
She sat on my couch and wept. Not because her husband left. Because he wanted the kid.
“He abuses him. He abuses both of us,” she said between sips of pekoe. “Now he’s going to take my son.”
I didn’t know if any of it was true. It wasn’t my job to judge, just to listen. At least for now.
The husband had hired a private investigator to dig up dirt. He also had a very expensive lawyer. The hearing was in a month and it didn’t look good.
She took a quiet tone. “Can you cast a spell?”
Check out the HPedia: An encyclopedia of key concepts in Naturalistic Paganism.
In order to promote this new resource, select articles will be published as posts each Thursday. Your comments and critiques are needed. It takes a community to produce a valuable resource, so please dig your teeth in!
Is it morally questionable to charge money for magic? Drew Jacob is taking a new approach to the question with his Magic to the People project.
Better living through magic, by Drew Jacob
Appearing Sunday, March 17th, 2013

Is myth fading into the background in Naturalistic Paganism?
How important is myth to your practice?, by B. T. Newberg
Appearing Sunday, March 24th, 2013
Pagan Atheists: Yes, we exist, by Stifyn Emrys
Today is Einstein’s birthday, as well as Pi Day.
Albert Einstein’s birthday as well as Pi Day is March 14. Einstein, born in 1879, was the celebrated mind that gave us the theory of relativity and E = mc2.
The mathematical constant π or pi expresses the ratio of any Euclidean circle’s circumference to its diameter. Its decimal representation never ends and never repeats (though it is commonly abbreviated to 3.14).
Princeton has celebrated the 14th with pie and an Einstein look-alike contest.

While stereotypes portray Japan as a nation of serene mystics, surveys reveal the world’s second largest population of atheists.
– by B. T. Newberg
“I don’t know anything about Buddhism,” she said.
I stared at her quizzically.
But you’re a priest’s daughter, I thought. You grew up in a temple, and may even take over the temple one day. How could you not know anything about Buddhism?
“I don’t really have a religion,” she said.
The young Japanese woman in this exchange is fairly typical of many today for whom religion has become mostly cultural custom.
East Asia is apparently a hothouse of atheism, according to world polls. But is it really so, or is it an illusion of cultural factors and skewed statistics?

As a follow-up to the previous post on non-religion in Korea, this one delves into Japan, which boasts an even higher population of Atheists. Is it really so, or do cultural factors skew the data?
Is Japan really the 2nd most atheist nation?, by B. T. Newberg
Appearing Sunday, March 10th, 2013
Is it morally questionable to charge money for magic? Drew Jacob is taking a new approach to the question with his Magic to the People project.
Helping People With Magic, by Drew Jacob
Appearing Sunday, March 17th, 2013
Pagan Atheists: Yes, we exist, by Stifyn Emrys