David Pollard of Sacred Journey Fellowship recorded my Daily Spiritual Practice presentation at the North Texas Pagan Pride Day on September 11.  Now it’s part of this month’s CUUPS Podcast.  If you haven’t made it to any of these classes, here’s your chance to catch up from the convenience of your own computer.   You can download CUUPS Podcast #8 directly here.  The on-site player is playing #6 for some reason – you’ll have to download it and play it... Read more

Books and their widespread availability have played a huge role in the growth of the modern Pagan movement. Most of us have learned far more from books than from either one-on-one or classroom instruction. But the vast majority of Pagan-themed books are geared toward beginners – there are precious few intermediate and advanced books on the market. Kissing the Limitless by T. Thorn Coyle is one of those precious few. This is a guidebook for spiritual transformation, a process that by definition... Read more

My comments on “what really happens when we die?” are up on the Patheos website.  I’m one of four, the others being identified as Christian, Muslim, and Mormon. See it here:  http://www.patheos.com/Topics/What-do-I-Really-Believe/What-Really-Happens-When-We-Die.html UPDATE:  Actually, there are 13 entries, including one Heathen.  My entry is first, and I missed the little “more” arrows on the sides of the pictures.    Read more

The actual Autumn Equinox is Wednesday, September 22 at 10:09 PM CDT.  Many groups are celebrating today but we’re holding our circle next Saturday.  If you’re in the DFW area come by, say hello, and have an apple with us. Click on the image for a larger version of the flyer. Read more

In Monday’s post on Pagan leadership I talked about the roles leaders fill. Today I want to talk about what future leadership is going to look like. Any leader has to begin with a vision. Who are you going to lead? Where are you going to lead them? Who and what do you serve? “I want to be a high priestess and run all the circles” is a vision. It’s a rather small vision, but it’s a vision. “I want... Read more

TommyElf has a thought-provoking podcast where, motivated by the passing of Isaac Bonewits, he discusses the future of Pagan leadership. He has some very relevant thoughts and I won’t attempt to summarize them so much as use them as a jumping-off point for my own ideas about what we have, what we need, and where we’re likely to go. My definition of a leader is someone who has a vision of the future and who articulates that vision to others.... Read more

Daily Spiritual Practice for Pagans class.  Thanks to David Pollard for the photo. I had a nice time at the DFW Pagan Pride Day yesterday.  Yes, it was hot, but there’s a fair amount of shade on the UU Oak Cliff property, plus air conditioning in the two buildings.  And dealing with the heat is much better than cramming vendors, dancers, rituals and classes inside to avoid the rain like we had to do last year. We had 16 people... Read more

This is the second in an occasional series on spiritual practice techniques, and will be part of my presentation tomorrow at the DFW Pagan Pride Day. The practice of prayer has somewhat of a uneven reputation in the Unitarian Universalist and Pagan communities. Some of us doubt the efficacy of prayer. Others have been turned off by supposedly spiritual people whose prayers resemble the Christmas list of a four-year-old, by those who pray for the harm of their political opponents,... Read more

By now I suspect most everyone is aware of Florida pastor Terry Jones’ plan to burn copies of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. He claims that Islam is “of the devil” and that God wants him to burn the Quran. He has been asked not to do this by religious figures who correctly point out that espousing hatred for anyone doesn’t advance the cause of his faith, and by political figures who correctly believe this act will inspire... Read more