Teaching Paganism

Last updated on: June 15, 2018 at 8:39 pm by Erica Baron

Teaching Paganism 2018-06-15T20:39:37+00:00 Erica Baron

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.

This month, I’ve been teaching an introductory class on Pagan spirituality to a Lifelong Learning Institute. Most of the people in the class have almost no grounding in Paganism, so it has been interesting.

First, what should I cover? I had 3 sessions, each an hour and 15 minutes long. I decided to talk about Paganism in general on the first class, including some of the varieties of Paganism as currently practiced in America. Since I know Witchcraft best, I decided to focus in on that for the other two sessions. The second week, we talked about Esbats and Sabbats, the Wheel of the Year and the cycle of the moon. Today, I’m covering the Hermetic Principles and diving into a discussion of magick.

It’s been interesting to see what questions people have brought. We’ve talked a bit about the differences between science and spirituality. For my take on that, see this post. Some folks have been surprised that Witchcraft can be approached from a relatively rational place. Some people have been inclined to idealize Paganism, asking questions that seem inclined to grant us more respect than some of the mainstream religions. Others have been inclined toward the less flattering stereotypes of us, asking questions about devil worship and “black magick.”

(Let me pause here to say that the use of the terms “white magick” to mean good or helpful magick and “black magick” to mean bad or harmful magick are deeply problematic and reinforce the black=bad; white=good paradigm that upholds white supremacy and white privilege.)

I’ve done my best to answer all these questions, and to talk about my own practice and understanding in ways that can give others entry into this spiritual world that means so much to me. In the process, I’ve had to decide what aspects are the most important to include, and how I want to talk about them. I’ve had to formulate them into an accessible form, and then I’ve had to answer unexpected questions. As always, the act of trying to teach something has enabled me to get a better handle on it myself.

I highly recommend this exercise, if you ever have a chance. And if you don’t have an opportunity to do this for real, you can still do the mental exercise of deciding how you would go about it if you had the chance, which can help to focus and clarify your own thinking.

Here are some of the questions you might consider:

– Assuming I had 3 (or 4 or 5, pick a number!) sessions, what areas would I focus on?

– What is most important to include? Why? What is most important to me in my own practice?

– What analogies might I use to help people understand my spirituality who are unfamiliar with it? Are there references to other spiritual traditions that might help?

– What misconceptions might I want to counter? What did I misunderstand at some point that I’d want to be sure to explain?

– What do I love most about my practice or tradition? What joy and passion do I want to communicate?

– What is the story of how I arrived here? What do I know now that I didn’t know when I started?

The act of teaching something allows us to see what we really do know, and take some pride. It also forces us to confront the things we understand less well and find new ways to think about them. I’ve heard it said that you never really know a subject until you’ve taught it. Perhaps the same might be said of a spiritual path.

Previous Post

June 7, 2018

She Will Not Be Tamed

Next Post

June 20, 2018 Magic on the Pacolet

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Current Events CUUPS Press Release Interfaith liturgy Media Review podcast Religious Education Seasonal Reflection Spiritual Practice Summary Uncategorized

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

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz