| The Public Bodies Liaison Committee for British Paganism |
Pagan attitudes to organ donation and blood transfusion.
Statement by Angela Grant (Kestrel) - Chair of PEBBLE
I have done some investigation of this subject as a result of a request that came to Pebble some time ago. Attitudes do vary from Pagan to Pagan and there is no single opinion that covers all Pagans. However, the views that have been expressed to me tend to fall into one of two categories.
Firstly, the Dualist perspective. This appears to be the majority opinion and one that is widely held by many people within the British Isles, whatever their religion. This consists of a belief that body and soul, or spirit, are two intrinsically separately entities and that, at death, they separate, the body decays and merges with the earth and the spirit passes on to whatever afterlife the believer holds to, or reincarnates in another body. This means that generally this group has no problem with organ transplantation or blood donation. The body is simply a mechanism and, if it can be used by someone else after the body's owner has passed on or even whilst they are alive, if this causes no harm to the owner, then they have no problem with allowing the donation to proceed.
The other major attitude I will call the Animist perspective. In this the body and the spirit are felt to be one, they are both forms of energy and there is no division between the two, they are both intrinsic to the person and indivisible. As the body decays at death part of spirit stays with what remains and part disintegrates and returns to the Universal Consciousness whence it may become part of another person and by person I mean any possible entity, man, animal, tree, plant, insect, soil, whatever. Only if it is sufficiently cohesive will it stay together as a person. This means that if a person's organ is removed or blood donated then part of a person's spirit goes with it. Animists call on the phenomenon of 'cellular memory' as a proof that this happens. There is therefore reluctance on the part of many Animists to donate blood or allow their organs to be used after death. Neither will they accept donations from others as clearly the exchange works both ways.
There are some that appear to hold a centre line, that is part Dualist and part Animist, but in conversations I have had with those that I have met it soon becomes clear that their position is one that has not fully been thought through. Dualism is culturally very strongly adhered to in this country and many are locked into this thought pattern even though they have Animist leanings.
There is therefore no one line that all Pagans hold to and any family member who wishes to consider the feelings of a Pagan relative should talk the matter through fully with them in order to establish their wishes on this subject.
Angela Grant (Kestrel) September 2009