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Atheopagan Web Weaving 2023
It was virtual, but it felt great. 84 registered attendees. 15 presenters. 8 moderators and other volunteers. One keynote speaker. And a whole weekend of interactions, learning, socializing, fun and friendship. It’s been a couple of weeks now, but I wanted to say something about the Atheopagan Web Weaving 2023 conference before it got too distant in memory. Some thoughts: First, the commonly-available technology is just amazing. It is incredible that for less than $100, we could host that many people, hold workshops in simultaneous breakout groups, share slide decks, host a common keynote speech…even host a burlesque lesson for this month’s Adult Salon! Say what you like about Zoom–it’s…
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Defying the Death Cult
It’s time for a frank conversation. The US Supreme Court handed down a ruling this week that will be devastating to the environment. It casts into question the government’s authority to regulate environmental destruction in general. Pollution, death and rapine of habitat lands will result. So let us speak very plainly. I have posted before about the Overculture: the subtext of beliefs, values and norms that inform culture in the English-speaking world, and to some degree the entire Western world. The Overculture has a lot of very serious moral and ethical (and practical) problems. It doesn’t contribute to human happiness or fulfillment. It doesn’t work well for any save the…
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Self-Initiation Rituals
Sometimes you know you have crossed–or are about to cross–a threshold. You are moving from one chapter in your life to another, or changing your status in some way. Perhaps it’s attainment of a professional license, or moving to another location. Perhaps it’s taking on a new role that you take very seriously as a part of your identity. Such a moment may be a time for a very special rite of passage: an initiation. And particularly, you may need to do that initiation alone, so this post is focused specifically on how to create such a ritual for yourself*. I did such an initiation for myself many years ago.…
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With the Fog, Summer has Returned
In many modern Pagan reckonings of the seasons, as well as in some places in the world like Ireland, the solstices and equinoxes do not mark the beginnings, but rather the peaks of each season. The “cross-quarters” in February, May, August and November are the seasonal beginnings. So May Day would be the beginning of summer, as it was reckoned in earlier times in Europe. This has always made sense to me; it is the only way to logically parse that the summer solstice is also traditionally called “Midsummer“, and the winter one “Midwinter”. But different people have different approaches, and that’s fine by me: adapting the Wheel of the…
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How to Lobby Officials and Decision Makers
In Atheopaganism, our religion is organized around two broad goals: greater individual happiness and empowerment, and creation of a world that is more ecologically balanced, kind and just to all people. That second goal means that our path is intrinsically tied up with the concept of Social Responsibility, which is our 9th Principle, and with a requirement that we be engaged civic actors and activists. I have even proposed that the 13th of each month be an Atheopagan activism day, when we can express ourselves to our elected officials and otherwise work to make our voices heard. Now, this comes much more naturally to some of us than others. I…
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May Day: What do YOU Think?
Atheopaganism is a religious path in a general sense, but it’s really a diverse set of individual paths that each of us crafts for ourselves, using pieces of my work or the work of other community members and our own creativity and spirituality. That’s the way we want it! I hope your Atheopagan practice is exactly as you want it to be so it brings you the most meaning, wonder, joy and inspiration possible. You can hear about the diverse ideas, rituals and observances of some Atheopagans on our YouTube channel and through the guest posts here and on the Wonder podcast; feel free to borrow anything that strikes your…
