Pagan Police

In the UK pagan police officers now have the right to take eight days a year off to celebrate "religious holidays" including Hallowe'en and the summer solstice.

This has come as good news to nature-worshipping members of the Pagan Police Association. One of their members, Andy Pardy, who worships the Norse gods Thor, Freyr and Odin is keen to dispel any misconceptions about what it means to be pagan. He explains that their chanting, meditation and music has the same power as Christian prayer.

Is pagan worship not like all religious and spiritual practices in that it offers a pathway to another realm outside our known material world? It's interesting that anything to do with connecting to the soul world, to the earth, to ancient wisdom and the Gods and Goddesses of old is so often labelled (somewhat derisorily) as alternative. But how can we not be in awe of the spiritual and environmental intelligence demonstrated by the Druids with their Ley Lines, the Aboriginal people with their Dreamtime and the North American Indians with their earthy spirituality?

After centuries of organised religion, industrial, economic and scientific development, our planet is ailing like never before with species extinction and global warming rates reaching new heights. Our materialistic lifestyle is no longer sustainable, the gap between rich and poor is widening and we're still basically stuck in a Darwinian struggle for the survival of the fittest.

Interestingly, the global economic turmoil and the increasingly dire warnings about climate change are causing many people to question their values and how they operate within the world. In his book, Revolution of Hope, Spirituality, Cultural Renewal and Social Change, Luigi Morelli argues that as much as man seeks to play God by cloning and creating life, there is at the same time a growing awareness of the mysteries of life with more and more people connecting to their spiritual side. From Nonviolent Communication to Theory U, Corporate Social Responsibility, Shareholder activism and the Fair Trade Movement, he points to a growing civic movement where decision-making is more inclusive and not just informed by facts and figures, but also by an emerging spiritual dimension.

Maybe what we thought of as the old world order is in fact the new world order, where what was once alternative now becomes the norm? Morelli says, "All lasting social change comes for a grounding in spirit; that alone can provide new sources of value and meaning." If Pagan Police are part of this social revolution, then it's a space worth watching.