Naturalistic Paganism
Axiarchism and Paganism, Part 1 by Eric Steinhart
Today we continue our late-winter theme of “Order and Structure” with Eric Steinhart’s discussion of Axiarchism and Paganism. This essay is broken into two parts. In Part 1, which is posted today, Eric Steinhert lays out the basic motivations for axiarchism. In Part 2, which will be posted tomorrow, Eric discusses how axiarchism can be used to rationally justify the natural existence of a Pagan God and Goddess.
Axiarchism Introduced
Axiarchism is a philosophical theory which states that reality is ultimately defined by some kind of value. Axiarchism has ancient roots. It starts with Plato, then gets taken up by Plotinus. It becomes further developed by Leibniz. Most recently, it’s been advocated by two living philosophers, Nicholas Rescher and John Leslie.
Axiarchism is flexible enough to be interpreted in several ways. I’ll develop one way here which is both Pagan and naturalistic. This interpretation of axiarchism includes various divine principles. If you like, you can refer to them as deities, as gods and goddesses. But these divine principles are not supernatural people. On the contrary, they are natural powers. They are patterns of natural activity. But natural doesn’t mean material or physical. For the axiarchist, nature is much deeper and much bigger than any material or physical reality. Everything said here is perfectly consistent with our best science. But consistency with our best science doesn’t entail the kind of extreme and often unjustified skepticism that unfortunately typically gets associated with naturalism.
Platonism and Mathematics
Axiarchism starts with a Platonic theory of existence. Platonists say that mathematical objects, such as numbers, really exist. For Platonists, numbers are not concepts in your head and they are not symbols written down on paper. Numbers exist whether or not anybody ever thinks of them. Thus numbers exist objectively. Numbers exist whether or not any physical things exist. They are independent of any physical reality, and they do not exist in any space or time. They exist eternally. Likewise, numbers don’t depend on any other things for their existence. They exist necessarily.
Some current physicists, like Max Tegmark, argue that all reality is purely mathematical. Tegmark is a Pythagorean. But Platonists (and therefore axiarchists) don’t think that everything is mathematical. Besides numbers, physical things exist. Physical things are defined by mathematical things. Mathematical things serve as the forms or templates of physical things. Mathematical things provide physical things with their shapes and structures. Physical things are examples or instances of mathematical patterns. Hence they are said to exemplify or to instantiate mathematical essences. But how?
One way to think about the relation between the mathematical and the physical, between the abstract and the concrete, is based on computers. Of course, this appeal to computation is mainly (but not entirely) metaphorical; these computers are not like the devices we have on our desks. We could avoid this computer metaphor by using lots of technical philosophical and mathematical jargon. For example, we could talk about bare particulars instead of computers. Since we want to avoid that, we’ll just talk about computers.
The computational interpretation of Platonism starts by treating numbers as programs. Every number can be expressed as a series of binary digits, a sequence of zeros and ones. But a series of binary digits is just a program for a computer. So the distinction between the abstract and the concrete is like the distinction between software and hardware. Numbers are abstract programs which can be run by concrete computers. When some computer runs a number, a physical thing comes into existence. The nature of this physical thing is defined by the number. The physical things running on these computers might be as small as quarks or as big as entire universes or systems of universes.
Divine Law
Platonists have long argued that mathematical objects exist necessarily. They cannot fail to exist; it would be impossible for them not to exist. But not so for concrete things. They are not necessary; on the contrary, they are contingent. Any concrete thing might not exist; it might fail to exist. Concrete things don’t have to exist. So, why are there any concrete things at all? Why are there any physical things at all? This is a famous question, first raised by Leibniz: why is there something rather than nothing? More precisely, why is the set of concrete things populated rather than empty? There needs to be some explanation for the existence of any physical things at all. The explanation can’t be causal. After all, causes are physical. It has to be a deeper kind of explanation.
Axiarchists have argued that the best explanation for the existence of any concrete things involves a natural Law. This Law is deeper than any physical law, and it provides the reason or explanation for the existence of concrete things. This Law logically brings all physical things into existence. It is the ultimate sufficient reason for the existence of any physical things, including our universe as well as any other universes that exist. Philosophers (like Leibniz) have given many arguments that there must be some ultimate sufficient reason lying behind all concrete things. The success of science (which depends on finding reasons in nature) has been used to justify the existence of this ultimate sufficient reason.
The truth of this ultimate Law is the power that brings all concrete things into being. If nature is the totality of all concrete things, then this truth is the ultimate natural power, the power which produces nature itself. Many theologians have thought of this kind of power as divine. Axiarchists like Plato, Plotinus, and Leslie have explicitly referred to this power as divine. Of course, this power is not personal. It is not the Abrahamic God or any other personal deity. This power is an impersonal force, which emanates or erupts from the Law. The Law is the divine Source of concrete existence (a Source which exists prior to any concrete things). Many Pagans have posited an ultimate Deity, a divine Source which serves as the ground of nature. If axiarchism is given a Pagan interpretation, then the ultimate Law is this Source, and its truth is the divine power which it emanates. But this Source is not a thing. Rather, it is the abstract reason for all things. It is like a mathematical axiom, except that it is deeper than every mathematical axiom. It is the ground of things.
Selectors and the Computational Interpretation
Of course, while this theology may be interesting, it does not help to clarify the meaning of the Law. What might this ultimate Law look like? Any such Law has to start with purely abstract objects and end with some concrete things. It has to be a Law that entails that concrete things exist. The contemporary philosopher Derek Parfit uses the concept of a Selector to define this law. His reasoning can be summarized like this: Numbers have various features. For instance, some numbers are even while others are odd. Some are prime while others are divisible. The Selector acts like a filter on numbers. Those numbers that pass through the Selector serve as the programs for concrete things. On this view, the ultimate Law looks like this: For any number, if that number passes through the Selector, then there exists some computer which runs that number as its program.
How would this Law work to create physical things? Suppose the Selector is the property of being prime. Prime numbers pass through the Selector. This means that for every number, if that number is prime, then some computer exists which runs that number as its program. Since there are some prime numbers, there are some computers which run them as their programs. This Law entails the existence of physical things. It explains why there are some physical things rather than none. However, this Law does not cause any physical things to exist; on the contrary, it logically implies that they exist.
Of course, the notion that primeness is the Selector is far too easy. But we know that some numbers, when run on computers, define physical systems like cellular automata. The game of life is a well-known example. So the Selector might be the property of defining a cellular automaton. If that’s right, then the Law looks like this: for any number, if that number defines a cellular automaton, then there exists some computer which runs that number as its program. Some cellular automata contain internal patterns of activity which are self-reproducing structures. So the Selector might be the property of defining a cellular automaton which contains internal self-reproducing patterns.
Some cellular automata contain internal patterns which are capable of universal computation. These internal patterns are universal Turing machines. So the Selector might entail the existence of computations which run internal computations. Computations can be stacked on top of computations. Computations running on top of other computations are often referred to as virtual machines. Perhaps the most fundamental quantum mechanical processes in our universe are basic computations. Things like protons are virtual machines stacked on those lower-level computations. Things like atoms and molecules are higher level virtual machines stacked on top of lower level machines. If this is right, then human brains and bodies are very high-level virtual machines. But virtual machines, no matter how high, are still computations that fall under the laws of computing.
A Problem with Axiarchism
According to this computational interpretation, axiarchism provides an explanation for the existence of physical things, including our universe and all the things running inside of it. But this version of axiarchism has problems. It involves a Law based on some selector. One problem with the notion of a Law based on a Selector is that almost any Selector seems arbitrary. Why this Selector rather than some other Selector? If the Law is the ultimate sufficient reason for all things, then the Law itself can’t involve any arbitrariness. What selects the Selector? If the Selector is the reason for things, what is the reason for the Selector? It seems the Selector depends on some deeper Super-Selector, which then depends on some Super-Duper-Selector, and so it goes. The result is an endless regression of Selectors, which leaves the whole system powerless.
Fortunately, axiarchists can provide a solution to the problem of the regress of Selectors. They argue that the only way to avoid arbitrariness is for the Selector to be the best. On this view, every program generates some goodness or excellence when it is run. Programs can therefore be ranked according to how much goodness they generate. Goodness doesn’t mean human pleasure. It doesn’t even have anything to do with people (after all, universes don’t need to include people, and for a long time, even our universe didn’t include any people). For axiarchists, goodness is an objective property of programs. Goodness is intrinsic value, the value any thing has just because of its nature. Thus every number has some degree of intrinsic value, which it produces if it runs on a computer.
Programs (numbers) have different degrees of intrinsic value. Some are better than others. Perhaps some of these programs are better than all others. They are the best of all possible programs. Axiarchists now say that the Selector is the property of being the best. This Selector is not arbitrary. Given any set of options or choices, it’s rational to select the best and irrational to select anything less than the best. Moreover, this is a necessary property of rationality: reason necessarily selects the best. So the Selector selects itself. Why is the Selector the property of being the best? Because the property of being the best is itself the best property. The best Selector is the property of being the best. The self-selection of the best means that the infinite regress of Selectors never gets started.
Summary
Axiarchism implies that reality is maximally valuable. Reality is as good as it possibly can be. Reality is the way that it is because that way is the best way it can be. Unfortunately, this leads to a problem. Part 2 will show how axiarchists solve this problem, and it will continue the development of axiarchism. Part 2 will also show how axiarchism can be used to rationally justify the natural existence of a Pagan God and Goddess. Axiarchism can therefore serve as the logical foundation for a rich Pagan theology.
The Author
Eric Steinhart is a professor of philosophy at William Paterson University. He is the author of four books, including the forthcoming Your Digital Afterlives: Computational Theories of Life after Death. He is currently working on naturalistic foundations for Paganism, linking Wicca to traditional Western philosophy. He grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He resides with his wife in New York City. He loves New England and the American West, and enjoys all types of hiking and biking, chess, microscopy, and photography.
Tomorrow
“Shinto Intertwined” by Ken Apple
Today we continue our late winter theme “Order and Structure”, with Ken Apple’s account of his visit to a Shinto shrine. Kenneth Apple and HP would like to thank Rev. Koishi Barrish for his courtesy and permission to publish this article. Ken would like to note that any mistakes in the representation of Shinto or Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America are my his own and that one cannot portray all the nuances of a deep rich cultural tradition in a short blog article.
photo by Kenneth Apple
A Visit to the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America
We had been warned before the Kannushi walked behind us to the back of the shrine hall; it didn’t help; we were still taken by surprise. The thunder of Great Drum vibrated through us, huge, shocking, a wake-up call that could not be ignored.
Granite Falls is a town of 3400 in Snohomish County in Washington State. It began as a logging town and now houses folks who commute to Seattle and Everett. Tsubaki Kannagara Jinja was built by Rev. Barrish in 1992 then in 2001 the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America, the first Shinto Shrine built on the mainland of the U.S., moved to Granite falls from its then home of Stockton, California and combined with Kannagara Jinja — operating as America Tsubaki Okami Yashiro. The Shrine holds six enshrined spirits, or kami. It is a branch of Tsubaki Okami Yoshiro, one of the oldest and most notable shrines in Japan, which celebrated its 2000th anniversary in 1997.
We drove through a large Torii/shrine gate onto the Shrine grounds and headed downhill through the forest. At the base of the hill we passed through a second traditional gate, the torii, and having passed through, entered sacred space. The hall, unmistakably Japanese, sits on the flat land between the hill and the Pilchuk River. Surrounded by statuary, I felt some cross between being in a Zen garden and camping in the Pacific Northwest.
Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan. Before the arrival of Buddhism in Japan in the 500’s, Shinto had no name and no unifying bodies. For 1200-1300 years after the arrival of Buddhism the two merged and mixed until the 1700’s when availability of Shinto texts ignited an interest in the older, native traditions. In 1868, the Shogunate was brought to an end and the Emperor re-enthroned. Shinto became the official state religion of Japan in 1871, a position it held through WWII. At the end of the Second World War, Shinto was abolished as a state religion and founded its current ruling bodies.
You don’t mark out sacred space here, you enter it. The torii reminds you, the fountain for ritual purification (with helpful illustrated poster) reminds you. We take off our shoes before taking the short stairway to the main body of the hall. The buildings and the dress of the Priest are from the Heian period of Japan. It’s like worshipping in a medieval cathedral while the priest wears period costume, or going to mass at the Vatican. Within the building all signs of modernity, electrical outlets, wires, lights, are artfully hidden so as not to break the spell.
Shinto is defined, at least academically, as Kami worship with related theologies, rituals and practices. Kami has no direct English translation and may mean spirit, essence, deity or “the Spirit of Divine Nature.” The heavenly Kami closely resemble the gods of various European pagan pantheons, while some nature Kami might live in the big cypress tree or a lake or a mountain. Wherever you feel awe, there the Kami dwell. Practitioners may have altars, called kamidana, or spirit shelves, in their home where they worship the Kami and the ancestors. They undergo rites of passage at the shrine, pay for certain rituals to be performed at the home or at the shrine on their behalf. They may visit the shrine to pray or leave offerings. There are a host of other practices that most western Neo-Pagans would readily label as magick.
For an insider’s much more articulate, and poetic, description, the Reverend Barrish sent me this:
“Shinto is not Religion per se, but a manifestation of the profound realization that our Human Lives are part of Daishizen-no-meguri/the endless flow of Divine Nature. Divine Nature is imbued with the dynamic power of renewal. Kannushi/Shinto Priests conduct rituals following and seeking harmony with the movement of Great Nature through the four Seasons. Shinto is the teaching of Nature, in contrast to revealed Religion which can be said to be the teaching of Man. Shinto originating in Japan’s deep prehistory and existing in the present is a subconscious amalgam of attitudes, ideas and ways of living and relating to all aspects of life. Shinto means to touch the divine Earth, to receive the life giving power of the Sun and to “catch the whisper” of Nature.”
We are greeted warmly by the Rev. Koishi Barrish and two attendants who guide us through the purification and into the shrine building. We are seated on what appear to be folding camp chairs facing the front of the hall, where the Kami are in residence. The stools are, perhaps, a concession to westerners and I am happy not to have to sit kneeling.
The parallels with modern western Neo-Pagan movements are many. Shinto is a nature based, polytheistic religion more concerned with ritual practice than with belief centered theology. It was a dormant undercurrent for a thousand years until revived by those looking for an authentic, indigenous religion. Unlike modern Neo-Pagan movements, and like an earlier Christianity, it became linked with the ruling elite which funded and protected it, for good or ill. Today it is an integral part of Japanese life and culture, but little known outside of it.
The ties of Shinto to Japanese nationalism parallel the ties of budding Neo-Pagan movements to the National Socialist Party in Germany, and to many rightwing groups today who cling to an indigenous European religion as an excuse for racism and general xenophobia. It has taken European Neo-Paganism and Germanic Reconstructionist movements a long time to break those ties, and that struggle goes on in Pagandom as it does in society as a whole.
Drumming begins the ritual. Prayers are made in a deep gravelly chant. The chanting is in archaic Japanese of which modern speakers pick up about 60%. We, of course, pick up none of it, but the sound of it resonates. Offerings are given and we are purified with magical implements. The Rev. stops here and there to give us short description of what is going on. The drums speak again. The screens on our left are open to the air. During quiet moments in the ceremony we can hear the river just a stone’s throw away. In the end we are given a small libation of sake. Afterwards tables are put up where magical talismans are set out for sale along with books, tea and sake, and slips of paper to write prayer on.
The weekend I wrote this, the Shrine was having a celebration at Bellevue Community College. They will be having a fall festival about a month later, as part of the yearly procession of rituals and celebrations they host. There are groups like ours that come to the shrine for ceremonies. The Reverend can also come to his parishioners for certain rituals. The Rev. teaches aikido classes and wades into the river every morning to do a purification ceremony called misogi shuho. You can join him on Saturdays if you e-mail ahead of time. The Rev. is busy with his community; this is what professional clergy do.
Shinto as a Model of Interreligious Harmony
I would like to take note of Shinto’s relationship to other religions in Japan. As my humanities professor put it many years ago, in Japan, 80% of people are Shinto and another 80% Buddhist, 70% are non-religious. These numbers are not meant to be precise, but to be illustrative of what a truly multi-religious culture might look like. It doesn’t look like Shintoists and Buddhists living side by side and tolerating each other; it looks like a culture that participates in both and more. Neither Shinto nor Buddhism requires any declaration of faith or adherence to a single path. Most people in Japan will take part in both Shinto and Buddhist rituals at different times. Shinto is sought out for coming of age ceremonies, Buddhism for funerals, and western style weddings are becoming very popular.
I don’t mean to make it sound like the history of Asian religion is free of bloodshed and jockeying for secular power — it’s not that simple — but to note that persecution isn’t inevitable. In Japan today, Shinto exists side by side with Buddhism. In China, Taoism and Buddhism also exist in peace. They have survived long term by becoming part of the culture, not by setting themselves apart.
To look at it from the opposite end, being intolerant means we look at these competing ideas and it freaks us out. Our culture is one of monotheistic gods and the one true way to look at things. Scientism feeds us facts, which have one interpretation and encourage acceptance rather than generate questions. Thinking of science as a series of “facts” undersells how messy and vague working science really is. We have come to expect certainty; grey areas become a source of psychological discomfort. They become threatening.
This is one of those aspects of Christianity that many contemporary Pagans dislike so much. For example, I was always confused by the Christian use of the word “cult”. They used it in ways that I couldn’t figure out at all. Buddhism is a cult? Really? But their definition is “any non-Christian religion, and any Christian one that believes something different from me.” I am paraphrasing here, but that is the definition that many groups use. This is how mainstream Mormonism becomes a cult. However you define it, everyone knows a cult is “bad”. The use of the term is meant to belittle. But we act that way amongst ourselves too, don’t we, seeing anything different as threatening.
The arguments that flame on the internet between Pagans and the tone in which they are carried out, leads us to believe that if those other sorts of Pagans get the “upper hand” then the rest of us won’t be treated well. You know, we’d be looked down on and ridiculed by the over-culture. Sort of like … the way it is now. When people are afraid, they commit acts they wouldn’t normally commit. When people are afraid of you, especially when the fear is unwarranted, it makes you scared of them because you’re never sure what they are going to do.
The Japanese, in some ways, are a model. Shinto, Buddhist, it’s all part of life. If we want to become part of the culture and be established and accepted by a larger chunk of the population, and, hey, maybe we don’t—that’s a conversation to have—we have to have some rules of civility when congregating and discussing. More than that, the civility must start from not being afraid of each other, from not being afraid of things we can’t pin down.
I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I think it’s a fair guess that the number humanistic/naturalist/atheist Pagans is pretty small and will remain on the small side. I don’t feel the need for anyone to believe exactly as I do in this regard. What I would like is to make sure there is a place in most Pagan groups for me and those like me. I don’t demand that you change. I would like the same in return. To make any real cultural inroads we are going to have to work together. We have to realize that believing in divinity or the supernatural is a legitimate way to interpret experience and so too is the opposite. There is no right answer. Maybe someone needs to walk behind us and bang on a real big drum until we all just calm down. Then in the silence afterwards we can hear the river and breathe.
The Author
My name is Ken Apple. I am fifty years old, I live in Puyallup Washington with my wife and youngest son. I attend the Tahoma UU congregation in Tacoma, WA. I have worked in book sales for almost twenty years, because I can’t imagine trying to sell anyone something else.
Next Sunday
Put your thinking caps on folks! Next Sunday, we hear from professor of philosophy, Eric Steinhart: “Axiarchism and Paganism, Part 1”.
Winter Cross-Quarter
Today is the Winter Cross-Quarter. 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 (see files section of group).
Secular Buddhism: An interview with Stephen Batchelor
Secular means “of the times.” It is a spirituality for our era.
Today, we begin our late winter theme “Order and Structure”, with an interview with Stephen Batchelor, author of Buddhism Without Beliefs and Confession of a Buddhist Atheist. Stephen talks with B.T. Newberg via Skype about the intersections between Secular Buddhism and Naturalistic Paganism.
Click above to listen.
What is Secular Buddhism? What does it mean to be Buddhist in this fashion? What can Naturalistic Pagans and Secular Buddhists learn from each other?
These are just a few of the questions engaged by controversial author Stephen Batchelor, praised by some and condemned by others.
With characteristic calm and even-handedness, Batchelor responds to probing questions about his thoughts, practice, and projects as he attempts to articulate a naturalistic form of Buddhism appropriate to our era.
Finally, at the end of the interview, Batchelor explains what he means by the powerful and potentially inflammatory remark in the opening chapter of his Confession of a Buddhist Atheist:
“Never before had I encountered a truth I was willing to lie for.”
Discover all this and more in this engaging audio interview. Click above to listen.
The interviewee
Stephen Batchelor is a contemporary Buddhist teacher and writer, best known for his secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism. Stephen considers Buddhism to be a constantly evolving culture of awakening rather than a religious system based on immutable dogmas and beliefs. In particular, he regards the doctrines of karma and rebirth to be features of ancient Indian civilisation and not intrinsic to what the Buddha taught. Buddhism has survived for the past 2,500 years because of its capacity to reinvent itself in accord with the needs of the different Asian societies with which it has creatively interacted throughout its history. As Buddhism encounters modernity, it enters a vital new phase of its development. Through his writings, translations and teaching, Stephen engages in a critical exploration of Buddhism’s role in the modern world, which has earned him both condemnation as a heretic and praise as a reformer.
His work, including audio, video, and publications, can be found at www.stephenbatchelor.org.
Bio text and bio photo courtesy of www.stephenbatchelor.org.
This Wednesday
This Wednesday, we continue with the intersection of Naturalistic Paganism and Eastern Religions with “Shinto Intertwined” by Ken Apple.
What to look forward to in February at HP
Snowdrops in the snow, courtesy Wikipedia
We are dividing the year here at HP into 8 semi-seasonal themes, following the Neo-Pagan Wheel of the Year. The themes for 2014 are inspired in part by the Earth Story Calendar created by Peter Adair. For early winter, our theme was “Beginnings”, which corresponded with the Big Bang and the birth of the universe. This month we begin our new semi-seasonal theme for late winter, “Order and Structure”, which corresponds with the emergence of galaxies. Questions we will be exploring include: How do we structure our world as Naturalistic Pagans? How do we make a cosmos out of chaos with our beliefs and the stories we tell? How do our naturalistic beliefs merge with our other beliefs? Is Naturalistic Paganism compatible with other belief systems? Send your submissions to humanisticpaganism [at] gmail.com.
New Column: De Natura Deorum
The 1st century BCE Roman philosopher, Cicero, wrote:
“There is in fact no subject upon which so much difference of opinion exists, not only among the unlearned but also among educated men; and the views entertained are so various and so discrepant, that, while it is no doubt a possible alternative that none of them is true, it is certainly impossible that more than one should be so.”
One might think that Naturalistic Pagans would have little use for gods, and that is certainly true in many cases. However, we receive a surprising number of submissions on the nature of the gods here at HP, with some truly radical conceptions of what “gods” are. In lieu of dedicating an entire month to the topic, I am introducing a new semi-seasonal column, De Natura Deorum (On the Nature of the Gods), named after Cicero’s essay by the same name. The column will feature a different contributor each time. Send your submissions to humanisticpaganism [at] gmail.com.
This Month at HP
Each week we will have a different mini-theme:
Week 1: Naturalistic Paganism and Eastern Religions
Feb 2 “Secular Buddhism”: An interview with Stephen Batchelor
Feb 5 “Shinto Intertwined” by Ken Apple
Week 2: Naturalistic Paganism and Philosophy
Feb 9 “Axiarchism and Paganism, Part 1” by Eric Steinhart
Feb 10 “Axiarchism and Paganism, Part 2” by Eric Steinhart
Feb 12 “The Gadfly: A Socratic Interrogation of Naturalism” by B.T. Newberg
Feb 14 A Review of Brendan Myer’s The Earth, The Gods and The Soul – A History of Pagan Philosophy: From the Iron Age to the 21st Century
Week 3: Naturalistic Paganism and Wicca
Feb 16 “My Heretical Wiccan Beliefs” by Merlyn
Feb 19 DE NATURA DEORUM: “Lord and Lady for the Non-Theist” by Rhys Chisnall
Week 4: Naturalistic Paganism and Atheism
Feb 23 “What atheists believe too” by Trent Fowler
Feb 26 “The Pagan Atheist” by Nick Ace Westward
Humanistic Paganism Calendar for February
Feb 2 Neo-Pagan winter cross-quarter day (Imbolc)
Feb 2 Groundhog’s Day
Feb 3 Winter thermistice/cross-quarter
Feb 12 Darwin Day
Feb 17 Giordano Bruno burned at the stake
Feb 20 World Day of Social Justice
Buy Godless Paganism (paperback)
Buy Godless Paganism (ebook)
Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
Naturalistic Paganism 