Pagan Bloggers with Naturalistic Worldviews
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
Read more
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”?
Read more
Hallows is unique among Atheopagan Sabbaths. For one thing, it’s a week long: it extends from Halloween through the actual midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, which falls around the 7th of November. A whole week of observances, of rituals, of spooky-eerie awareness of Death, of Ancestry, of the Dark. As it … Continue reading Dark Hallows
Read more
Let’s just say, circumstances don’t make these great times for perception of balance. It would be lovely to believe that darkness and light in the world are muddling along roughly in equal proportions at the moment. But that would feel like a big step forward, now. While I sincerely hope the circumstances of your individual … Continue reading Balance at the Fulcrum of the Year
Read more
A guest post by Kaigi-Ron. Fire makes all the difference. I know this from two personal experiences – both of which didn’t have a fire the first night, but did on the second…and that one change transformed everyone and everything. The first event occurred years ago, in another state. We were going to share songs and stories … Continue reading Fire Makes All the Difference
Read more
Harvest—the autumnal equinox, which takes place this year on Friday, September 22—marks a time for celebration and culmination, for reflection on the shortening days and on the balance between light and warmth and cold and darkness. It is an opportunity for us to consider how our plans have worked out, and to bask in the … Continue reading Let’s Talk Harvest!
Read more
There is a way we can be with one another. It is a way of kindness and mutual respect, of vulnerability and accountability. It is a way of playfulness and joy in the uniqueness and creativity of the other, a shared celebration. It is a way so powerful and yet so simple, a way so … Continue reading There is a Way
Read more
My circle met at my home yesterday. I’ve been circling with the same group for 27 years as of this upcoming Hallows (Samhain). We started as a group of six, and over time have expanded to ten, but all the original members are still here. It’s pretty remarkable. Dark Sun circle is my family. I … Continue reading A Ritual of Ease for Midsummer
Read more
These are the kindest and best of days. The evenings grow long, the air is mild. Here where I live, anyway, life is good. For our ancestors, too, these were good days. Planting and early tending of crops were over. Early lambs and hunting of spring animals were abundant. After the long, anxious wait of … Continue reading Hail, the Magnificent Sun!
Read more
Reality. It’s filled with marvels! It is not, however, filled with every marvel we can imagine. There are no dragons, nor unicorns. There are no pixies or fairies. And there is no “magic” in the sense of spellcasting, “charging” items with “power” or “energy”, hexes, curses, or otherwise affecting the course of events without material … Continue reading Real Magic
Read more