This year I want to explore life as a Pagan Unitarian Universalist more thoroughly – it’s easy enough to say you’re one, and pretty easy to join a UU congregation without going too deeply into what that means as long as you’re enthusiastic about progressive religion and social action, but when you get down to it, how do the self identifiers “Pagan” and “UU” connect? Obviously the two are compatible since there are quite a few of us, but I want to consider what it means for my own personal spiritual tradition to be made up of these two things.
I consider Paganism the internal workings of my spiritual life, and UU more as outward workings. Generally “religion” is what you do with other people; and “spirituality” is what you do on your own with your gods (or whatever). UU is pretty outward-focused and makes the perfectly reasonable assumption that promoting social justice and positive change in the world benefits all of society, which of course includes you as an individual.
If you’re not terribly familiar with Unitarian Universalism, the gist is that a UU congregation is not formed based on shared belief, but on shared behavior. A UU church comes together and agrees on how to treat each other in what’s known as a Covenant. Every UU church will have one, and sub-groups within that church will usually each have their own. Again, it’s not an agreement about God or faith or any metaphysical concept – it’s a formal way of everyone agreeing not to be assholes to each other.
I also have a personal covenant just between me and my gods, which was the first UU thing that I decided to adapt to my own practice. It’s about relationship as well – mine and Theirs, and mine with myself. If you ever hear me say that I’m “out of Covenant” with myself I probably did something regrettable.
Unitarian Universalists follow what we call the Seven Principles, and draw spiritual inspiration from the Six Sources. I plan to say a lot more about both but first I just wanted to share what they are so that in my next post I can burrow in.
The Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism
- The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
- Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
- Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
- A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
- The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
- The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
- Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.
The 6 UU Sources
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.
- Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.
- Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life.
- Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves.
- Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit
- Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
If you’d like more info on UU I recommend my church’s website for a primer, and the Unitarian Universalist Association for a more in-depth look. Our history’s pretty interesting as well.