The ol’ Witch in the woods had a couple of beeswax candles, the Sun, Moon and
stars and knowledge of the uses of herbs in her area to use in her practice. The
modern Witch has the world at their fingertips at the click of a mouse button.
Were things better in her time, without the cacophony of engine noise, the
persistent hum of computers, and mobile phone signals that clog up the air? Or
are we far better off out of the dark ages, living comfortable lifestyles
without constant fear of persecution and with worldwide sharing of
information?
I’ve always been a bit of a sci-fi geek, always fascinated
with modern technology. I’m not a Mathematician or a Scientist – I’m a writer,
and I spent my teen-hood making stories from ideas based upon Space exploration
and travel. Most of the fiction I’ve ever written involves futuristic
civilizations living in artificial cities built in Space, the ideas of which
were researched through a lifelong fascination of ‘what’s out there’, and ‘where
mankind will go with it all’. I’ve also always been a sucker for post-
apocalyptic dramas and films; there’s nothing quite like the thrill of the sight
of well- known cities like New York being mass flooded and frozen over as in
The Day after Tomorrow, or deserted and left to nature to take over like
in I am Legend, or even taken over by vicious aliens as in The War of
the Worlds. In fact, any fiction where the planet freezes over or burns to a
crisp or explodes will generally have me on the edge of my seat.
Like any
young person, I wouldn’t be without my laptop, mobile and iPod, these things
which make our day to day lives so much quicker, easier and more enjoyable. Find
me a housewife who’d be without her prize washing machine or a businessman who’d
function for a day without his Blackberry or iPhone. I’ve also always had a
thrill for travel, particularly to far- flung, exotic places. It’s soggy and
grey most of the year where I live, and like many Brits I’m a bit of a sun-
seeker. How easy it is just to bulldoze normal life to one side, hop on a cheap
flight and be transported into a sunnier, warmer, care- free world.
So
you can see where we hit the snag.
Does the slow- paced, Earth- reverence
lifestyle of Paganism not present the exact opposite sort of mentality? Pagans
live in the here and now, grounded in the present, not worrying frantically
about next week or mulling endlessly over a past loss or failure. The majority
of us are focused mainly on environmental issues. (Would you let your backyard
turn into a mini landfill site?) This is the reason so many Pagans pour so much
effort into protecting the environment, everyone’s back yard, and many enjoy
nothing more than a walk through sylvan parks, forests and alongside tinkling
streams rather than in the pristine, perfectly geometric stone and metal cities
of my imagination.
Air travel is of-course a big no-no, so that’s
potentially struck off my ‘How to be a Perfect Pagan’ list, being the largest
producer of Co2 as forms of transport go. Pagans who travel abroad often attempt
to use trains or ferries unless no such alternative is available or practical
for the journey being made. If all else fails, though, I’m told that planting a
tree will cancel out the Carbon Dioxide produced by a medium- haul flight.
All the silver shiny things that make up our day to day lives, the
computers that make us stay- indoorsy robots and the mobile phones that distract
us for hours and hours on end from our natural surroundings, those things that
make our lives easier and more enjoyable on the surface, but in the long term
cause fatigue, depression and stress due to our over- busy lives and lack of
communication with Earth's energies - how on Earth do we fit it into a modern
Pagan lifestyle?
After all Pagans fulfill a variety of jobs and careers
– there are Pagan IT technicians, plumbers, teachers, actors, writers… we
wouldn’t be able to live in this age without technology. The answer is
compromise, to combine the two. We can't progress without embracing modern
technology. Without the wonders of the Internet this article wouldn't be
reaching you. And ‘Progress’, when used to justify annihilating thousands of
acres of rainforest, to deplete the world’s natural resources and to allow
alarmingly and unnaturally rapid shift in the Earth’s climate, really makes me
cringe.
It needn’t be like this. It’s industrial- age thinking. Progress
as a species to me means developing sustainable ways of generating energy and
living, while developing our technology without compromising our ozone layer or
environment. This is of course easier said than done, but for me part of being a
witch is always asking questions, always exploring new ideas and better and more
eco- friendly ways of doing things.
The term 'Techno-Pagan' is becoming
more and more widespread, to describe those who would use the Internet to
network with other Pagans and bring together people and ideas. According to
Wikipedia, the Techno-Pagans are also those who would use modern –day
devices in ritual, such as a ‘disk of Shadows’ instead of a traditional book,
using an oven for a hearth and a laser pointer instead of a wand. Some will go
as far as to say that electrical devices have a soul or energy field of their
own, and their use in ritual helps to bring together the spiritual and physical
worlds. I will use music from my laptop to use in meditation, but generally
speaking I like to keep the two separate.
There’s something magical
about holding a book in your hands filled with carefully written- out pages, and
using altar tools that you made yourself of things you found out in the park or
in the garden. Though I’m sure many of us have the Internet to thank for the
roots or development of our magickal education, or for networking with and
maintaining contact with many more Pagans than otherwise would have crossed our
paths.
But beside all this we can still make time to be one to one with
nature, if we can only pause our hectic lifestyles for a brief time and take in
the serenity of the Earth’s healing energies. I’m a great admirer of the Pagan
author Starhawk, and her novel The Fifth Sacred Thing tells of a
futuristic world where a bleak, totalitarian regime attempts relentlessly to
invade a small green pocket of land where witches fight with their lives to
protect diversity, freedom and the greenery of the planet. Here she combines my
two favorite genres, and in the novel these two extremes are set to clash
horribly. This isn’t the way it will be in my own life, though; getting the
right balance is imperative to our wellbeing, and if we can reach for the
silvery stars while keeping rooted in the green Earth, we will make great tracks
indeed in our lives and in the lives of others.
Footnotes:
www.wikipedia.org
Starhawk, 'The Fifth Sacred Thing'
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