Pagan Bloggers with Naturalistic Worldviews
“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 […]
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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 […]
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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
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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 […]
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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
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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Some lament that the Pagan movement has failed to heal the world, failed to forestall human-made climate change and prevent abuse and oppression. A related complaint, usually made at the same time, is that other Pagans are self-absorbed. Others aren’t serious about their practice, the charge goes, as evidenced by the facts that they focus […]
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