June is Pagan Values Month. I’m not sure who decided that, but I do think its a good idea so I’ve joined up. It’s only a few days left, so here we go.
When I think of Pagan Values, the whole cultural concept of Family Values, i.e. what is normally accepted as Christian Family Values immediately springs to mind. Pagans often define themselves in the negative, in terms of what we are not, when compared to the dominant culture, and usually against a Christian backdrop. I find myself in classes often making analogies for theological points in Paganism/Wicca/Witchcraft in terms of what is different from Christianity, as its a base line that most people can understand. So when pondering this blog, I think many people would expect me to talk about some sort of Pagan “moral” value, perhaps regarding sexuality, healing or service. Yet the more I reflected, the less I headed in that direction, looking more to the “values” found in Nature and the Universe, and the theme I came up with is Timing.
Timing doesn’t seem like a value at all, does it? Is it a skill? You either have good timing or you don’t. When I think of timing, I guess i first think of music. Not many people know my degree is in music. I have a Bachelor’s Degree of Vocal Performance believe it or not. So as a musician, timing is critical. Though as a vocal major with a love of cheesy Broadway musicals, we liked to set the tempo and change it at will, which tends to drive conductors and band mates alike crazy. So timing can be fluid and flexible. Timing can be applied to life in general – being in the right place and the right time. But how is it a “value” and what about it is particularly Pagan?
I value a sense of timing, and it’s not only being a musician, but being a Witch that helps me appreciate timing. Ritual is an art form, and one must have proper timing in ritual. A dynamic tension can be created in good ritual, just like in good music, and one who knows how to exploit that tension, with proper timing, creates the difference between a moving experience and a dud. One can open the door to gnosis and the other to boredom. This aesthetic can apply from the solitary ritual to the large gathering. I value the power and effect of ritual timing.
In the science of ritual, timing is not an aesthetic, but a pattern around which to plan your workings. We time our rituals to the phases of the Sun, Moon and astrological alignments. We look at different days of the week and hours of the day being influenced by the planets. The zodiac signs influence the mood and energy of any day. The ancient pagans saw the science of astrolgoical timing as critical in terms of planting crops, laying the foundation of buildings, crowning kings and starting any project, for the energy at the start of anything will influence it, just as the energy from our birth influences us as documented in the birthchart.
But my true thought about the value of timing comes from valuing the cycles and season, each in the turn and allowing that same interplay of time and space in your own life. While I tend to be focused to accomplish goals, I value the inherent wisdom in letting every seed in our life sprout as needed, it its own time and in its own way. And sometimes that means being ok with the seeds that don’t sprout. Nothing can be rushed, and often you are pleasantly surprised. I have had some literal seeds in the garden sprout that I planted last year and assumed they were done. And in my personal life, I’ve had a lot of projects going on at once – personal, spiritual, business, theological – and a few that I just wish would be done and set, so I could go onto the next thing. Yet I’ve gotten some great feedback and support that I would have missed if I pushed through in my more usual manner, and didn’t let things grow out organically, naturally, rather than forced. Timing has been the key.
Though we love the warmth and the green, its the periods of darkness and cold that make us appreciate it. Likewise, you have to be able to know when something is ending. To be able to let go and know when something, or someone’s time is over. New cycles will be begin, but if we hold onto the old and stagnant, we have no room for new blessings and miss what is all around us. How many times have we held onto old relationships, jobs, identities, well past their time, and lived to regret it. Often the wheel of the universe forces us to let go, but if we were more in tune, we would shift with the turning of the wheel, rather than have our hand forced. I’ve held on and been forced, and now I try to listen to the song of the universe, to know my place within it, and know when to speed up, when to slow down, when to be loud and when to work softly, but it takes an awareness of the cosmic music. I’m constantly listening so I can be in time with the cosmos.
So while i value many things about being a Pagan, I think in the moment I value our teachings on timing the most right now.
Special thanks for Adam Sartwell and S. Rune Emerson for reminding me about pagan values month.