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There is Strength In Community

There is Strength In Community

Last updated on: June 22, 2017 at 9:09 pm by Jason Mankey

There is Strength In Community 2017-06-22T21:09:22-06:00 Jason Mankey

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“There is strength in community.” –Spiral Rhythm

The last few months I’ve spent some time thinking about the Pagan Community and responding to the reports that it’s dying. We all have our own perspectives on things, and where someone like me sees growth and continual progress, others see rot and decay. I’ve written before that it’s hard to judge the progress of Paganism from the internet, and that to really see where we are it takes boots on the ground, and after five days at Pagan Spirit Gathering I believe that more than ever.

My friend Ashley’s drum glowing in the darkness.

Everywhere I go there there are children, fathers, grandparents, maidens, mothers, crones, theys, thems, and everything in between. There is diversity. There are young adults out and about, along with Druids, Witches, Heathens, and much, much, more. Where some see a dead end, my eyes see (and I experience) a Pagandom that is now spread across generations.

Our community is much more alike than some on the internet would have us believe, and that’s a truth I see again and again at most festivals. I know that not everyone here has the same set of beliefs and practices as me, or my roommate Damh the Bard (and certainly Dave the Druid and Jason the Witch see differently on some things) but we agree on more than we might disagree on, and we can disagree while still having respect for one another.

At least here in the microcosm we are all able to come together when conditions warrant it. A friend of mine found herself putting together a last minute ritual here and found herself going from campsite to campsite asking for help. She got that help, and lots of it, and her ritual was all the more powerful from having all of those borrowed things, our energies are stronger when they are together.

It’s easy to set up shop in one ultra-specific place and then never emerge from it, but I think our Paganisms suffer for it. I’m a Gardnerian Witch, but I know that there are lessons to be learned from Druids, shamans, and others who share in the ecstasy of the spirit and the rapture of the infinite. A ritual without words (where people dare to walk widdershins! What is this world coming too?!?) is not my practice, but it still has secrets to teach me (and one of those might be letting go of my over reaction to people who walk widdershins).

Pagan Spirit Gathering sometimes feels a bit atypical. There is much more focus on rites of passage here than at many other festivals, and families with children feel especially welcome (not always the case), but there’s also a lot that is typical about PSG. When our communities unite under one banner we do seem to love each other, we do seem to care for each other, and we do seem to want each other to succeed. That’s a feeling I find from coast to coast most weeks and weekends, and it’s one I suspect I’ll continue to experience long into the future.

The Labyrinth at PSG. My crappy picture doesn’t do it justice.

RANDOM NOTES

If you haven’t figured it out I’m having a wonderful time out here (and my phone has been more than cooperative). Everyone has been more than nice, and it’s just been another “Pagan affirming” experience, in a sea of such experiences the last couple of years (I put those sandals on the ground an awful lot).

-Let’s see, I ended sharing a cabin with Damh the Bard (that’s pronounced Dave if you don’t know) and it’s been most excellent. Damh is a true treasure in our community and I’ve enjoyed the ever-loving-shit out of his concerts this week. Green and Grey nearly moved me to tears on Monday night. In addition to being a bard in the best sense of the word, he’s also a great guy, a gifted story teller and teacher.

-Continuing with the musical theme, I’ve had a few enjoyable run-ins with SJ Tucker this week too. She’s a born performer, and nearly made me snort mead out of my nose last night with one of her more humorous tunes.

-You saw the band Spiral Rhythm quoted at the start of this article, and the first half of this piece was directly inspired by them. Watching SR as the sun set with a couple of hundred people (close friends?) in the middle of a big field all united in the love and joy that Paganism brings was a stark reminder that we are stronger when we are together. (Obviously the show was great, or it all wouldn’t have stuck with me so much.)

Damh the Bard on stage at PSG.

I’ve never thought of Selena Fox as a trickster figure, but that’s changed after she gave Dave and I a bottle of mead of last night. Delicious, and more shenanigans that I was expecting. Having Tempest around probably didn’t help. It was actually about as close to a perfect day I’ve had at a festival at a long time. Good conversation, good freinds, merriment, mirth, and then a walk through the labyrinth here that was truly inspiring. I didn’t wake up this morning hungover I woke up refreshed.

Speaking of being refreshed and all of that, I feel like I should get back out to the festival and do some more mingling, cider tippling, music listening, and community building. Before this week it had been twenty years since I had last been at a PSG, it will most certainly not be another twenty.

Pagan Spirit Gathering

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