Naturalistic Paganism
Year One: A Year of Humanistic Paganism – ebook
Here it is! – an anthology of all our published works to date, organized into one coherent presentation.
Yet this is much more than just an anthology. Exclusive new material lays out HP’s mission and vision, survey data brings the community to life, and multiple tables of contents arrange the articles in fresh and revealing patterns.
This work includes brand new material:
- Nine months: The story of HP and its mission
- Rain dance: A vision for HP
Altogether more than 50 articles from over a dozen authors explore life at the intersection of science and myth.
Whether you’re new to HP or an old veteran, you’re going to love Year One. You can choose from one of four tables of contents that put the articles in a fresh light:
- Topical Table of Contents – a practical route
- Critical Questions Table of Contents – responses to critics
- Fourfold Path Table of Contents – the basic framework of HP’s path
- Four Elements Table of Contents – a contemplative experience
Wondering what that might look like? Check out the Topical Table of Contents:
Introduction
Part I: Basics
A. The Fourfold Path
B. Practice
C. A Retreat
Part II: Advanced
A. Psychology
B. Nature
C. Mythology
Part III: Critical Appraisal
Part IV: Dialogues
Part V: Data on the HP Community
Conclusion
Dynamic Tables of Contents
Get your copy of Year One today – available now for your e-reader!
Year One: A Year of Humanistic Paganism
Editor: B. T. Newberg
Pages: 259
Color photos: 37
Formats: pdf, epub
Price: Suggested $12
© 2011
Free will donation
Love and the Ghosts of Mount Kinabalu – ebook
Creative nonfiction from the jungles of Malaysia
“eloquent and absolutely unpretentious”
“Newberg’s prose [stories] have a particular beauty all of their own”
“should be required reading for anyone going to Southeast Asia seeking more than a beach vacation or three weeks of drunkenness”
– Southeast Asia Travel Advice
Drawing on personal experiences living abroad, Love and the Ghosts of Mount Kinabalu presents three works of creative nonfiction set in Malaysia:
- Why Climb a Mountain?, a narrative essay, hunts down the motivations underlying the somewhat absurd idea of climbing a mountain. The brush is cleared away to reveal the search for a sense of significance in one’s life.
- Love and the Ghosts of Mount Kinabalu, which gives the book its title, is a six-chapter story of romance and solitude. A young teacher revisits an ex-lover on the island of Borneo, and finds more than he bargained for. When hopes for reunion evaporate, he goes on a journey to find himself in the rotting jungles. Meanwhile, a mountain said to be a place of ancestral spirits beckons from behind a shroud of clouds.
- Confessions of a Culture-shocked Alien, a story told in letters, reveals the experience of the same young man three years earlier as an exchange student in Penang, where he first meets the ex-lover from the second piece. In a Muslim country as the World Trade Towers fall and his own country retaliates, he confronts a foreign culture as well as an increasingly alien America. The pitfalls and switchbacks of living abroad lead him on a journey of self-discovery.
The three stories range from romance to rumination, but ultimately affirm the significance of life:
Mountains outscale us. They tower, they loom, they put us in our place. In their shadow, we feel insignificant. There is a sense of majesty and awe. When we climb mountains, we participate in that awe. It’s not that we become greater than the mountain, but that its greatness becomes part of us.
– excerpt from Why Climb a Mountain?
Love and the Ghosts has already received a glowing review from Asian studies scholar Jarrod Brown of Southeast Asia Travel Advice. Here is an excerpt from the review:
“B.T. Newberg’s book… is for those who come to a different place seeking something other than good times and pretty girls. It is the story of a quest for meaning, and one that stretches further than the individual to the edges of culture and beyond into an exploration of the universal human condition. The journey for the reader is not an arduous one, however, as Newberg’s prose have a particular beauty all of their own.”
“It is a rare treat to read something so obviously autobiographic yet so frank and open not only about what is happening around him but also what is happening inside of him in his thoughts and imagination. As a reader one feels almost embarrassed at times, as if one had slipped in and secretly began reading a diary one had found left in open [sic].”
“Perhaps it is a philosophical commitment to naturalism and humanism that motivates him as an author to “lay bare his soul” in a way not often encountered in prose and always obscured by literary pretenses in poetry. I certainly found philosophical parallels with existential humanism….”
What we encounter is not the glorification or bastardization of a place, people or experience, but instead what seems to be an authentic retelling, a man’s retrospective look at a slice of his life, defined by where he was, and the lessons and changes that time brought. As such, it has the potential to change the reader or at least to prepare the reader for transformation deeper than a Phuket tan.
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Encounters in Nature: A book review by Drew Jacob
In the interest of full disclosure, I should open this review by admitting some bias. I’m one of the three people featured in Encounters in Nature, and as such I have warm feelings about it. However, I do not receive any payment or profit from Encounters, and I was skeptical when the idea was first suggested – so I want to provide a review of what turned out to be an amazing product.
The reason I was skeptical is because of the format. Encounters in Nature is what I can only describe as an audio ebook. That is, it contains over an hour of audio broken up into segments with pictures and text in between. The text provides a great introduction, a variety of anecdotes and insights, and some of the original work of the featured personalities. When author B. T. Newberg first told me he planned to record a conversation in the woods, I couldn’t really picture how it would become a book. But when I saw the finished product, I was blown away.
The story of that night
The backstory is simple. B. T. (founder of Humanistic Paganism), Urban Haas (an oungan or Vodou priest) and myself (a rogue priest developing the Heroic Life) had planned a camping trip. Realizing that not everyone is balls-out about roughing it like I am, we stationed ourselves at a two-room cabin owned by B. T.’s family. What ensued was three days of the finest conversation I’ve ever been privy to.
There were gods and spirits. There were heroes and villains. There were some of our most vulnerable personal moments, shared with the breathy trust that we were among brothers. It’s not that deep conversation or man-time is anything new – but it happened in seclusion, with the greatest philosophers I know. And somehow, it took a shape of its own.
So on the second night, B. T. set up his carefully-tested and fully-charged recording equipment. It was almost comical, seeing him connect cords to his Macbook on a log beside the fire. We didn’t judge; we’d done crazier things on sheer determination many times. Soon it was dark and the mic was ready.
What the ebook offers
The audio starts with B. T. inviting each of us to share a little about our respective spiritual paths. What do a rogue priest, an oungan, and a Humanistic Pagan have in common, he asks? “Nature, of course.”
The dialogue proceeds from the sharing of paths to a discussion of how nature intersects spirituality. From there it becomes story time, each of us recounting our own experiences of being dramatically changed by nature. There’s much questioning and gentle ribbing as we discuss the idea of going back to the wild, and what it truly means.
All of this is embedded in a 70-page digital book with good layout and an evocative set of pictures, mostly real photos from our trip. When I saw the finished product I couldn’t believe B. T. had put it together in scarcely a week, a testament to his work ethic.
Encounters in Nature is made for anyone who enjoys spiritual discussion without pulpit-pounding rhetoric. It’s a candid dialogue between three devotees of three very different paths, exploring one of the greatest forces to shape the history of religion: nature itself.
Encounters will anger readers with a strict sense of faith, and provoke those with an interest in exploring outside their own own beliefs.
If that’s you, I’d recommend it even if I weren’t one of the voices on the audio.
Encounters in Nature is available as an epub at GoodReads ($8) or as a pdf at Oronjo ($0+ – pay what you think it’s worth!).
The reviewer
Drew Jacob is a priest of many gods, a seasoned nonprofit professional, a writer, an observer and all too frequently a student of his own misadventures. He follows the Heroic Path: the idea that the highest goal in life is to live gloriously, to distinguish oneself through one’s deeds, to be clever and brave and become known for it – to use the moments of life to leave a lasting and worthy impression on the world. He is the author of Rogue Priest and the ebook Walk Like a God: How to Have Spiritual Moments With No Church and No Dogma. Currently he is in preparation for the Great Adventure, a walk across two continents from Minnesota to Brazil.
See Drew’s other contributions:
Upcoming work
This Sunday: Ebook Double Feature
Introducing a new ebook from B. T. Newberg! This collection of creative nonfiction stories set in Malaysia has already received a glowing review from Southeast Asia Travel Advice. We’ll bring you the inside scoop on this exciting new ebook on sale now at GoodReads!
Love and the Ghosts of Mount Kinabalu, by B. T. Newberg
Appearing Sunday, December 18th.
Drew takes a break from his travels in Thailand to review our first ebook, Encounters in Nature. An e-reader friendly version is now on sale at GoodReads, but you can get your copy FREE! To find out how, click here.
Encounters in Nature: An ebook review, by Drew Jacob
Appearing Sunday, December 18th.
This Wednesday – Winterviews begins!
Finally! This Wednesday is the Solstice, and that means it’s time for Winterviews (winter interviews).
We’re kicking off the event with a leader in naturalistic Paganism, Glenys Livingstone, author of Pagaian Cosmology.
A poetry of Place: An interview with Glenys Livingstone, by B. T. Newberg
Appearing on the Solstice, December 21st.
Year One: A Year of Humanistic Paganism
Our latest ebook goes on sale on Wednesday! Year One organizes into one coherent presentation all we’ve published in the last year, and expands on it with exclusive new material.
Next Sunday
Is Christmas Day anything special to you? Well, whether it is or isn’t, we’ve got a special present for you. Religious Naturalist Chet Raymo, author of When God Is Gone, Everything is Holy, delivers a gift from his Science Musings collection.
Mystery, not miracle, by Chet Raymo
Appearing Sunday, December 25, 2012
Recent Work
Saving the marriage of science and religion, by B. T. Newberg
What’s been most valuable on HP?
Thing on Thursday #12
Well, this is the final Thing on Thursday, which means that just around the corner is the Solstice (Dec. 21st), and with it the beginning of our Winterviews event!
With this last poll, I’d like to get feedback on the services provided by our website. What has been most valuable for you?
If there’s something missing from the choices, or if there’s some other service you’d like to see, please add it in the “other” box and explain in the comments. Thanks!
Please choose your top three.
Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
About Thing on Thursday
This post is part of a series of councils on matters vital to the future. The name represents both the generic term for, you know, a thingie, as well as the Old Norse term for a council of elders: a Thing.Each week until the Winter Solstice, Thing on Thursday will explore a new controversy. Participation is open to all – the more minds that come together, the better. Those who have been vocal in the comments are as welcome as those quiet-but-devoted readers who have yet to venture a word. We value all constructive opinions.
There are only a few rules:
- be constructive – this is a council, so treat it as such
- be respectful – no rants or flames
Comments will be taken into consideration as we determine the new direction of Humanistic Paganism. This will also greatly shape the vision that unfolds in our upcoming ebook Our Ancient Future: Visions of Humanistic Paganism.
So please make your voice heard in the comments!
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Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
Naturalistic Paganism 