The Empty Bucket

Last updated on: November 13, 2011 at 8:42 am by Cat Chapin-Bishop

The Empty Bucket 2011-11-13T08:42:00-04:00 Cat Chapin-Bishop

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.

Recent conversations with Pagans, in person and online, are bubbling up for me this morning, bringing with them troubling thoughts.

Do we care more about our rituals than we do about our gods?

It’s happened more than once, lately, that the response to some concern expressed among us has been a rather pat, “I wrote a really good ritual about that, once.” As though the authorship was the main thing; as though the performance of a ritual script was enough to settle whatever questions living posed us.

I’m not knocking a good ritual. But surely, the point of ritual is communion, relationship, and change–not carving a notch on a staff or athame. We seem to think that rituals work if they’re good theater, if they move a human audience.

We rarely ask if they are of any interest at all to any other audience. Indeed, I’ve heard Pagans go on at length about how nothing any individual one of us can do would ever attract the attention of a god, and that those who think otherwise are fools or deluded… and lucky, as the attention of a god would simply destroy our minds, blow open our psyches and leave us gibbering in a corner.

The gods don’t care, the reasoning goes, or if they do, we’re unprepared to encounter them in any case.

As for me, I don’t see a lot to choose from, between gods who don’t care or are unavailable to us, and gods who don’t exist. That polytheism that denies the possibility of a relationship with our gods seems sterile to me, pointless.

Incidentally, I don’t feel that way about non-theism. I know plenty of what might be called “juicy” Pagan non-theists: they may not have much use for gods or goddesses, but their lives are spent in communion with spirits on every side: spirits of ancestors, trees, animals, and places. Their rituals are not merely theater for their own entertainment, but doorways.

Doorways that lead somewhere. Wells that bring up water.

Photo by Zserghei

Sometimes I think that, for many of us in the Pagan world, we found a well that gave us water once, but when it ran dry, we neither searched elsewhere for water nor attempted to dig the well deeper, but instead sat down and worshiped an empty bucket.

Too much of the conversation I hear among Pagans strikes me as an invitation to worship an empty bucket, and that makes me sad.

The gods are real, and there is good water everywhere, if you know–not so much how to look, but that looking is a possibility.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 2, 2011

Gardens Are Just Weird

Next Post

January 16, 2012 Winter Light

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Cat's posts Peter's posts Uncategorized

Select a Month March 2017 February 2017 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 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 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 July 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 November 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 April 2012 February 2012 January 2012 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 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 July 2000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz