A Seminar on Understanding Paganism
Census data suggests that there are more Pagans in the United Kingdom now than there are Baptists, and that their numbers could be approaching that of Hindus. Yet most people have little idea about what they actually believe or why there are so many ex-Christians among their number. The press relies on salacious stories that bear little resemblance to reality and the church so often seems culturally out of step with the ways in which a growing eco-awareness in the general population sooner or later seeks for a spiritual expression and often finds it in some form of British Paganism.
These are some of the reasons behind why Paul Cudby, former curate of St. Andrew’s Bedford (2002-2006) and now vicar of Tanworth in Arden and the Bishop of Birmingham’s Advisor for New Religious Movements, began his research into this loosely aligned group of religious movements in 2012, resulting in his book, ‘The Shaken Path’ (referring to the effect on his own journey as a Christian through his experiences). Released in June 2017, the book seeks to more accurately portray modern Pagan beliefs through having built genuine friendships within the movement by simply being present, listening to their stories and comparing them to his own. The end result is a book that integrates personal narratives with theological reflection in a way that describes the differences and some surprising similarities between Paganism and Christianity, especially with regards to spiritual practice.
Clearly it is not possible to condense the entirety of an 85,000 word book into an 80 minute presentation, so instead the seminar seeks to cover the following material:
The material is presented in a discursive format with plenty of space for audience interaction. Professional harpist, singer and composer, Alison Eve, intersperses the material with a number of her own compositions that relate to a more eco-centred Christian spirituality and which respond to some of the challenges laid down by Pagan beliefs about the natural world.
The aim of the seminar is to engage fully and non-judgementally with what Pagans believe in order to help Christians understand them in a more open and meaningful way, whilst also encouraging Christians to look closely at some of the assumptions underlying their own belief and practice.
Over the last 18 months this material has been presented on numerous occasions, including at the Church Army’s Sheffield centre to a conference for those engaging with new spiritualities, at a Christian gathering in Manchester, to a largely Pagan gathering in Glastonbury and a mixed group in Sussex.
Anne Rhiannon Richards, the Church of England’s National Adviser for New Religious Movements wrote this about ‘The Shaken Path’: ‘...an accessible account of Pagan life which should go a long way to dispersing hostility and creating a better understanding on which Christians can get to know their Pagan neighbours.’
Mike Stygal, former chair of the Pagan Federation offered this comment: ‘The Shaken Path guides the reader through a variety of the main Pagan traditions, reflecting on similarities and differences found in Christian denominations and, in doing so, provides Christians with an opportunity for deeper reflections upon their own faith traditions and practices.’
Contact Details:
Revd. Paul Cudby, The Vicarage, Vicarage Hill, Tanworth in Arden, B94 5EB. 01564 742565
paul.cudby@yahoo.com
Census data suggests that there are more Pagans in the United Kingdom now than there are Baptists, and that their numbers could be approaching that of Hindus. Yet most people have little idea about what they actually believe or why there are so many ex-Christians among their number. The press relies on salacious stories that bear little resemblance to reality and the church so often seems culturally out of step with the ways in which a growing eco-awareness in the general population sooner or later seeks for a spiritual expression and often finds it in some form of British Paganism.
These are some of the reasons behind why Paul Cudby, former curate of St. Andrew’s Bedford (2002-2006) and now vicar of Tanworth in Arden and the Bishop of Birmingham’s Advisor for New Religious Movements, began his research into this loosely aligned group of religious movements in 2012, resulting in his book, ‘The Shaken Path’ (referring to the effect on his own journey as a Christian through his experiences). Released in June 2017, the book seeks to more accurately portray modern Pagan beliefs through having built genuine friendships within the movement by simply being present, listening to their stories and comparing them to his own. The end result is a book that integrates personal narratives with theological reflection in a way that describes the differences and some surprising similarities between Paganism and Christianity, especially with regards to spiritual practice.
Clearly it is not possible to condense the entirety of an 85,000 word book into an 80 minute presentation, so instead the seminar seeks to cover the following material:
- Recognise that whilst Christianity, in common with the other Abrahamic religions, has its own authoritative scriptures, that is not the case in Paganism so there are no single texts that one can study to get the entire picture, and consequently patient and friendly engagement (and a lot of reading!) are the only ways forward.
- To gain an understanding of how Christian worship is linked to orthodoxy, i.e. that we may believe the same thing but we practice it differently, whilst Pagan rituals revolve around orthopraxy: that all take part in the same ritual whilst believing different things about what took place.
- An exploration of the different lenses through which we view our spiritual experiences and how this can raise questions for Christians as to why Pagans seem to have very similar experiences to their own yet find different meanings in them.
- Wicca and Witchcraft, and how one is a duotheistic religion that revolves around a celebration of the three phases of life as reflected in the moon and the seasons, and the other is a practice based around spell-craft that may be blended with other beliefs. The differences between Wiccan and Traditional Witchcraft ethics are explored alongside a challenge about Christian ‘magic’.
- Druidry as a religion of the sun that engages with natural wisdom as expressed in British fauna and flora as they change through the seasons of the year and which may be either quite liturgical or contemplative in its expression. An understanding of Awen (the breath of inspiration) is explored alongside questions regarding how this may relate to Ruach, the Breath/Wind/Spirit of God, and why so many Druids are linked to Christianity.
- Animism, the concept (as defined by Professor Graham Harvey of the Open University) that ‘The world is full of people, only some of whom are human’, is explored as being the philosophical underpinning for much of modern Paganism. The ways in which a Trinitarian approach reveals how an Animistic world-view is scripturally compatible with orthodox Christian beliefs is offered as a challenge to be open-minded.
- Shamanism is discussed as being an alternative priestly model for Pagan healing, tools of which are beginning to be used by some Jungian-minded therapists in psychospiritual counselling. Mention is also made of the similarities between some of the more extreme Pentecostal practices and some Shamanic rituals as well as discussing why some Shamans regard Jesus himself to have been a Shaman.
The material is presented in a discursive format with plenty of space for audience interaction. Professional harpist, singer and composer, Alison Eve, intersperses the material with a number of her own compositions that relate to a more eco-centred Christian spirituality and which respond to some of the challenges laid down by Pagan beliefs about the natural world.
The aim of the seminar is to engage fully and non-judgementally with what Pagans believe in order to help Christians understand them in a more open and meaningful way, whilst also encouraging Christians to look closely at some of the assumptions underlying their own belief and practice.
Over the last 18 months this material has been presented on numerous occasions, including at the Church Army’s Sheffield centre to a conference for those engaging with new spiritualities, at a Christian gathering in Manchester, to a largely Pagan gathering in Glastonbury and a mixed group in Sussex.
Anne Rhiannon Richards, the Church of England’s National Adviser for New Religious Movements wrote this about ‘The Shaken Path’: ‘...an accessible account of Pagan life which should go a long way to dispersing hostility and creating a better understanding on which Christians can get to know their Pagan neighbours.’
Mike Stygal, former chair of the Pagan Federation offered this comment: ‘The Shaken Path guides the reader through a variety of the main Pagan traditions, reflecting on similarities and differences found in Christian denominations and, in doing so, provides Christians with an opportunity for deeper reflections upon their own faith traditions and practices.’
Contact Details:
Revd. Paul Cudby, The Vicarage, Vicarage Hill, Tanworth in Arden, B94 5EB. 01564 742565
paul.cudby@yahoo.com
