Pagan Voices: New Year’s Edition 2016

In a recent blog post, T. Thorn Coyle asked, “What kind of world do you want to live in? What values do you strive to uphold?” This New Year’s Day, we highlight a few of the many Pagan Voices out there, who have shared what they see as they look toward the future, and what they hope to do in the coming year.

“After the sharing of the story, the Yule-feast begins. Like Freyr, we all wait through the long, dark nights for the coming of the sun. The communion of companionship in celebration of our lives together makes the wait a joyous one, and the Norse myths – like the myths of any faith – give us a shared tradition that shapes the cycle of the year. That is a wonderful gift from the past that continues into the future.” – Dr. Karl E. H. Seigfried, From Norse Mythology’s Endless Appeal

“When I began honoring the cycles of the moon and the Wheel of the Year, I was free to realize that opportunities for ‘resolutions’ were all the time. They weren’t limited to one day of the year. They were constantly evolving and changing, always in motion just as I was and the world around me. As a practicing Witch I became aware of the boundless opportunities for me to make firm decisions and act upon them to create change. My mental and spiritual commitment to bring change into my life did not cause me to judge myself or get angry at my failures. Instead of self-induced emotional trauma, my mistakes became learning experiences, and opportunities for spiritual growth […] I began to see resolutions for what they were; simply intentions that had yet to be acted upon. I no longer referred to the opportunities for change as “resolutions” (mostly because of the negativity I had attached to the word) but as Statements of Intent.” – The Zen Witch, From Statements of Intent in Lieu of Resolutions

“It’s an odd time of year, the period between the solstice and the end of the calendar year. In some Pagan traditions, and for some Pagan individuals, the year begins at the solstice but to the world at large there are a further nine or ten days remaining of the old year before the beginning again is celebrated. To me these few days feel old and weary at the same time as feeling youthful and energetic. As I said, it’s an odd time of year. […] And so the new year creeps towards me, and weary as I am I can only feel optimistic. This year has been the year of light forcing its way through the tiny cracks – next year, I think, I will truly embrace it. That’s the plan,” – Lily, From New Year

“When I look back on 2015, I’ll look back on it as not a year of failures (though it was), not as a year of great changes (though it was certainly that, too), or “the year it all went south for me” (though it most certainly did in several ways), it will be the year that everything turned around and that real hope for our future emerged out of what could have been a disaster had any other group of people been gathered under our banner, and had any other God and all of His Divine Friends not been guiding us at every step of the way. For me, there is a scaling back, a culling, a stripping away, and an active retreat from certain things in the wider world; for everyone else in the group, and for Antinous Himself, I dare say there is an opening up, a stretching outward, and what I expect will be a new flowering of activity in the years to come.” – P. Sufenas Virius Lupus, From The Year in Antinous 2015

“With such a diverse community, there is inevitably disagreement over what justice looks like, the ideal political landscape, and how our individual identities fit into the picture of larger society. So while we planted many flags of identity this year, we also engaged in profound internal dialogue about how we interact as Pagans within the larger world. We challenged each other spiritually and politically. There was friction, but friction leads to fire, and fire burns away the deadwood, giving us a new vitality. Friction, as the sign of free thinking and free expression, is healthy. ” – Tim Titus, From The Top 10 Pagan Quotes of 2015

“We Refuse to Become Like Our Enemies. And we will refuse. We will not become like them. We will hold to our values that sing of the worth and value of all of humankind. We will dance for our Goddesses and Gods and we will create religions and relationships of love and compassion, of joy and freedom. We will choose not to hate or to acquiesce. We will choose to oppose. […] We will grow stronger day by day as the shock of the malice that is being perpetuated shakes us out of complacency and makes us realize that we cannot take for granted all those freedoms and choices that enable us to live as Pagans in an often hostile world.” – Vivianne Crowley, From Staying Strong

“The beginning of the New Year is a perfect time to make choices. It is a time to look at the previous year and recognize what did not serve our best interests in life. It is a chance to be better than we were. In 2016 may we choose caring over harming, kindness over cruelty, tolerance over judgment, love over hate, and compassion over indifference. May we will the best for others without imposing our own upon them. May we be united by what makes us the same instead of being alienated by what makes us different.” – Raven Grimassi, on Facebook

Happy New Year from The Wild Hunt! 

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