Practice
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The Longest Day
Well, here it is: the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The summer solstice, or Midsummer. I will be living in two of the worlds I inhabit today: attending a 35th-anniversary celebration for the conservation organization I founded back in the 90s, and then going to a solstice gathering with Pagan friends. Hopefully a good mix. By contrast with the huddling-together-against-the-cold-and-darkness of the winter solstice, Midsummer is, rather than a stubborn persistence in the face of adversity, rather a benign and pleasant time. A time for barbecues and outdoor play, relaxation in a hammock. For my European ancestors, it was a time between sowing and reaping, when…
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Leaving the Dark Side of the Year
Happy Vernal Equinox! Today we in the northern hemisphere depart the darker half of the year’s solar cycle for the brighter days of spring and summer. Perhaps it’s just biology knocking on my brain, but I feel oddly optimistic these days despite the deeply disturbing things happening in the news. One thing I am definitely looking forward to is Suntree Retreat 2026! The third of these in-person gatherings of Atheopagans from throughout the Americas (and others are of course welcome–we just haven’t had any attend yet!), Suntree Retreat is a long weekend of workshops, rituals, socializing and fun in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the gorgeous La Foret Retreat Center. I…
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Gratitude, Mourning, and Rage
It’s American Thanksgiving again. I have feelings. Because let’s face it: the Happy Shiny story most white Americans tell themselves about this day’s origin is a crock of shit: a self-congratulating retcon of colonization as “brotherhood”. In which they, of course, are the heroes. As in every American myth about themselves. Tiresome, really. Ourselves, I should say. Just because I eventually vomited up the Kool-Aid doesn’t mean I’m not a part of this. White Americans tell themselves that their ancestors’ invasion of the lands they now occupy—dragging with them enslaved Africans, which is a whole other abomination—was beneficial to all concerned. Benign, at the very least. Of course, the descendants…
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Hallows: A Compendium
I’ve written a lot about this time of year, this holiday, which I call Hallows. I’ve been celebrating it for decades. And every year at this time, I think about mortality, the cycle of death/decomposition/recomposition, ancestors, memory. The past, the inevitable future. The Big Picture. Dressing up creepy, or goofy, or sexy. Giving permission to people to let their wild side out. I think about all of it. I’m doing that this year, too. Updating my death packet, as I do every October. Rituals, and gatherings, and the wonderful creepy vibe. Candy for little monsters. Taking the whole ride. I’m even taking a week off, from Halloween through the actual…
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Mendicant Traditions and the Accumulation of Wealth
A mendicant is a beggar: a poor person who importunes others for money or other material support. In Pagandom, we remember many holiday traditions rooted in mendicant practices. This post is about the special wonders of traditions involving house-to-house beggary, and the deeper meanings associated with many of them. I’m thinking about these traditions, and what they mean. What their function is. But to start with, let’s look at them! First and most famously, there is Wassailing in England: the homes and the orchards. As well as… Thomasing in England: The former custom of going from house to house on St Thomas’s day (December 21) to beg for small gifts…
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Gone A-Maying
Joyous, pleasurable, a little transgressive, and underneath all that, sacred. That’s May Day to me. Historically in Europe, May Day was the beginning of summer–the time when freezes were generally over and spring foliage was leafing out. It was the time of the custom of “going a-Maying”, wherein young adults would go into the forests to “gather wildflowers” and get some unsupervised time together. It was a wink-nudge practice and everyone was in on the joke, so there are many ribald poems, songs and stories about it: So the coming of summer also meant an opportunity to slip out from under the watchful gaze of Mum and Dad for some…
