In many modern Pagan reckonings of the seasons, as well as in some places in the world like Ireland, the solstices and equinoxes do not mark the beginnings, but rather the peaks of each season. The “cross-quarters” in February, May, August …
Read moreMay Day: What do YOU Think?
Atheopaganism is a religious path in a general sense, but it’s really a diverse set of individual paths that each of us crafts for ourselves, using pieces of my work or the work of other community members and our own creativity and spirituality. …
Read moreA Brightening Ritual
It’s the February Sabbath! Midpoint between the winter solstice (Yule or Midwinter) and the spring equinox (which I call High Spring), it is the time when the light is noticeably returning after the deep darkness of winter, and the hope of spring…
Read moreA Happy Solstice to You!
The Shortest Day has arrived (in the Northern Hemisphere–Longest in the Southern)! It’s a day viewed with awe and relief by ancestors throughout the world, marking the beginning of the Sacred Sun’s long arc of return to strength. I ju…
Read moreSabbath Drop
So, the first week in November was Hallows. The whole week. I wrote about this before: the fun/gross/sexy/creepy launch of Halloween, the days between with their various observances, and then actual Hallows/Samhain, the midpoint between the autumnal eq…
Read moreDeep in Hallows
We’re deep in the season of Hallows now. Halloween is a memory; the true midpoint between the equinox and solstice still some days ahead, on the 7th. By then, the clocks will have turned back, and darkness will descend quite suddenly on the eveni…
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October
In the arc of the Pagan wheel of the year, October is the time leading up to Samhain or Hallows (the midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice). It is, of course, the time when we all go a little crazy with spooky décor and witchy aesthetic, leading up to Halloween night, although …
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Autumn and Harvest 2022
Outside, blessedly, it is raining. It’s the first rain we have had since April, and it seems like enough to damp down the annual wildfire season we suffer through here in California. Ah, the scent of the wet Earth! The sound of the rain on the roof! The buffets of the wind in the wind …
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The Dimming Sabbath, 2022
After much struggle to find a worthy name for this cross-quarter holiday, I have borrowed a suggestion from a member of the Atheopagan Facebook group and gone with Dimming, with its corresponding Brightening in February. “Dimming” says what this holiday is: yes, it’s summer, but the days aren’t so long now. Where I live, a …
Continue reading The Dimming Sabbath, 2022
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Happy High Spring 2022!
We’ve been through a lot over the past two years. We’re still going through a lot. And yet, the sprouts rise and the buds swell, the flowers bloom and the birds return. Spring is always a hopeful time, a time to gaze forward with anticipation and optimism. For me this year, I am so close …
Continue reading Happy High Spring 2022!
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