We live in a time and place where Christianity is deeply embedded in our culture. Even if we are happily committed to Paganism and to the old gods and goddesses – and I am – at some point we have to stop ignoring the religious elephant in the room and figure out what we believe about Jesus. Not whether we accept the religious propositions of orthodox Christianity (we don’t, or we wouldn’t be Pagans), but who and what Jesus is... Read more

artwork by Don Davis, NASA crossposted with No Unsacred Place According to a story on Space.com, a “bus-size asteroid” came within 96,000 miles of Earth early on Sunday morning. It posed no threat – even if it had collided with Earth it would have burned up in the atmosphere. That’s usually the case with asteroids that come near Earth – but not always. Some asteroids are big enough to alter the course of life. Scientific celebrity Neil deGrasse Tyson (and... Read more

Yeah, I know – two entertainment-themed posts in a little over a week is a bit much for somebody who says he doesn’t pay attention to popular culture. But there are exceptions, and “Game of Thrones” is one of them. As with The Hunger Games, I haven’t read the books – most of my reading is non-fiction. But the promos for the HBO series looked good and I figured I’d give it a try. Although I was expecting more magic... Read more

Lisa Mladinich, a Catholic blogger on Patheos, posted a story earlier this week titled “Killing Us Softly: Seduced by the Occult.” To summarize, her 14-month-old daughter started “scrawling all over her papers with a black crayon.” This concerned Ms. Mladinich. The daughter stopped after attending Mass, but started again after Ms. Mladinich visited her massage therapist, who it turned out had been receiving Reiki treatments. Ms. Mladinich drew the conclusion that demons (or perhaps the Devil himself – she isn’t... Read more

Yesterday, Niki Whiting posted an essay on The Annunciation, the Christian feast commemorating the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary, telling her she would be the virgin mother of Jesus. Though Niki found she couldn’t remain in Christianity and has found a home in Paganism, she has done extensive study on Mary and feels a particular closeness to her. The essay (Niki calls it a homily and I think that term describes it nicely) is good and it makes... Read more

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games I don’t pay a lot of attention to popular culture, but it’s been pretty hard to miss the commotion around this weekend’s premiere of The Hunger Games. It looked interesting and Cathy wanted to see it (although neither of us have read the book) so we went this afternoon. We weren’t the only ones – the theater we were in was packed for a mid-afternoon showing. I’m not going to summarize... Read more

Denton CUUPS had our first Introduction to Tarot class last night. We have quite a few true beginners and this was the first time I’ve been in a Tarot class in five years – it was a good reminder of what it takes to truly learn Tarot. Or perhaps I should say, what it took for me to learn Tarot. All of the experts I’ve consulted have told me the same thing: messages come through the cards, not from the... Read more

The Spring Equinox occurs Tuesday at 12:14 AM Central Time. The next Dark Moon will be Thursday at 9:37 AM, and the following Full Moon will be April 6 at 2:19 PM. Summer Solstice is June 20 at 6:09 PM. I go back and forth with how I feel about considering important astronomical events with extreme chronographical precision. For our ancestors, simply knowing the day of an equinox or solstice was plenty. And as someone who grew up watching werewolf... Read more

Thanks to all who came out to last night’s Denton CUUPS Ostara Circle. It was a very nice turnout, especially considering it was Saint Patrick’s Day and some of our regular folks had obligations elsewhere. Here are last night’s Songs of Ostara. Prelude: Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares (The Bulgarian Female Vocal Choir) – Polegnala E Todora (Love Song) Meditation: Julianna Barwick – Cloak  Main Working: David Arkenstone – The Dragon’s Breath Simple Feast: Sheebeg Sheemore We played a harp... Read more

Dolores Nabors I know, most of you who read this blog aren’t anywhere close to Denton, Dallas, Fort Worth, McKinney, or any of the other cities in North Texas. I post these events because a few of you are local, but mainly to say “this is what one moderately active Pagan group does.” So, if you are in the North Texas area, I encourage you to join us for our Introduction to Tarot class starting next Wednesday, March 21 and... Read more