Help! I'm Clueless About Paganism
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Pagan
Values Alright,
so Pagans love nature and they have this kind of
New Agey self-improvement thing going on, but does
Paganism have some kind of clear and positive
ethical message, or is it just a spiritual
free-for-all? I do
believe that modern Paganism has an ethical voice,
and that it is not too hard to extract it from our
beliefs and practices. Some of what follows repeats
ideas from other sections of this tutorial. The
hope is that when these concepts are given their
own space, they will speak more clearly about what
Pagans regard as important. The
Wiccan Rede. Although these words are part of
the specific tradition of Wicca, many Pagans find
value in them and apply them to their own
tradition: "An it harm none, do what ye will." This
is a carefully crafted injunction (in somewhat
archaic language), that advises us to contemplate
both the intentions and the consequences of any
action we consider taking. We are enjoined to think
about what harm may come from our choices, and to
avoid that harm, or minimize it. We are also asked
to ponder our own will - what we truly desire, what
we truly need to fulfill our destiny here. "Do what
ye will" means something different than "do what
you want" or "do what you feel like doing". There
is a kind of sacred trust implied here. We must
understand ourselves and our motivation, understand
the real-world consequences of what we intend to
do, and then act. This
may seem scant material compared with the Ten
Commandments and the long lists of prohibited and
recommended behaviors offered by other religions,
but I think it really says all that is needed.
What about your motives? What about the
consequences? Those are the two ethical
questions that matter - if we apply ourselves to
answering them truthfully and deeply. The
Rule of Three. Another Wiccan concept that many
other Pagans have taken to heart, if not literally
or in detail. This says that whatever you do comes
back to you threefold. It's a simple idea: the
energy you put out into the world is the energy the
world sends back at you, and more often than not
you will find it amplified. Send out suspicion, and
no one will trust you. Send out love, and youwill
be appreciated and adored. This is not something
that requires an omniscient God with a scorecard,
it's just part of the way things work. In my
experience, most Pagans who appreciate these basic
ethical concepts (however expressed), tread lightly
in the world, helping others when needed and
steering clear of meaningless conflicts that damage
our spirits but create little in return. There
is one area where often Pagans get involved and
emerge from the background: We step up for the
Earth and her creatures. Pagans are often to be
found speaking up for the planet and the life she
carries. These are sacred matters to us, not simply
utilitarian issues of having enough gasoline to run
our cars or pesticide-free foods to feed our kids.
Pagans care about the Earth and we need her to be
healthy - not just because we are pragmatic, but
because we are spiritual, and our spirituality and
our pragmatism are spirit and body of the same
reality. Pagans
may not have any kind of official, scriptural
position on issues like abortion, gay marriage, or
deregulation of mortgage banks, but we do have a
pretty clear bead on what trashing the planet
means, and we don't think it's a very good
idea. We're
not all political activists, of course. Some prefer
the quiet approach. But the Pagan community
includes a lot of thoughtful, ethically careful
individuals who strive to live positive lives and
contribute what they can to the big picture of the
survival of the Earth and the life she
carries. I'm
proud to be part of this, in my own way. Copyright © 2008 Tom Waters |
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