Box Pews

June 6, 2013 By 3 Comments
box pews in King's Chapel

Cathy and I visited three churches on our recent trip to Boston. Though none of them were thousand year old cathedrals, they were all fascinating places and quite old, at least by American standards. The Old North Church (properly known as Christ Church) is best known as the signaling point that began the famous midnight ride of Paul Revere (and also of William Dawes and Samuel Prescott). It was built in 1723 as an Anglican church and became an Episcopal church after the Revolution. Though it … [Read more...]

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Nature Religion?

May 12, 2013 By 24 Comments
sacred

Is Paganism a Nature religion? Should it be? The topic comes up periodically and recently we’ve had some thought-provoking and comment-inspiring essays, including this one from Sam Webster and this one from Gus diZerega. I’ve given up trying to define Paganism – that’s an impossible task. But in this big tent, there are Pagans who explicitly worship Nature as God/dess, Pagans who include Nature in their worship, and Pagans for whom Nature is at best secondary to their worship of the … [Read more...]

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A Modern Pagan View of Sacrifice

April 22, 2013 By 2 Comments
offering 04.22.13b

Last week Sam Webster had an excellent column on restoring Pagan sacrifice which drew largely from the ancient Greeks. I’d like to continue that conversation and offer my own thoughts on sacrifice: what it is and why we should do it. Sacrifice has two separate but related meanings. If we are to understand sacrifice, much less practice it effectively, we need to understand both. The common meaning of sacrifice is “to give up.” We pour a libation, giving up the opportunity to drink the … [Read more...]

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Why I Am a Pagan

March 28, 2013 By 23 Comments
What is Druidry 09.14.12

Patheos has a new series called “Why I Am A...” which challenges writers to explain their religious choice in 200 words or less. Here’s my entry.   I am a Pagan because the Earth is our Great Mother, both physically and spiritually. I am a Pagan because the Universe is more beautiful, more powerful, more connected and more magical than I could ever imagine. I am a Pagan because I would honor my ancient ancestors and their ways. I am a Pagan because the Divine is expressed in a … [Read more...]

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Pagan Groups: Seeking To Find

March 21, 2013 By 3 Comments
CUUPS Beltane 2010 21a Maypole

I’m a strong proponent of group practice and worship. While there is no substitute for regular personal spiritual practice, there is also no substitute for the fellowship, encouragement, reinforcement and accountability that comes from being in community with like-minded folks. And there are things you can do in a group you can’t do alone: you can’t do a spiral dance by yourself and one person can’t raise the energy that thirty can raise. I know a few people who are die-hard … [Read more...]

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Morrigan Devotional Ritual

February 11, 2013 By 6 Comments
Spear made by Ted Davidson. Photo by Erin Kane.

On Friday night, seven people gathered in a back yard in Denton for a devotional ritual to the Goddess Morrigan. It was an intensely powerful experience. Though we took no oaths of secrecy (none were asked and none were made) the experience feels too intimate to share in great detail. But I think there is value in telling at least part of this story, in showing what can be done and what Pagan ritual can be and do when we are in alignment with each other and with our gods and … [Read more...]

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Worship the Gods

February 7, 2013 By 19 Comments
Sophia from Celsus Library in Ephesus

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...]

Filed Under: Gods and Goddesses Tagged With: , , , , , 19 Comments