This autumn, I had the privilege to attend
Rhiannon Grant's workshop "
Or Whatever You Call It" with F/friends from
South East Scotland Area Meeting (Quakers). It was an interesting and fun workshop, and I'm glad we brought it to SESAM.
Much of
Grant's work with Quakers centres on how modern Friends use language to talk about That-Which-Is-Sacred, and is particularly informed by philosophy. My work amongst Friends starts from experience, and then comes to language pretty quickly: we need language to reflect our experience, to be able to talk to each other about it, one way to be in spiritual community with each other. And Quakers are
very wordy, very language-oriented people. So her approach was really interesting for me.
After spending the day in different kinds of exercises, thinking and talking about different words, and what they mean, and why, and different names for Whatever You Call It, we settled into large-group worship-sharing with this query:
Does telling your truth require you to use any particular words?
Quite a lot came bubbling up for me during this worship.
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In order to be a faithful Friend, {my truth requires me to / Goddess requires me to / I must} use words some Friends often react to with hostility. Goddess. Witch. Pagan. Priestess. Gods. But other minority Friends, especially other Pagan and non-Christian Friends, are often very relieved to hear those words.
If I am speaking my own truth, in my own words, not translating into other people's words / language, then yes, it does require particular words.
To what extent are we obligated to translate as we speak? As we listen? Why am I so often, as a minority, the person expected to do both?
I, as a non-Christian Friend, am expected to be conversant about Jesus. Why aren't other Friends expected to be conversant with other Gods?
Yes, well, Quakerism is also historically white and straight as well.
Gods, plural. If you want me to take your relationship with Jesus, Spirit, God, Whatever You Call It, seriously, and I want you to take my relationship with the Goddess / the Gods seriously, we both have to allow as how they both might exist -- and are not the same.
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Among Friends, I no longer have to pretend my wife is a man and I'm
in a mixed-gender relationship. I no longer have to translate into
heterosexual marriage terms for other Friends.
I should not have to
pretend I'm in relationship with a different Deity than the One(s) I am
in relationship with, either.
If you want me to take your relationship with Jesus, Spirit, God,
Whatever You Call It, seriously, then you need to take my relationship
with the Goddess / the Gods seriously.
Brigid is not Jesus in a skirt. And the Cailleach is neither.
I am talking about radical equality.
Jesus is a privileged god in Quakerism.
Jesus cannot be a privileged god if we are all Friends and all Friends are equal.
What does radical equality ask of each of us when it comes to being present with, bearing witness to, each others' spiritual lives? When it comes to being in spiritual community with one another?
