A Middle-Class Neo-pagan Finds Home

By Todd Berntson 

I am an educated, middle-class, professional who also happens to believe that I am part of a larger ecosystem of life; that there is a divine spirit that dwells within all things; that there is an equal balance between the feminine and masculine aspects of nature (the Goddess and God); and that the human body, and sexuality for that matter, is not something to be a source of shame or fear, but rather celebrated in its variety of expression.

Several years ago, I discovered that there is a name for people like me: “middle-class Neo-pagan.”

Being a middle-class Neo-pagan in today’s world is kind of like — to paraphrase Charles Dickens — the best of times and the worst of times. On one hand, I don’t have to worry about being burnt at the stake for having reverence for nature, I don’t have to worry about losing my job for wearing a pentacle around my neck, and the huge increase in the number of people who are interested in neo-pagan philosophy and practice means that there are a lot more people like me.

On the other hand, most other people like me do not become involved in the local community in the same way that, say, middle-class Christians tend to do. So, being on this path can feel a bit lonely at times. I have often wondered whether I am a bit of a misfit in the neo-pagan world.

...Read the full article, and others like it at: http://edgemagazine.net/2012/06/neo-pagan/