Being a Grey Witch...

   Now I  have for many  years talked about how "Jedism" is not Paganism. And I  still  believe in that  stance, however that  doesn't mean that  we can learn something from star wars. After all, it is a saga full of depth and philosophy. When Star Wars was first conceived, George Lucas saw the Jedi  and the Sith  as polar opposites.  The Jedi  were the light and good, while the Sith  were dark  and evil.  This followed the Christian concept that  you are either for "God" or against "God". These extremes were violent and uncompromising.  With  the slightest inkling to the dark side you were bound to  be fallen and evil. The first 6 Star  Wars movies held this theme and presented a saga of conflict and pain.

   What  if I  told you that  there has been a change in this view and it follows my concept of viewing the world, life, and all  the energies in it. In the history of the Jedi  there are those that  have walked away  from the strict white light minded Jedi  but didn't turn evil. These Jedi  were called the "grey  Jedi" these use both the light and the dark  side of the force.  The view the force as a neutral  entity and establish a balance when working with  it. These force users see that  sometimes  the darker side needs to  be used to  fight back  the darkness.  Because this is a fandom, there are many  versions,  only recently with  Star  Wars Rebels has  "Canon" touched upon the Grey Jedi as a group. Here is one version of the Grey  Jedi  Code...

There must be both dark and light.

I will do what I must to keep the balance,

as the balance is what holds all life.

There is no good without evil,

but evil must not be allowed to flourish.

There is passion, yet peace;

serenity, yet emotion;

chaos, yet order.

I am a wielder of the flame;

a champion of balance.

I am a guardian of life.

I am a Gray Jedi.

Now what  does all  this have to  do  with  Paganism?  Essentially everything can be effected by  this stance.   We have a massive amount of Pagans out there that  shun darkness.  They believe that  just walking away from anything they  view as negative is the  way  to  deal  with  everything.  This world and the whole universe is full of danger that  must be understood and kept in check.  This goes back  to  the analogy of the Wolves in Yellowstone park.  Wolves keep  the population of the deer and other herbivores in balance.   Too many  Wolves and the deer population can't support it , thus the wolves go hungry and some die off by  hunger.  Too  few wolves and the Deer will  over reproduce and they  will  starve on the lack of grass in winter.  Wolves are beautiful strong willed creatures that  aren't evil  but they apply dark means to  stay  alive by  attacking and killing deer.   Wolves defend their young and have a strong social structure,  they  have their community.

Now these extreme light loving pagans demand  everything to  be on their terms.  They  have the one sided views as the Jedi and there is conflict. But just the same there are dark minded pagans that  are nihilists or chaotic witches.  These people remind me of the Sith in their one sided mentality.

The Grey  Jedi  give freedoms to  learn different techniques and skills. They  are not demonized for learning something dark as long as they  understand the purpose and issues with it.  These Grey  Jedi  fight for and defend others that  don't agree with  them personally.  The Grey  Jedi  know the importance of Balance and right from wrong.  A mentality that  is ignored by  many  light minded pagans because faith over-rides reasoning.

So  I  have called myself a grey witch  for years, I  have talked about balance for that  long as well.  There are times to  be angry and pull  from the darker side to  fight a bigger darkness.  Such  as right now with  all  the Trump drama going on in the US.  I  can't stay focused on the light side to  fight for the greater good of humanity and the world of life.  But while I  fight the good fight, I  also  show  compassion to  those that  are affected by  these dark  times.

The world is not black  and white, it is full of greys and different colors. We can't live in a world with  rigid views  to  push  on everyone.  We must as individuals understand  what  the balance for a growing  prosperous pagan community and world.