-Caveat Lector-
On 16 Feb 99, , Prudence wrote:
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> In a message dated 2/16/99 6:24:34 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> writes:
>
> <<
> I've never heard of their adversarial view of God. It has been my
> understanding that they respect their God and Goddess equally. It was a
> mistake on my part to say they were an organized group. Aside from a few
> basic common beliefs, pagans differ widely.
> Samantha >>
>
> Yes, but it's their God and Goddess as you say. I recall a statement by Erica
> Jong in which she talked about a woman having taken a priest's extreme unction
> box which she had consecrated to the Goddess. I took that to mean a triumph
> over an adversary. Prudy
Naah, that's just Erica Jong. I think neo-pagans are highly individualistic and hard
to fit
in any pigeonhole. Some-the fanatically Celtic--are virtually neo-Nazi (there are some
pagan websites in which you can't participate unless you can attest to "pure" Celtic
blood) There are wiccan organizations which have an agenda and I think that while
anyone can participate--and many do-- only the core people and those who have an
interest in "rising in the religious heirarchy" as priests and priestesses have strict
guidelines they follow. For many others, it's a private relationship to Nature and
Divinity
and a way to share that within a larger community.
The only pagans you can really pin down are the relatively small groups who insist on
having a "tradition" and "history." The rest are pretty private, anarchic, and
generally
against all "organized" and "institutionalized" religion and religious beliefs. IMHO,
it is
most neo-paganism is fueled by the attempt to escape the institutionalized guilt,
narrow-mindedness, and exclusionism of institutionalized religions or (in the best
sense) to celebrate a broader more "inclusive" spirituality...to break down the barrier
between God and humanity (eliminate the Church or Temple and the priesthood as
middleman.)
Just to remind you that the organized religions have never been very supportive of the
idea that mere humans (non-priests) should have any private spiritual experience or
private relationship to divinity beyond the rites ritually performed within the
religion
itself. Paganism --at its best--celebrates the individual's private spiritual
experience
and/or relationship with divinity--however they may define it.
In Kabbalah, the highest wisdom is represented by Sophia and the highest spirituality
that we, as humans, can experience is embodied in the Schechinah. They are both
feminine. Yet they are both part of a larger whole which does include the masculine as
an equally powerful--if different-- force. This is a very ancient tradition, although
it has
been eliminated, along with many other things, from the Christian Bible. I believe
that
the Essenes--the sect with which Jesus has been associated--were familiar with the
concepts of Sophia and the divine Schechinah. (see The Gnostic Gospels).
sno0wl
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