Drawing Down the Moon (66 page)

This statement holds true not only for Neo-Paganism but for other movements and groups that are bonded primarily by imagination. It holds true for science-fiction fans and for members of the Society for Creative Anachronism—the medievalist society. Among such groups
nothing
is taken for granted, politically or philosophically. Nothing is “given,” and nothing is assumed as common ground. You are as likely to meet up with a monarchist as with a Marxist. The views expressed in various Pagan journals, most particularly
Green Egg,
were especially free-ranging and diverse. At the same time, they were seldom analytical or theoretical (since there was no common theory). An issue of
Green Egg
might have a long essay on the theories of Velikovsky, an article on tribal communes, a long essay on DNA, a reprint from an organization dedicated to saving the whales, an article from
Akwesasne Notes.
There was less common ground assumed in
Green Egg
than in any other publication I had ever seen.

In the 1970s, when I asked one hundred Pagans to list their political positions, the assortment was astonishing. There were old-style conservatives and liberals, a scattering of Democrats and Republicans, twenty different styles of anarchists (ranging from Ayn Randists to leftist revolutionaries), many libertarians, a couple of Marxists, and one Fascist. Despite this range, the majority were not very self-critical and many defined “politics” in a very narrow way.

“Politics” means something very different in the mainstream of American society from what it means on the fringes. The questions I asked—Are you political? do you think there is a political aspect to Paganism?—were, I saw later, badly framed. Many of those who said they were apolitical were, by another definition, highly political.

For most of America, “politics” means such things as voting, political campaigns, the actions of Congress, lobbying. Those Pagans who defined politics in this fashion—and many did—generally told me that Neo-Paganism was totally removed from politics and should remain so. The comments of Theos were typical: “I think that most of the people in my coven are not very active participants in any political movement. I suppose that they vote, but I don't find that the topic ever comes up in conversations we have. I myself owe no allegiance to any one political philosophy or party, at times abstaining from the whole scene when it turns me off.”

On the other hand, most feminists, most militant ecologists, and most people who had gone through the sixties understood “politics” to be something akin to “the decisions that affect our daily lives.” These people often said that Neo-Paganism was intensely political.

Most Neo-Pagans felt that their religion presented an alternative world view, but some of them said that this had nothing to do with “politics,” while others felt that “politics” and “world view” were synonymous and that a change in world view implied a change in politics. Others felt there was a great distinction between “political” and “spiritual” transformation. Still others felt the two were inseparable. Again, these differences had little to do with the tradition one belonged to. Even in the Church of All Worlds, all of whose members described themselves as some sort of anarchist and believed that Neo-Paganism had a transformative mission, there were great differences in how that mission was described. And most felt it was “not political.”

To give another example, many felt strongly about ecological problems. Those who felt that such problems were the result of ignorance or apathy would often tell me that ecology was of great concern to Pagans, and then say, “Paganism is apolitical.” But those who felt that ecological problems were due to “the patriarchal rape-head” or “the profit motive” would often describe Paganism as very political.

If there was any clear division, it was between two groups: those who saw Neo-Paganism as a vehicle for the transformation of society through a heightened ecological or feminist consciousness, for example, as well as an avenue for personal growth; and those who merely saw the latter. Those who saw Paganism as a transformative vehicle generally tended toward the extremes, both left and right; they might be “rational anarchists” or “spiritual socialists” or, in Paul Goodman's words, “neolithic conservatives.” Those who saw Neo-Paganism as simply a vehicle for individual development tended to be “moderates.”

In general, one could not escape the conclusion that Neo-Paganism and the Craft are adaptable to almost any stance on politics. The differences were often extreme, but the Pagans got along well together.

Here are some examples of the range in replies of the many Pagans who disavowed all political connections:

 

“I don't consider myself political. I look at politics like I look at children playing with a revolver. I just hope they don't hurt themselves.”

—TONY ANDRUZZI, Chicago magician and Witch

 

 

“A proper Witch response would be: The government doesn't recognize us, well that's fine, since we don't recognize the government.”

—AIDAN KELLY, in a letter to
Green Egg

 

 

“Paganism is not a threat. It can only offer, persuade, beckon, entice, enchant.”

—TONY KELLY, a Pagan living in Wales

 

 

“The Craft is adaptable to every society it has been in.”

—LADY CYBELE

 

 

“Politics has absolutely
nothing
to do with what's going on. It's a red herring. Any true revolution is a religious and cultural revolution, a revolution of values. The political situation is really irrelevant.”

—OBERON ZELL-RAVENHEART, CAW

 

 

Of those who felt that Paganism was political, all were residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, or ardent feminists, or ecology activists, or activists on behalf of gay or civil rights. Taken together, they were perhaps one-fourth of the people I interviewed.

Caradoc, a Pagan who lived in a small house in Berkeley, had this to say:

“If one is working within the Craft as anything that is recognizable to me, one is working with a set of values which are totally at odds with the values of this society. This society has replaced the old state religions with a state-supported reality construct. If the Craft is so little different that it doesn't come up with different attitudes, viewpoints, and answers than this culture, then what good is it?

“Craft values say you are basically good. The world is holy. Your body is holy. It isn't a piece of dirt. Evil arises not from some ‘force' of evil, but from a misconstrual of that which is good. The only way the Craft can be apolitical is if Craft people do not in their own lives challenge the basic assumptions of the American value system, and, in my own view, if they don't do that, they're not Witches no matter who initiated them.”

 

Others who saw Paganism as intensely “political” came from an intellectual universe where it was assumed that all things are interconnected, that everything is “political.” The strongest statement came from Devlin, the hereditary Witch of Irish descent, a mother, musician, and weaver. It appears in an earlier chapter.

Another person who, while not using the world “political,” expressed ideas similar to Devlin's was Gwydion Pendderwen, who told me, “The Craft is a spiritual movement, a psychic development movement, and a movement based on the absolute worth of the individual as opposed to corporate principles. The principles of the Craft don't seem to allow for accommodation with the establishment. In a way, we're trying to have the same rights blacks have asked for: asking that ‘Witch' like ‘nigger' stop being a pejorative term.”

And I must not forget the one reply to my questionnaire that stated it most simply: “Life celebration is always a threat to those bent on destruction.”

These replies show that the politics of Pagans were not dependent on their “tradition,” but on the community and universe to which they belonged, on their lifestyles, and the history of their interactions with the world. A Gardnerian priestess in the Bay Area might have far less in common with her counterpart in New Jersey than she would with a feminist Witch in Los Angeles. The differences within their traditions were far less important than the differences created by their lives in the world.

By the late 1980s, many of the attitudes described in the previous pages of this chapter had changed.

In particular, there was more political activism among Pagans and a lot more concern with ecology issues than there was when
Drawing Down the Moon
was first published.

Before delving into an area as sensitive as this, it is essential to say, once again, that Pagans are a diverse, individualistic lot. There are Pagans who go camping in RV's with bags of Fritos and there are Pagans who seem to eat nothing but nuts and sprouts. Likewise, there are Pagans who voted for Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, as well as Pagans who have put their bodies in front of military trucks. While most of the political activities of Pagans have been about peace and ecology issues, it's absolutely essential to say over and over again that the groups and individuals described below do not reflect the Pagan movement as a whole. Some people—myself included—may even wish they did, but they only represent a segment. In a 1984 editorial in
Red Garters,
the official newsletter of the New Wiccan Church, an organization of English Traditional Witches, Allyn Wolfe wrote:

Some Pagans were very upset with this editorial, which was published in at least four different magazines in 1985. Ann Forfreedom called it “bigoted” and “hate-filled.” In her view, being anti-feminist, anti-gay, anti-ecology, and politically right-wing was simply not compatible with a Pagan or Wiccan perspective. One group of political Pagans, the Thomas Morton Alliance, even circulated a petition that said they took great exception to Wolfe's views, saying, “It is the very root of Paganism to respect
all
Her living beings,” and that there could be no room for racists, sexists, nationalists, or nuclear proponents among those who were “truly Pagan.” But I think Wolfe was not, himself, espousing the values above—at least not all of them—but was giving an essentially accurate picture of the true political diversity within Neo-Paganism.

With that caveat in mind, in the 1980s there was a growth of political activity,
most
of it in support of alternative, feminist, ecological, “green,” or peace objectives. In 1974, at a Gnosticon festival in Minneapolis, Carl Weschcke, the head of Llewellyn Publications, led an audience in a meditation for peace and healing of the Earth. It was perhaps the most political Pagan event I had seen that year. By the 1980s this had changed. There were quite a few Pagan periodicals with a political emphasis, among them,
Pagans for Peace Newsletter, The Pipes
of P.A.N
. (Pagans Against Nukes), Faeire Fire, Heretics Journal Forum,
and
Reclaiming.

Goddess rituals have taken place in the midst of demonstrations at military bases and nuclear plants. Goddess symbols were placed, rituals danced, and webs woven at Greenham Common, at the Seneca Encampment for a Future of Peace and Justice, and at similar encampments around the world. Goddess affinity groups were arrested blocking the Lawrence Livermore Laboratories again and again. Starhawk, whose books
The Spiral Dance
and
Dreaming the Dark
have perhaps reached more women and men than any other books written by a Pagan, was arrested more than twenty times. In
Dreaming the Dark
Starhawk merges the insights of coven work with lessons learned from anarchist anti-nuclear affinity groups. In addition, Starhawk and other leaders of Reclaiming have taught these ritual and leadership techniques all over the United States and Europe. Moreover, Starhawk is not the only well-known Pagan to involve herself in political action, and face arrest. Several months before his death, Gwydion Pendderwen wrote me these words in a letter, after his own arrest at Livermore:

In 1985, when I asked Pagans to name the most important issues, the top categories were ecology, peace issues, and religious fundamentalism. In the 1970s there wasn't much concern with peace and ecology issues. In the 1980s and 1990s, many Pagans turned their attention to issues of religious freedom. In the fall of 1985, Pagans mobilized to defeat several congressional attempts to deny them religious validity. These attempts came about after ABC aired a television special about Satanism and cult killings. The
20/20
program did not mention the word “witchcraft” even once, but several congressional leaders used this program as a springboard to take actions against Wicca as well as Satanism. Senator Jesse Helms attempted to attach a rider (Amendment 705) to the Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government Appropriations Bill for 1986. A version of this bill, with the amendment, passed the Senate. After an extensive letter-writing campaign, probably the most concerted political effort ever attempted by Pagans, a House-Senate conference committee killed the amendment.