So, it’s only Day 2 of my pagan experience, and I think I’ve already found my first stumbling block. Paganism is all about nature and, to be perfectly honest, I’m just not that big on the outdoors.
Don’t get me wrong. I love the idea of nature—trees, mountains, the ocean—it’s all fabulous. But personally, I’d rather see it all through a nice big window and not have to get any of that nature on me. I mean, hello—there are bugs out there. Blech!
But then, I’m not the average pagan. Most pagans actually love being outside, communing with the natural world. And it makes sense, because pagans view nature as the physical manifestation of Spirit, or the Divine.
Lots of ancient cultures saw the world the same way. The Earth was viewed as the Goddess, the Great Mother, Mother Earth, Gaia (to the Greeks), or Mother Nature. And the sky was often considered the domain of the God—the male aspect of the one great Divine. (Some cultures reversed the two, seeing the sky as feminine and the Earth as masculine, but let’s stick with our original thought here—I don’t need to get any more confused than I already am.)
Even today, it’s not unusual to hear people from all kinds of backgrounds—not necessarily pagans—talk about their experiences in nature as “spiritual” or use other words to describe nature that border on the religious. I wish I were one of those people, but hey—nobody’s perfect.
Given that lots of people feel better, more themselves, and closer to God (no matter what God they believe in) when they’re outdoors, away from the hustle and bustle and stress of “regular” life, it’s not surprising that pagans see the natural world as a sort of “church,” a place to communicate with the Divine and become closer to the Spirit that resides both in the wonders of nature and in all of us.
For most pagans, this respect for the Earth not only represents a key part of their spiritual beliefs, but also translates into a desire to protect the world from the dangers of pollution, global warming, and all the other problems that human development can cause.
What all this translates into for me is a somewhat unpleasant realization—that I’m going to have to go outside, a lot, this month. I’m going to have to brave the cold (which makes me glad I’m in Texas instead of home in Pennsylvania) and the bugs and the wild animals.
Okay, so there aren’t a whole lot of wild animals roaming the streets of the suburban Dallas area (at least as far as I know), but I swear, I saw a rat—an actual rat—outside the apartment building the other day. So I’m not entirely crazy not to want to be outdoors. If there are rats here, there could be anything!
Still, I hereby commit to get my lazy, couch-loving ass outside. Maybe I’ll even start to like nature. But I doubt it.
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