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In Memoriam: Mary Oliver
The celebrated poet Mary Oliver has left us at the age of 83. Details of her life and achievements may be found here, but I’d like to say, as an Atheopagan, how meaningful her work was to me, and, I think, to all who find grace and meaning in the movements and manifestations of the natural world. Oliver’s poetry was conversational, accessible. Mostly, she wrote in complete sentences broken by white space. Not for her the opacity that so often passes for “great poetry”; hers was a body of work addressed to people who live here, in the world, and who are struck by moments of wonder and reflection. She famously…
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CALL FOR NOMINEES: Atheopagan Charitable Cause 2019
Well, we took a poll and the results are in: this year, the majority of the community feels we should choose for our support a charitable organization which deals with conservation of the Sacred Earth itself. So now it’s time to submit your nominees! One per person, please, so we have a manageable number to consider. You can submit them in the comments thread below or in the discussion thread in the Facebook group. Please submit your nominee with a short (1-2 sentence) description of what the group does. Deadline for submitting a nominee is January 31. Thanks for participating!
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Raineth Drop and Staineth Slop
Winter is icumen in, Lhude sing Goddamm Raineth drop and staineth slop and how the wind doth Ramm Sing: Goddamm! —Ezra Pound This parody of the famous 13th century English round “Sumer is Icumen In” perfectly reflects how many of us experience the month of January. It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s dark, and it just…keeps…going. In the mainstream Christian culture, there isn’t a thing to celebrate after New Year except for a couple of long “official” weekends with little if any widely acknowledged ceremonial significance, until Easter in March or April*. That’s a very long drought between celebrations. Pagans get a Sabbath at the beginning of February, commonly called Imbolc…
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Atheopagan Events at Pantheacon 2019 [UPDATED!]
Though we were disappointed that Atheopagan submissions for presentation at Pantheacon weren’t accepted to the official schedule this year, that’s not slowing us down! We have three events scheduled in hospitality suites this year, including the popular annual Nontheist Pagan Mixer. The events are: FACING FORWARD: A talk on nontheist Paganism: 1-2:00 pm Saturday, in the Fire Family Suite (Room 247). How is human religious behavior evolving? Where is it likely to go, and how does nontheist Paganism fit into that trend? Nontheist Pagan Mixer: immediately following “Facing Forward”, from 2-3:30 in the Fire Family Suite (Room 247). Wine and snacks served. Enjoy fellowship and conversation with like-minded Pagans! An…
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Talking Paganism in the Mainstream
Ross Douthat, conservative columnist for the New York Times, has stirred some Pagan feathers with a column arguing that rather than becoming fully secular, the US may be moving away from a transcendentalist religiosity (such as that of Christianity and Judaism) and towards “paganism”, which he describes as a religion of “this world” as opposed to one focused on some other world or afterlife. He followed up with this piece, further expanding on these ideas and suggesting that the “civic religion” of the United States may be moving away from Christianity and its paradigms. Douthat is clearly unenthused at the prospect that his theory is correct, but I think he…
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A Community Project: Choosing a Charitable Cause for Atheopagan Support
Atheopaganism isn’t just for its practitioners. As noted in Atheopagan Principle 8, we understand our responsibility to our societies and to future generations. Accordingly, I thought it would be a good thing for all of us, as a community, to identify a charitable cause to support in 2019. I would advertise for contributions to the selected agency on the website, and we could take a collection for the agency at Atheopagan events. The process I have in mind for this selection is as follows: Identify criteria for the agency we will choose Nominate agencies that meet the criteria Vote to select the agency we want to support So let’s talk about the…
