As in ancient folklore and religious practices, modern Paganism is built on the practices and styles of its writers, teachers, and ritualists. Various forms of today's Pagan religious revival are used and adapted, and then reused in new ways. General practices, such as the use of a contained fire for banishing, or the use of certain images to represent deity, or a certain style of invocation, are all parts of the evolution of modern Paganism as a folk religion.
Here in Los Angeles, there have been many groups during the last twenty years. At the inception of each was a highly motivated and creative personality. Unlike the east coast of the United States, which has a heavy Gardnerian-Alexandrian influence, Southern California Paganism was most influenced by the charismatic Hungarian Zuzanna Budapest who began the Dianic Feminist Wiccan tradition. Her first book, "The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries," and her teachings have made an impact all over the world.
When author Z. Budapest left the Los Angeles area in the early 1980s, she left a legacy of Goddess-Women identity in her branch of Paganism. There are no Gods in Dianic-Feminist Wicca, and as a result, several Goddess-only oriented groups that teach are still providing classes and rituals in Los Angeles.
Additional male-female, God-Goddess groups developed in Los Angeles and they too are teaching and hosting seasonal rituals. Many of these are founded on the work of the author Starhawk. Some have an east coast influence of Gardnerian-Alexandrian Wicca. (The east coast had its Garnerian-Alexandrian practices brought to it from the British Wicca of the 1950s and 1960s).
In the 1980's American writer and teacher, Starhawk, founded the Reclaiming Tradition. Her teachings had been influenced by Z Budapest, but include other traditional Pagan influences. A highly creative and spiritual personality, Starhawk began in Los Angeles but moved to the San Francisco area in the late 1970s where there is now a large Reclaiming Tradition group. There is also a Reclaiming group in Los Angeles at this time, that was founded on Starhawk's writings. Her first book, "The Spiral Dance," is a classic work, and the most influential of her many books.
In the mid 1980s, not wanting to go the course of Goddess-only Paganism, I became very interested in "The Spiral Dance." Starhawk is a wonderful writer, and has placed modern Paganism in its true historical perspective. My creative nature had me writing songs, chants and rituals almost at once, and I began studying and teaching in the second half of the 1980s. Eventually I developed a new branch of Paganism, Demetrian Paganism, and my first book was published in 1999, "Mysteries of Demeter."
Each teacher makes his or her mark in Paganism, adding a style, a philosophy, or a type of ritual. Most rituals are based on the turning of the seasons and the themes therein. But highly personal rituals have also been developed by the Pagan culture: to banished things unwanted, or create something needed. There are hundreds of books on the market on this subject; we take what we have learned and then adapt and add it to our practice.
Whatever helps an individual link up to the divine will naturally arise from the heart and mind and enter into the practice. It may be a way of laying out an altar, or the symbols used, or a change in the actions of a rite. Modern Paganism can be a very personal experience if one is creative and free with expression.
My personal view of our polytheistic Paganism, is that I see the "many" are part of the "formless one." The one divine source that is without name and without form. I am at home with a variety of cross-cultural deities. There are of course a few, such as Demeter and Persephone, that I give very great weight to. I see Demeter as the Great Mother Goddess, the Creatress of all. My personal goal is to journey deeply into my faith with Demeter at the helm. I seek the deepest mystical aspect of the divine, and try to bring that magic into my daily life.
In the big picture, I and all of us, are a part of the evolution of religion in a specific time and place. We are a part of a specific folk culture, within our country and our time period. We are a part of the evolution of world religions, and we decorate it, feel it, embrace it, and are passionate about it, as if it were our very own, and it is.
