The Only Rant So Far that Isn't About Paganism

Firstly, I’d like to begin by wishing you all a very merry Christmas, Yuletide, Winter Solstice, etc. May it be a happy, joyous time full of chocolate, cake, turkey, and presents.

However, this time of year has got me thinking about the bigger issues. Y’know, the amount of food we waste at Christmas. The immense amount of money we spend on presents for our friends and family. The petrol we use to travel to our loved ones’ homes for the holiday. The electricity and gas we consume with our extra heating and extra lighting as the days get colder and the nights longer. Most importantly, this thinking leads me down the road of ecological issues: the effect all of this has upon the environment and the state of this planet.

Now, many descriptions of Paganism include some sort of reference to worshipping nature, revering it, viewing it as inherently sacred, seeing our Gods in nature, or something similar. But when was the last time you actually saw one of your Pagan friends praying to a rock? Kneeling before a tree giving it praise? Conversely, how many times have you been (or seen someone else being) criticized as a Pagan for not doing every single ritual outside amongst nature, or not celebrating Earth Day?

I’ve never been to an Earth Day ritual. I’ve heard a few things about some of the celebrants in attendance carelessly leaving litter around at the end of the ceremony, which would make me so angry that I’d probably have to be dragged away carefully by worried friends lest I start something ugly. Not because it’s so damaging to the earth (a drink bottle can easily be picked up by somebody else and put in the correct recycling bin…) but because of the hypocrisy. And it’s just this hypocrisy that continues to weave its way through the Pagan community.

The community says we must do rituals outdoors, do rituals to heal the earth, do ceremonies to send healing to the oceans or the dolphins; it says we must mould our lives around the changing seasons, celebrating each one of Mother Nature’s cycles and turning points. Unfortunately, no matter how many rituals for healing the earth we might perform, if we don’t do something at home, on our own level, to help, we might as well be doing nothing. As far as I can see, we can have all the Pagan-friendly nature-revering views we like, and it isn’t going to make a blind bit of difference.

You see, I don’t believe for one minute that being a member of a Pagan religion should make one more ecologically friendly, or indeed that it necessitates any nature worship or reverence at all. I do believe, however, that the duty and responsibility of ecological awareness and action (e.g. recycling, supporting local food producers, buying organic and free range, etc.) is a human concern. Every person in this country (I can’t speak for other countries, having never lived in them!), regardless of their religious beliefs, should be making their lives more ecologically sound. Because it’s just plain common sense.

Ecological awareness and action is not a religious issue. Anybody trying to bring religion into it as a reason to do it is not serving the cause at all but instead confusing it with an even more subjective factor that is going to drive more people away than attract them. We shouldn’t recycle because we are Pagan, but because it makes sense not to have non-biodegradable rubbish sitting in landfills for hundreds of years. We shouldn’t compost because we are Wiccan, but because it is useful for gardening and puts all those nutrients created from rotting food to good use. We shouldn’t buy free range chicken because we are Heathen, but because the chicken has been given a better life before its death (and because it tastes better and is better for you nutrionally!) We shouldn’t be cutting down our fuel consumption in the form of petrol, oil, electricity, and gas because we are Druid, but because the planet is rapidly running out of the resources to provide it, and our bills become a lot cheaper!

With the credit crunch and an economy rapidly running towards recession, ecologically friendly ways of living provide us students with a way of cutting our expenses. Similarly, if more of us could learn to produce items ourselves (clothing, jewellery, smellies, foods, art, and more) we would have less cause to buy mass-produced items that run a higher risk of being produced in sweat shops or by child labour in developing countries. What’s more, it provides an excellent hobby, training in a skill that will be used throughout a lifetime, and makes your Christmas gifts cheaper and much more personal and appreciated.

See, it makes a lot of sense. Anybody that can’t see the benefits of recycling or cutting down on the use of one’s car obviously has no sense; and anybody that needs a Pagan ethic to fuel their ecological activity has missed the point entirely.

Okay, so it wasn’t as funny a rant as usual. I apologize, and promise I’ll be back next issue with something a little more light hearted.

Have a good (preferably home-made, Fairtrade, free range) Christmas!

Blessings,
Kim Huggens
Editor, Offerings.