Paganism

Pathways to a Strengthened Community

Submitted by Pashta MaryMoon on behalf of Pagan Federation/Fédération païenne Canada (PFPC) and Pagan Pastoral Outreach (PPO) - both national bodies, although functioning primarily in Ontario and B.C.

(Neo) Paganism is a very broad religious category, but most (such as Wicca) are poemagogic religions, based on commonality of Nature symbology. Quoting other adherents does not have the same import or 'weight' in our faith as it does in others. Furthermore, it is a recently emerging religion (though inspired by ancient ideas). As such, it has not developed a broad spectrum of 'quotable' material that can be directly related to issues such as restorative justice, nor specific examples of how restorative justice has been used.

However, one of the foundational concepts of Wicca is that Life operates in a quaternal cyclical/spiral evolutionary process of life, death, transformation, and re-birth, modelled on the 4 seasons cycle: life/summer, death/autumn, transformation/winter, re-birth/spring. Since Wicca holds that Nature itself is not only divine but the primary expression of Divinity, this quaternal model also 'in-forms' much of Wiccan religious thought (which includes the concept of progressive Divine revelation).

A similar model is foundational to the 'pathways' of conflict resolution, and to my understanding, restorative justice (or sometimes called 'transformational justice'). Life/summer can be related to the initial situation, as it is, and 'ripened' to the point where it can be recognized for what it actually is. Death/autumn relates to the initial stages in the process of 'loss of distinctly separate and opposing identity' deal with recognition of community interdependence, sharing and integration of 'stories', etc. Transformation/winter, the actual process of resolution/restoration, that is open-ended between initial and resulting situations. And finally, re-birth/spring reflects the new relationship/situation that result.

Using this symbolism, restorative justice acknowledges that

1. the 'seed' to resolution/restoration, which falls to the ground in autumn, lies in the situation itself as hidden potential fruit, not in some external imposed resolution as in more retributive approaches;
2. there must be a death to distinctly opposing 'sides' (autumn); a depth of sharing, de-composing and intermixing with other elements within the 'ground' of the community (winter); and a recognition of common concerns and qualities or nutrients freed from old fruit (winter) before that 'seed' has fertile ground in which to grow; and finally,
3. the spring is a breaking-down of old mind-sets (the seed's shell), initiated by a release of the emotional ties to it (rain) and a waxing warmth of common bonds (sunlight). This not only allows for a creative and healthy re-birth of the relationship (seed sprouting), but in itself will generate other forms of resolution within the community (further new fruit/seed) and stabilize restorative justice and its variations as an effective way of dealing with justice issues (strengthening the species of plant).

Furthermore, in understanding the Godde* as immanent in all life and ourselves as one expression of Them, Wicca does not rely on an external deity to solve our problems. Rather, it is our responsibility to resolve problems, by opening ourselves to Their power - within and without, and moving through us. In a sense then, this is similar to the approach of restorative justice, which does not seek to find its resolutions in books or external authorities, but trusts in our own ability to find resolution within a 'spirit' of community. As such, restorative justice is significantly consistent with a Wiccan religious viewpoint.

To our mind, 'restorative justice', as an approach to conflict and injustice, is much broader than the arena of inmate and community and extends to Gaia and all life forms). While the Wiccan practice of 'spells' (energy working) can be misused, its primary purpose is 'restorative justice' in the broadest sense, - just as any form of positive prayer or ecological work, etc., is. The intent is to heal a 'gap', which generally infers conflicting sides or some form of tension, in the present situation and restore 'fertile ground' (on an energy level), so that the individual/group can proceed in a manner that best serves their needs, in the sense of doing 'justice' to their positive potential, in relation to the community as a whole.

Finally, we feel that restorative justice has to look backwards as well as forwards, to root causes as well as rehabilitation, to recognizing that many victimizers were themselves victims, and to how we as a society can prevent as well as restore. We note that the terms 'offender' and 'victim' tend to lock people into those roles and prevent appropriate healing on both 'sides', and therefore suggest that more neutral terms be considered.

* Godde is a term meaning 'all possible goddess and god images - as a collective unit'.