I’ve been watching this series on TV, “Awake”, and I noticed a parallel to some of my interactions with atheists and with believers. The show is about a police detective (Britten) who is in a wreck with his wife and son. Either his wife or his son die, depending on what reality he is in. After the wreck, when he goes to sleep in one reality where his wife died and son lived, he immediately wakes up in another reality,... Read more
I like to see whenever Humanistic Pagans or Pagan Atheists get mentioned by more polytheistic or deity-centered Pagans — especially when it is positive. Most recently I read Teo Bishop’s post where he mentions “Pagan Humanists”. He writes: “Sometimes I think the Pagan Humanists have it right in their approach to their practice. They see the Gods as archetypes, but they also see the archetypes as our entry into deeper engagement with the greatness, the expansiveness, the mystery of the... Read more
I want to share some great recent posts on other blogs. 1. Alison Leigh Lilly @ Peace, Poesis, and Wild Holy Earth talks about the “basics” of what she believes: “I believe that ritual, like poetry and art, can open us to more authentic relationship with the nature of things, the Song of the World, and all of the beings who share the world with us by engaging us in the sacred play of creativity, imagination and creation. …” 2. ... Read more
Adrienne Rich, celebrated poet and feminist, passed away yesterday. I know Rich mostly for the following poem which reminds me to beware of trying to get ready to live my life — which just causes me to miss out on it as it passes me by. Transcendental Etude No one ever told us we had to study our lives, make of our lives a study, as if learning natural history or music, that we should begin with the simple exercises... Read more
I recently finished reading Octavia Butler’s “Parable of the Sower”. It’s set in the near future when the United States has all but collapsed due to economic pressures. Theft, rape, and murder are the rule. The heroine creates a new religion, which she calls “Earthseed” and which is adopted by a small community of refugees. The central tenet of Earthseed is: “God is Change. Shape God.” All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only... Read more
Check out this wonderful post by Teo Bishop about a beautifully planned ritual that does not turn out as planned — and about how the unexpected can be a manifestation of the divine. Read more
I just wanted to share this. I have this feeling more often than I care to admit … When you have been at war with yourself for so many years that you have forgotten why, when you have been driving for hours and only gradually begin to realize that you have lost the way, when you have cut hastily into the fabric, when you have signed papers in distraction, when it has been centuries since you watched the sun set... Read more
Here’s my outline for our upcoming family Spring Equinox celebration: Lord and Lady Day Spring Equinox Prelude: “Freya and Frey” chant by Thorn Coyle and Sharron Knight Hail to Freya, beauty of the North Seer of the hidden realms within Whose golden braids entwine the hearts of lovers Be welcome, lusty queen of wild things Hail to Frey, king of the Bright Ones Whose fortune glows amber all around Scent of pine, Keeper of the forests Be welcome, Lord of... Read more
At my UU Church this Sunday, we had a planned discussion of what people wanted more/less of in the worship service. We wrote things we liked and things we wanted to change on sticky notes and note cards. Many of the comments, including my own, asked for more spirituality in the worship service. This was phrased in different ways: “More heart, less mind,” wrote one person. I didn’t like how that was phrased, but I think we had the same... Read more
Check out B. T. Newberg’s recent post at Humanistic Paganism: “In defense of ‘gods'”, where he discusses the usefulness of the term to naturalistic Pagans. Read more
The Allergic Pagan
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