Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

CHAIN OF BEING

The name given to an ancient belief in an immutable order in creation, ranging from the highest spiritual levels to the lowest inanimate objects on earth, and is a consistant theme throughout much Kabbalistic thought.

This chain, or hierarchy, of beings is visualized as stretching as it were from the Throne of God to the very center of the earth.

Developed as a philosophical idea by Plato, added to by Aristotle, elaborated by the Neo-Platonists, this has become a stock image underlying many philosophies and cosmological conceptions.

Hell alone (because it had rebelled from the order of things) was not connected to this chain, yet the vision of Dante, resting as it did upon the redemptive thesis of theology, embraced even Hell in his view of the chain. At the bottom of the ladder is inanimate matter (i.e. dirt and rocks). At the top of the latter are immaterial, spiritual beings like the gods.

Half way up the ladder are humans, which are half material and half immaterial spirit. Also the Medieval thought as to where man fit in the universe.

It was believed that people were born in their place and meant to stay there by God's will. Moving up or down on the chain was considered to be an affront to God's plan.

Noblemen were supposed to accept their duty to God and country and act in a noble manner, just as peasants were not to seek to escape from their situation and reach above themselves in pursuit of a better life.

see also KABBALAH

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc