Contributors | Naturalistic Paganism

“Why ‘Naturalistic Pagan’?” by NaturalPantheist

Posted on October 3, 2015 by NaturalisticPaganism

I follow the Neo-Pagan Wheel of the Year – the eight festivals/ sabbats. These help me to stay in tune with nature, to feel more of a sense of the cyclical nature of time, to be aware of the changes taking place in the world around me each season. I love celebrating these festivals, feeling connected with nature, the way they ground my spirituality in the reality of daily life. And that is another reason I consider myself a Pagan. If these things don’t make me a Pagan, I have no idea what would.

[Rotting Silver] “Simile of the Open Queen” by B. T. Newberg

Posted on September 30, 2015 by NaturalisticPaganism

Rotting Silver is a column devoted to this Earth in all its tarnished radiance: poetry, prose, and parables of ugliness alloyed with joy.

“The Mythology of Nature” by Xia

Posted on September 28, 2015 by NaturalisticPaganism

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Now we find ourselves at a pivotal point in cultural evolution. How do we weave together the disparate parts of our dualistic natures? Have we learned yet that strength is not equated with conquest and domination? Can we heal the gap that separates the polarities we find ourselves divided into? How do we integrate the necessary qualities of strength and nurturing, logic and intuition, mind and matter, nature and human development? Can we discover a new evolutionary path? How do we find the balance in nature that is needed at this critical moment in history? Can we make of this earth the garden it once was?

[A Pedagogy of Gaia] “Awakening to Gaia” by Bart Everson

Posted on September 27, 2015 by NaturalisticPaganism

To awaken to Gaia is to recognize our interconnectedness, our radical interdependence, our participation in the web of life. To awaken to Gaia is to recognize other animals and plants as our distant cousins, to recognize that our kinship extends even to rocks, to the sea, to the atmosphere. To awaken to Gaia is to recognize these realities, to become more fully alive, alert, aware, involved, and mindful. To awaken to Gaia is to wake up from the zombiefied slumber of American-style consumerism, to come alive to what it means to be a social primate in the 21st century. Awakening to Gaia means awakening to oneself, to one’s own potential, to one’s own responsibilities.