This is the third time I’ve started composing a blog entry on Julian Assange and WikiLeaks – to say that I am ambivalent would be a serious understatement. The far left is ready to canonize him and the far right is ready to hang him (and may ultimately succeed, figuratively If not literally). I have no great wisdom to offer. I have only questions. What is the ultimate goal of international diplomacy? How should we engage regimes with values antithetical... Read more
Here’s a link to an essay on Huffington Post by Rev. James Martin, S.J., a Catholic priest and a Jesuit. I’ve read Rev. Martin’s work before and I find myself agreeing with him more than with any other Catholic writer I’ve come across. This piece is titled Desire and the Spiritual Life. The central theme is this: “Recognizing our desires means recognizing God’s desires for us.” Desire is as much maligned in the liberal religions as in the conservative ones.... Read more
Dark Green Religion is a study of the relatively new religious trend toward viewing the Earth as sacred and acting accordingly. It’s written by Bron Taylor, Professor of Religion and Nature at the University of Florida. I highly recommend it for those interested contemporary nature religions and their origins. Taylor begins with a cursory definition of religion, but he sees little value in arguing about where to draw lines between religion, parareligion, and religious behavior by those who don’t consider... Read more
No, I haven’t disappeared. But both work and home life have been busy, and what little free time I’ve had has gone to reading Dark Green Religion by Bron Taylor. I’ve seen it mentioned several times and wanted to read it for myself. It’s excellent and I’ll have much to say about it, but I want to finish the book first and at the rate things are going, that will be sometime this weekend. On Monday, Chad Clifton had this... Read more
This is the fifth in an occasional series on spiritual practice techniques. One of the primary purposes of spiritual practice is to develop balance and wholeness. Your body needs this practice every bit as much as your mind. Any form of exercise can be a spiritual practice, and some physical exercises are explicitly spiritual, such as yoga and Qigong. But for me, the simplest exercise is the best – walking. The health benefits are large and well-known, and as... Read more
I try to be thankful every day. Despite too-frequent annoyances, difficulties, and stress, I have a pretty good life. Some of that is due to hard work and persistence, but mainly it’s due to when and where I was born, to the family who gave me a good start, to the teachers who taught me, to the community that supported the teachers, and many people I don’t know and will never meet. It could have been otherwise. For many people,... Read more
Here are three opportunities to support our wider Pagan community, two with money and one with memories. Donate to The Wild Hunt The Wild Hunt by Jason Pitzl-Waters is currently the best source for Pagan news and commentary. It is reader-supported and non-commercial, which means it doesn’t cost anything to read, but it isn’t free. Please support Jason and his efforts to make Pagan journalism independent and professional. Follow this link for updates on the Winter Pledge Drive and how... Read more
promoting Paganism through public service I mainly listen to Shhh! There are Pagans in Texas!! for their coverage of Pagan events in North Texas. But in their most recent episode, they replied to a listener who had asked their opinion on responding to Christian apologetics and on whether or not Pagans should proselytize. I encourage you to listen to their comments yourself, but essentially both Renny and Rose say that we should not attempt to convert others to Paganism, and... Read more
Last week a group of Catholic priests and bishops met in Baltimore to discuss how to deal with the growing demand for exorcisms. It got coverage and comments from everyone from CNN to Al Mohler. I wrote about it on my blog – one person left a lengthy comment that basically said “exorcisms are dangerous.” To which I replied “yes, but sometimes they’re helpful.” Also last week, the UK newspaper the Daily Mail ran a piece on modern Pagans titled:... Read more
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Pagan of any description speak of being “possessed” – at least not in a negative sense. The only “possession” Pagans usually experience is ritual possession, as in Drawing Down the Moon – and that’s generally a very positive experience. It’s also a temporary experience, presumably because our deities are busy and have better things to do than hang out inside us once they’ve delivered whatever message they wanted to deliver. I have experienced... Read more
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