Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Wyrd Words: Pagans: IN SPAAACE!!!

Wyrd Words: Pagans: IN SPAAACE!!!

Last updated on: March 20, 2014 at 4:08 pm by Alyxander Folmer

Wyrd Words: Pagans: IN SPAAACE!!! 2014-03-20T16:08:09+00:00 Alyxander Folmer

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

For the month of March, our Managing Editor has given us an AWESOME writing prompt.

Much of the current dialogue in the Pagan blogosphere is about carving out ways to explain and justify our personal experiences and beliefs in relation to other traditions, but without a clear vision of the place our own traditions and experiences might have in an ideal world. Will the Pagan movement become one tradition-heavy set of religions with several “fringes”? Will it split apart into competing factions? Or will we find a way to unite using some shared cultural language? What institutions will we build, or will we build institutions at all? What rights or recognition will we have in the larger society?

What does your Paganism look like in 50 years?

How could a complete nerd, like myself, NOT take a prompt like that?

But if we’re gonna jump down this rabbit hole, let’s do it properly!

OFF TO THE FUTURE!!!

One of the most important things to remember when making predictions like this is that no community exists in a vacuum. We are the product of physical and social stressors in our environment, which change our behaviors as we adapt to the changes in our surroundings. So before we can think about what PAGANISM will look like in 50 years, we’ll have to figure out what America will look like in 50 years. I’m focusing on the USA, because there’s just NO WAY IN HELHEIM that I’m going to fit the entire world into 1000-ish words. (Sorry U.K. readers, I still love you!) So let’s throw the bones and see what we find!!

The Environment: It’s getting hot in here…

The southwest desert of 2064 is a VERY different place. In 2014, Arizona and New Mexico both have some of the fastest growing populations in the country, and (not coincidentally) a quickly dwindling water supply. Even if we assume the BEST CASE SCENARIO, the average temperature on a summer day in Phoenix is probably going to be between 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit. Most estimates predict that the Colorado River will dry out by 2050, meaning that all fresh water will have to be shipped in. (Which is EXPENSIVE)

In addition to current climate trends, the agricultural industries will continue to degrade soil and deplete fresh water supplies. Why would they keep doing this? There are lots of reasons, not the least of which is because the government pays them to. The unfortunate reality is that the most environmentally damaging crops tend to be the most profitable.

As this happens, the states to the north will start to get more arid, killing of most of the wild plant life, which will raise temperatures. By 2064, the southwest desert will probably cover most of the great plains and the west coast. That’s about 90% of the land west of the Mississippi, the majority of which is currently where pretty much all of America’s food comes from. To top that off, rising sea levels will have taken away a fair amount of potential farmland in the south-east.

The Economy: With a map like that, do we really need to say it?

With such big changes in the environment on the horizon, what could that mean for our economy?

First, and most importantly, in this model by 2064 the agricultural industry has been DECIMATED. What was once the “Bread Bowl” of the united states is once again the “Dust Bowl”, and farmland is a rare and expensive commodity. This means that only the biggest, corporate farms will likely be able to afford to stay in the business. As rural farming communities slowly collapse, most people will move to more urban areas, which will be supported by these giant corporate farms.

So now that I’ve lulled you all to sleep with the boring bits, what does that mean for the rest of us?

Mostly that food will get much more expensive, and the rich are just going to get richer. Sorry Occupiers, the future doesn’t look like that’s gonna change any time soon.

Society: This part actually doesn’t suck

Believe it or not, this isn’t a doomsday article! Things will probably get pretty rough in the coming decades, but we’ll survive. If we’re lucky, we might even come out on top. Current statistical trends indicate that our our population will become much more diverse, and with the rate that our medical technology is advancing, we can look forward to increased life expectancy. Most of the population will live in dense metropolitan areas, and with that shift comes some interesting data on changes in political and ideological perspectives. (Hope you like your states blue…)

One social trend that I predict will likely gain steam in the coming decades is the “Grow Locally/Community Gardening” trend. It may be in its “hipster” phase, but already there are dozens of communities across the country that have built local food gardens that are maintained by local residents. In a world where food prices are just going to keep escalating, this high-minded idea could easily become a purely practical exercise. When food is expensive and space is limited, neighborhood gardens can provide some much-needed financial relief to those in the lower income brackets.

Paganism in 2064: So where do we come in?

Even today there are plenty of organizations that are attempting to build up Pagan infrastructure, but in a world where fewer and fewer people are interested in attending regular religious services, what would a successful Pagan infrastructure in America look like?

To figure that out, we’ll have to build off our model of (America: Circa 2064).

If our model is accurate, we’ll have a densely populated, urban landscape, where a large percentage of people are going to be migrating east due to lower cost of living and more fresh water. Where we were once a community that was scattered across a large country, we will suddenly be much closer to our fellow pagans. Space is limited and temples are expensive to maintain, but by the 2060’s we’ve started building another type of community infrastructure.

Pagans and the Birth of the American Kibbutz

In the 1960’s, parts of the Pagan community adapted to embrace a growing social movement that was changing our society. The Feminism movement and Paganism collided, forever altering our community in the form of Goddess-centered Paganism. A hundred years later, our community will be faced with a whole new set of social stressors, and may adapt to embrace yet another cultural movement. As community gardening becomes more and more common for purely economic reasons, those Pagans who are seeking to build physical community centers may take a whole new direction.

The Kibbutz is an Israeli concept that started in the early 1900’s. These are small, intentional, religious communities centered around a communal resource, like an urban farm. People in these communities are usually skilled artisans and farmers, who work to make self sufficient communities of like minded individuals. Given the environment that the Pagans of 2064 will be working with, I predict that those of us who want to build Pagan institutions will develop a type of “grove culture,” small communities or apartment complexes that support urban gardens and artisan crafts. Some of these may be tradition-specific, others might be more eclectic, but those will likely be the common elements between “groves”. These are two popular trends within our current community which could become valuable commodities within the next 50 years, and these groves could allow for both community and financial security.

Hearth, Home, and Temple all wrapped up in small, self sustaining communities.

This is just one of many potential paths that our future could lead to. My predictions are based as firmly in scientific research as I could manage, but humanity has a way of being unpredictable.In 1894, the Times of London predicted that every street in the city would be buried nine feet deep in horse manure by 1950. This was backed by decent math, but nobody foresaw the invention of the “horseless carriage”. So when I say that these predictions are based on the idea that we’re going to continue plodding along in pretty much the same way we are today, one should keep in mind that we might discover cold fusion TOMORROW, and this will be nothing but a silly story to laugh about in 50 years!

Wyrd Words is published on alternate Thursdays. Subscribe via RSS or e-mail!

Previous Post

March 19, 2014

Druid Thoughts: What Do We Hope to Build?

Next Post

March 21, 2014 Heathen Woman: A Season for Living

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the outcome of Sennacherib's army attacking Jerusalem?

Select your answer to see how you score.

They won The city fell They captured Hezekiah Destroyed by an angel