back to Pagan spirituality? Easier said than done in a community that's comprised of countless distinct traditions and doctrines, varying not only within every Path, Church, Group and Coven, but often differing from individual to individual.

Awareness is a good place to begin. At the risk of cock-eyed optimism, it is unlikely that women, as a whole, are willfully striving to distance themselves spiritually from men and isolating them from Pagan practices. Therefore the estrangement is unintentional and constant mindfulness should be applied to spiritual practice to avoid gender alienation.

Combining education with encouragement to Pagan curious men can also go a long way to increasing male participation.

Yin and Yang, Goddess and God, Moon and Sun, Female and Male – to retain meaningful religious practice, balance must be forged. In the light of consummate symmetry, men will become drawn to Paganism with the same eagerness as women, for true spirituality is without gender.





ABOUT...

Silverwolf Sanctuary


Location: Laconia, New Hampshire

Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/silverwolf_sanctuary/

Author's Profile: To learn more about Silverwolf Sanctuary - Click HERE




Other Articles: Silverwolf Sanctuary has posted 4 additional articles- View them?

Other Listings: To view ALL of my listings: Click HERE




Email Silverwolf Sanctuary... (Yes! I have opted to receive invites to Pagan events, groups, and commercial sales)

To send a private message to Silverwolf Sanctuary ...



Pagan Essays
1996-2010





Wren's Nest
News 97-2010





Pagan Web
8,000 Links





Pagan Groups
Local Covens etc.





Pagan/Witch
70,000 Profiles














Home - TWV Logos - Email US - Privacy
News and Information

Chapters: Pagan/Heathen Basics - Pagan BOOKS - Traditions, Paths & Religions - Popular Pagan Holidays - TV & Movies - Cats of the Craft - Festival Reviews - Festival Tips - White Pages (Resources) - Issues/Concerns - West Memphis 3 - Witch Hunts - Pagan Protection Tips - Healing Planet Earth

Your Voices: Adult Essays - Young Pagan Essays - Pagan Perspectives (On Hold) - WitchWars: Fire in the Craft - Gay Pagan - Pagan Parenting - Military - Pagan Passages

Pagan Music: Pagan Musicians - Bardic Circle at WitchVox - Free Music from TWV

Vox Central: About TWV - Wren: Words, Wrants and Wramblings - Guest Rants - Past Surveys - A Quest for Unity

Weekly Updates: Click HERE for an index of our weekly updates for the past 6 years

W.O.T.W. - World-Wide Networking

Your Town: A Link to YOUR Area Page (The largest listing of Witches, Pagans, Heathens and Wiccans on the Planet)

VoxLinks: The Pagan Web: 8,000 Listings

Your Witchvox Account: Log in Now - Create New Account - Request New Password - Log in Problems

Personal Listings: Pagan Clergy in Your Town - Adult Pagans - Young Pagans - Military Pagans

Events: Circles, Gatherings, Workshops & Festivals

Covens/Groups/Orgs: Local Groups Main Page

Other LOCAL Resources: Local Shops - Regional Sites - Local Notices - Global/National Notices - Local Skills & Services - Local Egroups - Political Freedom Fighters

Pagan Shopping: Online Shops Index - Original Crafters Sites - Auction Sites - Pagan Wholesalers - Pagan Local Shops



Web Site Content (including: text - graphics - html - look & feel)
Copyright 1997-2010 The Witches' Voice Inc. All rights reserved
Note: Authors & Artists retain the copyright for their work(s) on this website.
Unauthorized reproduction without prior permission is a violation of copyright laws.

Website structure, evolution and php coding by Fritz Jung on a Macintosh G5.

Any and all personal political opinions expressed in the public listing sections (including, but not restricted to, personals, events, groups, shops, Wren’s Nest, etc.) are solely those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinion of The Witches’ Voice, Inc. TWV is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization.

Sponsorship: Visit the Witches' Voice Sponsor Page for info on how you
can help support this Community Resource. Donations ARE Tax Deductible.
The Witches' Voice carries a 501(c)(3) certificate and a Federal Tax ID.

Mail Us: The Witches' Voice Inc., P.O. Box 341018, Tampa, Florida 33694-1018 U.S.A.
Witches, Pagans
of The World




Search Articles
1996-2010










 Current Topic
 Editorial Guide


NOTE: The essay on this page contains the writings and opinions of the listed author(s) and is not necessarily shared or endorsed by the Witches' Voice inc.

The Witches' Voice does not verify or attest to the historical accuracy contained in the content of this essay.

All WitchVox essays contain a valid email address, feel free to send your comments, thoughts or concerns directly to the listed author(s).