Can you imagine that as recently as 2015, we were attacked and excluded, and now Naturalistic Paganism is near the top among both Pagan blogs and Pagan podcasts?!?!  Wow!

Top Pagan Blogs

It seems like yesterday that our approach was being attacked by a prominent Pagan blogger, and the wider discussion on whether or not we where a legitimate path (!) was going on in Pagan blogs as a result – that was 2015.  Bit by bit, we are being welcomed into the wider Pagan community, and it’s been wonderful to see.  We’ve grown by leaps and bounds too – especially the specific path of Atheopaganism.  Here is the Feedspot rating of the top 70 Pagan blogs, and we’re at #3!

The only ones above us are the giants – “Witches and Pagans”, and “The Wild Hunt”!  Also, our aggregator, which collects and publishes a number of Naturalistic Pagan blogs, comes in at #7!  While most of the posts there are from the Atheopagan blog or from here, other sources appear as well.  And speaking of the Atheopagan movement, the growth there has been awesome to watch (and participate in)!  These are all fulfilling dreams which just a few years ago seemed wildly optimistic (more on that in a minute)….

Top Pagan Podcasts

The Wonder comes in at #3 on all Pagan podcasts!  What an incredibly fast success for the blog which just started a couple years ago, and tried to grow during the turmoil of the pandemic!  Again we see us up there among the giants of the Pagan umbrella.  The depth of topics on the The Wonder has been a powerful testament to the strong purpose and meaning shown by each episode of The Wonder, and great episodes keep coming, nearly every Monday!

The Future

Back in 2016, the founder of this blog (B. T. Newburg) posted a very optimistic blog post about the next 50 years of Naturalistic Paganism.  At the time, it seemed unrealistic to me, though great to read and dream of.  His blog post goes out to a half century in the future (2066), but let’s look at what it says for the first ~5 years, which is about where we are now.  His immediate visions included us tackling real life issues beyond basic philosophy, being part of wider naturalistic spiritualities, and helping build our own Wheels of the Year.  I think all of that has happened and is happening.  But what his next set of visions?

His next set starts with the first annual conference is held for Naturalistic Pagans.  Yay, we had the Suntree retreat, the first in person Naturalistic Pagan conference, in 2022 (and it’s annual, too!  The conference is online this year, and then in person again in 2024)!  Next, he lists “the first book released by a major Pagan publisher”.  I’m not sure what qualifies as a “major Pagan publisher”, but we did have both the Godless Paganism book as well as Atheopaganism, and more books on the way!

We have solid accomplishments in his next two items for ~5 years, if imperfect.  Those are “sustainable living is part of the Naturalistic Pagan way of life” and “Naturalistic Pagan groups and individuals collaborate to address environmental issues”.  I do what I can, as many of us do.  At the same time, the focus shouldn’t completely be on the individual, when corporations and governments have a much larger influence.  For the collaboration item, we do have both the Pagan Community Statement on the Environment, as well as the The Earth-based Spirituality Team (part of the Citizen’s Climate Lobby) – both helping do the work needed (and neither being exclusively naturalistic, which is a good thing when collaborating).

Atheopaganism Grows by Leaps and Bounds!

And we especially don’t want to forget the area where many of the biggest steps forward are happening – the Atheopagan Society.  Post #600 (!) on the Atheopagan blog details just a few of the many milestones:

More than 120,000 site visits, two books (with one on the way), 137 podcasts, 28 YouTube videos, 3 in-person community events and the help of dozens of community volunteers later, here we are, with the 600th post to the blog.

Our community has mushroomed in size and complexity, including formation of our own nonprofit Atheopagan Society, and Atheopaganism is well-established in the Pagan community (except in the minds of a narrow few) as a legitimate religious path.

We have more on the horizon…….

Plus, the Atheopagan post about the state of Atheopaganism in 2023 has so many activities to list that if I were to quote them, it would be copying practically the whole blog post!  Check it out!

So much to be happy about!