Thoughts on Modern Paganism
Joe Marra
I am writing to address several issues that I have seen in modern paganism. To give you my credentials I am a 1st degree Gardnerian, 2nd degree Druid, and 1st degree Shaman. I am currently serving in Afghanistan. I was raised Catholic but started studying other religions in the 3rd grade, starting with Greek, moving on to Roman, then to Egyptian, Celtic, and have touched on Eastern European, Native American, Norse, and the various Asian religions.
I started having night terrors by age 3 and by age 10 had learned lucid dreaming. By age 16 I was having genuine psychic experiences, including a case where a friend of mine agreed to let me “send” him a dream and write down what he dreamed in the morning. I wrote down what I was going to send before I went to bed and the next day we compared notes.
By 18 I had formed a group that was technically Christo-Pagan, we were all in a transition phase, that lasted until a particular member hijacked the group and led it down a very different path than I was comfortable with. I continued self-study until I found a teacher and earned my degrees.
I was scheduled to receive my 2nd degree but the vagaries of the military ended that chance and caused a separation between my coven and me. That brings me to the present time. Of course there are many more events in there that helped shape me but it would take far too long to go into detail now.
The first thing I would like to talk about it tools. I want to say this very clearly. Tools are a luxury, not a necessity. You can perform just as meaning a ritual with tools as without. I spent most of my pagan career without tools and now that I am in Afghanistan I am once again without tools. Except that I am not.
As tools are just a focus for the mind so to can your mind magically create tools for you to work with. Your Athema may only be visible to you, but that doesn’t make it any less real. Here is a trick that I use.
I ground and center then focus in my mind on the tool that I want (In my case I do my whole alter space and all appropriate equipment) in my mind. Once I clearly picture it I make it clear that it is my desire for those things to be real for the space and time of my ritual. Then I proceed to use them as if they were real. At the end of the ritual I release them and give thanks to the God’s for allowing me to use those tools.
The next thing I want to talk about is clothing. Clothes do not make the pagan. To be honest drawing attention to yourself with Gothic-style clothes, large pentacles and the like is at the very least a violation of the first law of magic: “To will, To Know, To Dare, and To Keep Silent”.
I practice my faith here in ACU’s and have not once had a complaint from the God or Goddess that I am in wearing black, or velvet, or anything else. While I do believe in appropriate circumstances Sky Clad is the most appropriate dress that cannot always be the case. If Sky Clad is not appropriate then your nicest clothes should do. In some cases there are clothes that are appropriate for certain seasonal festivals, white for Beltane, but this is more of a guideline.
The final thing I will talk about here is nature and man’s relation to it. Too often I see various pagans that never leave the city they were born in and even worse never go into the woods and experience anything. Get off the couch and get out.
Women, go out and explore the various herbs and plant life. Men, go out hunting and fishing and learn the habits of what you hunt. Both genders then need to take the bounty of each other’s exploring and celebrate it.
A feast is a great way to go about celebrating such an event. Other things to do are walks in nature and even the old childhood stand buy of lying in the grass, chewing on a stem and soaking up the sun. Explore the woods and who knows what you will find.
One time I found after working my way deep into a blackberry patch, that I had to walk backwards to get through safely, a hidden orchard that had been forgotten about by man, even though it had been planted there years ago. The fruit there was wonderful and sweet and completely free of poisons. I have sat for hours and watched the minnows playing the stream and got in myself and gone hunting for crawfish. No amount of book reading or study will teach you as much about magic as getting out into the world and experiencing it.
Camping is another wonderful activity, particularly if it is a nice enough night to forgo a tent and even better if you can build a bonfire. Don’t bring the drums and other things of home, experience what the woods brings you. You will be amazed what you will hear if you listen.
The last thing I will talk about is integrity. Integrity is the single most important thing a priest or priestess can have. You must be honest with yourself and your students. Not doing so is not only a disservice to your students but it can bring down punishment from the Gods. I have seen personal examples of what happened when people even entered a circle in less than perfect love and perfect trust. Not being honest with yourself means you will be less than honest with your students.
