It’s the 4th of July: Independence Day in the U.S., a time of patriotic celebration. I am a patriot. By that, I mean that I 1) love the land, water, air, and people of the United States, and want the best for them; 2) I am well familiar with and do not deny the historical … Continue reading Patriotism and Ritual Cleansing
Read moreCandle Rituals
One of the more characteristic “witches’ tools” used in rituals is the candle. There are many ways we can work with them to create psychologically powerful and effective rituals. Candles provide a “magical” atmosphere for many reasons. Low light conditions tend to provoke a spooky desire on the part of people to be quieter, possibly as … Continue reading Candle Rituals
Read moreEffective 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
Read moreRitual “Special Effects”
Sometimes in a ritual, a little special-effects magic can help to create that sense that “magic is happening”. Here are some effects I’ve collected from a conversation in the Atheopagan Facebook group. Burning Isopropyl alcohol. Use the full 90%+ stuff, not the 40% methanol “rubbing alcohol”. This is highly flammable and can make for a marvelous … Continue reading Ritual “Special Effects”
Read moreLoving the World: An Atheopagan Sex Magic Primer for May Day (NSFW)
CONTENT WARNING: This post contains frank discussion of sexuality, and is meant for adults. If you’re not one, please stop reading and go elsewhere. … … … … … … … … Loving the World: An Atheopagan Sex Magic Primer for May Day (NSFW) Spring is often thought of as the season of sex. Trees … Continue reading Loving the World: An Atheopagan Sex Magic Primer for May Day (NSFW)
Read moreJourneying in the Inner Landscape
Here at Atheopaganism, we have discussed ritual skills quite a bit. Developing the skill sets that help people to attain the Ritual State (or “trance”) is key to our ability to be effective ritualists who can transform consciousness in empowering ways. Click here to see previous posts tagged as “Ritual Technologies and Core Skills”. Thus … Continue reading Journeying in the Inner Landscape
Read moreWhat Makes a Ritual “Successful”?
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”?
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