In September 2008, I had the privilege of being a guest speaker at Pagan Unity Days in Charleston, SC, sponsored by the folks of Lowcountry CAST (Council of Alternative Spiritual Traditions). Despite the threat of Hurrican Hanna scaring a few people away, the event was a lot of fun and the energy was amazing. In response to requests from the folks who attended my workshop -- and a few who missed it -- I'm posting an outline of everything we talked about during the session, including links to some of the online resources we talks about.
Technopaganism
So, let's talk about the Internet. How many of you have used the Internet in the past six months to:
- Learn about some ancient text or book?
- Answer a question you had about Paganism?
- Find out ways to do something new in ritual?
- Meet new people?
- Learn about this event we're attending?
Is there anyone left? Probably not - because nearly everyone is connected on the Web. In the twenty years I've been studying Paganism, internet use has changed a lot. I've been online since back in the day when you had to dial up your phone (it made that cool beepity-boop-boop-beepity-boop sound to let you know it was dialing), you logged onto Prodigy if the BBS wasn’t overloaded, and then you had to pay by the hour to plod around some really slow-loading message boards. You'd post a message, and then you'd log on a few hours later and see if someone had replied to it.
The internet is a very big place. It's so big that we'll probably never reach the end of it, and that's okay. It's always growing, which means there's always new stuff out there to learn. Not only that, old information is becoming digitally available.
For Pagans and Wiccans, who just a few decades ago were all in the broom closet, the Internet has provided a means to network and learn that we never would have imagined twenty years ago. It's created a way that we can meet other people, we can order books, we can read texts online, we can share information in ways that we never would have dreamed of back in the day.
Let's talk a little bit about networking, because I think ultimately that's one of the most important aspects of Paganism and Wicca. In addition to all the other stuff -- following the Wheel of the Year, honoring the God and Goddess, and so forth -- there is also such a strong sense of community among Pagan and Wiccan groups, which I'm not entirely sure you see in other spiritual paths. Sure, we all want to honor the deities of our traditions, and celebrate our Sabbats, but one nearly universal thread that is common to nearly all Pagans is a need to find other Pagans to talk to. Why is that?
Well, it's because everyone -- no matter what their spiritual path -- wants to share ideas with like-minded people. My Catholic sister-in-law has Bingo Night, my Lutheran neighbors have their Sunday afternoon potluck. It's human nature. And if you happen to be Pagan in a town full of non-Pagans, you've got to look elsewhere, seeking outside your own neighborhood, for that sense of community that we all instinctively crave.
Back in the early 1990s, chat room technology developed. This was a huge advancement in the entire concept of the World Wide Web, because all of a sudden, instead of just posting those messages on bulletin boards, you were able to communicate with people in realtime. America Online in particular was at the forefront of those early chat communities, and they did something really smart. They created specific chats for people with specific interests.
Anyone ever go into the old Ask A Witch chatroom on AOL? Suddenly there's three dozen people who have never met each other, talking together, from all over the world, talking about magic and spells and the Sabbats and how they celebrate them. They might have been disagreeing, but they were still communicating. For people who had previously never even MET other Pagans in real life, this was HUGE.
As chat rooms evolved, Internet communities continued to grow and grow, and as part of this phenomenon, there became increased numbers of websites dedicated to networking.
Witchvox, in particular, was a groundbreaking website, and it's still big today. In fact, it's the biggest website out there for Wiccans and Pagans, and one of the things that draws people to it is the networking. You can create a listing for yourself, post it to the site, and the next thing you know you're able to look up all the other Pagans in your state or town who might be looking for other Pagans. You're able to see public event listings, class schedules, shop locations.
On my site, which is relatively new -- because About.com guides have to start their sites from scratch when they come on board -- one of the things I've tried to do is make it friendly for users who are just getting started in their studies of Paganism. I have a message board forum, and one of the folders is specifically for Pagan Networking. If you're looking for a coven to join -- or if you have a coven and you're opening it up to new members -- you can post a message on there.
There are social networking sites with subcategories dedicated specifically to Pagans. Check out LiveJournal, for example. There are hundreds of communities on there relating to Paganism and Wicca -- one of my favorites is actually called Non-Fluffy Pagans. If you're part of MySpace, you can join Pagan groups on the site, or you can search for other people who have put Paganism into their profile as one of their interests. There's even Covenspace, which is similar to MySpace but just for Pagans, and it was actually founded by the previous About.com Pagan/Wiccan guide.
We've been able to expand our community simply by using the tools and technology that are out there. We're everywhere.
