{"id":6397,"date":"2012-02-01T01:10:14","date_gmt":"2012-02-01T06:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=6582"},"modified":"2012-01-28T15:55:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-28T20:55:00","slug":"pagan-theology-31","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2012\/02\/01\/pagan-theology-31\/","title":{"rendered":"Pagan Theology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Getting out of the stores<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am no historian of religions but I have to think that ours is the first that is mainly built up around stores.\u00a0\u00a0 It is somehow humorously incongruous, a religion, something that is traditionally divorced from the material world, that meets in, organizes around, and has the main part of its public identity bound up in stores.\u00a0 I suspect that this is also a uniquely American way of managing our religion.\u00a0 An easy analysis would say that its our pervasive materialism simply expressing itself in religious terms.\u00a0 If megachurches can have Starbucks and gift shops then we may indeed be at the cutting edge of religion in America.\u00a0 We don\u2019t just have shops in our churches, our churches are shops.<\/p>\n

But that is too easy.\u00a0 First, we simply don\u2019t have many other places to go, particularly in large cities. \u00a0Second, they are more than just a meeting space.<\/p>\n

They are an affirmation, one of the few, to the rest of the world that we exist.\u00a0 They occupy a place on the street where everyone can see that Pagans and Witches exist.\u00a0 If we didn\u2019t then who else would frequent these shops?<\/p>\n

We also have a unique problem, as the only alternative is to welcome people into our houses and other personal spaces.\u00a0 This can be challenging for a variety of reasons.\u00a0 We all know that crazy Pagan or the strange individual who has other motives.\u00a0 Shops are a place that the picky, or perhaps sensible, amongst us can use to screen out at least some of the crazies.\u00a0 They are a buffer between our intimate inner circles and the rest of the world, a \u201cthird place\u201d that is neither festival nor personal.\u00a0 Unlike Churches or rented halls the authority against trespass in shops is clear and readily backed up by law enforcement.\u00a0 Most likely the owner will be there at the same time we are meeting, ready to police any behavior that goes too far outside of the (rather wide and relatively unmarked) lanes of Paganism.<\/p>\n

Stores also allow leaders within our religion a place to both work and practice our religion.\u00a0 With no paid clergy everything we do is volunteer and unpaid.\u00a0 Books, shops, spells, or other items that can be sold are virtually the only way someone who is dedicated to the Craft and Paganism can work full time on their calling. Buying things and books at shops are the way we support the community.\u00a0 The way we provide space and a place to worship.\u00a0 They are a way to support some of the elders and Priests and Priestesses who serve us.<\/p>\n

All this occurs to me because Lauri Cabot has just announced that she will be closing down her Salem shop at the end of January [http:\/\/www.theofficialwitchshoppe.com\/].\u00a0 It ends a 42 year run for Cabot in Salem where she has owned a variety of shops.\u00a0 Regardless of what you think about her style and flamboyance, she has done a lot to mainstream modern American Paganism.\u00a0 She grew Salem into a place where Witchcraft and Paganism are not just accepted inside of a few houses and stores, but on the street and within the government (Gov. Dukakis proclaimed her the \u201cofficial Witch of Salem\u201d). \u00a0\u00a0And she did it through the stores.<\/p>\n

Beginning in 1971 with Crow Haven Corner she has run four different stores in Salem, working the publicity and her reputation to bring in business not just for herself, but for the whole community.\u00a0\u00a0 Her goal was \u201cto care for my children, support myself and family financially and educate the world about Witchcraft while living my life as a Witch.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what will Cabot be doing now that the shop is closing?\u00a0 Focus on building a temple of Witchcraft in Salem.\u00a0\u00a0 What she probably would rather have done from the beginning.\u00a0 She just couldn\u2019t afford to do it because the depth and breadth of the congregation just wasn\u2019t there 42 years ago to back her up.\u00a0 Now it is.<\/p>\n

This is an interesting evolution in our faith.\u00a0\u00a0 First, it is worth noting that Cabot was a real pioneer.\u00a0 There weren\u2019t a lot of public expressions of Paganism back in the 1970\u2019s and she was a real visionary when she opened her store.\u00a0 \u00a0As a pioneer she could be said to have established the tradition in the US of having a \u201cplace\u201d in which witches could gather and practice.\u00a0 She was prophetic in opening a store, as stores have now become one of the de-facto public meeting places for Pagans and Witches.\u00a0 The only other public place where Pagans and Witches gather is in Unitarian Universalist Churches through the Covenant of UU Pagans.\u00a0\u00a0 But UU Churches, for all the benefits they provide and their welcoming tradition, put a particular color on the rituals they sponsor (they are a Church after all, with specific beliefs and traditions unrelated to Paganism).<\/p>\n

Now I think the question is whether Cabot is being prophetic in her opening the temple.\u00a0 As she grows older (she\u2019s in her 70\u2019s now) I can guess that there is a desire to leave something behind that will continue on when she is gone.\u00a0 I suspect that is the desire of many of us in the Pagan community, but what that might be has been elusive.\u00a0 A temple, a self-sustaining community with clergy and infrastructure is one thing that just might endure past our lifetimes.\u00a0 Stores, while they can provide infrastructure, don\u2019t have the process and organization required for training and supporting priests and priestesses.\u00a0 Temples do.<\/p>\n

So Cabot\u2019s move from being a business woman to a full time Priestess begs the question:\u00a0 are we going to move from a store based public front to a temple based image?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know, but I suspect that if we don\u2019t, it will be difficult to sustain an organized Pagan religion that has impact in the community.\u00a0 While it is always possible to practice magic and witchcraft, Paganism and Witchcraft are not just magic: they are religions.\u00a0 And religions require people, process, and infrastructure in order to sustain themselves over long periods of time.\u00a0 Currently we have a lot of enthusiastic people, but how do we sustain those people over time?\u00a0 We have a multitude of processes, but those processes (initiation, training, etc.) are not anchored in both a body of people or a place to go.\u00a0 Instead they are dispersed amongst any number of covens, groups, and traditions.<\/p>\n

Now that Cabot is moving on from store to temple, I believe other places, whether they are a temple or some \u201cthird place\u201d where we can meet will follow suit.\u00a0 Even in my own town a group has established a Pagan community center.\u00a0 Just as there was a long and complicated path that led from store to temple in Salem, there will be a long path as others move from small meetings and coven groups to something more organized, more established.\u00a0 We will always have our covens, but the potential exists to have something more.\u00a0 And our prophet has once again shown us the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getting out of the stores I am no historian of religions but I have to think that ours is the first that is mainly built up around stores.\u00a0\u00a0 It is somehow humorously incongruous, a religion, something that is traditionally divorced from the material world, that meets in, organizes around, and has the main part of its public identity bound up in stores.\u00a0 I suspect that this is also a uniquely American way of managing our religion.\u00a0 An easy analysis would say that its our pervasive materialism simply expressing itself in religious terms.\u00a0 If megachurches can have Starbucks and gift shops then we may indeed be at the cutting edge of religion in America.\u00a0 We don\u2019t just have shops in our churches, our churches are shops. But that is too easy.\u00a0 First, we simply don\u2019t have many other places to go, particularly in large cities. \u00a0Second, they are more than just a meeting space. They are an affirmation, one of the few, to the rest of the world that we exist.\u00a0 They occupy a place on the street where everyone can see that Pagans and Witches exist.\u00a0 If we didn\u2019t then who else would frequent these shops? We also have a unique problem, as the only alternative is to welcome people into our houses and other personal spaces.\u00a0 This can be challenging for a variety of reasons.\u00a0 We all know that crazy Pagan or the strange individual who has other motives.\u00a0 Shops are a place that the picky, or perhaps sensible, amongst us can use to screen out at least some of the crazies.\u00a0 They are a buffer between our intimate inner circles and the rest of the world, a \u201cthird place\u201d that is neither festival nor personal.\u00a0 Unlike Churches or rented halls the authority against trespass in shops is clear and readily backed up by law enforcement.\u00a0 Most likely the owner will be there at the same time we are meeting, ready to police any behavior that goes too far outside of the (rather wide and relatively unmarked) lanes of Paganism. Stores also allow leaders within our religion a place to both work and practice our religion.\u00a0 With no paid clergy everything we do is volunteer and unpaid.\u00a0 Books, shops, spells, or other items that can be sold are virtually the only way someone who is dedicated to the Craft and Paganism can work full time on their calling. Buying things and books at shops are the way we support the community.\u00a0 The way we provide space and a place to worship.\u00a0 They are a way to support some of the elders and Priests and Priestesses who serve us. All this occurs to me because Lauri Cabot has just announced that she will be closing down her Salem shop at the end of January [http:\/\/www.theofficialwitchshoppe.com\/].\u00a0 It ends a 42 year run for Cabot in Salem where she has owned a variety of shops.\u00a0 Regardless of what you think about her style and flamboyance, she has done a lot to mainstream modern American Paganism.\u00a0 She grew Salem into a place where Witchcraft and Paganism are not just accepted inside of a few houses and stores, but on the street and within the government (Gov. Dukakis proclaimed her the \u201cofficial Witch of Salem\u201d). \u00a0\u00a0And she did it through the stores. Beginning in 1971 with Crow Haven Corner she has run four different stores in Salem, working the publicity and her reputation to bring in business not just for herself, but for the whole community.\u00a0\u00a0 Her goal was \u201cto care for my children, support myself and family financially and educate the world about Witchcraft while living my life as a Witch.\u201d So what will Cabot be doing now that the shop is closing?\u00a0 Focus on building a temple of Witchcraft in Salem.\u00a0\u00a0 What she probably would rather have done from the beginning.\u00a0 She just couldn\u2019t afford to do it because the depth and breadth of the congregation just wasn\u2019t there 42 years ago to back her up.\u00a0 Now it is. This is an interesting evolution in our faith.\u00a0\u00a0 First, it is worth noting that Cabot was a real pioneer.\u00a0 There weren\u2019t a lot of public expressions of Paganism back in the 1970\u2019s and she was a real visionary when she opened her store.\u00a0 \u00a0As a pioneer she could be said to have established the tradition in the US of having a \u201cplace\u201d in which witches could gather and practice.\u00a0 She was prophetic in opening a store, as stores have now become one of the de-facto public meeting places for Pagans and Witches.\u00a0 The only other public place where Pagans and Witches gather is in Unitarian Universalist Churches through the Covenant of UU Pagans.\u00a0\u00a0 But UU Churches, for all the benefits they provide and their welcoming tradition, put a particular color on the rituals they sponsor (they are a Church after all, with specific beliefs and traditions unrelated to Paganism). Now I think the question is whether Cabot is being prophetic in her opening the temple.\u00a0 As she grows older (she\u2019s in her 70\u2019s now) I can guess that there is a desire to leave something behind that will continue on when she is gone.\u00a0 I suspect that is the desire of many of us in the Pagan community, but what that might be has been elusive.\u00a0 A temple, a self-sustaining community with clergy and infrastructure is one thing that just might endure past our lifetimes.\u00a0 Stores, while they can provide infrastructure, don\u2019t have the process and organization required for training and supporting priests and priestesses.\u00a0 Temples do. So Cabot\u2019s move from being a business woman to a full time Priestess begs the question:\u00a0 are we going to move from a store based public front to a temple based image?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know, but I suspect that if we don\u2019t, it will be difficult to sustain an organized Pagan religion that has impact in the community.\u00a0 While it is always possible to practice magic and witchcraft, Paganism and Witchcraft are not just magic: they are religions.\u00a0 And religions require people, process, and infrastructure in order to sustain themselves over long periods of time.\u00a0 Currently we have a lot of enthusiastic people, but how do we sustain those people over time?\u00a0 We have a multitude of processes, but those processes (initiation, training, etc.) are not anchored in both a body of people or a place to go.\u00a0 Instead they are dispersed amongst any number of covens, groups, and traditions. Now that Cabot is moving on from store to temple, I believe other places, whether they are a temple or some \u201cthird place\u201d where we can meet will follow suit.\u00a0 Even in my own town a group has established a Pagan community center.\u00a0 Just as there was a long and complicated path that led from store to temple in Salem, there will be a long path as others move from small meetings and coven groups to something more organized, more established.\u00a0 We will always have our covens, but the potential exists to have something more.\u00a0 And our prophet has once again shown us the way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}