Orthodox Biz Blog

The Rise of Wicca!

The journalists look at this process and see a way to write sensational headlines that grab the readers' attention. Many conservative leaders look at this and immediately start denouncing the sorry state of affairs, while asking for our donations to help rectify it immediately. Theologians of all stripes launch into attacks on the foundations of the new mystery cults.

But, I'm a business analyst. I look at this situation and see a really good marketing opportunity for Orthodoxy.

An analyst is prone to ask the question, "Why are people embracing Wiccan-style Pagan cults?"

Easy answers just roll off the tongue, "Satan has seduced them!" or "Modern man is rebelling against God!" These observations might be true, of course, but are they the whole picture?

I think it is clear that in order to combat a trend, you have to understand the factors that are driving it. So, what are some of the driving forces behind an increasing number of Americans leaving Christianity and embracing Paganism?

First and foremost, there are a lot of motivations which are purely self-absorbed. Some people are looking for a good time, others for acceptance of their homosexuality, some just think magic is cool, dude. These reasons are reflective of man's fallen nature and are, therefore, illegitimate. The people motivated by these passions are not really my focus here. These people are just sinners who would embrace some other trend that played to their vanities if they weren't already playing at being Adepts.

But there are other people who are earnestly embracing Paganism in a search for things which are not, in themselves, wrong. They are, in fact, seeking things which are good, but which they can't find in the dominant strain of Christianity in the United States which is Evangelical Protestantism.

What am I talking about, and why is this an opportunity for Orthodoxy?

Well, a partial list follows

Ritual - Pagan practices are usually highly ritualistic. Many people embracing high ritual in Pagan practice comment that the rites make them feel connected to both mankind's ancient past, and to the spirit world. The rituals give them comfort and a sense of peace. Through ritual, they feel a sense of holiness as they encounter what they perceive to be the divine.

The fact is that in America, most people are desperately deprived of meaningful ritual. Evangelicalism shuns it, even the Catholic Church runs from it towards low Masses and being ‘relevant.' This has created a vacuum which the average American tries to fill with membership in Masonic Lodges, social fraternities (like my own Phi Gamma Delta), politics (pomp and circumstance), military ceremonies, and/or increasingly, Paganism.

The rise of Paganism is bringing the need for ritual into the public consciousness, and I think this heralds the beginning of the end of "church that isn't like church," as the seeker-sensitive slogan goes. The coffee bar is closing, as people begin to understand that slick Rock music and multi-media extravaganzas don't fill the aching void in their souls.

The younger generations are looking for ritual, for tradition, and for correct practice. The Pagans are answering that call. When I read Pagans discussing the meaning, depth, and symbolism of their rites I am reminded of one of the major reasons that I embraced Orthodoxy. Which is why the trend of Paganism opens up an opportunity for Orthodoxy, since above all, the Orthodox Church understands the extreme importance not only of ritual, but of the correct performance of ritual.

Ritual is as normal for man as is breathing, by bringing ritual to the forefront of American consciousness the Wiccans are giving us an opening that we would do well to exploit.

Sanctified Matter - As a rule, Pagans believe in the transformation of matter through religious ritual. Pagans believe in the power of transformed matter to heal and to cause a whole range of both harmful and beneficial effects.

This is in stunning contrast to Evangelical Christians, who have completely rejected the idea of transformed matter. Evangelicals reject that matter could be transformed into the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. They reject the idea that sanctified water can confer a blessing or that relics can heal. In short, to a large extent, Evangelicals have created a rift between body and mind, matter and spirit. They have separated God from the physical world, and have created an inhuman dichotomy.

Many sincere Pagans, ignorant of the Holy Orthodox Church, are looking to heal that breach. They're going about it the wrong way, but the fact that they understand the need for the sanctification of matter puts them on the road to where they need to be.

The focus on transformed matter is a great opportunity to showcase the traditional teaching of the Orthodox Church

The Need for Mystery - Part and parcel of life with ritual and sanctified matter is mystery. People need mystery. They need to feel awed by that which they can not understand. Pagans revel in mystery, while Evangelicals follow a pseudo-rationalist tradition in which they come close to reducing Christianity to a mere code of ethics.

But Orthodoxy is full of mystery. We refer not to sacraments but to mysteries. We have the word mystery in our Divine Liturgy. We pray before communion that we will not reveal the mysteries of God to His adversaries. We are very comfortable with the idea of mystery.

This dedication to mystery, to the idea that the things of God are deep and mysterious and beyond human explanation, is precisely the attitude which is most natural to man. The growth of Paganism with its mysterious overtones is a step by post-modern Americans towards recovering that sense of wonder that they so crave.

The Feminine Mystique - The history of salvation in the Orthodox Church turns on a single act of obedience to God by a young woman. Her birth giving united God the Word with humanity. She is the Theotokos - the God Bearer. To come to Orthodoxy is to embrace Mary. You can not avoid her. Our priests are male, our God has revealed Himself as Father and Son. But Mary is ever present in Orthodoxy, as are clouds of holy female saints whose names are always with us.

This ever-present feminine influence is simply lacking in Evangelicalism. There, Mary is completely absent as are the other women who figure so prominently in Orthodoxy such as Anna, the grandmother of Jesus.

No wonder then that women in search of a role, and role models, have started to experiment with Paganism. Absent the proper veneration of Mary and other female Saints, women are left grasping for their place in the order of things

Dedication to Peace - Many Pagans reject war and violence. Many are pacifists who abhor the current violent state of our culture. They, along with many Agnostic, Atheistic, and nominally religious Americans have the impression of Christianity that it is bloodthirsty and warlike.

They've gotten this impression from watching the Evangelical support for war that has, practically, become Jihadist in tone. The more Evangelical televangelists and Presidential candidates talk, the more these folks want to rush out and visit the Sacred Groves of the Mother Goddess.

But that bombast and anger isn't Christianity. Not by a longshot. As Orthodox Christians, we know that our first and foremost dedication is to peace.

"Let us pray for peace in the whole world...," so we chant in the Divine Liturgy. To say that peace figures prominently in Orthodoxy would be an understatement. This is not to say that pacifism is a requirement of the Orthodox faith. That would be untrue. This is simply to point out that a true Orthodox Christian might fight if necessary, but will never speak lovingly or enthusiastically about war and killing. These things are evil, they may be necessary in our fallen state, but they are not things we celebrate unabashedly.

This attitude puts us in stark contrast to many Evangelical leaders whose strident comments embarrass even some of their own flock.

The Orthodox Opportunity

The natural reaction of Orthodox Christians, especially those of us who are conservative, is to look at the rise of Pagan influence in our society and seek to combat it. To combat it, many Orthodox leaders and laymen have the urge to reach out to other Christians to form alliances and make common cause in the fight. To build that common wall of defense against Paganism, it is only natural to downplay our differences and focus on what we have in common with our Evangelical brethren.

But I'm not sure that is the right approach. If the manifest deficiencies of Evangelicalism are partially, or even mainly, fueling the rise of Paganism, how can working with Evangelical leaders on the basis of a watered-down Christian faith be part of the solution?

I'm not sure it can. From a marketing perspective, would it not be more profitable to the Kingdom for us to emphasize our differences with the Evangelicals rather than forming a common front? Not in a mean or negative way, which profits nothing. But, what could we gain for the Holy Orthodox Church if we merely devoted time to pointing out to people seeking the things I enumerated above that Orthodoxy has all that, plus a whole lot more, to offer them?

Why not seize the opportunity presented by the Pagans bringing these issues to the fore, and inform the American public what the Orthodox Church teaches about them?

Some additional perspective is in order. While Evangelical Protestants have had some success going up against Roman Catholics or Anglicans in Europe and around the world, the fact is that, historically, the various Evangelical Protestant denominations have never really stared down a challenge by dyed-in-the-wool Pagans on their home turf. This is new territory for them.

By contrast, Orthodox Christianity was the faith of the Fathers which routed Paganism out of Europe to begin with. From our perspective, this is a fight we already won at least once, and we should have no reason to think the outcome will be any different this time around. So, I think that while the rise of Paganism is a matter of concern, I wouldn't go nearly as apoplectic over it as my Evangelical brethren are.

To me, this is a teaching moment that we should embrace, a challenge that we should surmount just as our forefathers in the faith did.

Glen Chancy is CIO for corfun.com and publisher of Orthodox Biz. You can contact him here .