A lot of my time recently has been consumed with thoughts of theology, relationships, and pan-pagan interfaith work.  I’ve been volunteering at a local prison, and attended my first pan-pagan festival in many years recently (Appalachian Summer Solstice at the Wisteria Campground in Ohio).  These experiences can be more complex by virtue of the differing traditions, but also very rewarding. By being exposed to the thoughts and teachings of others, and welcoming those differences, I have been able to better examine my own practices and beliefs.  

Within ADF, we have our practices as unifying features.  We acknowledge and honor the eight neo-pagan high days with structured ritual, making offerings to the spirits and seeking blessings in return.  Built out from those practices we often have similar beliefs.  For example, most of us probably have a polytheistic worldview and believe in the reality of multiple deities and spirits.  From that belief, we then often have a practice of making offerings to particular spirits in order to build a relationship with them.  

Expanding out to other pagan religions, the polytheistic worldview often holds to varying degrees of hard vs. soft polytheism, though the desire to make offerings to various gods and spirits may or may not be as important as it is to many in ADF Druidry.  However, there does seem to be a desire across traditions for orthoskhesis, or “right relationship.” This manifests not only in the ways that the people of a specific tradition interact with the spirits they honor, but also, particularly amongst neo-pagans who attend pan-pagan events, manifests in the ways that they interact with those of differing traditions.  Setting aside that there will always be those who are part of secret, initiatory, or otherwise closed traditions, when pagans gather we seem to value the relationship and the interaction between the people of differing traditions deeply.  

I would encourage everyone to take a look at how they approach right relationship in their own work and worship.  Yes, of course with the spirits, but also with those of differing traditions.  Paganism, while an extremely fast growing religion, doesn’t generally have the benefit that more mainstream religions do of a dedicated gathering place for people who all follow the same tradition and believe the same things. We simply don’t have that density of population, and so for many ADF Druids, particularly those who don’t belong to a grove, if you have the opportunity to interact in person with another pagan, they likely don’t have the same practices as you.  So I encourage you to engage deeply, sincerely, and with an open heart to those who share our great big pagan umbrella.  We have many commonalities and can explore right relationship together.    

---

This post was originally published over on my Patreon. If you’d like to support my clergy work, and get access to more posts and resources, join me over there.