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In November of 2001 we gave a talk at the UK's Pagan Federation Conference about the evolution of the Pagan Movement. Our main point of the talk was that Paganism is evolutionary in it's nature; nature liking change and diversity, and that the Neo-pagan movement needed to embrace the idea that new ideas are sometimes better and more relevant than old ones and that diversity should be embraced as a strength rather than a weakness of the Pagan Movement, bringing about toleration of other's beliefs and spiritual practises (something the world desperately needs right now). We pointed out that in the West, and in particular within patriarchal, monotheistic culture that the 'boxing' of spirituality had began; In the East this labelling did not happen in the same way.

On our way to our Australian and New Zealand Tour (January to March 2002) we had decided to break up our very long flight by a stop-over in Singapore. Although this break was for purely practical reasons we also wanted an opportunity to see the diversity of culture within this far-eastern metropolis, little did we realise that we were to have our current philosophy confirmed!

Our first night in Singapore was chaotic; our luggage had been lost out of Heathrow Airport (not unusual!), so we decided that our best bet was to get some 'divine intervention'. After we had perused the tourist maps issued by the hotel, we set off from our hotel into 'Little India', where there was a Temple to Sri Veersammy (The Durga). It was our intention to make a plea to the Ganesha to find our luggage and remove any obstacles to our forthcoming Tours in Australia and New Zealand.

We have always had a love for Ganesha; the unassuming elephant headed god who is probably the most worshipped around the world. We had made offerings to him on several occassions at home in Ireland (strange as it may seem) with fast results; beloved of Shiva shrines to him can be found in every taxi in Bombay, and wherever there is an Indian community around the world. His statues are more abundant than any other deities.

It was late evening by this time almost 11, but the Temple was buzzing with those who had finished work in the many stores that lined Little India who had come to pay respects to the many deities which resided there. On the steps we had removed our sandals like everyone else, and entered through the large doors. Entering the Temple the Spirituality hit us like a blast of hot air; here the deities were alive! Hinduism (a western term, by the way they don't use such a label) holds that the deity is manifest IN the statues themselves, not that they are symbolic representations but that they are Idols in the true sense of the word. Whether you believe this to be true is irrelevant; the effect of this belief and it's resultant practises brings the spiritual essence of the gods and goddesses of India in to the Temple. Of course, when we entered the Sri Veersammy Temple this was not a new experience for us; we also have Shrines to the Durga, Kali, and of course Ganesha, around our home which are treated in same way as any Hindu would (yes, we're Idolators!).

What was different here was the that the gods and goddesses were at home within a highly active Indian community, which empowered them even more! This was a place that was loved by it's community. Highly decorated with gold and bright colours; a place of joy rather than solemness. Chanting filled the air as thick as the incense which drifted out on to the humid main street, and people jostled to reach the many shrines encased in the large walls which surrounded this charged place of worship.

People had joy on their faces, and the markings of devoting, red and white ochre, on their foreheads. We stayed long enough to converse with Ganesha and left. On the way out we brought a small statue of Ganesha from a woman sitting on the steps of the Temple. This was later to be passed on, as the wheel dicates, to someone who needed it. Although welcomed at the Temple we felt that we should not 'intrude' on other's beliefs; how wrong we were! We returned to the Temple the next day, and again were welcomed. We photographed the statues which lined the outside walls and tower, but it felt like a desecration to photograph inside (many tourists were).

The Third time we visited was on our way home. It was early afternoon and we had come to thank Ganesha, so we left milk at his Shrine, the traditional offering to him. It was obvious to one of the ever present Priests that we weren't the usual tourists which passed through the Temple on a daily basis. We then approached the statue of the Durga and stood in quiet contemplation. Although we are Priestess and Priestess of Freya we recognise her essence in many other Goddesses; the Durga is one of them. One of the mother warrior goddesses of India who sits upon a Lion (or Tiger). The Priest approached us and asked us where we from, asked us how far we had come, and then blessed us by offering us the red ochre in front of the statue to annoint our forheads with. Something changed, suddenly we felt there was an acceptance - the division of east and west seemed to melt away. This was to become even more relevant as we headed out shopping from Little India

As we explored the many open fronted shops down the street, the attitude from the Indian community to us seemed to have changed from our previous visits. 'Oh, you've been to the Temple!' became a common comment and suddenly the tourist prices seemed to drop suddenly. It was an important lesson for us, that sometimes you respect a tradition by embracing it and that true spirituality sees beyond colour, race and the labels we put on the many different spiritual traditions.

Of course this was not the only thing of consequence we had witnessed during our two stays in Singapore. When we visited the Goddess of Good Fortune (Kwan Yin) Temple on the outskirts of Chinatown we witnessed more of this acceptance. As the Buddhists passed the nearby Sri Krisnan Temple they stopped to honour the deities present by taking up joss sticks and facing the four quarters in a typically Buddhist fashion. The joss sticks were provided by the Hindu Temple and placed in a big bowl for them to use! It seems that a spiritual accord existed between all the eastern traditions.

As modern neo-pagans perhaps we look to much towards the Western Traditions of the last century for guidance on our path. Perhaps we would be better to look East, at those traditions which survived the test of time. After all, Hinduism, Buddhism and Shintoism were once accused by Christianiy of all being 'Pagan'. They survived by being eclectic and all-encompassing. In modern paganism we still feel the need to box and seperate; we have even heard the word 'eclectic' being used as a term of insult against Wiccans who don't fit into the two mainstream traditions. Paganism by nature is eclectic. In the East it seems they have no such division, instead they look for that underlines the practises of the tradition and recognise and respect the diversity of their Spiritual paths.

Are we still Wiccan after these experiences? Oh, yes! In fact even more. They say that travel broadens the mind, a statement we can say if definetly true. If any one wishes to argue with us on these points they are welcome; dialogue is always a good thing. But we first ask that they enter a Hindu Temple for themselves during a Paja (Festival) and witness what we have.

We'd like to finish this article with a true story. It's about a pagan who moved to a town in american and was unable to find a community there with to worship. Desperate for spiritual company, he started attending the regular Paja's at the local Hindu Temple. After attending several of these he was approached by the Priest of the Temple (on account he stuck out like a sore thumb being the only white face in an asian audience) and asked 'are you a 'Hindu'. The Pagan carefully explained he was a Wiccan; what his philosophy was, his belief in the divine etc, etc. The Priest nodded his head as modern neo-pagan beliefs were explained to him, and then when the Pagan had finished looked him in the eyes and said 'Oh, your a Hindu!' (the pagan went on to work as assistant in the Temple, by the way).