Editorial: Enthusiasm, Priesthood, and Spoonfeeding

Hi folks, and welcome to Issue 17 of Offerings magazine! Firstly, my apologies for the lack of a Christmas issue – with a combination of personal issues, pathetic number of contributions, and a generally busy Winter term for all, it just didn’t happen. But now we’re back, still going strong! Secondly, it’s now time for my termly rant.

I’ve observed a worrying tendency in a large part of the Pagan community of late: the tendency to expect stuff to happen around you like magic. Talks and workshops occur, and you attend, and it’s all fun and you learn something. That’s great: we like offering you events where you can pick up new ideas and information. Rituals are organized and the rooms for them hired, and many people attend. But when asked to take on a role in the ritual, even a simple one, or when expected to actually do something that requires a little bit of effort during it, they start to get a little less enthusiastic than they were when they thought they were just going to watching a pretty theatre production.

Here’s the deal: yes, there are people who organize. But they’re not your priests or priestesses. They’re not your spiritual superiors. They’re just the people with a little more time or knowledge and are therefore able to plan something. But do not expect them to spoon-feed you spiritual wisdom or magical experiences or transformation. Instead, expect yourselves to be fully present and an active participant in your own growth. Paganism does not teach the same values as the modern MTV generation, where growth and evolution comes about through 12-step programmes and desperately trying to copy other people or be told what to do. In that same culture, responsibility is constantly shifted away from the individual - often because facing up to the fact that we are not all born equal, and sometimes we make mistakes is damn hard. It's encouraged these days to blame the exam board and your tutor if your course grades are bad; to blame your parents and your childhood for all your neuroses; to blame your neuroses for your poor actions and fears; to blame your fears for your inaction; to blame George Bush/Maggie Thatcher/ [insert other hated authority figure here] for anything else...

There is no room in Paganism for shifting the blame. There is no room in Paganism for molly-coddling and a nanny-authority. There is no room in Paganism for waiting for Enlightenment to bite you in the ass while you sit down and do nothing towards making it happen.

Hell, if you're just here for a good time that's great: come along and have fun and we won't expect you to put in any work but just to sit back and relax. But if you're one of those people who SAYS you want self-improvement and to gain knowledge and experience, then bloody well act like it. Don't expect it to be handed to you on a silver platter. Go to talks, workshops, group rituals, trips, read books and articles, work magic regularly, walk your path, explore many other paths, immerse yourself in the thing you say you want to understand.

Cardiff University Pagan Society and the other Pagan groups in South Wales offer a fantastic variety of events on a wide range of subjects. And they're pretty much all free. Wow, free knowledge and experience: something that's becoming exceedingly rare in this day and age. These events offer you an opportunity to walk the path you talk about, and to practice the things you preach.

Please, don't become one of those people who says "Oh, I'm Asatruar" but who never attends Blots or serves the Gods of Valhalla. Don't become the person who has never done any Hedgewitching in their life but likes to spout about how knowledgeable they are on it because they read a couple of books by Rae Beth. Don't tell everybody you're a Chaos Magician when your sole magical practice is a bit of Discordianism once every blue moon when you're a bit bored and can't think of anything better to do.

In the end, we're all in pretty much the same boat. The committee of CUPS are students. Our members are students. The committee though is just that: the committee that organizes your events. It's not your priesthood, it's not going to spoon-feed you enlightenment. It's going to give you opportunities to find it yourself.

May the Spring Equinox bring you renewed vigour and energy.

Blessings,

Kim Huggens
Editor, "Offerings" 2004-Present