{"id":1151,"date":"2009-05-07T14:26:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-07T14:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1151"},"modified":"2009-05-07T14:26:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-07T14:26:00","slug":"fame-and-pagans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1151","title":{"rendered":"Fame and Pagans"},"content":{"rendered":"

An essay by Cat Chapin-Bishop<\/a> on seeking fame as a Pagan has gotten some attention<\/a>. Her Quaker side is conflicted by the idea of being a “Big-Name Pagan,” thanks to the Quaker ideal of not seeking worldly glory.<\/p>\n

I do not see anything wrong with seeking fame if we define it as “excellence.” After all, if you strive for years to do X and have some skill at it, you will eventually be recognized by the community of “People Who Do X.”<\/p>\n

Put Pagan authors, etc., in that group: we are not known that much outside of Pagandom.<\/p>\n

There is of course an unhealthy form of fame-seeking. We all know the people who think that they deserve the front of the line based on their celebrity.<\/p>\n

Here is one difference, perhaps: Teaching.<\/p>\n

My favorite philosopher, Gary Snyder<\/a>, once wrote that while artists and writers in a sense occupy the top of the cultural food chain, they are in turn eaten — scavenged — by their students.<\/p>\n

So maybe teaching X after you are famous for it is one protection against fame’s unhealthy self-delusion. Give it all away.<\/p>\n

Paganism does not require us to creep around in grey clothing saying, “Oh, I am no one special.”<\/p>\n

On the other hand, all fame is fleeting — unless you are offered a deal like Achilles:<\/a> short life and fame or a long life.<\/p>\n

He chose the former and now, something like 3,200 years<\/a> later, Brad Pitt plays him in a movie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But for most humans, fame is just the foam on the cappuccino. You may enjoy it, but you should not mistake it for the real drink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An essay by Cat Chapin-Bishop on seeking fame as a Pagan has gotten some attention. Her Quaker side is conflicted by the idea of being a “Big-Name Pagan,” thanks to the Quaker ideal of not seeking worldly glory. I do not see anything wrong with seeking fame if we define it as “excellence.” After all, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[26,36,5],"class_list":["post-1151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-culture","tag-movies","tag-paganism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-iz","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9750,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=9750","url_meta":{"origin":1151,"position":0},"title":"Central American Pagans, Wicca and #MeToo, and Good Writing","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u2022 Costa Rica now has a Pagan presence: Asatru, Witches, and Druids: Think paganism [sic], and you probably don\u2019t think of a conservative, Catholic-majority country in Central America. But Costa Rica, with its beautiful beaches and tropical charm, is emerging as an unlikely base for a growing pagan movement battling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Asatru\"","block_context":{"text":"Asatru","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=asatru"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2813,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2813","url_meta":{"origin":1151,"position":1},"title":"Pagan Family Website Seeks Writers","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"From Sarah Whedon at Pagan Families: Pagan Families seeks carefully written contributions on all aspects of Pagan pregnancy and childbirth. Examples of the kind of writing we are seeking include: scripts for conception rituals; theological essays on the ethics of reproduction; prayers to mother goddesses; Pagan sensitivity guides for birth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"childhood\"","block_context":{"text":"childhood","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=childhood"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7020,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=7020","url_meta":{"origin":1151,"position":2},"title":"New Pomegranate Published","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Issue 16:2 of The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies has now been published online, with print copies coming soon. The publisher does charge for articles (but try to see if your library can get them), although book reviews are free downloads. Contents \"Deepening Conversations between Ritual Studies and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"publishing\"","block_context":{"text":"publishing","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=publishing"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pomegranate web header","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Pomegranate-web-header.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Pomegranate-web-header.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Pomegranate-web-header.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1512,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1512","url_meta":{"origin":1151,"position":3},"title":"Pagan Counseling Student Seeks Survey Input","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"April 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"A Pagan working on her MA in counseling is seeking other Pagans to take a survey on \"needs assessment.\" Please read the explanation page, which links to the survey itself. The survey has three options. You may take it as a practitioner, as clergy (however defined), and as a mental\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"scholarship\"","block_context":{"text":"scholarship","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=scholarship"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":896,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=896","url_meta":{"origin":1151,"position":4},"title":"The Sun High in The Sky","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is the news from Stonehenge. No human sacrifice though, if that is what is was. But The Guardian gloats:Today is the summer solstice, and the druids have taken over Stonehenge to commemorate their ancient rites. Today's festival at Britain's most charismatic monument is based on a cultural fantasy, behind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"blogging\"","block_context":{"text":"blogging","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=blogging"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2371,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2371","url_meta":{"origin":1151,"position":5},"title":"Seeking AAR Pagan Studies Papers","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"After reading the Call for Papers, now is the time to submit proposals for the Contemporary Pagan Studies Group's sessions at the American Academy of Religion annual meeting. We have two topics this year: What does Pagan studies offer to academic analysis and critique? How do historical constructions of \u201cpaganism\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"academia\"","block_context":{"text":"academia","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=academia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1151\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}