Naturalistic Paganism
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Animism for the Religious Naturalist
Animists see a world that is full of other-than-human persons, including salmon persons, tree persons, and even rock persons. It is difficult for many Westerners to understand the concept of other-than-human persons, especially when talking about (seemingly) “inanimate objects” like rocks. But for the animist, there is no such thing as inanimate matter, because it is all a part of the complex self-regulating living system called Gaia. Animism is not about the projection of consciousness or agency onto non-human things, but about respect and reciprocity within a more-than-human community that transcends the subject-object dichotomy.
Read MoreInstitutionalized Elder Care is a Moral and Spiritual Problem – Naturalistic Pagans Can Help Solve It, by Renee Lehnen
Other than criminals, the elderly are the only people who are routinely kept in residential custody in the post-industrial world. The massive, brick edifices of the nineteenth century that housed the parentless, the impoverished, the mentally ill, and the disabled…
Read MoreA Naturalistic Pagan’s Case for MAID and the Humane Treatment of the Old Human Animal, by Renee Lehnen
On March 27, George and Shirley Brickenden died holding hands in bed after dining on lobster, salmon, and champagne. George, 95, and Shirley, 94, married since the final year of the Second World War, “flew away” (their words) to the…
Read MoreNaturalistic “Pagan” Books You Won’t Find in the Metaphysical Section
What naturalistic (small-p) pagan books have been an inspiration to you?
Read MoreSerpent Dreams: A Naturalist Encounter with Myth and Deity by Mary Lanham
Atheism, at least in its mainstream forms, requires me to dismiss all mystical pathways to meaning. But the more deeply I engage with the world, the more sterile this restriction becomes. So far, the best framework I’ve found to release me from that sterility of thought is naturalism. To me, naturalism is a middle path between the reductive perspectives of both materialism and supernaturalism.
Read MoreBuy Godless Paganism (paperback)
Buy Godless Paganism (ebook)
Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
Naturalistic Paganism 