Pagans, like all human beings long for community so why is it that it’s so
hard to create and maintain Pagan community? There is no easy answer to the
question and perhaps the answer is not the same in every situation but one
common problem is that community takes a lot of work. Now this isn’t a
problem if everybody in the community pitches in but more often than not
what happens is that a few people do most if not all of the work all of the
time. To be fair it may be that people don’t realize how much work is
involved; perhaps they think that events just appear. I don’t mean that as
callous as it sounds; what I mean is that I think sometimes that Pagans just
like all people sometimes just don’t think.
When you go to an event like Pagan Pride or a public ritual at the park it
is important to remember that these events don’t just spring up organically.
They often involve many hours of organization, skill and hard work to put on
and as often as not they require some output of money as well. Even events
like Pagan Coffee Nights require some footwork. Each circumstance naturally
has its own set of issues that must be dealt with and someone has to deal
with those issues. Those that volunteer their time, effort, skill and
sometimes money towards these events most often do it for the love of
community. That being said, if those volunteers don’t get some help they
will eventually loose their enthusiasm and energy. If no one else picks up
the ball they will eventually burn out. Organizer burn out is all too common
in the Pagan world.
I bring this up because of a conversation I had with an old friend at a
recent Pagan Pride Day event but it is a conversation I have had many times
over the last few years. This friend was telling me how he missed the store
and how he and a few others had tried repeatedly to create community events
in the area but that their efforts had resulted in what can best be
described as mixed results. One event would be great with 75-80 people
showing up and a good time being had by all. The next event would have 10
people showing up which in and of itself is not a bad thing but a lack
luster turn out would then lead to criticism of the organizers.
Within a very short time people were asking why this small group wasn’t
doing more to promote events and community but what the detractors weren’t
doing was volunteering to do any of the work. They received lots of great
suggestions and promises of help but those promises and suggestions were not
coupled with actual time and work. As is so often the case the small core
group of volunteers got disillusioned and as they had their own jobs and
lives to maintain they simply gave up after a while. It’s not that these
folks aren’t still willing to volunteer some of their time towards the goal
of community but they can’t do it all; they need the support and help of
that community that they are trying to nurture not the derision and
criticism by those people who aren’t helping.
Those of us who have been around for a while have seen this scenario play
out all too often. One group or coven works tirelessly for a number of
events or even years. They work, and organize and spend their own funds and
if they don't get the support and help that they need and deserve they
eventually loose heart so to speak.
Then there is the community that builds around Pagan shops; this is often
the most successful form of community for a lot of reasons. Shops offer a
presence that is constant and tangible and shop owners have a vested in
interest in the community. Offering events helps to bring people into the
shop more often than might be normal which helps to keep the shop doors open
and believe me running a successful and profitable Pagan shop is no easy
task. Shops usually ask for a donation for certain events to help defray
costs but they usually also offer free events that are designed especially
for building community.
I think that another common problem is our varied ideas about what Pagan
community is. As with most things, ask 10 Pagans the same question and you
will get at least 11 different answers. All human beings are the center of
their own universe and for some they are also its brightest star. This
little bit of knowledge has helped me more than I can say over the years and
it holds true in this arena too. Every Pagan has their own ideas about what
Pagan community is and with those ideas their own expectations. Each
individual views everything from that center of their own universe and
reality looks a little different to us all. For some, Pagan community should
look just like them and practice just like they do and believe all the
things that they do; anything else will not meet their expectations. For
others the community is a diverse pool of awesomeness and everyone is
welcomes; well except for those guys, and those other guys over there, oh
and those guys from that other place because they are not really Pagan
anyway and did you see how that other group dresses…I mean really! Then
there are those who truly do enjoy the diversity of beliefs and traditions
that community can provide.
Sometimes when people attend public events especially at shops they feel
that the community is too cliquish. Something to remember is that what
appears cliquish to you might just be close friends or coven mates. I know
that a few people have told me that they felt that Raven’s Flight had this
problem. I would never have thought this to be so but then again like
everything else it's matter of perception. I certainly can’t deny that it
might have felt that way to some because I didn’t perceive things from the
center of their universe but I can tell you that it was never our intention.
Sometimes community events are cliquish or elitist because the people at the
center of the community are trying to shape the community in their image;
they expect it to revolve around them and their philosophy or tradition.
This was the case when I first opened Raven’s Flight. There was a core group
of what I refer to as “Old Guard” Wiccans that were actually instrumental in
getting the store off the ground. Within the first year of being open I came
to realize that our visions of Pagan community were vastly different. One of
my goals was to have a community center of sorts; a place where all sorts of
Pagans were welcome; a place where the diverse traditions, ideas and
philosophies that exist within the Pagan community could co-exist and
express that diversity through rituals, workshops and other events. It seems
that their vision was a little narrower. They thought that Raven’s Flight
would be a place where their type of Pagan reigned supreme and that
dissenting views, practices and ideas where discouraged, derided and
invalidated. They even sought to control the ritual actions of other groups
that facilitated rituals at Raven’s Flight. Actually it would be more
accurate to say that they sought to have me control the rituals that others
facilitated but to their specifications.
Well needless to say their participation with Raven’s Flight came to an end
rather quickly. I tried over the years to open the store to all sorts of
rituals from all sorts of traditions. I had very few rules as to what the
ritual entailed and would sometimes ask to see a copy of the ritual
beforehand but I was more concerned with things like participant privacy and
making sure that nothing illegal was going to take place. To be sure I didn’t
like all of the rituals or even workshops and sometimes I would decline
participating but I never expected groups to conform to my way of doing
things. The idea was to have a place where we could see and experience the
many different ways there are to be Pagan. I can not even count how many
different groups presented rituals and events at Raven’s Flight and how many
different traditions and types of Paganism those rituals expressed but I do
know that I myself learned so much from them. We also held at least two
charity events every year where we collected donated items and funds for
local charities. I learned that nothing brings Pagans together like helping
others; we do seem to be quite big hearted people for the most part. I think
that in many ways we were successful but we for sure weren’t perfect.
No matter what a community volunteer or shop owner does they will never be
able to please everyone but it’s important to remember that they are working
for the community and before you criticize and deride their efforts you
should view the world from their universe or to use a more common cliché;
walk a while in their shoes. Remember that they are not getting paid; they
are volunteering their time and effort to help nurture a community that you
too desire to be part of. Instead try volunteering to help out in whatever
way you can; help organize, set up or clean up. If you belong to a group see
if you can get them to lead a ritual.
That being said, sometimes communities are cliquish; sometimes they do
require too much conformity and if you feel this is the case, just move on.
Don’t let your longing for community compromise your own identity or
philosophy. In a grand vision Pagan community is all encompassing and this
is true in a sense; I always think of Pagan Pride Day events as supporting
this vision. On the other hand there are many sets and subsets of Pagan
community and they are not all going to be suited to everyone.
I know that this time on the soap box is rather long winded but I hope that
it gives you pause to think about what it is you want and what you are
willing to do for it.
Blessings
Raven Womack
Raven’s Flight The Magickal Apothecary
www.ravensflight.net
raven@ravensflight.net
hard to create and maintain Pagan community? There is no easy answer to the
question and perhaps the answer is not the same in every situation but one
common problem is that community takes a lot of work. Now this isn’t a
problem if everybody in the community pitches in but more often than not
what happens is that a few people do most if not all of the work all of the
time. To be fair it may be that people don’t realize how much work is
involved; perhaps they think that events just appear. I don’t mean that as
callous as it sounds; what I mean is that I think sometimes that Pagans just
like all people sometimes just don’t think.
When you go to an event like Pagan Pride or a public ritual at the park it
is important to remember that these events don’t just spring up organically.
They often involve many hours of organization, skill and hard work to put on
and as often as not they require some output of money as well. Even events
like Pagan Coffee Nights require some footwork. Each circumstance naturally
has its own set of issues that must be dealt with and someone has to deal
with those issues. Those that volunteer their time, effort, skill and
sometimes money towards these events most often do it for the love of
community. That being said, if those volunteers don’t get some help they
will eventually loose their enthusiasm and energy. If no one else picks up
the ball they will eventually burn out. Organizer burn out is all too common
in the Pagan world.
I bring this up because of a conversation I had with an old friend at a
recent Pagan Pride Day event but it is a conversation I have had many times
over the last few years. This friend was telling me how he missed the store
and how he and a few others had tried repeatedly to create community events
in the area but that their efforts had resulted in what can best be
described as mixed results. One event would be great with 75-80 people
showing up and a good time being had by all. The next event would have 10
people showing up which in and of itself is not a bad thing but a lack
luster turn out would then lead to criticism of the organizers.
Within a very short time people were asking why this small group wasn’t
doing more to promote events and community but what the detractors weren’t
doing was volunteering to do any of the work. They received lots of great
suggestions and promises of help but those promises and suggestions were not
coupled with actual time and work. As is so often the case the small core
group of volunteers got disillusioned and as they had their own jobs and
lives to maintain they simply gave up after a while. It’s not that these
folks aren’t still willing to volunteer some of their time towards the goal
of community but they can’t do it all; they need the support and help of
that community that they are trying to nurture not the derision and
criticism by those people who aren’t helping.
Those of us who have been around for a while have seen this scenario play
out all too often. One group or coven works tirelessly for a number of
events or even years. They work, and organize and spend their own funds and
if they don't get the support and help that they need and deserve they
eventually loose heart so to speak.
Then there is the community that builds around Pagan shops; this is often
the most successful form of community for a lot of reasons. Shops offer a
presence that is constant and tangible and shop owners have a vested in
interest in the community. Offering events helps to bring people into the
shop more often than might be normal which helps to keep the shop doors open
and believe me running a successful and profitable Pagan shop is no easy
task. Shops usually ask for a donation for certain events to help defray
costs but they usually also offer free events that are designed especially
for building community.
I think that another common problem is our varied ideas about what Pagan
community is. As with most things, ask 10 Pagans the same question and you
will get at least 11 different answers. All human beings are the center of
their own universe and for some they are also its brightest star. This
little bit of knowledge has helped me more than I can say over the years and
it holds true in this arena too. Every Pagan has their own ideas about what
Pagan community is and with those ideas their own expectations. Each
individual views everything from that center of their own universe and
reality looks a little different to us all. For some, Pagan community should
look just like them and practice just like they do and believe all the
things that they do; anything else will not meet their expectations. For
others the community is a diverse pool of awesomeness and everyone is
welcomes; well except for those guys, and those other guys over there, oh
and those guys from that other place because they are not really Pagan
anyway and did you see how that other group dresses…I mean really! Then
there are those who truly do enjoy the diversity of beliefs and traditions
that community can provide.
Sometimes when people attend public events especially at shops they feel
that the community is too cliquish. Something to remember is that what
appears cliquish to you might just be close friends or coven mates. I know
that a few people have told me that they felt that Raven’s Flight had this
problem. I would never have thought this to be so but then again like
everything else it's matter of perception. I certainly can’t deny that it
might have felt that way to some because I didn’t perceive things from the
center of their universe but I can tell you that it was never our intention.
Sometimes community events are cliquish or elitist because the people at the
center of the community are trying to shape the community in their image;
they expect it to revolve around them and their philosophy or tradition.
This was the case when I first opened Raven’s Flight. There was a core group
of what I refer to as “Old Guard” Wiccans that were actually instrumental in
getting the store off the ground. Within the first year of being open I came
to realize that our visions of Pagan community were vastly different. One of
my goals was to have a community center of sorts; a place where all sorts of
Pagans were welcome; a place where the diverse traditions, ideas and
philosophies that exist within the Pagan community could co-exist and
express that diversity through rituals, workshops and other events. It seems
that their vision was a little narrower. They thought that Raven’s Flight
would be a place where their type of Pagan reigned supreme and that
dissenting views, practices and ideas where discouraged, derided and
invalidated. They even sought to control the ritual actions of other groups
that facilitated rituals at Raven’s Flight. Actually it would be more
accurate to say that they sought to have me control the rituals that others
facilitated but to their specifications.
Well needless to say their participation with Raven’s Flight came to an end
rather quickly. I tried over the years to open the store to all sorts of
rituals from all sorts of traditions. I had very few rules as to what the
ritual entailed and would sometimes ask to see a copy of the ritual
beforehand but I was more concerned with things like participant privacy and
making sure that nothing illegal was going to take place. To be sure I didn’t
like all of the rituals or even workshops and sometimes I would decline
participating but I never expected groups to conform to my way of doing
things. The idea was to have a place where we could see and experience the
many different ways there are to be Pagan. I can not even count how many
different groups presented rituals and events at Raven’s Flight and how many
different traditions and types of Paganism those rituals expressed but I do
know that I myself learned so much from them. We also held at least two
charity events every year where we collected donated items and funds for
local charities. I learned that nothing brings Pagans together like helping
others; we do seem to be quite big hearted people for the most part. I think
that in many ways we were successful but we for sure weren’t perfect.
No matter what a community volunteer or shop owner does they will never be
able to please everyone but it’s important to remember that they are working
for the community and before you criticize and deride their efforts you
should view the world from their universe or to use a more common cliché;
walk a while in their shoes. Remember that they are not getting paid; they
are volunteering their time and effort to help nurture a community that you
too desire to be part of. Instead try volunteering to help out in whatever
way you can; help organize, set up or clean up. If you belong to a group see
if you can get them to lead a ritual.
That being said, sometimes communities are cliquish; sometimes they do
require too much conformity and if you feel this is the case, just move on.
Don’t let your longing for community compromise your own identity or
philosophy. In a grand vision Pagan community is all encompassing and this
is true in a sense; I always think of Pagan Pride Day events as supporting
this vision. On the other hand there are many sets and subsets of Pagan
community and they are not all going to be suited to everyone.
I know that this time on the soap box is rather long winded but I hope that
it gives you pause to think about what it is you want and what you are
willing to do for it.
Blessings
Raven Womack
Raven’s Flight The Magickal Apothecary
www.ravensflight.net
raven@ravensflight.net
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