Naturalistic Paganism
Conscious or unconscious: Which is the real you?
Do you identify more with your conscious or unconscious mind?
– by B. T. Newberg
There are at least two people inside each of us:
- There is the rational, deliberate, conscious mind. It’s the one you can feel or even hear working when you puzzle out a tough math problem.
- And then there is the unconscious, intuitive, instinctive mind. This is the one that does the math, without you ever realizing it, to determine exactly how to high jump over that next hurdle.
The question is, which one is the real you?
This time, instead of a long discussion of context, I thought I’d just keep it simple.
Some food for thought:
- If you do a ritual believing there is no such thing as deity, yet the emotional response rising up from within is as if there were, which is your true belief?
- Western thought since Plato has given us the picture of the rational mind as ruler, but Jung observed that we do not create our thoughts, we are handed them. If it’s the unconscious mind that gives you your thoughts, who’s really in control? Moreover, which one is more rational?
- Many psychologists now recognize that cognition is not only in the brain but also in the muscles and organs; that is, much of it is embodied. This wider cognition is not usually conscious. For example, you may consciously intend to hit the ball with the bat, but you can only witness whether and how you hit it or not. Even farther from consciousness is “cognition” outside the body, such as writing. Some think of this as a kind of cognitive prosthesis, an off-loading of cognition into the environment (see the slideshow below, for example). If you’re willing to go as far as finding cognition outside the body, then what does that mean for self-identity? Is the skin-bag still the boundary of selfhood, or are “you” something much wider, much greater?
- Whichever aspect of the mind you identify with most of the time, are there certain times when you identify with the other more?
I look forward to hearing your comments.
Recent Work
The view from above: A Stoic meditation, by Donald Robertson
What if the universe doesn’t love you back? by B. T. Newberg
Naturalistic Druidry: A retrospective, by WhiteHorse
Next Sunday
Heather explores the intersection between Secular Paganism, Humanism, and her own life.
Am I a Secular Pagan? by Heather Van de Sande
Appearing Sunday, June 23rd, 2013
The HPedia: Divination
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.
Divination is a way of discovering meaning through special ritual methods. Such methods include tarot cards, runes, ogham sticks, omens read in natural events, and so on.
Mirriam-Webster‘s definition doesn’t quite capture the significance in Contemporary Paganism:
the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers
In contrast to fortune-telling, most Contemporary Pagans seem to lay the emphasis not on seeing the future but on seeing potentialities, paths one may take toward the future. Many also emphasize learning something about the will of deities or spirits via such methods.
From a naturalistic standpoint, any kind of literal fortune-telling or communication with deities seems unlikely, but divination remains a powerful tool for lateral thinking. Divination, which often involves rich symbolism and associative thinking, can be an effective way to stimulate the creative imagination.
An exploration of naturalistic omenry can be found in the article Symbols in the sky.
Check out other entries in our HPedia.
The view from above: A Stoic meditative practice, by Donald Robertson
(This is a brief excerpt from my book, The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy: Stoic Philosophy as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy, published by Karnac and available for order online now.)
Plato has a fine saying, that he who would discourse of man should survey, as from some high watchtower, the things of earth. (Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations)
Take a moment to settle into your posture and make yourself comfortable… Close your eyes and relax… [Pause.] Be aware of your breathing… Notice the rhythm and pattern of the breath… Do nothing for while, just be content to contemplate your breathing more deeply… [Pause.] Now, begin by paying attention to the whole of your body as one… From the top of your head, all the way down into your fingers and down into your toes… Be aware of your body as one… every nerve, muscle and fibre… Don’t try to change anything. Don’t try to stop anything from changing… Some things can change just by being observed…
The HPedia: Polytheism, hard and soft
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 the Contemporary Pagan community, there is a general distinction between soft and hard polytheism.
Soft polytheism encompasses views of the gods as figurative to some extent, whether that means they are metaphors for aspects of nature, or metaphors for some greater transcendent divine power (which may or may not go beyond what a naturalist usually considers “nature”) that is difficult to grasp except through human-created imagery. To that extent, different deities may be seen as aspects of one another.
In contrast, hard polytheism asserts deities are distinct entities, usually as causal agents with their own independent wills and personalities. The fullest account of this view is probably John Michael Greer’s A World Full of Gods. The view is described in brief by Celtic Reconstructionist Seren:
I believe that the gods, spirits and ancestors are as distinct as much as they can be closely intertwined: Sometimes the gods might be seen as spirits, or as ancestors, or both, or neither of these things. They are timeless, and they are Otherworldly. They are in this world and outside of it.
It’s also described by Star Foster:
As a hard polytheist I believe in distinct, sentient Gods that move within nature’s laws.
The claim that deities “move within nature’s laws” is worth remark. Janet and Stewart Farrar agree with regard to magic: “magic does not break the laws of nature”, as does Starhawk: “No magic spell will work unless channels are open in the material world.” These claims point to the complicated issue of what constitutes “nature” within Pagan discourse. An article on that complicated issue is available here.
It is also worth noting that Star capitalizes her “G”, whereas many others do not. HP adopts the editorial policy of not capitalizing the g, with the intention of distinguishing against the classical monotheist “God”, which is traditionally capitalized because it is a name. No disrespect is intended.
Naturalism, wherever it includes multiple deities that do not transcend nature as defined by reliable scientific evidence, might overlap with soft polytheism or be considered a subset of it. Otherwise, it may be considered a third alternative.
See also “Deity.”
Check out other entries in our HPedia.
World Environment Day
June 5th is World Environment Day, a time to stimulate awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and public action This year’s theme is “Green Economy: Does It Include You?” From the website:
The UN Environment Programme defines the Green Economy as one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.
Practically speaking, a Green Economy is one whose growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. These investments need to be catalyzed and supported by targeted public expenditure, policy reforms and regulation changes.
But what does all this mean for you? Well, this essentially what the second part of the theme is all about. If the Green Economy is about social equity and inclusiveness then technically it is all about you! The question therefore asks you to find out more about the Green Economy and assess whether, in your country, you are being included in it.
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Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
Naturalistic Paganism 