Paganism – Page 4 – NaturalPagans

The World Needs Her Witches, by Phyllis Curott, Witch and Wiccan Priestess

July 12, 2019 HumanisticPaganism Ancient and Modern Paganism, HP, inspiration, Latest Posts, naturalistic pagan, Nature/Stoicism, Paganism, Practice, Responsibility

A response to David Brooks New York Times 6/11/19 Op Ed https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/10/opinion/astrology-occult-millennials.html David Brooks is right to quote from the Tara Isabella Burton essay in The American Interest, “Wicca … is technically the fastest-growing religion in America.” But he misses…

The Invitation of Wild Geese

January 21, 2019 lupa Anthropocentrism, Bioregion, Cosmology, Death, Environmentalism, Ethics, Gratitude, Health and Healing, Meaning, Naturalist Paganism, Nature, Nature Spirituality, Nature Writing, Paganism, Psychology, Rites of Passage, Rituals, Science, The Green Wolf, Wonder and Awe

I feel like not enough people knew of Mary Oliver, who passed away on Friday at the age of 83. I myself, not being a huge fan of poetry, never heard of her work until just a few years ago. Somehow in my enjoyment… Continue Reading

The Invitation of Wild Geese

Spirits in the Kitchen: Honoring the Remains of Our Food

January 10, 2019 lupa Activism, Animals, Anthropocentrism, Bioregion, Cosmology, Death, Environmentalism, Food, Fungi, gardening, Gratitude, Magic, Meaning, Naturalist Paganism, Nature, Nature Spirituality, Nature Writing, Paganism, Plants, Rituals, Science, Seasons, Sustainability, The Green Wolf, Way of the Scavenger

[Main photo: rice and cheese stuffed crimini mushrooms, roasted acorn squash and red onion, and sauteed vegetables and mushrooms] The older I get, the more important food has become to me. For the first quarter century of my life, I couldn’t have cared less… Continue Reading

Introducing Pocket Osteomancy: A Simple Bone Divination Set

November 28, 2018 lupa Books, Divination, My Books, Nature, Nature Spirituality, Nature Writing, News, Paganism, Ritual Tools, Skin Spirits, The Green Wolf, The Tarot of Bones, Writing

Surprise! I have a new book! Well, booklet, anyway. And there’s a nifty handmade divination set with it, too! Pocket Osteomancy is a bone divination system that I created based loosely on the Minor Arcana of the Tarot of Bones. It’s a bone casting… Continue Reading

Why Pagans Need Field Guides

October 3, 2018 lupa Animals, Anthropocentrism, Bioregion, Books, Environmentalism, Fungi, Naturalist Paganism, Nature, Nature Spirituality, Paganism, Plants, Science, The Green Wolf

I was talking to someone on Facebook today about how I’m a field guide nerd. I have an ever-growing collection of identification books on the fauna, flora and fungi of the Pacific Northwest, as well as its complicated geology, climate, and other natural features…. Continue Reading

Paganism: The Little Religion That Could Have Been

August 29, 2018 John Halstead Climate Change, end of the world, Environmentalism, Natural Pagans, Paganism, The Allergic Pagan

I’m not blaming Paganism for the end of the world as we know it. Well, not entirely.

Paganism Needs a Prophet (but it ain’t me)

July 6, 2018 John Halstead Community, devotional polytheism, gods, literalism, Magic, Natural Pagans, naturalistic paganism, Neo-Paganism, occultism, Paganism, pre/trans fallacy, The Allergic Pagan

I hope a prophet does come along to lead Pagans out of the wilderness of dogmatism and superstition … but it ain’t me babe!

Paganism, Food, and the Element of Terroir

January 2, 2018 lupa Activism, Environmentalism, Food, gardening, Naturalist Paganism, Nature Spirituality, Paganism, Plants, Science, Seasons, Sustainability, The Green Wolf

In case you didn’t know it, I am a minor-level foodie. I haven’t run around to every single pricey restaurant in Portland, but I am an unabashed locavore who loves to cook. And as an environmentalist I’m keenly aware of where my food comes… Continue Reading

Pagan with a small “p”

December 15, 2017 John Halstead animism, belief, Community, contemporary Paganism, Natural Pagans, Nature, pagan, Paganism, The Allergic Pagan

For every gem of genuine ecological wisdom I have found in the Pagan community, there is a deluge of crystals and correspondences, divinities and divination apps, wizards and wishful thinking. Maybe it’s time to face up to the fact that, while I am spiritually and religiously “pagan” with a small-p, culturally I am not a capital-P “Pagan”.