Immanence

We Neopagans sometimes refer to our faith as ‘The Old Religion.’ This term was initially used by the early Elders of Neopaganism, who believed that Neopaganism, especially Wicca, was a continuation of an ancient religion that had survived unbroken over the thousands of years of Christian domination. Their belief came from the writings of early twentieth-century anthropologists such as Margaret Murray.

The belief of an underground ‘witch cult’ is no longer supported by scholarship. However, the term ‘Old Religion’ is still valid. Rather than meaning an unbroken ancient religion, calling Neopagan the 'Old Religion' is appropriate because it shares many of its tropes, beliefs, and practices of pre-Abrahamic Western traditions.

Mesopotamian artwork of the goddess Inanna.

 

One Neopagan belief that makes it part of ‘The Old Religion’ is its view of the divine. The acclaimed Assyriologist Thorkild Jacobsen, in his book The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion, compares the Mesopotamian view of the divine with the Abrahamic. In the Abrahamic view, the divine is transcendent, meaning it exists outside nature. Meanwhile, the Mesopotamians viewed the divine as immanent, something inside nature. 

Like the Mesopotamians, Neopagans see the divine in nature. We revere lakes, streams, mountains, forests, and the rest of the natural world. It’s because of this reverence that Neopaganism is often referred to as an Earth-Based Religion.

The Four Desires

Many people, myself included, have been shocked by events over the recent years. Along with the pandemic, there’s been war, violence, intolerance, and the rise of the political and cultural Far-Right. However, the philosopher Bertrand Russell wouldn’t have been surprised. 

Bertrand Russell

 

Bertrand Russell (May 18, 1872 – February 2, 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, and social reformer, a founding figure in the analytic movement in Anglo-American philosophy, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.

In his acceptance speech for the 1950 Nobel Prize, Bertrand Russell said, “All human activity is prompted by desire.” He lists what he saw to be the four infinite desires of humans. Russell believed these four infinite desires were unique to humans and not found in other animals. The four infinite desires are acquisitiveness, rivalry, vanity, and love of power.

According to Russell, the least powerful of these infinite desires is acquisitiveness. No matter how much we acquire, we always seem to want more. We see this in lottery winners who suddenly have everything they need and end up going bankrupt because, although they’re millionaires, they spend beyond their means. 

Acquisitiveness, although potent, ranks below rivalry, according to Russell. The most famous example of rivalry was the space race between the USA and the USSR. After the Americans landed a man on the moon, they abandoned future moon missions. They had beaten the “Reds” to the moon and, therefore, saw no reason to keep returning, which puts to rest the claim that the reason for the moon launches was purely scientific.

W. L. George wrote, “Vanity is as old as the mammoth.” Russell certainly agreed and made vanity the next great desire. Many will sacrifice everything they’ve built over a lifetime if it means fame. In the musical Chicago, one of my favorite plays, Roxy expresses frustration after her acquittal when the press’s attention shifts from her to another murderer. Her vanity was so extreme that she couldn’t rejoice that the jury spared her life. Instead, she sulked because she was no longer the center of attention.

Russell believed that the love of power was the most significant of these desires. Everything, including the acquisition of wealth, is a means to power. Power is a desire for its own sake. Orwell captured this understanding in his novel 1984 when he wrote, “The object of power is power.” A person will live in abject poverty if it means that they have a sense of power. In Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan says, “It’s better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven.” According to Russell, even pursuing scientific knowledge is a pursuit of power.

So, when you watch the news here in 2025, remember these four desires. Doing so will help you make better sense of the events.