Where in the scheme of things?

[Adam]

"What does become clear is that 'religion' means different things to different people, and confusion can easily arise when religion is discussed. For some people 'religion' means a basic attitude to life, an attitude which can be expressed in many types of social systems and which defies any attempt at intellectual definition. Zen and Quakers exemplify this meaning. For others, 'religion' means first and foremost a specific group which holds certain customs and beliefs in common. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Parsees and perhaps the bulk of Buddhists align themselves with this viewpoint. Yet others feel religion to be a type of experience which in its essence is separate from attitudes and groups alike, whether cultural or ethnic. The mystics, by and large, epitomize this emphasis. And for others, a history of continuous, relatively isolated culture with all its characterizations constitutes 'religion'. Into this category American Indians and Australian Aborigines and most indigenous groups are fitted by sociologists and many historians of religion."

Donald Broadribb, The Mystical Chorus

Not necessarily presupposing that Mr Broadribb is either exhaustive or correct in his taxonomy, where, in such a scheme of spiritual approaches and religions, would you see the future of Brythonic paganism?

[Heron]

Mar 6, 2009 20:14:59 GMT -1 Adam said:

Not necessarily presupposing that Mr Broadribb is either exhaustive or correct in his taxonomy, where, in such a scheme of spiritual approaches and religions, would you see the future of Brythonic paganism?

Although we can separate what we might call mystical and cultural aspects of religion in this way, it's difficult to see how a religious practice, or a concept as broad as 'Brythonic paganism', could be developed without cultural values or practices being developed. Each of us may have our own mystical, devotional and conceptual framework as individuals doing our thing in building relationships with the gods. But as soon as we get together, even in a small group, some agreement is necessary about what we are doing and why we are doing it.

We could all be at the mystical end of the spectrum and use this forum to share personal experiences and understandings. Or we could try to move towards the cultural end of the spectrum and establish shared values and practices. That is what is beginning to happen here. How far that can go depends on what we can discover that we have in common and can share. Or, to put it another way, whether we can agree on an interpretation of the past that has a future.

[redraven]

It's an interesting question Adam, but one, I think, is not answerable in a Brythonic perspective just yet. Most of those interpretations are based upon interaction between people whereas, for this place, I think that relationship with the land and the associated spirits and Gods came first, with social interaction coming later as people gathered here after finding their way, guided or by pure chance, if you believe such a thing exists, and the nature of matters that are shared here, being somewhat on the fringe, means that sharing of social and personal perspectives may have taken longer than would otherwise have done if this had been a mainstream religion. Our experiences of other frameworks leads us to take a cautionary approach, sometimes through bitter experiences, and Brython's evolving framework may take some time to evolve to a state that may be recognized in one of those previous statements.

RR

[Chad]

All we can really do is build and keep building to bring Brythonic Paganism to that point, so that, after saying one is a Brythonic Pagan, it isn't followed with, "Huh?". The Brython Project is a good start to that end. Since this addresses Brythonic Pagans, a larger cultural coming together, so to speak, is practically a necessity. The cultural end, I believe is possibly even more difficult to establish than the mystical aspect. Images of home rituals in the family room, amongst small groups or families, or out in the yard, if you're lucky enough to have that kind of privacy. Elders, those that may deserve the title Druid, doing more complex rites, and dicussing the much deeper aspects of the religion, these come to my mind. Of course, distance is a factor for most. But, if the numbers grow, it's possible. Other than that, letting the larger Pagan community know, "Hey! We exist!", granted, I've tried to start a Brythonic group on PaganSpace, to no avail, yet. I think the Brython Project is a good thing going, I'd like to do my part. I'm going to stop here, before I go too far off the grid!

[dreamguardian]

May 28, 2013 4:24:46 GMT -1 Chad said:

... Other than that, letting the larger Pagan community know, "Hey! We exist!"

In the UK other pagans are aware of us and we're not exactly popular amongst the neo-druid community. Thats putting it mildly ;D

[Chad]

I've seen some of the posts that may be why you guys aren't popular with neo druids. Hahaha! I figured you guys are well known in the UK. For me, that's more of a personal goal. Not an organizational issue.

[potia]

Some of us are better at playing nicely with the other kids in the playground than others

As a group we are now very quiet and not producing anything new so in that sense while some UK pagans are aware we used to be about I think they are also aware we aren't exactly out there anymore.

[Chad]

Right. Why hasn't there been anything new, if you don't mind me asking? Is it just everyone is doing their own thing these days?

[potia]

I think it's partly due to a period of time when a couple of active members chose to leave for other things. We were never a large group anyway and the loss of those active members has been very noticable. The other aspect is that those of us that remain have been pulled in different directions by life.

In my own case that includes a separation (divorce still pending), a new partner and increasing demands of my two wonderful children, the younger one has just been diagnosed on the autistic spectrum and the older was diagnosed a few years ago now.

[Chad]

Well, those are certainly very pressing matters. I'm sorry to hear about your pending divorce. I know a lot of people who have autistic children, who are autistic, or who have a lesser form, such as Asperger's. I don't know all too much about it, I know there are varying degrees. A lot of autistic children are very smart, though. I read somewhere that there is an autistic teenager with an IQ higher than that of Einstein. My former boss has an autistic son who is very good at the piano. I know some parents have trouble finding a school where there are teachers who work well with autistic students. Luckily for them, there is a very good special needs school in the area, and many of their autistic students do really well.