Last night’s multi-group Beltane celebration was excellent. We had representatives from six different Pagan groups from Texas and Oklahoma – I didn’t get a final count but it was somewhere in the 35-45 range. When the crowd thinned down to those of us who were camping, we gathered around the fire and a series of conversations began. I talked at some length with a woman attending her second Pagan circle. Her situation is similar to mine 17 years ago: she... Read more

Denton CUUPS is celebrating Beltane a week late this year. Some of our folks who are in the Caeleigh Courts will be playing faeries at Scarborough Faire today, while I’ll be part of a multi-group Beltane celebration at the Summerlands stone circle. Click the image for a larger version of the flyer. Read more

Via The Wild Hunt, here’s an essay in the Boston Globe from Stephen Prothero, a religion professor at Boston University. It’s adapted from his new book God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World – and Why Their Differences Matter. I haven’t read Prothero’s book (and I don’t know that I will), but his main point in the essay is that folks who say “all religions are essentially the same” (a group that includes many, if... Read more

Two of our trees at DUUF are gone. They contracted a disease (if I heard which disease, I don’t remember) and died last year. This past week they were removed. I’ll miss them. When CUUPS held outdoor circles, we frequently placed our main altar between them, or in front of them. I’m thankful we have a building for our circles, particularly in bad weather. And I enjoy working in open spaces. But there is nothing quite like worshipping beneath trees.... Read more

It has taken a lot longer than anyone expected, but some of the “official” photos from last August’s Druid Gorsedd are now available on Flickr (short explanation: volunteer photographer got a new job that sucked up all her free time – I can totally sympathize). House of Danu is planning another Gorsedd this year – I plan to be there. The Druid Grade speaks on spiritual practice Including one Druid who wasn’t planning to speak but seemed to do OK... Read more

As several people have pointed out, modern Paganism is a contemporary indigenous religion: it is growing naturally and (mostly) organically from the innermost desires and needs of people living in today’s comfortable but isolated high tech world. The desires and needs for greater connection to the natural world have presented themselves in many ways – Earth Day is one of them. This is the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day. I don’t remember much about the first Earth Day,... Read more

What do you do when you realize your spiritual practice has gotten sidetracked, again? I think the Buddhists have the best answer: you acknowledge it, you release it, and you begin again. It helps if you can make some small but tangible changes, now. Change the music in the car CD player. Start one of the books you’ve been meaning to read. Think about what you’re eating. Sit. Walk. Sleep. I may not have been able to prevent getting sidetracked,... Read more

Here’s an interesting quote from uber-atheist Daniel Dennett: I know and love the Unitarians, but I don’t like the words to their hymns. The words are so insipid I can’t stand them. I’d rather sing the good old ripsnortin’ words and then put a little flashing light over the pulpit that says “metaphor.” Now, I know that UUs are hardly the first people to do this – religious music is filled with plagiarism. A lot of folk songs were turned... Read more

Jason Pitzl-Waters at The Wild Hunt (which all Pagans should read every day) has a good piece on the “Alternative Right” – political conservatives who take their cues from philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche and who include many Pagans, particularly followers of Asatru. The most notable example is Dan Halloran, the Pagan who was elected to the New York City Council as a Republican. One of the interesting items Jason points out is the Alternative Right’s emphasis on “blood and soil”... Read more

My recent blogging has been almost exclusively Pagan, but UU World has a story about the sausage-making process involved in planning an Easter service at a stereotypical UU church that I can’t ignore. Go read it… or maybe not – you probably know how it turns out, maybe from first-hand experience: “they planned a nice mash-up of Passover, Easter, flowers, love, diversity, and new life.” I’ve been in services like that – I find them wholly unsatisfying. If I’m leading... Read more