I was recently watching Tucker Carlson while he was covering Kamaul Bell’s (host at CNN) speech at Berkeley last weekend, where Kamaul said in a speech that he praised antifa, blm, black bloc, black people, people of color, unitarian universalists, lgbt’s, a long list of other groups (none of them white, unless they were in favor of anti-whiteness), and he then grouped in Pagans. At that section of the speech, I had to ask myself “At what point did Pagans become a weapon of the left? “, and although it can be traced back as far a Gardner, and the BTW movement, I had to take a sharper optic at Oberon and Morning Glory Zell, who coined the phrase “polyamory”, and all that polyamory stood for.
I was trained Gardnerian, and was (for lack of a better word) forced into a vaster open mind. Even though I grew up in San Francisco, and thought my brain would fall out if were to open any further, there were both the lack of doctrines, and yet an unsaid doctrine that “if your mind was not more open, you would be rejected” from neo-paganism, and Wicca. No problem, I thought. I was a bit traditional albeit, my strong calling to the Craft was unrelenting. I was staunchly monogamous, was not too fond of modern day feminism, (but, still wanting equal pay and equal rights without being a femi-nazi) believed in tradition marriage, child rearing, and the feminine arts and virtues were deeply ingrained in my being.
Ok, so a conservative yet open minded Wiccan was born. I took the challenge, and did it. I joined COG, and went through their rigmarole (which did not vibe with me. I felt I was in psychofuckingtherapy), and further expanded my cognition, I went to the Zell’s famous Halloween parties, and found my jaw hitting the floor, more than any other expression, and well, let’s just say, it was not the lifestyle for me. I had a couple that wanted me to become the “3rd” in their relationship from another BTW coven, and while initially, I guess I could call it interesting, it only lasted a minute.
And although, BTW’s were to perform all rituals skyclad, and I had a rockin’ hot body, I was not a big fan of sharing it with anyone that I was not in a monogamous relationship with. *sigh* So, really, in the end, I just felt that I did not fit in. I was a Witch, deep down in my heart and soul but, there was not a place for a conservative witch. Nowhere that I could espouse my shock and awe at the the Zell’s “Addam’s Family Reunions, no one I could talk to about my discomfort at the lack of conservatism, and modesty, and I just felt a bit alone. So, I went alone, on with my Wiccan journey. It was several years later that I discovered that I really was not alone at all. I was a right leaning libertarian politically, and I happily found a scant few in a similar category.
But, that leads me to today, and the speech by Kamaul Bell, and the question of; “Just how in the hell did pagans go so wrong that they have been lumped in with antifa, and the rest of the extreme leftist commies?” smh
I salute you for your wise views and I’m very glad to have found your site. In my view, it is not only a nuisance for the left to appropriate “paganism” for their contrary purposes (they always love to oppose and dominate), but also I would venture to argue that polytheism (my preferable term), in all its traditions, is inherently a conservative (a less loaded term would be traditional) system of belief and mode of culture that differs entirely from liberalism.
To answer your excellent question to the best of my ability, I think there are two distinctions that should be made, i.e. Historical left, and modern left. The history of the left appropriating paganism is very ancient, and seems to have begun with Orpheus in 600 BCE, when he invented a new religion (full of blasphemy to the traditional Hellenic religion) and began to spread it in Greece. Some of his corrupt ideas were later taken up by Pythagoras and then Plato, who afterwards spread them universally by his dialogues. Even the early Christians (always on the left) were inspired by Orpheus and Plato; indeed, Christianity, if examined carefully, is actually more derived from Orphism than Judaism. (see my recent post on my site: traditionalpolytheist.com). This movement, as you might imagine, actually subverted the traditional Hellenic religion and exposed it to Christianity. As for the modern left and paganism, I would guess it began with Wiccans, who (like Orpheus) invented a new religion to oppose an older one. Although the Wiccans still dominate with their numbers, it is fortunate to see ethnic polytheism returning, with all its wholesome principles and life-giving joys.
Very well done. Yes we must separate ourselves from this.
I am so happy I found your website! I consider myself a libertarian pagan witch. I do not fit either. It is very disheartening to see and hear so much hate being shrouded in such a thin veil that it spills into every aspect of our lives now. I, for one, do not like being lumped in with what i personally consider domestic terrorism. Thank you for your words!
What a breath of fresh air! Thank the gods for showing me this site. I have been solitaire for so long I no longer light candles or chant. Just hum in my head. I just don’t trust the “white light twinkies” one bit. This article is spot on and thank you for writing it. I’m a witch. A male witch and most can’t wrap their tiny pea pods around a male being a witch. ‘You must be a warlock or a wizard. Not a witch. Only women can be a witch.’ Nope. Witch. Never called myself anything else. The craft is the only path that ever made sense to me. Thank you for being here. I’ll stick around for a while.