Pagan Women Veiling - An Odd Occurrence or a New Tradition?

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I recently stumbled upon a March, 2012 article at the Patheos blog written by the amazing Star Foster. As some of you may know, Star stepped down in her role as editor at the end of 2012, but her incredible articles are still there for us to browse and be in amazement of. This particular article brought to my attention something unexpected. I'm not entirely sure why I wasn't aware of this growing fad sooner. I can only claim ignorance and a web browser with a mind of it's own (Sterek fanfics at AO3, anyone?).

I encourage you to click on the photo to the left to read Star's article in full. I was captivated by the topic all the way from the headline to the last punctuation mark, length be damned. The general message of the article was that there had been a rise in Pagan women veiling as a way to pay honor to their chosen Goddess. If you stop to think about it for a moment, the covering of ones head is hardly a new idea. Most prominent in Islam and Judaism, the act is common among both women and men and is seen as a way to honor the deity of their religious tradition. I've seen Muslim women wearing the hijab and have seen Jewish men wearing the kippah. It was never something that interested me, and yet, while reading this article, I found myself in awe of the many men and women that chose to honor their chosen deities in this manner. Granted, the article itself was mainly about Pagan women and not men, but I was able to appreciate the gesture from both sexes and throughout all faiths.

I may be in the minority here, especially as a man, but I find the principle behind the hijab, along with the woman's choice to wear it, an incredibly powerful statement. I believe the emphasis lies in the fact that the woman be allowed the choice to wear these garments and that they must never be forced upon someone. I have struggled at times in how I can best honor Danu and Lugh and while I do not feel either of them asking me to cover my head, I began to wonder if deity did call me to do so, would I? The answer to that is that I simply do not know.

Modern society seems to associate a stigma with the wearing of these garments. The unfortunate consensus seems to be that if men choose to wear a kippah they are being respectful and honoring God, while at the same time if a woman chooses to cover her head then she is somehow being subjugated. I cannot argue that it is a fact of life for some of the women of the world, but it is also just as likely that the women wearing these garments are doing so out of choice. To prove my point, one simply has to look to the Queen Rania of Jordan, who chooses not to wear the veil.

"I have nothing against the veil. And I think that, wrongly, many in the West look at the veil as a symbol of oppression. Now, as long as a woman chooses to wear the veil, because that's her belief and because of her own - that's a personal relationship with God, so she should be free to dress in whichever way she wants."  

I could not agree with her more. I think those of us in the western world need to shift in our minds the perception that any person who wears a veil does so only because someone else is forcing them to. By removing that misconception we can more clearly see the act of faith behind the wearing of these garments. The desire to please deity permeates almost every known religion and there is nothing wrong with a person's desire to become closer to said deity through modesty. It is an act that I am both respectful of and in awe of. 

It is not something I choose to do for myself. And that's perfectly alright. When it comes down to it, Paganism expects us to make our own connections and relationships with deity, in whichever forms we choose to do so. What may be acceptable for one person may not be the same for another. That difference is what makes our community stronger.

Now that you know my position, what are your thoughts? Leave me a comment and let me know.

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