Hi all,
I've done some research about the history and development of Paganism in Spain to accompany my trip, which I hope you'll find useful and interesting. It's only the briefest of outlines so feel free to suggest additions or amendments as you see fit.
Then and now
In my research I discovered that there were a wealth of different deities beloved in the Iberian peninsula, before the invasion of the Moors and then eventual Christianisation, the goddesses mostly concerned with agriculture and the changing of the seasons, and the gods with weather, storms and war. With the invasion of the Roman empire, it seems that many of the popular Iberian deities of the time were syncretised with those of the Roman pantheon who shared similar characteristics, for example the god of war, Cariociecus, overlayed by Mars, and the weather god Eacus blended into Jupiter. Most revered seem to be the goddess Ataegina, who ruled over Spring and seasonality, worshipped throughout Spain and Portugal, and Mari, a Basque goddess, also in charge of the weather, who lived in the mountains. Interestingly, it's the Basque region of Spain that seems to have retained its native culture and heritage the most, oweing I think to the resilient and fiercely protective nature of the Basque peoples.
Ásastrú and Odinism are closely-linked Germanic-based neopagan religions, following the teachings of Norse deities. These Pagan religions have been growing rapidly in Spain in the last 30 years, helped by the creation of the "Círculo Odinista Europeo" in 1981, an organisation dedicated to the growth of Odinism in Spain and the rest of Europe. In 2007, the Spanish government recognised it as an official religion, and thus were able to perform 'legally binding civil ceremonies.' It has been the fourth Odinist/Asatru religious organization to have been recognized with official status in the world, after Iceland, Norway and Denmark. On December 23, 2007 the first legal Pagan wedding in Spain in 1,500 years took place on the beach of Vilanova, Barcelona. Jordi and Francesca, members of Confession Odin-Asatru, united their lives under the Rite Odinist Continental led by Ernust, Godi of the COE. The ceremony was attended by Pagans of all faiths in Spain, as well as members of the Pagan Federation.
While I was at the witchcamp, I found two paths were followed side by side; the Reclaiming tradition of Wicca, with which I'm very familiar, and El Camino Rojo, which translates as 'the path of the red people', or more simply, 'the Red Road', an Iberian tradition of Native American origin. When I asked Vicente, the local tradition leader, what the differences were between El Camino Rojo and Shamanism, he replied adamantly that Shamanism was a Siberian word and that Native American beliefs and practices were very much different. The workshops he runs are in honour of the ancestors of the world and of the Father Sun and Sky and the Mother Earth, and include learning Native American invocations, songs and chants, making tobacco offerings, instruction of the use of sacred and medicinal plants, purification of the body and spirit in sweatlodges and the use of drumming for worship and to induce trance state. I admired his steadfast dedication to keeping alive the memory and teachings of the ancestors of the Iberian peninsula.
As aforementioned, there isn't a huge amount for Pagans to do in Spain, I was told, and they all want to visit the sacred sites of England, as Morgaine called it, the 'Land of the Goddess.' But twice annually there is a Goddess conference in Madrid, founded by members of the tradition of Avalon and of Reclaiming. It's a 4 day event of songs, workshops and presentations with the aim, according to the website, of regaining lost knowledge of female deities, the cults and cultures associated with them, and facilitating that knowledge to Spanish and International society; to establish a virtual and physical sacred space to teach and practice together; and to work to promote and defend the rights and dignity of women and men through the visualisation of a model of Divine Feminine denied for over three thousand years; working for the health of the planet as a physical manifestation of Divinty, and for multiculturalism and diversity, through work with goddesses from many times and places.
It's a great shame I missed this latest conference in July during my stay in Spain, as when I look through the pictures that come back I see faces filled with joy and the love and light of the Goddess. May this love continue to spread, and the work done by all the melissas, priests, priestesses and contributors bear fruit in the growth of this great phenomenon in Iberia, and throughout the world.
Sources:
http://www.wikipedia.com/
http://www.reclaimingspain.org/
http://www.laconferenciadeladiosa.es/
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