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OBOD Blog of the Month

December 2nd, 2015
Optical Illusion - Rob Gonsalves

Optical Illusion – Rob Gonsalves

Each month the OBOD website features a post from a Blog of interest to Druids. There have been some fabulous articles and here is this month’s offering – a thought-provoking piece by John Beckett from his Under the Ancient Oaks Blog:

What Are We Not Seeing?

To say the Pagan community has been distracted over the past few weeks would be a massive understatement. I won’t perpetuate the distraction by listing all the teapot tempests and serious-but-distant crises that grabbed our attention. Though there were notable exceptions, we didn’t do a lot of Paganing and polytheisting in November.

Not all of this was our fault. The ordinary realities of life aren’t distractions from our deeper lives, they’re part of the whole of Life that Paganism celebrates, even when it’s hard. Meditating while your house burns is a poor job of prioritizing, whether the fire is literal or metaphorical. We do what we have to do.

But the fact remains – we’ve been distracted. Last week Byron Ballard posted this on her Facebook feed:

So, friends, we are inundated with fright-making headlines, Facebook feeds full of selfish cowards and (for many) a creeping dread of the upcoming winter holidays. Let me add one more thing to your brimming brain. All this shiny – what are we not seeing? What are we being distracted from that could use our good attention?

I’ve seen variations on this idea from others, though none quite as clear as Byron. I think her question of “what are we not seeing?” is worth some exploration.

Before we look at that, though, we need to look at the three overriding themes in our contemporary world. They’re not all that’s important, and obsessing about them isn’t healthy, but if you’re getting riled up about something and it doesn’t connect to one of these, you may be missing something.

1) The Long Descent. Or, more specifically, climate change, peak oil, and the decline of the American empire. The contemporary American consumer lifestyle is not sustainable. Fluorescent light bulbs and hybrid cars can’t make it so, even though I like them both. We have overextended ourselves, our infrastructure is crumbling, and the reaction to our imperial meddling is getting increasingly deadly.

There will be no crash, no sudden plunge into a new dark age. Rather, as we are already seeing, each generation will be less wealthy and less secure than the generation that precedes it. As always, some will do better than others, and those who do not wish to accept reality will hold them up as examples of how things are getting better, or how they will get better if only we’ll vote for their preferred candidates.

Which brings us to…

2) The machinations of the rich and powerful to remain rich and powerful. I’m not talking about your boss who drives a BMW 5-series (it’s probably leased anyway). I’m talking about the very, very rich, and the politicians who serve them. They tend to be conservative – the current system made them rich, why wouldn’t they want to keep things the way they are? And if they can’t keep things the way they are, at least they can keep them the way they are for themselves and their families – wealth is a multigenerational endeavor.

As the pie shrinks (and it must – perpetual growth is impossible even if you think it’s desirable), these are the people with the time, resources, and motivation to make sure their slice doesn’t get any smaller. Watch what they do carefully, and listen to what they say with great skepticism.

3) The return of the Gods. Plutarch was wrong – neither Pan nor any of the other Old Gods ever died. Where They went for all those centuries is a matter of speculation, but They have been moving closer and closer to the forefront of Western culture for at least 300 years. And now They’re being worshipped again not just by “eccentric” individuals but by whole traditions and movements.

We have only hints as to Their ultimate goals and plans, but we can see that people are finding meaning, belonging, and value in the worship of the Many Gods. And with the return of the Gods comes the return of Their values and virtues – values and virtues that are better suited for dealing with the world to come than those that got us into this mess in the first place.

Plan for the future and not the past. Living in the present is a wise practice, but our plans will be far more effective if we plan for the world that’s coming and not for the world that’s disappearing. I’m not talking about doomsday prepping – being prepared is good, but there’s not going to be a doomsday. I’m talking about ordering your life to deal with the long descent, the machinations of the rich, and the return of the Gods.

If something is keeping you from daily spiritual practice, it’s a distraction. If something is keeping you from building relationships, it’s a distraction. If something is keeping you from learning and growing into who and what you need to be, it’s a distraction.

But back to Byron’s question – what are we being distracted from? What are we not seeing? (To read the whole post click here).

3 Responses to “OBOD Blog of the Month”

  1. Yes we have been distracted, but as our universal body reaches out to everything, so it is right that we are distracted. The world is waking up, and about time.

  2. I read somewhere that distraction we experience in our daily lives is taking us away from our realisation of our true divinity. While your thinking of ‘their’ stuff your not connected to the earth and your own intution and the emense beautiful world that is waiting for us to interact with it. Blessings x /|\ x

  3. First off, as an American, let me correct and state in no uncertain terms that Donald Trump (affectionately known as ‘Trumpolini due to his Mussolini-like attitudes) is THE purveyor of all that distracts. We feel that way, but millions of Americans believe he is the Saviour. That being said, I agree 100% with John. But I think the biggest distraction right now is the sale of the Culture of Fear. Pagans know that fear is an illusion to be broken through, whence it becomes a divine teach. But most regular folk don’t know that. That’s one of the whoppers on the Sales Table of the World: Fear Each Other.

    Deep magic for me equals deep deep listening to the world. Then, let’s figure out a way to unite the listeners and get some action going.**

    **Not enough caffeine…I meant for this to sound way more magical 🙂

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