Naturalistic Paganism
Gaia as the Universe, by Áine Órga
“For me, Gaia became the All.”
In developing my own non-theistic or naturalistic spirituality, the issue of deity was one of the most difficult to address.
Nothingness
As I wrote in my first post, the idea of nothingness – or that which is beyond infinity – is something that really captures my imagination, and trying to contemplate it generates a very powerful sense of awe for me. I spent a lot of time thinking about what deity meant for me – I had turned to atheism when I decided that I did not believe in a creator or a conscious, controlling god, or any sort of being or entity in the way that most people seem to view deity. But in a philosophical sense, I found it hard to pinpoint whether there was some other essence that transcended these aspects which could be defined as “deity”. I eventually came to the understanding that for me, if there was to be such a thing as “deity”, it would be quite simply the essence of existence, or the force that propels it and makes it so. Read More
Cosmic Calendar: Emergence of our sun
On Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar (illustrated as a comic strip here), which maps the entire history of our cosmos onto a single year, September is particularly interesting.
Since the Big Bang in January (13.7 bya or billion years ago), the universe has been gradually increasing in organizational complexity. Little of local significance has occurred, though, apart from the formation of the Milky Way galaxy in May.
Now, in September, a good three-fourths of the way through the story, our little corner of the cosmos gets interesting. On the 1st (4.57 bya), our own sun emerges.
The HPedia: Symbol
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.
In Naturalistic Paganism, deities and magic are often interpreted symbolically in some sense. Mirriam-Webster defines a symbol as:
something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance; especially : a visible sign of something invisible
In common parlance, symbol might be used more or less synonymously with allegory or metaphor. For example, Athena may be symbolic of wisdom, or Thor of thunder. However, in Jungian psychology, symbols are distinguished against metaphors. John Halstead explains:
The meaning of a metaphor is known. But a symbol carries with it a surplus of meaning which cannot be conveyed through explanation. A metaphor is a known quantity, but a symbol is practically inexhaustible. Ritual uses symbolic words and actions to evoke this surplus of meaning.
I have heard the complaint by some atheists that we should just say what we mean and then symbolic language would be unnecessary. But I believe this betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of symbol. Symbolic language is not representational language; it is evocative language. If we can embrace this understanding of symbol, I think our rituals will become less wordy, more evocative, and potentially more likely to be transformative.
See also “Allegory” and “Metaphor.”
Check out other entries in our HPedia.
Why is community the focus of HP?
Community is key.
– by B. T. Newberg
The focus of HP is community. Why?
Though this website started as an outlet for one guy’s thoughts (mine), it soon became clear that there were many others of like mind out there. Pretty quickly, the site began to showcase the writings of other naturalists. Eventually, the site fell into a rhythm of publishing equal amounts of articles by the editor and by guest authors.
There were several reasons for this shift. Showcasing the work of other naturalists provides several benefits. For example, it:
- creates a sense of community
- demonstrates our numbers
- illustrates diversity and breadth
- shows our increasing development and maturity as a movement
Read More
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