Naturalistic Paganism

I have long felt conflicted about calling myself a “Pagan”. I have a focus on ancestral and animistic nature veneration, while the term “Pagan” in the Western sense seems to be conflated with casting spells to alter the natural flow of things and resurrecting worshipping of pantheons of deities from ancient civilizations. Read More

This essay was originally published at Boxing Pythagoras.

Having already related to my readers “Why I am not a Christian,” I thought I might take some time to talk about what I am: I am a godless Heathen.

It is not uncommon to find modern atheists who jokingly refer to themselves as “godless heathens.” They use the title satirically, to poke fun at the unwarranted derision laid upon a person by some Christians over the simple fact that atheists don’t believe in God. It hearkens back to a period when Christianity had actual legal authority, in the Western world, and the charge of being a “godless heathen” was a criminal offense resulting in a capital punishment. However, this is not what I mean when I use the term “godless Heathen,” as in the title of this article. To be fair, I also intend this sort of tongue-in-cheek reference, but my usage actually carries a further weight which is not generally shared by most of the other atheists that I have met. When I say that I am a “godless Heathen,” I am actually referring to the fact that I am an atheist who practices Norse Heathenry. Read More