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
Are We Living in a New Victorian Era?

Are We Living in a New Victorian Era?

Last updated on: May 25, 2021 at 3:00 am by John Beckett

Are We Living in a New Victorian Era? 2021-05-22T15:06:38-06:00 John Beckett

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.

It’s a cliché that bad times make for good art. I’ve been wondering when we’ll see the good art from these times for several years. I’m also aware that such things are often only noticed – or at least, appreciated – well after the fact.

And then last Sunday I watched the final episode of The Nevers, the new HBO show set in the late Victorian period. A week or so before I got word that the Netflix show The Irregulars – set in the late Victorian period, that I enjoyed – had been canceled. I’ve been watching Penny Dreadful virtually on a loop over the past year. I finally watched Enola Holmes – it’s good, though considerably lighter in tone than the rest of these. And then an internet search turned up this list of 55 TV shows set in the Victorian era.

Hmmm…

On one hand, me noticing a few TV shows and movies doesn’t make it a trend. And even if it is a trend, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a commentary on our times. I remember when you couldn’t change the channel (all three of them) without hitting a Western – that doesn’t mean the 1960s were the Wild West version 2.0.

Further, the Victorian era was a great time for English literature, including the beginnings of modern science fiction and horror. It had authors like Arthur Conan Doyle, Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, and Jules Verne (who was French but whose work was translated into English and numerous other languages). There’s a lot of good source material to work with from this era.

However…

Something about this feels right… and not in a good way.

A quote of uncertain origin says that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. I think it’s worth exploring the rhymes I’m hearing.

A word for the historical purists. The Victorian era encompasses the reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1901, a period of 63 years. Victoria was the longest reigning monarch in British history until Elizabeth II passed her in 2015. For the purposes of this essay, I’m talking about the late Victorian period and slightly beyond – from the mid to late 1880s to the early to mid 1900s. We could call this the “Greater Edwardian Era” and perhaps we should. I’ll leave that to the professional historians, as it’s not particularly relevant to our discussions here.

A time of technological transition

Technology has been growing at an ever-increasing rate since the beginning of the Industrial Age 300 years ago or so. But that rate really picked up in the Victorian era.

This was a time of transition: from gas light to electric light, from telegraph to telephone, and from horses to automobiles. Our time has seen the explosion of the internet and all it’s brought, especially smartphones.

No technology is socially neutral. The automobile had a huge impact on how we live, especially in North America. All the fossil fuels we’ve been burning over the last century have changed our climate. We’re only starting to understand the impact of today’s new technology, and we’re still not sure if clean energy can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

This definitely rhymes.

Wealth and income inequality

Most of the movies and TV shows about this time focus on the nobility and other very wealthy families. But those who weren’t rich lived very different lives. One of the complaints I read about The Irregulars was that it didn’t accurately portray the depth of brutality and filth on the streets of London.

In this country, this was the Gilded Age – a time of monopolists and robber barons. The reaction to that led to a progressive movement and things like the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890), the Pure Food and Drug Act (1906), and the federal income tax (1913).

The movement toward greater equality reversed beginning with election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. In 2019 the top 10% of families in the United States controlled 76% of the wealth, while the bottom 50% controlled just 1%. The pandemic has made this even worse.

The ultrarich have done a good job convincing the bottom 50% that their problems are caused by immigrants and liberals. Donald Trump was/is a symptom, not the problem. I’m not optimistic as to how this will play out.

Victorian Era architecture – in Arkansas

A struggle for women’s rights

Many of the Victorian movies and TV shows include elements of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. In most of the West, that movement wasn’t successful until after World War I.

On one hand, women have more opportunities now than ever. The Vice President of the United States and the Speaker of the House are both women. But 100 years after women gained the right to vote in this country, they make up only 27% of US Representatives, 24% of Senators, and 3 of 9 Supreme Court Justices. Women make 82 cents for every dollar men make.

Reproductive rights are under attack to an extent not seen in decades. Texas just passed a “fetal heartbeat” bill that effectively outlaws all abortions – multiple other states have similar laws. It will be overturned as it violates the constitutional protections outlined in Roe v. Wade. But the Supreme Court has agreed to hear an abortion case in its next term, and with three Trump-appointed justices now on the bench, the outlook isn’t good. Even if they don’t overturn Roe v. Wade (and I don’t think they will) they will chip away at it, letting red states continue to take away reproductive rights.

And make no mistake: they’re not just after abortion – they’re also after birth control. The legal reasoning behind Roe v. Wade is grounded in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), that established the right to privacy and did so in the context of overturning laws that outlawed contraception.

The far right wants more children (mainly more white children) and it wants women restricted to “traditional” roles, in practice if not in law. Will they get it? One thing I’ve learned about the far right is that they’re patient, and they’re willing to take incremental victories.

Suppressed sexuality

If the Victorian era is known for anything, it’s its uptight prudish restrictive views on sex and sexuality. At first listen that hardly seems like a rhyme with our era of LGBTQ Pride, same sex marriage and no-fault divorce, and porn of every description only a click away.

As usual, the battles are being fought on the edges. And trans people are on those edges.

As I write this, a Texas bill that would outlaw gender affirming medical care for trans kids is not yet dead, as is another bill that would charge parents who enable such care with child abuse. Similar bills have already passed in other states. The purpose is clear – to pretend trans people don’t exist and force them to act cis.

President Biden said “your President has your back.” That’s good to hear after four years of non-stop bigotry and harassment from the previous President, but it remains to be seen what he can – and will – do.

As with reproductive rights, the attacks never stop. If the anti-trans laws are upheld, they’ll go back to pushing anti-gay laws. Adoption rights and same sex marriage will be first, then recriminalization of consensual same sex activity.

The goal is total conformity to their religion and morality, and they will stop at nothing to achieve it. They must be defeated in every election, every legislative session, and every court case.

A magical revival

The modern Pagan movement has roots in the religions of antiquity, but it first started taking shape in the late Victorian era. Much of what we do today can be traced back to the Spiritualist Movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and especially to the Golden Dawn (1887-1903).

What started then continues today. This is the new Golden Age of magic and Paganism (which aren’t the same things, but there’s considerable overlap). There are more books available (both ancient and new), more information, and more practitioners. Whatever religion calls to you, whatever your preferred form of magic, someone somewhere is practicing it and can help get you started.

And that’s a good thing, because we need all the magical help we can get to make it through these times.

The roots of World War I

The late Victorian period is generally considered the peak of the British Empire. Like all empires eventually do, they overextended themselves. What didn’t crumble in the aftermath of World War I mostly fell after World War II. The center of power moved from London to Washington, but the Anglo-American empire is still very much in decline.

In Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) Professor Moriarty attempts to start a war so he can sell munitions to both sides. This is not historically accurate. Rich industrialists did not cause World War I, although they certainly profited from it. The true causes are many and complex. At the top of the list are the attempt by the great powers to maintain and expand their empires, and especially the oppression of ethnic minorities within those empires.

Europe around this time has been described as a powder keg. The assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was simply the spark that set off the explosion.

There are numerous powder kegs in this country and around the world. We saw a huge one last year after the murder of George Floyd. We saw another one of a very different nature on January 6. There’s a far more deadly powder keg in Palestine right now.

Are any of these enough to start a world war? Probably not, but sit on a powder keg long enough and eventually someone will set it off.

St. Cyprian’s Church, London – built in 1903

A mundane response to Tower Time

As I began working on this post, it struck me that the writers, directors, and others responsible for making all these movies and TV shows set in the Victorian era are seeing much the same things many of us are seeing. Only they’re not listening to the Morrigan and they’re not dealing with the Fair Folk (thought I’m not sure about Fair Folk, given the level of fae propaganda I see in entertainment), so they don’t have our context for interpreting it.

What we see as Tower Time they see as the Victorian era repeating itself. They’re not wrong.

So, what do we do?

Earlier this year I taught an on-line class on Navigating Tower Time – Magic for an Era of Change. The class is on-demand – it’s still available if you want to take it. It focuses on seeing things as they really are, figuring out the approach you want to take, and then developing both a magical and a mundane plan to accomplish your goals.

I don’t have a better alternative. There’s a mid-term election next year with huge consequences. Most of the trouble is being created at the state level – the more we can do to keep the Neo-Victorians out of office the better.

But while participating in the political process is necessary, it’s not enough. Politics won’t save you.

That’s up to you and your allies, both in this world and between the worlds.

Good luck.

Previous Post

May 23, 2021

Approaching Gods in Non-Traditional Ways

Next Post

May 27, 2021 The Decline of the Baptists and What the Rest of Us Can Learn From It

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Books Community CUUPS Druidry Foundations and Context Gods and Goddesses Magic Myth Nature Ritual Spiritual Practice Theology Travel Uncategorized Videos

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 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 April 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 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Jewish festival celebrates deliverance from Egypt?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Passover Purim Tabernacles Pentecost