The (Pagan) Declaration of Independence

Last updated on: July 2, 2012 at 9:16 am By Jason Mankey

American Conservatives, and especially Evangelical Christians on the right, have a tendency to claim “ownership” of America’s Founding Fathers and the documents they wrote. Any serious student of American History laughs at such claims, many of the Founding Fathers were deists* and America during the Revolutionary War Period was an extremely unreligious nation. Those who write the narrative control the narrative, but today I’m writing the narrative, and where Evangelicals see a Declaration of Independence full of references to God... Read more

Ramble On: Wisteria Summer Solstice

Last updated on: June 25, 2012 at 1:18 pm By Jason Mankey

(I’m currently on the road visiting some Pagan Festivals and bookstores. “Ramble On” is my travel journal chronicling some of those experiences. Last week I was at the Wisteria Summer Solstice celebration at the Wisteria Nature Retreat in Southeastern Ohio.) I’ve never been sick at a Pagan Festival before, until last week’s Summer Solstice Celebration at Wisteria. As a result my festival experience was a unique one, spent mostly inside of my tent and far away from the usual festival... Read more

The Strange Triumph of Cernunnos over Pan

Last updated on: June 17, 2012 at 11:08 pm By Jason Mankey

If you’ve ever read the book Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton you are probably familiar with a chapter in it called “Finding a God.” Hutton’s argument there is that the Horned God became “the god” of Modern Paganism due to the popularity of the Greek God Pan with early 19th Century English Poets. As a devotee of the Horned One, I think Hutton’s hypothesis is absolutely spot on. The language we use to describe the Horned God bears... Read more

Ramble On-Pagan Festival Prelude

Last updated on: June 15, 2012 at 11:54 am By Jason Mankey

In a few days I’m heading out East to visit three and a quarter Pagan Festivals (one of them is just a day thing so it counts as a quarter). I’ll be gone from my house for over a month and will probably return home with a soar back and smelling of patchouli. The idea of hitting the road for such an extended trek is exhilarating (I’m on tour!) and frightening (what if I don’t sell enough books to eat?).... Read more

Gateways to Paganism: Led Zeppelin

Last updated on: September 19, 2018 at 12:41 pm By Jason Mankey

Gateways to Paganism: Led Zeppelin (Pagans don’t proselytize, and the majority of us don’t have Pagan parents; as a result, people come to Modern Paganism through various means. For many of us, books, movies, and music provided the impetus to walk the Pagan Path. Gateways to Paganism is one guy’s attempt to document some of the things that have led various people to Paganism, and why those things had that effect.) Led Zeppelin was my gateway to Paganism. Sure, I... Read more

Paganism with a side of Polytheism

Last updated on: June 11, 2012 at 3:47 pm By Jason Mankey

When people ask me to describe Paganism I often use the term “polytheism.” Even while saying it I know that what’s coming out of my mouth is a half-truth. Not all Pagans are polytheists; I know a good many atheist Pagans, and there are a lot of Pagans who believe that all the gods throughout history are manifestations of an Ultimate Power, or one god. In some ways, that might make those folks monotheists. There are also hard-core duo-theists, worshipping... Read more

Check the exposure something’s wrong with this picture . . . . . . .

Last updated on: June 11, 2012 at 11:46 am By Jason Mankey

I can’t believe that I’m here on Patheos; posting next to The Pagan Soccer Mom and sharing bandwidth with Bristol Palin (please let there be a Holiday Party!). It’s all pretty awesome, and a little bit intimidating. Before going any further, I’ve got to give a huge thank you to Jason Pitzl-Waters for suggesting that I write for Patheos, and to Star Foster for giving me the opportunity. Star also created the kick-ass banner that adorns the top of this... Read more

We All Come From the Horned God, possibly, but don’t Sing it . . . . .

Last updated on: June 13, 2012 at 10:03 am By Jason Mankey

We all come from the Horned God, and to him we shall return, like a spark of flame, rising to the heavens . . . . . While I’ve never particularly liked that line, it’s been a welcome part of many rituals that I’ve participated in for the last fifteen years. That line served as a balance point to the more well known We all come from the Goddess, and to her we shall return, like a drop of rain-flowing... Read more

Defining “pagan”

Last updated on: June 12, 2012 at 11:52 am By Jason Mankey

(Before moving over to Patheos I had a much lower profile blog called “Deep Pagan Thoughts.” I’m not going to move all the stuff from DPT over to Raise the Horns, but a few of those posts are worth the trouble. This post is a favorite because it’s one I reference quite often. I don’t think you can write about “Paganism” without first defining it, what follows is my definition, or definitions.) While the comments section on DPT is usually... Read more

Reflections and Confused-9/11

Last updated on: September 11, 2012 at 11:55 am By Jason Mankey

I’m not sure how I feel today. It’s impossible not to think about the tragedy of ten years ago, but I refuse to let anyone else tell me how I feel about it, or to shape those feelings. I paused early this morning to think about the attacks of September 11th. I live between two major airports and an Air Force Base, every time a plane has flown over the house I’ve been forced to reflect. At one point we... Read more