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The Offerings of Man, the Obligations of Gods
I approach my home shrine in the morning and prepare my offerings. Into three small, porcelain sake glasses, which were given to me by my stepfather, I pour a small bit of sugar, oats, and oil. These were the foods that made the most sense to me, although I’m not sure why. Whether I’m clothed […]
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Since When Were Will and Grace Pagan?
On the last day of the Eight Winds Festival, an hour or so before heading to the airport, I sat around the fire with my fellow ADF members and participated in a discussion with the Senior Priests about the future of ADF’s Dedicant Path (DP). For those not involved with the organization, the DP is […]
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I Went Camping in the Woods and I Came Back a Druid
Organized sports never suited me. But wrestling with my faith? Someone should give out trophies. I would have a garage full. When I left for the Eight Winds Festival, the first ADF gathering I’d ever attended, I was concerned that I may not be able to invest myself fully on account of a little religious […]
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When Jesus Hitches a Ride to the Druid Camp
I’ve been a stay-at-home Pagan, a bookish Pagan, a CUUPS ritual-attending Pagan, and a blogging Pagan. But as of yet, I have not been a festival-going Pagan. That all changes this week. On Wednesday I shall make my way to the Prosser Ranch group campground, located just outside the town of Truckee, California, and celebrate […]
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How Does Paganism Handle Turnover?
A friend messaged me this morning to tell me she’d been fired. The news was unexpected, as it often is, and she was understandably torn up over it. My heart sunk, and I hurt for her. I wanted to reach out and embrace her, but I couldn’t. There was only text between us, and the […]
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The Awen Moves: An Offering in the Morning
There is an intrinsic connection between creativity and spirituality, I think. The impuse to create feels very much to me like the impulse to worship, to do ritual, or to pray. Perhaps this is why my heart sang out so loundly when I first found the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids. OBOD asserts that […]
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Two Pagans, an ex-Druid, and a Pastor Walk Into a Bar
I wrote a post on Storify, a website which helps its users tell stories by curating social media. Not only can you read and embed (usually) Storify posts, but you can Like, Comment, or Share any of the individual messages inside a Storify post. High-tech, no? It takes dialogue to a micro-level. Give the post […]
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New Pagan Music: Join Me in the Sacred Electric Grove
In modern times, a Bard is one who sees their creativity as an innate spiritual ability, and who chooses to nurture that ability partly or wholly with Druidism. – From Druidy.org, OBOD For well over a year my voice has been heard by my readership only as text. You’ve come to know me by reading […]
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One Little Pagan on the Huffington Post
I remember when I first came out as gay, I wanted to read other gay writers. I wanted to listen to gay music, and wear gay t-shirts, and stitch a gay patch to my high school backpack. Gay was the thing to be, as far as I was concerned, and “gay bling” was hot currency. […]
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Looking a little closer at Pagan Leaders, Clergy, and Teachers
An online academic journal called Hybrid Pedagogy posted a piece that I wrote about a student’s perspective on pedagogy, which for those (like me) who aren’t teachers by trade, is the method and practice of teaching. There is a discussion happening in academic circles about the changing roles of teacher and student. The “brick and […]
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You Say Tomato, I Say Druid.
Ever since I took the name, Teo Bishop, and made it my own — both in a religious sense and through the proper legal channels — I’ve had cause to explain what it is that I do on this blog. My writing, as well as my deepening engagement with my own spiritual work, are both […]
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WAKE UP, PAGANS! The End is Here!
I think “eschatology” is a funny word. Speaking it out loud makes potty-jokes come to mind. Say it, and I remember being 5. The definition of eschatology, “the part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind,” is much less funny. It, one might say, is a […]
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The Problem of the Pagan “Us and Them”
When I questioned the place of compassion in Pagan and Polytheist philosophy a couple of weeks back, I got an interesting response from one of my readers, “LaurelhurstLiberal”. She wrote, “Now, about compassion: as a Heathen Reconstructionist, this is one of the big questions I’m still trying to puzzle out. Right now, it seems to […]
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Where is the Source of Your Inspiration?
This morning I woke, picked up the pen and paper on the hotel nightstand, and wrote down these words: What is it to write from sleeping? To write without ceasing. To hold back the need to edit, the impulse to correct. The penmanship is awful, but that does not matter. The only impulse is to […]
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What is the Point of Your Religion?
Last week I asked, “Where does compassion belong among Pagans and Polytheists?” Beneath this first question there is another, more relevant question; one that has been nagging at me for several days: What is the point of your religion? I think this is a valuable inquiry, and no one has asked me this just yet. Yesterday […]
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Where Does Compassion Belong Among Pagans and Polytheists?
I’m having a hard time with compassion. So far, I’ve developed a daily ritual at my altar, I’ve reconciled (for the time being) my differences with my Christianity, I’m working to hold the tension between my Druid Revival leanings and my ADF approach, and all of that feels good. I feel like I’m developing a […]
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Do Not Speak, and You Will Be Heard
Today I approached my altar in silence. Speaking the words out loud, my standard approach to a daily ritual, felt unnecessary. In my mind, in my heart, the words rang out with perfect clarity, and I trusted that whomever needed to hear them would. The effort I put into my daily practice waxes and wanes, […]
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Listen to my interview on The Pagan Knitter Podcast!
I’m excited to announce that my interview on The Pagan Knitter Podcast is live!! I had such a wonderful time talking with Ursa about my experience of Druidry, my love of knitting, and my passion for writing and blogging. You can listen to the podcast on the Pagan Knitter website, or download it directly through […]
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Remembering to Remember
We don’t know how to relate to one another. This became evident by the end of my first day of tarot readings at Isis Books. We don’t really know how to be in relationships, which is interesting to me because we are in relationships. Our lives are chalk-full of relationships. Yet, somehow, they remain a great mystery […]
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Awaking Me Loudly: Seduced By the Tarot
Transformation is a slow process, and challenging to describe. Best to be on the lookout for that initial spark of change, and then follow it wherever it leads you. The Chariot: The pursuit of the Divine is a series of sublimations; a refinement of the base; lead to gold. – March 29th, 2009 The tarot […]
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WARNING: Call on a God, and He just might show up.
I drove an hour to Malibu for my Spring Equinox ritual. The location was a secluded, public beach called “El Matador.” The site opened at 8, and I arrived just a few minutes after the top of the hour. I followed the dirt trail down the edge of the cliff side, wearing jeans and work […]
