120 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
120 lines
6.5 KiB
Plaintext
It is important that we not lose track of our past while we adapt
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to the present. There is an inclination to put aside that which
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is simple and/or archaic, and then forget about it; much of value
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can be lost thereby. Certainly we should strive for relevancy,
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but we shouldn't overcompensate and become imbalanced in the
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other direction. While *we* may not be farmers or hunters, there
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still are such people; not all old technology is obsolete.
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For example, I am not a techie, I am a musician, a poet, a writer
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of fantasy fiction, all impractical things to be in this fast-
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paced society of yuppies and other competetive types. Therefore
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an entirely modern, tech/science/et al - oriented Neopagan system
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would be as irrelevant to me as an agricultural system is to most
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of us. What I do is a craft of past centuries, I am an artisan,
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not a scientist or businesswoman. There are still a few of us
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left!
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In fact, all the members but one of my coven, Firestar, and its
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affiliated study group are living alternate lifestyles -- besides
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me we have a journalist, a graphic artist, and a professional
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student (living off a large inheritance and getting a degree in
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Magic as Religion from Cal). And as for our High Priestess and
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Priest -- well, they are beyond classification! So we may find
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such archaicisms more meaningful to us than "real-world" folks
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(???).
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By its very (???) a Pagan Student Group at a school like (???)
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must have a greater preponderance of engineers and scientists --
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this is no more the whole world than farming or hunting are
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(although one might view the "corporate jungle" as a society of
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hunter/gatherers...;->) -- but it creates a different sort of
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working group.
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So, in order to satisfy everyone, must we give up on any kind of
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generalised system? This might not be unreasonable, as the
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guilds of old had their especial rites (eg, the Masons). If so,
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the question is: how do we build these systems from scratch?
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If such seperateness seems divisive, a middle way might be to
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have a somewhat general system with patron deities for the
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occupations -- this would be no more divisive than the Catholic
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system of patron saints. I, for one, certainly feel better in
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pouring a libation for Odin and Bragi when I've made a sale, or
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need to (!); whether one believes in deities or not, this is
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still an affirmation, a cause whose effect may or may not become
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apparent. There are certainly enough deities to go around!
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Then what general system might we construct? While some
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concepts, images, and archetypes may mean less to us today
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(though they certainly remain in the collective unconscious),
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there are yet those which are universal (male and female, and
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their ages and abilities; earth, sky, natural forces such as
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weather and tectonics; others?). These should be a part of any
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such system as we invoke the divinity in ourselves (ya can't get
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rid of the Goddess and God that easy!).
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What tools should be used? Knives, swords, sickles, hold less
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charge for us, as they are not so much part of our daily life
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(tho many SCA folks will contradict me on the knife. I know, I
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wear one too...). But cups and plates stay with us, as well as
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pots, and hammers, gavels, even the conductor's baton. These are
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such ordinary things, but when elevated to chalice,
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paten/pentacle, cauldron, wand, become something special. So
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should we cease to use the other tools and instead elevate other
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ordinary objects to the level of ritual objects? On the other
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hand, there is something truly awe-inspiring in a beautiful and
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skillfully-handled sword. We takes our energy where we gets it,
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yes?
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What additions might we make? We would have to pay attention to
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even the minor-seeming things. Would we change the elemental
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system? I think not, for the elements as they currently stand
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comprise, in one form or another, all aspects of existence. But
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if we did, how would we do it, and still be serious (it's very
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easy to make silly quarters!).
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[A note on salt for those unhappy with "archaicisms": salt has
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been a purifying agent for ages, and still is, in many diverse
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systems -- British, Mediterranean, even Romany. And I think the
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process of Koshering meat with salt is as much a matter of
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purification as leeching out blood. So the symbology of salt has
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less to do with an obsolete technology than with its basic
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action, acknowledged by many peoples.]
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Finally, as for the cycle of the year, whether we farm or hunt or
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not, the seasons are a part of our lives; weather affects us, and
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even though we buy food in supermarkets, seasonal changes in
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price, quality and availability are reminders. Nothing says
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"SUMMER AT LAST!" to me like a large, fragrant peach (arg! how I
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miss and look forward to them!). When I was a student on the
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quarter system at Cal, I was even more in touch with the cycle.
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And if we cease to acknowledge the passing of the seasons, we
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lose touch with the earth, which, if we are to keep her as she
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should be kept, must not happen. I am not saying "Ah, for the
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goode olde days before the nasty Industrial Revolution alienated
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us from Mother Earth and promoted pollution and strip-mining and
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other land-rape." I am saying that if we are to live "in beauty
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upon the earth" as the Hopi say, we should at least acknowledge
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some tie with her seasonally, if at no other time. The quarters
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and cross-quarters are good times for this, because it is in
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earth's changes that she is most beautiful. Besides which, the
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feasts and festivals are now, as they have always bene, an
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opportunity for a community to gather, share, and party.
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But life is surer these days -- we no longer fear the endless
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night of Winter Solstice, because we know we won't starve. We
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are more comfortable in the physical world because it is known to
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us now. Is there a point to ritual any more? Well, yes:
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Ultimately, we must avoid mundanity. We must not become so
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caught up in Relevance that we lose the specialness of what we
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do, the sense of wonder, the knowledge that we can do marvels.
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There is a special responsibility in being one's own priest, in
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mastery of one's own powers. We must keep this in mind, with
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pride. With apologies to O. Henry, we are the Magi.
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by Leigh Ann "SeaHawk" Hussey
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