I learned compartmentalization as a small child. I was an “A” student who loved books and learning and I attended a small fundamentalist church where the preacher was a high school dropout and no one in the congregation had been to college. I lived on a small farm and I attended suburban public schools with the children of middle class professionals. I loved sports but I wasn’t very good at them. I liked cooking and needlework and other things boys... Read more

The School of Athens by Raphael (1511) When I was in college I lived in a fraternity house with a ping pong table on the front porch. We played a lot – sometimes regular games and sometimes beer pong. When I moved in I could barely play; by the time I was a senior nobody could beat me. I thought I was pretty good, so I went up to the student center and entered a tournament with a lot of... Read more

I’m back from four days at Between the Worlds, which bills itself as an “interfaith esoteric conference” for intermediate and advanced practitioners. Between the Worlds isn’t held every year, but rather “when the stars indicate that such a gathering is needed and favored.” This was my first – it came highly recommended and it did not disappoint. Many traditions were represented in the lineup of speakers and workshops, including Wicca, Druidry, Asatru and Feri, as well as more classical versions... Read more

USS Chesapeake, launched 1799, via Wikimedia Commons In witchcraft lore, in magical fiction, and in conversations with magical practitioners we occasionally come across the concept that magic comes with a price. Is this true? And if so, what kind of a price does magic carry? My basic model of magic has three parts: the manipulation of energy, the intercession of spiritual beings, and psychological programming. Most Pagan magic is a combination of all three: we raise and direct energy, we... Read more

If you’re in the North Texas area please join the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans for our Winter Solstice circle on Friday, December 21 at 7:30 PM.  Denton CUUPS usually holds our circles on the Saturday closest to the actual date of the holiday, with occasional adjustments for members’ schedules and competing events.  We’ve learned not to schedule Beltane on the same weekend as Denton Arts & Jazz Fest, which is usually the last weekend of April.  But when... Read more

Paganism and Unitarian Universalism share the general idea that what you do is more important than what you believe. If you come to one of our CUUPS circles I don’t care if you worship Morrigan or the Great Mother Goddess or if you just love Nature and enjoy ritual. I do care if you conduct yourself respectfully while you’re in the circle and if you do your best to live responsibly, sustainably and compassionately once you leave. But while what... Read more

Most of us make our moral judgments intuitively and then look for a reason to justify our decisions. According to psychologist Jonathan Haidt, there are five primary moral intuitions that are universal throughout humanity: do no harm, fairness and reciprocity, loyalty to community, respect for authority and purity. These intuitions were not designed or discovered, they evolved – they helped human societies survive, succeed and grow, so they were passed on from generation to generation. They began long before we... Read more

If I am to be honest I must admit my spiritual practice has been struggling as of late. I have no major crises and while I’m more than a little busy I’m far from overwhelmed. I’ve even gotten a few things done that have been on my to-do list for a long time. But my core connections are weak. My usual all-heal of returning to practice hasn’t produced the results I need, and even that seems to take great effort.... Read more

Denton CUUPS has a new website and a new address: www.dentoncuups.org Please check it out and update your bookmarks.  Our old site is dead and gone – we built a new one from scratch.  It’s got a menu of pages of information for people who are looking for us and who may not have been to a Pagan circle before (but check the pages out anyway – we’ve got lots of great pictures).  The main page of the site is... Read more

In a post exploring the worship of power and powerful gods, Star Foster raises an issue with wide-ranging implications. Star says: As a polytheist, I worship multiple gods … I am closer to some gods than others, and there are gods out there that I do not worship. I don’t worship gods based on how powerful they are … Zeus may be the most powerful Olympian, but he’s no match for all the Olympians, and even he can’t throw a... Read more