While the beginnings of many religious traditions are decidedly focused on the salvation, liberation or empowerment of the individual, they rarely remain as such. Given time to evolve and gaze outwards, many religious traditions develop a greater sense of collective responsibility, where the impact of any apparent awakening demands a response to the “other” and the world around them.
In considering such development, contemporary Paganism is no different and this concise work by Phil Hine provides us with a pacey and inspiring overview of the evolution of the political dimensions of Paganism within the UK scene.
Phil begins by mapping some of the origins of political conservatism within occult and esoteric circles, with writers such as Dion Fortune casting doubts over the spiritual pedigree of those who involve themselves with worldly politics. Such messages helped shape the reluctance within the magical and Pagan circles well into the 1970’s and early 80’s often leading to an absence of challenge to the mainstream positions in a way that translated into activism. For Hine this shifted radically during the ‘Satanic Panic’ that hit the UK in the late 80’s and early 90’s, which seemed to catalyse parts of the Pagan and magical communities into adopting a new radical openness in seeking to challenge the lazy stereotyping and misinformation so widespread in the media.
This work features some inspiring flyers and snippets from ‘zines from this time period that help capture the dynamism and punk rock energy that inspired many Pagans to greater acts of openness and heroism. Phil helpfully tracks a timeline of magical resistance before the late 1980’s as it manifested in Pagan contributions to the Greenham Common anti-nuclear protests, PAN: Pagans Against Nukes, Stop the City and the contribution of the PaganLink Network. These movements alongside seminal works such as Starhawk’s Dreaming the Dark (1982) helped ferment a new questioning as to whether “we are content to be spare bedroom Witches” with a limited vision of what our Paganism has to offer the world.
Moving into the 1990’s Phil paints a vivid picture of the collective ritual workings of the Dragon Environmental Network, Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth and Queer Pagan Camp as they sought to bring people together to challenge both ecological threat and attempts to limit sexual liberty. These collective actions fostered community and helped create a sense that change was possible. The book provides us with insights into large group rituals such as the ‘Heal the Earth’ working (summer solstice 1987) and smaller sorcerous rites born from his time in the Leeds squat movement where the “magic of need” brought together activists seeking change in their immediate communities. These aren’t simply feel-good pathworkings in the hope of societal change, with rituals such as ‘Unleash the Furies’ illustrating how occult technologies such as Goetic working can be used to name, contain and then redirect contemporary demons such as patriarchal abuse or homophobic violence.
While this work is inescapably a challenge for us to move our magical practice and perspectives out of our spooky-club ghettos, it also manages to avoid the grimness that can feel present in our often near-exhausted activism. What I really enjoy about Phil’s writing is his ability to remain playful and humorous even as he is trying to describe the realities of trying to bring about political change. In a similar way to his ‘Liber Nice’ in his seminal Prime Chaos, he frames many group rituals as having a Discordian and almost Dadaist potential in being able to disrupt and undermine the bloated misuses of power that so often lay at the heart of oppression. When we are able to ‘play’ via our protests, so we model and embody a freedom that can even act as an invitation to those who we are protesting against.
The book concludes with a rich and diverse section on influences and resources to inspire. Phil reminds us of our heroic forebears such as Annie Besant, Florence Farr and those Kali worshippers who invoked her potency in order to challenge British colonialism. These spiritual allies and suggestions all aid what Phil calls “A Space for Wonder”, that can help us when our activism and protest might threaten burn-out or compassion fatigue. How can our Paganisms and practices reawaken creativity, openness and a connection with others? This is surely one of the primary goals of our magic and as such Hine urges us to embrace Wonder’s “alienating presentness”:
“Wonder propels us toward the unfamiliar, to seek new relations, to revel in dizzying complexity and richness. Wonder pulls us into the world beyond a limited horizon, beyond the certain, the familiar, the possible.”
In our current times, Phil’s book is a real grimoire for a magical engagement with our lives, our struggles and our joys. Highly recommended.
Steve Dee
Buy Act of Magical Resistance by Phil Hine
Coming up next…
Baphomet Magic – March 13th and 20th, 7-9pm UK time live and recorded.
Ghost in the Machine – March 25th, 7-8:30pm UK time live and recorded.
Psychotropics & Western Magic – April 3rd, 7-8:30pm UK time live and recorded.
Aleister Crowley & Liber AL – April 8th, 7-8:30pm UK time live and recorded.
The History & Practice of Scrying – May 15th, 7-8:30pm UK time live and recorded.
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