Pagan Bloggers with Naturalistic Worldviews
Another in my series of Sonoma Stories: mythology for a sacred landscape of meaning. Around here, before the Lost People pushed their way in and started building cities, this used to be Bear country. Bear’s still here, but she keeps to the hills and doesn’t come down around the valleys so often now. Before we … Continue reading Mythology: Salmon’s Revenge
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Where things stand: Below are the candidate symbols for the second round of voting. They include the top three from the first round. Please vote in the comments either on the Facebook group or below. Please vote by July 17, and only vote for ONE choice! What happens next: We will narrow down to a … Continue reading Atheopagan Symbol Contest: Round 2
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When I do Atheopagan rituals—particularly with other people—most of the time I follow a simple structure which facilitates passage into the Ritual State, also known sometimes as “trance” or “flow”. That structure and the concepts and principles surrounding it are explored in detail in the Atheopagan Ritual Primer, which can be downloaded here. Now, I should … Continue reading New Thoughts on the “Arrival” Phase of Atheopagan Ritual
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In an atheistic world, many ask: what’s the point? What is the purpose of living if there’s no judgment, no afterlife to be attained, no cosmic plan or purpose? I can’t tell you what is meaningful in your life. Perhaps it’s your art, or your family: being the best parent (or grandparent, or aunt or … Continue reading What is There to Live for?
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Update: today, July 10, is the deadline for additional submissions (due to additional ideas and discussion on the Facebook group). Please mail to atheopagan@comcast.net. There will be further opportunities to comment and vote after the 10th. For those of you not on our Facebook group, where voting is happening now, here is your chance to vote … Continue reading Atheopagan Symbol Contest
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It’s a big subject, what it means to be human. We ask it in science, and in art, in literature. We get some answers. Neuroscience and anthropology have identified many facts about our species. But I’ve been thinking a lot about the mysteries of human nature lately. Like: what’s up with music? Why do we … Continue reading Mysterious Impulses
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My Focus is densely populated, because I like it that way. It is rich with meaning and history: places I have been, things I associate with important principles. In its candlelight, illustrations of cave drawings from 35,000 years ago flicker. A Homo Erectus stone tool rests for a tiny percentage of its existence. Images of the … Continue reading In a Dream of Incense and Candlelight
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Walking in nature is a very healthy thing to do. It’s exercise, it fills your lungs with good air and your eyes with beauty, it reduces stress and blood pressure and depression. It is a sacred activity and, all by itself, constitutes an “informal” Atheopagan ritual. This article is about adding a symbolic, ritual dimension … Continue reading Pilgrimage Hiking
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In times like these, those of us who are of sound mind and values know: we must do something. In Atheopaganism, we believe in the power and necessity of human ritual. We understand the science about why rituals work, and why they are important to us. We celebrate the turning of the seasons and personal and familial … Continue reading Rituals Are Important. But They Aren’t Activism.
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Friends and Allies, let us grieve. Let us grieve that an era of progress and forward thinking appears to be drowning in a sea of ignorance, hatred and fear. Let us grieve that reason has been swamped by credulity, and science by superstition and willful ignorance. Let us grieve. Let us tear the words from … Continue reading Requiem and Invocation
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