Amid all the eggs and bunnies, it’s easy to forget the challenges that evolution has overcome (and continues to wrestle with) when it comes to eggs and babies.
Read more
Spring Equinox Spell
“All spells at their heart are either saying please or thank you,” according to solitary Pagan witch Tylluan Penry, and I’m inclined to agree. Here’s a simple spell for saying please on Spring Equinox. Before beginning, decide who you’ll ask, and where you’ll do the asking. Then make an altar, but don’t overdo it. At […]
Read more
Pagan Philosophy Nugget #1: Why Religion?
Thus far in the Pagan blogs I’ve written a lot about practice without sharing very much philosophy or theology, not because I’m not doing any philosophy, but for a variety of other reasons. First among these is the fact that certain attitudes and types of practices, not philosophical positions, generally unite Pagan communities. Pagans approach […]
Read more
Shadow and Light
The equinox, which I name High Spring, is upon us. To me, this is a happy time of innocence and play. A time for bright colors and candy and finally—finally—having light in the evenings and a sun warm enough to feel on my skin. But today, I am so sad. So disturbed. The white supremacist murder … Continue reading Shadow and Light
Read more
Saving wild violet seeds
The patch of wild violets growing right outside my front door reminds me of a neighbor friend who gave me the first of the plants. She was a retired educator who enjoyed baking, gardening, traveling, and storytelling. She wasn’t perfect, but she was thoughtful, joyful, and grounded in what matters, and she died nearly two […]
Read more
The Sabbath of Innocence
On March 20, we will come around again to the vernal equinox, which in my Wheel of the Year I name High Spring. In the metaphorical arc of the year, High Spring is the time of youth–of childhood. As it happens, I don’t have children in my life very much. I have none of my … Continue reading The Sabbath of Innocence
Read more
The Spring Equinox Approaches…
For me, the growing daylight (reinforced by the start of Daylight Savings Time) is a reminder from our Earth itself, one of those many helpful features of our seasons, to begin thinking about, and planning for, the Spring Equinox/Ostara. Another reminder – one that is rather bizarre – is the appearance of a “warm-blooded” plant that smells like a zombie!
Read more
Take a Moment: A Meditation
As I begin this blog post, I am sitting in bed, sipping coffee. It is early morning. A series of waves of Canada geese are going overhead. I can’t see them, but I can hear them crying into the sky as they make their way onward. I think of Mary Oliver, of course, and remember … Continue reading Take a Moment: A Meditation
Read more
Welcome Home
I’ve written on this subject before, but I want to say to the hundreds who have joined our Atheopagan online community since: welcome home! Welcome to a place where deep spirituality of Nature meets reason and critical thinking. To wild, naked dancing around a bonfire (real or imagined), and the wonders of science’s understanding of our … Continue reading Welcome Home
Read more
Burgeoning
It’s definite now: the light is stronger, the days are longer. Here in the northern hemisphere, winter is passing, and spring is coming on. Where I live, in coastal Northern California, the very first wildflowers are the milk maids, and they are already gone now, faded to buttercups and hounds’ tongues and shooting stars: the … Continue reading Burgeoning
Read more