Personal Reflection
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Circling Round the Suntree
A reflection on Suntree Retreat 2022 by Summer LaJoie From all directions, north, south, east and west, we came to gather in the meadow Circling round the suntree, with open minds and open hearts we clad the limbs with treasures The sky took notice to our song and the forest quietly listened We spoke our words of growth and healing to set our intentions With honor and respect, for ourselves and each other, we acknowledged the land and all of our ancestors And with a unified breath, we gently opened a sacred and beautiful container And as it opened we could see the artistry of careful consideration in all of…
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Reintegration
Coming down from the mountainI have seen the lofty gloryI will go again some dayBut for now, I’m coming down. –Meat Puppets There is an ache in my heart right now, a longing for the people and experiences of Suntree Retreat. It isn’t that I’m not glad to be home. I like my life, by and large. But I have had a peak experience and there is a feeling of sorrow, of yearning now that it is over. At the Retreat, I came to feel a deep caring for every attendee and for what we were doing together: the rituals, the vulnerability, the courage, the socializing, the celebration. Such an…
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Welcome to the Resistance (US)
With the leak of a draft opinion overturning the pivotal Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed all people with uteruses the right to an abortion through the first trimester of pregnancy, shock waves are rippling across the United States. It won’t stop here. This Court has revealed its radical, reactionary and activist nature. It is highly likely that the right to access contraception, the right to privacy in consenting conduct between adults (which legalized same-sex sexual acts but also has implications for people in alternative relationship configurations like BDSM relationships and polyamory), and even the right to same-sex marriage are on the chopping block. Unless some unforeseen change…
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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…
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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…
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Approaching Sixty
A month from today, I will reach 60 years of age. I can’t believe it, honestly. I still feel 35. Where has all that time gone? Now, I’m aware that I can’t look at this dispassionately. A combination of the American cult of youth and the very real fact of impending mortality makes this a milestone I can’t ignore. And it is true: my body does not have the capacities it once did. I am no longer the man who scampered into the Sierra Nevada high country for solo backpacking trips every summer in his late 20s. Or even the one who paddled the Grand Canyon in his 30s. Aging…
