Pagans at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius

August 25, 2010

By Ivo Dominguez, Jr.

I believe that we are in the creative tumult of the turning from one Age to another. As a Wiccan, the turning wheel of the Moon's phases and the Sun's stations of the seasons are my holy days and also my guideposts through my journey in time. I am also aware that there are cycles within cycles and that the largest wheel I know is coming to its next season. I describe this turning of the Ages with the language of Astrology; others may use other systems, but one thing we all might agree upon is that large cycles move slowly. As such, even a child born today that is raised in a Pagan faith will not live to see the completion of this time of growth and change in Paganism.

What would such a child see? The continuation and acceleration of what we are already seeing. Year by year we are seeing an explosion of new proto-traditions, new liturgies, new magickal techniques, and cultural experiments within the spiritual gene pool of what we broadly call Paganism. Like a speciation event, like a dandelion seed head blowing, like an oak scattering an of abundance acorns, like the mixing milt and eggs of a thousand salmon of wisdom, all these new forms are encountering each other and changing each other and creating more. Time and Nature will decide which will flourish and which will wither in the environment of a new Age. Over the next several decades, we will see what succeeds and in which geographies or cultural niches. I don't think we can see the details yet, let alone the broad shape of things to come, but I think we can make extrapolations. In the same way that I can make sound guesses about what flowers in the Spring rather than the Autumn, I can suggest what is fostered by the Age of Aquarius for Paganism.

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Sacred science and passion will become more blended so we should see Paganism taking on more of the practices of Western ceremonial magick. There will be a transition of power wherein Knowledge takes the throne vacated by Belief. There will be more schisms and divisions within existing traditions and even umbrella terms such Paganism and Heathenism will no longer be broad enough and will divide and branch. There will be more solitaries, unaffiliated seekers, but also more formal faith communities that will create brick and mortar infrastructure. Some will seek to restore the Goddesses and Gods through a closer adherence to the ways of the past and others will listen for the new ways to announce themselves.

Both Saturn and Uranus rule the Age of Aquarius, one the builder of icons and the other the iconoclast. There will be less agreement and less commonality in our faith communities with the attending risks that come of this circumstance, but that is the cost of diversification. Paganism will sway and rock but we cannot wait for the pendulum to swing or be still, because we will have gone from the paradigm of pendulums to that of mobiles. We must find and continue to add the counterbalances that bring proper relationships between the disparate elements of the new Paganism. I am hopeful that we can do this. We will thrive if we greet flux and ambiguity with the spark of anticipation as we superimpose the template of the future that we each are shaping.

Ivo Dominguez, Jr. is a visionary, and a practitioner of a variety of esoteric disciplines. He has been active in Wicca and the Pagan community since 1978, has been teaching since 1982. Ivo was a founding member of Keepers of the Holly Chalice, the first coven of The Assembly of the Sacred Wheel a Wiccan Tradition. He currently serves as one of the Elders of the Assembly of The Sacred Wheel, a Wiccan syncretic tradition that draws inspiration from Astrology, Qabala, the Western Magickal Tradition, and the folk religions of Europe. His techniques and insights are rooted in a synthesis of traditional metaphysical teachings, modern science, and memories from past lives. He has taught at many gatherings, conferences, and venues across the United States. He is the author of Spirit Speak, Castings: The Creation Of Sacred Space, and Beneath the Skins. Visit his site at www.ivodominguezjr.com.

8/25/2010 4:00:00 AM

Future of Paganism

Astrology

Esotericism

Paganism

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