Naturalistic Paganism
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No-Nonsense Ritual: What ritual really does
We don’t use ritual to turn the Wheel of the Year outside of us. But we can use ritual to turn the Wheel inside of us. As the seasons change, we do ritual to acknowledge the change and to prepare ourselves emotionally and mentally for the change.
Read MoreWalking Barefoot: What Science Is Good For (and What It Isn’t)
Paganism invites us to plunge into matter, to lose ourselves in the sensual experience of the world. But sometimes our big brains get in the way. For me, paganism isn’t an invitation to believe in pseudoscience. It’s an invitation to experience the world without any preconceived notions of what is and isn’t real.
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 MoreLiteral Gods Are for the Literal Minded: Re-Enchanting Polytheism
The disenchantment of the world happened, not when we stopped seeing gods and spirits in nature, but when we stopped seeing our essential connection to nature. Personifying rivers and trees with dryads is not going to accomplish this. Rather, we need to realize our essential oneness, the manifold ways in which we are connected to the rivers and the trees–whether or not we find gods in them.
Read MoreGhost story, by Ken Apple
Just 12 days left for you to help HP place an ad at The Wild Hunt! Go to HP’s Indiegogo campaign to contribute. The theme for late autumn here at HP is “Death and Life.” I was in my twenties when…
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Pagan Coming Out Day – May 2nd
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