Syncretism

This amazes me. Almost twenty years ago when I was a young aspirant to the Unitarian Universalist ministry and trying to express the harmony I felt between my Witchy Pagan Goddess-loving soul and my Christiany Jesus-loving soul, it was considered quite weird to be a strong feminist who loved Gaia and was drawn to Christian spiritual path. I didn’t let that bother me much, but existed in both worlds, trying to be an emissary between them. I gave programs on the Triple Goddess (Maiden-Mother-Crone) and did an independent study with the great Margaret Miles for which I wrote a big paper on St. Anne as the Crone figure of the Christian trinity. I did a lot of work on comparisons between the pagan Triune Goddess and the holy Trinity, studying with Kim Patton to understand Greek religion and mythology and with Fr. Brian Daly at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology to study the 4th century Trinitarian controversies that led to the Nicene Creed.

I wrote my master’s thesis at Harvard Divinity School on Persephone and Jesus as kind of divine twins, both avatars of resurrection in their cultural and historical contexts (yes, I have copies and you can order one!).

So imagine my sheer delight and sense of appreciation when today, researching readings for the fall equinox, I came upon a website that is ostensibly Christian but contains this thoroughly pagan ritual. 

Not that Matthew Fox and Starhawk weren’t around doing exactly this sort of beautiful creation spirituality syncretic stuff twenty years ago, but to know that this is now available at the click of a button to other people who want to incorporate goddess and Earth consciousness into their Christian practice is very encouraging.

It’s not weird any more. It’s quite ordinary, and many mainline Christian churches I have attended in the past decade would not think twice before incorporating elements of this ritual into their liturgy.  Some call that heresy; I call it progress.

Sorry I haven’t blogged here for so long — but do know that I carry on a lively and constant conversation on Facebook. Go find my page there and “Like” it and join the party!