There’s a place for sequential, ordered learning and advancement. But life rarely works that way outside of structured institutions. We do the work day after day, year after year, and nothing happens. Then one day it hits us like the proverbial ton of bricks. Read more
On the same day the Patheos editors put my post “Are We Bringing Sin Into Paganism?” on the front page, they also featured a post titled “The Re-Paganing of America and God’s Eternal Word.” It was much better than I expected, but its foundational assumptions are very wrong. Read more
My Paganism, my Druidry, and even my polytheism have roots in the wild. There is magic in wild places. Read more
Let’s be as pious and as pure as we can be. But at the end of the day, let’s put living virtuously and heroically ahead of following anyone’s rules. Read more
I had a great time at the 2016 Many Gods West conference, but there were two significant differences between it and the first edition of Many Gods West last year. Read more
My presentation from Friday’s “Building Polytheist Community” panel discussion at the Many Gods West conference in Olympia, Washington. Read more
Gordon White of Rune Soup has a new book out titled Pieces of Eight: Chaos Magic Essays and Enchantments. If you have an interest in this sort of magic, you’ll want to read it. Read more
Animism provides a framework for an inspirited and enchanted world, a world where everything you see and sense is not a thing, but a person worthy of your respect and capable of entering into a reciprocal relationship with you – if that person so chooses. Read more
One of the advantages of getting old is knowing what’s coming next because you’re seeing history repeat itself. Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama were all supposed to be saviors. They weren’t. A savior isn’t coming in 2016 either. Read more
There is a core dilemma in contemporary liberal religion, a broad category that includes much of Paganism, Unitarian Universalism, and the spiritual but not religious. That dilemma is the desire for unity combined with the fear of orthodoxy. Read more
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