Naturalistic Paganism
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Our Goal: To place an add for HP on the main page of The Wild Hunt.
What we need: $538
What you can do: Go to HP’s Indiegogo campaign.
Help HumanisticPaganism place an add at The Wild Hunt, the primary online destination for news relating to and of interest to contemporary Pagans. HumanisticPaganism is piggybacking on The Wild Hunt’s Fall Funding Drive. The Wild Hunt is offering to place a graphical underwriting ad on the main page of wildhunt.org for the first 20 people to contribute $500. An ad at The Wild Hunt would greatly increase the visibility of HumanisticPaganism and draw more people to our community. If we reach our $538 goal ($500 + $38 Indiegogo fees), we will contribute $500 to The Wild Hunt and receive a graphical underwriting ad on the main page of wildhunt.org. (If we don’t reach our goal, your contribution will be refunded.) Any contribution over $10 will get you a shout out at HumanisticPaganism (unless you prefer to remain anonymous).
To contribute, go to HumanisticPaganism’s Indiegogo campaign.
Finding Meaning and Purpose by NaturalPantheist
The theme for the rest of this month at HP is “Finding Meaning”.
As a Naturalistic Pantheist, I have a naturalistic and non-supernatural worldview. So the question has to be asked –- is it possible to still have a sense of meaning and purpose in the universe.
There are really two ways to answer this question: You can either take the route and say, “No, there is no inherent purpose in the universe, but we can make our own purposes and meanings for life.” After all, who really wants their whole life purpose decided by someone or something outside of them and giving them no real say in the matter?
There is also another possibility…and that’s to use a sleight of hand and change the language from “purpose” to “calling.” Calling is perhaps a softer way of saying that there is something we need to do with our lives. Are there things that we are “called” to do? Evidently there is no supernatural guide, but are there still things we “ought” to do with our lives?
Perhaps we receive our calling from our very genes, if we discover that we are endowed with a natural innate talent, e.g. writing, singing, making people laugh; perhaps we could say that nature, through our genetics, or the universe, through our upbringing, has endowed us with something, and we have a duty or responsibility to nature/existence to develop and use it.
Perhaps we can take this concept a bit further and say we have been brought into existence by nature/universe and, therefore, does that gives us a responsibility towards nature…to look after it and all who dwell in it? To celebrate it and feel gratefulness?
These are just a few preliminary thoughts I’ve had on the issue of meaning and purpose in a world without the supernatural. What do you think?
Source: First published at Naturalistic Pantheist Musings.
Don’t forget to comment below.
The author
NaturalPantheist: A former Christian, I now see myself as a Naturalistic Pantheist with an interest in Druidry. I blog at Natural Pantheist Musings on issues relating to scientific and naturalistic approaches to spirituality. I’ve lived in both China and the UK and I love to travel. I’m a country boy at heart but also strongly believe in getting involved in my local community here in Devon, UK. My interests include religion & philosophy, social media & technology, current affairs and walking. My blog is at naturalpantheist.wordpress.com
Check out NaturalPantheist’s other posts:
Next Sunday
Next Sunday, we continue the theme of finding meaning with “A Meditation on the Ancestors” by Jon Cleland Host.
The theme for late autumn here at HP is “Death and Life”. Send your writing and art to humanisticpaganism [at] gmail.com by November 6, 2013.
The HPedia: Transcendence
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 notion of transcendence can be viewed in both supernatural and natural ways.
In the supernatural sense, it may refer to transcendence of material reality and its limitations. Representatives of such transcendent phenomena include a soul separate from the body that controls it and survives its death, an afterlife or other world separate from the physical universe, and a divine creator or other creative principle that is in whole or in part separate from and outside its creation. This sense is inconsistent with naturalism as well as with HP, as described here. In theological terms, this kind of transcendence is contrasted with immanence, or the divine manifest in the natural world (see “Immanence”).
In the naturalistic sense, transcendence may refer to 1) surpassing or growing beyond one’s previous limitations, as in Drew Jacob’s heroic life; or 2) that which is vastly greater than the individual, conscious, rational ego (or “small self”) in both degree and kind, yet in which one participates. Potential objects of naturalistic transcendence may include nature, community, and mind.
In the latter sense, the natural world or aspects of it may confront one as an Immensity, to use Brendan Myers’ term (see “Immensity”). Such a confrontation may lead to a numinous experience of the transcendent Other, a mystical experience of oneness or communion with that which transcends, or a visionary vision of cosmic order (see “Numinous” and “Mystical”). Finally, following Myers, the confrontation may call into question who you are and how you ought to live, and thereby lead to a change in character that transcends one’s previous self.
Criticism of the term notwithstanding, the naturalistic varieties of transcendence are thoroughly compatible with Naturalistic Paganism.
See also “Immensity”, “Mystical”, “Numinous.”
Check out other entries in our HPedia.
Mid-Month Meditation for October: A Pale Blue Dot
This is our first monthly meditation. We 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. Take a minute to relax first. The video 5 1/2 minutes. After watching the video, take a few minutes to let the experience sink in. If it feels right, leave a comment. Even if you have seen the video before, take this opportunity to watch it again.
If you’re interested, the text can be found here. Remember, Carl Sagan Day is November 9.
Naturalism: Every second of your life is meaningful, by B. T. Newberg
The theme for the rest of this month at HP is “Finding Meaning”. 
- Image contributed by Laura Stevens
A common reaction to naturalism is that it means nothing matters. On the contrary, it means everything matters.
Nothing can magically escape the web of cause and effect. All things are interconnected by this chain of meaningful action.
Every second of your life is meaningful because everything has consequences. Whatever you do, feel, or think builds habits and sows the seeds of cause and effect.
Thoughts have consequences.
Feelings have consequences.
Actions have consequences.
So act responsibly.
Because every second of your life is meaningful.
Don’t forget to comment below.
The author
B. T. Newberg founded HumanisticPaganism.com in 2011, and served as managing editor till 2013. His writings on naturalistic spirituality can be found at Patheos, Pagan Square, the Spiritual Naturalist Society, as well as right here on HP. Since the year 2000, he has been practicing meditation and ritual from a naturalistic perspective. After leaving the Lutheranism of his raising, he experimented with Agnosticism, Buddhism, Contemporary Paganism, and Spiritual Humanism. Currently he combines the latter two into a dynamic path embracing both science and myth. Professionally, he teaches English as a Second Language. He also researches the relation between religion, psychology, and evolution at www.BTNewberg.com. After living in Minnesota, England, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea, B. T. Newberg currently resides in St Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and cat.
Next Sunday
Next Sunday, we continue the theme of finding meaning with NaturalPantheist, “Finding Purpose and Meaning”.
The theme for late autumn here at HP is “Death and Life”. Send your writing and art to humanisticpaganism [at] gmail.com by November 6, 2013.
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