Personal Pagan identities are extended from the individual to incorporate the idea that they share certain features ofthis identity with others. Itis around these features that collective, shared identities are constructed, and which incorporate notions of
difference from those who do not share in those features. The South African Pagan community has yet to come together to address mutual concerns, undertake united initiatives or hold combined festivals. Despite this, all are aware of the existence of others who share their worldview and practices, and who share with them the
challenges of articulating their new religious identities in South African society. Over the past decade there has been a rapid growth in the movement and many changes in organisation and structure. This has resulted in categories of "sameness" and
"difference" being applied within the movement itself as much as they are applied to other groups in the country, and the construction of a collective identity being very much in process. Itis the intemet that has widened opportunities to create
communities in a non-physical environment and has been of particular significance for groups whose ideas are not easily articulated in mainstream society, or who lack, or resist, participation in a physical community. Issues regarding collective identities are therefore looked at with particular emphasis on the intemet.
For Pagans, Nature, the self and the divine, share alike in the five elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit, and, within this conception, all are intrinsically connected.
This connection radically extends ideas of "community" for Pagans who engage in a
myriad of relationships in the seen and unseen world. The individual can equally belong to a physical community as to communities that populate the natural and spiritual world. Both of these conceptions are addressed in this section. A related and important debate in local Paganism is the question of whether practitioners of African Religion can be included as part of the Pagan community. Fundamental to this
question is the idea that indigenous communities live in a closer relationship with the natural world. This issue raises questions on the boundaries of the Pagan movement.
CHAPTER SEVEN
PAGAN COMMUNITIES AND THE ROLE OF THE INTERNET
Individual Pagan practitioners and small groups can be found in almost all South African towns and cities as well as in the rural areas. In most large centers there are larger, often public, groups and/or organizations. To date there have been no venues that have brought these groups together into a single community, as has the festival movement abroad. In its absence, it has been the internet that has played an important role in uniting disparate groups and individuals into a single community, and where notions of a collective identity have most been shared, debated and contested. From its exponential growth in the 1990s, and through the new possibilities it offered for human communication, the internet, as 'new media', has become a domain engaged in by the secular and the religious alike. This domain, that has altered conventional spatial and temporal boundaries, is now a primary medium for both the dissemination of information and for new forms of communication and socialization. According to Giddens (1991: 24) the increased use of electronic media, from radio to television to the internet, is an inseparable consequence of modernization. This consequence has created new social structures that Castells identifies as "the network society because it is made up of networks of production, power, and experience, which construct a culture ofvirtuality in the global flows that transcend time and space" (2000: 381).
The virtuality of the online experiences has raised questions and preempted investigations into traditional understandings of identity, culture and community (McLuhan 1967, McLuhan and Powers 1989; Giddens 1991; Rheingold 1994).
Giddens describes the population of this world of computer-mediated technology by saying that,
Users of the internet live in 'cyberspace'. Cyberspace means the space of interaction formed by the global network of computers which compose the internet. In cyberspace, much as Baudrillard might say, we are no longer 'people', but messages on one another's screens (1997: 395).
The word "cyberspace" was coinedbyWilliam Gibson, author of the 1984 futurist novel Neuromancer in which he "was anticipating that the human imagination would create its own perpetual 'realities' within a technological setting" (Drury nd: 1)1.
These changed conditions for contemporary society have equally facilitated new forms of inter and intra religious expressions and dialogue, and have provided the first media site where all adherents have an equal opportunity to participate in mediated communications. New religious movements, and, in particular, those that lack the formal institutional structures of mainstream religions, have gained a unique forum where their traditions can be articulated, shared and debated.
The Internet and Modern Paganism
The development and expansion of the intemet has had a profound effect on the Pagan movement worldwide. In social structure and organisation, Paganism conforms to what Hine (1977)2 designated as SPIN, or a segmented, polycentric, integrated network. Whereas all traditional and non-traditional religions have embraced the internet as a new technology through which their religio-spiritual identities can be explained, debated and even contested, it is this feature of Paganism that specifically facilitates its integration with the internet. Lacking in formal
structures and eschewing the elevation of a priestly class to represent a Pagan laity,
Paganism operates as a network of independent, diverse, and, occasionally, discrepant cells within which individuals value the independence to develop and sustain their own personal belief systems.
The emphasis given by Pagans to self-development and the propensity to self-create meaningful belief systems within a Pagan framework is enhanced by the range of diversification on the intemet. Descriptions of the intemet as a 'networked'
communication system, or, as the World Wide Web, parallel Pagan self descriptions and metaphors of both their community and of their beliefs. Pagan ontologies speak of a 'web of relationships' where each part is integrally connected to, and influenced by, the other. Whereas communication with deities, elements and the balance of the other-than-human world that share in this web of existence is facilitated through private practice and ritual, it was the intemet that facilitated communication amongst a previously dispersed community of self-identified Pagans. The multiplicity of Pagan traditions has embraced the intemet as a vast resource of networks that can be sourced for self-description, self-promotion, information sharing, dialogue and debate.
In addressing the ways in which intemet usage is particularly suited to Paganism, Cowan (2005: 23) applies, by analogy, the history of the open-sourced movemene on the intemet to the modem Pagan movement. Developing this analogy, he proposes that,
Like open sourced programmers who freely modify and then just as freely distribute computer software, encouraging its continued alteration and
improvement, modem Pagans are "hacking" their own religious traditions out of the "source codes" provided by pantheons, faith practices, liturgies, rituals,
and divinatory processes drawn from a variety of cultures worldwide (ibid: 30).
The open sourced nature of Paganism has been further elevated by the features of the internet environment that are conducive to the ability to add to and change any and all information and ideas. This has brought about changes within Paganism, particularly through the new challenges and possibilities it affords for identity construction.
Having described the assumption of a Pagan identity as a 'journey of discovery', cyberspace has been able to extend this journey exponentially. Thousands of websites exist on general Paganism, on specific traditions, and on detailed aspects of traditions such as rituals, seasonal celebrations, divinatory practices, deities, mythologies, magick and spells. For South African Pagans for whom the cost of books is a prohibitive factor and/or who lack the opportunity to meet and confer with other Pagans, the internet provides a wealth of options to increase knowledge, advance one's practices, or even, to adopt new ones. A shadow side to this advantage is the tendency towards indiscriminate appropriation from such a plethora of information sites, whereon the information can be totally subjective, unverifiable and/or
historically inaccurate. Individuals whose sole knowledge and practice of Paganism is derived from the internet often consequently perpetuate false histories and
mythologies that have largely been corrected in published works by established practitioners.
Techn oPaganism
In Margot Adler's broad study of Paganism in America she found that occupations in technical and computer fields were highly represented in Pagan subcultures (1986:
446-9). This phenomenon has been instrumental in an emergent trend called
TechnoPaganism4that embraces many metaphors from modem technology to describe spiritual phenomena and uses technological devices as magical tools.
TechnoPagans can vary in their conceptions of cyberspace, with some seeing it as a virtual space that can be navigated as a tool in advancing their beliefs and practices, and others ascribing to it, an independent and spiritual reality. In the first category are those Pagans who embrace internet technology as their primary means of
communication and of information gathering. They participate in online discussion groups, disseminate articles/magazines of interest among the community, and some build websites to advertise their specific group, tradition or services. Most, but not all, do not use the internet for online ritual and/or for spiritual experiences. Those who do, recognize the internet as another form of human consciousness, and as able to facilitate spiritual and magical encounters. In the abstract to her paper
TechnoPagans: Hybrid Identities on the Net5Susan Gallacher alludes to the contradiction in the term "TechnoPagan" in the following statement.
At once technophile and nature-worshipper, the technopagan is an identity formed in the intersections. It is an identity which actively seeks to find possibility and potential in convergence: the convergence of the 'natural' and the 'technological' - even the spiritual (nd: 1).
Many Pagans are adept at reconciling their identification with Nature and the natural with the advantages offered by modem technology. For the TechnoPagan, the internet is just a further extension of divine reality presenting no incongruity in the very 'unnatural' nature of its construction and manifestation. Cowan's (2005: 79) assertion that cyberspace is an environment of the mind is consistent with the TechnoPagan view of it as a mystical landscape that can, as on any landscape, be transformed into a sacred space through the power of imagination. Terrestrial magic
is transplanted into the virtual realm of cyberspace with little to no modification.
Although Margot Adler's occupational statistic regarding Pagans in computer and technological fields was not born out in my survey of South African Pagans, the relative difficulty in locating physical communities is bound to stimulate similar local developments amongst the computer networked Pagan community.
South African Pagans Online
Besides online courses, information on South African Paganism is disseminated through online magazines, dedicated websites and on online discussion groups that are dedicated to a specific topic or interest group. With only one book on South African Paganism ever published6, the internet is the sole resource for local
information. The fact that seventy seven percent of my survey respondents indicated that they had read little to nothing on South African Paganism, is an indication that only a minority of the population interact and communicate online with a broader South African community, instead confining their development to small physical communities and/or to information from books and websites from overseas. The issues and debates that concern the local community are thus located amongst a smaller percentage oflocal practitioners, ratifying the fact that individual
development appears to take precedence over a need to forge a unified local Pagan community.
The central issues that are addressed online are situated primarily with individuals who have stronger offline Pagan identities, and are often issues that have been faced and raised by the international Pagan community, more than they are of uniquely South African concerns. Through debating issues online, Pagans further their
understandings of issues that confront Paganism in western societies, and, in the process, create and re-create ideas for their own local communities. How they are perceived, and their personal experience as self-identified Pagans in South Africa, are regularly brought into discussions. Their Pagan identities have emerged in a Christian culture and, most often, from a personal Christian background. For many, the
transition is problematic, whether or not these problems are perceived or grounded in reality. Eighty eight percent of survey respondents declared that they were open about their Pagan beliefs with friends, over and above with family, colleagues and employers. Internet communities come to self-identify as 'communities of friends' and it is this feature alongside the anonymity afforded in cyberspace that co-create an unparallellocation for sharing deep-seated personal issues and anxieties. For many, this location counters the anonymity of their Pagan identity in the mundane world.
The reticence regarding disclosure of a Pagan identity appeared to be based more on a fear of disclosing that one was 'not Christian' and not related to any personal
disconcertedness regarding Paganism. Cowan's point that, "External behaviour leads to external identification as an adherent, which may occur with or without
relinquishing religious positions formerly held" (2005: 158) is salient in this instance where, in the process of constructing and instantiating their Pagan identities, many Pagans search for congruencies with aspects of the worldview into which they were born and raised. The ability to share these issues online mostly precede external presentations of their identity (Cowan: 2005), which in some cases, never occurs at all, raising the value of the online experience even more for the individual. Whilst Satanic theologies form no part of Paganism, and are almost never the subject of discussion in Pagan circles, conversations regarding this conflation in society and in the media, is raised in many contexts in online groups. In this forum Pagan
conversations often reflect the stereotypical assumptions of a Christian culture, more than they indicate a real understanding of modem Satanism.
Extending identities beyond theself
Not only has the internet been a tool for defining and re-defining a personal Pagan identity through the diversity of options offered by the internet, it is frequently where disclosure of a Pagan identity is first made. A lack of social acceptance of Witchcraft and Paganism and a (oftenperceived) fear of discrimination in society, means that a forum of fellow Pagans is the place where Pagan affiliation can best be shared safely.
As Pagan elder Macha Nightmare notes,
The internet has become the world's town square, where we are free to speak with our own voices - to present the truth of who we are, what we believe, how we practice, and what our values are, uncensored by the prejudice of fears of others. And what we say is now accessible to anyone who wishes to listen, anywhere in the world, at any time (2001: 16).
Whilst most Pagans who play leading roles in the movement, either in South Africa or abroad, use the internet as a tool to share their Pagan identities and/or that of their specific tradition or practice, the intemet is of significant value to newcomers to the movement, and to those who are exploring their new identities and seeking a community of other likeminded individuals. Over sixty percent of my survey respondents indicated that the intemet was the primary source through which they were introduced to Paganism, with fifty seven percent indicating that the intemet provides their reading material on Paganism. Most Pagans in South Africa would assert the difficulty in meeting other Pagans with seventy seven percent affirming that contacts are mostly made online. These contacts are mostly established by becoming
members of a Pagan online group where their Pagan identities can be explored, affirmed or even challenged. Newcomers to online groups that are earmarked for debate and discussion on Pagan topics are generally reticent to express their views alongside others perceived to 'know much more.' What exacerbates this phenomenon is the virtual nature of intemet communication that appears to afford a greater degree of opportunity to express opinions, over physical encounters. Through what Timms (2002) calls "the disinhibiting effects of cyberspace,,7, the absence of physical
encounter appears to intensify the ability to vilify the opinions of others and to openly critique their knowledge, or the lack of it. Whether party to such attacks, known as 'flaming,8, or whether it is observed between others on the group, newcomers are often disinclined to further communication and become 'lurkers,9 on the list, or, leave the list completely. Unless an individual resurfaces on another list, it is difficult to assess whether such retreats indicate that the individual has left the Pagan movement, or whether they have merely disengaged from the cyber-community. Such transience is common to the community and can lead to the demise of an online group entirely.
Those for whom a cyber-community has played an important role in their Pagan identity are inclined to gravitate to new groups whose profile is deemed to more suit their needs. Through these processes Pagans discover intra-Pagan differences and similarities, leading to the subsequent establishing of new boundaries around small self-contained communities within the larger whole.
Identity deception online
In the absence of a physical community and/or a disinclination to divulge a Pagan identity to family, friends and/or colleagues, the intemet is, for many, the sole location for such disclosure. Online disclosures raise a new problem for identity construction
through the absence of physical and visual cues that are generally formative in the construction of interpersonal identities. Scholars such as Lovheim (2004), Dawson and Cowan (2004) and Cowan (2005) have all noted the implication for identity construction in the disembodied virtual world of the intemet that supports the ability to construct and maintain multiple identities; a factor that makes the question of authority and authenticity more problematic. With a lack of visual cues there is the potential to recreate the self across any number of human dimensions, such as gender, age, and race. Interests, physical location, and even education qualifications are all also open to (re)invention and exploration. As a result of the deceptions possible on the internet, those who wish to start an online group, but lack an offline status, face a difficulty in claiming the authority to do so. In such instances it appears that support is often contingent on offline affirmation of an individual's Pagan status. This factor supports Cowan's contention (2004, 2005) that online identities are inclined to replicate those held offline.
For those who merely wish to engage as members of an online group, the ability to embellish or misrepresent oneself online has other outcomes. Again, with no visual cues available or the information that is gained from personal encounters, opinions are frequently formed on the basis of what a person chooses to disclose ofhim/herself online. Relatively scant information can be taken as evidence that there are wider congruencies between one individual and another, than would possibly be borne out in physical encounters. This phenomenon has influenced a number of online liaisons in South Africa, particularly in the search for support in a new Pagan initiative, or in debates on a specific issue. The criteria employed offline in choosing Pagans with whom one would associate are suspended, and online presentation becomes the new