Climate change, deforestation, extinction, pollution – many of us are filled with dread and fear as we hear about humanity destroying the natural world. As a young adult, I genuinely believed that society would change. Yet things continue to get worse; everyone wants to be eco-friendly and save the environment, but very few are able to actually do so.
Our way of life, from consumerism to the American Dream, is destroying all that we as pagans call sacred. But I want to do better – I want to be better.
At the heart of paganism is the recognition that we aren’t separate from nature. As pagans we honor and revere nature. So as pagans, shouldn’t we be on the front lines of the battle against climate change?
We should. I should. But I didn’t know how until recently. And in today’s post, I want to help show you how to be an eco-friendly pagan. Maybe, together we can change the world.
My Journey with Climate Change
Honestly, I have no idea when I first learned about climate change. Apparently, in elementary school I wanted to “send a letter to the government and tell them to stop deforestation in the Amazon.” Funny how simple it seemed as a child.
But long before I was a pagan, I had already witnessed the fundamental truth of my practice. My grandma was the one who showed me that she felt closest to the Divine, not in church, but in nature and in her garden.
As such, I discovered the importance of taking care of nature from an early age. Yet, for so long I felt powerless to fight climate change. Over the years, I’ve heard of many different practices and behaviors that are eco-friendly or even people who were allegedly carbon neutral. But it seemed impossible, especially while I was in high school.
Now, in 2020 while meditating with my goddess Diana several months ago, I heard a calling to do my part in preserving the wilds and helping to fight climate change. And a recent project of mine at university focused on different ways that we can be eco-friendly as individuals.
Finally, I am embarking on a journey. One that I hope all of you will join me on: the journey towards living an eco-friendlier life. I want to be an eco-friendly pagan!
I know I won’t be perfect and I know I can’t do it all. But I have hope that each step in my journey will help lead me to greater change. And I’m going to show you everything I’ve learned so far.
The Importance of Eco-Friendly Behavior
Truthfully, next to none of us are able to live fully carbon neutral. In fact, fully eco-friendly living is expensive. It’s a luxury. And that’s a societal problem of inequality. However, I believe that each of us should do our best to live as eco-friendly as we can.
Now hopefully, I don’t have to convince anyone that climate change is a very real crisis. But the truth is that we can’t stop it on our own. Ultimately, it will take massive change on a societal, federal, and global level to stop climate change.
Of course, that hasn’t happened yet. As a global community we remain unable to unify and mobilize a response to the crisis. For so long I believed that we would and didn’t think I could do anything to help. I had no idea how wrong I was.
After the U.S. withdrew from the Paris Agreement and President Trump began rolling back over a hundred EPA regulations, I knew that none of us could sit back and wait for someone to save us.
Despite the fact that we can’t stop climate change alone, that doesn’t mean we can’t make a difference. I believe there’s a way for all of us to be eco-friendlier. If we all do what we can, we will make a change.
The change that I make as an individual causes change in the microcosm that is my lifestyle. “As above, so below” the hermetic principle of correspondence. Which means, that together our changes create a larger current of energy that will change the macrocosm that is society and the planet. It’s an act of magick, plain and simple.
Perhaps it’s the greatest work of magick that we can do in our lives. Things have to change, and I’ll keep fighting until they do.
A Few Ways to be Eco-Friendly
- Gardening
- Composting
- Rain Barrels
- Picking up litter
- Reducing single use products
- Use energy efficient appliances and bulbs
- Turn off lights you aren’t using
- Only use the A/C as needed
- Shop locally: from small business, farmers markets, and fair trade options. When you don’t have to ship things over long distances, you lessen your carbon footprint.
- Thrift shopping: In particular, the fashion industry is incredibly wasteful with products like silk and cotton. So instead of following trend after trend, consider finding used clothes. It saves money too.
- Try to avoid paraffin wax candles: Paraffin wax is made with fossil fuels
- Make loose-leaf tea: most tea bags have plastic in them, I know how much witches love tea. Honestly, I’m not a fan of plastic in my water either.
There are so many other ways to implement eco-friendly living into your life, some are more financially feasible than others. Certainly, I will be providing a follow-up post that goes more in-depth on these methods.
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The New Pagan Cult
A few months ago, when I first started to search for info on pagans and climate change, I was shocked by what I found. Firstly, there was a strange lack of pagan resources in my search, hardly anything that empowered me. In fact, quite the opposite, I found myself filled with anger.
Notably, I found the Federalist referring to Greta Thunberg as a pagan, while climate activists were likened to a new pagan cult. Why is neo-paganism being weaponized as a way to discredit environmental activism?
But this is what inspired my final project for a class at my college last quarter. The Pagan Cult Against Climate Change, a manifesto that calls us to fight climate change.
As a manifesto, this project was purposefully designed to be slightly theatrical – the word cult can make some people uncomfortable. I hope this doesn’t bother anyone, and I apologize if it does. However, I think that the manifesto has some great ideas in it and is a fun way to promote eco-friendly practices. I hope you enjoy!
My Manifesto: Pagans Against Climate Change
We Want You for Eco-Friendly Living!
I am a Pagan Witch, I believe that our thoughts can change our reality. Personally, I believe in immanent divinity; a divine mind present in all of creation.
The divine is not a distant far away lifeguard. Rather, the divine is here. The divine is our world. We can find it in the trees, in the soil, in the sky, and in the breeze. Most of all, we can find the divine within us, a spark, our soul.
When I seek peace and wisdom, I find it in nature and its cycles. But now I feel something else…
Stirring deep beneath the surface – I feel pain. I hear mother nature, Gaia, crying out in pain. I feel the call of my goddess, goddess of the wild, Diana, urging me to make a change.
Can you not feel it? Can you not feel the very soul of the earth crying out for us to change our ways? We are not separate from nature. We are one and the same. Yet we continue to pull away.
Pagans should be on the frontlines of this fight. Yet somehow, the Federalist has the audacity to call climate change activists climate worshippers and members of the new pagan cult. Others claim we are deprived of all morality.
But instead of listening to these people call my faith hysteria, I celebrate the idea that my eco-activism is part of a pagan cult.
Perhaps they are the ones who have forgotten our roots and where we come from. Maybe they are the “morally depraved” as they claimed we were. Perhaps once again the system wants to tell us that we are powerless.
But I know my morality, I know my faith, and I know our power.
As a pagan, I call to my brothers, sisters – to everyone regardless of creed to see that we can make a change. We demand that the world stops burning.
Join the New Pagan Cult today and take your first steps into a cleaner world!
If mother nature suffocates in the smoke of our sins, so too shall we….
Tenets of the New Pagan Cult
1. Join the Pagan Cult
Paganism is not evil. It’s not hysteria or a cult. It’s an umbrella term for various earth-centric faiths that are often associated with the “new-age” movement. Stop vilifying our beliefs. You don’t have to believe in my faith nor do you have to agree with me. I do not attack or vilify yours. You don’t have to be Pagan to love the earth. The Pagan Cult is just eco-activism.
Join the “cult” and live a more eco-friendly life. Voice your concerns, your fears, your hopes, and dreams. Make it known to the world that you want systemic change and show them that you’re doing what you can.
2. “In Perfect Love and Perfect Peace…”
This popular Wiccan phrase is about how we commune with divinity in a sense of divine love and peace. AS a member of the Pagan Cult, you know that mother nature should be treated with the utmost respect. But most of all, we should treat one another with that same respect and love. WE all come from different backgrounds – and if we want to prevent climate change, we must stand united. We will not fail where the opposition has. Instead of casting blame upon those who stand against us, we recognize a broken system in need of change.
3. Honor Mother Nature
Mother nature, the great spirit, the divine, the sacred – no matter what you call it, all cult members recognize the sacredness in nature. We know that nature provides us with all that we have ever had. As such, we must treat her with love and kindness. Even if you’re an atheist, I’m certain you can see that nature deserves this honor. We all come from nature. Cult members recognize her importance and uphold ecological conservation whenever possible.
4. Connect with Nature
Honoring nature means that you uphold and value it. But connect with nature is doing something more. Cult members must find a way to connect. Not all of us live in a setting that is optimal for this – but almost anyone can start with a houseplant. Studies show that houseplants can purify the air in our living spaces, improve our mood, and illicit several other benefits. As such, all cult members should strive to have a houseplant.
If you can have an outdoor garden such as the one I’m starting, give it a try. You can grow fresh herbs for cooking or your own veggies. In fact, you can grow flowers for decorating during the sabbats. Most of all, it presents an opportunity to learn about composting.
Plenty of what we throw away is compostable. But in landfills that waste produces methane. When done properly at home, compost doesn’t produce methane and is an excellent fertilizer!
Additionally, the use of a rain barrel can help you reduce your water use when watering plants.
5. “As Above, So Below; As Within, So Throughout”
The Law of Correspondence states that our inner reality and personal life reflect the macrocosm. As such, when you make a change in your life, you begin to make a change on a larger scale. There’s a powerful ripple effect.
All cult members recognize that when we are alone we cannot change the whole world. Even if we were carbon neutral, climate change would still be fueled by anyone who isn’t. But if we all make changes personally, we can show the system that there’s money to be made in eco-friendly practices.
The world will readily change once it realizes how effective eco-friendly business could be.
Most of all, as each of us make small improvements in eco-friendly living, it will ripple out and inspire others around us to try making a change too.
6. The 4 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Respect
All of us know how to recycle. But how often do we reduce what we use? How often do we make sure to reuse products? Cult members should be aware that only about 29% of plastic recycled actually ends up being recycled.
So lets change our habits! For example, get a reusable water bottle or reusable coffee cup. Before you throw away a single-use product. Try thinking about other uses for it.
Recently, I used several empty coffee cups to plant seeds in.
Lastly, instead of getting plastic bags at the supermarket, start bringing your own canvas bags. They’re far more durable and reusable. Not only that but in several major cities, there’s often a bag tax.
7. Get Thrifty!
Thrift shopping is a great way to live more sustainably. The modern love for fast fashion puts a significant strain on the environment due to fabric production and international shipping.
While hipsters think they’re trendy for thrift shopping, they may not know how eco-friendly they are!
Not only are you likely to find more unique clothing and greater variety, but you’ll save big bucks too!
8. Think Ethically
Although the concept of sin isn’t found in paganism, we do fear the idea that we’re creating hell on earth if the climate crisis isn’t solved. So when we think about stopping it, we should start by thinking ethics. Surely, you should check if your favorite brands and companies are eco-friendly.
If they aren’t, do you really want to associate with someone who’s burning down your home?
Instead, start looking at eco-friendly, sustainable, and fair-trade companies! Of course, you’ll want to do a little bit of research as some brands lie about being eco-friendly. All because there’s no federal agency who checks the validity of advertising as eco-friendly.
9. Learn and Grow
We aren’t perfect and we never will be. Start small and think about habits you can change in order to be friendlier to the environment.
Every small step you take and maintain makes a significant different.
Currently, sustainable livings is next to impossible for most people – it requires a significant amount of wealth. So don’t feel guilty about your short-comings, your desire to change is more than enough.
Ultimately, every time we make a small change, we begin to show the world just how badly we want systemic change.
Join me on my Journey to Become an Eco-Friendly Witch
At the end of the day, the only way we can save the world is together. And I promise to fight every day towards that goal. So please, as pagans, as witches, as nature lovers, whoever you may be, join me and let’s change the world!
This is just the first step in a much larger journey of mine. Please share your thoughts, feelings, and ideas with me on social media. As I continue to learn and grow I will share more ideas and ways to live as an eco-friendly witch.
Blessed Be!
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