Naturalistic Paganism
Paganism is Different, Part 3: In Paganism, there’s less reverence for a human leader [Stardust, Contemplating]
Perhaps because a main difference between Paganism and so many other religions is that the focal point of empowerment and responsibility is you, not someone else (see Part 1, Paganism Empowers You), Pagans would be less likely to idolize another person (such as Deepak Chopra, above). Does our own ability to craft our own spirituality, which can include contacting a divine entity, make idolizing another person nonsensical in Paganism?
Happy Samhain! Now, Eclipses highlight the Beltane/Samhain Pairing!
Happy Samhain! As the darkness falls this Samhain night, our trillions of Ancestors visit us. Who are they? What can they offer you for your struggles today? They can help you anytime during the year – not just now – if you ask.
Last year, we had both a solar and lunar eclipse framing Samhain. Astronomy cycles can complex, but in any case, this year it’s shifted a little earlier, with an annular solar eclipse this past October 14, and a lunar eclipse on October 28 (both past now). We Naturalistic Pagans can find wonder in coincidences, while still knowing that they are coincidences – and now another one presents itself. This Samhain is near an eclipse pair (October 14 & 28), and the next eclipse pair includes the awesome total eclipse of April 8th, and is near Beltane! Our Wheel of the Year gives us not just 8 Sabbats, but these Sabbats are in connected pairs, linked opposites. Samhain and Beltane are a linked pair of opposites – Life and Death – both in meaning and in the fact that each is celebrated along with the other, on opposite sides of our Earth. Now, we have eclipses highlighting this pair!
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No Nonsense Paganism: It’s Fall When It Feels Like Fall
In this series, “No-Nonsense Paganism”, I have been striving to strip Paganism down, take away its ancient or faux-ancient terminology, its mythological and legendary pretensions, its foreign (to wherever you are) folk practices, its superstitious and pseudo-scientific justifications, and its esoteric ritual structures, and get down to the phenomenological core of pagan experience: our interaction with the earth and the other-than-human beings who we share it with. You can check out previous posts in this series here.
I was recently talking to a Pagan friend about seasonal celebrations, and they mentioned their love of that time of the year when acorns fall from the oak trees and they hear them hitting their roof. I said that would be a great moment to memorialize ritually. But they wondered about the timing, since this usually happens sometime between the fall equinox (Mabon) and the mid-autumn thermistice (Samhain/All-Hallows/Halloween).
First of all, I think it’s great they knew approximately when this happened every year. It shows they pay attention to the more-than-human world around them. I responded that they should create their own “Wheel of the Year” and celebrate the falling of the acorns whenever they notice it.
Read MoreSamhain (The Fall Equitherm) Approaches (+ Online Rituals)!
This is one of the most sacred times of the year for me – a time when I feel my Ancestors even more closely than usual, as well as a time to remember those who have died this past year. In addition to another year going by – with new lives being born and some lives ending (including both famous lives and lives close to us), this October also gives us an annular solar eclipse, a Friday the 13th, and a lunar eclipse on October 28th, near Samhain.
In both recognition and celebration of the lives and contributions of all the dead, I’m nearly done with the house decorations, and our family is already doing our Samhain Ancestor card dinner graces (see below). Samhain (the Fall Equitherm) is just a couple weeks away! Read More
Michael Dowd, who gave us all so much, has died [Starstuff, Contemplating]
With a heavy heart I must bring the news that Michael Dowd died this past weekend. He was a bright star who, along with his wife Connie, have brought a scientifically real, cosmically inspiring, reality based spirituality to literally hundreds of thousands of people. They were instrumental in getting me on the path of proclaiming our awesome evolutionary roots to the world.
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Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
Naturalistic Paganism 