Dealing with Neopaganism

I knew neopaganism was a fast growing, non-traditional religious movement, but I didn’t realize how strange its philosophy is.

The Denver Post recently ran a story on the trend. A whole book could be written on neopaganism, the article even mentions one that has been written, but I’m just going to pick a few quotes and examine them.

Druids were the priests of the ancient Celts. The essence of [Jesse] Walter's modern druid faith, he said, is that ‘people's perception of reality is what makes reality.’ He said he religiously avoids negative thoughts.

A rock is a rock regardless of how we perceive it. The earth has always been round even though most people perceived it as flat for thousands of years. Those things, and millions of others, are based on facts existing outside our perceptions. Atheism, theism and polytheism all make claims about facts existing outside the perceptions of people. If the realities of geology, astronomy, biology and many other sciences exist outside our perceptions, why would the realities of supernatural beings, or lack thereof, be any different?

Reality exists without us perceiving it, and it isn’t changed by our perceptions. It doesn’t really matter if we don’t like part of reality. Our tastes, desires and opinions of what is fair or right have never changed anything about reality.

‘You'll get no agreement on how Wiccans see God — or Goddess,’ [Carridwen] Brennan said. ‘In Wicca, there is no 'you have to' and 'you can't.' There is no orthodoxy.’

If something is ‘orthodox,’ it conforms to beliefs, attitudes, or modes of conduct that are generally approved. The quote above about perception making reality is orthodoxy. A common neopagan ethic is “As long as it harms none, do what you will.” That is also orthodoxy. If you say you’re a Wiccan or Druid, two branches of neopaganism, then you are conforming to the beliefs, attitudes or modes of conduct associated with those groups.

‘It's important to have a spiritual path that's working for you,’ Brennan said. ‘We all need a connection to something greater than ourselves.’

Our of all the quotes, I think this is the strangest one, especially after comparing it with the previous quotes. First, our perception of reality is what makes reality. Then, we all need a connection to something greater than ourselves. Don’t those two concept contradict each other?

If you want to connect with something greater than yourself, you have to have an open mind. You need to open your mind to the possibility that reality may not be how you expected. You have to be willing to accept there are some realities you don’t like. You can’t make a connection with something bigger than yourself if you keep your mind closed to anything you disagree with or don’t like. If you constrain your beliefs to your own tastes and desires, you will never connect with anything bigger than yourself.