Naturalistic Paganism
No-Nonsense Paganism: Cultural Appropriation in Pagan Ritual
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.
Recently, I’ve been very critical of the Pagan services at my Unitarian Universalist congregation. To some extent, this is unfair. The people who organize and lead these services are volunteers and have the best intentions. I know from experience that planning and leading services for my Unitarian congregation can be challenging and can feel vulnerable. But, still, it’s important to turn the critical gaze inward now and then, or we stop growing.
Read MoreNext Spring’s Eclipse will be Beyond Words! Now is the time to make your plans.
Though we don’t have quite as much time as that teenager from when Reagan was president (story here), we do have enough time to plan for the momentous total solar eclipse coming in April! A total solar eclipse is an unbelievably powerful experience of our Universe. If you’ve felt one, I don’t have to explain – and if you haven’t, then words can’t do it anyway.
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The Fall Equinox Approaches!
To cap off our summer, we can revel in another triumph of human achievement, the soft landing of the Vikram Lunar Lander near the South Pole of the Moon! It’s hard to overstate the magnitude of this accomplishment – the Moon has no atmosphere to slow a lander, so a soft landing is very, very hard. Harder than one on Mars, for instance – even though the moon is thousands of times closer to us. Read More
CritWitchCon 2023! Environment, Community, and Responsible Magic, Sept. 29 – Oct 1
Move into October and start spooky season (for those who celebrate) off right! It’s the second annual Critical Thinking Witch Convention!
Paganism is Different, Part 2: In Paganism, No Single Deity is in Complete Control [Stardust, Contemplating]
Wait, what? But can’t I, as a Pagan, choose just one god to worship? Of course! (more on that below). However, even in that minority of cases, it’s still not complete control due to the control that you, as a Pagan, still have (see Part 1, Paganism Empowers You).
In Paganism, no single deity is in complete control. Usually, there are many different deities with different areas of control (such as Poseidon for the sea, Tyr for heroism), etc. Even in the less common monotheistic forms of Paganism, that one deity is not often in complete control of everything, especially not the Pagan themselves.
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Buy Godless Paganism (paperback)
Buy Godless Paganism (ebook)
Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
Naturalistic Paganism 