Mystics and Scientists 2016

Dialectical ‘both-and’ thinking is key to resolving paradox and integrating ideas in ways that avoid reduction of one idea to the other. In this talk, the history of such thinking in the West and East will be explored, including the Chinese yin-yang model, Hegel’s dialectical reasoning, Jung’s exploration of opposites within alchemy and the psyche, Erikson’s dialectics of psychological development, dialectical behaviour therapy, and both-and thinking in quantum physics. A dialectical model of the relationship between science and spirituality will be discussed.

Wicca emerged in the mid 20th century as an esoteric anomaly that was thought to be a surviving remnant of an ancient religion. In fifty years it grew to become Britain’s largest new religious movement, with a significant following across the globe. This paper charts the development of Wicca. It discusses how its mythos changed as it grew, how it spread, and how its adherents changed, and continue to change, their religious traditions within the overall parameters of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. It discusses how contemporary Pagan Witches no longer hark to an imagined past for inspiration, but see themselves as embracing the choice of a religion that is congruent with concerns of late modernity, and offers an inviting vision for the future. The paper concludes by examining factors which caused the rapid growth of Wicca, and discussing whether these will continue to help the religion grow, or may naturally curb further expansion.