Sciento-Paganism, Entry 3: Deep or Nominal?

Questions & Her deepest Mysteries. Isn't that what spiritual journey is all about? 

I wandered across a blog this past week wherein the author discussed her search for a "path." She had many questions. She was uncertain about what her "path" should be. Should she be a Druid? A Wiccan? A Heathen? What? She had concerns about "mixing paths," she was looking for the "ONE." So many questions... 

Good, I thought. 

But then I read the comments section & found a statement akin to (but not exactly, lest I offend), 'when you find peace of mind & are no longer asking questions you will know you have found the "ONE."' This made my skin crawl. But that was my skin, not the commenters. Perhaps her skin is ok with complacency. Perhaps her skin dislikes the noise of a mind filled with questions.

This morning the folks at Scarlet Imprint released part of an interview with Nemeton (I confess I am unfamiliar with this personage) which is to be released in the February edition of The Cauldron. This part of the interview is titled: Question 13 - The Future of Paganism. Scarlet Imprint's purpose for republishing this segment is because they are hopping mad about some redacted text, but I was more engrossed in their general message & the essence of Nemeton's answer to Question 13:

"Paganism and witchcraft should be seething with green fire in the face of the ecological collapse...  

We need to embrace a Deep Paganism, a Deep Witchcraft in the same way that we need to embrace a Deep Ecology...

This is something that we need to be united about, regardless of the other petty struggles that can dominate the Craft. It does not matter a damn who owns the real estate of what is or isn't traditional, or who initiated who, or what survived, if the planet itself is dead. We are in an ecological end game and it is time to take sides on this greater issue. 

Witchcraft needs to rediscover its radical heritage and with urgency."   

 Ooooh... good stuff. Really good stuff. But it gets better.

In his response, Nemeton references an article in The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies (a peer-reviewed journal of Pagan studies) in which the author Michael York describes two kinds of Paganism: "deep or natural paganism" & "nominal or blind Paganism." His description of Deep paganism is:

“Humanity’s spontaneous response to Nature, the world around us and our unaffected sense of the animistic or numinous... this primordial paganism is atavistic and as such I am calling it root religion, the root of religion, the root of all religions.”

I must infer then, that "nominal or blind Paganism" refers, at least in part, to the folks who find a how-to book or perhaps a guru & then settle in with the "one," walking it without question, without seeking for more, without going deep into the Mysteries -- the folks who seek a "path" so that they no longer have to be bothered with questions. 

I personally prefer to ask questions, grapple with doubt, get dirty digging for that precious root deep in the belly of Mama Nature.

I mentioned in Sciento-Paganism, Entry I: The Mystery of Relationship that I have been reading a peculiar book on dreamwork. This book mystifies me. Is Mr. Kaplan Williams really actually discussing dreamwork? I am suspecting as I read ever-onward that his subtext is significantly more existential. He expresses my recent thoughts on the nature of questions & the Mysteries so precisely, so succinctly:

"Give the person questions, not answers...

When we truly ask a question we are admitting we do not have an answer. How many of us are willing to get down off the throne of authority and humble ourselves before the mystery? 

My life is my answer. Your opinion is not the answer for anything. I will accept your questions if they evoke the search for truth in me..."  (emphasis mine)

In the spirit of Mr. William's words, I leave you with this, a question: Does your "path" provide you with questions? Questions that kindle the search for truth in you? 

Question Onward.

Sciento-Paganism, Entry I: The Mystery of Relationship

I have been struggling with where to begin this discussion, so I begin here. Perhaps this is an arbitrary decision, perhaps not. I myself, cannot say.

I am reading a very peculiar book entitled The Jungian-Senoi Dreamwork Manual, a type-written & self-published text by Strephon Kaplan Williams & the Jungian-Senoi Institute. There are several reasons for my selection of this book, but an explanation would lead to tangential discussion & it is much too late in the evening to commence such an endeavour. What is important to this entry is how acutely relevant Mr. William's words are to the foundation of my beliefs. All the concepts & techniques he discusses are in relation to dreams & he constantly reminds the reader of his dream-centeredness; "The central factor is the dream itself. The dream. Always the dream." Yet, I cannot shake the feeling that he is talking about much more than just the dreamworld. 

Many passages in this book have moved me, inspired me to deeper thought, or even prompted a desire to write, but none so much as the following statement:

"The discovery of relationship is the experience of meaning."

I have a single, one-word response to this assertion: Exactly. 

Before I elaborate, I would like to add a few more points from the Dreamwork Manual which expand upon this principle. Williams places great importance on the process of "question-asking" during dreamwork & writes: 

"A question is the central response to life... A question is a great mystery... The more ways we can ask questions of ourselves, the more possibilities we will have for living life. Let my life end in a way that it ends as a question, a mystery, and not an answer. Answers end reality. Questions begin it anew." 

I would argue that this "question-asking" is essential to the pursuit of spiritual development & awareness. It is an avenue, a channel, a path to the mysteries & to the gods. It is not the only way, but it is a vital one. Of course, I speak for myself, but I could not be without it. It is my way.

Allegoria della vita umana, by Guido Cagnacci. @Wiki.

Encountering, uncovering, discovering the relationships, the connections that make up our universe is for me, a spiritual process. Every time I learn something new, two particularly significant phenomena occur: 1) I am forever changed by the new knowledge, 2) a deluge of new questions flood my mind. It is not unlike initiation: I enter the lesson a neophyte -- a small fragment, a thread, of the web that is Nature's Great Mystery is revealed to me & I emerge transformed, yet yearning for more. 

He will be surprised to learn this, but some of the most profoundly spiritual moments in my life were brought about by my father, a professor of biology who has spent the greater part of his research career working in the field of functional morphology (a branch of biology which seeks to understand, within an evolutionary context, how anatomical structures work to allow an organism to accomplish certain tasks). My childhood was filled with questions, relationships, wonder... & a deep reverence for mysteries of the Natural World. My father engendered this in me by asking me questions. He never simply explained something. He always asked me to figure it out myself, leaving me to ponder, to chew on it for awhile. When he finally gifted me with a lesson, he left me with more questions.

See photo credits below.*

If you have ever been in the presence of a researcher on the brink of a major discovery, you can attest to the alchemy that takes place as the observations, bits of data & ideas condense in the alembic of the scientist's mind. The same distillation of thought, the experience of personal epiphany, happens for me when I read a book, take a course, hear a lecture or have an encounter or insight which pieces together loose (sometimes seemingly disparate) ends in the great web of our existence. This process of stumbling upon connections, having "aha!" moments, recognizing, understanding & relishing relationships brings me closer to deity:

"The discovery of relationship is the experience of meaning."

Life, Nature -- the web of connections -- are wondrously intricate. They are the mystery of mysteries. They can be unpredictable, inspiring & sometimes unpleasant. Chasing their threads is part of my journey. Asking the next question is my way.

* The Alchymist, In Search of the Philosopher’s Stone, Discovers Phosphorus, and prays for the successful Conclusion of his operation, as was the custom of the Ancient Chymical Astrologers, by Joseph Wright of Derby, now in Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Derby, U.K. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.