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These articles come from a variety of sources, and cover various matters that interset us here at the Temple, and which we believe will help seekers in their path to ... wherever@@@

They cover the ancient Cretan culture, the apogee of Goddess civilization, as it has inspired us with its imagery and exuberant joyful and participatory way of living the divine life in harmony with the Great Mother and Her creations.

We have also included the articles by Oberon G'Zell, Primate of the Church of All Worlds, on the relationship of us all to all creation and Gaia in particular; by Judith Anodea, Priestess of Church of All Worlds and author of "The Wheels Of Life", an exposition of the chakras (among our highly recommended books) on the efforts to bring true consciousness to this living planet; an article by Dennis Carpenter, partner to Selena of Circle Sanctuary, on the Pagan World-view; and next, two articles on the Pentagram, the major symbol of paganism. Finally, a rather irreverent article on the Book of genesis - lots of food for thought there!

Yet to come are articles on the labyrinth, and the labrys, two symbols of the Cretans and this Temple, and finally an article on the snthesis of Dreamtime motifs (and the Rainbow Serpent in particular) with the pagan and Cretan traditions.

Please feel free to submit any article that you think would be useful on this page - we will look it over, discuss it with you (so please leave some way of contacting you - email is best) and hopefully publish it on this page.

Happy reading and Blessed Be.

CONTENTS

1. Theagenesis.
2. Gaian Conspiracy.
3. Contemporary Pagan Worldview.
4. The Pentagram
5. We are the Other People
6. Go back to Main Menu for this Web Site.

I.THEAGENESIS:

The Birth of the Goddess

by Otter G'Zell

This paper represents the first published account of what has come to be known as "The Gaea Hypothesis" (the name suggested by novelist William Golding in 1972). It was the immediate result of a visionary experience that Otter had on the night of September 6, 1970. This "revelation" was delivered in the form of a sermon to the congregation of the church of All Worlds on September 11, 1970. Subsequently, it was published as the lead article in Green Egg" the journal of the Neo-Pagan movement" Vol. V, No. 40 (July 1, 1971), republished in the first issue of The Witches Broomstick magazine (Feb. 2, 1972), excerpted in Dr. Leo Louis Martello's book, Witchcraft; The Old Religion (University Books, Inc. 1973), and delivered as a keynote lecture at the Third Annual Gnostic Aquarian Festival in Minneapolis, MN, Sept. 21, 1973. This updated and annotated edition is being prepared for the California Institute of Integral Studies' symposium on "Gaia Consciousness: The Goddess & the Living Earth," April 6-10, 1988.

Conceptualizations of Divinity vary from religion to religion, with adherents of each faith misunderstanding, often grotesquely, the nature of the Divine as understood by the members of other faiths. Thus conservatives of a given religious system often tend to feel that all other religions are "false" but their own, and that other people all worship the Devil, while liberals will go to the opposite extreme and contend that all religions essentially worship the same Deity, under different guises and customs. Both of these points of view grossly misrepresent the fundamental distinctions among the various religions, and try to adapt alien world-views to fit into their own frameworks of experience.

It may be said that all religions are "true," as indeed are all sincerely held opinions, in the sense that personal reality is necessarily subjective. In other words, what you believe to be true, is true, by definition. A Voudoun death-curse is as real to its victim, and as effective, as being "saved" is to a Christian fundamentalist, or the kosher laws are to an Orthodox Jew. A flat Earth, with the stars and planets revolving around it, was as real to the medieval mind as our present globe and solar system are to us. Hysteric paralysis and blindness are as real to the sufferer as their organic counterparts. The snakes and bugs of alcoholic and narcotic delirium are real to the addict, and so is the fearful world of the paranoiac. From the standpoint of human consciousness, there is no other reality than that which we experience, and whatever we experience is therefore reality - therefore "true." We can only distinguish the experience of the objective world from those which lie entirely within our own minds when we compare notes with other people and arrive thereby at a consensus of reality. This consensus, however, is also subjective within the entire community, and is also liable not to be synonymous with objective reality (as in the case of the Geocentric cosmos). The question then arises, "How can we know objective reality?" and the answer, of course, is that we can't; not totally. However, we can arrive at very close approximations of objective reality by careful applications of the scientific method combined with creative insight, and by refusing to fill in the gaps in our knowledge with blind "leaps of faith."

Thus religions may be considered more or less objectively true (while recognizing that they are all subjectively true) by evaluating how much they depend on blind faith and belief over scientific understanding (and recognizing that we only speak of belief in the absence of knowledge; no one would say "I believe two plus two equals four"); how much they depend on tradition and authority over intellectual curiosity and honesty; how much (or how little) they are able to accommodate new discoveries in science and how much (or how little) these discoveries substantiate their theories and world-views. These are the criteria for objective validation of religious viewpoints. No subjective validation is needed (or even possible).

Ancient tribal peoples - that is, Pagans - diversified though they were, held among them certain common viewpoints. Among these were: veneration of an Earth-Mother Goddess; animism and pantheism; identification with a sacred region; seasonal celebrations; love-respect, awe and veneration for Nature and Her mysteries; sensuality and sexuality in worship; magic and myth; and a sense of humanity being a microcosm corresponding to the macrocosm of all Nature. These insights, however, were largely intuitive, as science had not yet progressed to the point of being able to provide objective validation for what must have seemed, to outsiders, to be mere superstition. Twentieth-century Neo-Paganism, however, has applied itself and the science of its era to that validation, and has discovered astounding implications.

A single cell develops physically into a human being by a process of continuous division and subdivision into the myriad of cells eventually required to comprise an adult body; groups of cells specializing to become the various organs and tissues needed for full functioning of the organism. Now, when a cell reproduces, the mother cell does not remain intact, but actually becomes the two new daughter cells. Since the same protoplasm is present in the daughter cells as was in the mother cell, the two daughter cells still comprise but a single organism; one living being. The original cell ceases to exist in that form, but its life goes on in the continuous evolution of the growing organism. Thus, the three trillion or so cells of the adult human body continue to comprise a single living organism, even though different cells may be highly specialized, and some may even be mobile enough to travel independently around in the collective body. No matter how complex the final form of the adult organism, no matter how diversified its component cells, the same thread of life of the original cell, the same protoplasm, continues coursing through every cell in that body. Since the gametes, or sex cells, are also included in this ultimate diversification of a single original cell, the act of reproduction carries this same thread on in the offspring, combined with the equivalent threat of protoplasm from the other parent. Thus your children, while spatially distinct from you, are in fact as much a part of your growing, evolving organism as your blood cells (which can easily be removed and survive independently of your collective body) or somatic cells (which can also be extracted and grown in independent tissue cultures). Your children are still "you" - your own living protoplasm continues on in their cellularly-diversified bodies. And in your children's children for all generations to come. All the cells in all your descendants will still comprise but one living being.

Tracing our evolution back nearly four billion years, through mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and so on, we eventually wind up with once single cell that was the ancestor of all life on Earth. Even though there were undoubtedly many proto-cells formed in those ancient seas [or clays, as is now thought [OZ, 1988], the first one to develop the capacity to reproduce would have quickly consumed all the available free proteins and amino acids floating in the sea, effectively preventing the development of any competitors. Cell reproduction occurs at a fantastic geometric rate, which, unchecked, would result in all the planet being buried beneath the progeny of a single cell within months. Obviously, what checked this fantastic reproductive potential was a limited food supply, which would have included any not-yet-formed or newly-formed competitive cells. But when this original mother cell reproduced itself, and continued to do so for eons, some of its daughter cells mutating and evolving into new forms, it still, as in the human body, continued to comprise but a SINGLE total organism. When a cell divides and subdivides, no matter how often, the same cellular material, the same protoplasm, the same life, passes into the daughter cells, and the granddaughter cells, and the great-granddaughter cells, forever. No matter how often, or for how long this subdivision goes on, the aggregate total of the new cells continues to comprise one single living organism!

[Note: Lewis Thomas, in Lives of a Cell, 1974, observes: "The uniformity of the earth's life, more astonishing than its diversity, is accountable by the high probability that we derived, originally, from some single cell, fertilized in a bolt of lightning as the Earth cooled. It is from the progeny of this parent cell that we take our looks; we still share genes around, and the resemblance of the enzymes of grasses to those of whales is a family resemblance."]

[Note: Science News "News of the Week," Jan. 16, 1988: "Seekers of Ancestral Cell Debate New Data: A new, computerized method of analyzing bacterial genes is stirring controversy among biologists seeking to characterize the ancestral cell from which all life evolved. The novel program predicts that all living things evolved from a single-celled organism that had a penchant for living in boiling sulfur springs. The prediction conflicts with the popular notion that life began in a tepid primordial soup..." [SN, Vol. 133, No. 3]]

Every amino acid (except glycine) found in the proteins of living organisms can exist in two forms, each one the mirror image of the other. Since they have the same spatial relationship as a pair of gloves, one type is arbitrarily designated "right-handed" (D, dextro) and the other "left-handed" (L, levo). The two forms are identical in chemical composition and physical properties. Were it not for the fact that they rotate a beam of polarized light in opposite directions, they would be indistinguishable. Now, when amino acids are synthesized in the laboratory, an equal amount of D and L forms are produced. Moreover, NASA recently [1970] reported the discovery of 17 different amino acids in a meteorite, with an almost equal number of D and L forms. In any given cell, of course, only one of these two variant forms can exist; either all the cell's protein would contain D-acids, or they would all contain L-acids. And when the cell divides, whichever form was contained in the mother cell would be perpetuated in the daughter cells. If all life on Earth did not originate with a single cell, we would expect to find various creatures and plants with D-acids and others with L-acids. However, this is not the case: it is an established biochemical fact that all life on Earth contains only l-amino acids! The equivalent D-acids are simply not found in any living organisms on this planet. Therefore, it is a biological fact that all life on Earth comprises one singlie living organism! Literally, we are all "One."

The blue whale and the redwood tree are not the largest living organisms on Earth; the entire planetary biosphereis.

[Note: Dr. Leslie Orgel of the Salk Institute, La Jolla, CA, commenting on origins of Life on Earth: "But the evidence that interests us most...is the uniformity of all living systems on Earth today...If life had arisen and evolved spontaneously here...it seems at least possible that many very different forms of life would be competing with each other. But in fact we know that all living things have evolved from a single cell, which inhabited Earth about three or four billion years ago - and there don't seem to be any traces of any extinct competitors which arose in different ways..." The implication was obvious. The first living cell, a single seed of protoplasm, a single microscopic organism, might have replicated itself billions and billions of times in short order. Its replicas would adjust to warmth or cold, evolving accordingly. In the course of time they would branch out along many different paths, and evolve as enzymes, genes, insulin, hemoglobin; they would organize into bone and muscles and organs and coordinate their work; they would begin the beating of hearts, the pumping of lungs, the vibrations of nerves, and ultimately, the flashes of thought. [In Search of Ancient Mysteries by Alan and Sally Landsburg, 1974, Bantam.]]

Let us consider the following corollaries:

An organism is composed of many organs - more, obviously, in complex organisms than in simple ones. As an embryo develops, groups of cells specialize into each of the organs that the adult organism will require. At very early stages in cell differentiation, unspecialized cells can be moved from one part of the embryo to another, and the transplanted cells will still develop into whatever organs are needed in their new locations. Just so, the Planetary Organism (to which I will hereby give the scientific name of "Terrebia") needs various organs in order to function properly.

[Note: As is customary in scientific nomenclature for living species, I based my name for the planetary organism on the Latin for "Earth life." When, in 1972, James Lovelock independently came up with the observation of the organic unity of all terrestrial life, his friend, the novelist William Golding, suggested the name of the ancient Greek Earth Goddess: "Gaia." Even though Greek is customarily used only in designating extinct species, in this case I yield primacy of the name to Golding, as I much prefer the connotations thereof. But I will use the American spelling, "Gaea," to distinguish my development of the concept from Lovelock's. Henceforth in this updated edition of my paper I will replace "Terrebia" with "Gaea." [OZ, 1988]]

Continuing the analogy with the human body, each animal and plant on Earth is the equivalent of a single cell in the vast body of Gaea. Each biome, such as pine forest, coral reef, desert, prairie, marsh, etc., complete with all its plants and animals, is the equivalent of an organ in the body of our biospheric Being; sub-structures and tissues consisting of types of plants and animals, such as trees, insects, grasses, predators, grazing ungulates, etc. All the components of a biome are essential to its proper functioning, and each biome is essential to the proper functioning of Gaea. If some essential elements of a biome are removed or destroyed, it may be possible for relatively unspecialized "cells" of plants and animals to differentiate out by adaptive radiation to become all the required components. The most classic recent case of this is the radiation of marsupials in Australia, following the demise of the dinosaurs, to fill all the ecological niches occupied elsewhere by placentas with creatures virtually identical in structure and habits with their placental equivalents. Moreover, recent [as of 1970] papers and books on the genetics of evolution, including Biophilosophy, stress that modern Darwinian theory has abandoned the notion of individuals determining the direction of the evolution of a species. Rather, the entire species seems to migrate towards a fortuitous ecological niche as if it had a sense of whither it needed to go. If all the mutations in the direction of such a change are destroyed, the species will produce more.

The non-living components of the planetary structure of the Earth itself itself serve the developing organism if Gaea much as the non-living components of our own bodies serve us. These components are the Lithosphere, the Hydrosphere, and the Atmosphere. The Lithosphere, the rock and mineral foundation of our planet, functions in the body of Gaea much as the skeleton functions in the human body - as foundation and structural support (like the Lithosphere, our own skeleton is largely mineral). The Hydrosphere, the water of oceans, lakes and rivers that covers three fifths of the surface of the Earth, functions homologously with the plasma in the blood of the human body, which, incidentally, has a composition very like the water in those primeval seas wherein life first appeared. The ocean tides may even be viewed as our planetary pulse, driven by the heartbeat of our orbiting moon. The atmosphere serves the great organism of Gaea much as it does us, as individual "cells" - in a carbon-cycle respiratory process, involving breaking down carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen by plants and building carbon and oxygen back up into carbon dioxide by animals.

[Note: The observations which led to Lovelock's formulation of the Gaia Hypothesis were concerned with the Atmosphere, in the same way that my own observations were of the Biosphere. Lovelock, an atmospheric biochemist, analyzed and noted a remarkable homeostasis of atmospheric composition and surface temperature over the past three billion years, and concluded that this could only be attributed to a biospheric regulatory mechanism.[OZ, 1988]]

What is the ultimate source of energy for Gaea - her "food?" Sunlight, which, through photosynthesis in green plants, converts materials of the Lithosphere, Hydrosphere and Atmosphere into the materials of life: the Biosphere.

Now, it follows that if a biomic component occupies a particular ecological nich in a given biome, it does so because it belongs there and is necessary to the proper functioning of that biome, and hence of Gaea. Further, if some plant or animal is missing from a particular biome, it is probably because it doesn't belong there. Now, everybody realizes that the human body will not function properly if one removes, replaces or rearranges parts of it. You may survive if your leg is amputated, but you certainly won't walk as well as before. This same principle of coherency applies to Gaea, as we are beginning to learn only too well. We cannot kill all the bison in North America, import rabbits to Australia, clearcut or burn off whole forests, or plow and plant the Great Plains with wheat and corn without seriously disrupting the ecosystem. Remember the dust bowl? Australia's plague of rabbits? Mississippi basin floods? Recent drought in the Sourthwestern US? Gaea is a single living organism, and her parts are not to be removed, replaced or rearranged without consequence.

Just as in the human body the brain and nervous system is the last organ to develop, so in Gaea the last biome to develop is the Noosphere, composed of Earth's aggregate population of Homo Sapiens.

[Note: "In man," says Lovelock, Gaia has the equivalent of a central nervous system and an awareness of herself and the rest of the Universe. Through man, she has a rudimentary capacity, capable of development, to anticipate and guard against threats to her existence. For example, man can command just about enough capacity to ward off a collision with a planetoid the size of Icarus. Can it then be that in the course of man's evolution within Gaia he has been acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure her survival?" ["The Quest for Gaia," New Scientist, Feb. 6, 1975]]

What function does humanity, as the Noospheric organ, the planetary "brain," perform? It would seem at the present stage of evolution that the function of a biome of awareness would be to act as steward of the planetary ecosystem. Humanity's purpose in Gaea, our responsibility, is to see that her whole organism functions at its highest potential and that none of her vital systems become disrupted or impaired. We might judge the state of humanity's functioning in the macrocosmic realm by evaluating our performance of this organic responsibility.

[Note: Since writing the preceding paragraph back in 1970, I have radically altered my perception of humanity as a kind of planetary cerebral cortex, which function I am now firmly inclined to attribute to the Great Whales. Apropos of this attribution, I am now even more appalled than ever at humanity's near-extermination of these vastly-brained leviathans, as I cannot avoid viewing it as a kind of planetary lobotomy. I have developed this idea at some extent in another paper, entitled "Mind Beneath the Silver Sky." Regarding our own proper function, I have come to perceive us in a far different role: that of a reproductive system. For it is not true that the brain and nervous system is the last organ to develop in an organism; the ultimate objective of a living system is to reproduce itself, and the reproductive organs are the final product of physical development, be it embryological or evolutionary. Maturation essentially means achieving reproductive capability. I envision our greater purpose, capability and destiny as agents of planetary reproduction via extraterrestrial colonization and terraforming. However, I still include an ancillary and continuing function of ourselves as peripheral neurons and planetary stewards; after all, we as humans need not die in childbirth, but ideally continue to live long and productive lives beyond merely reproducing ourselves. [OZ, 1988]]

When in the human body some cells start multiplying all out of control and excreting toxins into the bloodstream, we have a cancer. One of the ways cancer can be controlled is by radiation treatment At this moment, humanity as a species is multiplying wildly out of control and excreting vast quantities of deadly pollutants into the air, water and soil, If our own cancerous population growth is not halted - indeed, drastically reduced - our numbers and poisons will severely cripple or kill our planetary organism, Gaea. Perhaps nuclear war - a global "radiation treatment" - will be needed... But it is still to be hoped that it is not to late for us to wake up to our responsibility of stewardship.

[Note: In reading these words, 18 years later, I am appalled at how casually I invoked nuclear holocaust as an antidote for the cancer of our species. Studies on the "nuclear winter" scenario, as well as the recent discoveries concerning asteroid/comet impacts as agents of massive extinctions in the past, have severely curtailed any prospect of Gaea's ability to survive a nuclear war. She has her own devices for regulating overpopulation: plague, famine, drought, flood, etc. Or we could save ourselves a lot of grief and just decide not to have so many children...[OZ, 1988]]

Gaea is nearing maturity. All the physical ecological niches have been filled, and the recently developed Noosphere now extends over the entire globe. . . Projecting a bit, it would seem most reasonable that Teilhard de Chardin was correct in his vision of an emerging planetary consciousness, what he called the "Omega Point" (The Phenomenon of Man) and Carlton Berenda calls "The First Coming of God" (The New Genesis). The maturation of a Planetary Biosphere requires the evolution of total telepathic union among the "cells" of its Noosphere (its most intelligent species; humanity). When such an intelligent species ultimately develops telepathy to the extent that it eventually shares a single global consciousness, a planetary mind awakens in the "brain" (Noosphere) of the Biosphere.

[Note: "Lewis Thomas can readily see the worldwide community of humans as a kind of giant brain, exchanging thoughts so rapidly 'that the brains of mankind often appear, functionally, to be undergoing fusion.' With mankind as its "nervous system," the whole earth becomes, in one of Thomas's highest flights of fancy, a breathing organism of finely meshed parts, all growing together under the "protective membrane" of the planet's own atmosphere." [ "The Boswell of Organelles," Newsweek, June 24, 1974]]

This is our human destiny - our ultimate function in the organism of Gaea.

[Please, gentle readers; forgive this hubris. I've outgrown it. I consider that we could - and should - be participants in this awakening of planetary consciousness, but I hardly believe any longer in our exclusive claim to sentience on this planet! As I mentioned earlier, I heartily do believe that whales, for instance, are way ahead of us in this department. Actually, I think that the planetarization of consciousness would, by its very nature, include "all creatures great and small..."[OZ, 1988]]

And just as the brain in the human body is capable, via the conscious mind, of controlling virtually everything that goes on in the body and a good deal that goes on outside it, so a planetary consciousness would be in complete control of virtually everything that goes on in the planet - from earthquakes to rainfall to ice ages to mountain building to hurricanes - and perhaps influence the rest of its local stellar system as well.

[Note: Dane Rudhyar writes: "...mankind is to fulfill a definite function in the total operation of this vast, yet closely integrated, system of activities which we call the planet Earth - provided we do not think of the Earth as merely a mass of matter. This function appears to be to extract consciousness out of all the activities within the Earth-field - a field which may extend at least to, and perhaps in a sense include, the Moon." ["The Astrology of Self-Actualization and the New Morality", pp. 24-25]]

At this point it becomes necessary to define Divinity:

Divinity is the highest level of aware consciousness accessible to each living being, manifesting itself in the self-actualization of that being. Thus we can truly say, "All that groks is God" (Heinlein; Stranger in a Strange Land). Divinity is a cat being fully feline, grass being grassy, and people being fully human. Collective Divinity emerges when a number of people (a culture or society) share enough values, beliefs and aspects of a common life-style that they conceptualize a tribal God or Goddess, which takes on the character (and the gender) of the dominant elements of that culture. Thus the masculine God of the Western Monotheists (Jews, Christians, Moslems) may be seen to have arisen out of the values, ideals and principles of a nomadic, patriarchal culture - the ancient Hebrews. Matrifocal agrarian cultures, on the other hand, personified their values of fertility, sensuality, peace and the arts in the conceptualization of Goddesses. As small tribes coalesced into states and nations, their Gods and Goddesses battled for supremacy through their respective devotees. In some circumstances, various tribal divinities were joined peaceably (often through marriage) into a polytheistic pantheon, being ranked in status as their followers' respective influences determined. In other circumstances, one particularly fanatic tribe was able to completely dominate others and eliminate their own deities, elevating its God to the status of a solitary ruler over all creation, and enforcing His worship upon the people, usually upon pain of death. However, no matter to what rank a single tribal deity may be exalted by its followers, it still could be no other than a tribal divinity, existing only as an embodiment of the values of that tribe. "Gods are only as strong as those who believe in them think they are" (Alley Oop). When the planetary consciousness of Gaea awakens, She too will be Divinity - but on an entirely new level: the emergent deity Carlton Berenda postulates in The New Genesis. Indeed, even though yet unawakened, the slumbering subconscious [and dreaming?] mind of Gaea is experienced intuitively by us all, and has been referred to instinctively by us as Mother Earth, Mother Nature - The Goddess for whom She is well named. Indeed, this intuitive conceptualization of feminine gender for our planetary Divinity is scientifically valid, for biologically unisexual organisms (such as amoebae or hydra) are always considered female; in the act of reproduction they are referred to as mothers and their offspring as daughters.

[Note: I came later to the conclusion that Gaea may have indeed achieved consciousness in more ancient times, and that she was actually "knocked unconscious" by the worldwide cataclysms and attendant destruction of Her worshippers which ended the Bronze Age and ushered in the Age of Iron around 1500 BCE. This hypothesis is more fully developed in my 1977 research paper, "Cataclysm and Consciousness - From the Golden Age to the Age of Iron." [OZ, 1988]]

Thus we find that "God" is in reality Goddess, and that our ancient Pagan ancestors had an intuitive understanding of what we are now able to prove scientifically. Thus also we expose the logical absurdity of a concept of cosmic Divinity in the masculine gender. These few pages, however, have only been the briefest of introductions to the implications of a discovery so vast that its impact on the world's thinking will ultimately surpass the impact of the discovery of the Heliocentric structure of the solar system. This is the discovery that the entire Biosphere of the Earth comprises a single living Organism.

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III. The Gaian Conspiracy

by
Anodea Judith, Priestess, CAW

Conspire: (from spiritus, or spirit) to concur or work to one end; act in harmony; co-operate; to plot together; breathe together.

Gaea Earth Mother Goddess of pre-classical Greece, creator of the Heavens.

a movement to connect the subsystems of Gaea into harmonious cooperation through mutual recognition of their identity as part of an evolving planetary deity.

---

We are all part of the Gaean Conspiracy. Based on the scientific and thealogical (i) premise that the Earth is an enormous multi-systemic creature--a planetary deity we call Gaea--the Gaean Conspiracy is a movement to reconnect our social, economic, scientific, religious and political systems into harmonious co-creation with the larger, long standing bio-geological Gaean system. It is a recognition of the evolutionary process that must take place as our planetary being awakens to a more integrated, self-reflexive state of global consciousness. The coordination of this planetary harmony is the next evolutionary step that we face as a species and as a planet.

The Gaean Conspiracy is based on the following major premise:

The Earth is a single living being, whose rocks, plants, animals, air, oceans and oozing mantle are all interdependent systems in a giant biological superorganism.

A scientific principle with religious overtones, this hypothesis states what ancient Paleo-Pagans knew instinctively: that the Earth and all life upon it are an interpenetrating system of divine proportion. Earth's ability to resist entropy and to regulate temperature, oxygen, ocean salinity, and other qualities necessary for life indicates that She is a biological superorganism having consciousness. This dynamic Homeostasis (self-regulation) of living organisms and their environment is the interface that human beings are constantly threatening.

Over two decades ago, an article by Otter Zell entitled "Theagenesis: The Birth of the Goddess" (Green Egg, Vol V. #40) contained the first published description of the Earth as a living Goddess. Otter's vision was based on the fact that all life in the biosphere began with a single organism, which has divided infinitely to form the incredible diversity of life that has evolved thus far. Much as a fertilized ovum divides again and again to make up the many organs of the human body, all life in the biosphere is part of a single living organism, of which we and the plants and animals are like cells and perhaps, collectively, organs.

The Gaia Hypothesis has been popularized by James Lovelock, an atmospheric scientist, and Lynn Margulis, a microbiologist. Through his observations of atmospheric fluctuations, Lovelock discovered that the atmosphere of Gaea maintains a consistent composition, defying the behavior of reactive gases. Such a homeostatic balance of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide is an anomaly in our solar system. Oxygen, highly reactive, should combine with the reducing gas of methane or react with the 78% nitrogen and fall to the ground. Instead, oxygen remains at a constant 21%. In addition, despite a 25% warming of the sun over geological time, there are homeostatic balances of world temperature and of the constant salinity of the ocean, which, logically should get saltier as it evaporates. In the words of Lovelock, "It must take a lot of work to keep up such a wild disequilibrium."

And who is doing the work? It is our biosphere, that arose over 3.5 billion years ago: the microbes and the plants and animals which interact with the seemingly solid organ of Gaea's crust. This as a spider's web, this delicate miracle of life is the chemical and climatic thermostat of the Goddess.

But Gaea is not the biosphere alone. Just as a living redwood tree is ninety-seven percent inanimate matter, just as a snail includes its shell, so Gaea is a total organism, comprising Her crust, Her flowing mantle and Her radioactive metallic core. Her changing biosphere is a thin layer of expression on Her beautiful face--the visage of the One of Whom we are a part and upon Whom we depend to survive.

Gaea is not only alive, She is conscious.An organism that is alive changes. As a thing changes it either moves towards entropy, increasing disorder, or towards organization and greater complexity. We see in every untouched wilderness that Gaea keeps Her house beautiful and balanced. We know by the proliferation of species and the perfection of untampered exosystems that Gaea resists entropy.

The ability to resist the natural entropy of open systems implies the influence of consciousness or intelligence. Gaea's ability to sustain the wild disequilibrium of which Lovelock speaks is indicative of a feedback process that elicits a self-correcting response. She is able to sense and to change accordingly to maintain the exact conditions needed for life--operative intelligence at work.

While Lovelock was strongly criticized for implying that Gaea's intelligence had purpose, by definition a thing that is moving toward greater organization is evolving . Since She is alive and evolving, we watch of the pattern and ask the questions, "What is She evolving into?" and How can we help?"

The basic evolutionary pattern in biological organisms is movement toward greater consciousness. Since the animals with the largest brains are the most recent additions, this progression is called _cephalization_. Simple homeostasis does not require a great deal of consciousness--our bodies maintain their inner temperatures and chemical balance with little if any attention from our conscious mind. But a circumstances require greater effort to maintain balance, greater consciousness is also required: when it gets really cold, we put a coat on or make a fire.

Teilhard de Chardin, apocalyptic theologian, spoke of the Earth growing a new organ of consciousness which he called the noosphere. The noosphere which is about two days old in Gaean time,(ii) is made up of creatures who are capable of sharing and spreading consciousness. It can be thought of as Gaea's cerebral cortex. Humans and animals may be the neurons of Gaea, growing neural networks via our wondrous communications systems, which are themselves only seconds old. This means Her consciousness is growing very rapidly.

What does a being do as it becomes conscious? Many spiritual systems, especially the older ones, have risen from the very fabric of this world. Gaea's evolutionary thrust is reflected in the spiritual goals of self-realization.

To realize one's self means to awaken to whom you are in your entirety, to harmoniously integrate your inner parts. Based on models of modern psychology, systems thinking and spiritual enlightenment, the next stage of planetary evolution will involve a reclamation of lost and severed parts; a reintegration and increased functionality of interdependent systems; and a continual self-examination and self-correction aiming toward complete identity as part of a planetary being.

Realization on a planetary scale means that a critical mass of the conscious aspects of Gaea realize the absolute importance of all the other Gaean components and unite with them. To come to understand that there is no "other," only a very large self that is highly diversified within, is a global process of epoch proportions which will extend far beyond our lifetimes.

Put simply, this means:

GAEA IS TRYING TO WAKE UP!

The noosphere is all sentient creatures as well as the interconnecting nerve fibers of the media and telecommunications networks. Even animals are part of this network: as we watch movies and documentaries about them, we bring them into our consciousness. In the same way that the occipital nerve of our central nervous system influences our consciousness by bringing visual information to the brain, the international communications medium is a neural network that affects our global consciousness.

While we sleep, we are unaware of external visual input and instead dwell in the archetypal realm. The process of awakening from sleep is reflected in an increasing ability to connect quickly and directly with what is going on around us.

So, too, is the planet awakening through the development of the noosphere. Once upon a time, war could occur in Europe without anyone in North America having any knowledge of it. Then the noosphere grew and we could know, but with a time lag, a buffering separation between the reality of the war and our consciousness of it. Now the planetary nervous system is awakening ever more and information about significant events reached a much larger body of consciousness more quickly. The experience is also a fuller one of sight and sound together. The noosphere is evolving, its body of consciousness self-organizing into an elaborate neural network.

When an injured person falls into unconsciousness, they cease to be aware of their wounds. As they come to, they first become aware of sensations and sounds. Then they open their eyes to their surroundings and next try to sit up, only to find their body racked with pain. Working toward awareness of the situation as a whole, they attempt to connect the sensory information impacting their groggy consciousness; they begin to remember who they are, where they are, and what happened.

Gaea is awakening now, as Her various members realize that they are part of a larger divine system. She got a look at Her face in the mirror when the pictures of Earth from space were broadcast into the minds of Her children. When all the part of Gaea recognize each other as participants in parallel growth heading for an Omega point of coalescence and integrative harmony, then the global consciousness of this planet will have awakened to a realization of identity as a global being.

We who are aware of this process are privileged to have a ringside seat. We are Her eyes and ears. Her voice and hands. Human beings, with our instruments of science and global communication, are in a unique position to understand the direction of this change and help it or thwart it--at our own liberation or peril. Asking and perhaps discovering in what direction Her evolutionary thrust is moving, in answering, we become partners in it.

Teilhard de Chardin observed: "Man is not the center of the universe, as once we thought in our simplicity, but something much more wonderful--that arrow pointing the way to the final unification of the world in terms of life."(iii)

But what expression is being carved on the face of the Goddess Gaea. In our rush towards planetary realization, we are creating the paralysis of _greedlock_.(iv) Since everything on this planet is part of Gaea, what in the world is She doing to Herself? Is destruction or our own habitat part of Her plan? Is She trying to get rid of us because we are a failed experiment? Or are we an inoculation hurrying Her own awakening? If we are She, and we are also destroying the most living aspect of Her, does that mean She is involved in self-destruction? If so, _why_?

GAEA IS REACTING TO A DEEP PSYCHIC WOUND

I return again to human beings as a model. People come to me in my healing practice to deal with self-destructive activities that they are unable to stop: drinking, eating, scratching themselves raw, ruining their relationships, hurting their children. They don't want to be doing these things and they aren't fully conscious of why they do. Our culture is full of this kind of addictive self-destruction.

In every case, the behavior was the result of one wound or several that had been glossed over, forgotten, discounted or distorted. An unhealed wound of any magnitude is an event that thwarts the evolutionary progress of the afflicted. Until the wound is healed, the organism cannot go on to become what it is meant to be.

Human addictive destruction of the biosphere can be understood as a systemic reaction on the part of Gaea to escape from a wound. It is a sign of something having gone awry, of a negative conspiracy , a self sabotage reflex, a circuit breaker. If this is, then what is the wound?

The wound that Gaea sustained is the wound of Her children turning away from Her. If her children were to be the arrow pointing the way to unification, then we are surely missing the mark. Instead of unity, our separation from Nature has resulted in a fragmentation of Her energy. Culture is severed from planet, much as mind is "severed" from body, the ongoing condition from wounds suffered. As a result, we are living with a biospheric amnesia and Gaea is living in a state of partial dissociation. The noosphere has become what Theodore Roszak calls the neurosisphere

.The imposition of patriarchal dominator values, which destroyed the religions and cultural models that revered the Earth, was the original infliction of this wound. It has been a 6,000 year process of separation of human beings from Nature (long for us, but moments to Gaea). In this time we have moved away from biological models for our cultural structure, replacing them with mechanistic ones. Powerful, but out of step with Gaea, they take us away from Her and from ourselves as biological beings.

But in reality this separation is not actually possible--we are utterly dependent upon Gaea. Our separation is an illusion that unfortunately has us firmly in its grip. Joanna Macy points out:

"Trying to escape from something that we are dependent on breeds a love-hate relationship with it. This love-hate relationship with matter permeates our culture and inflames a twofold desire--to destroy and to possess. These two impulses , craving and aversion inflame each other in a kind of vicious circle."(v)

So our culture compulsively seeks to possess and destroy the very deity that gives us life. We are each part of Gaea. Her wound is our own wound. As we are separated from Mother Nature, we are simultaneously separated from our own nature. Our self-destruction is her destruction. As the face of our planet breaks out in biospheric acne, our social systems break down, our economic systems decline, our political systems wage war and our immune systems fail. Our despair is Her despair. Her pain is our doom.

But as we are microcosmic reflection of Her, so is our visions and our hope. Herein lies the good news.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Get rid of the illusion of separateness between yourself and other parts of the planet--"us and them" thinking. Look to heal the wounds within yourself and others--even your enemies are part of Gaea. Connect again with Nature, walk in the wilderness, immerse your consciousness in places where She is still whole and healthy. Help others to recognize the vision of global consciousness. Promote awareness of the Earth as awareness of our very selves and of our purpose in this amazing cosmic creation story.

Conduct rituals that strengthen the connection of human and Gaean consciousness. Recycle. Pray. Give money to environmental organizations. Write letters to your newspaper. Learn to love each other and appreciate the beauty and diversity She has created. Help to bring about the critical mass that can carry us on to global awakening. *Wake up!*

Ben Franklin once said that his greatest invention was the word "American" to describe the melting pot of cultures that were forming this country. It erased the differences emphasized by such labels as "Dutch," "Italian," "French," "Virginian," "New Yorker," "Catholic," "Jewish," or "Protestant." Otter Zell has suggested we being to think of ourselves as "Gaeans," a word that further transcends our races, religions, or nationalities. As Gaeans we can join together in this global conspiracy to awaken our Mother and thank her for the miraculous gift of life she gives us.

Humanity stands on the brink of a quantum leap in evolution. The effects of a global change in consciousness are truly cosmic, shrinking by comparison the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War, and the advent of computers. We have an enormous opportunity if we can recognize it before we destroy our chance. The Gaean Conspiracy is based on the belief that planetary awakening will occur through the mutual recognition and coordination of _all_ our major systems; from individuals and families to cities and continents; from politics and economics to religion and science. As Al Gore stated at the Democratic Convention, "The environment must be the central organizing principle for civilization."

As we balance our mechanistic models by integrating them with spiritual and biological models, we make the first steps in the transformation. This process extends beyond our lifetime. For this reason, it is difficult for us to conceive and implement it . But if homo sapiens is indeed the animal privileged to point the arrow, let us reflect deeply upon its direction.

i Thealogical, spelled with an "a" refers to the feminine aspect of theology.

ii Two days old is derived by setting the dawning of the noosphere at about one million years ago, the first use of fire. Figuring that Gaea may be one third of the way through her life of 15 billion years, one million years is about two days in our lifetimes.

iii Teilhard de Chardin, Phenomenon of Man, translated by Bernard Wall, Harper Torch Books, 1959 pp. 154-157

iv A term coined by Theodore Roszak, Voice of the Earth, Simon and Schuster, 1992

v Joanna Macy, World as Lover, World as Self, Parallax Press, 1991 p. 7.

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IV. Spiritual Contours of the Contemporary Pagan Worldview

Postmodern Context

In the broadest sense, this article focuses upon spirituality, defined succinctly by Griffin (1988a) as "a person's ultimate values and commitments, regardless of their content" (p. 2). In this definition, spirituality does not necessarily concern the sacred or the divine. In contrast, Spretnak (1987a) defined spirituality as "the focusing of human awareness on the subtle aspects of existence, a practice that reveals to us profound interconnectedness" (p. 24). Spretnak (1991) further described spirituality as the "sense of the sacred -- our human perception of the larger reality, ultimate mystery, or creativity in the universe" (p. 2). Drawing from these definitions, the term "spirituality" will be used in this article to refer to the ultimate values, worldviews and experiences which reflect human perceptions of the divine and give life meaning.

According to Griffin (1988b), postmodernism refers to a diffuse sentiment that humanity can and must go beyond modernism, i.e. the worldview that developed out of the seventeenth century Galilean-Cartesian-Baconian-Newtonian science. The basic argument for needing to go beyond modernism rests in "the awareness that the continuation of modernity threatens the very survival on our planet" (Griffin, 1988b). Spretnak (1991) supported this argument in enumerating the threats to human survival and global well-being that modernism has brought about which include ecocide, nuclear arms, globalization of unqualified growth economies, the plunder of indigenous peoples' cultures and homelands, loss of meaning beyond consumerism, loss of community and connectedness with other people, and loss of a secure sense of embeddedness in the rest of the natural world.

Griffin (1988b) advocated constructive or revisionary postmodernism in which a postmodern worldview is constructed through a revision of modern premises and traditional concepts, involving a unity of scientific, ethical, aesthetic, and religious intuitions. Griffin went on to say that this constructive, revisionary postmodernism involves a creative synthesis of modern and premodern truths and values, including premodern notions of a divine reality, cosmic meaning, and an enchanted nature. Spretnak (1991) advocated a similar form of postmodernism, called ecological postmodernism, which she described as "passage beyond the failed assumptions of modernity and a radical reorientation that preserves the positive advances of the liberal tradition and technological capabilities but is rooted in ecological sanity and meaningful human participation in the unfolding story of the Earth community and the universe" (p. 4).

Griffin (1988a, 1990) identified a number of specific themes which characterize postmodern spirituality and social thinking including: (a) the reality of internal relations or interconnections; (b) a nondualistic relation of humans to Nature and of the divine reality to the world; (c) the immanence of both the past and the future in the present; (d) the universality and centrality of creativity; (e) postpatriarchy; (f) communitarianism (versus individualism and nationalism); (g) the "deprivatization" of religion, meaning the rejection of the autonomy of morality, politics, and economics from religious values; and (h) the rejection of materialism, in the sense of economism, meaning the subordination of social, religious, moral, aesthetic, and ecological interests to short-term economic interests.

This postmodern context described by Griffin (1988a, 1990) and Spretnak (1991) is relevant to the discussion of contemporary Paganism, because Paganism represents an attempt to synthesize premodern notions of divine reality, cosmic meaning and an enchanted nature with present day life. In addition, certain of the themes identified by Griffin (1988a, 1990) as characteristic of postmodern spirituality will be shown to be descriptive of contemporary Paganism.

Theme of Interconnectedness

The theme of interconnectedness represents a fundamental component of the Pagan worldview. Griffin (1990) and Spretnak (1987a) described the theme of interconnectedness within a postmodern context which helps clarify his aspect of the Pagan spiritual worldview. As mentioned before, Spretnak claimed that profound interconnectedness is revealed when human awareness is focused on the subtle aspects of existence. Spretnak described the true nature of being as nondualistic in saying "all is one, all forms of existence are comprised of one continuous dance of matter/energy arising and falling away, arising and falling away" (p. 24). Consistent with such a view, Griffin (1990) maintained that no feature of postmodern spirituality is emphasized more than the reality of internal relations, the idea that all things are interconnected and that these interconnections are internal to the very essence of the things themselves. Similarly, Starhawk (1989) identified one of the core principles of Goddess religion, or Witchcraft, as interconnection which she described as "the understanding that all being is interrelated, that we are linked with all of the cosmos as parts of one living organism. What affects one of us affects us all" (p. 10). Fox (1989a) offered a similar viewpoint when she said, "Mother Earth is the Goddess of Planet Earth. She is the Ecosphere, the totality of all lifeforms and substance here. She is the Web of Life of this world" (p. 27). This symbol of the "Web of Life" sometimes depicted as a spider's web or as a web of light around the planet has been used by many Pagans to represent the theme of interconnectedness. The following popular Pagan chant reflects this notion well: "We are the flow, We are the ebb, We are the weaver, We are the web."

Immanent/Transcendent Dimension

Related to the theme of interconnectedness, the immanent/transcendent dimension encompasses a range of viewpoints characterizing human understanding about the relation of the Divine to the world. The terms pantheism, panentheism and deism have been used to refer to aspects of this immanent/transcendent dimension. According to Runes (1983), pantheism means that "the essence of God or the Absolute is completely immanent in the world, i.e. is identical with it" (p. 157). At the other extreme, "Deism means that God is essentially absent or transcendent from the world" (Runes, p. 157). In between these two extremes, panentheism refers to: "The view that God interpenetrates everything without cancelling the relative independent existence of the world of entities; moreover, while God is immanent, this immanence is not absolute (as in pantheism); God is more than the world, transcendent, in the sense that though the created is dependent upon the Creator the Creator is not dependent upon the created. God thus is held to be the highest type of Unity, viz., a Unity in Multiplicity" (Runes, p. 239).

Griffin (1990) described panentheism with the context of the interconnected aspects of postmodern spirituality: "The reality of spiritual energy is affirmed but is felt to exist within and between all nodes in the cosmic web of interconnections. It is thus dispersed throughout the universe, not concentrated in a source wholly transcendent to it. Post-modernists who speak of God generally affirm a naturalistic panentheism, according to which God is in all things and all things are in God....The relations between things are regarded as internal to them, and as their participation in the universal web of interconnections, which is itself holy or sacred, being the source of all value and power" (p. 2). Sheldrake (1990) also described a panentheistic worldview when he said "God is not remote and separate from nature, but immanent within it. Yet at the same time God is the unity which transcends it" (p. 167).

The concept of the divine feminine, or Goddess, is valued by many Pagans as a metaphor/symbol of both the immanent and transcendent divine. According to Fox (1989a), "The Goddess is around us and within us. She is immanent and transcendent" (p. 3). Starhawk (1982) defined immanence as "the awareness of the world and everything in it as alive, dynamic, interdependent, interacting, and infused with moving energies: a living being, a weaving dance" (p. 9). Starhawk further described divine immanence from a Goddess perspective by saying that the Goddess "represents the divine embodied in nature, in human beings, in the flesh" (p. 9). Spretnak (1991) stressed the fundamental importance of immanence from a Goddess perspective, while adding a transcendent component: "The central understanding in contemporary Goddess spirituality is that the divine -- creativity in the universe, or ultimate mystery -- is laced through-out the cosmic manifestations in and around us. The divine is immanent, not concentrated in some distant seat of power, a transcendent sky-god. Instead of accepting the notion in patriarchal religion that one must spiritually transcend the body and nature, it is possible to apprehend divine transcendence as the sacred whole, or the infinite complexity of the universe. The Goddess, as a metaphor for divine immanence and the transcendent sacred whole, expresses ongoing regeneration with the cycles of her Earthbody and contains the mystery of diversity within unity: the extraordinary range of differentiation in forms of life on Earth issued from her dynamic form and are kin" (pp. 136-137).

Adler (1986) noted that many Pagans hold a pantheistic worldview meaning that divinity is diffused throughout the world and is inherent in all nature. Starhawk's (1982) conceptualization of the Goddess as a symbol of divine immanence also demonstrates such a pantheistic worldview. However, upon closer examination of Starhawk's viewpoints, a transcendent aspect emerges within the theme of "unity in diversity." As suggested by Griffin (1990), Spretnak (1991), and Runes (1983), "unity in diversity" is a central theme of the panentheistic worldview meaning that the divine is immanent, i.e. interspersed throughout Nature in the web of interconnections, as well as transcendent, i.e. perceived as a unifying whole. Fox (1990) acknowledged such immanent and transcendent aspects when she said, "I know that Divinity has many facets and I experience this through a variety of Gods and Goddesses. I also honor Divine Oneness, the Unity of All" (p. 45). Starhawk (1989) described the paradoxical aspects of this theme of "unity in diversity": "A mirror image is a reversed image, the same, but opposite, the reverse polarity. The image expresses the paradox: All things are one, yet each thing is separate, individual, unique...Witchcraft holds to the truth of paradox and sees each view as equally valid. They reflect and complement each other; they do not contradict each other. The world of separate things is the reflection of the One; the One is the reflection of the myriad separate things of the world. We are all 'swirls' of the same energy; yet each swirl is unique in its own form and pattern" (p. 39).

In summary, Pagans maintain immanent and pantheistic perspectives in which the divine is dispersed through Nature and is Nature. To the extent that Pagans also acknowledge the mutual existence of a unifying aspect or transcendent whole as have Fox (1989a, 1990) and Starhawk (1989), they may be more appropriately called panentheists.

Animism and Spiritism

According to Runes (1983), animism is defined as "the view that souls are attached to all things either as their inner principle of spontaneity or activity, or as their dwellers; the doctrine that Nature is inhabited by various grades of spirits" (p. 28). In other words, animism refers to "the attribution of a living soul to inanimate objects and natural phenomenon" (Simpson & Weiner, 1989, p. 478). Spiritism reflects the characteristics of animism, but adds an element of communicability in that ancestral or other spirits can communicate with humans (Runes, 1983). Another term related to animism is hylozoism which refers to "the conception of nature as alive or animated, of reality as alive" (Runes, p. 149).

Consistent with these definitions and closely related to the concept of immanence, Pagans view all of Nature as alive and imbued with spiritual energy. In addition, communication is said to be possible between humans and various aspects, or spirits, of the animated natural world. Over the years, I have heard these concepts revealed in a number of ways by Pagans including communication with plants and trees, working with power animals and other Nature spirits, connecting with the powers of place, working with ancestor spirits, and connecting with the Spirit World. Reflected in these practices are the beliefs that Nature is alive, that various aspects of Nature maintain an autonomous sense of spirit or consciousness, and that communication can occur between humans and these aspects of Nature. According to Fox (1989b), "the Wiccan Religion is animistic in that every human, tree, animal, stream, rock, and other forms of Nature are seen to have a Divine Spirit within" (p. 1). Fox went on to say that "many Wiccans have personal communication and friendships with various animals, plants and other lifeforms" (p. 1). Adler (1986) noted that the animistic worldview of the premodern world which did not conceive of a separation between "animate" and "inanimate" provides the inspiration for the reanimation of Nature by contemporary Pagans.

Fox (1990) offered her perspectives which further describe an interconnected and animistic worldview: "I am a Pagan. I am a part of the whole of Nature. The Rocks, the Animals, the Plants, the Elements, and the Stars are my relatives. Other humans are my sisters and brothers, whatever their races, colors, genders, ages, nationalities, religions, lifestyles. The Earth is my Mother and the Sun is my Father. I am a part of this large family of Nature, not the master of it. I have my own special part to play and I seek to play that part to the best of my ability. I seek to live in harmony with others in the family of Nature, treating others with respect, not abuse" (p. 44).

Consistent with the view of all Nature as alive, Pagans revere the Earth as a living being, often referring to the Earth as Mother Earth (Fox, 1989, 1990) or Gaia (also spelled Gaea), after the primordial Greek Earth Goddess (Farrar & Farrar, 1987). Lovelock (1979) also referred to this Greek Goddess in using the term "Gaia Hypothesis" to refer to the interconnectedness of all life on Earth and to the Earth's ecosphere exhibiting the behavior of a single living organism through self-regulation. Sheldrake (1990) expanded on the animistic nature of this "living Earth concept" to include the whole universe: "The organismic or holistic philosophy of nature which has grown up over the last sixty years is a new form of animism. It implicitly or explicitly regards all nature as alive. The universe as a whole is a developing organism, and so are the galaxies, solar systems and biospheres within it, including the Earth" (p. 125). Such perceptions of the Earth and all of Nature as alive constitutes a fundamental component of the worldview of Pagans which many believe fosters a sense of compassion and obligation to save the environment.

Monotheism/Polytheism Dimension

According to Runes (1983), polytheism is defined as the "theory that Divine reality is numerically multiple, that there are many gods; opposed to monotheism" (p. 258). Monotheism, in this case, refers to the theory that Divine reality is characterized by one god, usually believed to be transcendent. Adler (1986) defined polytheism from the Nature-based perspectives of Pagans as "grounded in the view that reality (divine or otherwise) is multiple and diverse. And if one is a pantheist-polytheist, as are many Neo-Pagans, one might say that all nature is divinity and manifests itself in myriad forms and delightful complexities" (p. 25).

Considerable variability exists regarding where individual Pagan practitioners and Pagan groups fit along the monotheism/polytheism dimension. As already described in the discussion of the "unity in diversity" theme, one of the most prevalent points of view synthesizes the polytheistic and monotheistic perspectives in recognizing the diverse, multiplistic aspects of the Divine, but also acknowledging a unifying aspect. According to Fox (1989b): "The Wiccan religion is monotheistic in that there is an honoring of Divine Unity. It also is polytheistic in that Wiccans honor the Divine through a variety of female and male deity forms -- Goddesses and Gods which are aspects of the Divine Female and Divine Male and their Unity" (p. 1).

Adler (1986) described the variability of perspective regarding monotheism/polytheism in that some Feminist Witches often hold a monotheistic viewpoint, worshipping the Goddess as the One, while many Wiccans "might well be considered 'duotheists,' conceiving of deity as the Goddess of the Moon, Earth, and sea, and the God of the woods, the hunt, the animal realm" (p. 35). For the most part, at least some component of the Pagan worldview is polytheistic which involves working with Gods and Goddesses from a variety of cultures, past and present, throughout the world.

Many Pagans metaphorically relate the concept of human sexuality and gender to the Divine as suggested already by the use of the terms God and Goddess in this article. The polarity of the masculine and the feminine is viewed as important by many Pagans including Jones and Matthews (1990) who addressed this theme of polarity in the following: "The polarity of the Goddess and the God in Pagan religion allows for the creative resolution of any dilemma through the interplay of equal and opposite principles, in contrast to the requirement of merely accurate submission to the One True Way which all too easily characterizes monotheistic, hierarchical religion" (pp. 34-35).

Consistent with the views of Fox (1989b) regarding monotheism and polytheism, Crowley (1989) discussed the concept of polarity from the perspective of the "unity in diversity" theme: "We therefore worship the personification of the male and female principle, the God and Goddess, recognizing that all Gods are different aspects of the one God and all Goddesses are different aspects of the one Goddess, and that ultimately these two are reconciled in the one divine essence. There are many flowers in the garden of the divine and therein lies the beauty" (pp. 11-12).

Some Pagans view the polytheistic aspects of the Divine as similar to Jungian archetypes within the collective unconscious. Crowley (1989) demonstrated such a point of view: "While the forms of the Gods have varied, there are certain concepts which have arisen in widely differing times and cultures and the psychologist Carl Jung called these archetypes. In Wicca, we contact the divine archetypes through the ritual and through the enactment of the ancient Pagan myths which express eternal truths about humanity and the universe it inhabits" (p. 12). Farrar and Farrar (1989) cautioned against viewing the Gods and Goddesses as only representing archetypes in the following: "But one must not fall into the trap of thinking: 'These are useful psychological devices, merely representing archetypes of the human Collective Unconscious. They have no reality outside that.' The Gods and Goddesses exist, and ensoul the archetypes. They are living, active faces of the ultimate Unknowable. And unless we lay intellect aside at the right moment and surrender ourselves to the mystery of communion with them -- unless we give free rein to an innocent sense of wonder -- the tuning will be in vain" (pp. 3-4).

As suggested in this section, considerable variability exists regarding the extent to which Pagans may be considered monotheists and/or polytheists. In addition, variability exists regarding how these monotheistic and polytheistic components are worked with. Some direct their worship toward a single aspect of deity, many focus their worship upon a Goddess-God pair, and others direct their worship to an entire pantheon. Some work with a pantheon rooted in a particular culture, while others work with a pantheon which includes Goddesses and Gods from many cultures.

Concept of Magic

Perhaps one of the most significant distinguishing factors separating Wiccans and Pagans from others who share some similar perspectives is the value placed upon magic. Based upon the theme of interconnectedness, but going beyond it, the magical worldview maintains that each part of the interconnected whole affects every other part (Starhawk, 1989). Given this model, many Pagans believe that magic can be used to gain insight from as well as to influence other aspects of the interconnected whole. Starhawk described magic as "the art of sensing and shaping the subtle, unseen forces that flow throughout the world, of awakening deeper levels of consciousness beyond the rational" (p. 27). Starhawk went on to say that ritual serves a magical function in stimulating an awareness of the hidden side of reality and awakening long-forgotten powers of the human mind. Starhawk further maintained that magical rituals are used to create states of ecstasy, of union with the divine, as well as to achieve material results such as healings.

Adler (1986) defined magic as: "A convenient word for a whole collection of techniques, all of which involve the mind. In this case, we might conceive of these techniques as including the mobilization of confidence, will, and emotion brought about by the recognition of necessity; the use of imaginative faculties, particularly the ability to visualize, in order to begin to understand how other beings function in nature so we can use this knowledge to achieve necessary ends" (p. 8).

Winkelman (1982) compared magic to experimental parapsychology findings regarding psi and cited evidence to suggest that some aspects of magical practice involve psi. Referring to various definitions presented in the Journal of Parapsychology, Winkelman defined psi as a general term used to identify personal factors or processes in Nature which transcend accepted laws and which are non-physical in nature. Winkelman noted that some magical practices and beliefs reported by anthropologists share certain of the characteristics found through research to be conducive to psi manifestations: altered states of consciousness, visualization, positive expectation, and belief. Orion (1990) asked her respondents to indicate the human faculties through which they believed magic to operate. The responses included oneÕs own power or will, imagination, psychic powers or skills, creativity, and change of consciousness. These are consistent with the factors noted by Adler and Winkelman as central to the efficacy of magic.

Conclusions

This article has examined the spiritual contours of the worldview of a diverse group of people involved in contemporary Paganism, beginning with the discussion of various relevant background contexts. First, spirituality was defined as the ultimate values, worldviews and experiences which reflect human perceptions of the divine and give life meaning. Spirituality was then discussed within a postmodern context as described by Griffin (1988a, 1988b, 1990) and Spretnak (1991). Once these background contexts were developed, this article identified and described the major spiritual contours of the worldview of contemporary Pagans. Selected for examination were the theme of interconnectedness, the immanent/transcendent dimension, animism and spiritism, the monotheism/polytheism dimension, and the concept of magic. The theme of interconnectedness represents a basic component of the Pagan worldview and recognizes the fundamental interrelatedness of all being. The immanent/transcendent dimension describes the human understanding regarding the relation of the divine to the world. Pagans vary somewhat in their perceptions of this dimension with many best described as panentheists in recognition of both the immanent divine in Nature and the transcendent unifying whole. Pagans may be described as animistic in their recognition of all Nature as alive and imbued with spiritual energy. Pagans are also spiritists in their belief in the ability to communicate with various aspects, or spirits, of the natural world. Pagans tend to very considerably in their views regarding the singularity or multiplicity of the divine as demonstrated in the discussion of the monotheism/polytheism dimension. The magical worldview of Pagans recognizes the interconnectedness of all things, as well as the ability to influence other parts of the interconnected whole. Relying on alterations of consciousness, many Pagans believe that they can tap into natural human abilities to spiritually influence events in the natural world. This article has not attempted to provide a definitive statement regarding the Pagan worldview. Rather, the attempt has been made to identify some spiritual contours of the Pagan worldview which may help in your personal reflection regarding how you view the spiritual dimensions of life.

References

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V. 1.THE PENTAGRAM
by Mike Nichols

The pentagram, or five-pointed star, may be the most misunderstood religious symbol around these days. Being the most common symbol of Neo-Pagan Witchcraft, it has nevertheless been denigrated by movie and publishing industries which seem "hell-bent" on connecting it with Satanism or other malevolent practices. However, like the Roman Cross or Crucifix, it is only when the symbol is inverted that it alludes to negativity. And even then, there are exceptions, as we shall see.

In its usual upright position (one point uppermost), the pentagram is an ancient symbol of protection from evil. Also called "the endless knot" (in its interlaced form), the pentagram was often displayed on doors, windows, and hearths of houses throughout pre-Christian Europe. It can be traced back to Egyptian and Sumerian cultures, and has even been found on Native American medicine tools. Sometimes mistakenly confused with the Star of David, or hexagram (a six-pointed star emblematic of Judaism), the pentagram is sometimes called the Star of Solomon, especially by ceremonial magicians.

To many, the lower four points represent the classical elements of earth, air, fire, and water, while the fifth point, surmounting the others, represents spirit, the fifth element or quintessence. Thus, the pentagram symbolizes the four elements of the material world connected with, but ruled by, the spirit. When the pentagram is placed within a circle (symbol of unity and wholeness), it stresses our connection with the universe as a whole.

Another interpretation is that there is not one point upward--but three! In numerology, three is the number of harmony, best expressed in the classical formula: thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. In other words, it is the middle point that harmonizes the opposing outer points. The Celtic love of triads (the most common form of their "wisdom literature") has its roots in this model. The upper three points are thus placed above the lower two points, which represents dualistic opposites that cannot be integrated or harmonized (seeing everything in black and white).

Yet another interpretation of the upright pentagram is that it symbolizes the most common view of deity in Witchcraft. The upper three points represent the Goddess in Her threefold aspect of Maiden, Mother, and Crone. The lower two points represent Her consort God, in His twin aspects of God of Light and God of Darkness. However, in all these interpretations, it is important to remember that all the points are connected--each an aspect of the other, all part of the same whole.

But when the pentagram is inverted, so is its meaning. Thus, an inverted pentagram may represent the physical world (four material elements) in domination of the world of spirit (the fifth element). (This may be why Satanists or other "demonistic" groups use this symbol.) With two points uppermost, it may also express a Neo-Platonic dualism (the old "war in heaven," good vs. evil theme)--as opposed to the Pagan monistic view of reality ("the Force") seen in the single point upward. The most common exception to this rule is that some traditions of Witchcraft (chiefly British) employ the inverted pentagram as a positive symbol of advanced degree. In this case, the two points uppermost represent the horns of light, symbol of the Horned God, consort to the Great Goddess (like the Greek god Pan).

The word "pentacle," sometimes mistakenly substituted for pentagram, really refers to a shallow dish (usually inscribed with a pentagram) and used as an altar tool by modern Witches, serving a purpose similar to the "patten" at a Roman Catholic Mass. Common variations of this tool include a dish of earth, a disk of copper, a dish of silver, or a disk of wax.

The suit of pentacles (or coins) in the Tarot deck, the Stone of Fal (coronation stone of kings) in ancient Ireland, the sangreal of the Holy Grail processions, and the Universal Man of Leonard da Vinci, are all related to the pentagram, stressing its ties to the earth and nature, making it a symbol par excellence of an earth or nature religion. The five points also represent the five physical senses and allude to approaching the spiritual realm through the sensual--in fact, the meaning of the Ace of Pentacles in Tarot. In numerology, 5 is the number of sexuality, combining the feminine 2 with the masculine 3. Thus, the pentagram also represents the opposite of asceticism.

But wherever the pentagram is displayed, one message is clear: evil has no power here.

V.2: Symbolic Meanings of the Pentagram

Thanks to Lionel Pepper for the research

The number 5 has always been regarded as mystical and magical, yet in essence "human".

We have five fingers and five toes on each extremity.

The five common senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste.

Humans perceive five major stages in our lives, birth, adolescence, union of male and female, parenthood, and death.

The number 5 is associated with Mars. It signifies severity, conflict and harmony through conflict.

In Christianity, Christ had five wounds on the cross.

There are five pillars of the Muslim faith and five daily times of prayer.

The medieval knight had five virtues - generosity, courtesy, chastity, chivalry and piety as symbolized in the pentagram device on the shield of Sir Gawain.

The number five is prime.

The upright pentagram bears resembles the shape of a human with outstretched arms and legs. We can juxtapose a human on a pentagram with head and four limbs at the points. This is man in microcosm, symbolizing our place in the Macrocosm or universe.

The concept of the microcosmic world of man corresponding to the macrocosm, the greater universe of spirit and elemental matter, became part of traditional western occult teaching, as it had long been in eastern philosophies. This is a DaVinci drawing of this concept.

The pentagram later became symbolic of the relationship of the head to the four limbs, and so from this of the concentrated essence of anything (or the spirit) to the traditional elements of matter - Earth, Water, Air and Fire.

The pentagram has long been believed to be a potent protection against evil, a symbol that shields the wearer and the home.

It has five spiked wards and a womb-shaped defensive, protective pentagon at the center.

There are five elements in the pagan world, four that are matter (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), and Spirit. These are arranged around the points.

The elements are placed in order of density - Spirit, Fire, Air, Water, Earth. Earth and Fire are basal, fixed. Air and Water are free, flowing.

In ritual, the pentagram is sometimes drawn in the air either using the hand or a ritual knife known as an athame. Drawn one way it is used for invoking, the opposite for banishing.

Single point upwards signifies the spirit ruling matter. It is a symbol of rightness. With two points up and one (spirit) downwards, is signifies subservience, the emphasis is on the carnal nature of man.

Open Pentagram

A pentagram may be open, without a surrounding circle. This is the active form symbolizing an outgoing of oneself, prepared for conflict, aware, active. As a pagan religious symbol, the open pentagram represents an open, active approach.

Closed Pentagram

A circle around a pentagram contains and protects. The circle symbolizes eternity and infinity, the cycles of life and nature. The circled pentagram is the passive form implying spiritual containment of the magic circle, and the individual nature of the pagan religious path.

Inverted Pentagram

The implication of inversion of a pentagram is the spirit is subservient to matter, man subservient to his carnal desires. It has come to represent the dark side and is considered a symbol of evil by Christians. In the 1940s Gerald Gardner adopted the inverted pentagram as a symbol of second degree initiation in the newly emergent, neo-pagan rituals in what was to become wicca. It represents the need of the witch to learn to face the darkness within so it will not rise to take control. First degree uses a downward pointing triangle, third degree uses one-point up pentagram together with an upright triangle.

History of the Pentagram

The pentagram has been used throughout history.

The earliest known use dates to around the Uruk period around 3500 BCE at Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia. It was found on potsherds with other symbols.

The pentagram was a symbol of imperial power in later periods of Mesopotamian art. Power extended out to "the four corners of the world".

To the Hebrews, the symbol was linked to Truth and to the five bolls of the Pentateuch.

In Ancient Greece, it was called Pentalpha, as the pentagram is composed of 5 "A" shapes..

The geometry and metaphysical associations of the pentagram were explored by the Pythagoreans who considered it and emblem of perfection.

To the Gnostics, it was the "blazing star" and along with the crescent moon was a symbol relating to the magic and mystery of the night sky.

It was a symbol of Godhead for the Druids.

The Celts associated it with the underground goddess Morrigan.

Early Christians attributed the pentagram to the five wounds of Christ and from then until medieval times, it slowly disappeared. Before the Inquisition there were no evil associations with the pentagram.

The Emperor Constantine I used the pentagram, along with the chi-rho (a symbolic form of cross) in his seal and amulet.

The annual church feast of Epiphany that celebrates the visit of the three Magi to the infant Jesus, had the pentagram as its symbol. It is now changed to a regular 5 point star in reaction to neo-pagan use of the pentagram.

In medieval times it was a symbol of truth and protection against evil. It was used as an amulet of personal protection and to guard windows and doors.

One point up symbolized summer, two points up it was a sign for winter.

The Knights Templar used the pentagram shape in the placement of chapels and shrines in the Rennes de Chatres in France.During the Inquisition many lies were spread. The pentagram was seen to symbolize a goat's head or the devil in the form of Baphomet, whom the Inquisition accused the Templars of worshiping.

The healers of the time took advantage of herbs brought from the East, as did murders who wished to gain power. Prominent deaths by poisoning caused the Dominicans of the Inquisition to move their attention from the Christian heretics to the pagan witches, the ones still following the Old Religion, because they knew of the herbs. The church condemned as evil all who used the pentagram, and condemned the symbol itself.

Pagan horned gods such as Pan became equated with the devil and the pentagram, which then was called The Witch's Foot.

In modern Wicca the pentagram can also be inscribed on the alter pentacle, points symbolizing the three aspect of the Goddess plus two aspect of the God.

The pentagrams use in modern neo-paganism as a group symbol is as important as the cross has been in the history of Christianity.

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VI: We Are the Other People

The following is an Article published in the early 90's in Green Egg.

"Ding-dong!" goes the doorbell. Is it Avon calling? Or perhaps Ed McMahon with my three million dollars? No, it's Yahweh's Witlesses again, just wanting to have a nice little chat about the Bible... Boy, did they ever come to the wrong house! So we invite them in: "Enter freely and of your own will..." (Hey, it's Sunday morning, nothing much going on, why not have a little entertainment?) Diane and I amuse ourselves watching their expressions as they check out the living room: great horned owl on the back of my chair; ceremonial masks and medicine skulls of dragons and unicorns on the wall; crystals, wands, staffs, swords; lots of Goddess figures and several altars; boa constrictors draped in amorous embrace over the elkhorn; white doves sitting in the hanging planters; cats and weasels underfoot; iron dragon snorting steam atop the wood stove; posters and paintings of wizards and dinosaurs and witchy women, some proudly naked; sculptures of mythological beasties and lots more dinosaurs; warp six on the star-filled viewscreen of my computer; a five-foot model of the USS Enterprise and the skeleton of a plesiosaur hanging from the ceiling; very, very many books, most of them dealing with obviously weird subjects... To say nothing of the great horned owl perched on the back of my chair and the Unicorn grazing in the front yard. You know; early Addams Family decor. And then, of course, it being late in the morning, you can expect Morning Glory to come wandering out naked, looking for her wake-up cup of tea. Morning Glory naked is a truly impressive sight, and the Witlesses look as if she'd set titties on stun as they stand immobilized, hands clasped over their genitals.

With the stage set and all the actors in place, the show is ready to begin. Their mission, of course, is to save our heathen souls by turning us on to "The Word of the Lord"- their Bible. I guess they figger some of us just haven't heard about it yet, and we're all eagerly awaiting their joyous tidings of personal salvation through giving our rational faculties to Jesus. Every time they come around, I look forward to trying out a new riposte. Sure, it may be cruel and sadistic of me, but hey, I didn't call them up and ask them to come over; they entered at their own risk! This time should be pretty good. After letting them run off their basic rap while lovely Morning Glory serves us all hot herb tea, I innocently remark: "But none of that applies to us. We have no need for salvation because we don't have original sin. We are the Other People."

"Hunh? What?" they reply eloquently. It's clear they've never heard this one before. "

Right," I say. "It's all in your Bible." And I proceed to tell them the story, using their own book for reference: (Genesis 1:26) The [Elohim] said, "Let us make humanity in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth." Elohim is a plural word, including male and female, and should properly be translated "Gods" or "Pantheon." (1: 27) The Gods created humanity in the image of themselves, In the image of the Gods they createdthem, Male and female they created them. (1:28) The Gods blessed them, saying to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and conquer it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on the earth."

Now clearly, here we are talking about the original creation of the human species: male and female. All the animals, plants, etc. have all been created in previous verses. This is before the Garden of Eden, and Yahweh is not mentioned as the creator of these people.

The next chapter talks about how Yahweh, an individual member of the Pantheon, goes about assembling his own special little botanical and zoological Garden in Eden, and making his own little man to inhabit it: (Gen 2:7) Yahweh God fashioned a man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus the man became a living being. (2:8) Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. (2:9) Yahweh God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. (2:15) Yahweh God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Now this next is crucial: note Yahweh's precise words: (2:16) Then Yahweh God gave the man this admonition, "You may eat indeed of all the trees in the garden. (2:17) Nevertheless of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die." Fateful words, those. We will refer back to this admonition later.

Then Yahweh decides to make a woman to go with the man. Now, don't forget that the Pantheon had earlier created a whole population of people, "male and female," who are presumably doing just fine somewhere "outside the gates of Eden." But this set-up in Eden is Yahweh's own little experiment, and will unfold to its own separate destiny. (2:21) So Yahweh God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And while he slept, he took one of his ribs and enclosed it in flesh. (2:22) Yahweh God built the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. Right. Man gives birth to woman. Sure he does. But that's the way the story is told here. (2:25) Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame in front of each other. Well, of course not! Why should they? But take careful note of those words, as they also will prove to be significant...

Now this next part is where it starts to get interesting. Enter the Serpent: (Gen. 3:1) The serpent was the most subtle of all the wild beasts that Yahweh God had made. It asked the woman, "Did God really say you were not to eat from any of the trees in the garden?" (3:2) The woman answered the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. (3:3) "But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden God said, 'You must not eat it, nor touch it, under pain of death." (3:4) Then the serpent said to the woman, "No! You will not die! (3:5) "God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil." What a remarkable statement! "Your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil." The Serpent directly contradicts Yahweh. Obviously, one of them has to be lying. Which one, do you suppose? And, if the serpent speaks true, wouldn't you wish to eat of the magic fruit? Wouldn't it be a good thing, to become "like gods, knowing good and evil"? Or is it preferable to remain in ignorance?

(Gen. 3:6) The woman saw that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eye, and that it was desirable for the knowledge that it could give. So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She gave some also to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. (3:7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized that they were naked. So they sewed fig leaves together to make themselves loincloths. The author makes an interesting assumption here: that if you realize you are naked you will automatically want to cover yourself. Further implications will unfold shortly...

(Gen. 3:8) The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. (3:9) But Yahweh God called to the man. "Where are you?" he asked. (3:10) "I heard the sound of you in the garden," he replied. "I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid." (3:11) "Who told you that you were naked?" he asked. "Have you been eating of the tree I forbade you to eat?"

And so the sign of the Fall becomes modesty. Take note of this. The descendants of Adam and Eve will be distinguished throughout history from virtually all other peoples by their obsessive modesty taboos, wherein they will feel ashamed of being naked. It follows that those who feel no shame in being naked are, by definition, not carriers of this spiritual disease of original sin!

(Gen. 3:12) The man replied,"It was the woman you put with me; she gave me the fruit, and I ate it." Right. Blame the woman. What a turkey! (3:13) Then Yahweh God asked the woman,"What is this you have done?" The woman replied, "The serpent tempted me and I ate." So of course she blames the serpent. But just what did the serpent do that was so evil? Why, he called Yahweh a liar! Was he wrong? Let's see... (3:21) Yahweh God made clothes out of skins for the man and his wife, and they put them on. Out of skins? This means that Yahweh had to kill some innocent animals to pander to Adam and Eve's new obsession with modesty!

And now we come to the crux of the Fall. Yahweh had said back there in chapter (2:17), regarding the fruit of the tree of knowledge, that "on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die." The Serpent, on the other hand, had contradicted Yahweh in chapter (3:4-5): "No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil." So what actually happened? Who lied and who told the truth about this remarkable fruit? The answer is given in the next verse: (3:22) Then Yahweh God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, with his knowledge of good and evil. He must not be allowed to stretch his hand out next and pick from the tree of life also, and eat some and live forever."

Get that? Yahweh himself admits that he had lied! In fact, and in Yahweh's own words, the Serpent spoke the absolute truth! And moreover, Yahweh tells the rest of the Pantheon that he intends to evict Adam (and presumably Eve as well) to keep them from gaining immortality to go with their newly-acquired divine knowledge. To prevent them, in other words, from truly becoming gods! So who, in this story, comes off as a benefactor of humanity, and who comes off as a tyrant? THE SERPENT NEVER LIED!

This story, to digress slightly, bears a remarkable resemblance to a contemporary tale from ancient Greece. In that version, the Serpent (later identified as Lucifer, the Light-Bearer) may be equated with the heroic titan Prometheus, who championed humanity against the tyranny of Zeus, who wished for people to be mere slaves of the gods. Prometheus, whose name means "forethought," gave people wisdom, intelligence, and fire stolen from Olympus. Moreover, he ordained the portions of animal sacrifice so that humans got the best parts (the meat and hides) while the portion that was burned to the gods was the bones and fat. In punishment for this defiance of his divine authority, Zeus condemned Prometheus to a terrible punishment for an immortal: to be chained to a mountain in the Caucasus, where Zeus' gryphon/eagle (actually a Lammergier) would devour his liver each day. It would grow back each night. Zeus promised to relent if Prometheus would reveal his great secret knowledge: Who would succeed Zeus as supreme god? Prometheus refused to tell, but history has revealed the answer... The interesting thing about all this is that the Greeks properly regarded Prometheus as a noble hero in his defiance of unjust tyranny. One may wonder why the Serpent is not so well regarded. On the contrary, snakes are loathed throughout Christiandom. (3:23) So Yahweh God expelled him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he had been taken. (3:24) He banished the man, and in front of the garden of Eden he posted the cherubs, and the flame of a flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.

So that's it for the Fall. But the story of Adam and Eve doesn't end there. (Gen 4:1) The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain... (4:2) She gave birth to a second child, Abel, the brother of Cain. Now Abel became a shepherd and kept flocks, while Cain tilled the soil. (4:3) Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for Yahweh, (4:4) while Abel, for his part, brought the first-born of his flock and some of their fat as well. Yahweh looked with favor on Abel and his offering. But he did not look with favor on Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry and downcast. Well, why shouldn't he be? Both brothers had brought forth their first fruits as offerings, but Yahveh rejected the vegetables and only accepted the blood sacrifice. This was to set a gruesome precedent: (4:8) Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out;" and while they were in the open country, Cain set on his brother Abel and killed him.

Accursed and marked for fratricide, (4:16) Cain left the presence of Yahweh and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. We can assume that the phrase "left the presence of Yahweh" implies that Yahweh is a local deity, and not omnipresent. Now Eden, according to (Gen. 2:14-15), was situated at the source of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, apparently right where Lake Van is now, in Turkey. "East of Eden," therefore, would probably be along the shores of the Caspian Sea, right in the Indo-European heartland. Cain settled in there, among the people of Nod, and married one of the women of that country. Here, for the first time, is specifically mentioned the "other people" who are not of the lineage of Adam and Eve. i.e: the Pagans.

So let's look at this story from another viewpoint: There we were, around six thousand years ago, living in our little farming communities around the Caspian Sea, in the land of Nod, when this dude with a terrible scar comes stumbling in out of the sunset. He tells us this bizarre story, about how his mother and father had been created by some god named Jahweh, and put in charge of a beautiful garden somewhere out west, and how they had gotten thrown out for disobedience after eating some of the landlord's forbidden magic fruit of enlightenment. He tells us of murdering his brother, as the god of his parents would only accept blood sacrifice, and of receiving that scar as a mark so that all would know him as a fratricide.

The poor guy is really a mess psychologically, obsessed with guilt. He is also obsessively modest, insisting on wearing clothes even in the hottest summer, and he has a hard time with our penchant for skinny-dipping in the warm inland sea. He seems to believe that he is tainted by the "sin" of his parent's disobedience; that it is in his blood, somehow, and will continue to contaminate his children and his children's children.

One of our healing women takes pity on the poor sucker, and marries him... (4:17) Cain had intercourse with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. He became the builder of a town, and he gave the town the name of his son Enoch.

With both of their first sons not turning out very well, Adam and Eve decided to try again: (4:25) Adam had intercourse with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she named Seth... (4:26) A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. This man was the first to invoke the name of Yahweh. Now it doesn't mention here where Seth's wife came from. Another woman from Nod, possibly, or maybe someone from another neolithic community downstream in the Tigris-Euphrates valley. But her folks also, cannot be of the lineage of Adam and Eve, and must also be counted among "the other people."

But whatever happened to Adam? After all, way back there in chapter Gen. 2:17, warning Adam about the magic fruit of knowlege, Jahweh had told him that "on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die." So, when did Adam die? (Gen. 5:4) Adam lived for eight hundred years after the birth of Seth and he became the father of sons and daughters. (5:5) In all, Adam lived for nine hundred and thirty years; then he died. Hey, that's pretty good! Nine hundred and some odd years isn't bad for a man who's been told he's gonna die the next day!

Well, the story goes on, and maybe next time the Witlesses come to visit I'll tell more of it. But suffice it to say that those of us who are not of Semitic descent (i.e., not of the lineage of Adam and Eve) cannot share in the Original Sin that comes with that lineage. Being that the Bible is the story of that lineage, of Adam and Eve's descendants and their specialn relationship with their particular god, Yahweh, it follows that this is not the story of the rest of us. We may have been Cain's wife's people, or Seth's wife's people, or some other people over the hill and far away, but whichever people the rest of us are, as far as the Bible is concerned, we are the Other People, and so we are continually referred to throughout.

Later books of the Bible are filled with admonitions to the followers of Jahweh to "learn not the ways of the Pagans..." (Jer 10:2) with detailed descriptions of exactly what it is we do, such as erect standing stones and sacred poles, worship in sacred groves and practice divination and magic. And worship the sun, moon, stars and the "Queen of Heaven." "You must not behave as they do in Egypt where once you lived; you must not behave as they do in Canaan where I am taking you. You must not follow their laws." (Lev 18:3) For Yahweh, as he so clearly emphasises, is not the god of the Pagans. We have our own lineage and our own heritage, and our tale is not told in the Bible. We were not "made" like clay figurines by a male deity out of "dust from the soil." We were born of our Mother the Earth, and have evolved over aeons in Her nurturing embrace. All of us, in our many and diverse tribes, have creation myths and legends of our origins and history; some of these tales may even be actually true.

Like the descendants of Adam and Eve, many of us also have stories of great floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other cataclysms that wiped out whole communities of our people, wherein "I alone survived to tell the tale." Nearly all of our ancestral tribes (and especially those of us who today are reclaiming our own Pagan heritage) lack that peculiar obsessive body modesty that seems to be a hallmark of the original sin alluded to in the story of the Fall. We can be naked and unashamed! Why, our Goddess even tells us, "as a sign that you are truly free, you shall be naked in your rites." Not being born into sin, we have no need of salvation, and no need of a Messiah to redeem our sinful souls.

Neither heaven nor hell is our destination in the afterlife; we have our own various arrangements with our own various deities. The Bible is not our story; we have our own stories to tell, and they are many and diverse. In a long life, you may get to hear many of them ... May you live long and prosper!

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