The Astral Pilgrim

As a person who was diagnosed as schizophrenic over 12 years ago I have understood myself for along time the role I play within the real world, the world that lies above and beyond the mundane trash existence which is rising up around us. Here is a video which gives a wonderful perception on the role of schizophrenia in the modern society.

Having just finished another year of my studies I am faced with a vast sun filled (here’s hoping) void of summer that needs to be filled and boy do I intend to do just that. I plan on reading lots of fiction, something I don’t get much chance to do whilst studying, I plan on delving deeper and deeper into my photography and I also plan to get more work done on my book which is what I wanted to talk about today. Many have wondered in the past on just what my book will be about and the response is always the same, the clue is in the title – Pagan Theology. That said there have many doubts raised as to the validity of the subject with various reasons to not develop a pagan theology being cited at me and this is what I wanted to look at.

Just what is a theology, and I ask this in a that specific way – not ‘what is Theology’, but ‘what is a theology’. Theology is the science of religion – the analytical process of asking the questions beyond the believer, to ask those awkward questions and seek out an answer. So what do I mean by saying it a different way? What I am looking to do is to make pagans THINK! So many people now have become fixed in the neo-pagan writings of the last 30 years that they don’t ever stop to think, to question, to consider beyond what they have learnt and burnt in their minds. My questions asks – ‘what is a theology’ and in this case a theology is a means of clarifying shared commonalities across traditions. The goal of this is NOT to find a unified singular point to which all pagans can rally as some people have feared. I understand that part of the beauty of neo-paganism is it’s vast diversity and I am not trying to delineate that. We have to accept though that many traditions that are springing up today are eclectic offshoots of traditions which DO share common ground and my book is aimed to highlight the core of this shared ground. Gardnerian / Alexandrian Wicca, the Druid movement and even the Asatru share huge volumes of common tradition which are lacking in cohesive backing, with a practical principle to keep the tradition itself grounded. When a theology is applied to it it starts to make absolute sense, it stops being an idea, something we do without obvious reason, and changes into something that is as harmonious with ourselves as the rising and the setting of the sun. Theology is about sense, reason and it’s fusion with raging inspiration – it is not a cold scientific principle that sets out to make the divine banal.

My book is an attempt to analyse and delve deeper into areas of paganism which I believe are the very rock and foundation of what the neo-pagan movement is destined to become. these include and complete analysis of the wheel of the year, for there is so much more to it than I have read in over 30 years worth of texts. The same can be said of the elements, of geographical principles and over the nature of deity itself. There is so much that can be covered that has never been covered, or at the very best when it has been touched on it has been done in a very half hearted and inconsistent way. There are many pagan authors out there who are writing some really good material but they struggle to see it published in a way that can reach a wider audience because all the mainstream publishers (the awful Llewellyn publishing being the worst for this) often commission non pagans to write a text – now you tell me how a person such as that can write on the nature of pagan deity in a way that would do it justice? I wouldn’t expect an atheist to write a treatise on Catholicism and it be academically useful and the same can be said here.

So – a lot to do this summer! I hope you will join me here as I throw ideas, concepts and possibly some flat our heresies your way over the coming months. For those who may be interested in where I am going with some of the ideas for the wheel of the year why not come along to the Radcliffe moot on June 8th where I will be giving a talk on some of the principles of my revisions of the wheel – and there will be diagrams this time to help people along!

Many talk of historical events such as the repeal of the witchcraft act in 1951 as pivotal points in history whereby the neo-pagan movement was able to reveal itself from the hidden world it had existed in. To this day there are many who do not like the fact that the craft of the wise has gone mainstream and have reservedly revealed themselves to few – they certainly have not gone as far as ticking that census box as eagerly as perhaps some of us did.

Where they right in doing so – many would laugh and say no but can we be so sure. Only today in the country of Bahrain a new law is in the process of being passed that will criminalise any acts of witchcraft or sorcery. It has been proposed as an addition to laws governing con-artists and fraudsters and if treated as such punishment for said crimes would be light, but it also allows for severe enforcement such as in Saudi Arabia where the anti-witchcraft laws are enforced in a brutal and medieval manner. No definitions for punishment are being given, with the power of sentence being left for the judges to decide.

Details of the ruling can be found here