Sunday, September 18, 2005
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Worshipping the creation
It is commonplace for Christian critiques of Paganism to admonish us to "worship the Creator, not the creation." (See for example Focus on the Family's Dare 2 Dig Deeper: Breaking the Spell, a pamphlet for youth describing the so-called dangers of Wicca). The implication is that Pagans worship "creation," or nature. But to say that Pagans worship "the creation" is to commit the fallacy of begging the question: if we call nature "the creation," that presumes a creator. And most Pagans, like atheists, won't grant that there is a creator who stands outside of nature and creates, like a potter at his wheel. To make the point another way: Goddess is not the Judeo-Christian God in a skirt.
That is why the problem of evil isn't a problem for Wiccans and other Pagans. We don't believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful God who should have stopped the Holocaust, or Hurricane Katrina. (The problem of evil asks how such a God can also be all-good, given that he allows bad things to happen to his people.) Since Pagans don't believe in a vengeful or retributive God, we don't say stupid things such as, God visited the hurricane on New Orleans to punish the people for their sins.
Pagans don't believe in sin, and we don't believe in that God. Rather, we "believe in" the creative and destructive forces of the universe. We honor, not "worship," the cycles of nature. We believe in living in accord with nature and learning her lessons. For example, it is foolish to warm the seas, build a city below sea level, destroy the protective barrier wetlands and let the levees crumble, permit poverty to flourish among the people of that city, and have no plan for evacuation. A hurricane is a force of nature, but its severity and its impact on human lives have everything to do with humans taking responsibility, or failing to take responsibility, for our roles within nature. For we, too, are a part of nature. Human intelligence and human goodness are ours to use or forsake. We are given many gifts. But we accept few of them with humility or gratitude.
Starhawk says that human beings are co-creators with the Goddess. That reminds me of an old Jewish aphorism: "Why did God give us wheat and not bread? So that we would participate in creation." We are part of the creativity of nature. We are part of the conscious universe. By praying, performing ritual, and moving energy, we acknowledge our human role. We live not only in the more familiar, material world, with its vast resources, but also in a liminal space where we can converse with the spirits of place, the animals, and the ancestors. Our humility is not that of subject towards king, but of participants in the web of life and death. We can ask for help and guidance, just as we can offer those things when we are asked. By watching, listening, feeling, and applying our intelligence, we can learn our place in the fabric of things. With arrogance, hierarchy, greed, and willing submission, we kill ourselves and our earth. With humor, generosity, respect, humility, and loving kindness, we honor the Goddess, however we conceive of Her, and we honor ourselves.
That is why the problem of evil isn't a problem for Wiccans and other Pagans. We don't believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful God who should have stopped the Holocaust, or Hurricane Katrina. (The problem of evil asks how such a God can also be all-good, given that he allows bad things to happen to his people.) Since Pagans don't believe in a vengeful or retributive God, we don't say stupid things such as, God visited the hurricane on New Orleans to punish the people for their sins.
Pagans don't believe in sin, and we don't believe in that God. Rather, we "believe in" the creative and destructive forces of the universe. We honor, not "worship," the cycles of nature. We believe in living in accord with nature and learning her lessons. For example, it is foolish to warm the seas, build a city below sea level, destroy the protective barrier wetlands and let the levees crumble, permit poverty to flourish among the people of that city, and have no plan for evacuation. A hurricane is a force of nature, but its severity and its impact on human lives have everything to do with humans taking responsibility, or failing to take responsibility, for our roles within nature. For we, too, are a part of nature. Human intelligence and human goodness are ours to use or forsake. We are given many gifts. But we accept few of them with humility or gratitude.
Starhawk says that human beings are co-creators with the Goddess. That reminds me of an old Jewish aphorism: "Why did God give us wheat and not bread? So that we would participate in creation." We are part of the creativity of nature. We are part of the conscious universe. By praying, performing ritual, and moving energy, we acknowledge our human role. We live not only in the more familiar, material world, with its vast resources, but also in a liminal space where we can converse with the spirits of place, the animals, and the ancestors. Our humility is not that of subject towards king, but of participants in the web of life and death. We can ask for help and guidance, just as we can offer those things when we are asked. By watching, listening, feeling, and applying our intelligence, we can learn our place in the fabric of things. With arrogance, hierarchy, greed, and willing submission, we kill ourselves and our earth. With humor, generosity, respect, humility, and loving kindness, we honor the Goddess, however we conceive of Her, and we honor ourselves.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Starhawk: "A Pagan Response to Katrina"
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Tuesday, September 13, 2005
The religion/spirituality meme
This meme appeared at TurtleHeart's, too. It was started at A Pagan Sojourn. Sojourner has links to those who have responded so far.
1. Why do you choose the religion you embrace?
It makes sense to me that the universal divine creative force is female, is Goddess. Wicca teaches me to love myself as a woman, as queer, as a sexual being, as an animal. ("You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles in the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." - Mary Oliver) Wicca, like yoga, permits an embodied spirituality; we meet spirit through, not in spite of, our bodies. Wicca reveals to me an enchanted world. It teaches me to look beyond and behind my rationality, which I have overvalued to the point of fetishism. Wicca makes sense to me psychologically; here I am influenced by the Faery Tradition of Victor and Cora Anderson, Starhawk, and Thorn Coyle. Wicca honors the Younger Self. It honors poetry and the mystery at the heart of existence. Nakedness of all kinds is holy.
2. How religious are you? How often do you practice your religion?
I study often. I practice ritual frequently but sporadically. I observe the wheel of the year, the solar and lunar holy days. I pray. I acknowledge the presence of the divine daily.
3.Why is this religion the right one for you?
It's a gut feeling more than anything. Wicca feels right. It makes me happy. Many Witches believe that we were Witches in past lives, too. I'll drink to that.
4. How does the practice of this religion improve your life or what benefit do you recieve from its practice?
I am more grounded. I have a strong sense of myself on a path, a journey, and I'm learning to trust the signposts. I have more compassion for myself and others. I am more likely to trust my intuition. I am more open to the movement of energy and the way that affects our dense bodies. Wicca permits me synchronicity. It helps me understand myself and others better.
5. Are you spiritual as well as religious? Or is one more prevalent then the other?
I don't distinguish between spirituality and religion.
1. Why do you choose the religion you embrace?
It makes sense to me that the universal divine creative force is female, is Goddess. Wicca teaches me to love myself as a woman, as queer, as a sexual being, as an animal. ("You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles in the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." - Mary Oliver) Wicca, like yoga, permits an embodied spirituality; we meet spirit through, not in spite of, our bodies. Wicca reveals to me an enchanted world. It teaches me to look beyond and behind my rationality, which I have overvalued to the point of fetishism. Wicca makes sense to me psychologically; here I am influenced by the Faery Tradition of Victor and Cora Anderson, Starhawk, and Thorn Coyle. Wicca honors the Younger Self. It honors poetry and the mystery at the heart of existence. Nakedness of all kinds is holy.
2. How religious are you? How often do you practice your religion?
I study often. I practice ritual frequently but sporadically. I observe the wheel of the year, the solar and lunar holy days. I pray. I acknowledge the presence of the divine daily.
3.Why is this religion the right one for you?
It's a gut feeling more than anything. Wicca feels right. It makes me happy. Many Witches believe that we were Witches in past lives, too. I'll drink to that.
4. How does the practice of this religion improve your life or what benefit do you recieve from its practice?
I am more grounded. I have a strong sense of myself on a path, a journey, and I'm learning to trust the signposts. I have more compassion for myself and others. I am more likely to trust my intuition. I am more open to the movement of energy and the way that affects our dense bodies. Wicca permits me synchronicity. It helps me understand myself and others better.
5. Are you spiritual as well as religious? Or is one more prevalent then the other?
I don't distinguish between spirituality and religion.
A book meme
TurtleHeart tagged me for this meme ages ago, and I'm finally getting around to it.
What is the total number of books you own?
I'm guessing between 1500 and 2000. I have no idea.
What was the last book you bought?
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
What was the last book you read?
The Blood of Others by Simone de Beauvoir (A novel that examines the extent of individual moral responsibility under times of widespread crisis - in this case, WWII in France)
What are five books that have been particularly meaningful to you?
1. Little, Big by John Crowley (Magical realism, a family saga, and faery religion)
2. The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk (A detailed and hopeful vision of the future; gorgeous and starkly inspirational)
3. The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (The founding text of modern feminism, and a visionary if ill-understood work of art)
4. I'm not Stiller by Max Frisch (Mid-century Central European fiction examining the instability of personal identity)
5. A Room of One's Own by Virgina Woolf (Began my passionate devotion to women's art and creativity.)
6. Feminist Theory From Margin to Center by bell hooks (Jolted me out of my white girl's perspective and gave me respect for the role of men in feminist movement)
What is the total number of books you own?
I'm guessing between 1500 and 2000. I have no idea.
What was the last book you bought?
The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
What was the last book you read?
The Blood of Others by Simone de Beauvoir (A novel that examines the extent of individual moral responsibility under times of widespread crisis - in this case, WWII in France)
What are five books that have been particularly meaningful to you?
1. Little, Big by John Crowley (Magical realism, a family saga, and faery religion)
2. The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk (A detailed and hopeful vision of the future; gorgeous and starkly inspirational)
3. The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (The founding text of modern feminism, and a visionary if ill-understood work of art)
4. I'm not Stiller by Max Frisch (Mid-century Central European fiction examining the instability of personal identity)
5. A Room of One's Own by Virgina Woolf (Began my passionate devotion to women's art and creativity.)
6. Feminist Theory From Margin to Center by bell hooks (Jolted me out of my white girl's perspective and gave me respect for the role of men in feminist movement)
Monday, September 05, 2005
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Katrina
I've been blogging incessantly about Hurricane Katrina at my other, more public, blog. I haven't the energy or heart to continue here. My thoughts and prayers are with the people of New Orleans.
I keep three blogs. My oldest blog is widely read, and I blog under different psuedonyms here and there. I started this blog specifically to talk about the more interior aspects of my spirituality, which is why I rarely talk about politics or my work here, and why my blogroll here is limited to Pagan blogs. My third blog is quite specialized; I'm using it to write my dissertation. If this blog is silent for a few days, it's usually because I'm busily writing somewhere else. I very much value the space I have here to write about my spiritual life, and I appreciate the small audience that has formed here. Blessings to you all.
I keep three blogs. My oldest blog is widely read, and I blog under different psuedonyms here and there. I started this blog specifically to talk about the more interior aspects of my spirituality, which is why I rarely talk about politics or my work here, and why my blogroll here is limited to Pagan blogs. My third blog is quite specialized; I'm using it to write my dissertation. If this blog is silent for a few days, it's usually because I'm busily writing somewhere else. I very much value the space I have here to write about my spiritual life, and I appreciate the small audience that has formed here. Blessings to you all.
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