Later that summer, while visiting my in-laws in Utah, we drove up to Fish Lake, which is near where my wife’s parents live. We went in search of the largest living organism on the planet — Pando. I first learned about Pando while browsing a book of photography titled The Oldest Living Things in the World. I was surprised to learn that living within driving distance of my in-laws was possibly the largest (and one of the oldest) living organisms on... Read more
Would it be possible to stand in my suburban yard or even in an asphalt parking lot and have the same sensual experience of participation that I have in the woods? Read more
I want to collect the stories of a half dozen to a dozen Pagans who are transforming the words of the Pagan environment statement into actions at feature them on the ecopagan.com website. Here's the rules: (1) You can't nominate yourself. (2) You have to get the person's permission. (3) Give details about how the person is putting the Pagan environmental statement into action. Read more
For a long time, I had been so distracted by theological questions, both fascinate and repulsed by devotional polytheism, that I had lost sight of why I had been drawn to seek the gods in the first place. I realized that devotional practice is not limited to deity-centered religion. There can be an earth-centered or nature-centered kind of devotion too. I realized that what I needed was to develop a devotional religious practice, not toward gods, but toward the world. Read more
Pagans often talk about an experience of “connection” in such places. It was not so much connection that I felt that day, as immersion. I felt immersed in a great presence that was the blue and green and brown world around me, suffused with the sound of the wind blowing through the trees, the smell of the redwoods on the cool air, and the feeling my own heart beating hard. “This is it!” I kept saying, “I have to remember this!” Read more
Over the past couple of years, I have felt my spiritual orientation shifting from a mostly Self-centric practice to an increasingly earth-centered practice. Read more
We Pagans like to think we don't have scapegoats in our religion, because we don't have a concept of "sin" or divine guilt. And yet, we do have scapegoats. Speaking for myself, Christianity has been my scapegoat for a long time -- and I think it's one that a lot of Pagans have. Read more
This weekend, I'm planning on being arrested as part of an environmental action at a petroleum refinery on Lake Michigan near where I live. Two years ago, I didn't even recycle. Read more
Due to a printer error, I have 100 extra copies of Godless Paganism. These copies contain a printing error on the cover and a formatting error in the table of contents, but are otherwise the same as the final version. While supplies last, you can buy a copy for the cost of shipping and handling only: $5 in the US. Read more
If Earth Day snuck up on you or passed you by (it was last Friday), don't feel bad. It happens to a lot of people, even people who care deeply about the environment. If this is you, not to worry, because Arbor Day is this Friday. It's like Earth Day for procrastinators. Here are five things you can do today if you missed Earth Day. Read more
The Allergic Pagan
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