5.24.2006
Is The Hype Good For Us?
Pagan author and activist Starhawk, writing for Beliefnet, ponders if the "Da Vinci" hype and popularity is good for modern Paganism.
"We would be more than human if we didn?t take some sly satisfaction in a movie where the bad guys are creepy priests and the Pagans, for once, get some good press. But we should resist gloating. For the movie certainly is not terribly good for the cause of interfaith understanding. In the long run, what?s really good for the Pagans is the work of our many allies in the Christian world and among people of other religions, who work for tolerance and connections among different faiths and beliefs."
She also takes some time to clarify what the mysteries of the sacred feminine are (are are not).
"But the true mysteries of the Sacred Feminine are not about cryptic codes, secret messages, and hidden hoards of treasure. They are the most ordinary, everyday things of life, which we all experience: birth, growth, death, and regeneration. Not that a child survives from some hidden royal bloodline, but that the blood of life, waxing and waning like the moon, nurtures every child in the womb. Not that one man may have risen from the dead, but that every Spring, seeds buried in the earth?s dark tomb sprout and rise anew. The Holy Grail, from the Pagan perspective, is neither cup nor princess: It is the receptive consciousness, our awe and wonder and reverence for the real wellsprings of life. Only the worthy can find the Grail."
It should be interesting to see more reactions to "Da Vinci" from different corners of the modern Pagan community. Will there be a general consensus on how "good" this all is for our faiths?
Pagan author and activist Starhawk, writing for Beliefnet, ponders if the "Da Vinci" hype and popularity is good for modern Paganism.
"We would be more than human if we didn?t take some sly satisfaction in a movie where the bad guys are creepy priests and the Pagans, for once, get some good press. But we should resist gloating. For the movie certainly is not terribly good for the cause of interfaith understanding. In the long run, what?s really good for the Pagans is the work of our many allies in the Christian world and among people of other religions, who work for tolerance and connections among different faiths and beliefs."
She also takes some time to clarify what the mysteries of the sacred feminine are (are are not).
"But the true mysteries of the Sacred Feminine are not about cryptic codes, secret messages, and hidden hoards of treasure. They are the most ordinary, everyday things of life, which we all experience: birth, growth, death, and regeneration. Not that a child survives from some hidden royal bloodline, but that the blood of life, waxing and waning like the moon, nurtures every child in the womb. Not that one man may have risen from the dead, but that every Spring, seeds buried in the earth?s dark tomb sprout and rise anew. The Holy Grail, from the Pagan perspective, is neither cup nor princess: It is the receptive consciousness, our awe and wonder and reverence for the real wellsprings of life. Only the worthy can find the Grail."
It should be interesting to see more reactions to "Da Vinci" from different corners of the modern Pagan community. Will there be a general consensus on how "good" this all is for our faiths?
Labels: Paganism
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