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Why Hexes Don’t Scare Me
As Pagans, we live in a vivid world full of wonders. For we naturalistic Pagans, those wonders have names like photosynthesis and aurora borealis and cumulonimbus and flamingo. We pay attention to the world around us, and learn about its extraordinary creatures, phenomena and history. Science and reason are our toolbox for discovery of the endless glories of the Earth and the Universe. For many in the broader Pagan community, however, living in an “enchanted world” means believing in a lot of stuff that doesn’t really pencil out when scientifically tested: omens, pseudosciences, instrumental magic, communication with deities and spirits, fairies and so forth. These things are believed out of…
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Aging, Intimacy and Atheopaganism
Intimacy is the gold standard of human relating. It is the authentic, vulnerable sharing of the inner worlds of those connecting with one another, and is a deeply nourishing, though sometimes scary experience. It is a human need; we thrive when we have it, and often suffer when we don’t. Under the Overculture, intimacy is usually conflated with sex, the idea being that the only times we are intimate and the only people with whom we are intimate are those we connect with in our sexual lives. This is a sad state of affairs, and one we should work to transcend. It is one of the places where our Atheopagan…
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GUEST POST: Atheopagan Testify! A Banishing Ritual
A guest post by Kaigi-Ron I needed to purge some major ugliness from my life, and command it to GET LOST, so I could move forward with my life. Banishing Ritual: For my banishment items, one was a stick figure of a particularly negative person. I embellished it with stink lines and 3 buzzing flies. Then X-d out her heart and face. And lastly, burnt her. So there, nyah. Did it work? YES!! I felt immediate relief afterword. And I was left with a feeling of greater command over my life, and a feeling of stronger security. I kicked those creeps outta here! So I hereby TESTIFY, AP clerics and…
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GUEST POST: An easy, one-minute daily Atheopagan micro-practice
If you’re unsure where to start with ritual or looking for something new to add to your daily practice, consider trying the 13 o’clock mindful moment. By Michael H. In Ireland, the first thing you notice about the 6 o’clock news on public television is that it is not the 6 o’clock news. It’s the “Six One News.” This is because it starts at one minute past six. Those first sixty seconds are dedicated to the Angelus, a Catholic devotional prayer and the longest-running TV show in Irish history… even if it jumped the shark many years ago. Since the beginning of Irish TV, a static religious image would appear…
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What is the Atheopagan Society?
We’re coming up on three years since the nonprofit organization The Atheopagan Society (TAPS) was organized. For some in our community, its role is a bit unclear, so I thought I would write this post explaining it. The Society is a religious organization recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a legitimate religious group and exempt from taxation. We received our letter of determination last summer, confirming this. The mission of TAPS is “To facilitate, support and enhance the spiritual practices and mutual engagement of Atheopagans throughout the world.“ TAPS was created so that Atheopaganism can carry on into the future, beyond me or any other individual. I have…
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Post 600
This website was created on August 19, 2014. At that point, it had become unwieldy to share information and resources as Facebook files to our growing community, and it was clearly time to have a publicly accessible venue for development of thought, exploration of ideas, announcement of events and access to downloadable resources. More than 120,000 site visits, two books (with one on the way), 137 podcasts, 28 YouTube videos, 3 in-person community events and the help of dozens of community volunteers later, here we are, with the 600th post to the blog. Our community has mushroomed in size and complexity, including formation of our own nonprofit Atheopagan Society, and…
