I was approached by a gentleman today as I was working. I can't recall how the conversation got started, but somewhere in the middle we started talking about religious fundamentalists. Most people are aware of them, know them, some of course are them. Our particular discussion was focused on how there are some people out there, that introduce themselves with their religion hanging on their sleeve. "Hello, I'm Vera. I live in the area and I go to _____ church." Or even a more blunt approach, "Hi, I'm Anthony and a Christian". There's not really any small talk, there's just a huge verbal punch to the face of what lies in their personal life.
This type of introduction doesn't happen often, and more often than not this comes out over the first few minutes rather than directly after the hello. But it still seems like a growing number of people are just "nuts" over their faith. Whether Pagan or Christian or Scientology or any other faith out there. There are many that will back up their enthusiasm by insisting that their proclamation is just an exuberant outpouring of their emotions of love and devotion to their faith. There is nothing wrong with being excited about your faith; in fact if you're not excited about your faith, I suggest a switch. But the problem comes in with during an introduction...what kind of message are we really portraying.
To help illustrate this, the gentleman asked me to pick a single word that best describes me...that gives the best description it can. He told me my first choice, "human", was an obvious but good. The same went for "unique". After thinking for a while, I finally settled on "creative". He asked me why I didn't choose what religion I was for a description. The answer seemed simple to me, saying "I'm a Pagan" really doesn't explain anything about me other than I don't go to church and sing Jesus songs. As much as being Pagan is a part of who I am, without a doubt. It says nothing about me, other than maybe I like trees.
Just saying, "I'm Pagan" says nothing at all.
I've heard a lot of times that your religion, or what you do for work, is what defines you. What ever that word may be; Catholic, Democrat, doctor, writer, Wiccan, engineer, plumber. But does it truly give someone an accurate insight into who you are? Does saying "I'm ____ and I'm a Christian" really say anything to who you are? I've met some of the most obnoxious, bigoted, ignorant, cruel-hearted, self-indulgent, self-righteous, asinine, and prejudiced people that are Christian (or at least claim it. And most of them use that same introduction funny enough). I've also met some of them that don't really follow it closely, they just kinda go through the motions. There's also some of the nicest, open, friendly, loving, educational, and warm people that have been Christian. There's a whole spectrum. Of course one could argue the semantics and say that only the devout are Christian and bla bla bla...but that is taking away from the argument of what is the meaning when it is used as a descriptive word and putting it into ideal situations that don't work in real situations. The fact comes back to...it means nothing but that is the name of the religion you've chosen.
If I had said "pagan", would that mean I'm a feminist who is upset that she missed out on the hippie days? Would it mean that I am initiated into a British Tradition? Would it mean that I'm either lesbian or bi-sexual, up for casual sex and wish we all lived in a nudist colony? Would it mean I haven't gotten rid of my angst as a teenager watching The Craft and Practical Magic. Would it even mean that I'm spiritual? Would it mean I just like to be different, love animals, am vegan, have a big family, and trustworthy, pessimistic, animistic???
What if I had used "artist", being as that is what I do for a lot of my time. It doesn't say anything about what kind of art I do, it could mean anything from throwing paint at a canvas, to scrapbooking, to carving, to photography, to coloring in a coloring book. It doesn't mean much at all if you really look at it as a descriptive word.
But I used creative. Creative because it doesn't stem to just my art when I'm trying to make the paint do what I want, or carve away the excess stone that hides a sleeping coyote. Creativity doesn't just mean my enjoyment of troubleshooting maintenance tasks around the house. It's not just the love of color. Creative explains many different aspects of my life. I enjoy finding a different way to solve a problem. I enjoy improvising when the task requires it. Whether it's trying to figure out an artistic medium, organizing papers, or trying the limits of communication skills during a heated argument. I am creative.
I like to find different ways of looking at situations; different ways to explain them too. I like pushing the limits of artistic medium to see if I can make it do what I want. I like to use broken things to make new, beautiful things. I like the challenge of figuring out how to teach a complex idea to a child.
All of that has nothing at all to do with me being Pagan. Yet it is such a huge aspect of who I am on so many different levels. Even with me being an artist, I am not creative because I am an artist; I am an artist through my creativity.
So what are you? Optimistic, driven, outgoing, ornery, stationary. liberal?
Or will you be so comfortable with fitting into the boxes that society has made for you, that you'll use your religion or your profession to define you?
Words have meaning, of course they do. Without that meaning we wouldn't be able to communicate with each other. But what do we gain for ourselves by constantly hacking at the meaning of the titles that we define ourselves by?
I've come to find myself torn on this subject. For a long while I had a time where I had a personal "beef" with the term Pagan. There's so much drama and silliness surrounding the general Pagan community, it can make it hard to feel inclusive for someone that doesn't fit in the majority crowd. But I think we should also expect this from a new movement. There's always whispers that while the separate paths may be old, Pagan paths in the mainstream society is on a new upswing when considering the whole time frame. I think it is the natural way of things that at first everyone held the illusion of being closer to reach a common goal...now we have the opportunity to branch out because the smaller groups are becoming more in number. Simple way of human people.
However, there are many times where I think choosing to change the name is just something to make the individual feel better. It is not enough for the individual to know they are true to their path in their hearts, they must find a way to let others know they are not "THOSE" people. We can look at Christian history and see the same thing. Oh, we're not Catholic...we're Lutheran, we're Episcopalian, we're Baptist...basically we're not THOSE PEOPLE...we are different. Yet from the outside looking in one can look and say "Yes, you are all different but you are all Christian" Does it matter than one sect doesn't accept another for being Christian? Nope, not really...it's all inner politics that are only important to those emotionally invested. There are countless times I've heard mention of the silly inner politics of that very subject in conversations amongst Pagans. But while Pagans can laugh at the and say "Silly Christians, you're all basically the same but with tiny differences" they are infuriated and offended we don't see that those differences are HUGE in their world. I wonder...is it the same in the Pagan community? Are we too busy looking at the butterfly that we don't even notice the tree let alone the whole forest?
I'll be the first to say it's annoying at best to be thought of immediately as Wiccan or neo-pagan when the term Pagan is thrown out there. I don't like the way the average Pagan does things, it is so far from my realm of being; sometimes so much so it infuriates me enough to not want to associate with them at all. I have felt, often, that we need some way to identify ourselves without giving a whole speech on what we are or are not. I'm not a Native practitioner, I walk with Coyote. I don't generally do group ritual or holiday celebrations, I walk next to Nebet Het and her family. Does that make me not Pagan? As much as I can not care for the word, or would like to depart from it and all the baggage it includes, I don't know. Would it separate me into a smaller classification by using a term Polytheistic? Possibly. But right now, sometimes I wonder if we're just in the stage where we are growing as a whole and these are our growing pains, and while some use it for classification there are others that are considering it to be more a way to be not "THOSE" people over there. We have seen it with the neo-pagan, new age, and pagan terms just as it was seen with the bazillion spellings of magic.
Rarely have I seen someone change the name of their belief system to be something productive. That's not to say that classification isn't productive, but in the Pagan community...I've mostly seen ways to point out that that individual is higher than the others on the experience ladder, or maybe the knowledge ladder, or whatever ladder you want to throw there.
But I think it goes back to my old writings. There are so many aspects of one's self, so many words that one can use...for a person to focus on just one and cling to that for dear life as if that defines them because it is their religion. What religion you practice...only matters in that much detail to you. Even claiming Polytheist...that really doesn't tell me who you are or what you practice. It just tells me what word you prefer. I may assume you're more enlightened and knowledgeable in your faith because you cling to a more accurate word...or I may assume that you're just looking for attention and a gold star for the day. I have friends that use Polytheist that are amazing people, and I know people that have started using Polytheist that I've had some really horrible experiences with that I hope to never associate with again.
Are we that insecure about who we are that we need to bicker over who is Pagan, who isn't, and who is in the cool club and calls themselves by another name? Similar to a comment by Deirdre Hebert...it's like saying I'm not Caucasian, I'm Russian, Lithuanian and Native because I don't want to be associated with any other races that are light skinned. Sure, it may narrow down a classification...but does it help you understand any? Not really, except you may assume I really dislike those other people.
