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Check Out THE WONDER!
It’s been awhile since I mentioned our podcast, THE WONDER: Science-Based Paganism, hosted by Yucca and myself. We’ve been publishing for about 20 months now, and I hope you will check us out! For your convenience, here are links to the episodes published to date. Enjoy! Interview: Sedna Woo – Atheist Witchcraft Autumn Crafts and Goodies Beyond Misanthropy The Fall Equinox Sigils Nature Based Paganism? Confronting Our Demons Re-Enchantment of Life The Body Summer’s Waning – Dimming – Lammas – Lughnasadh Creating Sacred Space The Final Four Principles Relationships – Part One Herbs, Plants, and Paganism Summer Solstice/Midsummer Perspective, Praxis, Inclusiveness, Legacy, and Responsibility Reopening Pay Attention! The First Four…
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The Deep Secret of Emergent Complexity
WARNING: This is somewhat heavy lifting, but when you get it, it will blow your mind. In a really good way. If you want to immerse yourself in a miraculous and fundamental characteristic of our Universe, read Complexity by M. Mitchell Waldrop and Chaos by James Gleick. Or, if you’re in a hurry, watch these two Stanford lectures by the celebrated neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky, but be warned: in spite of Sapolsky’s sense of humor, it is dense–although fascinating–going. These works answer a profoundly basic question about our Universe: why are things as they are? Why do simple things combine to make completely different things? Our Universe is not decreed top-down…
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Autumn: The Drawing Down
Now that the equinox has passed, things seem to be happening more quickly, somehow. The days are markedly shorter (here in the northern hemisphere), and there is a chill in the air at night despite wan, warm days. Growing global heat means that the coastal fog cycles that cool us off in the mornings have persisted long past when they used to–to see that fog at the end of September used to be unthinkable. I light the candles on my Focus each evening at dark and it seems so early now; touching the flame to the wick of the candle in the World section of the Focus with the words…
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Happy Harvest 2021!
Today is the Equinox, when day and night are (within a few minutes, depending on latitude) equal in length. It is the Atheopagan Sabbath of Harvest (or High Spring, in the southern hemisphere), and a time for feasting with loved ones. With the pandemic, of course, this is challenging unless all of you are vaccinated and have been safe. But I hope that you will find time today to celebrate the abundance the world pours out for us, as well as the elderly folk in your life, as Harvest time is the metaphorical point in the wheel of the year equivalent to old age. That’s how my wheel of the…
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Yule Metheglin Recipe
Brew this delicious sparkling mead now and have it ready for Yule! Ingredients Montrachet yeast (1 packet) Yeast nutrient, 1 oz. 12 lbs. high-quality honey (thyme, thistle, or wildflower honeys are nice for this recipe) Zest of four large or eight small oranges 5 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces 12 cloves, broken 10 large slices fresh ginger, bruised with a hammer to release flavor 5 gallons water Equipment Large cooking kettle Candy thermometer Jar Muslin Rubber band Food-grade five-gallon fermenting bucket Brewing airlock Racking (siphoning) cane Glass carboy, 5 gallon Champagne bottles Caps and capping press Method Start the yeast 2 days ahead. Take a sterilized jar and add a…
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On Pagan Misanthropy
These are times when those of us who love the Earth can easily fall into resenting or even hating humanity. It’s not much of a leap: not only are we watching climate change in action and the crashing decline of biodiversity, but social and political movements right now are showing humans at their very worst. This misanthropy can be a terrible burden. It is virtually impossible to be a happy person when weighted down with the enormity of thinking your own kind was a devastating mistake of evolution. I see this kind of thinking sometimes in the Pagan community. It saddens me and I think it undermines the mental health…
