Valley Wands

Sometimes I despair! In one breath I hear people complaining that they don't get to take their Sabbatts off from work as religious holidays without using their annual leave, and that some would like Paganism to be included as a bona fide religion.  I've heard complaints that a Handfasting can't be a legal marriage in the UK.  That schools in the UK don't teach Paganism as part of the Religious Education classes, and it's always 'So Unfair' to quote a well known English comedian, that we are just not taken seriously.

With the modern media outlets such as the good old Internet, not to mention social networking sites, all out lives have become a lot more public.  We tend to forget that what we post online is normally visible to not only our friends, but in most cases, anyone else in the world that happens to pass by and can be bothered to stop and read, and that includes the gutter press.

Paganism, as an umbrella term, has so many paths that even if we wished to have a hierarchy it would be impossible, but that is the point, we don't want a hierarchy, that's why a lot of people are Pagans in the first place.  Now don't get me wrong, in smaller private groups, like Groves, Covens or even to some extent Moots, there has to be a hierarchy.  Even the Scouts and Brownies have a hierarchy.  Without organisers, things don't happen, and groups become a nightmare of conflicting personalities, each trying to inflict their own take on what should be happening, consequently, nothing actually happens at all.  But just as a Brown Owl is ruler in the village hall over her brood of little girls, so any hierarchical structure or positions/titles are only valid within the group that bestowed them on the individual. 

This week on Facebook, a witch hunt was started against one man, who within the Pagan community in the UK is a very well known character.  He is an activist, and he stands up for causes which he believes in, and never asks anyone to do something that he is not willing to do himself.  I have a lot of respect for the man, even if sometimes I don't necessarily agree with all his causes, but then it would be a dull world if we all thought the same way.  This man is a true gentleman, oh he's no angel, and would laugh if I said he was, but he believes in truth and justice, and knows exactly where his life is taking him.  So why then should he become such a villain in the eyes of a few people within the community?

Part of the problem is that within the Pagan community we suffer our own share of over inflated Ego's.  In any large group of people, there are leaders and followers, that is just human nature, but we seem to have more than our fair share of people who are totally intolerant of anyone who appears to come across as a leader to anyone outside of Paganism.  Mostly I hear them shout, as this group of people did, 'he doesn't represent me', which is fine, as the gentleman in question in this case, didn't claim to represent anyone other than himself.  He carries a title, but that was bestowed on him by 5 Druid groups, and therefore is only valid within those groups, but he's never claimed it to be anything other than that.  

This constant, and very public playground squabbling, just gives the press more ammunition to drum up ridiculous stories about the lunatic fringe that most perceive Paganism to be.  It hinders work by groups like the Pagan Federation to negotiate with the authorities to get Paganism recognised within some Government Departments such as the Police and Prison Service, to enable workers to be able to rota their shifts around their religious needs, because we are never taken seriously.   

IMO there are two issues here, the first is tolerance.  I thought we practised tolerance of others? tolerance of others religions? tolerance of other race, colour and culture? so what about tolerance of other Pagans beliefs? other Pagans ways? should a Druid not respect a Wiccan for their beliefs and ways of doing things? and of course vice versa.  Should a Druid from one group, not respect the rights of those from another group? even if they don't do things quite the same way.  There is a wonderful saying at Avebury in Wiltshire amongst the local Pagan's there:

'We don't do things incorrectly, we just do them differently'

I think that speaks volumes really. 

Secondly, I think we do need to remember that the Internet can be a fantastic form of communication, it has shrunk the world to the size of a Netball pitch, but it can also be a silent assassin.  Things are written, in black and white, they can be downloaded, and just as this blog could be taken and misrepresented by anyone who felt they could make something sensational out of it on a slow news day, more so can the rantings and ravings of someone's ego, because they felt that another personality was getting more exposure than they were.

To my knowledge, no one has every laid claim to representing all Pagans, and if they did, they'd be laughed out of the forum.