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Peace and Joy on the Pagan Path...
John Chidlow

The monotheistic religions of the past 2000 years all teach that they alone have the path to God, the sole knowledge of the word of God. Thereby they have the right and the duty to spread this word and to convert all others to their path, if need be by the sword as well as the word. This inevitably sets up a culture of control and positions of power for the controllers.

In contrast the old pagan ways of spirit and nature worship make no claim to any ‘one true path’, instead they recognise with joy the presence of the creator spirit in their lives and in the beauty of Nature around them. Thus for Pagans there can be no element of control other than self control.

The Pagan way is simply expressed in the Wiccan rede thus.

"Eight words the Wiccan rede fulfil –
An it harm none, do as thou will"

This is a very ancient concept, alike indeed to the first tenet of the principles of Hypocrates, the basis of the modern day Hypocratic oath of the medical profession –

"First and above all, do no needless harm"

Secure in their belief in ‘the one true path’, the organised monotheistic religions have spread their ruthless control systems far and wide, with scant regard for consequential harm to humankind, our planet, those who share her with us or the right of all spirits to her/his own path.

This ‘one true path’ ideology leads to a stark contrast between the concept of God in the monotheistic religions and that of the creator spirit(s) of Pagan belief. The monotheistic concept of God rapidly becomes authoritarian, patriarchal and judgemental. Through its priesthood it becomes mysogenist through fear of the female life force and mystery, and a deeply suppressed fear of and longing for the Goddess. This latter must of course be suppressed at all costs. Hence the burning times of the Inquisition and their enthusiastic imitators.

To the power seekers of any age the ‘one true path’ and its priesthood present an irresistible prospect of an effective and long lasting means of control of the people. History as we know it records this first in ancient Egypt and the same device seems to have been popular with the Aztecs and Incas of South America, small wonder they fell so easily for the lies and manipulation of the Conquistadores.

The ‘one true path’ provides an easy way of subordinating people’s energy into fulfilling the desires and commands of the rulers and governments of the societies in which we find ourselves and from which it is hard to escape. These ‘religions of the book’ with their boss-man God whose every word has to be obeyed without question through the ranked spiritual hierarchies of angels and archangels etc is mirrored in the societies which the rulers and priesthoods of this form of religion have created on earth for their own convenience. They all taught, and still teach, obedience to someone or some power greater and better than yourself. The priests and rulers of these societies thus also become greater and better than the people they control. No doubt the reader can think of some present day examples. And the system works just as well in post industrial cultures as it did in feudal societies, it was and is a way of keeping the workers in their place. It is a device to suborn and control our natural energies so that we ‘willingly’ submit to spending our lives doing dull, mind-numbing routine tasks. Even better, we do this unquestioningly for someone else, The Boss. This leads inevitably to unconcern for the consequences of our actions, callous acts and wonton destruction of our environment, other people and ultimately ourselves.

It is my belief that we (society, humankind, planet earth) cannot get out of this cycle of restrictive belief, command and control, obedience and destruction unless we can shake of the ‘religions of the book’ and return to the old ways of the Pagan path.

The old ways of the Pagans centre on the natural world, feeling in spirit a deep love for and connection with nature and mother earth, seeing her as sacred. Pagans have no ‘true path’ or holy book(s). In the pagan tradition we worship the creator spirit in two forms, the Great Mother Goddess and her mate, the Horned God. In many ages the worship is Goddess centred, perhaps because in nature the mother is most often the one who nurtures. But for Pagans this is a personal choice, as is all detail of belief and worship, within the love and reverence for nature and spirit in our natural world. Many beautiful sacred ceremonies of worship and ritual develop from reverence for nature, spirit and our creator gods and goddesses. All involve the individual in her/his own spiritual path as a child of the universe, loved by the creator equally with all of creation.

It is my fond hope that within and through these beliefs and ceremonies, control of others will become unnecessary and thus, in time, will pass from human thought.

Notes

We all come from the Mother, and to her we shall return
We all come from the Mother, and to her we shall return
We all come from the Mother,
We all come from the Mother,
We all come from the Mother.
Repeat until your joy returns. Blessed be.

melifois@yahoo.co.uk : Beltane, 2002