Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.
Over the past couple weeks I’ve seen a lot of comments on the nature of truth. Some say it’s objective and knowable, some say we can’t know it so why try, while others say it simply doesn’t exist. I’m an engineer, not a philosopher. But the English majors’ taunts of “barbarian engineer” haven’t been true in at least 25 years. This is an important topic and I want to explore it. If you want deep definitions, I’m including links to the Wikipedia pages, which are quite … [Read more...]
At the risk of sounding like a fanboy (or perhaps, at the risk of exposing myself for the fanboy I am) the primary reason I went to Sacred Lands and Spiritual Landscapes was Ronald Hutton. I’ve respected his work ever since I read The Triumph of the Moon in 2002 and I’ve enjoyed listening to some of his lectures on Druidcast. He doesn’t come across the ocean very often and when I saw he would be in South Carolina I knew I wanted to go. He did not disappoint. His two talks were both … [Read more...]
I wrote this for my old blog last year and it’s in the Patheos archives, but given all the uproar about Pagans and Jesus last week, and given that this is Holy Week in Christianity, it seemed appropriate to dust it off and post it again. ******************************** We live in a time and place where Christianity is deeply embedded in our culture. Even if we are happily committed to Paganism and to the old gods and goddesses – and I am – at some point we have to stop ignoring the … [Read more...]
In response to the last post on the Neoplatonist Iamblichus, Soliwo asked “why could the gods not change?” while Conor O'Bryan Warren said “A lot of Neo-Platonic thought and ideas are contingent upon the Gods being perfect and unchanging. I am not a fan of it.” I share their concerns. I will restate that I am no expert on Neoplatonism and I welcome those that are to comment and expand on any key points I miss. But it is pretty clear to me that they thought the gods (or at least, the … [Read more...]
Theology is a speculative process. Pagan, Christian, Buddhist, or any other flavor – the study of God or Goddess or gods and goddesses is inherently subjective. Though we can and should approach this topic with all the reason and logic at our command, the kind of experimentation we find in other fields of study is rarely possible. Still, theology and similar practitioner-focused religious studies are helpful. They help us form a framework for our beliefs and practices. That framework in … [Read more...]
Author and philosopher Brendan Myers has a new blog post with the rather provocative title of “The worship of the gods is not what matters.” And provoke me it did – my gut level response was “of course worship matters!” But I found Myers’ essay to be quite reasonable. Go read it and then come back – it’s not long. If you’re inclined to disagree don’t form a rebuttal as you read – read it in as neutral a frame of mind as you can. If you feel the need to rebut, you … [Read more...]
There are many views on magic in the Big Tent of Paganism. For some, magic isn’t very important – their focus is on their gods and ancestors. For others, magic is all about transforming themselves and aligning their will with the Divine. Still others see magic as a hands-on tool and use spells and charms throughout their everyday lives. Our larger culture doesn’t think much of magic... or at least, they like to pretend they don’t. Over on the Patheos “Religion on Science” … [Read more...]
On a fairly regular basis I hear from someone who expresses fear of the gods. This isn’t the awe and reverence expressed by monotheists and Pagans alike, which is a natural response when encountering a being who is older, wiser and much more powerful than you are. This is a fear of approaching the gods and goddesses of our ancestors and it generally falls into one of four categories. I’d like to explore those fears and what I’ve found to be helpful responses to them. I don’t know how … [Read more...]
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