Animist Not Pagan

If there are any pagans visiting, welcome. I mean no offense, just some observations. Take them as you will. Just as the 11th Commandment for Republicans is "thou shalt not speak ill of thy fellow Republican," perhaps the 11th Commandment for folks like us is "thou shalt not speak ill of kindred beliefs." After all, whatever we call ourselves, they all call us the same thing: pagans.

But I am not a pagan, and the more I look at such things as pagan discussion forums, the more I see that there are several very sharp and critical differences between what I am and Wicca, Asatru, Druidism and so on. The vast majority of these beliefs in the Western world share one thing in common: a connection to Western Hermeticism. Western Hermeticism like many other things Western is very preoccupied with power and distance: distance between us and nature, and power over nature or others. Probably as a prescription for what ails us as a civilization, Western Hermeticism is like curing alcoholism by switching to a different brand of vodka. I hate to break it to you Wiccans, you are not descended from a long lineage of secret witches extending back to the Dark Ages. You are descended from the Golden Dawn and Eliphas Levi and other Western occultists. As someone who used to practice Western Hermeticism in the Golden Dawn tradition, I find the connections inescapable.

I look at a pagan discussion forum and virtually every topic category has to do with magic. That's sort of the definition of a witch, right? You do magic. You change things. Very little is to be seen about living healthier with the planet and ourselves, or getting to know the spirits of nature. 

{For those not knowledgeable about magick theory, those who practice magick do not claim that it breaks the laws of physics. They do claim that it takes advantage of some level of inherent indeterminacy in nature and multiply it with cascade effects (think snowball on a mountaintop causing an avalanche) and other features of chaotic physics to make changes entirely within the realm of natural possibility.}

The human witch(es) force nature to their will, or in other words the entire Western paradigm in a nutshell. The fact that it is not a "scientific positivist" part of that paradigm does not mean that it is not part of that paradigm. It is. The problem is, such magick takes the path of least resistance, so for instance if you do magick to get money, you might find that the brakes give out on a rich uncle's car and he leaves you a few bucks in his will. Not a nice way to get money. Every magickal act has the potential for adverse consequences, and the more force that is used, the more effort extended to bend things to your will, the more likely it is that there will be adverse consequences. Karma, it's a bitch.

In contrast, an animist approach emphasizes dialogue with the natural forces, and a softer approach to magick. For instance when I asked for clouds a couple weeks back to deflect a little of the summer heat and drying, I did not command it to happen. I asked nicely. Presently, I am wanting a little rain but you know, it is summer in Texas. Unless they declare a drought, I don't feel that I should push it. I don't want to wind up getting rain here after the same storm spawns tornadoes in Oklahoma. In paganism it is YOU who does the magick. In animism, it is WE who do it, the environment including me as a minor part, which means we all have to be on the same page and "talking" about it. In fact the environment may inspire magick through you that you weren't even planning to do or intending, and that is very often the very best kind because it is a genuine impulse from the living things you share space with.

Also, animism is not properly speaking polytheistic, or at least not primarily polytheistic. Its spirits are grounded in observable reality to one degree or another. For instance, times in the past when I was tempted to turn pagan were often stymied by the fact that I neither know nor believe in Wotan and Tyr and the like. On the other hand, could I believe that forests, or waterfalls, might have spirits in them? Certainly, because that belief is grounded in the real forests and waterfalls. There is no necessary distinction between animist spirits and living things: a whale for instance might be equally an object of veneration and a real animal. Animist spirits aren't perfect, all knowing or sometimes even sane perhaps; they don't live on Mount Olympus or Asgard, they are right here right now. They are not different in kind from you. It is a collaborative reality. Even for those pagan gods/goddesses I do acknowledge, Thor for instance: is Thor different from the sky, clouds and storms themselves? No, Thor is the storm. Is Gaia different from the Earth? No. Is the sun god or goddess different from the actual Sun? No. 

Of course the problem is, someone with the Western mindset cannot imagine that anyone other than a primitive could revere actual trees, actual waterfalls, actual stones, not as symbols or religious icons but as what they actually are, because the Western mindset has despiritualized nature. These things are mere matter in motion, mere things, they might say. Yes well that's the actual problem, that you do view these as mere things, mere dumb matter. They aren't. You can't fix what is wrong with us as a civilization if you don't fix that. You start with despiritualizing forests and animals, you end up with dehumanizing humans. While paganism might be much better in that regard than say Christianity, it is still infected with the same Western disease to some extent. Emphasizing humans and human power.

Paganism won't be ready to move forward until they are ready to speak for THEM, not just for humans. Speak for the nonhumans, give voice to the voices that most cannot hear. That's supposed to be our function really, to warn humans to respect nature, and your magick should reflect that by respecting nature itself. Discard these worn out hand-me-downs from the Golden Dawn and weave a new magick, one which understands reality anew. Throw away the ceremonial knife which cuts and divides, pick up a root that unites and nourishes. Or, continue holding up your obscure corner of the Western power fixation, it's your choice, but don't imagine that this is not what you are doing.