Hello, readers - yes I, and el bloggo, are still alive. Been a hibernatious winter, but the creatures are stirring, and we'll start seeing some life here again. I'll start with a short archived-answer post on a topic that recurs often in recent Pagan discussion:
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| Arranging a full working can be, well, work. |
As is so often the case
for modern Pagans we find ourselves somewhat stymied by attempts to apply
standard popular religious vocabulary and understandings to our ways. Nowhere
is this more evident than in discussions of worship and our relationships with
the divine in the persons of the Gods. One common Pagan turn of phrase, often
used to avoid less-agreeable characterization – is to speak of ‘working with’ a
deity. This phrase has been offensive to some polytheists, who find it
inadequately respectful. Myself I find it apt, so let’s have a look into the
idea…
First, I do not 'follow'
deities, I am not a 'follower' of my gods. I think that the image of Jesus as
wandering teacher, and the church’s presentation of Christianity as a set of
prescriptions for how to live, has over-emphasized ‘following’ as a religious
model. But my Gods don't teach me how to live, or make rules. They aren't
leading a movement of which I am a member.
I do worship the Gods and
Spirits. All of them, really. I use the term ‘worship’ to mean ‘ritual
reflection of relationship’. I intend to build and keep my kinship and
friendship with the spiritual world. There are many facets to that project, and
one of them is the formal politenesses of ritual. My own aesthetic is fairly
High Church – I like good art employed consciously to bring spiritual forces
closer to the mortal world. So I enjoy making Shrines and devotional corners in
my home and life.
So my spiritual practice
takes me from the handicraft bench out to the woods and back to the
meditation-seat at my shrine. When I’m being observant it can be rather a lot
to do. So I refer to my religion/spirituality as my 'spiritual work', not as my
'faith’. I conceive spirituality as rooted in practice, not belief, and
consider a ‘religion’ to be defined by its method more than by its doctrine. I commonly
say that I 'work' a ritual (I like that better than 'perform'), and refer to
the material props of ritual as 'tools'.
To digress, I do not
consider ‘worship’ (nor ‘work with’) to imply rank or hierarchy, nor expect it
to be a one-way, bottom-up transaction. Worship operates precisely because
human effort is worthy. We greet the gods as honored guests, give the kind of
worthy gifts that mortals give. One core principle is that a gift calls for a
gift, and each ought to give according to their nature. So the spirits, in
turn, give us the gifts spirits can give – the blessings we seek in our work.
In this we each – mortals and the gods and spirits - ‘work’ according to our
nature, each for the good of the other.
So to say that I ‘work
with’ Brigid is simply to say that Brigid is included in (is a part of) my
spiritual work. The form that part takes is or includes worship, and I’m
willing to refer to the relationship as ‘devotional’, implying that I approach
Her with love, not merely as a transaction. It says nothing about the relative
status of me and Brigid. I do not count her as my ‘Lord’ in the sense of
“-and-master”; she is a noble being, who inspires awe. Likewise it would be
just silly to think of myself as her ‘equal’ – can I be the equal of a river or
mountain? I make myself available to ‘work with’ her will, and I ask her aid in
working my own will. So far that has all been good.
So then, I find 'work with' to be a reasonable, neutral usage
for describing polytheist practice, one that describes what really happens without
any connotation of disrespect for the gods.
