Status: This paper was developed for Rice University, RELI 591: Death and Dying in Religion and Literature, Fall 1993 and uploaded to an HTM document in June 1994. In addition to traditional reference materials it uses a brief questionaire submitted to Internet Correspondents on the alt.pagan newsgroup and the PAGAN@DRYCAS listgroup. In 2003 a link to additional resources concerning death and dying were added.
Postmodernity, wrought in the aftermath of Marxism and secular liberalism, represents not only a resurgence of nihilism, difference, and writing as a way to throw off the yoke of logos, but a resurgence of religion. Religion also seeks to overthrow the yoke of logos in order to recover the immediacy of mythos. Mythos, in turn, gives rise to thought, rhetoric, prose, and the attempt to reformulate a metaphysics. Deconstruction, by overthrowing the logos that supports the regimes of modernity, clears a path for mythos and the return of ontotheology. (Walsh, 119)
God is Dead, Long Live the Gods! When Nietzsche declared the death of God he began the overthrow of traditional Christianity and opened the doors for alternative expressions of spirituality. Looking back we can trace the development of several responses to the postmodern demise of religious expressions and belief systems. One of those responses is the resurgence of spiritualism and the birth of the contemporary Neo-Pagan movement. By exploring alternative expressions of divinity and of humanity's responses to that divinity, this movement has awakened both the ancient deities from around the world and created new ways of being with deity in the world. Living in the face of death is the ultimate challenge to human life and helping meet this challenge is the goal and purpose of religion. This paper will not explore the rise of Neo- Paganism and its relationships to postmodernism, instead it will explore how contemporary members of the American Neo-Pagan community respond to death on a variety of fronts.
Return to TopThe multiple patterns of polytheism allow room to move meaningfully through a pluralistic universe. They free one to affirm the radical plurality of the self, an affirmation that one has seldom been able to manage because of the guilt surrounding monotheism's insidious implication that we have to "get it together." (Miller, ix)
Within the much larger occult community there exists a smaller community of individuals whose particular beliefs clearly distinguish them from other occultists. These persons not only believe in "real" magic but practice it. They believe in a plurality of deities, the gods and goddesses of pre-Christian polytheism. They revere the earth and the forces of nature and attempt to attune themselves to them. (Melton, 5)
From an historical perspective contemporary Neo-Paganism can trace its roots back to the early twentieth century works of Margaret Murray, Gerald B. Gardner and Aleister Crowley. Mythologically contemporary Pagans trace their roots through Murray, Gardner and Crowley through the Middle Ages and the Inquisition (the Burning Times) through the pre-Christian Europe to Paleolithic times. (Adler, 46-70 and Melton, 5-8) Today's Pagans are creating a new religion out of myths, dreams and a small set of shared symbols. Because Pagans honor no single source for their religious beliefs and practices they are constantly required to create or rediscover answer to the major religious questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What happens when I die?
This paper attempts to discover some of the ideas about of death and dying in the contemporary American Pagan community. It uses as its sources three types of materials: books written by contemporary Pagan thinkers and practitioners; Circle Network News, a nature spirituality quarterly published by Circle and the Wiccan Church; and individual communications with participants of the Internet newsgroup alt.pagan and the Pagan on-line discussion group PAGAN@DRYCAS. In addition to reviewing the material from the two Internet sources, a short, open-ended questionnaire was posted to these two groups. The questionnaire asked simply
"1. What are your personal view of death, the dying process, and any afterlife? 2. What Halloween/Samhaim or other ritual material focused on death, dying or the afterlife have you used? 3. What other rituals you have used? For example, rituals for a dying loved one, funeral/memorial/burial rituals, rituals celebrating the anniversary of loved ones death, etc.?" This purpose of this questionnaire was to do a quick survey of the views and practices of self-identified Pagans.
When discussing Paganism this paper will use terms like "some," "many," and "usually" since there is no single position with which every Pagan agrees. Since there is not single Pagan source or theological tradition, Pagans freely pick and choose among ideas both within their own culture and traditions and from compatible foreign traditions. (For example, there is a strong theory of reincarnation that, while very different from its Hindu and Buddhist counterparts, was probably sparked by interaction with those systems.) Following the example of Margot Adler the words "Pagan" and "Neo-Pagan" are capitalized throughout this paper since they are used to describe the members of a religion. (Adler, 3-4, footnote)
One of the definitive descriptions of contemporary Pagan groups is Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon. Originally published in 1979 and revised in 1986 it chronicles the birth, growth and sometimes death of various Pagan groups. In it she postulates there are between 50,000 and 100,000 active self-identified Pagan or members of Wicca [1] (Adler 1) in the United States (Compared to about 180,000 Unitarians and 40,000 Quakers in America). (Adler 455) Although viewed by many as a cult phenomena or simply New Age faddism, contemporary Paganism is a significant religious movement. However, because Paganism in addition to being small has no central authority or source of demographic information, it is difficult to determine exactly who is included in this movement. In 1985 Adler distributed 450 copies of a questionnaire at three different Pagan festivals. Based on the 195 responses she discovered that the religious upbringing of Pagans mirrored the national profile of America [2] and in their professional lives they represent "basically white-collar, middle-class professionals." [3] (Adler 444-447) Of course, the participants on the Internet groups, while representing many of these same groups are heavily weighted toward students and other members of the university community [4] , probably due to the ease with which students can get access. [5]
Return to TopPostmodernism opens with the sense of irrevocable loss and incurable fault. This wound is inflicted by the overwhelming awareness of death&emdash;a death that "begins" with the death of God and "ends" with the death of ourselves. We are in a time between times and a place which is no place. Here our reflection must "begin." In this liminal time and space, deconstructive philosophy and criticism offer rich, though still largely untapped, resources for religious reflection. (Taylor, 6)
In his history of the Western European attitude toward death, The Hour of Our Death, Philippe Aries suggests that there is a relationship between a person's views of death and four psychological themes: self-awareness, defense against untamed nature, belief in an afterlife and belief in the existence of evil. (Aries, 602-3) In describing contemporary views of death Aries says that society has become ashamed of death, afraid of death. And to hide that fear it behaves as if death does not exist. (Aries, 613) By hiding the dying process in hospitals, by developing the whole funeral industry, by denying the grief of the bereaved, society has "reduced death to the insignificance of an ordinary event that is mentioned with feigned indifference." (Aries, 614) Yet this attitude toward death has not eliminated either death or the fear of death. Instead the image of the dying hospital patient covered with tubes "is becoming a popular image, more terrifying than the transit or skeleton of macabre rhetoric." (Aries, 614) In response anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists are attempting to reconcile death with happiness. They are attempting to make death "the discreet but dignified exit of a peaceful person from a helpful society that is not torn, not even overly upset by the idea of a biological transition without significance, without pain or suffering, and ultimately without fear." (Aries, 614)
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1969 classic On Death and Dying may have been the beginning of this movement. In her work with dying patients she developed what has become the contemporary psychology of dying. In the introductory sections of her book she proclaims that "[d]eath is still a fearful, frightening happening, and the fear of death is a universal fear even if we think we have mastered it on many levels. (Ross, 5) She goes on to describe how modern death has "become lonely and impersonal" due to the rise of technology and the increasing separation between medical staff and their patients. (Ross, 8-9) She attributes much of this alienation to the anxiety felt by the medical staff in the face of death, denial of death on the part of both individuals and society at large and the decrease in the number people who believe in a life after death, that is, immortality. (Ross, 14-15) Keeping in mind the postmodern awareness of death, this paper will use both Aries' and Ross' critique of contemporary society to analyze the responses to our survey questions and other Pagan responses to death and dying in an effort to find in this "liminal time and space" alternative religious reflections.
Although Pagans live in the culture described by Aries and Ross they seem to have developed attitudes that are different from those of the surrounding culture, particularly in reference to an afterlife. Many Pagans have rejected the tradition Christian view of eternal reward or damnation (heaven or hell), instead they seemed have developed a set of alternative views of what happens after death. Of the respondents to our survey thirteen proclaimed a belief in some type of reincarnation/recycling and five in some other type of afterlife and only one denied any type of continued existence. But before we can explore these ideas in more depth, we need to review one of the stable myths of the Neo-Pagan movement. Back to Top
According to the tenets of classical theism, God, who is One, is the supreme Creator, who, through the mediation of His divine Logos, brings the world into being and providentially directs its course. This Primal Origin (First Cause or Arche) is also the Ultimate End (Final Goal or Telos) of the world. Utterly transcendent and thoroughly eternal, God is represented as totally present to Himself. He is, in fact, the omnipresent fount, source, ground, and uncaused cause of presence itself. (Taylor, 7)
But in a world view that sees everything as cyclical, death itself cannot be a final ending, but rather some unknown transformation to some new form of being. In enacting and reenacting the death of the God, we prepare ourselves to face that transformation, to live out the last stage of life. (Simos [Starhawk] 1989, 112)
Although there is no orthodox Pagan religious calendar, many American Pagans follow a Wheel of the Year based on the seasons and pre-Christian Celtic holidays. Basically these holidays chronicle the birth, life, death and re-birth of the Sun King though the person of the Great Goddess (or in female-identified groups, the birth, life, death and rebirth of the Goddess herself). At Yule (Winter Solstice, December 21) the Sun King, conceived earlier in the year by the mating of the previous Sun King and the Goddess, is born. In the spring (Beltane, May 1), at the height of natural fecundity and after the Goddess has magically recovered her maidenhood, they mate, causing not only the conception of the next year's King but also the growth and abundance of the food crops in the natural world. In the Fall (Lughnasad, August 1) at the time of harvest the old King dies and sets sail for the Summerland from which he will sail forth again as the new-born Sun at Yule. Samhaim, or Halloween, is that period between the death of the old King and the birth of the new when the natural processes of the earth seem to be dying. At this time the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead thins to allow loved ones to communicate. For many Pagans Samhaim marks the New Year and is celebrated not only with remembrances of the dead but also by letting go of the old (ideas, habits, etc.) and looking forward to the new. (Fox, 8)
This process of birth, life, death and rebirth is a "poetic statement of a process that is seasonal, celestial and psychological." (Simos 1989, 114) By attuning themselves to these changes and focusing on the reality symbolized by each seasonal change, Pagans re-enact their own "transformations, the constant birth, growth, culmination and passing of our ideas, plans, work, relationships." (Simos 1989, 114) Samhaim/Halloween then is the time to focus on the passing away not only of ideas, plans, work but also of relationships. Traditionally Pagans who follow this calendar use the rituals of Samhaim to remember and communicate with their dead. Back to Top
We all come from the Goddess, And to her we shall return, Like a drop of rain, Flowing to the ocean. (Z. Budapest, 35)
Death in not an end; it is a stage in the cycle that leads on to rebirth. After death, the human soul is said to rest in "Summerland," the Land of Eternal Youth, where it is refreshed, grows young, and is made ready to be born again. Rebirth is not considered to be condemnation to an endless, dreary round of suffering, as in some Eastern religions. Instead, it is seen as the great gift of the Goddess, who is manifest in the physical world. Life and the world are not separate from Godhead; they are immanent divinity. (Simos [Starhawk] 1989, 41)
Regardless of their various beliefs many Pagan's thoughts about death, afterlife and rebirth are informed by this story of the cycle of the seasons. The story of the life, death and rebirth of the Sun King is used as a metaphor to describe their own future. "As the Lord dies and is reborn through the Lady, so do we. As the Maiden ages to the Crone who becomes the Maiden once more, so do we." (JMICALE, 10/16/93 ) Just as the fall harvest is reborn in the spring from the its seeds, so also, for many, human existence is or may be re-created in some form at some future time. Ideas of reincarnation as expressed both in the published material and as posted to the Internet are similar to but different from those found in Buddhist and Hindu traditions. For most Pagans life is not seen as an evil to be avoided but as a gift to be used and enjoyed. Instead of viewing rebirth as a punishment for the actions of a former life, Pagans see rebirth as an opportunity to learn new lessons and continue their spiritual development. Some believe that between lives each person spends time in some type of non-material realm where he or she can evaluate the lessons learned in the past life and select the new lessons and bodies for the next life. This place goes by many names. Although "Heaven" is seldom used, "the Summerland," "Isles of the Blessed" and "Asgard" are fairly common. While many may view this state as an actual place, other recognize them as a metaphor for something they can't really describe. (lecuyer, 10/17/93) In this intermediate state "you are at one with the godhead/universe/whathaveyou and you have space to think about the lessons just learned, the lessons not properly learned. You have time to think about what your choices are for the next incarnation will be, etc." (onca, 10/15/93) or "[the soul] based on its past experience judges a plan of action of the next life, and when it is ready returns to the physical world by selecting an unborn baby of approx. 4 weeks." (u9219722, 10/19/93)
Although some Pagans believe in the continuation of personal consciousness, many believe in a more defuse afterlife. For example, one network correspondent suggested "we become like a condom filled with water floating in a swimming pool. The condom is there, but it has no real shape and there's a sort of an exchange in and around it of water" (vrauls, 10/16/93). Another suggested "my spirit will return to the Mother, and become part of the Earth's Consciousness. I will join the group mind, and that which was me will eventually be born again, in a different form." (WAHART00, 10/17/93) Several used recycling metaphors to describe their view of the afterlife, "[t]he psyche merges into a greater collection of the consciousness" (milmoe, 10/16/93), "[f]or me, that means rejoining the Infinite and being recycled into another life or way of being....Energy never goes away; it just transforms. That is what I base my belief in 'recycling' (as opposed to reincarnation) on. Who knows if we come back as a person or come back as the heart of a star? It's all energy." (lynsared, 10/16/93)
We can see the expressions of these types of beliefs in several forms: personal responses to death and dying, published obituaries and public rituals celebrating the seasonal festivals. We will explore each of these responses beginning with personal responses to the death and dying process. Back to Top
Death is not a purely individual act, any more than life is. Like every great milestone in life, death is celebrated by a ceremony that is always more or less solemn and whose purpose is to express the individual's solidarity with his family and community.
The three most important moments of this ceremony are the dying man's acceptance of his active role, the scene of the farewells, and the scene of mourning. The rites in the bedroom or those of the oldest liturgy express the conviction the life a man is not an individual destiny but a link in an unbroken chain, the biological continuation of a family or a line that begins with Adam and includes the whole human race. (Aries, 603)
Personal responses to one's own or another's death provide an intimate look into one's deeply held belief system. While it is relatively easy to maintain a non-traditional view of death and dying when not faced with the actuality of death, how one reacts when death touches oneself or a beloved friend or family member is a better measure of beliefs. Although few of our Internet correspondents had an occasion to participate in such an event (several mentioned they had not yet had a significant person in their life die) one example was provided. How this correspondent choose to participate in the death of a friend provides an example of how the beliefs reviewed above can provide help in the dying process.
A second example shows how a mother using these beliefs devised a ritual to help her mourn her miscarried child. After reviewing these two very private responses to death and dying we will end this section by exploring the obituaries published in Circle Network News for a view of the public face of grieving.
Kubler-Ross talks about the stages of dying. As the patient resolves the various issues involved in his condition he begins to occupy himself with his future transition. (Ross, 87-88) She provides examples of the techniques she and her students used to help the dying through these various stages. The only ritual for the dying posted to the Internet was for friend dying of AIDS. [7] Before he had been diagnosed he had asked our correspondent to be his "teacher and priestess." (onca, 10/15/93) Almost a year later he asked her "as his priestess" (onca, 10/15/93) to "help him die." Rather than taking that request literally she began to use meditation to try to help ease his pain. During one of these sessions she decided to lead him through a series of guided meditations designed to "introduce him to the 'other side' and give him the opportunity to say good bye to his loved ones." (onca, 10/15/93)
In the first meditation they visualized a "beautiful cave with many crystals, each exuding light of its own color." At the far end of the cave was a gate. Beyond the gate waited many other people as well as feelings of love and the complete absence of pain. The dying friend was told he could go through the gate if he wanted to.
The second meditation took place on a mountain with "winds and fresh air, [t]he smells and feeling was of freedom." Again at the top of the mountain was a large gate slightly ajar. The dying friend was told there was nothing but love on the other side of the gate.
The final meditation was in a quiet, peaceful, beautiful forest. Walking along the path through the forest the friend met various people "still on this side." He had the opportunity to say what he needed to say to each one. "[S]ome were 'I'm sorry', some were 'I forgive you', all were ended with 'Good-bye.'" When he had said good-bye to everyone they again came to a gate. The guide could go no further but she told him "we would always love him; but that the love he felt from the other side of the gate was much greater than the love he had ever felt on this side. It was perfect love, without judgment. That there was nothing he could feel from that side of the gate that made him fearful. He may feel sadness that he had to leave the people on this side, but that the love on the other side overwhelmed that feeling of sadness."
Before this meditation the patient was in constant pain. (orca, 10/15/93) That night he was reported to have spent the most pain- free night of his two-month stay in the nursing home. The next day he woke up proclaiming that he felt "wonderful." After going into a seizure he fell into a deep coma and died about 24 hours later. "I have no doubt that it was in part my aid that helped him to cross over to the other side. He was terrified of dying before then."
Rather than using Kubler-Ross' psychologically-based talking therapies, the guide used a common meditative technique to share her view of death with her friend, allow him to complete his unfinished good-byes and prepare himself for that final transition. Having a set of shared beliefs as well as a powerful technique for communicating with the subconscious gave the teacher a way to communicate with the student in a unique and powerful way. We can see in the meditative descriptions of the transition the research of Raymond Moody, author of Life After Life, concerning near-death experiences. In this ritual little is said about an afterlife except that it was characterized by perfect love, without judgment and the absence of pain. The belief in some type of continued existence is postulated by the presence of others on the other side of the gate but the nature of their existence is left open (or perhaps assumed, based on information not provided in the correspondence). The opportunity to communicate with the living, saying good-bye, forgiving some and asking forgiveness for others provided in the hospital-like institution some of the elements of Aries' "tame death" and the correspondent believed reduced the dying man's fear of that final transition.
One of the most painful experiences in the life of any parent is the loss of a child. This may be particularly painful in the event of a miscarriage or still birth when the unborn child may not be accepted by the surrounding community as a "real" person and parents are not accorded all the grief and mourning rituals normally associated with death. The following ritual is included in this paper because I feel it not only highlights the view many Pagans have toward life, death and rebirth it also provide an example of how one mother used her Pagan beliefs to deal with her own pain. Since it was published in a widely-read Pagan periodical it is explicitly shared by the author with the wider community as an example of how they might also deal with a similar situation. According to the introduction to this short ritual it was written by the mother after she suffered a miscarriage
as a catharsis for my grief and to provide a sense of finality to an experience that seemed more nightmare than reality....[T]o release...the tenuous link between my spirit and that of the tiny life until so recently carried within me, that we both might continue on, as Fate decreed.
After setting up a simple altar with four candles (a central white candle and black, red and white candles) and a rosebud, and ritually establishing sacred space, the woman lit the central candle and said "It is the way of Life that all living beings, whether early or late, come unto Death, that in Time, they may come round again to circle in Life." She picked up and cradled the rosebud, symbol of her lost child, saying:
And so unto Death have you gone, my little one, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh, Child of My Heart; like this bud never to bloom, not in the fullness of time to bear seeds, wither and die. Yet like this flower bud, a thing of joy and beauty even for all its unfulfilled promise, so you were for me a wondrous and magical experience however short. Thank you for your precious gift.
Then she lit the three candles, symbols of the three aspects of the Goddess (Maiden, Mother and Crone) saying:
Of the Triple Goddess, She Who Opens and Shuts All Doors, Lady of All Joys and Sorrows, I ask for you: that the Crone always fly you to Summerland wrapped in the softest black feathers; that the Mother always comfort you in Her loving embrace; that the Maiden always smile brightly on you. Know that there will always be an empty place under my heart that cannot be filled, where your memory shall dwell forever. I bid you a pleasant journey, and a peaceful sojourn. Rest well, be renewed and return again. Fare thee well, forever.
Then she extinguished the central candle, and buried the rosebud saying: "As this hole is filled, so let my wound be healed. For even as this bud returns to Mother Earth, to return again some day, some way as Life, so will you, my little one. And as leaf and stem and petal are drawn back into the Womb, so let my grief be drawn in, to return again one day as joy. Mother of Life, Mother of Death, let it be so." (Regina, 13)
This simple ritual seems to describe a coming to terms with a personal and deeply felt death in a way not consistent with Aries' description of contemporary views. Here death is recognized and the grief process allowed within a safe space. The child is recognized and released, the death is seen as an inevitable part of the circle of life and belief in the child's ability to return is affirmed. The child's death is accepted as the "way of Life of all living beings," "Fate," not the result of untamed nature nor some evil force. At the same time death is not an insignificant, ordinary event but one worthy of ritualizing in a personal way. Back to Top
Individuals appear to be unsure of where they have come from and where they are going. Thus they are not certain where they are. Furthermore, the "texts" that have guided and grounded previous generations often appear illegible in the modern and postmodern worlds. Instead of expressing a single story or coherent plot, human lives tend to be inscribed in multiple and often contradictory texts. (Taylor, 3)
Another source of information about attitudes toward one's own dead are published obituaries. Obituaries provide a forum for the living to eulogize the dead and proclaim their beliefs about a possible afterlife. Circle Network News provides announcements of births, child blessings, coming of age ceremonies, weddings, handfastings, funerals and other rites of passage in their Passages section. A review of the latest four issues, Winter 92/3 to Fall 1993 finds 13 notices of human deaths, [8] including both a notice of death and notice of a memorial service for the author Scott Cunningham (Circle 48, 4; Circle 49, 4). Of these 13 notices more than half (9) indicated some type of belief in an afterlife. Three used the traditional ritual ending "Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again." Others used more personal statements including "We know that he now sits at the high table feasting with Freya." (Circle 46, 4) "He now rides in Khanate Pale Horse in company with his beloved wife" "delivered their daughter...to the arms of the Lord and Lady....We can only wish you many happy returns." "returned to the womb of the Goddess" (Circle 47, 4) "We dance with you between the worlds in a love that never dies!" "We shall meet again!" (Circle 48, 4) "May he pass through old business well and swiftly onto new." (Circle 49, 4) [9]
These announcements seem to provide an other way to overcome Aries' feigned indifference. Here the families and friends of the dead can share their grief with a wider community. Like the sharing of the ritual of remembrance highlighted below, these notices provide both release for the authors and the sharing that reinforces commonly -held beliefs. They are the texts upon which the survivors inscribe their own beliefs about their place in the cosmic order and the future, both of their loved one and for themselves. Back to Top
"This is the night when the veil is thin that divides the worlds. It is the New Year in the time of the year's death, when the harvest is gathered and the fields lie fallow. For tonight the King of the Waning Year has sailed over the sunless sea that is the womb of the Mother, and steps ashore on the Shining Isle, the luminous world egg, becoming the seed of his own rebirth. The gates of life and death are opened; the Sun Child is conceived; the dead walk, and to the living is revealed the Mystery: that every ending is but a new beginning. We meet in time out of time, everywhere and nowhere, here and there, to greet the Lord of Death who is Lord of Life, and the Triple Goddess who is the circle of rebirth." (Samhaim Invocation, Simos [Starhawk] 1989, 193)
Although the Wheel of the Year has eight holidays, (the four astronomical holidays, the equinoxes and solstices and the four cross-quarter days, Samhaim/Halloween, Candlemas, Beltane and Lughnasad), the cross-quarter days are considered by many of the "high-holy" days with Samhaim the most solemn. It is on this day that death, on various levels, is honored and celebrated. It is the time of the New Year, a festival of endings and beginnings, when rituals focus on letting go of the old and looking ahead to the new. It is on this night that Pagans pay respects to their departed loved ones, ancestors and guides in the Spirit World. (Fox, 8) These rituals provide the most public expressions of Pagan beliefs and provide on a yearly basis the opportunity for the living to remember and mourn their dead.
Pagan mythology proclaims that the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead is thinnest on the night of Samhaim. On this night it is easiest for the dead to cross-over and visit surviving family and friends. [10] This is why before leaving for the group ritual celebrants are advised to leave food and drink as an offering to their own beloved dead who may visit in their absence. (Fox, 8, Simos 1989, 193) Leaving such an offering begins the psychological process of reconnecting with one's own beloved dead, while the rituals themselves might focus on remembering the dead, particularly immediate family and friends (Fox, 8; Simos 1989, 248; rs_nusslebr, lecuyer) and memorials for those who died during the Inquisition [11] (Carol, 13) and other historical massacres; awareness of one's own death and hopes for rebirth (Simos 1989, 195-6); reflections on the past year and plans for the new year (Fox 8; Weinstein, 18; onca, 10/15/93); banishing of old fears and other negative traits (JMICALE; lecuyer) and divination (Fox, 8; Simos 1989, 195, onca, 10/15/93; milmoe, 10/25/93).
Honoring the dead, both personal and communal, is an important part of many Samhaim, rituals. By looking at a large public ritual described by Simos [Starhawk] in her book Truth or Dare we can see how most of the elements listed above are woven together. After ritually establishing sacred space, the group begins by memorializing their ancestors, those without names who are remembered by the ways they died, "those who died of hunger, who died in slave ships, who were burned...the dead of Auschwitz, Hiroshima, ...El Savador, ...South Africa, ...AIDS victims, war victims, suicides, burned Witches" As each group is named the participants "keen, tear cloth, rub ashes on our faces and chant the response to the call 'What is remembered lives.'" The voices of the three hundred people crying together binds the group together before the naming of personal losses: "'my grandfather'... 'my aunt'... 'my mother'...the tragic deaths, the suicides, the car crashes and the peaceful deaths." The names and stories weave these people together so that they become one community "so that [these ancestors] become our common ancestors, different races and religions and viewpoints not erased but linked. For in the public naming of our dead, we assert their value which has not been destroyed by death. And in valuing them we value each other, the true histories of our lives, where we come from, who we are."
Having grieved together the group dances into being their vision for the new year: "A year of beauty, Let it begin now. A year of plenty, Let it begin now. ..." Energy spent on grief now raises into a wild frenzy of clapping, stomping, ecstasy&emdash;until the power peaks and the participants return to the earth. Finally the ritual is brought to a close by the naming of those babies born during the year. "The wheel of the year has turned....and now the lament for the dead gives way again to the song of life." (Simos 1987, 307-9)
Participation in a ritual such as this provides at least a temporary release from Aries' fear of death. Not only is death acknowledged but public, emotional, kinesthetic grieving is encouraged. For at least the time of the ritual death is not an "ordinary event ...mentioned with feigned indifference," (Aries, 614) instead, within the safety of sacred space, death is acknowledged, celebrated and lamented. Both the tame, peaceful death and the violent, evil death are honored; both the personal and ancestral death are acknowledged; mass death is recognized and it victims lamented. In a technological world separated, untamed nature is welcomed and released both in the wild grieving and the ecstatic dance of the new year. Finally a sense of immortality is proposed in the form of those new births, the children who continue on the community.
Although not all Pagans participate in this type of large, public ritual, their private rituals may contain many of the same elements including reflections on the past year and plans of the new year. [12] By inviting death into their ritual space, Pagans provide themselves an opportunity to overcome their fear and shame at death. Through ritual and meditation they might look into the face of their own deaths, both those small daily deaths precipitated by changing circumstances, and the final termination of their current existence. Back to Top
In reviewing Aries' four psychological themes (self-awareness, defense against untamed nature, belief in an afterlife and belief in the existence of evil) we seem to find that the contemporary Pagan community's beliefs and practices around death focus on a belief in the cyclic nature of existence that includes not only birth, life and death but also some type of continued or renewed existence, rebirth. Although self-awareness and a belief in an afterlife characterize Pagan beliefs we find little evidence of a belief in the existence of evil or a need for defense against untamed nature.
As with many of their fellow Americans, Pagans seem to have a strong sense of self. This is especially evident in the remembrances of the named and unnamed dead in Samhaim rituals where not only family and friends are memorialized but also "ancestors" of various types are included.
An overwhelming belief in some type of continued existence is expressed not only in the "orthodox" explication of the beliefs published in various sources but in the attempts of the various Internet correspondent to articulate their personal, eclectic beliefs. These beliefs show not only that there is a basic set of shared ideas but also highlight the attempts of the various individuals to formulate a consistent personal belief in the absence of any type of common accepted creed. Those who express a belief in some sort of afterlife seem to be divided between those who favor a continued existence of the coherent self and those who believe that the self is somehow absorbed into a larger cosmic force. Concerns about the complete dissolution of the self are not evidenced by either the published sources or our Internet correspondents. Whether this is an example of a true disinterest in continued existence or merely the result of the demographics&emdash; younger people seem less concerned about their continued existence because they often have not completely assimilated the concept of their own death&emdash;is unknown. However we see little evidence of a belief in the complete dissolution of the self in the various rituals surrounding death and dying. Although several variations were expressed, many seemed to accept some type of continued existence and possible re-birth either in whole or as part of a greater whole.
We see, then, in the contemporary Pagan community a unique response to Aries' concerns about death in the post-modern world. By ritualizing death and dying Pagans seem to be moving beyond the indifference to death documented by Aries; through the use of alternative religious expressions they appear to be mastering their personal and communal fears about death and dying and perhaps are beginning to overcome the alienation from death felt by many in this post-modern age. Back to Top
[1] "Wicca was the first (or at least one of the first) of the neopagan religious." (FAQ, #4) Back
[2] Catholic 23.5%, Protestant 48.2%, Jewish 5.4%, Other 22.9% Back
[3] Significant for this paper, 16% were programmers, technical writers or scientists and 8.2% were students. Back
[4] Of the 21 responses to the Internet questionnaire, 15 accessed the system through a school (address ended in .edu) and 6 through a commercial company (.com). Back
[5] Access is generally free and commonly available on most college campuses. Back
[6] Names of Internet correspondents are included in Bibliography. Copies of correspondence available upon request. Back
[7] The major portion of this information is from the correspondence from onca 10/27/93. Material from an earlier post is noted. Back
[8] As well as 21 cats, 8 dogs and 8 birds, gerbils and other unidentified animals. Back
[9] By way of comparison a recent Houston Chronicle (November 6, 1993) contains 25 death notices and three memorials commemorating either a birthday or anniversary of death. Of the death notices only four (16%) indicate some type of belief in an afterlife while all three of the memorials do (total notices and memorials, 25%). Beliefs are indicated in the death notices by "went home to be with her/his Lord," "passed to the next dimension," and "entered into eternal rest," while the memorials were more explicit in their beliefs: "Look for Grandma, she's probably looking for you," "we wish you eternal joy and peace" and "[u]ntil we are together again." (38A) Back
[10] Hence the preponderance of costumed ghosts and skeletons abroad this night. Back
[11] Although there is little evidence of a direct line from Medieval "witchcraft" and modern paganism, many pagans, particularly women, feel a deep connection with the multitudes who where were tortured and murdered during the "Burning Times". Back
[12] This year the alt.pagan newsgroup has been experimenting with developing rituals within the "virtual" space of the Internet. (markbr) Although the Samhaim ritual was obviously develop from a variety of traditions and mythologies, it contain a similar form to the public ritual described above, including the creating of sacred space and sharing personal responses to the season, remembering and memorializing of dead loved ones, releasing old energies and "planting" new beginnings and an imaginary journey to "Emain Ablach" where "teeming Summer hold life in its arms." Here is an interesting new phase in the use of technology in the development of personal and communal spiritual expression. Back
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amshey@twain.ucs.umass.edu (Chris Lawrence Amshey), 10/17/93,RE: Death and Dying,
b_gerber@oz.plymouth.edu (Styx), 10/17/93a,RE: Death and Dying
brook@innosys.com (Brook Schoenfield), 10/21/93,RE: Death and Dying
donald@grove.demon.co.uk (Donald Oddy), 10/19/93,Death and Dying
emarsh@la-scala.End.Sun.COM (Eric Marsh), 10/22/93,RE: Death and Dying
JALLEN31@MAINE.MAINE.EDU, 10/17/93,RE: Death and Dying
JMICALE@DREW.DREW.EDU (Jennifer R. Micale), 10/16/93,death and wicca
JMICALE@DREW.DREW.EDU (Jennifer R. Micale), 10/27/93,RE: Death and Dying
joshua@cpac.washington.edu (Joshua Geller), 10/16/93,RE: Death and Dying
lecuyer@wam.umd.edu (Cathy), 10/17/93,RE: Death and Dying
lynsared@techbook.com (Siprelle), 10/16/93,Death and Dying
markbr%radian@[129.160.16.4] (Mark Roth), 11/8/93,VR Rituals
mcmahan@hpsal2.cup.hp.com (Larry McMahan), 10/20/93,Death Rituals
milmoe@symcom.math.uiuc.edu (Andrew Milmoe), 10/16/93,RE: Death and Dying
milmoe@symcom.math.uiuc.edu (Andrew Milmoe), 10/25/93,RE: DDeath and Dying
msheahan@carroll1.cc.edu (Chiaroscuro), 10/16/93a,RE: Death and Dying
msheahan@carroll1.cc.edu (Chiaroscuro), 10/17/93b,RE: Death and Dying
onca@netcom.com (Panthera Onca), 10/15/93,RE: Death and Dying
onca@netcom.com (Panthera Onca), 10/27/93,RE: Death and Dying
oispeggy@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Peggy Brown), 10/17/93a,RE: Death and Dying
oispeggy@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Peggy Brown), 10/17/93b,RE: Death and Dying
oispeggy@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Peggy Brown), 10/18/93,RE: Death and Dying
RS_NESSLEBR@conrad.appstate.edu (Kim Williams), 10/16/93,RE: Death and Dying
rwsys!renais!david.pollard@utacfd.uta.edu (David Pollard), 10/28/93,Death and Dying
JMICALE@DREW.DREW.EDU (Jennifer R. Micale), 10/16/93,Death and Dying
stauff!ed@gozer.MV.COM (Edward L. Stauff), 10/18/93,death survey
Tyagi@cup.portal.com (Tyagi Mordred Magasiva), 10/18/93,RE: Death and Dying
Tyagi@HouseOfKaos.Abyss.com (Tyagi Mordred Magasiva), 11/1/93,RE: Death and Dying
u919722@sys.uea.ac.uk (Ant, A Wayword Son of Mother Earth), 10/19/93,RE: Death and Dying
vrauls@crl.nmsu.edu (goddess), 10/16/93,RE: Death and Dying
vrauls@crl.nmsu.edu (goddess), 10/17/93,RE: Death and Dying
WAHART00@UKCC.uky.edu (Amhra/nai/ na Coille), 10/17/93,an bha/s (death)
walkea@rpi.edu (Alexander Walker), 10/15/93,RE: Death and
WOODG@SNYALFVA.BITNET (Gail Wood), 10/20/93,RE: Death and Dying