In the two weeks before I started my new job, I realized that I wasn’t going to have an extended run of days in which I could record an audiobook of ATHEOPAGANISM: An Earth-Honoring Path Rooted in Science–a long-planned project–for a …
Read moreSelf-Initiation Rituals
Sometimes you know you have crossed–or are about to cross–a threshold. You are moving from one chapter in your life to another, or changing your status in some way. Perhaps it’s attainment of a professional license, or moving to anoth…
Read moreMeeting the Meat: An Animal Initiation
We are reasoning Pagans. We revere the Earth and Cosmos without gilding the lily with the supernatural. We are poets and singers, dancers and artists. We paint the sky with our pigments, our tones, our voices, the products of our loving hands. And unde…
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Approaching Sixty
A month from today, I will reach 60 years of age. I can’t believe it, honestly. I still feel 35. Where has all that time gone? Now, I’m aware that I can’t look at this dispassionately. A combination of the American cult of youth and the very real fact of impending mortality makes this a …
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So, um…Wanna Get Ordained?
Today, I learned something amazing: In the U.S., if your religious organization’s income is ordinarily expected to be $5,000 per year or less, YOU DON’T HAVE TO FILE FOR TAX EXEMPT STATUS! What this means is that The Atheopagan Society is ALREADY a tax-exempt nonprofit. We have some steps we have to take, like formally … Continue reading So, um…Wanna Get Ordained?
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This Is a Way of Life. You Can Ritually Commit to It.
Atheopaganism is a Pagan path without “degrees”, levels of initiation, clergy statuses, etc. We’re all of equal value on this planet and in this practice, and so we say that any Atheopagan with the skills and inclination may, say, officiate at a wedding or a funeral, or perform pastoral counseling. What is important is not … Continue reading This Is a Way of Life. You Can Ritually Commit to It.
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The Invitation of Wild Geese
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
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The Invitation of Wild Geese
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
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Effective Atheopagan Leadership: a Curriculum
As I’ve written before, my conceptualization of Atheopaganism as a path and a tradition does not incorporate concepts of degrees of advancement or “clergy”. I just find these to be fraught with too many pitfalls, ranging from “higher-level” persons gatekeeping access to knowledge and training from lower-level ones, to those with “status” potentially being able to leverage … Continue reading Effective Atheopagan Leadership: a Curriculum
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Rites of Passage #5: Memorials
Some time ago, I wrote a piece about Atheopagan Rites of Passage. In it, I described life milestones that might be celebrated by an Atheopagan, and which we as Atheopagan “clergy” (we’re all clergy, since we have none) might be asked to officiate over. On reflection, it occured to me that just talking about these rites … Continue reading Rites of Passage #5: Memorials
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