Naturalistic Paganism
HP Pride: Be Interviewed on HumanisticPaganism.com
We want to interview you!
To conclude our January theme of “Community”, we are starting a new project called HP Pride. We are interviewing members of the Humanistic Paganism community and other like-minded friends. One or more interviews will be published every month. If you are not a “Big Name Pagan”, or if you have never written online before, all the better! We want to hear from everyone!
Here’s what to do:
1. Indicate what name you want to be identified by. (Especially important if you are not out of the closet about your Paganism.)
2. Answer the questions below. (It’s ok to skip questions if you want.)
2. Limit your responses to each question to about 250 words.
3. Take a picture of you or, if your are shy or concerned about privacy, you can take a picture of something that represents your Paganism. (No internet images please.)
4. Send your responses and your picture to humanisticpaganism [at] gmail [dot] com
Interview Questions
- What do you call the religion you practice?
- If you call yourself “Pagan”, what about your religion is “Pagan”? Why do you choose to call yourself “Pagan”? If you don’t call yourself “Pagan”, why not?
- What other words (i.e., humanistic, naturalistic, atheistic, pantheistic, witch, druid, shaman, etc.) do you use to describe your religion and why?
- What is your religion of origin? What religion were you raised with?
- How did you transition to your current religion? Tell us a little about your faith journey.
- What makes your religion a good fit for you?
- How do you practice your religion?
- Do you observe the Wheel of the Year? If so, how?
- Do you believe in or work with “gods” or “deities” or “spirits” in any sense of those words? Why or why not? If so, how?
- Do you believe in or work with “magic” in any sense of the word? Why or why not? If so, how?
- How does your religion affect your daily life or your state of mind?
- Do you interact with theistic Pagans in religious community? Do you share ritual with theistic Pagans? What has been your experience in this regard?
- How do you engage other Pagans online?
- Are you “out of the closet” about your Paganism? To what degree? Why?
- What is the thing you love the most about Paganism?
- What is one thing you would like to change about Paganism or the Pagan community?
- Add your own question and answer it. (Optional)
“Gathering Around the Well: Ideas for Deepening Humanistic Pagan Community in 2015” by Anna Walther
Community results when a group of people shares a set of values and goals. In our Humanistic Pagan (HP) community, we value spiritual experiences inspired by the patterns of nature and ancient myth. We create spiritual practices based in empiricism, in experiencing the world directly, as it is. We explore ways of knowing that do not rely on extracorporeal experiences. Our shared values and goals create a collective energy of nature reverence, healthy skepticism, and use of symbol with intention. We have the opportunity to develop our individual paganisms to a much deeper level than we would be able to reach alone, if we direct our collective energy into shared action.
Call for Essays: Evolution and Evolutionary Science
“Mr. Darwin begs me to say that he receives so many letters that he cannot answer them all. He considers that the theory of evolution is quite compatible with the belief in a God; but that you must remember that different persons have different definitions of what they mean by God.”
— letter from Emma, Charles Darwin’s wife, to N.A. Mengden (April 8, 1879)
Charles Darwin was born this month (February 12) in 1809. February 12th is celebrated as “Darwin Day” by humanists around the world. In honor of Darwin, our HP themes for the month of February will be evolution and evolutionary science. Send your essays to humanisticpaganism [at] gmail [dot] com.
[An Atheopagan Life] “Riverain and Adapting the Wheel of the Year” by Mark Green
The eight holidays of the modern Pagan “wheel of the year” present an annual cycle of Sabbaths tracing seasonal changes, agricultural cycles, and metaphors of the cycle of life. For an Atheopagan, it’s not a bad point to start from, rooted as it is in astronomical fact (the holy days are the solstices and equinoxes, and the midpoints between them) and the reality of seasonal change in parts of the world which have a European climate cycle. And while there is a large body of mythology in the Pagan traditions which ties these seasonal changes to stories about gods, the gods aren’t really necessary for the cycle to work. It doesn’t require them in order to be meaningful and apropos for anyone living today. Read More
[Starstuff, Contemplating] “Celebrating hidden life – Imbolc” by Heather and Jon Cleland-Host
This entry is a continuation in a series describing how Jon and I have created family traditions that blend the traditional holidays of our Ancestors and imbuing these holidays with additional meaning based on our naturalistic understanding of our Earth and its Seasons. Imbolc (Feb 1-2) is the first of the “Cross-Quarter” Holidays on our journey through the year. The cross-quarters fall halfway between the Solstices and Equinoxes. Just as the quarter holidays mark the peaks relating to the amount of day and night, the cross-quarters mark the extremes of temperature. Imbolc (Groundhog’s Day) marks the halfway point through the season of winter. Lunasa (First Harvest) marks the halfway point through the season of summer and is the time when it is the hottest. Beltaine (May Day) and Samhain (Halloween) are halfway between the hottest and the coldest days of the year. All of these mark the halfway point of their respective seasons, but at no time is this felt more strongly than Imbolc, deep in the middle of winter. Imbolc falls on February 1-2 in the Northern Hemisphere, and August 1-2 in the Southern Hemisphere. At this, the coldest time of the year, winter is felt deep in our bones. The winter winds can be so cold they take the breath away, in ancient times, very often literally. Even now, it is something of a relief to know that winter is half over. More than that it is the turning point when we can begin to anticipate the spring. It is almost here. Only six weeks away. The intensity of expectation is as powerful as the cold. Read More
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Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
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