A Pagan Academics Network

     At least once a year someone tries to found a collegiate
Pagan network.  The Sacred Earth Alliance of Kenyon College tried
it a few years ago.  Holly and Oak Pagan Discussion Group of
University of Victoria tried it two years ago.  Pagans for Peace
tried it last year.  I'm sure there have been many attempts
before, since, and during these that I never heard of.  Maybe one
of them has succeeded.  If so, it hasn't reached any of the four
college groups I am in contact with.  The HOPDG proposal was the
most lucid and complete I have received.

"A Proposal:  Pagan Academics Network

Purpose:
     --to promote scholarly research on Paganism and pagan issues
          and history.

     --to promote the exchange of information relevant to Pagans.

     --to make available listings of articles and publications
          that represent Pagans and Paganism in a positive light.

     --to inform one another of cases of discrimination or
          malignment.  This would include discriminatory material
          in textbooks and course material.

     --to publish Pagan academic papers.

     --to promote and assist in the formation of unbiased
          curricula.

     --to exchange information on local conditions (reception,
          secrecy), sacred places, and local tradition.

membership:

     --open to Pagans (`in good standing') in any academic
          community, such as a university, college, or technical
          school, including students, faculty, and staff."

[Hecate's Loom, No.6 Candlemas p.4, 1988]

     We need to define what a "pagan in good standing" is and
formulate some ideas on the structure and media to be used by the
proposed network.  Membership dependant on good standing will be
difficult to enforce.  Am I, your author, a pagan in good
standing?  Do you know me?  Have you read all my writing on
Paganism?  Do you respect those who taught me?  This obstacle is
made superfluous by a philosophical difficulty I have with
excluding those who are not "pagans in good standing."

"A Neo-Pagan is a contemporary pantheist, animist, or polytheist
-- or two or three of these things at once -- who expresses a
reverence for life through the use of religious imagery and
ritual.  Neo-Pagans have to stand apart from the `revealed
faiths' -- including traditional Christianity, Islam, and
religious Judaism -- in order to develop their own sense of
spirituality through their personal experiences in the natural
world. ... A Neo-Pagan, by necessity, is an inventor, adapting
and reshaping and improvising and connecting materials and
practices in order to meet individual and group needs. ... The
Neo-Pagan... sees a universe that is filled with complexities,
subtleties, and changing relationships." [Anasazi, The Merry
Mount Messenger, Issue #2, 1988?]

     This definition very carefully does not exclude all
Christians, Moslems, or Jews, just traditional ones.  It leaves a
lot of latitude open in terms of beliefs but is very specific
about concerns.  It also recognizes the creative, personal, and
adaptive elements of Paganism.

"A modern `Pagan' religion... is basically a life-affirming
religion without supernatural elements, such as the Dionysians,
the Epicurians, the Stoics, the Druids, the Transcendentalists
and the Existentialists.  The Church regards metaphysical
questions as irrelevant, and leaves them up to the individual to
answer.  [Paganism is a] step beyond Humanism (which states that
God is Mankind) by affirming that Man [humans] individually is
[are] God --- but only to himself [themselves], as every other
individual is also. ... Know yourself; Believe in yourself; Be
true to yourself." [Zell, 1989, p.2]

"Dedicated to the celebration of Life, the maximal actualization
of Human potential, and the realization of ultimate individual
freedom and personal responsibility in harmonious eco-psychic
relationship with the total Biosphere of Holy Mother Earth.  Thou
art God-dess!" [Zell, 1989, p.1]

     Above, we can see the change in one group of Pagans, the
Church of All Worlds, over 20 years.  The first quotation is from
the very first Green Egg in 1968.  The second quotation is from
the title page of the most recent one.  The second one is more
sophisticated and succinct.  The authors' views have matured. 
They have travelled along their path for 20 years and know their
way.  Notice, however, the lack of dogma and the continued
affirmation of individual spirituality.

     The edges of modern Paganism fade away softly.  Both
insiders and outsiders have difficulty tracing the border we
share with the "New Age."  Magically-inclined Wiccans fade into
folk-magicians and the traditional occult.  Less magical Pagans
often share nearly identical beliefs with liberal Unitarians.  If
we are indeed so similar one would suppose we wouldn't mind being
lumped together.  We are a rare and often misunderstood breed; we
could avoid a lot of misconceptions by "joining."  Instead, we
insist upon a separate identity.  Pantheism, animism, polytheism,
environmentalism, feminism... they are very much part of us and
our self-definitions but they are not what sets us apart.  Our
attitude, that we will not define ourselves in mainstream terms,
is what defines us.

     We worship rebel goddesses and gods.  Even in the ancient
world Pan and Dionys˘s were numinous alien gods to the
"civilized" Greeks.  They represented disorder and passion in an
orderly and logical world.  We venerate Boadicea and Robin Hood,
archetypical heroes defying impossible odds.  We identify
ourselves with the thousands of women and hundreds of men who
were burned in the Middle Ages as witches.  To many modern
English speakers the very word "Pagan" means nothing more than
`not of the mainstream religions.'  In Latin we are the Pagani,
`the hicks,' those who don't follow fashions.

     I suggest that any animal who demonstrates the Pagan spirit
and has serious concern for the Earth and Her children should be
considered "a pagan in good standing" for the purposes of the
Pagan Academic Network.  These people are likely to be at least
mildly heretical by Christian standards but may find it important
to define themselves as Christians.  They might think of
themselves as atheists but have a mystical relationship with the
Earth.  I am not concerned with whether these people are Pagans
or not.  That is a personal matter.  I am saying that these
people have meaningful things to contribute to our discussion. 
If we close these people out or make them feel unwelcome we will
lose a valuable source of ideas and experience.  We will deprive
them of our ideas that they might use (and probably change in
ways we could not foresee) in their own circles.

     A Pagan Academic Network should, however, be clearly
focussed on "real" Pagan thought and practice.  Without
excluding other topics, we can start forums and set precedents
that will attract Pagans and their concerns.  Topics that must be
addressed may be found in the Pagan Academic Network proposal
above.  I propose that the environment, human rights, feminism,
men's studies, and magic be added as concerns that, while not
specific to the academic community, should be placed alongside
those above that we intend to discuss.

     Computers communicate information quickly and efficiently. 
Unfortunately, not everyone is comfortable using them, especially
among Pagans.  This often surprises me.  Could anything be more
like magic than a computer?  Paper is wasteful and cumbersome. 
After only three years in existence the SEA is in dire need of a
four drawer file cabinet.  Human to human interaction is
excellent but rare between campuses.  Telephone is expensive. 
Whatever choices or compromises we make, we will have
difficulties.

     On whom do these difficulties fall?  Who has authority to
fix them?  What will our structure be?  An attempt to be non-
hierarchical will be made.  However, our lack of actual contact
will cause chaos.  We need a central clearinghouse.  I had hoped
that the SEA and Kenyon would be able to serve in this capacity
but our budget has been cut.  The campus that hosts this network
should have a large enough Pagan community to ensure continuity,
a BBS that may be reached by dial-in and net, and the capability
to produce a hardcopy newsletter for the electronically
incompetent.  In addition to the resources, this model campus
must have dedicated and enthusiastic Pagans to facilitate all
this electronic and hardcopy communication.  I know this is a
tall order.  It is an ideal.  Until then we will have to work on
existing boards and newsletters.  I urge anyone who has knowledge
of any campus Pagan circle or organization to pass this on to
them and to pass their address back to me.   The sooner we make
contact, the sooner we can create this network.

                                    --Groundhog of Kenyon
                                      Scott P. Simpson