Balancing Act
by Wilfred von Dauster, from Mountain Thunder, Issue 7, Winter 1992.
During the recent US presidential campaign, one of the candidates was fond of saying, "You can't have it both ways - ya got to make a decision ..." He implied that reality is unchanging, comprised of black and white situations, leading to a series of either/or decisions. The possibility of complex, involved situations or positions seems not to have occurred to this individual.
Likewise, it has become popular in some Asatru circles to emphasize the differences between ourselves and other neo- and retro-pagan groups Discussion has been heard as to who qualifies as Asatru, the implication being that only those who have "real" dedication, who study endlessly (not that this is wrong) and who carefully screen their own beliefs against any tint of other pagan belief system are really Asatru. This sort of thinking, the segmentation of people, religions, and reality itself ignores both the historical and practical experiences of our forebears. It also ignores a principal which demonstrably enhances life. This is the principal of balance.
Of course, it is understandable and necessary for the Germanic pagan community to study those aspects of our heritage which make us unique, which differentiate us from other "new agers" and such. But when this differentiation becomes the overriding purpose behind such study, when it becomes the basis of litmus tests, it becomes a problem It reflects an unbalanced approach to our beliefs.
Ask any Asatruar what the values of our religion are you will certainly hear honor, loyalty, courage, drive, and the willingness to face life head-on. These are great values. But an examination of the Eddas, legends, and the lifestyles of our forebears, provides evidence of an overriding principal of balance in the approach to all of life religion included. Our forebears walked in balance with the earth, aware of the cycles of life avoiding the extremes we have witnessed recently. It is the lack of balance between the needs of the human race and the needs of planetary survival, resulting in large part from the Abrahamic religions' anthropocentric impetus, which has brought this planet to verge of terminal disaster. Clear cutting millions of square miles of forest would have been inconceivable to the northern European pagan, even if the means had been available.
The pervasive northern European belief in balance is reflected in the old German saying, "Der Ausgleich der Natur," (lit. "the equalization of nature") or "nature balances." The gist of this saying is that when things go too far in the direction of one extreme, the situation becomes unnatural and tends to correct itself.
A lack of balance is not just undesirable, it is deadly to the individual spirit, the vitality of the group, and to the Earth herself. In magic, the lack of balance leads to a loss of perspective - which can lead to insanity or worse.
Let's take a closer look at what a balanced approach to life involves and implies In order to balance something, there must be at least two "things." Further, there are seldom just two sides to a story two approaches to a problem, or two possible outcomes. The thinking person realizes this, but how many of us remember this in our day-to-day lives?
A balanced approach in other words, not only is aware of the diversity of life, but revels in it. Since diversity is a condition of reality, the intelligent person will seek it out not shrink back in fear of the different. This doesn't mean the balanced pagan approves of everything she or he encounters, far from it. But how can a judgment be made if the competing options are not examined, never mind understood? Likewise, the balanced individual is always ready to hear new information or evidence relating to a given problem, even if a position has already been taken. In the final analysis, if the position taken is realistic (with emphasis on the real), it will take all of the examination and criticism thrown at it and thrive.
It should be clear from the above that an understanding of diversity cannot happen without knowledge of the varying facets of reality. This is the overriding impetus for becoming and staying informed throughout one's life, for learning as much as one can. The balanced approach to life requires one to reject uncritical acceptance of any information without first asking what the alternative viewpoints might be. And remembering that since so little of the knowledge we gain in this life is provable, the answers which are not appealing may still be the right ones.
The inevitable result of keeping this in mind is increased tolerance for viewpoints, religions, and yes, races other than one's own. Another inevitable result of being better informed is the improvement in one's perspective of daily life and reality itself.
This is also a reason why ignorance is deadly. Sometimes physically, but especially to the credibility of the individual and his or her beliefs. The fundamentalist Christian worldview is a good example of imbalance. "Fundies" preclude the possibility of there being any other approach to reality than their own, ultimately destructive, system of belief. Other than the arrogance involved, this alone is a reason for dismissing their beliefs.
What is this? Balance used as a reason for rejection? Yes indeed. Not only rejection, but a reason for even extreme action. For it is when life gets out of balance that things go awry. A good example might be the current state of the US timber industry, and the arguments it uses to justify its actions.
One hears the (Christian) right in this country often say there must be a balance between the needs of the "preservationists," those who seek to preserve old growth forests let's say, and the needs of people for jobs cutting them down. On the surface this sounds reasonable. But this ignores historical reality. For example, according to a number of sources, 5% of the old growth forests remain in this author's home state of Colorado. This means that 95% of these forests have already been cut down. If one maintains that an old growth forest has intrinsic value, then this is a situation which is already way out of balance. Therefore, one might be justified in demanding a cessation of such logging immediately.
When one seeks a "radical" solution to correct an imbalance, one must ask if the results create a balanced, sustainable, result. Clearly the answer in the above scenario, with planting of new forest on the already cut areas, is yes. It is just the extreme rate of logging which cannot be maintained. Sustainability is a good indication of life in balance.
Therefore an unbalanced act or position is usually required to correct existing imbalance. Other popular imbalances include xenophobia, the fear of strangers or foreigners, which is another fear of diversity. This fear ignores the fact that homogeneity, tends to induce stagnation.
Isn't stagnation a result of continuing balance? Not at all. Since nobody knows all of reality, never mind comprehends it, and since the situations one encounters in life daily life and reality itself are ever-changing, a balanced approach doesn't even imply stability. It does, along with the improved perspective it engenders, give the individual one more tool to use when dealing with new information and change.
In the area of religion, lack of balance can also be subtle. One observes a number of Wiccan communities in the US which ignore the fundamental balance of gender in an understandable overreact on to the all-male, misogynist world-view of the Christians. Perhaps this is a justified reaction to a situation out of balance for far too long, but does it pass the test of sustainability?
This does not excuse the Asatru "purist" from an inordinate fear of Wiccan influences on Asatru. To whatever extent modem Wicca is based on a real historical religion, it is not possible for it to be completely free of Asatru influences any more than Asatru could be free of whatever influence the historical Wicca may have exerted on our beliefs. The same can be said of Celtic beliefs. All of our varying ancestors had a great deal of interaction with each other. For the most part wars in the modern sense were unheard of until the Romans tried to extend their political hegemony into the Germanic areas of central and northern Europe (heh heh heh ... it is an unhappy reality that this failed until the advent of Christianity and its political and military machinations)
A more balanced approach might be for all of us neopagans retroheathens, or whatever we choose to call ourselves, to emphasize those many beliefs and attitudes which we share, We have much more in common - a belief in magic, polytheism, a respect for the Earth, the seasons and cycles of life - than we have with the prevailing Abrahamic hegemonies.
Religious, or any other form of exclusivism is a form of an unbalanced attitude called arrogance. Arrogance is meant here in its larger sense; snobbishness is not the same thing, nor is egotism. For that matter, the conceited individual has lost track of her or his interdependence on others and their works. But here, arrogance refers to the intellectual conceit that only one approach to life is valid. Anthropomorphism is a most subtle form of this same arrogance - the ultimately arrogant idea that only humans matter, that other life has less of a right to survive, or at the least has less intrinsic value than humans.
It should be clear by this point that it takes all kinds - it really does! We are all interdependent on each other, the Earth, and its various creatures. So, are there times when the seriously unbalanced should hold positions influence and power? At times, perhaps. The usual excuse is to correct an existing unbalance. This is why, although discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. is wrong, programs such as Affirmative Action are, for a time, justifiable. The critical point will be reached when the previous imbalanced situations have been corrected, which is when the corrective action must be stopped, or it will threaten to itself be the progenitor of further imbalance.
Balance is the key to understanding individual rights. If you have all the rights and your neighbor has none, this is an unbalanced situation which will usually find its solution in extreme action, i.e. violence. If a small group of people control all of the wealth, those who do not participate in their prosperity will seek to remedy the imbalance. Finally, if one party holds power too long, it is healthy and balanced to change this situation.
A balanced life requires and values diversity, knowledge, and tolerance. The results of living a balanced life are sustainability, perspective, and ultimately increased credibility. Let's make "balanced" a high compliment for an individual, a religion, a lifestyle, yes, even a country. Let the lack of balance in any of these be a red flag, a warning of trouble to come.
This article copyright 1992 by Wilfred von Dauster.
Web version copyright 1997 by Wilfred von Dauster and Mountain Thunder.
This page maintained by bratwurst@vinland.org
Last modified on 31 Mar 1997.