Naturalistic Paganism
The HPedia: Mystery
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Mystery derives from the ancient Greek mysterion, referencing mystery religions such as the Eleusinian Mysteries (Oxford Dictionaries). The secrets into which participants were initiated could be aporrheton, meaning “forbidden”, and/or arrheton, meaning “unutterable, unspeakable, ineffable” (see Burkert).
From a naturalistic and scientific perspective, the aporrheton aspect no longer seems appropriate, but there would still seem to be a powerful place for the arrheton. For example, Ursula Goodenough describes an experience of mystery before the awesome cosmos in her book The Sacred Depths of Nature, excerpted here.
Many fear that introducing scientific explanation into traditionally religious or spiritual realms of experience will destroy the mystery. However, upon consideration, that does not seem to be the case. For all we discover about how the universe works, it still remains a breathtaking marvel that the universe is as it is. This is expressed, for example, in Richard Dawkins’ The Magic of Reality. To the extent that reality remains ineffable in its fullness no matter how much we say or attempt to say about it, arrheton endures.
This view is affirmed in Tom Clark’s essay Spirituality Without Faith:
When we confront the startling fact that existence isn’t subsumable under any overarching interpretation, but simply is, we are left with an irreducible mystery about why we are here, or exist at all; and mystery serves at least as well as purpose to inspire spiritual experience. Unable not to ask questions about ultimate purpose and meaning, but rebuffed by the logic which shows such questions unanswerable, we are caught in a cosmic perplexity, a state of profound existential astonishment. The realization that existence inevitably outruns our attempts to assign meaning and purpose can have the impact of a true revelation, stunning the discursive mind in the manner of a Zen koan. Like a koan or other practices in which thinking confronts its own limitations, such a cognitive impasse can serve as the gateway to the direct, non-discursive experience that the present is sufficient unto itself. After all, there is no place to get to, no goal toward which Being is moving.
A different use of “mystery” is invoked by Noam Chomsky when he distinguishes between puzzles, which are solvable in principle, and mysteries, which are by their very nature unsolvable. Whether mysteries exist in this sense is controversial at present. New mysterianism is one current approach to the hard problem of consciousness.
An idea similar to Chomsky’s is put forward by economist Kaplan, who distinguishes between problems, which may be overcome, and predicaments, which cannot be overcome but only confronted. The latter seems very close to Brendan Myers’ notion of an Immensity, though Myers himself does not use Kaplan’s terms. Death and the passage of time, for example, are existential realities with which one may only come to terms (barring future development of fantastic technologies, at least), and in coming to terms one’s identity and moral character are called into question (see “Immensity” below).
The relationships between these three concepts – Chomsky’s mystery, Kaplan’s predicament, and Myers’ Immensity – suggest there may be a moral quality to the sense of mystery before the cosmos: it demands a response that questions who you are and how you will live your life. As in the ancient mysteries, there is a sense in which one is changed, initiated if you will, by the experience. Thereafter, one lives in a different and expanded universe.
See also “Mystical” and “Immensity.”
Check out other entries in our HPedia.
What to look forward to in October at HP
Our theme for the rest of the month of October is Finding Meaning.
Steven Weinberg explains in his book on the Big Bang, The First Three Minutes: “The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless.” Is Weinberg right? Are understanding and meaning antithetical? Do we create meaning in spite of the inherent meaninglessness of the cosmos? Or is there perhaps some meaning to our lives to be found within physical nature? And what do our answers to these questions mean for us as Naturalistic Pagans?
This Month at HP
Oct 6 “To what should I aspire?” by Thomas Schenk
Oct 13 “Naturalism: Every second of your life is meaningful” by B. T. Newberg
Oct 16 Mid-Month Meditation
Oct 20 “Finding Purpose and Meaning” by NaturalPantheist
Oct 27 “A Meditation on the Ancestors” by Jon Cleland Host
Oct 31 Samhain Special with Telmaris Green
Humanistic Paganism Calendar for October
Oct 2 Gandhi’s birthday and International Day of Non-Violence
Oct 12 Cosmic Calendar: First photosynthesis occurs 3 bya
Oct 12 International Observe the Moon Night (external link)
Oct 16 World Food Day
Oct 18 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse (external link)
Oct 29 Cosmic Calendar: Oxygenation of atmosphere occurs 2.4 bya
Oct 31/Nov 1 Neo-Pagan autumn cross-quarter day (Samhain) / Halloween (Here at HP, we will be observing the Autumn Cross-Quarter in another week.)
Oct 31 Anniversary of the publication of The Spiral Dance and Drawing Down the Moon
Looking back, Looking forward, by John Halstead
John Halstead, Incoming Managing Editor, Humanistic Paganism
Officially, my job as managing editor does not start until next Sunday, but I’m very excited, and I wanted to give you a preview of what’s to come.
Looking back
But before I do, I want to look back briefly. It’s hard to believe that just over two years ago, this site began as B. T.’s personal blog. It is only through B. T.’s ambitious vision, peerless skill as an author and editor, and tireless hard work that HP has become what it is today: a community for hundreds of Naturalistic Pagans and friends.
Just recently, I came across these words in the introduction to HP’s first ebook, Year One: A Year of Humanistic Paganism:
“Finally, I have a name! … your site more than anything else gives me hope that the term “Pagan” can be reconciled with humanistic values. … I was on the verge of abandoning the term Pagan altogether because of the associations with supernaturalism, until I found [this] site and this group. Thanks!”
Those were my words to B. T. two years ago, and they are more true today than ever before. And I know many more people out there feel the same way.
I’m glad to know that B. T. will be staying on as advising editor and treasurer. And I am also very grateful for the work done by NaturalPantheist as our social media coordinator. I look forward to working with them both.
Looking Forward
Here are some of the exciting things you can look forward to here at HP.
Regular Columnists
This December we will start having regular columnists as some of our contributors. I will be announcing who they are in November, so keep your eyes open for that. It’s my hope that having columnists will provide some increased continuity to our content. There will still be plenty of room for your submissions, so keep them coming!
Semi-Seasonal Themes
One thing you will notice right away is that we will have different themes which will change semi-seasonally (8 times a year). The theme for the rest of this month will be “Finding Meaning”. The theme for late fall will be “Death and Life”. I will be sending out a call for submissions a month or so in advance so you can start thinking about what essays, articles, and art you would like to submit. Eventually, I’m going to try pushing our boundaries a little with these themes. For example, the theme for early spring 2014 will be “Intuition”, and I will be looking for visual art and poetry, as well as submissions on what role intuition might play in a Naturalistic Pagan practice.
Monthly Meditation
Once a month we will have a meditation post. This will be a poem, book excerpt, or video designed, not convey information, but to stimulate an experience. I would like to encourage our readers to take these posts as an opportunity to take a short break from everything else. Rather than treating these posts the way you would any other post, set aside 10 minutes someplace quiet and semi-private to have an experience. While we won’t all be doing this at the same time, many of us will still be doing it “together” in a sense. And if you would like to send in submissions for these monthly meditations, they will be welcome.
HP Calendar
Right away you will notice that the regular humanistic holiday posts will be replaced by a single post on the first of each month which will tell you what to look forward to that month. The first one will be posted tomorrow. You can also find a complete Humanistic Paganism Calendar here, or under the Practices tab above. Additional content will be added to the Calendar as the year goes on. The information previously found on the Calendar page can be found on the Seasonal Celebrations page here, and also under the Practices tab above. For those of you who follow Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar, we will have a Cosmic Calendar Special on December 31. We hope this will free your inboxes and RSS feeds up a little. This will also reduce the likelihood of receiving multiple posts from HP in one day.
Discussion Prompts
All the regular Sunday submissions will be followed by a poll or a series of questions designed to stimulate more discussion. That is where our community really happens: in the comments to the posts. So have fun with the polls, but remember to comment afterward.
Big Picture Stuff
On thing I would like to do is to reach out to the broader Pagan community and stimulate more interaction with our community. While a vocal minority of Pagans may sometimes feel that our naturalistic community does not belong under the Pagan umbrella, it is my experience that the majority of Pagans welcome us and are sympathetic to our unique form of Paganism. We have many friends and allies among Pagans who do not explicitly identify as Humanistic or Naturalistic. We grow mutually through respectful interaction. I welcome your suggestions as to how we can accomplish this. At the same time, HP will continue to be a home and refuge for those who want a Paganism without supernaturalism.
I would like to see this interaction with the broader Pagan community extend to greater participation by Naturalistic Pagans in Pan-Pagan events like Pagan Pride Day, Pantheacon, Pagan Spirit Gathering, and Paganicon. A couple of years ago, one of our contributors, Eli Effinger-Weintraub, participated in a panel discussion at Paganicon, humorously entitled, “Those Godless Pagans: Non-Deistic and Naturalistic Paganism”. Eli reported that the discussion was very positive. And a more public presence at these events could help us reach those Naturalistic Pagans who are not active on the Internet.
And while we’re talking about gatherings, I would like to start a discussion about a real live Naturalistic Paganism event, like an indoor conference or outdoor campout. There are enough of us now that I think that we can make that happen in the next few years.
Join Our Staff
We’re looking for a few individuals to join the staff here at HP. First of all, we’re looking for a Science News editor. There is lots of exciting science being done, and we need someone who can help identify what would be of most interest to Naturalistic Pagans and include it in our content here.
We’re also looking for an HPedia editor who will move the project to a wiki format and then oversee it as it develops through open collaboration with other Naturalistic Pagans.
We’re also looking for an ebook editor who will bring together some of the work we have done here with some new content to produce a marketable product.
If you’re interested in any of these positions, email me at humanisticpaganism [at] gmail.com.
Submissions
Lastly, we need your submissions! Only a fraction of the content here at HP comes from unsolicited submissions. Ideally, the reverse would be true. We’re hoping that the semi-seasonal themes and calls for articles will stimulate more submissions. Send your submissions to humanisticpaganism [at] gmail.com.
As your editor, I will strive to provide the same professional and personal support that you are used to from B. T. I welcome to your suggestions for further improvements. Thank you for helping to make HumanisticPaganism what it is. I look forward to an exciting future for this site and our community.
John Halstead
Incoming Managing Editor
The three why’s of ritual, by NaturalPantheist
I wanted to look at the subject of Ritual. Is there any point to it? Can it bring value to our lives as Naturalistic Pantheists? Ritual is a major part of most religions, but the question is why?
I would like to suggest that there are three reasons why ritual is important, whether or not we believe in anything supernatural about it – it reminds us to stop and be aware of the world around us, it has an effect on us internally and it helps us to connect to something bigger than ourselves.
1) Awareness
How many of us think about all the plants and animals around us when we walk down the street? How many of us eat a meal without thinking about the fact that something had to die so that we could eat and live? Many of the spiritual practices of the worlds religions have at their core, the practice of Mindfulness. They call to us to take time out, amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life, to forget the baggage and distractions, and to stop, to be, to focus, to listen. They call us to be mindful and aware of the world around us, to be aware of other people and of nature. They put the important things in life at the centre of our attention – the sacred things, and give us the chance to focus on them.
2) Change
Ritual is a powerful tool. It effects us in a way that mere intellectual thought and debate never can – it taps into our psyche in a very strong way because it allows us to experience something. Experience can have a very powerful influence on our thinking and behaviour and is a key factor in forming who we become. The ritual experience can change us at a deep level, it can help us to form and ingrain habits and to build character so that we can become the type of people we wish to be.
3) Connection
There is something “more” to life, there is something “bigger than ourselves”. That thing is nature, it is the universe. Through ritual we can come to realise that, to realise that there is more to life than “my ego.” Ritual helps to teach us to be humble, to be reverent and respectful and to celebrate life. It teaches us that we are just one part of a greater and awesome whole. And it can help us connect to that whole, to honour our relationship with it, in a way we couldn’t do otherwise.
This article first appeared at Naturalistic Pantheist Musings.
The author
NaturalPantheist: A former Christian, I now see myself as a Naturalistic Pantheist with an interest in Druidry.
My blog is at naturalpantheist.wordpress.com
Check out NaturalPantheist’s other posts:
Recent Work
Ancient philosophy meets Darwin: Can science offer a way of life? by B. T. Newberg
Hidden spirits, by Bryan Beard
A tropical rainforest ontology: In search of a non-reductive naturalism, by John Halstead
Next Sunday
How shall we humans use this wonderful power we call intention?
To what should I aspire? by Thomas Schenk
Appearing Sunday, October 6th, 2013
The HPedia: Imagination
Your help is needed! Please critique this entry from the HPedia: An encyclopedia of key concepts in Naturalistic Paganism. Please leave your constructive criticism in the comments below.
The imagination plays an important role in Contemporary Pagan discourse and practices, including visualization.
From Merriam-Webster:
Imagination: an act or process of forming a conscious idea or mental image of something never before wholly perceived in reality by the one forming the images (as through a synthesis of remembered elements of previous sensory experiences or ideas as modified by unconscious defense mechanisms); also : the ability or gift of forming such conscious ideas or mental images especially for the purposes of artistic or intellectual creation
The ontological status of imagined content may be a key area of contention between naturalistic and hard polytheistic interpretations. Sensations of divine presence or communications often happen in the “mind’s eye”, which may or may not be identical with the imagination.
Naturalists and hard polytheists are likely to differ on whether imagined content is “real”, as well as on what constitutes “reality” in the first place. The following provides one possible naturalistic interpretation.
From a naturalistic point of view, things that are imaginary are real as such. It is only when the imagined content is reified into an objective reality beyond imagination that unreality begins.
Compare the difference between dreaming and lucid dreaming. Both are real as such, but non-lucid dreaming also involves an unreal aspect introduced by tacitly mistaking the dream content for objective world content. Becoming lucid, i.e. realizing it is a dream while still in the dream, rectifies the situation by recognizing the content for what it really is.
Similarly, interacting with figures of myth via the imagination can only involve unreality if those figures are taken as objective realities. Interaction that is consciously aware of its imaginative character, on the other hand, is a pure experience of reality.
Brian Swimme envisions human imagination as that of the earth, which is pulled in a certain direction by an attractor state yet to emerge. See Earth’s Imagination.
Some interesting research by French scholars distinguishes the imagination from the imaginaire and the imaginal (see Braga).
Check out other entries in our HPedia.
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