On Pagan Asceticism

The modern paganisms are not, to say the very least, particularly big on asceticism.

That's as it should be. By their very nature, the new paganisms—like the old ones—tend to be body-affirming, not body-denying.

No one could deny, though, that pagans—like pretty much everyone else—could use a little more discipline in our lives and practice. You won't get anywhere in life—spiritual or otherwise—without it.

So for “asceticism,” maybe, read “discipline.”

My cousin, a convert to Russian Orthodox Christianity, takes her religion (as converts often do) very seriously.

One day she asked her staréts—her mentor and spiritual elder—about asceticism.

“Asceticism is gradual, a matter of small steps,” he told her. “If you want to eat now, but make yourself wait 10 minutes until you eat instead, that's asceticism,” he added.

Christian asceticism has often come to mean denying the body and its wants and needs, but that's not what the term originally meant.

Back in old pagan days, “asceticism” was a gymnasium term from athletic vocabulary.

Askêsis: “training.”

If you want to run a marathon, you can't just dive in cold and expect to finish. You have to train yourself up to it.

Spiritual life is like that too. To achieve big things, you need to train first.

Sometimes it means doing things that you don't want to do. Sometimes it means learning to say “no” to yourself.

Call it discipline if you like. Call it training. Call it pagan asceticism. Whatever you call it, remember: it's gradual, a matter of small steps.

Wisdom is wisdom, wherever it comes from.