Page 67 [67]
OCR
RELIGION AND ECOLOGY 65 Eco-paganism Eco-paganism is one of the dominant movements of eco-spirituality. An eco-pagan is an environmental activist who adheres to the neo-pagan tradition and integrates the faith and practice of the neo-pagan faith in his/her activism (invocation of natural spirits, pagan rituals in the venue of the action, using Earth energies, etc. See Harris 1996; Letcher 2003). Since the doctrines of neo-pagan groups are effectively traceable to some nature religion, neo-pagans themselves emphasize respect for nature and the sanctity of all living beings. They hold that nature has intelligence and consciousness; it is well-meaning and can communicate with those who have ears to hear it. This forgotten relationship must be restored. They point to pre-modern people as good examples of a spiritual relationship with nature, so their model has to be adopted and their means — i-e., faith and spiritual practice — applied (Letcher 2003: 69). Neo-paganism is thus fundamentally “green” in its philosophy and practice, which implies that it considers environmentally conscious thought and ways of life highly important. For many neo-pagans, cultic manifestations are rituals performed in nature in honor of God/Goddess/Earth Mother/Nature adjusted to the natural cycles, without any activism. Others participate in diverse ecological movements as part of climate activism on the political stage (Luhrmann 1993). Eco-pagans vary widely, as do the forms of their ecological activism. Some arrive from the direction of deep ecology and a sort of spiritual eclecticism. They are DIY eco-religionists who draw from the broad palette of contemporary spirituality and combine it with a pagan dogma in addition to environmental philosophy to form part of their worldview (New Age, wicca witchcraft, neo-shamanism, Druidic faith, Goddess cult'®, theosophy, Rainbow movement, hippies, human potential movement, indigenous cultures, psychedelic teachings of the 1960s, folklore). The other possible category of pagan activists includes those associated with concrete pagan traditions such as the Celtic or Druidic traditions, the Diana cult, etc. (Partridge 2005). As regards their activism, Andy Letcher (2003) differentiates two groups of — mainly English — eco-pagans: the middle-class Fluffy group by their slogan “Keep it fluffy”, whose attitude is characterized by non-violence and presenting a positive example. The other — Spiky — group (from “Keep it spiky”) rallies mostly working class people who advocate political confrontation not without violent acts. The members of the two groups also differentiate themselves by outward appearance as well: while the Fluffies are more like hippies, the Spikies are characterized by a punk aesthetic. New forms of resistance are important tools in their arsenal, from expressionist to magic and religious resistance, which deviates from the methods of the mainstream ecological movement. The best example is perhaps the English eco-pagans’ anti-road campaigns in which they hold pagan Neo-paganism is closely connected to the eco-feminist critique of modernity. This is motivated, on the one hand, by the works of Carolyn Merchant (who declared in her works of the 1980s that scientific thought had put an end to the relationship between humans and nature) to the belief that the world is living and organic (Merchant 1980). Added to that was the image of the Goddess cult, meaning that with modernity, the prehistoric, pacifist, matriarchal Earth Mother cult was replaced by a violent patriarchal order, which degraded both nature and women. A criticism of patriarchal society and modernity is fundamental to both the neo-pagan and eco-pagan movements (see also Fletcher2003).
