Pantheacon - Back to basics? Hardly!

Pantheacon rolled into town this past week and brought with it the usual kaleidoscope of Pagan diversity. Wiccans, Druids, Hoodoo Priestesses, conjurers, mountain folk, sorcerers, wizards, bent-kneed dedicants and this Corporate Pagan from your neighbourhood were all there in their ritual finest. And talking of clothes, we pagans are not afraid of mixing our colours and textures!

But pageantry and spectacle aside, there is serious work that happens at Pantheacon. The theme this year was “back to basics”. Initially, when I read the course description I thought I might skip this year. I read “back to basics” as “craft 101”. It would have been a huge mistake not to go.

I’ve realized recently that “basic” doesn’t mean “beginner”. It means “at the base” or “foundation”. I like to look at that another way and substitute the word “Elemental”.

The vast majority of speakers, presenters and ritual hosts completely understood the semantic subtlety between “basic as beginner” and “basic as elemental and at the core essence of”. On more than one occasion a presenter commented how easy it was for large groups of people to produce a magickal working together with limited instruction. We simply knew how to work together regardless of tradition. The rituals were reduced to the absolute, minimal, elemental and simplistic forms and yet, paradoxically, were all the more complex and profound because of it.

One teacher commented on ritual space and noted that as long as we have breath in our bodies, we have all of the sacred space we need. The elements and Deities are always contained within us and the ability to access them and foster our relationships with them is practically always in abundance.

One ritual I attended consisted of concentric circles. Each person placed their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. Each ring, representing stages of personal and spiritual development, was held by each other person who, in turn, held someone else. I thought of myriad times in my life where a simple touch - to know I was held and supported – would have meant more to me than any circle casting, athame-wielding, corner calling production ever could.

Yet another class focused on the body in prayer. Simple movements combined with a sublime supplication to the Goddess. The movements were inspired by the Sufi Mystics and the repetition created an altered state of consciousness that seemed so familiar and accessible, one buried just below the surface of every day thought.

And one piece of work centered entirely on the breath. I breathed for ninety minutes. Sounds basic, I know, but there was nothing simple about it. Mindful, intentional breathing is complex work. The physical and physiological effort was grueling. The effects of the meditation left many people sobbing uncontrollably. Some were laughing. They had that particularly knowing and almost “I’ve just found IT and it was here all along” tone to their voices that echoes Divine madness. Still others were holding on to each other as if just discovering that the person next to them was actually, truly, indefatigably The Divine.

And I took great pleasure in witnessing simple acts. I was listening to a certain, flamboyant presenter. His story was of a simple, humble tradition. I turned around and saw a good friend of mine smiling from ear to ear. The speaker was using words and phrases from my friend’s home lineage. The look of joy on my circle mate’s face as the words resonated on a level so deep within, was awesome. And I mean “awesome” in its truest form.

Other people shared food, offered rides, tended to the needs of those with them, supported each other in the midst of soul-wrenching work and then reveled in the sheer joy of being Pagans together in such a public way.

Back to basics? Well done Pantheacon. Mischief managed.

Bright Blessing of the Mother,
Gwion

Power Surge

"Well, you can do that because you have the power and authority to get people to do that." A co-worker said that to me recently and it got me thinking about Power. Just what is it and how do I use it? What value do I place on it and what is expected of me because I have it? And what is it that really I have anyway?

For many years I sought Power. I wanted to be in control. I wanted to be the Boss. I wanted to make the big decisions that shaped the direction of the companies I was working for. I viewed Power as the vehicle to putting me in the spotlight, the hot seat, the money seat. Power was something that I needed so that I could show people how important I was. Listen to the song "Big Time" by Peter Gabriel and you'll have a pretty good sense of what Power meant to me.

I've been in a position of some Power, professionally speaking, for a few years now...even more so recently. To be sure, I have the Power to determine company policy, hire and fire folks, promote, demote and all of those lovely duties that come with being an executive.

To some, this kind of Power represents "Power Over". The ability to control others lives by exercising my might over them. Power like that can be seductive and, I believe, ultimately ruinous. My initial concept of Power, while I was "on the way up", was exactly that...my dominion over you because I was more valuable and powerful than you. Not exactly enlightened, eh?

What I didn't realize was the awesome responsibility that comes with that kind of Power. So while others may see me as in charge and Powerful, what they rarely see are the internal wrestling matches I'm having, weighing up the consequences of the decisions I make. Every thought, every minor change, every seemingly insignificant show of Power has ramifications that go on far beyond the scope of a simple decision. So Power then becomes responsibility which is nowhere near as seductive sounding.

I recently realized something else about Power. Like most things it is completely transient and illusory. The Power I do have is funded partly by my hard work or good luck (which I find to be never far apart from one another) and yet it is also granted to me by the other members of the executive team and board members who place a value on what I do. But that power could be taken away from me if I were demoted or let go. What would happen to my Power then? The employees that currently report to me would no longer see me as they do now and my Power would be transferred to someone else. My Power lies then in the name I have, in this case, Senior Vice President. The name conveys the Power, not necessarily the person.

So I examined Power again. If Power is transitory, it is therefore by default, something that can be transferred or conveyed elsewhere. Power is harnessed energy. It can be used or abused. Power can be applied to one situation to produce a result that might not otherwise have happened. That's a fair approximation of the definition of Magick!

I only ever use Magick by choice because I understand that using Magick can have far reaching consequences. So if Power and Magick are synonymous, then I must also be in choice to use Power effectively.

And that leads me to my final understanding of Power. I don't really possess anything that can be labeled as power. Nothing concrete anyway. I derive any and all Power from the simple act of choice. My choices are my Power.

Blessed be

Gwion - The Corporate Pagan

My dad used to tell me that I thought I was the Big I Am