Pagan Bloggers with Naturalistic Worldviews
Let’s start by acknowledging that the definitions are fuzzy. There is no universally agreed-to definition of what a “religion” even is. “Spirituality” is just as indeterminate. So all we can do is look at religions of the world and try to identify the elements that compose them. When I do that, I conclude that a … Continue reading Beyond Faith. Beyond Fundamentalism.
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It’s a soft, rainy spring day. I’m grateful for the rain—we need it—and for the lush green it has brought to the hills and meadows, the vineyards carpeted with bright mustard flowers. These are such challenging times. The circumstances of my personal life are stressful and frightening; the broader culture is caught in the nightmare … Continue reading Sifting for Gold
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As I have written before, Atheopaganism is a forward-looking religious path. We envision a time when humanity lives in balance with the natural systems of the biosphere and when all people are treated fairly and equally in human society. Those are tall orders, but that’s what a vision is for, right? Especially in these times, … Continue reading Walking Our Talk: Modeling a Vision for the Future
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As the vernal equinox (which in my version of the Wheel of the Year I term High Spring) approaches, Pagans everywhere prepare to celebrate this important Sabbath. As the “Spring festival” (whether you consider it the beginning of Spring or, as I do, the height of it), themes of High Spring include new life, youth. … Continue reading High Spring: Themes, Resources and Ideas
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This is a bit of a bandwagon post. John Beckett and Jason Mankey have just posted about “Five Bad Reasons to be a Pagan” and “Five Good Reasons” to be one, respectively. They’re at Patheos, which I no longer link to, but you can find them easily if you like. Their posts got me thinking … Continue reading Five Great Reasons to Be an Atheopagan
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Here at Atheopaganism, we have discussed ritual skills quite a bit. Developing the skill sets that help people to attain the Ritual State (or “trance”) is key to our ability to be effective ritualists who can transform consciousness in empowering ways. Click here to see previous posts tagged as “Ritual Technologies and Core Skills”. Thus … Continue reading Journeying in the Inner Landscape
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Having online community is great, but real, in-person gatherings where we can build relationships, celebrate our rites and learn from one another are much, much better. I will be announcing two upcoming Atheopagan events in Sonoma County, California soon, but for those who are a long way away, I encourage you to organize your own … Continue reading Producing Your Own Atheopagan Event
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I’m back from Pantheacon, and had a wonderful festival again. I was involved in three conference offerings—a ritual for activists (“Arming the Earth Warriors”), a mixer for non-theists, and the annual ritual by the Spark Collective, of which I sit on the Core group—and all were well-attended and received. Our non-theist ritual had nearly twice as … Continue reading Woodland Dreaming: Missing Ancient Ways
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On this day in 1809, Charles Darwin was born. 50 years later, he would publish “On the Origin of Species”, which pretty well blew the doors off the scientific world, outraged the contemporary religious culture, and established the key scientific foundation of the field of biology for all time. Darwin knew what he was doing. … Continue reading Unpopular Ideas
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So, I’ve been a little hard on the Pagan community lately. I’ve decried abuses and hierarchies, lack of political engagement, and the leftovers of the sexual culture of the 1960s that still thrive in many corners of it. Those things are true, in my opinion, and I stand by them. So why, one might ask, do I continue … Continue reading On the Other Hand…(A Love Letter)
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