Pantheacon 2012

January 20, 2012 By John Halstead

I’m excited about Pantheacon 2012. This will be my first Pantheacon and only my second big Pagan event. Presenters include Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, Patrick McCollum, T. Thorn Coyle, Gus DiZerega, Margot Adler, Christopher Penczak, Diana Paxson, Don Frew, and Z. Budapest, Sarah Iles Johnston, Sabina Magliocco, M. Macha NightMare, Starhawk, and more. It will be cool just to breathe the same air as these folks. I am especially looking forward to the workshops about specific pagan and Neopagan traditions. There will... Read more

My Son Confronts Existential Despair

January 19, 2012 By John Halstead

Yesterday, I initiated a conversation with my 13 year-old son about what he believes happens after death and why evil exists in the world. Let me preface this by explaining why.this is not an unusual conversation for us. I haven’t written much here about my kids yet. Today, I’m going to tell you a little about my son. He has always been a little precocious, and he took a keen interest in theology at a young age. At age 8,... Read more

Finding Joe

January 19, 2012 By John Halstead

Finding Joe, the movie You should really check out this movie: Finding Joe. It is about Joseph Campbell’s monomyth or “Journey of the Hero” as they call it in the movie. I bought it and didn’t regret it. It presents the monomyth in terms that a layperson unfamiliar with Campbell can understand. If you’re looking for a biography of Campbell or a study of ancient myth, this is not it. The movie tells the story of the monomyth in very... Read more

Brendan Meyers Interview

January 16, 2012 By John Halstead

You should check out this interview at Humanistic Paganism of Brendan Meyers, author of Loneliness and Revelation and The Other Side of Virtue. Brendan describes himself as “a kind of Pagan that the modern revival doesn’t know what to do about, nor how to deal with, at least not yet” — one who is “not interested in spellcraft either, or energy work, seeking out supernatural experiences, or developing psychic talents” and almost never speaks about the gods. But he does... Read more

Plunging into the sea of matter

January 15, 2012 By John Halstead

I struggle with periodic bouts of existential despair. I don’t mean depression. Just periods when I question what the point of my life is. When I ask, “Is all this really worth it?” At times like this, I feel like this world is not enough, that I secretly long for … something else. I’ve blogged about this before, and this dynamic is at the heart of my life-long spiritual quest. I am caught between a desire for deep communion with... Read more

Spiritually, but not religiously, Pagan

January 15, 2012 By John Halstead

Recently at the Bishop in the Grove blog, Teo Bishop wrestled again with the label of “Pagan”. The question of my Pagan identity has come up frequently in this blog as well. The fact that I have named the blog “The Allergic Pagan” might suggest that I have resolved this problem, but it has not. And I am not alone. Over at “Plainly Pagan”, Hystery also questioned whether to rename her blog because of doubts the applicability of the label... Read more

More Holidays

January 9, 2012 By John Halstead

I recently decided I’d like to celebrate more than 8 holidays a year, so I am on the prowl for unusual holidays that speak to me as a naturalistic pagan. I don’t need holidays from ancient religions or Reconstructionist religions. Instead, I’m looking for modern holidays that don’t have anything to do with the seasons or the Wheel of the Year. Your suggestions are welcome. Here’s what I have so far. The ones I made up are in bold. Some... Read more

My Yule Sounded Alot Like Christmas Too (Part 2)

January 9, 2012 By John Halstead

3. Paganism and Christianity In my previous post, I proposed that the reason why there are so few original winter solstice songs for Neopagans and the reason why the winter solstice is treated as a minor holiday by Neopagans is one and the same: Neopagans have an aversion to all things Christian. A good example of this, I think, is Star Foster’s resolution to boycott Christmas this last December. As a former Christian myself, I understand this aversion. I tend... Read more

Why My Pagan Yule Sounded a Lot Like Christmas Too (Part 1)

January 5, 2012 By John Halstead

Over at Bishop in the Grove, Teo Bishop took issue with the singing of Paganized Christian hymns in his group’s Yule ritual. The complaint was that it was disingenuous, and that Pagans need to develop our own music. I want to respond to this on a few levels: first on the question of Pagan music, second the question of re-appropriation, and finally on the question of the relationship of Neopaganism with Christianity. 1. Pagan Music There is no dearth of... Read more

Family Winter Solstice Ritual

December 29, 2011 By John Halstead

For those of you following this blog, you may have noticed that my family never manages to celebrate the Wheel of the Year on the actual solar date (in the case of the solstices and equinoxes) or the traditional dates (in the case of the cross-quarter day). The reason for this is largely practical. First of all, we always wait until the weekends, because it is easier to get everyone together. Second, due to vacations and other intervening events, it... Read more