Living as an Urban Pagan
I was reading a Witchvox article today, which discussed living as an urban pagan, and how that differs to the traditional image and ideals of paganism. The word pagan originally comes from the Latin ‘Paganus’ which meant ‘Rustic’ or a ‘country dweller’. Today the name Pagan usually refers to someone who follows and Earth based religion or spiritual path. Honouring the earth and living in harmony with nature. You now probably have the idyllic image of a Pagan living in a tepee or other environmentally friendly way of living. But many pagans live in towns and cities, some have a small garden, and some have no garden, living in a small apartment/flat, with many electrical mod cons, radios, TV’s, computers (especially if you‘re reading this), far removed from nature. How then, do you connect with nature?
I often commute on buses, immerse myself in the world of computers, playing music on CD’s, watching movies, pretty far removed from nature. I find something as simple as opening a window and feeling fresh air on my face gives me that sense of nature, of there being a world out there. I have two indoor plants, a Bird’s Nest Fern and a Japanese Maple Bonsai tree. I would like to say they’re flourishing in my bedroom, but they often struggle hanging onto life, probably quite glad when the occupant of the room remembers to water them, and move them from the windowsill when it’s freezing and night so their leaves don’t turn brown on the edges! I’m not the most green fingered person, but I do occasionally make the effort.
When I have the window open, I can more clearly hear the birds singing, the sound of the breeze through the leaves on the trees, and that special sort of sound you hear when the window’s open, that outside buzz of noise. It may come from the distant buzz of traffic, or just buzz of people doing things in the distance. It never seems perfectly quiet like out in the country. But it’s a familiar sound to me and one I find reassuring.
I look outside to the trees, the birds, the rocks and stones, and believe they are connected to nature, they have the energy of the divine within them, as all natural materials of the earth do. But when I look in my room, are the same materials inside too? Perhaps in my wardrobe, made of wood. But what about the chipboard? And then the TV? The material that is made of? Sure, it’s manmade, but what are manmade materials other than natural materials changed and moulded into manmade materials. I couldn’t tell you what materials go into making plastic or concrete, but I am sure they came from this earth. So going by that alone, surely all manmade materials come from nature, and have the divine energy in them too? So even in the heart of a city, we are surrounded by nature? Then maybe we don’t have to try too hard to connect to nature, when we are always surrounded by it?
As Raewytch says in her Witchvox article, “Whether we are in the middle of a field or a concrete parking space, we are still walking on our Mother Earth… If there is a spirit of the stone, there must be a spirit of the tarmac!” I don’t personally know all the ingredients used to make tarmac, concrete and plastic. But it might be worth finding out, it may help us understand the natural materials used to make materials we are often surrounded by in our urban environments, and appreciate a little more what we are surrounded by.
Our food still comes from the Earth, and we can still give thanks to the Earth for providing it, even as we open it from a packet or tin. Where did it come from before it went into it’s packaging? We can still take steps to be environmentally friendly as an urban pagan, choosing not to drop litter, recycling what we can, taking note of our carbon footprint where transport, etc. is concerned.
Pagans can follow a spirtual earth-based path regardless of where they live on this planet. Nature is everywhere, you just have to know where to look. Paganism is a spiritual path and a way of life that honours the Earth and all it’s inhabitants - animal, vegetable or mineral. “May the spirit of the breezeblock bless your home.”
_________________________________________________________
Quotations taken from a Witchvox article by Raewytch:
http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ukgb2&c=words&id=13136