Naturalistic Paganism
Category: John Halstead
Playlist for the Wheel of the Year: Winter Solstice
Over the years, I have created rituals to celebrate the Wheel of the Year with my wife and children. Music has been an essential part of the experience. Without it, it would be much more difficult to create the sense of sacred time and space and to evoke the experience I desire for each ritual.
Read MoreNo-Nonsense Paganism: My Winter Ritual
It’s really not a complicated ritual. There’s a a simple but powerful gesture–passing the flame–and a recitation of poem that resonates deeply with me and gestures to something bigger than I can easily explain. And there’s a little deliberate structuring to give it shape. And that’s it.
Read MoreNo-Nonsense Paganism: Creating a Ritual (part 2)
Ritual is the product of a conscious form applied to unconscious content. The most evocative rituals I have created came from somewhere other than my rational mind. They combined intuitive bodily movements with what W.H. Auden called “privately numinous words”, words that I had read or heard which had a talismanic-like effect on me.
Read MoreNo-Nonsense Paganism: Creating a Ritual (part 1)
Ritual is the product of a conscious form applied to unconscious content. The most evocative rituals I have created came from somewhere other than my rational mind. They combined intuitive bodily movements with what W.H. Auden called “privately numinous words”, words that I had read or heard which had a talismanic-like effect on me.
Read MoreNo-Nonsense Paganism: Thinking About Winter Ritual
To live a pagan life, we need practices, rituals and observances which saturate everyday life. They don’t need to be demanding, but the frequency is important. We need daily practices, but we also need more than eight special days.
Read MoreBuy Godless Paganism (paperback)
Buy Godless Paganism (ebook)
Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
Naturalistic Paganism 