Category: Pagan Evangelical

My life with (some of) The Holy Powers and The Spirits

On By PaxIn Blame Sannion, Bouncing off the Gods, Gospel Pagan, My life with (some of) The Holy Powers and The Spirits, Pagan Evangelical, remembering12 Comments

(Intro to a series…)

Hello Dear Friends,

This series of posts has its origins in reading Dver’s marvelous post A light in the darkness, which was in turn inspired by Sarah Lawless’ post They’re Watching You.  Most especially it’s been sparked by reading and re-reading Dver’s other post, Committing.  There are other posts that are inspiring and re-inspiring me (including They Hold Our Hands,  from Aquila ka Hecate, and It’s not about us also from Dver, and Gods, Goods and shadows… from CredenceDawg) as I seek to write of my encounters with some of The Holy Powers, and why I believe THEY are important….

That Paganism and Witchcraft and Spirituality and Religion and Devotion are about THEM at least as much as, if not more than, they are about US.  Increasingly I am seeing that this is something of a scandalous or shocking, or perhaps I should say unfashionable, idea amongst a number of my fellow Pagans.  So let me clarify my own personal position.

The. Gods. Are. Real.

So I am going to engage in some commitment with this series of posts.  I am going to write about my personal experiences of some of the Holy Powers and Spirits as I remember experiencing them.  Some of these I have written about before or in part, but I am going to share them here again.  Because they really happened.

For the skeptical or non-theistic out there, especially the ones I know and socialize with in my off-line worlds, some of whom might become concerned or made uncomfortable by this series; I am willing to allow you all the polite escape clause that on some level that its possible that what I describe is all in my head and some psychological peak experience or whatever psychological make-it-some-how-safe-and-rational-excuses you prefer

HOWEVER

The experiences I will write about are such that they have  pushed (or pulled, or perhaps danced) me past the point of Agnosticism, over the borderlands of Belief  and deep into the complex terrain of Experience.

I am not a Polytheist or a Witch because I think that The Gods or Magick are nifty ideas, I am not a Pagan because it helps me to be a better person, I am not a Witch because its some nifty magickal lifestyle choice; I am a Witch and Polytheist because I have experienced Magick and encountered some of the Gods and Spirits and felt the phantom touch of the Ancestors in my life.

Peace,

Pax / Geoffrey

(tip of the hat to Lon Milo Duquette for inspiring the title of the present series of posts)

Intro (this post)

Libertas (whilst written before this series was conceived of, it fits a little too perfectly into the theme to be ignored…)

The Witches Goddess

The WitchFather

The Morrigan

Hecate

Dionysus

The Honored and Beloved Dead

Spirits of the World Around Us

A little Witchy Good News…

On By PaxIn Chrysalis, Pagan Evangelical, witcheryLeave a comment

For various reasons I am feeling the need to dig into myself a bit and pull out a little old fashioned Witchy good news and Pagan evangelism… here goes…

Hello,

I am Geoffrey, or Pax, and I am blessed to be a Witch.  A servant, worshiper, and beloved child of the Goddess and God.  I found Witchcraft when I was a young man in his late teens and early twenties looking for himself, looking for faith and philosophy, hoping to define his ethics and values and morals.  Witchcraft, and Paganism, my dear Paganfolk, helped me to find it, and so much more.

The Horned God of the Witches, as Herne, or Pan, or Cernunos you may have heard of Him.  He is born and grows and lives and dies, then he travels through the mysteries of the otherworld to be reborn, each year.  His love and his strength are offered freely to us, if we would but open our hearts to it and to Him.  His wisdom enlivens the mind and his compassion holds us close, for whatever the trials and travails we face in this lifetime, He too has faced.  He knows, and He cares.

The Great Mother, The Lady, the Threefold Goddes of the Moon who is Maiden and Mother and Crone.  She is magick, and too inspiration, and poetry and song and determination and fiersome inteligence.  As a poet, and Witchcraft’s especial midwife, told to us; Her love is poured forth across the lands.  If we spend every moment of our lives singing of Her we could but describe Her shadow.

They are the Ebb and Flow of All of Creation.  The light and dark, the Yin and Yang.  They are present in every atom and cell of Creation, and Creation is but one atom, in one cell, within Them.

They have led me in my life thus far to seek after wisdom, and learning, and idealism, and humor, and hope.  Their loving example has helped me to open my heart to the love of a good and decent man.  Their patience and love has helped me to open my heart further than I though possible, seeking to follow Her law “Love unto all beings”.

Their loving kindness and flowed into me and opened up the doors of perception and compassion within me; through Them I have opened places in my heart for other Gods and Goddesses, while still remaining true to Them.

When I catch sight of the Moon through the clouds, or I see the noonday clouds perfectly reflected in the windows of a sky scraper, They are there; for They are always there and always with Me and always there waiting for you.

They are not the only Gods, nor is Witchcraft the only Pagan path.  There is wisdom and honor and values and faith and a rightful relationship with the Gods in any of the Faiths, Pagan and non-Pagan.

Yet for me, whatever other Gods I open the doors to my heart to, and whatever other paths I walk in my journey as a Pagan; I will always be a Witch.  I will always treasure my time with Them and Their lessons and love.

Bliss, and Blessed Be.

“What Now?” ~ Pagan Community Builders

On By PaxIn Activist Alert, An Important Message..., Community Building, Food for Thought, Modern Pagan, Pagan Evangelical, Pagan Pride, Pagan Responses to Recession, Pax's Beliefs7 Comments

So Darkly Fey, from Live from the Red Leather Couch and I had some fabulous back and forth conversations recently via e-mail about Paganism and Pagan community.  We decided to share with the Pagan Community Builder’s Yahoo.  This stirred up a little bit of discussion, and some really cool questions…  This encouraged me to engage in some of the following ranting about Pagan community…

I don’t know if movement’s neccesarilly mature into institutions, but I would definitely agree with the idea that they can mature into communities.  As I have said here and elsewhere that is where I think Paganism is right now…

Paganism is a spiritual, religious, and cultural movement made up of different interwoven and overlapping religious and regional communities.

It is my hope that Paganism as a movement will move and grow and develop into a family of interwoven and overlapping religious communities.  I just don’t think we are quite there yet.  (in my ever so humble and correct opinion!) ~ 😉

Moving on, if I may quote you…

“What would a mature Pagan community look like? More importantly, what would it do?”

I think that we as individual faiths and communities are in a process of hammering that question out… I also think it is related to another of your questions…

“But Pagans– do we have a goal? Is it individual enlightenment, collective enlightenment, improving the world with the idea that with an immanent divine, one serves the gods by serving others?”

I would say that the goal of a Pagan depends on the particular religion or philosophy of the individual Pagan.  ( I know, obviously, but I am moving towards a point here so please bear with me…)

I would observe that for the different Pagan faiths and paths there seems to be an overall theme of development into being a better person (personal growth and perhaps enlightenment, although it is not neccesarilly phrased as such) by practicing certain rites, and developing our relationships with the Divine (or the All That Is) and with the Spirits of the World Around Us (Elements and Land Spirits), and living certain  (intertwining and overlapping) virtues and values, and by building our relationships with others in our groups and faiths and societies through those virtues and values and practices…

I think that his theme of growth and development leads us quite naturally into engagement with other branches of Paganism, and from there into engagement with the rest of Society.  I also think that fear of discrimination, and a lack of outside pressure in the form of legal or social restrictions on religious practice, has helped to hamper that process of engagement.  Of course the fact that Paganism, with its Pantheism and Polytheism (among other Theisms present under the Pagan umbrella) whose essential concept of “our way AND your way” is having to re-emerge culturally from an immersion in Monotheism’s predominantly “Our way or the highway” mindset has also hampered our development as a community…

I think that both of your above questions are being hammered out by different Faith and Regional communities within the Pagan movement.

My instinct is (or, admittedly, perhaps it is merely my deep hope) that we as a movement are reaching a threshold point of in-group and inter-group communication and networking and growth and expansion that we are ready to go towards the next stage in our development from a movement into being a community.

Of course, I have been accused of being somewhat of an optimist and idealist…

“In my thoughts, I’d figured finding other Pagans would be the hard part. After all that navel-gazing and contemplation, the theological musings and soul-searching, we’ve figured out what we believe. We’ve found each other!….

…what now?”

I, SO, hear you! I share some of your frustration and experiences at local Pagan groups and rituals.  Socializing, in and of itself, is not enough.  Rituals on the Moons and/or on the Seasonal Holy Days are not enough!

That is part of why I created this discussion group.  To start and encourage discussions of “what now?”

“What now?” is why I have written Invoking the Power of the Pagan Dollar 2.0

Because I believe we need to start supporting our own community members (by supporting them as business people, and not just the occult tsotchke shoppes either!)  and institutions (religious, community, and charitable).

“What now?” is why I support the Pagan Pride Project and Pagan Pride events of all sorts… despite my occasional misgivings about some of the modes of dress and behavior!

We need, as religious and regional communities within the Pagan movement, to start engaging and reaching out to our wider local, regional, and national communities; not to proselytize, but to show clearly and honestly who and what we really are and are about!

We need to start looking at celebrating open and public rituals and observances at CIVIC holidays, not only to show our lager communities who and what Pagans are and are about; but to also deepen and expand ourselves as Pagans and our relationships with the spirits of our ancestors and of our Nations, and of the World around us; and to further build and strengthen our communities!

That, at the very least, is “what now?”!

Beyond that, well let’s keep talking!

Peace,

Pax

PS- if you are interested in taking part in this discussion, or ones like it, you can post here, or even better yet sign up for the Pagan Community Builder’s Yahoogroup !!!

I’d like to think I am another, budding, Gospel Pagan!

On By PaxIn Bouncing off the Gods, Chrysalis, Creativity, Gospel Pagan, Great Writers, Pagan Evangelical, Pagan Pride, Seeking, The Gifts of Giving1 Comment

Notes from a Pagan Evangelical 12/10/2008

Now, in some ways I don’t feel like I am a very good Gospel Pagan.  I have a tough time accessing that Spirit filled part of myself that Sara, and some of the best Pagan authors and bloggers out there, seem to be able to write from so blessed easily.

This has been getting easier, recently, as I have been working on this site and building up some of the pages and contemplating things like my daily practice and my relationship with the Deities.  In some cases though I still feel more like a pallid imitation of folks like Sara Sutterfield Winn, and Diane Sylvan, and Sannion, and Phyllis Currot, and Evn, and Sia, and Pagan Mehgan and Markys ny Deseret; more like an imitator rather than a Spirit filled Pagan writer.

Then, every once in a while, some kind soul will post a comment, or nominate me for the Meta-Pagan feed, or e-mail me a note.  Then will I know that some magic has happened.

Other times I will feel the magic and the Spirit come upon me, it will be a sudden burst of inspiration; although as I write more about my Witchcraft and Faith and Spirituality, recently, I have begun to find some small somewhat consistent stream of Inspiration and Spirit.

Like that moment in Spring when the drip, drip, drip of the icicles and snow becomes more of a steady stream, not unlike a barely open faucet slowly blossoming with The Sun’s love into something new and wonderful.  In those moments some small wonderful thing begins to happen.

When I participate in or write of the Gifts of Giving, about making my offerings of incense to the Gods, or when I pour my libations and I feel touched and embraced by my nearest and dearest Deities.   It’s happening.  When I cast Circle and honor the Esbats or Sabbats of Witchcraft, it happens.  When I talk or write about establishing a Loving and Stable relationship with The Lady and Lord of Witchcraft ~ or of my budding relationships with Hecate and Dionysus, its there too.  When I seek to speak or write or live the gospel truth of my Pagan self seeking, not to convert, but to simply share the joy and wonder The Good News of my own Pagan experience, in those moments I am most true to the Gods, and to my self, as a Pagan and as an Evangelical.

I am a Pagan Evangelical

On By PaxIn Community Building, Cross-roads, everyday, Pagan Evangelical, Pagan PrideLeave a comment

I am a Pagan Evangelical. I know it may sound like a contradiction in terms, but it’s not. I was inspired to this point, in part, by the writings of Sara Sutterfield Winn. I first discovered Sara through her now dormant blog Pagan Godspell. (although I hope, I even pray, that she will feel the inspiration to continue that blog…)

“…Evangelism is zeal.  Passion.  To possess the wonderful infused light/darkness of Knowing the soul’s home and then embodying that in the world, through words, art, dance, prayer, the Good Work…just being.  To be moved by one’s religiosity to help others, spread joy, give sanctuary, feed strangers.  And to have the courage and skill to articulate these deep places when asked about them.  I never proselytize, but I aspire to be evangelical….”

~from the essay Pagan Evangelism on Sara’s website

http://www.gospelpagan.net/evangelism.html

To which I say…

“Blessed Be, Sister!”

Many people have no idea who or what we Pagans really are. That is sad, not because I feel they need to join us, but when rumors are sown in the soil of ignorance then fear will grow. There is already more than enough fear and ignorance in the world!

We are people of faiths, people of integrity and honor and compassion. We are people who strive to live the ethics and values of our faiths as best we can. We are people who live, and laugh, and love; a people who sings songs of the ancient Gods and exult in Their beauty, and in the wonder of Their beauty in all of Creation, and even within our own selves.

Yet, all too often, we are content to let other peoples speak to the world of and about us. Instead of taking our place in the full light of society’s regard we are content to keep to the shadows of other people’s distorted images and understandings of who and what we Pagans are.

Not only is our community content to let others speak for them, but often times it seems like members of the Pagan community are afraid to speak up for themselves. This is more than just tragic, it is dangerous. We in the U.S. have Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religion, but rights mean nothing until and unless we invoke them. Stand up and claim your rights, or you may lose them.

Then too, there are those on the Christian Right who seem to believe that Christianity has a monopoly on values or virtues. This is, of course, not true but we can only prove this by spreading the good news of Paganism.

As a Witch, I say this as any Witch might… We can do this! We can share the Good News of Witchcraft and Paganism by sharing our Strength and Beauty with those around us, by using our Power and living our Compassion, by acting on our Honor with Humility, and by always remembering Mirth and Reverence we can not only change ourselves for the better; We the People, can change the world!

This is why I am a strong supporter of the Pagan Pride Project. These are the folks who have spearheaded the annual Pagan Pride events. These events bring Pagans together to build community, to show the world who and what we really are, and to do some good in the world.

I support these goals and would encourage each of you to support them as well. Stand up and invoke your rights! Sing of the Beauty and Bounty of the Great Mother! Hold Fund-raising dinners and events for your local charities, especially the Pagan-run or Pagan-friendly ones! Dance at a Pagan Pride event this year! Live your life in Their Praise and Presence!

Blessed Be,

Pax / Geoffrey Stewart

An update, and see~you~another~time, to a voice I love

On By PaxIn Chrysalis, everyday, Great Writers, Pagan Evangelical, Pagans of NoteLeave a comment

I have updated the list of Pagan Community Links. I am also in the process of thinking about writing a number of pieces about the Pagan Community and my thoughts upon it. I like to, and try to, commit thought before I commit my words to the Internet. It is a virtual vault of the ages after all.

I am also trying to find words as eloquent as those of Sara Sutterfield Winn.

Sara is an author and fellow Pagani whose blog Pagan Godspell was invaluable help to me in rekindling my spirit and creativity and faith. She has inspired me, and her blog is a part of the inspiration for this blog. Her personal website’s discussion of the concept of Pagan Evangelism helped me to identify an important part of my own philosophy of faith and of Pagan Pride.

She has set aside the blog and is working on other projects, but I must encourage each of you to read her rich words and the powerful and sensual descriptions of this wonderfully vast world of ours…

…nope still trying.

Peace,
Pax