posted May 05, 2013 11:11 PM
Something got me to thinking about how new agers tend to be a lot more materialistic than neopagans, and what's weird about that is neopaganism generally doesn't see a dichotomy between spirit & material, and it's more about living in this world rather than trying to aspire to a spiritual realm beyond it. So I think it would make sense that neopagans would be more materialistic as they don't look down on the material (ideally with a foot in both worlds), nor see it as "something to endure for a better world." Yet as the jokes often went:Q: What's the difference between New Age workshop and a Pagan workshop?
A: About $200. (Another answer is: A decimal point. An item you'll pay $300 to a New Ager for, you can get from a local Pagan for $30.)
Q: How do you tell a New Age witch from a NeoPagan Witch?
A: You throw them both in the water. The NeoPagan Witch will float, whereas the New Age Witch will sink under the weight of all their overpriced crystals.
I vaguely recall hearing that this is because neopaganism is much more decentralized (trying to herd them is a lot like trying to herd cats) and niche while the New Age movement has a bigger tent that reaches a lot more people and finds its enterprises much easier to turn into an institution (and then start running more like a corporation, ironically selling spirituality at a premium with a supposed message of how we shouldn't get trapped in the materialism of the world). Not sure what I think of that as Wicca has produced a few individuals who followed a similar path (and mass produced their own products, though such are mercilessly teased by most neopagans, at least those I've been exposed to both IRL and online, like the "McWicca" of $ilver Ravenwolf who sells through the new age Llewellyn), though as pointed out they sell through New Age companies and incorporate a lot more new age philosophy than normal (but I wonder, are they really New Age with a Wiccan paint job or are they simply taking advantage of the broader tent of the New Age to reach more customers, which in turn allows New Age companies access to the neopagan market).
An alternative explanation could be those who encourage demeaning the material (if not outright antipathy toward it) actually makes it more attractive, much like how sects that demonize sex seem to produce more perverts. Or as the saying goes, "What you resist persists." (For example, tell a bunch of people not to think of a red car and very likely most of them will. And a red car isn't even sex or survival...)
That aside, it's also interesting that the New Age does seem to focus more on getting wealth and other material things when they're supposedly more about rising above that. 'Course Christians (who also have a long tradition of seeing the material & spiritual as a dichotomy and that this world must be secondary at the least to the next world, and with such statements as how it's easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than a rich man into heaven, plus general "wealthy are going to Hell" in Luke 6:24 and James 5:1, and I'm sure I recall something in the NT about people who didn't give up all their money struck dead by the Holy Spirit) also jump on this materialistic train with such things as prosperity gospel, and all types of scams build on it (and as Janis Joplin sang...)
It just struck me today how odd it is.
Oh, and another thing, neopagans seem much more willing to poke fun at themselves than other religions do. Not to say other religions don't, after all I've gotten almost all the best Christian jokes from Christians. But they do seem much more inclined to make fun of themselves, and I wonder if maybe that's a sign of less ego & insecurity (and thus less materialism)...or maybe it's just an inherent trait of being so independent minded (the whole "herding cats" thing again), that is a mix of humor (which many consider sacred) with believing most other pagans are on a slightly different path than one's self (IOW, "the joke isn't about ME, but all the freaks I'm surrounded by"). In the latter case that could mean they have more ego than less...
ETA: btw, another trivial irony is that on my screen this is posted at exactly 11:11 (according to the board anyway).
Lindaland
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posted May 05, 2013 11:11 PM
