Witchvox Article

Author: Mystic Man
Posted: March 16th. 2008
Times Viewed: 2,446

As someone who has always felt that the current popular religion, (i.e. Christianity), was somewhat lacking, I was more than ready for some reality that I can sense and feel is right, not just have someone tell me it is.

When I found the Pagan path, I finally felt like I had found a belief system that I could get into and actually put some faith in. ('faith' has always been very tough for me to have, since the things I had spent my youth hearing were true turned out to be, in most cases, not even close to it).

I started on my own, as so many of our fellow Pagans did. It was not a question of finding the 'right coven' or the 'right community'...there was no such thing in my tiny hometown of 400.

So, for many years, I did a little studying and learning on my own, as well as discussions with the few actual Pagans I stumbled across in my travels. It was only after I met and wed my mate that I started to dwell on the prospect of finding some group or coven or whatever they chose to call themselves.

I looked around the web, and found one main group and a few others in the area. I decided to check into the large group first, since they were the ones with the biggest ads and the flashiest website.

That should have been warning enough, but I guess since I was a newbie to this aspect of the religion, I missed it.

The group of which I speak was based at a local 'new age' store. The proprietor of the store was in fact one of the founding members, or so someone who claimed to be familiar with the group informed me.

I entered the store, and browsed along the shelves of things until the lady was free enough to answer a few questions. She finished her chat with another customer and I wandered over to speak to her.

"Hello, " she said to me with a smile, "What can I help you with?" I greeted her in return and said that I had read about their group and I wanted to ask about attending a meeting or something. The second I told her this, she lost her smile and became rather icy towards me. She answered my questions in monotones and single word replies. She was very taciturn, and bordered on rude. Needless to say, I was not happy and I was out the door very quickly after she ended our conversation.

Which brings me to my point. Why is it when someone asks questions about the Pagan faith, they are encouraged to find a local coven or something and visit? Based on the above incident as well as a few others I have been thru, I have to say the chances of these so-called 'organized' Pagans ever actually letting someone outside of their 'clique' into their space is slim to 'ain't no way'.

It's no wonder that most Christians and Jewish practitioners and the like don't take us seriously. It's no wonder that Pagans went thru and are going thru the animosity and downright hatred spewed their way from these mainstream religions. Those so called 'enlightened Pagans' were just as bad, if not more so, as their more mainstream counterparts.

In fact, I must say I have gotten along better with some of those Christians I work with than those who profess to be practicing Pagans and/or Wiccans.

It still amazes me that some Pagans can stand around and complain about the mainstream religions and their stalwart refusal to accept anything but what the money...err, I mean their religious figures tell them, and then turn around and act as badly as the people they are complaining about!

I must say I find myself very turned off by the whole concept of an organized Pagan and/or Wiccan religion. I find the old adage still at work every time I turn around, 'Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'.

I am seeing that these Pagans and the like who want to create a 'common space' are doing nothing more than what those Christian leaders of ages past did...create a sycophantic entourage that exist only to stroke the ego of those that founded the group. I am sorry, but this is not faith. It is not anything like the ideals I read about and see posted on our websites.

So, why should anyone give any Pagan the time of day when they can plainly see those Pagans are acting just like the rest of those religious folks who seem to need groups of followers to continually fuel their need for inflated self-worth?

I was asked not too long ago about my faith and how one can find out more about it. My response?

"Go out in the forest, or the shoreline of a body of water, or a nice patch of swamp. Sit. Look. Listen. Do nothing but sit and look and listen."

When they ask what this will accomplish, I reply, "Awareness is what it will accomplish. Awareness of what is around you and what is inside you. You will learn more by sitting out there in that swamp or forest and doing nothing but looking around at how life works and listening to it than you will ever learn sitting in a room listening to someone drone on about how they are doing things right and everyone else is doing it wrong"

I find that believing in your OWN ability to look and listen and learn is worth more than 100 posturing religious figures of any faith. And, having been thru what I have been thru, I have to say it is way more fulfilling and uplifting. Not to mention far less costly.

I think it is a waste of time to try and create a Pagan/Wiccan faith that is based on the same tired old clichés and system of organization that those mainstream faiths practice.

One of them is the concept of 'group worship'. I find it mostly used as a crutch for someone who is so insecure that he/she needs constant sycophantic input to feel any kind of positive feelings at all.

Of course, there is the other aspect of this organization, which is to perpetuate the thought that some are better/smarter/more knowledgeable than others and because of this self-proclamation of superiority these people are owed respect and homage.

Now, if this kind of group is working for some people, that is great. But, it is hubris to think it will work for most everyone, and even more so to think it works for everyone.

The bottom line is found in the Wiccan Rede, '...And it harm none, do what thou wilt."

There has been much talk about the meaning of this phrase. I feel it is saying this: that you don't have to be like other religions to believe in a religion.

You don't have to be railroaded into thinking you are less than a true believer just because you have no group affiliation. And mostly, that you can indeed 'do what thou wilt'...which includes believing that your faith is valid and as much a symbol of your walk with the gods and goddesses as all that window dressing and chanting that some are want to do.

I see all that as a group of folks who are too busy making sure they are seen and heard to understand that faith is for the individual, not the masses. In this case, the phrase is "The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many".

I can only hope those souls who are seeking something will trust their instincts and not the word of some busybody who is more interested in showing off than exploring their faith and how to apply it to their lives.

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Mystic Man

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