An Interview with
Bronwen WhiteRaven Griffiths

Witch

Tell us a little about Bronwen WhiteRaven.

Bronwen is a 30 something, singleton, with a menagerie of pets (6 cats, 4 dogs, 3 rabbits, etc). I am lucky enough to live on a plot north of Johannesburg. I have a Masters of Science and am a practising environmental consultant - that is, someone who writes reports for a client with respect to a proposed development for government to say 'yay' or 'nay' about. When not working I spend my time with my nose buried in a book (mainly fantasy, Sci-fi, historicals or Pagan) or letting my creative urge out - sketching, painting, embroidery, tapestry, graphic design.

My 'alter-ego' or craft self is "WhiteRaven". The name is derived from a variation of my given name (Branwen instead of Bronwen) and links to my Celtic background. I find it hard to slot myself into a Pagan category but would most likely categorise myself as a solitary Earth Witch - with strong links to elemental magic (specifically Air), herbalism, communication with animals, and such like. If I had been around a few millennia ago I suppose I would have been a village wise-woman - in the tradition of my Mother and her Mother before who are / were both healers.

Why have you chosen Paganism as your religion / spirituality of choice?

I chose Neo-Paganism as my spirit path for a number of reasons. The most important being my ongoing passion and interaction with the environment. As a trained ecologist I look for patterns and networks in natural systems. The interconnectedness of mankind with nature became more important to me with time and study. In my late teens I found that the often narrow mindsets of monotheistic religions jarred with my understanding of how the natural world actually worked. Basically I found that Xianity (which I grew up with) could not answer my questions. I also battled with the concepts of a male divinity alone, and that the divine was something outside of myself that I had to call to - especially when it was expected that I find a priest (pastor, elder) to 'pass the message on' for me.

As an only child I spent a lot of time in my own mind and with my parents' love and understanding had always explored the world around me. The problem was that as I grew older (teens), I was told by the church that certain gifts I had exhibited were wrong. And so I suppressed them - only to realise about a decade or so later that I was denying integral parts of what made me 'me'. The problem was that by the principles of the Xian church, that meant I was damned and evil. As this was a case of black vs. white and I know that the real world is definitely shades of grey, I began to question my previously accepted answers even more. During that time I had come into contact with a lot of info relating to Neo-Paganism and when combined with my love of mythology and fantasy books, I found that my questions were being answered - the first time in a long time. And through this I found a path that could be uniquely mine - as I am unique (as are we all) - that could lead to a richer and more fulfilled life (or is that lives?!).

How has being a Pagan influenced your decisions and choices as an environmental consultant?

As is fairly clear from above I think it may actually be the other way around. I became a Pagan to a large extent because of my training as an ecologist / environmentalist. Maybe to a certain extent my choice to become an environmental consultant was made at the same time as I was moving towards declaring myself to be a Pagan.

I feel that as an environmental consultant - irrespective of how frustrating it often is - that I have a chance to make a difference. Development will happen in South Africa as economic development is needed, but as part of the development process I can (a) chose to not do a project if it is against my ethos, (b) make sure that the job is done well so that environmental issues do not arise, and (c) make input into the regulatory system (through my past links to government and my function as part of an association linked to impact assessment) such that future law is a balance between real protection of the environment and not merely requiring administrative processes for the sake of having them. The problem with the last item being that if legislation is too onerous people ignore it and go ahead and trash sites without any controls in place.

But yes I sometimes question why I am doing what I'm doing as I seem to make little difference to the greater scheme of things - and then a client phones and tells me how excited they are and what they are doing because of a suggestion I've made (e.g. forming a 2,000 ha conservancy in the Dinokeng {Bronkhorstspruit} area - my client is driving it and his farm in only the core 300 ha!), and then I feel like I can make a difference so I push on. On the lighter side - I must admit to having wanted to hex some people over the last few years, but have restrained myself so far ... ;o)

Do you feel that Pagans aught to embrace an environmental ethic in their lives?

I think that goes without saying. We only have one planet and if she is not looked after we are going to suffer for it. We were made with brains and the ability to change our environments - and that for both the better and the worse. We also come equipped with a conscience and although I don't say 'run out and join Greenpeace', I must say that small changes within our family environment in terms of choices we make (e.g. returning about 3 of our 5 ha small-holding to natural grassland, recycling, sensible use of non-renewable resources, growing ones own veggies), all make for a ripple effect outwards. Yes, concentrate on yourself and your family, and when you have spare pass that benefit on to others. Sometimes that benefit will simply be something you have learned that is environmentally sustainable, sometimes it'll be your time helping sort out problems. It doesn't matter so long as you try and you can live with yourself.

I've heard the Departments of Housing and Minerals & Energy want to scrap EIA's altogether because they 'hold up' development? What do you think of the new draft regulations aimed at streamlining environmental impact assessments?

The Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) has never liked the concept of EIA’s, as environmentalists are very aware and quite loud about it, that the largest single industry to have an impact on the environment is ... yup you guessed it ... mining and its associated infrastructure. Most environmentalists – my self included - acknowledge that without mining South Africa would not be the power it is in Africa and to a certain extent the rest of the world. But the flipside is that we have a revolutionary Constitution that unpins the need for a 'safe and healthy environment' and underlines the need for preserving natural capital for future generations.

The problem is that mining as an industry is a minimum of a century old whilst the new money spinners such as tourism and especially eco-tourism are a few decades at most. Even Kruger National Park has only been around since 1903. And why was it formed? Well partly because with all the diseases humans and cattle didn't do too well there, but game did. And then even though it was set aside for conservation parts of it was mined until only a few years ago - and a bite of it is still excluded at Phalaborwa for mining.

Yes I agree that development is being unnecessarily slowed down by the EIA process. But this is because currently all development is considered case by case. This is obviously a waste of energy and time.

Most environmental consultants and relevant authorities would prefer that EIA’s only be carried out on unique projects, with normal development controlled by large spatial scale Environmental Management Frameworks (EMF’s) / Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA’s). EMF’s and SEA’s would then determine what is needed specific to that site and that site alone. The form of approval would even be pre-set and a lot of the guess work would be removed as the preferred development type (or no-go) would be known up front. But for mining? Ah, sadly, I would say that an EIA is still required for each such activity - ever seen the impact of a simple 'survey' or 'prospecting' operation? But then again, I have to point out that even DME acknowledges the need for environmental assessment.

The new Minerals and Petroleum Act (with some new Regulations related to Petroleum coming out soon) calls for what is effectively an EIA combined with a strict admin process, linked to a horrendously tight timeline. They just haven't figured out who within DME will review these documents as they don't have the capacity.

How do you feel about politics? Do you think politics has a place in modern Paganism as an agency for positive change?

Politics is a two edged sword. It has the potential for both great positive change, but also great grief. I think we are fortunate in that South Africa has a robust legal system with some truly trend setting legislation in place. For instance, our Constitution is brilliant and stands up proudly against most other Constitutions in the world, including those of the first world. Our enforcing legislation is good. While I was still working at government, an EPA team (US Enviro) came to tell the backward South Africans how to do EIA’s. The responses to their questions went along the lines of, 'Tried that ... that doesn't work ... have you tried this instead it works well?' the EPA responses were, 'uh, um, no' :o)

Our failure is however enforcement, and to a certain extent the fact that we do not use the power of our laws to their fullest. The National Environmental Management Act has teeth that makes most lawyers grin, but we are scared to use it, especially against the older established businesses.

Excuse the waffling above as I tend to contextualise legal issues by what I know - that is, environmental law. My answer is thus - yes politics can be used to great effect as an agency to ensure positive change. This is said with caution.

We are dealing with a long history of discrimination in this country against anything that did not fit the old Aryan / Nazi concept of perfection (with Xianity inserted for interest). As such, Pagans are a small group that fly in the face of many of the old accepted norms. We also run the risk of being seen to be dominantly from the old 'white elite'. So we fight a war against the old mindset and against the perceptions of the new - unless care is taken we could run the risk of being firmly marginalised. So any political actions taken must be very clear on the aims and objectives. We must ensure that we are above manipulation to fit into someone else's agenda. And sadly - do not expect things to happen overnight in the political arena.

Paganism must be the only minority religion where its adherants very often have to withhold the fact that they are Pagan in order to avoid unwanted discrimination. How do you feel about that?

Sadly as indicated above - we do not fit the preferred norms and standards of most mainstream South Africans. Although much discriminatory behaviour has been 'outlawed', the reality is that it still exists in peoples minds. Look at anti-Semitism. It doesn't go away, we can just hope that by informing people we know well and through showing them by example that being 'Pagan' or a 'Witch' is not equal to the Xian concept of Satanism and thus that we are not by default evil. I think the rule will be the same for many years - judge a person carefully and if they seem receptive test them and then tell them outright and use each encounter as an opportunity to teach (NOT evangelise!). In terms of the fact that we are the only minority that has to 'hide', I'm not sure that is absolutely true. Many of the smaller religion groups have problems (Rastafarians, Hari-Krishna, etc) and that won't change. People just don't like what is different.

What do you think Paganism has to offer the rainbow nation of the future?

A lot! I think the we should consider ourselves an integral part of this highly diverse culture. It is SA's variety in all spheres that attracts many visitors to our shores. In terms of my field of expertise - most (if not all) Pagans have a link to nature and passion for nature and the preservation thereof. So by continuing in the preservation of nature and upholding the importance thereof, Pagans can ensure that nature has a chance. I do not think it is a coincidence that many 'Greenies' are Pagans too. Or that many high level scientists - across the board of disciplines - are also Pagans. :o)

To borrow a chunk from the Preamble of the Constitution: "We, the people of South Africa, Recognise the injustices of our past; Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country, and Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity."

Ministries aim to trash green laws

Government departments, under pressure to deliver economic growth, have launched a broadside against environmental legislation, saying it is holding up development and should be scrapped. New regulations streamlining environmental impact assessments have been stalled for more than a year, partly because of high-level power-mongering. Read the story online