Paganism in Scotland
This section is designed to provide a portal to 'Paganism in action' within Scotland today. The site is under constant development - your assistance is sought and we look forward to entries to enhance this section or those relating to Frost's Who's Who or Frost's Gazette. Please send such by e-mail to religion@martinfrost.wsNote:
a) Principal locations of meeting points will be found in Frost's Scottish Gazette An index of transition
b) Principal individuals will be found in Frost’s Scottish Who's Who
c) Societies and pressure groups will be found in Frost's Who's Who artificial bodies
For Pagan interest referral is made to the following site links:
a) A summary of Pagan belief for an abbreviated view on Pagan belief.
(Religion section of the Anatomy)
b) A Theological Understanding for a detailed analysis on Pagan belief. (Religion section of the Anatomy)
c) Essays on religious fuelled terrorism (Religion section of the Anatomy)
Below is a selection of articles relating to Paganism within Scotland
Overview of Paganism by Electric Scotland
Pagan Federation Scotland
Wicker Man director is flaming furious over Hollywood remake
A Shout-out and wish for luck to the Scottish Pagans
See also
1. Introduction to community in Scotland, history, origins, present situation, way organised.
Paganism has its roots in the indigenous, pre-Christian religions of Europe, evolved and adapted to the circumstances of modern life. Its re-emergence in Scotland parallels that observed in other Western countries, where it has been growing rapidly since the 1950's. The social infrastructure of Paganism reflects the value the community places on unity in diversity, consisting of a polycentric network of inter-related traditions and local groups served by a number of larger organisations. In Scotland, the Pagan Federation acts as an educational and representative body liaising with government and other relevant bodies on behalf of the Pagan community
2. Basic Beliefs
Pagans understand Deity to be manifest within nature and recognise divinity as taking many forms, finding expression in Goddesses as well as Gods. Goddess-worship is one of the primary characteristics of Paganism. Pagans believe that nature is sacred and that the natural cycles of birth, growth and death observed in the world around us carry profoundly spiritual meanings. Human beings are seen as part of nature, woven into the great web of life along with other animals, trees, stones, plants and everything else that is of this earth. Most Pagans believe in some form of reincarnation, viewing death as a transition within a continuing process of existence. In Paganism, spiritual truths find expression in mythopoeic and symbolic forms rather than through doctrine, and reflect a synergy of polytheistic, pantheistic and animistic understandings of the divine.
3. Custom and Practices (including worship)
Pagan ethics emphasise the responsible exercise of personal freedom in trying to live in harmony with others, and with nature. Pagans frequently use the phrase 'If it harm none, do what you will' to describe this approach to life.
Pagan worship seeks to honour the divine powers and bring the participants into harmony with them, to celebrate the turning of the seasons, and to mark the transitions of human life with appropriate rites of passage. Rituals usually begin with the creation of sacred space by the marking out of a symbolic circle and the blessing of those within. They may involve meditation, chanting, music, prayer, dance, poetry and the enactment of symbolic drama together with the sharing of food and drink.
4. Places of worship
Paganism has no buildings dedicated as places of public worship. Instead Pagans hold their ceremonies in woods, on hilltops, along the seashore, at standing stones, in parks, gardens and private homes.
5. Festivals
Nearly all Scottish Pagans celebrate a cycle of eight seasonal festivals known as the Wheel of the Year. These are Samhain (31st Oct), Midwinter or Yule (21st Dec), Imbolc (2nd Feb), Spring Equinox (21st Mar), Beltane (30th Apr- 1st May), Midsummer (21st Jun), Lughnasadh (1st Aug), and Autumn Equinox (21st Sept).
6. Food and Diet
For ethical reasons, most Pagans have a strong preference for foods derived from organic farming and free-range livestock-rearing, while many are vegetarian or vegan.
7. Concerns of the community.
Pagans regard nature as sacred and are deeply concerned by the damage inflicted by modern, industrialised societies on the natural world. Many regard environmental activism as a religious duty. Pagans honour Deity in female as well as male forms and strongly uphold equality of the sexes. Women play a very prominent role in Pagan religion. Pagans take it for granted that different people will experience the divine in different ways, and are thus very tolerant of other life-affirming religious beliefs. Proselytising is regarded as offensive and ill-mannered.
The
Pagan Federation (Scotland),
PO Box 14251, Anstruther KY10 3YA
Email: enquiries@scottishpf.org
Website: http://www.scottishpf.org
PO Box 14251, Anstruther KY10 3YA
Email: enquiries@scottishpf.org
Website: http://www.scottishpf.org
The Pagan Federation (Scotland) has members drawn from all Pagan paths including Wicca and other forms of Pagan Witchcraft, Druidry, Heathenry, Celtic Paganism, Shamanism and Goddess-Spirituality. It is a national body within the Pagan Federation, Europe's largest and most active Pagan organisation. Paganism is a spiritual way of life which has its roots in the ancient nature religions of the world. It is principally rooted in the old religions of Europe, though some adherents also find great worth in the indigenous beliefs of other continents.
Scottish PF provides accurate, factual information on modern Paganism to government, NGOs, civic society, the media and the general public. It works to defend Paganism from defamation, strives to protect Pagans from religious discrimination, and campaigns for equality of respect alongside the other religions of this country. In all its endeavours, Scottish PF promotes factual accuracy about Paganism, and works towards the goals of tolerance, respect and mutual understanding.
Scottish PF provides a range of other services. It maintains a register to assist those seeking reputable Pagan Celebrants to officiate at namings, handfastings, funerals and other rites of passage. Most of these celebrants are also able to perform legal religious marriage ceremonies. Scottish PF also organises a very popular annual national Conference to bring Pagans of all paths together to celebrate the diversity and vitality of our community. Scottish PF publishes a newsletter - SPIN - for members in Scotland and helps to publicise the growing number of moots and other Pagan events in this country. It helps members to meet like-minded people through a system of local contact lists, and provides basic information on Paganism and suggestions for further study to inquirers.
Over the past few years Scottish PF:
* has defended Pagans against
attacks from sections
of the media and sought to improve the balance and accuracy of their
coverage of matters relating to Paganism.
* following the refusal of the
government to carry
out a detailed analysis of the religious responses in the 2001 Census,
Scottish PF lobbied ministers, petitioned parliament, and finally
raised £2000 to have the information on the numbers of Pagans and other
minority religious groups extracted and freely circulated.
* has been working with the civic
inter faith
movement since 1994 to win respect and recognition for Pagans within
our multi-faith society, and to improve relations between Pagans and
other religious groups.
* provides Hospital Visitors on
request and provides
information on dealing with Pagan patients and clients to the Health
and Social Care services.
*provides expert guidance in
legal cases where
attempts are made to present an accused person's Pagan religion in a
sinister light.
Pagan Federation Scotland (PDF file)
Find a Pagan Coven (PDF file)
BRIAN PENDREIGH 2005 09 11
HE gave the world arguably the most iconic Scottish film ever made but a US remake which adds a swarm of killer bees and changes the sex of a pagan lord has proved too much for Robin Hardy. The original director of The Wicker Man has called in his lawyers to have his name taken off promotional material for the $40m movie even before lead star Nicolas Cage has finished filming.
"The amazing thing is that all the publicity keeps on saying that I have written the screenplay, which is obviously not true," says Hardy, who did not even take a writing credit on the original, though he worked closely with writer Anthony Shaffer.
"I have had to have my lawyers call them, not because I particularly care, but it's clearly wrong that it should be out on websites and in the trades and everything."
In the original, Christopher Lee played Lord Summerisle, head of a pagan community on a remote Scottish island where locals resort to human sacrifice when the crops fail. In the new version, set in the US, his character will be played by Ellen Burstyn, who won the best actress Oscar for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and also played the mother in The Exorcist. Controversy is raging in cyberspace, with fans posting messages on the Internet Movie Database headed "What happened to Scotland?", "Why do Americans have to mess with perfection?" and "What the flipping Hell?"
Hollywood has fallen flat on its face in the recent past attempting to remake British classics in American settings.
Get Carter substituted Seattle for Newcastle and Sylvester Stallone for Michael Caine, while Alfie relocated from Swinging Sixties London to modern-day New York, with Jude Law in place of Caine.
Hardy is highly sceptical about the new Wicker Man. "I don't quite understand what they're doing. It appears that not only is the lady involved, but there are also attacks by killer bees, which sounds like a really old-style horror film."
The original Wicker Man was firmly rooted in Scotland. Hardy and Shaffer carried out extensive research on pagan rituals and were fascinated by references to a giant wicker man, in which Druids supposedly burned prisoners (though this may have been Roman propaganda).
They freely mixed folklore and music from different parts of Britain, but chose Scotland as the setting because of its history of fundamentalist religious sects and remote communities. The film combined locations all over Galloway with footage from Culzean Castle in Ayrshire and Plockton in Wester Ross, and aerial shots of Skye.
Edward Woodward played an upright Scottish police sergeant and devout Christian, who arrives on the island to investigate the sinister disappearance of a young girl. Cage is an American sheriff in the new version, which is currently shooting with Canada doubling for Maine.
In the original, Woodward's character was a virgin, making him ideal for sacrifice. That element has been ditched from the remake, because it was thought that while audiences would accept the idea of an American community that practised human sacrifice, the idea of a grown-up virgin was just too farfetched.
Instead, Cage's character has acquired a serious allergy to bees and travels with a bee-sting kit, as well as rosary beads and self-help tapes.
In an attempt to give the story a feminist slant, writer-director Neil LaBute has turned the island into a matriarchal society, headed by Burstyn.
Christopher Lee, who regards The Wicker Man as his best film, has been critical of the remake plans.
"What do I think of it being played by a woman, when it was played by a man in 1972, as part of a Scottish pagan community, and now it's played by a woman with the same name? What do I think of it? Nothing. There's nothing to say."
A spokesman for the production company Emmett/Furla in Beverly Hills refused to discuss the film beyond confirmation of the casting.
The Wicker Man is widely regarded as a masterpiece for the unique way it mixed horror, music and folklore, though cinema chains did not want it when it was completed in 1973. A cut-down version finally went out the following year as the bottom half of a double bill.
The film gradually acquired a cult following. Interest was fuelled by rumours that lost footage had been buried in the foundations of the M3 and stories that Rod Stewart wanted to buy the negative and destroy it because of girlfriend Britt Ekland's nude scenes. Three different versions survive and have been shown on television and released on video. There have been articles and books about the film, a Wicker Man festival and even an academic conference.
Meanwhile, Hardy and Lee have been developing a film of their own that will revisit the theme of paganism in modern Scotland.
The story was originally called The Riding of the Laddie, is now called May Day, and follows two young American evangelists, who discover the Border ridings are more than just a quaint tourist attraction.
It has been a long haul, but Hardy now has a deal with the Scottish publisher Luath to bring out the story in the form of a novel next year. He has 80% of the £3m budget in place for the film, with much of money ironically coming from Canada, and he hopes to shoot in Scotland and Texas in the spring.
Vanessa Redgrave and Sean Astin, from The Lord of the Rings, are committed to the film.
By thorswitch July 6, 2003
It may not seem like much, but if the Pagan Federation in Scotland is successful in their to get a recount of how many people indicated they follow a Pagan faith in the 2000 Scottish census, they may be able to get official recognition of Paganism as a relgion from the Scottish government. This would be a major step from Pagans everywhere - though obviously for Pagans in Scotland, most of all.
Scotland's Pagan community is set to gain official status as a recognised religion after raising funds for a recount of the 2001 Scottish census.
Pagans were lumped into the 'other religion' category at the time of the original count. But they claim they have thousands of members in Scotland and that the faithful -- which includes witches, druids and healers, and is based around a connection with nature -- should have formal recognition within the Scottish landscape of religion. Their eventual aim is that the state should recognise weddings, funerals and other rites of passage within a Pagan context and that Pagans should be allowed to take holidays for events like the summer solstice without prejudice.
MSPs turned down their public petition to extract the data from the census at the Scottish parliament in February this year because of 'technical difficulties', but the Pagan Federation claim they are now almost ready to ask the Registrar General for a recount.
John Macintyre, spokesman for the Pagan Federation in Scotland, told the Sunday Herald that Paganism is the fastest-growing religion in Scotland and should be recognised at civic level.
While the change in status would obviously have no real effect for Pagans in the US, having a western nation recognize Paganism as a genuine religion, with all the attendant benefits thereof, helps increase Paganism's legitimacy, and that is important.
The article notes that the Pagan Federation estimates that 4,000 to 5,000 Pagans live in Scotland, "which would put us on a comparable level with Hindus or Sikhs in Scotland." Unofficial counts, however, have indicated that it may be even more than that - even as high as 10,000, with as much as "100% year-on-year" growth. They estimate that there are roughly 108,000 Witches (a sub-set - or denomination - of Paganism) in the UK as a whole, with as many as 225,000 Pagans overall.
While I would never want to see the US start recognizing "official religions" the way that other countries do - not just because it would be a horrible violation of the anti-establishment clause, but also because it would quickly become politicized. The one drawback, however, of not having "official religions" is that there is little to no consistency in how ordinations are viewed legally.
For many Pagan churches, groves, covens, kindreds, hearth or other groups, there is no "governing body" that can set standards for or grant ordinations. The Priest or Priestess of the group is chosen by the group members, and serves at the pleasure of the God(s)/ess(es) that the group honours and worships. This works well on a spiritual level, but legally, it's a bit dodgy.
Some Priest/esses end up going through the Universal Life Church, which offers "instant ordinations" that are supposed to be legally acceptable in all states, but which are often viewed suspiciously (since there are no actual qualifications - you go to a website, fill out a form, and - congrats! - you're a minister), and, in some states, can't be used for things such a presiding over a wedding or a funeral.
Initially, I had gone this route, but have since renounced my ULC ordination. For one thing, spiritually, it just didn't feel right. While I do believe that Thor has called me to serve Him as a Priestess, I know there are still many things He wants me to learn before I am qualified to take that title. In addition, since I am disabled, I have been effectively rendered a solitary (for non-Pagans reading this, a solitary is a Pagan who does not belong to any coven, kindred, hearth, grove, church or other group), so there wouldn't be much I could do with an ordination at this point, anyway.
The good news is that I've seen several national Pagan groups start to try and develop clergy programs that would help by being able to offer standards for credentialing and ordination. I hope that more of this will continue, so that Pagans will be able to provide the same kind of services to their congregations that ministers of other faiths offer to theirs. Until then, many Pagans end up having to do things like have a spiritual marriage ceremony led by their Priest/ess as well as a civil ceremony performed by a Justice of the Peace in order to make their marriage legally binding.
This is one place where having countries like Scotland officially recognize Paganism can also help American Pagans. As our faith is recognized as legitimate in more places around the world, it becomes harder for American authorities to deny that it is a true faith path, to which followers are as sincerely devoted as those who follow more mainstream paths.
I would just like to take a moment to offer my best wishes to the Pagan Federation of Scotland and all Scottish Pagans in this endeavour. I hope that your efforts are successful, and I am truly happy that you have this opportunity - not just for what it might mean to Pagans here in the states, but just because I know its important to you!
God(s)/ess(es) bless!
See also
Paganism gaining popularity in US prisons
Pagans and Patriarchs