“Post-Paganism”

Last updated on: March 21, 2017 at 8:55 pm By John Halstead

I am a label junkie. If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you probably have realized that. I am obsessed with drawing distinctions, circumscribing every social phenomena, and labeling it with an -ism. Anyway, I’ve discovered a great new label: Post-Pagan. Glen “Fishbowl” Gordon maintains the PostPagan blog and recently guest posted at HumanisticPaganism.com about process theology, religious naturalism, and transpersonal psychology — everything I love. But Gordon’s contribution to HP is just a taste of what... Read more

How Birds and Bunnies Save My Sanity

Last updated on: May 9, 2012 at 8:52 am By John Halstead

I am not a bird lover. I don’t have bird pets. I don’t own a single pair of binoculars, and I don’t own any bird identification guides. I know a Robin from a Cardinal, but that is about it. Still, I found myself feeling especially grateful for birds this spring. I live in Northwest Indiana. To the north and west of us is 50 miles urban sprawl that stretches uninterrupted all the way to the Chicago Loop. To the south... Read more

American Neopaganism, Part 3: Past, Present, and Future

Last updated on: October 25, 2016 at 8:57 pm By John Halstead

In this final part of my American Neopaganism series, I want to talk about different groups which represent, to one degree or another, the kind of open, eclectic, celebratory, and earth-centered (read non-initiatory, non-traditional/non-recon, non-esoteric, and non-deity-centered)Neopaganism I have been describing and calling “American Neopaganism”. One very good example, which dates back to the beginning of Neopaganism in 1967 in fact, is Feraferia. A lot has been written about Feraferia from Margot Adler’s Drawing Down the Moonon, and so I... Read more

American Neopaganism, Part 2: “I think I may be a Wiccan”

Last updated on: May 3, 2012 at 10:15 am By John Halstead

In my last post, I wrote that Neopaganism was a distinguishable tradition from Wicca, and one that is in some ways at odds with the esotericism in which Wicca is rooted. In spite of that fact, through a series of historical accidents, the two are now almost entirely intertwined. The way this happened is interesting. The history of the interaction of Wicca and Neopaganism can be described in three stages. First, British Traditional Wicca lost control of its brand when... Read more

American Neopaganism, Part 1: An Imaginary Tradition?

Last updated on: May 2, 2012 at 11:27 am By John Halstead

The AmericanNeopaganism.com website which I maintain will be taken down next month. I’ve maintained it for several years now, and it’s been about a year since I made any changes to the site. All of my writing energy has gone into this blog. I’ve decided to let the domain lapse until I figure out what direction I want to take it. When I first came to Neopaganism, it was through books. And when I encountered the real thing, I was,... Read more

Happy Lusty Month of May!

Last updated on: April 30, 2012 at 9:49 pm By John Halstead

If hereafter any highly cultured, poetical nation shall lure back to their birth-right, the merry May-day gods of old; and livingly enthrone them again in the now egotistical sky … — Herman Melville, Moby Dick It’s May! I love May! And not just because it’s my birth-month. I was raised on the movie version of Camelot starring Richard Harris and Vanessa Redgrave, and so I’ve always loved this song. Happy May Day everyone! “The Lusty Month of May” Tra la!... Read more

Family Mid-Spring Ritual: Jesus and the Goddess

Last updated on: April 29, 2012 at 8:27 am By John Halstead

For May Day, I usually take my family to the CUUPs celebration at the UU Church where we dance around a maypole. I also wrote a mini-ritual for my family, called “Jesus and the Goddess”. Since my wife is Christian and my son identifies as Christian, it makes sense to find ways to incorporate Christian themes into our Neopagan celebrations. I came up with this idea after reading a small book called Jesus and the Goddess by Carl McColman. In... Read more

My Neopagan Beliefs

Last updated on: April 28, 2012 at 8:07 am By John Halstead

What does it mean to me to be Neopagan? Part of it is believing certain things about the world, humanity, divinity, and life. Here is my Neopagan credo. This is not an attempt to define Neopaganism for anyone else. This is just (part of) what being Neopaganism means to me. 1. PANTHEISM: “God” is found in the world: in nature, in our selves, and in other people. “God” is not something outside of us, but something we are a part... Read more

Is life like the Iliad or the Book of Job?

Last updated on: April 26, 2012 at 1:25 pm By John Halstead

If you have never seen that sight, then suspend your decision about the propriety of devil-worship, and the expediency of conciliating the devil. — Herman Melville, Moby Dick Watching Bill Moyers’ interview of Huston Smith at church last Sunday, we came across a part of the interview where Huston is explaining that “God is one” and that, therefore, all religions are, at their heart, one. I’ll be honest, this kind of ecumenical talk never really resonated with me — not... Read more

The gods may be hungry

Last updated on: April 22, 2012 at 7:32 am By John Halstead

Last Sunday, at the “Spirit Circle” group at my Unitarian Universalist congregation, we watched a clip of Bill Moyer’s interview of religious studies scholar Huston Smith. This clip was about mysticism and it prompted a discussion of mysticism, which led into a discussion about a different, but related phenomena: intuition. Many people gave examples of moments when they felt inspired to do or say something when it felt like the source of the prompting was coming from somewhere other than... Read more