PS: Feel free to subscribe to my blog.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (74.200.244.99) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (72.233.69.6) and so is spam.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s actual post text did not contain your blog url (http://ofthespiae.hellenistai.com/2011/05/24/30-day-paganism-meme-day-13-pantheon-%e2%80%93-adonis-the-flower-boys) and so is spam.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (216.151.210.18) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (74.200.244.59) and so is spam.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (216.151.210.18) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (74.200.244.59) and so is spam.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (69.170.134.163) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (74.200.243.251) and so is spam.

I can see that, and I can also see how it’s easier for people with family backgrounds rooted in the arts or fringe subculture, but this is clearly a cultural difference and the presence of “privilege” would be dubious and / or tenuous and, at best, completely dependent on the short-term situation.  The privilege people tend to talk about in social activist groups, on the other hand, is that which tends to be taken for granted by those who experience it; heterosexuals and cisgender folks, for example, tend to take the privilege of their sexualities and genders for granted, and so if they’re generally accepting of those different from oneself, may not see why coming out and/or disclosure can be such a big deal.

That said, in the mainstream culture, Christians tend to take their religious convictions for granted, and so those more accepting might not see the big deal in pagans outing themselves — but similarly, in “inter-pagan” spaces, those practising Wicca or Wiccanate Paganism tend to take for granted the fact that their symbols, holidays, principles, and so on will be privileged within those spaces; cxlearly Wicca is not privileged in the overculture, but in certain spaces it is often given a temporary de-facto privileged status.  Regardless, no matter what religion one practises that may be included under the “pagan” umbrella is still pretty far from given a “privileged” status in the Western hemisphere, so any instance where one may wish to “come out” as such is an act of defiance.

I like this, truly. “an act of defiance”.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (72.233.61.16) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (72.233.69.6) and so is spam.

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (216.151.210.44) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (72.233.2.58) and so is spam.

I really don’t fault them completely for making up their own requirements for ritual, whether I see the sense in those requirements, feel they’re fallaciously discriminatory, or not.  I do fault them for pushing this into a public arena and feigning ignorance and implicitly throwing accusations of malice when other people do not agree with their elite definition of “all women” at a venue such as Pcon.

While I don’t deny the social aspects of traditional polytheist festivals —it’s arguable this this was the primary appeal for a majority of ancient peoples— I think there’s a modern urge to downplay the spiritual aspects, even within traditional polytheism.

As much as single-gendered rites and festivals never really appealed to me, I understand that they have a necessary place in pagan religions, especially traditional polytheism, as the changing social climates mean that many people are searching for what their gender actually means to them, when two thousand years ago, it was possibly taken for granted by a majority that Women did X-sorts of things, Men did Y, and so on, and certain rites were an integral part of every-day life.  Not everybody necessarily needs a “gendered path”, and I’d suspect that with the world population now at about 7billion, it might be best for fewer women to choose the path of motherhood, but there’s a long enough history of a human experience to gender, even those whose experience is an in-between or even neutered gender, that I don’t believe it’ll be worth writing this off any time too soon.

I think one of the most important things you said was “religious practises are not merely social events, no matter how much some pagans and polytheists want to re-imagine them as.” This is a constant issue for me, and I think this is a good example of how it can muddy the waters. Because spiritual requirements and realities don’t always conform to our PC intentions. Saying that some rites are only for certain people can be totally valid, spiritually, even if it makes modern folks uncomfortable. That being said, in an environment like PCon, it seems much more reasonable to just choose to do the sort of ritual that *doesn’t* have specific requirements like that, so that no social issues are encountered.   

[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (69.170.134.165) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP (74.200.244.59) and so is spam.