A Grove of Ashes and Aspens

Now Playing: Freya by Brothers of Metal

When considering the major religions of the world, there are a few things that stick out as common between most of them. There’s usually a centralised text or book (or collection of texts) and a specific group of people who are considered to have a certain authority within these religions to whom practitioners go for spiritual guidance.

Paganism in the modern day doesn’t really fit this model. Sure, there are people who are considered authorities that practitioners go to for advice, but they’re often just people who have been practicing for a while and have done what research they can on speculation of how ancient pagans may have lived, or even just regular practitioners like me.

Ancient paganism would have looked very different than it does now, and in a sense, a little more like what most religions look like now. Many groups that would have practiced what we now call paganism would have likely had a person or a group of people that served the role of spiritual leader that those in their community went to for guidance. Even still, many groups were isolated from each other, so the practices between groups would have still varied a good bit depending on what geographical area is being considered.

With a focus on modern practices, there are some neo-pagan organisations with clergy training programs (Ar nDraíocht Fein and Irish Pagan School, among others). However, from what I’ve seen, there isn’t really a standard method for going about clergy training among pagan organisations in the same way other religions have.

In my opinion, this lack of centralisation gives a lot of room for what I think makes paganism so much more unique than other religions. While other religions do have sects that have more of a focus on the individual’s relationship with the divine, there’s still a certain degree of centralisation based on a text or a set of texts or teachings of a central figure. While some forms of paganism do have writings of the myths, most pagans just see them as stories and don’t use the myths as the sole basis for their practice, leading to a very individual practice based on what each person has available, whether it be in the form of materials, money, or even time or energy.

I think it would be interesting to see what a more centralised pagan church would look like, but I also don’t want the religion overall to lose the individuality it holds for the common practitioner. Practicing an animist religion like this has so much potential for each practitioner to make the practice their own and I think that while having a central church could help provide community, it would take away some of the intimacy and personality of the religion.

I think having both spiritual leaders in positions similar to Christian priests is a good thing, since it is nice to have someone to turn to for guidance, but it’s also important to remember that each person will have their own experience with paganism and it isn’t a monolithic experience, and is instead a deeply personal faith for so many people, and that the best most people can provide on another’s experience is advice and potential answers that may or may not help the person understand their experience.