Pagan
-
Discovering Atheopaganism
I never knew there was anyone who felt as I did, who believed as I did. I really feel that I have found my people–that I have come home. Atheopagan community member It has been hugely beneficial for me to discover the Atheopagan community. I’ve always struggled to name my spiritual path. I love the nature reverence of modern Paganism but couldn’t subscribe to belief in supernatural entities or magical forces. Atheopaganism gives rational thinkers ways to celebrate our exquisitely beautiful planet and to live ethically. Atheopagan community member People don’t generally “convert” to Paganism. They find it, and find it fits. Which makes sense, because Pagans don’t proselytize. We…
-
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…
-
NATURALISTIC PAGANISM: A Challenge to the Paradigms of the Overculture
A Presentation to the 2023 Conference on Current Pagan Studies: January 15, 2023 THANKS for inviting me to present to the 19th annual Conference on Current Pagan Studies! I’d like to extend my appreciation to the organizers and co-creators of this event. We live in times of deep crises: Clearly, people who are aware of the challenges we face need to be vocal about their concerns, and work to see them gain traction. We also live in times of deep religious transition: These phenomena offer both challenges and opportunities for Pagans.As stated in the description of this conference, the witch embodies a rebellious archetype, and on the face of it…
-
What Do We Mean by “Revering Nature”? A Reality Check
Life is one of the Sacred four pillars of Atheopaganism. And it is often said of Pagans generally that we revere or even “worship” Nature. So…what do we mean by that? To explore that, we have to go back about 250 years to a major wellspring of modern Paganism, which is Romanticism. Starting in the late 18th century, as more and more Europeans began to live in cities rather than in small villages or on farms, the Romantic movement arose, which, well, romanticized the idea of “noble Nature”. Romantic ideas of “untamed wilderness” and “the magnificent wild” persist in cultures derived from Europe to this day, including the idea that…
-
Imagining a Brand-New, Cringe-Free Paganism
Bear with me here, because I am probably going to piss some people off. Just keep an open mind, and listen. Atheopaganism is a modern path. Created beginning in 2005, the essay describing it was first published in 2009. The online community launched in 2012. The book was published in 2019. The podcast began in 2020, and the nonprofit Atheopagan Society was organized later that same year. We have grown to thousands, but realistically speaking, our community is 15 years old, give or take. There’s nothing wrong with that. Everything starts sometime. What matters is the content of the path’s values and the character of its members. Atheopaganism is a…
-
My Top Ten from 2021
The year is drawing down, and it’s time to take a look back at what we’ve published and pick some favorites! Here, in no particular order, are my favorite ten blog posts of 2021. If you have a favorite that isn’t on the list, please comment below! You Have Permission to be Witchy When Life is Hard Riffs on a Meme: Enchanting the Mundane Playing with the Senses During Ritual (Guest Post) Deep Paganism The Deep Secret of Emergent Complexity Why Paganism hasn’t Failed…Yet Doing the Work The Sacred Rite of Composting Imagining Ancestors I invite you to revisit these, or, if you missed them the first time, to take…
