Animism for the Religious Naturalist

animism, David Abram, HP, inteconnectedness, John Halstead, Latest Posts, libations, Natural Pagans, naturalism, naturalistic pagan, reenchantment, Religious Naturalism, rewilding, Robin Wall Kimmerer

Animists see a world that is full of other-than-human persons, including salmon persons, tree persons, and even rock persons. It is difficult for many Westerners to understand the concept of other-than-human persons, especially when talking about (seemingly) “inanimate objects” like rocks. But for the animist, there is no such thing as inanimate matter, because it is all a part of the complex self-regulating living system called Gaia. Animism is not about the projection of consciousness or agency onto non-human things, but about respect and reciprocity within a more-than-human community that transcends the subject-object dichotomy.

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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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Literal Gods Are for the Literal Minded: Re-Enchanting Polytheism

atomism, enchantment, gods, HP, interconnected, John Halstead, Latest Posts, literal, literal gods, naturalistic pagan, positvism, reenchantment, Science, Theology

The disenchantment of the world happened, not when we stopped seeing gods and spirits in nature, but when we stopped seeing our essential connection to nature. Personifying rivers and trees with dryads is not going to accomplish this. Rather, we need to realize our essential oneness, the manifold ways in which we are connected to the rivers and the trees–whether or not we find gods in them.

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