The Allergic Pagan 
My nominations for the first 11 trump cards of the Tarot drawn from Pagan celebrities living and dead. Read more
Embracing Weirdness
August 24, 2013 By John Halstead 13 Comments
I see contemporary Paganism as an attempt to revise the categories of Western civilization: God/devil, body/spirit, self/other, purity/sex, logos/pathos, reverence/revelry, science/magic/religion, and so on. Perhaps then Paganism will always be weird. Perhaps we should hope Paganism will always be weird. Maybe to exist in between the categories of mainstream religious thought is what Paganism is all about. Read more
The Grass is Always Greener: What Unitarianism is and what I wish it were
August 21, 2013 By John Halstead 30 Comments
Sometimes, going to my Unitarian church on Sundays feels like an act of “spiritual suicide.” I am grateful for what Unitarianism is, even while I wish it could be more. Read more
A Defiant Worship: What Shark Week teaches me about God/dess
August 20, 2013 By John Halstead 27 Comments
In the end, we all must surrender to God/dess. But in the meantime, let our worship be defiance. Let us kneel in acknowledgment of all that we cannot change, and then stand in recognition of all that we can. We earn the right to bow our heads to God/dess only after we have fought the good fight with Her. To me, Paganism is not a religion of consolation — it is a religion of action, a religion of struggle, a religion of defiance! Read more
Passing on my Paganism
August 15, 2013 By John Halstead 11 Comments
This is what Paganism does for me. It brings out the holiness of the everyday: the epiphany of the sunrise, the mystery in the act of eating, the transcendence of genuine encounter with another person, the miracle in a blade of grass. This is what I hope to teach my children, whether they call it Paganism or not. Read more
My Favorite Posts From July
August 3, 2013 By John Halstead 3 Comments
There’s so much interesting blogging going on in our community. I want to highlight a few items from last month (in no particular order). Read more
Lughnasaywhat?
August 2, 2013 By John Halstead 27 Comments
I have issues with the Wheel of the Year. I have issues with the timing of the cross-quarters, with the meaning attached of several of the eight stations, and with the names of most of the days. Right, now I’m just going to focus on Lughnasadh, though. Read more
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: When a friend turns to fundamentalism
July 31, 2013 By John Halstead 17 Comments
Can we not have the "life, meaning, and beauty" without the "swindle of religious belief"? Can we not have the peace without the "illusion"? Can not my friend find salvation from suicide without resort to religious fundamentalism? Read more
The center cannot hold: UPG as a centrifugal force
July 22, 2013 By John Halstead 81 Comments
Personal gnosis is always potentially threatening to community. In order for a community like Paganism to survive, it must find a way to integrate personal gnosis with the communal identity. Read more
Losing My Religion: The illusion of choice in religious leave-taking
July 15, 2013 By John Halstead 18 Comments
It was out of necessity, not principle, that I left Mormonism. I count myself fortunate that other divine hands found me. Read more
TRENDING AT PATHEOS Pagan
