Song of the Car, Song of the Cinema: Questioning ‘Semi-Orthodox’ Pagan Rhetoric about ‘Nature’

Abstract

This article takes a detailed and questioning look at the way Pagans have tended to conceptualize ‘Nature’. It holds that Pagan culture is dominated by what could be regarded as a ‘semi-orthodox’ viewpoint on the subject, which holds that notions of enchantment are synonymous—or at least broadly congruous—with ‘natural’ forces, with the logical and ideological corollary that those elements deemed to be ‘non-natural’ are therefore intrinsically antithetical to magical sensibilities to some degree. Drawing from academic and Pagan sources (the latter including interviews with practicing Pagans), its intention is not so much to ‘disprove’ this type of view, but rather to critique the assumption that it represents a fundamental or defining feature of the Pagan phenomenon, as opposed to a rhetorical and cultural adjunct.