The Pagan, Druid and UU worlds have lost one of our pre-eminent elders – Isaac Bonewits died today.  Here’s the announcement from his wife Phaedra: “This morning, August 12, 2010 at approximately 8 AM ET, Isaac Bonewits passed away peacefully in his sleep. All his brothers and sisters arrived at his side last night. His family and friends surround him now.” Obituaries and tributes are all over the Pagan web.  The Wild Hunt has an excellent obituary, and Ár nDraíocht Féin... Read more

Rehearsing this year’s Celebration of Spring – making sure the plan is clear and the leaders know what they’re going to do Catharine left a comment on my post on Ecstatic Ritual, asking “what do you think has made your strongest rituals strong?” That’s a good question, and here’s my attempt at an answer. A clear intention. Before trying to decide how to do a ritual, figure out what you want to accomplish. Some rituals are simply intended to be... Read more

I’ll be in the pulpit again next Sunday, this time at my own church.  Here’s the blurb I sent to Moonlady News… Many religious liberals are attracted to the New Atheists’ critique of fundamentalism and biblical literalism. Much of what they say makes good sense, and we love hearing them tell the fundamentalist emperors they have no clothes. At the same time, the New Atheists’ claim that “religion poisons everything” doesn’t match our own experiences of wonder and awe, and... Read more

One of the items on the House of Danu Gorsedd agenda that caught my attention was the workshop on ecstatic ritual.  I consider myself a good ritualist, but the rituals I compose and present tend to be introspective, worshipful, and/or celebratory.  Ecstatic ritual is one of my weak points… quite possibly because ecstasy requires giving up control, and that is something I find very difficult to do. Thorn Coyle led the workshop and the Lughnasadh ritual the next day.  She... Read more

Welcome Facebook friends!  Today I have taken the small but significant step of adding this blog to my Facebook profile.  Why is that a big deal, you ask?  Because I have family on Facebook, most of whom are Christians and some of whom have enough problems with me being a Unitarian Universalist, much less a Druid and a Pagan.  It’s that whole conflict-avoidance reflex I wrote about last September. But I have seen what I want to do and where I... Read more

I’m back from the House of Danu Lughnasadh Gorsedd – a wonderful weekend. The first thing I noticed was how much smaller it was than last year: perhaps half as many participants. The organizers blamed it on the California economy, and I’m sure that had a lot to do with it. But I also think the absence of “special guests” kept some people away. Those people made a big mistake. The people who came were there for spiritual reasons. The... Read more

I thought I was done with blogging until after the Gorsedd, but then a Facebook friend pointed me toward this column by Rev. Christy Thomas, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Krum, Texas. It’s part of a series she’s doing rebutting the excuses people give for not going to church (or, to be more generic and inclusive, for avoiding religious community).In this column, Rev. Thomas blasts the “spiritual but not religious” crowd for their ignorance of religious foundations, traditions,... Read more

Tomorrow I’m off to the House of Danu Lughnasadh Gorsedd. The retreat center at Pema Osel Ling is beautiful – just spending a weekend there would be enough. But the main benefit I got when I went last year was three days away from everything: work, home, church, news, entertainment – everything that fills up most of my days. Instead, I spent three days with my fellow Druids, enjoying the community that comes from gathering with like-minded folks. I spent... Read more

I mentioned a week or so ago that I’ve been listening to Thorn Coyle’s Elemental Castings. In one of them I came across a discussion of true will in its spiritual sense. Coyle, working out of the Feri tradition, described true will as “your big magic” and as “the work of this god.” I like that definition, and I think it’s better than what I wrote about “so mote it be” last year. I still think we all have a... Read more

I’ve seen plenty of pictures of Athena online, but none of her back or the detail of her shield.  So while I’m trying to find time to write something inspiring and meaningful for the blog, here are some views you may not have seen before. First, the back view, showing the details of her gown and headdress: Closeups of the shield interior: The shield exterior: And one of me on the front of the Parthenon: Read more