Naturalistic Paganism

PaGaian Cosmology Meditations CDs

Click here to pledge now

My name is Glenys Livingstone, and I am the author of PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion (Lincoln NE: iUniverse 2005)

For over two decades I have been teaching and celebrating Earth’s sacred annual cycle, and for each Seasonal Moment in the preparation classes there has been an experiential meditation evolving – that I have shared with my students: it is a potent creative process, an eco-psychology, when the whole cycle is tasted … it is a geo-therapy (thanks to cosmologist Brian Swimme and geologian Thomas Berry for that term) that can heal and whole and create. Participating in the sacred process of the Wheel of the Year, celebrating GaiaEarth’s creativity is a Poiesis – the making of a world, and these meditations have enabled a taste and experience of this magical process for participants, including myself.

It is time now to share it further – especially for those around the globe who would like to have participated in the PaGaian seasonal ceremonies, and/or the ceremonial preparation classes over the years, who may like to taste it now – and in one’s own space, and perhaps with others. My creation of the CDs is for any who desire, and perhaps already have, deep conversation with the Mother, our sacred place of being – the meditations will meet a person at whatever self appointed place. In these times of deep change, a return to sacred ceremony seems more necessary – medicinal, even urgent – for the wholing of each and all, for the remembering of who and where we are. Read More

“Why Are So Many Women Embracing Vesta & Contemporary Paganism?” by Debra Macleod

The rediscovery of ancient faiths like Vesta, as well as other pre-Christian polytheistic belief systems, has been skyrocketing for years now.  And while both men and women are embracing these, I’d like to focus here on why women are doing so. Read More

Sign “A Pagan Community Statement on the Environment”

(“Thinking Like a Mountain” by Robert Bateman)

In this time of accelerating environmental change, many of us feel a sense of urgency to help transform humanity’s relationship with the Earth.  This sense of urgency is what drew together a large group of diverse Pagans, including Pagan leaders, authors, artists, and bloggers from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia to draft “A Pagan Community Statement on the Environment.”  The working group included several members of the Humanistic Paganism community.  In honor of Earth Day, the statement has been published at ecopagan.com where you can add your signature. The statement represents the beginning of a conversation, not the final word. Join us in our call to all people to rise to this historic moment in order to protect all life on Earth by signing the statement. You can sign on your own behalf or on behalf of a group or organization.
Read More

“I Don’t Believe in Purification” by Shauna Aura Knight

I’m a Pantheist. I believe that the entirety of the world, of the universe, is divine. So the idea of “making sacred space” or “purifying” doesn’t really fit into my theology or cosmology. On the other hand, a lot of the ritual facilitation work that I do is about working with people and their processes. I tend to think of psychology as a kind of magic because it works to understand people and how they work, and for me, those patterns and processes are a part of our nature, and thus, part of the divine as well.

Heros-Journey-Circle

Psychology, architecture, the process of pilgrimage, and the hero’s journey show us that we need steps in order to change our state of consciousness.

For me, the part of the ritual that is often referred to as “making sacred space” is more about getting everyone involved in the ritual into the right mindset, the right headspace. And if I look at psychology, and architecture, and the process of pilgrimage, and the hero’s journey…and I look at that alongside the natural world and the shapes and patterns found in nature, this makes a lot of sense. Read More

“Exploring the Historical Roots of Naturalistic Paganism” by B. T. Newberg

This essay was originally published at The Agora: The Central Hub for the Patheos Pagan Channel.  This is the first of a series entitled “Naturalistic Traditions” previously published at Agora.

Were there Naturalistic Pagans in the ancient world?

This is the central question of a series of essays called “Naturalistic Traditions” which I published at Agora exploring the historical roots of naturalistic ways among Pagans.

Many may assume that Naturalistic Pagans, who tend to be agnostics or atheists, are an exclusively modern phenomenon.  The “Naturalistic Traditions” series questions that assumption, probing various historical Pagan traditions for something resembling naturalism.

The significance of this project goes beyond naturalism.  Indeed, it calls into question the historical consciousness of Pagans in general.  If there were naturalists among ancient Pagans, how might that change the way we see the myths and traditions on which Pagans of all styles of belief base their practices?

By exploring these issues, we may gain an expanded sense of the historicity of the diverse styles of belief common in Paganism today.  This series focuses on just one of those styles: naturalism. Read More