Paracelsus
May 11th, 2007, 02:24 AM
Most of us would take it for granted that, as Pagans, we have a special way of looking at and understanding the world that the majority of the non-pagan world is unable to share. Whether we express this in Shamanic terms, thinking about spirits, or in terms of the Goddess, or her relationship with the God, this perception is so wide-spread that Paganism is often referred to, by people both inside and outside the traditions as “Nature Religion”. This unique perspective is often seen to have particular strength in approaching environmental issues – it is easy to assume that Paganism has a unique perspective to share on these; some people even adapt the old joke about the Church of England – suggesting that Paganism is “The Green Party at Prayer”.
When we start to think through this perception however it is pretty clear that given the enormous diversity of attitudes and practices in contemporary Paganism, such assumptions might not really represent the lived reality of “what Pagans do” – they may well be unrepresentative, possibly even misleading.
I’ve been fascinated with the idea of exploring the ways in which Pagans choose to engage with the modern world, ever since I first began to think of myself as a Pagan, and now I’m lucky enough to be doing some research on this area (with Graham Harvey at the Open University in the UK). I believe quite firmly that the unique contribution of Paganism in ethical discussions is not restricted to thinking about the environment – but may well bring a fresh perspective to many other issues. A really vital part of my research is going to be to identify the kinds of ways in which Pagans are engaged in relation to particular issues. This is quite simply done on a small scale, but much harder to do on a large one – but meeting this challenge is important, not only in terms of my research, but also in terms of enriching our wider understanding of the diverse kinds of Pagan attitudes and engagements.
I’ve come up with an Internet Questionnaire that I would like to invite everyone to complete (and tell all your friends about it too!) The more people that fill it in, the more accurate a picture of the kinds of attitudes that Pagans have will be revealed – a picture that I hope will be of interest to us all! The Questionnaire is fairly brief – it should take around 20-30 minutes to complete at the most, all responses will be completely anonymous, and of course, you will be able to use the website to contact me if you want to express your views at greater length (or if you would like to be involved in follow-up interviews). You will be able to find it at:
http://pagansurvey.brinkster.net
I do hope that you will be able to find the time to help; and not just by filling it in, but also by telling others about it as well!
Many thanks
When we start to think through this perception however it is pretty clear that given the enormous diversity of attitudes and practices in contemporary Paganism, such assumptions might not really represent the lived reality of “what Pagans do” – they may well be unrepresentative, possibly even misleading.
I’ve been fascinated with the idea of exploring the ways in which Pagans choose to engage with the modern world, ever since I first began to think of myself as a Pagan, and now I’m lucky enough to be doing some research on this area (with Graham Harvey at the Open University in the UK). I believe quite firmly that the unique contribution of Paganism in ethical discussions is not restricted to thinking about the environment – but may well bring a fresh perspective to many other issues. A really vital part of my research is going to be to identify the kinds of ways in which Pagans are engaged in relation to particular issues. This is quite simply done on a small scale, but much harder to do on a large one – but meeting this challenge is important, not only in terms of my research, but also in terms of enriching our wider understanding of the diverse kinds of Pagan attitudes and engagements.
I’ve come up with an Internet Questionnaire that I would like to invite everyone to complete (and tell all your friends about it too!) The more people that fill it in, the more accurate a picture of the kinds of attitudes that Pagans have will be revealed – a picture that I hope will be of interest to us all! The Questionnaire is fairly brief – it should take around 20-30 minutes to complete at the most, all responses will be completely anonymous, and of course, you will be able to use the website to contact me if you want to express your views at greater length (or if you would like to be involved in follow-up interviews). You will be able to find it at:
http://pagansurvey.brinkster.net
I do hope that you will be able to find the time to help; and not just by filling it in, but also by telling others about it as well!
Many thanks