Naturalistic Paganism

Category: Columns


[The Dionysian Naturalist] “Nature Religions and Revolutionary Social Change, Part 2” by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D.

Relationships define our lives. Yet each of us is able to make a difference to the whole. We are kin with all other life forms, sharing similar compositions and made from the same stardust. We celebrate the circle of life and know that we must live in harmony with the rhythms of the natural world.

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[The Dionysian Naturalist] “Nature Religions and Revolutionary Social Change, Part 1” by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D.

This essay highlights contributions religion can bring to social movement struggles for justice and transformational politics. These are times which demand “engaged spirituality”, in which religious people actively engage with the world in order to transform it in positive ways while finding inspiration, moral support and guidance in their spiritual beliefs and practices. To those ends I advance a “practical theology of social change” focused on our intentional interventions to change the world (“praxis”), and outline some of its operating principles and spiritual practices.

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[Pagan in Place] “Live Oak Trance”, By Anna Walther

Entering At dusk I sat under three live oak trunks that grow in woods near my house. I cleansed, grounded, and centered and began square breathing*, with eyes open and attention focused on the tree. I imagined that, like the…

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[Rotting Silver] “Parable of the Wrestler’s Lover” by B. T. Newberg

In the wanderings of the Goddess, she came upon a traveling wrestler challenging all comers. The wrestler said, “They call me ‘I am.’ For within this ring, I am the power that determines the worthy. All that are not worthy…

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Naturalistic Pagan Toolbox: How to Construct a Morning Ritual

A morning ritual doesn’t have to be complicated, or even difficult. If you don’t have a morning ritual, these elements may help you construct one, or if you have one already, this may help you refine yours.

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