Contemplative Animist Monasticism: An Interview with Danica Swanson (2018)

Note: The Sanctuary is editing and re-releasing a series of posts from our archives in order to bring them onchain. We plan to compile the highlights from the first 13 years into a retrospective special collection. Below is a lightly edited version of a 2018 interview with L. James, a student from Reed College in Portland, OR.

Danica Swanson: There are a few that stand out for me. Since Norse animists and polytheists do not yet have established monastic traditions to draw upon, those of us called to monastic life find ourselves in uncharted territory.

Developing organized traditions that work within our modern religious framework will be a process of trial and error for many years to come. We are a young religious movement. As far as I know, modern polytheism inspired by pre-Christian Nordic religious and folk traditions is not even 50 years old, and polytheism and animism in general are still marginalized. So we have little choice but to proceed on an experimental basis.

For ideas on building an experimental monastic practice that can be liberating for women and gender-variant people, I look to the Sisters of the Valley and the Beguines.

I also take inspiration from Tibetan Buddhist feminist nuns such as Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, Ayya Yeshe, and the "rebel female monks" in Thailand.

I especially appreciate their determination to figure out ways to provide for women's material needs as a means of opening monastic options for women. Material support is crucial to help counter the higher economic burden faced by women and marginalized groups. Monasteries that support themselves financially can offer a measure of freedom from the need to access all basic survival resources through standard employment or patriarchal relationships.

I occasionally follow the work of Sravasti Abbey, a thriving Tibetan Buddhist monastic community in Newport, Washington founded by Ven. Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron. I particularly appreciate their "retreat from afar" practice, in which they extend their winter retreat to distance meditators who commit to practice once a day in the same time frame as the nuns. The distance meditators submit photos of themselves to the nuns to symbolize their participation; the nuns display the photos in their meditation halls and think of these distant meditators as they practice. I do something like this myself at Black Stone Sanctuary, albeit on a much smaller scale. I maintain correspondences with other monastics, and we sometimes arrange to meditate at the same time on a specific topic of shared interest.

In terms of structure, I'd say I'm most inspired by the Gnostic Celtic Church model, as detailed in John Michael Greer's book The Gnostic Celtic Church: A Manual and Book of Liturgy.* I particularly like their rule of life based on seeking one's purpose of existence and "placing the fulfillment of that purpose above other concerns as a guide to action and life." I recommend Greer's well-written book highly to other animists and polytheists interested in building a modern monastic practice. As far as I know, it's the only book of its kind.

I've also written an essay about the development of animist monastic practices at Black Stone Sanctuary. It will be published in an upcoming anthology about polytheistic monasticism edited by Janet Munin.** I've been developing my own practice informally since 2006, and more formally since 2011 when I started the Black Stone Hermitage blog. Since it’s still very early days for the first wave of polytheist monastics, I feel I have a responsibility to document my practice for the sake of future would-be votary (monks and nuns) in the modern polytheist revival.

Danica: The short answer is that I don't. In public I usually call myself a contemplative animist and polytheist rather than a Pagan or Heathen. I have a strong desire for organized religious infrastructure including dedicated buildings/churches, so I don't fit in too well with the unstructured counterculture movements in Paganism and Heathenry.

That said, I know I'm not alone in my desire to build organized religious infrastructure suitable for contemplative animists. Interest in polytheistic monasticism is definitely increasing, and there's a growing segment within Paganism that seems ready to move beyond the free-spirited "adolescent" stage of religious development. Monasticism is finally being seriously discussed in these contexts, so I think (and hope!) we'll see many more experimental monastic endeavors in the coming years.

Danica: I'd say the main distinction is the importance of ascetic practices. For instance, my path of service calls for near-complete avoidance of movies, television, and any forms of media entertainment that do not support the inner silence necessary for my contemplative practice. Certain arts such as dark ambient music and lamentation dance are integral to my contemplative and creative practices, however, so I do include those things.

Other ascetic practices that apply to my monastic path include avoidance of recreational use of intoxicants, meditative forms of manual labor and movement, and extended periods of sensory deprivation in darkened incubation spaces. I also regularly wear religious garb, including head wraps, and engage in daily liturgical practices such as worship, prostration, singing devotionals, chanting, and praying with prayer beads.

Secular intentional communities and countercultural spiritual communities typically do not support or provide space for these practices. In fact, many people consider ascetic practices to be forms of deprivation. I do not. For me, ascetic practices are forms of liberation-through-structure. Monasticism brings out the best in me. It frees me to be who I actually am, instead of just going along with the dominant status quo, be it religious or secular.

* Ed. note: As of 2022 the original GCC manual I mentioned in this interview has been replaced by an updated version of Greer's book: the Gnostic Celtic Church Clergy Guide.

** The essay was subsequently published in Polytheistic Monasticism: Voices From Pagan Cloisters (2022).

This interview was previously published on the first Polytheist Monastic forum in 2019, and in 2021 on Substack. Copyright: L. James and Danica Swanson. Original image by cocoparisienne on Pixabay.