It doesn't appear to be commonly known, but I'm a man.
There is a feeling among some men that they are kept out of their power in Paganism. I think it's an example of some sort of unconscious stereotyping - an unspoken, deeply rooted assumption that a man is unlikely to follow a spiritual path that honors the empowerment and divinity of the Eternal Female as well as the Eternal Male.

The simple truth of the matter is this: men have suffered under the patriarchial status quo as well as women. We have lost touch with our emotions, our inner archetypes, holiness, and wholeness. We are taught at an early age not to feel, not to grieve, not to love, and not to hurt. We are taught to savage each other to get ahead, to be the biggest shark in the aquarium, to pat a buddy on the back - but only long enough to slip a stiletto between his ribs. We are taught to be absent from our lovers and our children, to work until we are buried with our cold dead hands still on our cell phones.

And that, my friends, is just as much of a crock of crap as the systematic oppression of women. The powers that be had us in a vise for a long time; men given too much power until they choked on it, women given no power until they were crushed underneath.

I want to ask all of us to take a long hard look at the dark places in our minds and hearts that we don't normally disturb. Let's look at our inner image of Pagan, Witch, or whatever we call ourselves. If it comes up one gender, one sexuality, one color, one social class, one political party - ask why. If you have trouble reconciling the word "Pagan" and a guy like me - a guy who likes baseball, Tom T. Hall, and the occasional Jerry Bruckheimer movie where everything blows - ask why. Question your preconceptions; discover you have some. We might all learn something.

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