Escaping the Otherworld: The Reenchantment of Paganism

capitalism, disenchantment, enchantment, escapism, Natural Pagans, Paganism, reenchantment, Religion, Science, The Allergic Pagan, Transcendentalism

The real danger to Paganism is not so much that our religion will be outlawed, but that there will be no reason to outlaw it. The danger is not that guardians of the overculture will go to war with Pagans in a second “Burning Times”, but that they will have no reason to go to war with Paganism, because any difference between the two will have become merely superficial. The danger is not that we will forced to consume some counterfeit experience for the genuine re-enchantment, but that we will no longer be able to tell the difference.

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Capitalist Extortion in the Pagan Community

bailout, BN Media, capitalism, capitalists, corporatism, extortion, Natural Pagans, Patheos, Patheos Pagan, The Allergic Pagan, troll

Extortionist behavior is not aberrant–it’s a feature of a capitalist system. Not all capitalists will resort to this level of extortion, obviously, but there are no inherent checks to prevent it when they do. It even finds its way even into our religious lives. We can condemn the extortionist behavior, but its not a problem of a few bad apples. We need to get to the root of the problem–the inherently extortionist nature of capitalism. Until we do that, extortion will be an unavoidable part of our lives–and our Paganism.

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The Problem and the Promise of Paganism, and Why One Looks a Lot Like the Other

capitalism, critical thinking, enchantment, gods, groupthink, HP, John Halstead, Ken Wilbur, Latest Posts, Magic, naturalistic pagan, Paganism, positivism, prerational, rational, renenchantment, transrational

In spite of the tendency of many Pagans to confuse the pre-rational with the trans-rational, in spite of the uncritical attitudes and superstitious ideas that haunt a lot of Paganism, I still call myself a Pagan. I am still a Pagan because I believe that Paganism is a door to the trans-rational. I believe that Paganism has the potential to bring together the wisdom of our animistic forebearers and the discoveries of contemporary science in a way that has the power to reenchant the world.

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