I do not
identify as Christo-Pagan. In my experience I’m too Christian for the Pagans
(this always cracks me up) and I’m way too Pagan for the Christians (not
surprising, but disappointing.)
But, I do identify with those who want to have
a relationship with Christ, or those who love aspects of Christianity, church
and the bible. My heart breaks with theirs, though, when they go seeking
something beyond orthodox and traditional ideas of Christianity and/or Paganism
and are only met with rejection and ridicule from other religious communities.
Christianity
and Paganism are completely compatible, and there’s no reason that the
Christians and the Pagans (and everyone else, for that matter) can’t get together
for a meal, a beer, community and prayer.
Christianity
has its roots not only in Judaism (which has a rich mystic tradition) but
Mediterranean and Egyptian mystery cults. Sure, a literalist interpretation of
Christianity has been going strong for two thousand years, but that does not
mean that this tradition is void of mysticism or even Paganism - far from it! My
advice to those who think that Christianity and Paganism are incompatible –
read some history.
Try to
understand who the God of the bible is, read his words closely and think about
the motives of his commandments. Think about what this would mean to people two
thousand years ago, one thousand years ago, and now. Learn the history and the
politics of the world two thousand years ago.
Look at the
formation of the Catholic church, per-Constantine. Read about the life of
Jesus, and then read about the Christ. (Yes, they are different.) Study the
creation of the bible as we have it today. Read the Nag Hammadi, the Dead Sea
Scrolls, the Gnostic texts and those other books that were left out of the
bible, and study why they were left out of the bible.
Study Judaism,
in particular the mystical traditions, the Kabbalah, and the elements of
Goddess worship. Read the Old Testament. Read Plato and Neo-Platonist writers,
and read The Golden Ass and the Homeric Hymns. Study Egyptian and Hellenistic
mystery traditions and life/death cults.
Christianity
and Paganism have been growing side-by-side for over two thousand years. This
relationship has been… well, you know how it’s been. But it’s still there.
After two thousand years of human civilization, you literally cannot separate
Christianity from Paganism, or Paganism from Christianity. Sure, we can try,
but two thousand years of tradition is hard to deny.
Even if you
practice what you consider to be pre-Christian traditions, we’re in a
post-Christian world looking at things with Post-Christian eyes. The influence
is there. Now, I’m not saying every single Pagan practice is Christian, or that
every single Christian practice is Pagan. I’m saying that nothing exists in a
vacuum, and these things influence and inspire one another.
But, in the
end, it doesn’t matter if you’re Christian or Pagan (or anything else!) If you’re
Christian, be Christian. If you’re Pagan, be Pagan. And if you’re neither or
both, then, by all means, follow your heart and intuition and worship in the
way that works best for you.
It doesn’t
matter, really. Just don’t make blanket statements or pre-emptive judgment
calls. Read, think, learn, pray. Stop hating and judging. It’s okay if a witch
prays to Jesus. It’s okay if a Christian performs a spell. There are no real contradictions
- not after you study and build a frame of reference and a context.
And if you
happen to find stuff that seems contradictory, well, that’s life and that’s
okay, too. We’re modern people trying to interpret an ancient world, trying to
put together pieces of a huge puzzle we’ll never really understand.
Life is full
of contradictions, why should religion be exempt? That’s just part of the fun, fulfillment
and magic.
