Post by jadedsage on Oct 30, 2004 23:50:05 GMT -5
Some faiths struggle with falling membership, but Paganism ranks are swelling There are nearly twice as many female practitioners as male, writes Ron Csillag
They don't turn people into toads. They don't clip coupons for eye of newt. If they mumble something over a bubbling cauldron, as many will tomorrow night on Halloween, it's likely a prayer over some mulled wine.
Most of all, they don't worship the Devil.
Today's Pagans, whose numbers encompass Wiccans, are quick to point out that Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer — the Prince of Darkness has many names — is largely a Christian creation that has nothing to do with their religion, which represents quite a success story in Canada and around the world.
While other faith groups struggle to maintain membership or rely on immigration for growth, the number of declared Pagans in Canada swelled from 5,500 in 1991 to 21,085 a decade later, a 380 per cent increase. And experts say that's probably a low count, as many Pagans either don't feel secure enough to disclose their beliefs, or parse their affinity further to one of the faith's many branches.
In Toronto's census area, the number of adherents in 2001, according to Statistics Canada, was 2,415, a figure that reflects the same phenomenon as at the federal level: There are nearly twice as many female practitioners as male.
The dramatic rise in Pagan numbers shows how unconventional religions are becoming more mainstream, says new religions researcher Shelley Rabinovitch, a University of Ottawa professor whose course, "Witchcraft, Magic and Occult Phenomena" is among the most popular on campus.
"In larger cities especially, the stigma of saying, `I'm a witch,' or `I'm a pagan' has greatly diminished," says Rabinovitch.
To the point where the University of Victoria several years ago appointed Canada's first Pagan campus chaplain, who is authorized to conduct weddings. Last December, students there marked the winter solstice with dances that paid reverence to stag antlers as symbols of the cycle of life. Revellers also dipped a ceremonial knife called an athamé into a cast-iron cauldron of wine to symbolize the unity of male and female divinity.
Spooky? Wicked?
Richard James smiles knowingly.
"That old devil worship thing still haunts us," shrugs James, high priest of the Wiccan Church of Canada, founded in 1979. An adherent since 1977, James estimates a quarter of Canadian Pagans are Wiccans.
Wicca, he explains at Toronto's ramshackle Wiccan church, upstairs from the Vaughan Road Occult Shop James operates, attracts new followers "first and foremost because it has more than one deity, many of whom are female," and also because it has no central authority, no formal membership and no hidebound dogma.
Wiccans, who form the largest part of Paganism, say their religion is rooted in pre-Christian reverence for the Earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons. All natural phenomena are considered sacred. So are all people, regardless of their beliefs. Bricks-and-mortar churches are built, but real sacred spaces are in forests, fields and hearts.
There are many forms of Wicca, but most share a worship of the divine feminine rooted in the ancient concept of a Mother Goddess, and her three aspects of Maiden, Mother and Crone. While the belief system is polytheistic, it's also dualistic (one God and one Goddess) as well as pantheistic, viewing divinity as present in all nature.
Its ethical credo is found in the Wiccan Rede, a kind of golden rule that states, "An it harm none, do as ye will." Men and women are completely equal.
There's also a sort of karma espoused in the Threefold Law: "What ye send returns three times over."
Typically, Wicca is practised in small, close-knit groups called covens. Rituals include casting a circle as the basic setting for spiritual reverence and magic, and emphasis on the Platonic four elements of earth, air, fire and water.
As for spells and incantations, "they're just prayers," James says. "They can be complicated but they're prayers."
But is it a recognized religion in Canada? James scoffs and chuckles at the same time.
"It's recognized when the government finds it convenient. There are no Wiccan or Pagan organizations that are recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency as a charity, but (the government) does want to provide our services in prisons."
Indeed, Correctional Services Canada and the Department of National Defence include Wicca in their list of religions whose followers are entitled to services and special diets as required.
As for the "W" word (witch), "it has gone through so many transformations of meaning, it's ridiculous," James says. "One meaning is a priest or priestess of a Pagan religion. Another is a person who does magic. The word gets bounced around a lot."
Especially in popular culture. You can barely turn on the television without running into teenaged witches, demon slayers named Buffy, and, inevitably, dusty tomes with the word "Magick" emblazoned on their covers.
"I apologize to J.K. Rowling, who always twitches when this happens, but the fact is that Harry Potter has made an occult universe a palatable one," says Rabinovitch. While some regard Paganism as a fringe religion, or not a religion at all, Rabinovitch downplays its reach.
"When a person says they are a witch or someone is accused of being one, the automatic subtext most people who are not well educated about the topic hear is, `Satanist.' (But) the Paganism, the Wicca, that is popular today is a very, very gentle sort of Wicca. It's what some people disparagingly refer to as `strawberries and elves' or `bunnies and light.' It's based on kind of a mythic back-to-the-land (sentiment), a simple, less stressful time, and great deal of self-empowerment, of giving oneself permission to make important decisions about one's life."
That helps to explain its growth, especially among women. Also, people "are searching not just for a concept of the divine, but direct experience of the divine in their daily lives. When you start getting into orthodox, joyous expression in contact with the divine, you're getting close to what people are finding in things like Wicca — and Pentecostal Christianity — without all the filters of rabbis and priests and ministers telling you how to believe."
Modern Pagans are not anti-Christian, merely non-Christian, says Gina Ellis, president of the Ottawa-based Pagan Federation of Canada. "The word Pagan means `country-dweller,' those in the countryside who were not converted (to Christianity) right away. Most Pagans in Canada are urban but many are just trying to get back to their roots.
"We're regular folks and we come in many varieties. When you run into one, it's like running into a Christian." Pagans include Druids, Asatru (those who worship Norse gods) and Celtic and Hellenic Reconstructionists.
While some who are drawn to Paganism "see it as a variation of Goth and semi-rebellion against parents," many followers are simply rejecting established religions. "They're saying `I am as capable of thinking about all this as the so-called authorities,'" Ellis says.
Ellis and other Pagans are looking forward to a milestone next spring, one they say reflects their religion's arrival: the first National Pagan Conference, set for May in Edmonton.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Csillag is a Toronto writer specializing in religion. He can be reached at csillag@rogers.com.
They don't turn people into toads. They don't clip coupons for eye of newt. If they mumble something over a bubbling cauldron, as many will tomorrow night on Halloween, it's likely a prayer over some mulled wine.
Most of all, they don't worship the Devil.
Today's Pagans, whose numbers encompass Wiccans, are quick to point out that Satan, Beelzebub, Lucifer — the Prince of Darkness has many names — is largely a Christian creation that has nothing to do with their religion, which represents quite a success story in Canada and around the world.
While other faith groups struggle to maintain membership or rely on immigration for growth, the number of declared Pagans in Canada swelled from 5,500 in 1991 to 21,085 a decade later, a 380 per cent increase. And experts say that's probably a low count, as many Pagans either don't feel secure enough to disclose their beliefs, or parse their affinity further to one of the faith's many branches.
In Toronto's census area, the number of adherents in 2001, according to Statistics Canada, was 2,415, a figure that reflects the same phenomenon as at the federal level: There are nearly twice as many female practitioners as male.
The dramatic rise in Pagan numbers shows how unconventional religions are becoming more mainstream, says new religions researcher Shelley Rabinovitch, a University of Ottawa professor whose course, "Witchcraft, Magic and Occult Phenomena" is among the most popular on campus.
"In larger cities especially, the stigma of saying, `I'm a witch,' or `I'm a pagan' has greatly diminished," says Rabinovitch.
To the point where the University of Victoria several years ago appointed Canada's first Pagan campus chaplain, who is authorized to conduct weddings. Last December, students there marked the winter solstice with dances that paid reverence to stag antlers as symbols of the cycle of life. Revellers also dipped a ceremonial knife called an athamé into a cast-iron cauldron of wine to symbolize the unity of male and female divinity.
Spooky? Wicked?
Richard James smiles knowingly.
"That old devil worship thing still haunts us," shrugs James, high priest of the Wiccan Church of Canada, founded in 1979. An adherent since 1977, James estimates a quarter of Canadian Pagans are Wiccans.
Wicca, he explains at Toronto's ramshackle Wiccan church, upstairs from the Vaughan Road Occult Shop James operates, attracts new followers "first and foremost because it has more than one deity, many of whom are female," and also because it has no central authority, no formal membership and no hidebound dogma.
Wiccans, who form the largest part of Paganism, say their religion is rooted in pre-Christian reverence for the Earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons. All natural phenomena are considered sacred. So are all people, regardless of their beliefs. Bricks-and-mortar churches are built, but real sacred spaces are in forests, fields and hearts.
There are many forms of Wicca, but most share a worship of the divine feminine rooted in the ancient concept of a Mother Goddess, and her three aspects of Maiden, Mother and Crone. While the belief system is polytheistic, it's also dualistic (one God and one Goddess) as well as pantheistic, viewing divinity as present in all nature.
Its ethical credo is found in the Wiccan Rede, a kind of golden rule that states, "An it harm none, do as ye will." Men and women are completely equal.
There's also a sort of karma espoused in the Threefold Law: "What ye send returns three times over."
Typically, Wicca is practised in small, close-knit groups called covens. Rituals include casting a circle as the basic setting for spiritual reverence and magic, and emphasis on the Platonic four elements of earth, air, fire and water.
As for spells and incantations, "they're just prayers," James says. "They can be complicated but they're prayers."
But is it a recognized religion in Canada? James scoffs and chuckles at the same time.
"It's recognized when the government finds it convenient. There are no Wiccan or Pagan organizations that are recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency as a charity, but (the government) does want to provide our services in prisons."
Indeed, Correctional Services Canada and the Department of National Defence include Wicca in their list of religions whose followers are entitled to services and special diets as required.
As for the "W" word (witch), "it has gone through so many transformations of meaning, it's ridiculous," James says. "One meaning is a priest or priestess of a Pagan religion. Another is a person who does magic. The word gets bounced around a lot."
Especially in popular culture. You can barely turn on the television without running into teenaged witches, demon slayers named Buffy, and, inevitably, dusty tomes with the word "Magick" emblazoned on their covers.
"I apologize to J.K. Rowling, who always twitches when this happens, but the fact is that Harry Potter has made an occult universe a palatable one," says Rabinovitch. While some regard Paganism as a fringe religion, or not a religion at all, Rabinovitch downplays its reach.
"When a person says they are a witch or someone is accused of being one, the automatic subtext most people who are not well educated about the topic hear is, `Satanist.' (But) the Paganism, the Wicca, that is popular today is a very, very gentle sort of Wicca. It's what some people disparagingly refer to as `strawberries and elves' or `bunnies and light.' It's based on kind of a mythic back-to-the-land (sentiment), a simple, less stressful time, and great deal of self-empowerment, of giving oneself permission to make important decisions about one's life."
That helps to explain its growth, especially among women. Also, people "are searching not just for a concept of the divine, but direct experience of the divine in their daily lives. When you start getting into orthodox, joyous expression in contact with the divine, you're getting close to what people are finding in things like Wicca — and Pentecostal Christianity — without all the filters of rabbis and priests and ministers telling you how to believe."
Modern Pagans are not anti-Christian, merely non-Christian, says Gina Ellis, president of the Ottawa-based Pagan Federation of Canada. "The word Pagan means `country-dweller,' those in the countryside who were not converted (to Christianity) right away. Most Pagans in Canada are urban but many are just trying to get back to their roots.
"We're regular folks and we come in many varieties. When you run into one, it's like running into a Christian." Pagans include Druids, Asatru (those who worship Norse gods) and Celtic and Hellenic Reconstructionists.
While some who are drawn to Paganism "see it as a variation of Goth and semi-rebellion against parents," many followers are simply rejecting established religions. "They're saying `I am as capable of thinking about all this as the so-called authorities,'" Ellis says.
Ellis and other Pagans are looking forward to a milestone next spring, one they say reflects their religion's arrival: the first National Pagan Conference, set for May in Edmonton.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Csillag is a Toronto writer specializing in religion. He can be reached at csillag@rogers.com.