Naturalistic Paganism
Review of Crosby’s Mind and Cosmos, by Crafter Yearly
Thomas Nagel’s most recent book, Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False is an important new work that speaks to a wide range of audiences: theists, atheists, scientists, and philosophers. In it, he takes up the question of how to explain the existence of the universe and human life as well as the place and purpose of human life in the universe. While most authors taking up this very big question write from one of two diametrically opposed positions (i.e., religious theism or mechanistic scientism), Nagel adopts a naturalistic-teleological position that may be of special interest or importance for Naturalistic Pagans.
The Wheel of Evolution, by Eric Steinhart: Imbolc
Dr. Eric Steinhart draws on his philosophical background to create a naturalistic foundation for the Pagan Wheel of the Year. To better understand axiarchism, the philosophy on which Dr. Steinhart draws to create a Naturalistic Pagan theology, see Part 1 and Part 2 of his essay “Axiarchism and Paganism”.
During Imbolc, the sun is gaining strength, so that holy creative power concentrates itself ever more intensely. Imbolc represents early growth. After the Big Bang, particles evolve into simple atoms (hydrogen, helium, lithium). Simple atoms coalesce into the first stars, and these stars, running through their cycles, produce more complex atoms. Atoms join to make molecules; clouds of gas condense into planets. Astronomers have discovered hundreds of planets in our Milky Way galaxy, and have estimated that there may be billions of habitable earthlike planets in the Milky Way alone.
Don’t miss zodiacal light phenomenon starting Saturday night
At about an hour after sunset on Saturday, February 7, and for the next two weeks afterward, keen sky-watchers in the Northern Hemisphere can hunt down one of the most elusive of astronomical phenomena: zodiacal light.
This pyramid-shaped beam of light is easily mistaken for the lights of a far-off city just over the dark horizon in the countryside. It has also been called the “false dawn.” But this light is more ethereal; it is caused by sunlight reflecting off cosmic dust between the planets.
The best time to catch this ghostly sky light is about an hour after sunset, looking toward the western horizon from the dark countryside.
This celestial phenomenon is actually the reflection of billions of dust-size particles left behind in interplanetary space after the planets formed about 4.6 billion years ago.
A Candlemas-Themed Music Mix by Bart Everson
Our own Bart Everson has put together a great playlist of Candlemas-themed music. Enjoy! 
This is an eclectic mix, including a lot of Celtic folk-flavored stuff, but also Italian metal and straight-up rock’n’roll. There’s even a psychedelic prog-rock odyssey called “Glassdust at the Disablot” for any heathens out there.
The Mix-Master
In addition to writing the A Pedagogy of Gaia column here at HumanisticPaganism, Bart Everson is a writer, a photographer, a baker of bread, a husband and a father. An award-winning videographer, he is co-creator of ROX, the first TV show on the internet. As a media artist and an advocate for faculty development in higher education, he is interested in current and emerging trends in social media, blogging, podcasting, et cetera, as well as contemplative pedagogy and integrative learning. He is a founding member of the Green Party of Louisiana, past president of Friends of Lafitte Corridor, sometime contributor to Rising Tide, and a participant in New Orleans Lamplight Circle. See Bart Everson’s other posts.
Winter Cross-Quarter
Today (Feb. 3) is the Winter Cross-Quarter (in the U.S. — It’s tomorrow in Europe and Australia). It is the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring equinox. It is one of eight stations in our planet’s annual journey around the sun. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, the claws of winter are harsh at this time, even though sunlight has already started returning. It takes a while for the climate to warm in response to the longer day, so the earth remains cold. While the Winter Solstice is the time of longest darkness, the Winter Cross-Quarter is (on average) the time of greatest cold. Yet, like a secret promise, the sun is returning. Jon Cleland Host of the Naturalistic Paganism yahoo group refers to the day as the Winter “Thermistice”, the peak of cold in the winter season.
In the Northern Hemisphere, February 2 is traditionally celebrated in the Neo-Pagan Wheel of the Year as Imbolc. Other names include Oimelc, Brigit, Brigid’s Day, Bride’s Day, Brigantia, Gŵyl y Canhwyllau, and Candlemas. Those in the Southern Hemisphere celebrate Lammas instead at this time. Imbolc derives from Celtic traditions surrounding the goddess Brigid, whose sacred fire at Kildare was tended by virgin priestesses. Traditionally, it marks the season when ewes birth and give milk. It is a time of emergence, as the herd brings new life into the world, and we look forward to the coming spring. One custom to observe this is placing a well-protected candle in each window of the house, to shine the light of life out into the snowy cold (Nichols, 2009).
Glenys Livingstone of PaGaian Cosmology, a naturalistic tradition revering the Goddess as a metaphor for the Cosmos, recommends meditating upon emerging Creativity through the ever-new flame of the candle, the beginning of the in-breath, and the word om. It is a time for individuation, a time to renew dedication of one’s small self to the big Self.
“A dedication to Brigid means a dedication to the Being and Beauty of particular small self, and knowing deeply its Source – as an infant knows deeply its dependence on the Mother, as the new shoot on the tree knows intimately its dependence on the branch and the whole tree, as the new star’s being is connected to the supernova. It is a dedication to the being of your particular beautiful Self, rooted seamlessly in the whole of Gaia.” (Livingstone, 2008)
NaturalPantheist shares the words he uses during his Imbolc celebration:
“As I stand here on this celebration of Imbolc, the sacred wheel of the year continues to turn and spring begins again. As my forebears did, I do now, and so may my descendants do in time to come. It is the feast of the goddess Brigid, guardian of the hearth fire and protector of the home. Patron of poetry, healing and smithcraft. It is a time of awakening after the dark, cold slumber of winter. The sun has grown stronger and the days have grown longer and I see now the first signs of spring. Trees are beginning to bud, snowdrops are blossoming and animals are stirring from hibernation. The time of Oimelc has arrived – the ewe’s are pregnant, lambs are being born and milk is beginning to flow once more. Winter is over and I rejoice in the hope of the coming warmth.
“I light this candle now in thanksgiving to Brigid, the sacred hearth fires of my home. I celebrate the growing power of the sun and look forward in hope to the coming warmth of summer.”
Jon Cleland Host of the Naturalistic Paganism yahoo group suggests making snow candles – an activity especially fun for kids.
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Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
Naturalistic Paganism 