Pagan Bloggers with Naturalistic Worldviews
My second hope for you at Yule is that you engage the season with bravery. This is the time when we stand up to darkness and cold and the prospect of much more of it, and we do so with a combination of brazen silliness and real strength: the kind of strength it takes to … Continue reading Yule Offering #2: Courage
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Here’s my first hope for you at (what I consider) the New Year: the Winter Solstice, or Yule. That after the holiday frenzy of Silly Season, after the parties and dinners and rituals, there comes a moment when you can just stop. And be still. And feel within you the glow of all your life’s wealth: … Continue reading Yule Offering #1: Stillness
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For those of us who care about our Earth, this season presents a conundrum: How do we navigate this most commercial and consumeristic of seasons and remain true to our values? Well, here are some thoughts. I hope they help. First of all, the tree. Buy a real one. Artificial trees create three times the … Continue reading What Shall We Give for Yule?
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This year, the longest night of the year—Winter Solstice, or Yule—takes place on Thursday, December 21st. On the night of the Winter Solstice, an old tradition that we have adapted for Atheopagan purposes is the burning of the Yule log. Yule marks the moment in the year when the sun’s steady decline, with days growing shorter … Continue reading The Yule Log—A Winter Solstice Ritual
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I am here to shout against the rising dark. To say to you—yes, you, individually, yourself reading this—that I know how hard it has become. To believe in a future. To aspire. Do not let them do this to you. Do not allow the ways of the world, this bitter storm turn you away from … Continue reading Do Not Ever Let
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So, we’re doing this Atheopaganism thing. What’s its purpose? What are its goals? I think we talk around the edges of this question a lot, with discussions of Sacred values and Principles that clearly point their way to a vision. But it would be better to articulate that vision straight-out, so people are clear about … Continue reading What’s This Atheopaganism About, Exactly?
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Speaking before an audience is terrifying for many people. In fact, surveys indicate that many fear public speaking more than death itself. However, for ritualists, speaking confidently before a group of listeners is a core skill that enables clear communication, evocation of emotion, and establishment of leadership credibility which provokes a sense of safety and … Continue reading Giving Voice: Public Speaking as a Core Ritual Skill
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John Halstead over at Humanistic Paganism has published a rather sharply-worded piece about “10 Signs You’re Half-Assing Your Ritual”. It’s well worth a read, and in general, he’s right: there is a lot of ho-hum ritual out there and many, if not most of us can do a better job of preparing and enacting our … Continue reading What Makes a Ritual “Successful”?
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I am excited to announce that a new Facebook group has arisen for Atheopagans in the UK! Congratulations to Debi Gregory for starting the group. Those applying to join the group are asked to answer a short questionnaire, which originally asked for a commitment to abide by the 13 Atheopagan Principles. Some were puzzled by … Continue reading Why Atheopagan Principles?
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It isn’t really over, of course. Two dozen have lost their lives. Thousands are without homes, their possessions rendered to gray ashes. The most vulnerable among them–renters, the uninsured–will almost certainly flee our expensive region, despite admirable community efforts to raise funds to support them. The acrid smell of burned lives lingers in the air, … Continue reading After the Fire
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