Preliminary Thoughts On Pagan Clannishness and Its Discontents

...reposted from June 6th of last year..I just read an post in a friend's LJ that showed in excruciating detail the truth of the case I made here...

~I commented on Dydan's post about a local Pagan Pride Day clusterfuck, saying, "It has been my experience that most Pagans are way too clannish to be able to effectively organize beyond maybe the 'coven' level." In a later post, Dydan agreed with me on that one and such inspired this;

"This has gotten me thinking about this whole paradigm again. As you might suspect, I've encountered these issues before and I have cogitated upon their 'whys and wherefores'.

Briefly, I believe it to be a combination of three constructs, mixed together in various ways from community to community, which I will expand upon in the near future, this comment serving as a bookmark and 'note to self' on the matter.

One: the issue of serious self examination within the Pagan community in general. As a long time member of AA find such to be grievously lacking as a basic part in the Pagan paths I have examined.

Two: the issue of Hierarchy. I suspect a lot of neo-Marxist clap trap regarding Hierarchy as 'always evil' has polluted Paganism, utterly ignoring that Hierarchy is a crucial part of social groupings in Nature. This likely stems from the essentially petite bourgeois upbringing of most Pagans, as well.

Three: what is the actual purpose of Paganism? At least beyond individual practice. I have heard a lot of noise about 'peace' and 'nature' and 'being in tune'. But outside of a few Solitarys lurking in the woods, I have found almost none of that really manifesting in the Pagan community.

This is not a definitive statement by any means, but just a preliminary ramble. Of course I have mulled this often and for some time now as I contemplated how The Temple needs to function, be organized, etc. Time to put pen to paper on the matter I suppose.

Stay tuned..."

Now as I said, 'this is not a definitive statement by any means', so do not take it as such. Note that I also said in this comment thread, "I'm not always sure if what I'm working on really is 'paganism'... beyond the definition of not being a part of the JudeoChristLamic Father/God Cults."

And there it is so far....