Yesterday I set out to write a post on the nature of the gods, as should be evident by the quotes I pulled from Cat Treadwell, Teo Bishop and Alison Lilly. But as I got into it, it seemed much more urgent to write about the process by which we are developing our Pagan theology. I’m slowly learning to follow the flow of the Awen instead of fighting it, so that’s what I wrote. And now this post is already… Read more

There are millions of Pagans in the world and thousands of them have some presence on the internet. But only a few write deep reflections of a theological nature. When one of these Pagans publishes something I’ve been thinking about, I consider it a coincidence. Two is a trend. Three is a message, and time for further meditation and thought on my part.There have been three very good pieces this week on the nature of the gods.British Druid Cat Treadwell… Read more

One of the things I enjoy about the Olympics is seeing athletes in sports most people only watch once every four years. We get jaded watching millionaire players in the major TV sports and we miss the years of single-minded dedication that go into an attempt at reaching the Olympic games. Sport, at its best, shows us that we humans are capable of amazing feats. Sport teaches us lessons we can carry over to other areas of our lives.Running is… Read more

Aidan Kelly at Patheos posted a challenging essay titled “The Craft Is Actually Hard Work, If You’re Serious.” I say “challenging” because it’s challenging some of my approaches to religion and spiritual practice. And if Aidan Kelly is challenging me, then I need to take a closer look.If you don’t know who Aidan Kelly is, you should. He was a co-founder of the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn in the 1960s, earned a Ph.D in Theology, and… Read more

Star Foster at Patheos has created a small uproar with a passionate post titled “I Reject Jesus Christ.” It’s a response to a condescending post by a Catholic blogger who explained why Pagans have it all wrong, including a blatantly erroneous insistence that Paganism is “a particularly strong form of Protestantism.”Responses to Star have been all over the board. Some have agreed with her and aired their own grievances against Christianity. A few insist Star’s problems with Christianity aren’t representative… Read more

It is fashionable in some circles to bash the myth of progress – the idea that things will continue to get better and better all the time. I’ve done it myself – in my last post I strongly implied it was one cause of the great problems of our world.But when I sat down to write about why the myth of progress is all wrong, I found myself in a difficult position. The myth of progress isn’t all wrong. It’s… Read more

I have a strong opinion that those who point out problems have an obligation to offer solutions. Perhaps professional journalists can be exempted, but for anyone else – and that includes politicians, editorialists, bloggers, teachers and religious leaders – if you’re going to complain then also say what you think would make the situation better. Otherwise you’re not fully engaging the problem – you’re just whining. On Tuesday I told my story of weight and fat and health and the… Read more

Last week the Pagan internet exploded with posts on the issues of obesity, health, body image and the mainstream society’s impossible standards of attractiveness. It started with this well-meaning but ultimately insensitive post by Peter Dybing asking why we don’t talk about the relatively high percentage of Pagans who are obese. Star Foster logged in from her vacation to respond with “My Fat Is My Business.” Thorn Coyle wrote a very balanced piece that still managed to offend some when… Read more

Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal, YucatanApocalypse NotDenton Unitarian Universalist FellowshipJuly 22, 2012Introduction – The Maya and Their CalendarsFor a long time we’ve been warned something big is coming at the end of this year. On December 21, 2012, the Mayan long count calendar comes to an end, and with it, the end of, well, something or other.The Maya were one of the most sophisticated pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas. They had a fully developed system of writing, a settled government,… Read more