Naturalistic Paganism
Archives
[A Pedagogy of Gaia] “School’s Out; Summer’s Here” by Bart Everson
Maybe that’s why I love summer so much. More than any other, it’s the season of liberty. It represents an enduring freedom of the spirit. Sometimes, on the best days, it seems that summer stands outside of the regular flow of time, magical, eternal.
Read MoreNaturalistic Paganism Toolbox: Enchant the Everyday
What simple, seemingly mundane objects or events in your life might become sacred for you? Have you ever felt compelled to pour a little water from your water bottle onto the dry ground? What would it be like to experience the numinosity of a soap dish or a window latch? What might your kettle or your cooking pot teach you about the sacred?
Read MoreDo Trees Have Rights? (the short version), by John Halstead
General acceptance of the phrase, “the rights of nature”, could trigger a paradigm shift in Western consciousness, a shift from viewing nature instrumentally–as having value only for humans–to viewing nature as inherently valuable–as having value in its own right. And that could have profound consequences for human behavior and our impact on the more-than-human world.
Read MoreConfessions of a Naturalistic Witch, by Anna Walther
The goal of my naturalistic practice is not to project my will onto the world, but instead to harmonize my will with reality, which is Nature. In other words, I want to fully inhabit my life in this one world just as it is. I have no evidence for an otherworld, but belief in an otherworld is not required, for the meaningful practice of magic.
Read MoreCritiquing “Naturalism”, by John Halstead
As Naturalistic Pagans, I think we are uniquely positioned to transcend the limitations of both reductionist science and superstitious forms of Paganism. We can can elucidate the distinction between subjective nature and objective nature, without denigrating the former. We can valorize human experience, without confusing experience with objects. This is how we re-enchant the world, not by looking for gods or fairies in the space between atoms or in strands of DNA, but by imbuing both–gods and atoms, fairies and DNA–with human meaning.
Read MoreBuy Godless Paganism (paperback)
Buy Godless Paganism (ebook)
Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
