Category: Paganism
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Awestruck
I’m in Los Angeles, sitting in Swingers Diner. The air smells like onions and bacon, and before long I probably will, too. An Irish pub band is playing from the jukebox. I’m the only customer here. I opened the joint. After breakfast I’ll head to an Episcopal church on Hollywood Boulevard called St. Thomas. It’s […]
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The Unexpected Immediacy of God
Dear Sara, Thank you for your response. It’s delightful to read about your personal experiences with all of this. You offer a soothing, yet invigorating perspective. You asked, “What is contradictory for you personally between Christianity and Paganism…theologically, emotionally? Does opening the door to Christianity automatically mean shutting the door to Paganism, and if so, why? […]
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The Truth of What Was and Is and Is to Come
The Truth of What Was I was never completely committed to ADF. I didn’t finish the Dedicant Path because I was unwilling to speak out loud the final Oath. I wasn’t willing to make that kind of commitment to Paganism, or — more specifically — that significant a renouncement of my Christianity. There were plenty […]
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The Kind of Pagan I Am
I’m the kind of Pagan who hasn’t gotten rid of his Bibles. I don’t think there is a single Truth any more than I think there’s only one god, but I do think there’s something which unites everything in the universe. And I’d like to imagine that this connecting force is sentient, but I don’t know […]
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Overwhelmed with Thoughts of Jesus
I’m overwhelmed with thoughts of Jesus. Jesus and God and Christianity and the Lord’s Prayer and compassion and forgiveness and hope and judgement and freedom from judgement and all of the things which made (and make) me feel connected to the Sacred. I don’t know what to do with all of this. It started when […]
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I Was Not Ashamed at Pagan Pride
A year ago I wrote about feeling ashamed at Pagan Pride. The circle was to blame, I stated. On Saturday, to my surprise, I found myself standing in a circle at another Pagan Pride, but this time I was helping to facilitate ritual. I was “West,” to be specific. I stood in a circle, one […]
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To Be Pagan Without Community
I spent the morning catching up with an “online” friend, forging a new “on ground” relationship. The internet is amazing, really. To be able to initiate these kinds of relationship and build community having only the context of Facebook or an e-mail forum is phenomenal. I’m a transplant to this town, and yet there are […]
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Pagan Assumptions and the Direct Results of Ritual
“There can be no direct results of ritual. The results are always just part of the fabric of all action.” — Sean Michael Morris As I prepare for my upcoming appearance at the Sacred Harvest Festival I’ve been giving thought to assumptions I’ve made about Paganism; assumptions that many of us make. We assume the […]
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Who’s Going to Be My Pagan Jesus?
I started reading a book yesterday called Contemplative Practices in Action: Spirituality, Meditation, and Health. It’s an academic volume which seeks to demonstrate that contemplative practices have positive affects on the lives of those who engage in them. It’s of personal interest to me for a number of reasons. First, I would like to see […]
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The Tree of Contemplative Practices
While talking with my husband I realized that many of the arguments I’ve been making during my conversations with hard polytheists, particularly with Galina Krasskova (read our Facebook chat here and see the post it inspired from her here), are not necessarily reflected in or supported by the evidence of my own practice. Or, in […]
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Is Hard Polytheism Incomplete?
I think that hard polytheism is incomplete. I think that there is an underlying unity in all things that hard polytheism — at least, the hard polytheism I see presented most often within my own tradition, ADF — does not take into account. This became clear to me when I began to read Saraswati Rain’s […]
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My Christian Baggage
Yesterday I realized that I have what you might call, “Christian baggage.” To many, this will come as no surprise. It’s been said as much on post after post, and in the occasional Pagan forum thread. In response, I always said that I didn’t think that label was fair. Most times I think I was […]
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How Do I Know I’m a Pagan?
How do I know I’m a Pagan? I mean, really. I had this thought after my unexpected visit to church. I also had this thought after I returned home from Beltania, the Colorado Beltane gathering I attended and presented at over my birthday weekend. It may seem strange that I would question my Pagan identity after a Pagan […]
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A Pagan, a Druid, and an Episcopalian walk into a Church
I went to church last night. It was the first time I’d been to church since I left the Church. Taking in an evening mass, done up to the 9’s with incense and vestments, was something I hadn’t planned to do while visiting Eugene, Oregon, nor was it an invitation I expected to receive from […]
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The Intersection of the Myth and the Meaning
To those participating in the Bishop In The Grove’s Bookclub reading of T. Thorn Coyle’s Make Magic of Your Life, join me on Twitter throughout the month of April and engage in a Twitter dialogue about the questions raised in this book. Be sure to @reply with the hashtag, #MakeMagic and Thorn’s handle, @ThornCoyle. Now, […]
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Where Does Love Fit into Pagan and Polytheist Traditions?
I am not a Christian, but I have no problem with placing love at the center of my religious ideology. (That I should feel the need to qualify the centrality of love with an “I am not” statement is notable.) When I check in with my desire, my deepest yearning, I discover love. It’s there, […]
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PantheaCon: Much Work to be Done
It’s the last morning of the last day. I’m in my hotel room, waiting for the rest of the attendees to rise. I’m an early-morning Pagan, it seems. I’m in the minority of this minority. Intentionally reflective blog posts can be a saccharine mess if you don’t watch yourself, so I’m choosing my words carefully. There […]
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Privilege: The Other “P” Word
Yesterday I said, “Be nice.” Perhaps encouraging nicety is not the right approach. Perhaps to say “be nice” is too simplistic, and worse, reads very much like, “Hush now, your problems are not important,” or, “You are making me uncomfortable with your anger,” or “There really isn’t that much to be angry about, so can’t you […]
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Be Nice, Pagans. Be Nice Polytheists. Be Nice.
I had occasion to speak to a very nice, young man last week about online etiquette. For me, what it boils down to is this: Be nice. It may seem simplistic, or perhaps reductive to some. But, I think it’s a good rule. Be nice when you talk to people, whether you know them or […]
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Genderqueer is to Trans as Polytheist is to Pagan
My kid is transitioning, but he’s not trans. He’s genderqueer. He doesn’t mind being called “trans,” because it’s accurate, but he identifies as something different. For some, this is a brain breaker. I don’t blame them or vilify them for that. One has to be flexible with definitions in order to approach these (seemingly) subtle, nuanced uses of identity language, […]
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When Pagan Discourse Becomes Reality TV
I’ve been transfixed by a particular reality television show on Netflix. I’m not typically a reality TV kind of guy, save for a few of the more hands-on creative shows. And the ones with drag queens, of course. This show documents the Olympic-like achievements of super-couponers, who, if you don’t know, are people who stockpile mass amounts of […]
