Author: Silverwolf Sanctuary [a WitchVox Sponsor]
Posted: February 1st. 2009
Times Viewed: 221
For whatever reason, it appears that the numbers of non-practicing Pagans are growing at an exponential rate. ("Non-practicing Pagan" is defined here as persons that self-identify as Pagan but do not attend or perform rituals and have no regular routine of prayer or rites, be they group, solitary or any combination of the two.) In a recently observed conversation, a woman discovered that an acquaintance regularly panegyrizes the Divine and characterized the practice as surprisingly quaint! As if the idea of actually exercising some sort of Pagan liturgy was both amusingly antiquated and somewhat atypical.
In the matter of the practicing Pagans, very often it seems that we observe ritual a mere 8 times a year. When a Sabbat comes around, candles and incense are lit, circles are cast and chants are mumbled most austerely. The individual occurrence is joyful, devout and filled with compelling intent and mysticism, but once the candles are blown out, the mundane world comes crashing down and the Divine Mysteries are packed away, only to be dusted off again when the next Sabbat rolls around.
A smaller group of practitioners, often those who represent themselves as Wiccan, also turn out for Esbats, eulogizing Full Moons 13 times a year. A seemingly trivial number of frequently considered "die hards" attend/perform ritual on the 13 New Moons as well. This means that a considerable number of people are celebrating the Divine 8 or 21, or at best 34 times a year. At the most, this is less than 3 times a month, 33% less than the standard weekly worship traditional of Christians (not including those Christians who offer nightly prayers and meal rites) . This is absolutely not meant to validate one religious practice over another, but used merely as a numerical comparative.
Considering that the average Pagan in the United States comes originally from some denomination of a Christian home, it leads to logical conclusion that they often decrease their incidence of spiritual practice upon taking up a Pagan mantle. (Please note this is only a quantitative value, not in any way qualitative.)
This sporadic practice conveys an impression of vague inadequacy; it cannot be spiritually fulfilling to connect to the Earth, the God/dess, the Divine, or whatever your preferred nomenclature, only a handful of times a year. Belief dictates that there is Divinity in all things, that the Divine can be encountered every day, not just on Sabbats. It would be reasonable then to say that the quintessential goal is to find a way to commune with our sacred path on a daily basis, thus forging a more intimate and personal relationship with our spiritual beliefs, with Deity and with all the energies that we define as Divine.
There are legions of impediments that interfere with the cultivation of this individual, circadian pattern of sacrosanct observance. How exactly does one go about becoming a daily Pagan practitioner without creating some sort of every day devotional that runs the risk of becoming both routine and mundane?
The conduit to daily spirituality need not be full of complex mantras, smudging and energy intensive circle casting. The idea in and of itself is both daunting and exhausting. When recalling the amount of self, careful thought and deliberate energy that is put into merely preparing for Esbat or Sabbat rituals, it should be easy to recognize that it is preposterous to expect the same for a daily communion. (Not to mention the momentous amount of élan vital required in actually performing said ceremonies!)
Scheduling becomes another stumbling block to the daily practitioner. Modern life is hectic for almost everyone; between family activities, jobs, home and social obligations, squirreling away time to write and perform daily ritual can be nearly impossible. Who has excess hours for writing intricate, meaningful Quarter Calls and Invocations when there are carpools to catch, dinner to plan, laundry to fold and the boss on the answering machine wondering why you are late (again) to the monthly budget meeting?
Please read the full article HERE
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