(1) How is paganism different? (2) What is the significance of its difference? (3) What are the key issues in a modernity project? (4) What can paganism contribute to these issues in contrast to contributions from other religions? (5) How can or does paganism work with other religions in addressing issues of economic imbalance, corporate power, industrial pollution, global warming, disaster relief and constructive cooperation? Read more
I think the atheist critique does religions a great service - it's like having an independent auditor to look at your work and check for shoddy bits. So how does Paganism measure up to the atheist yardstick? Read more
Part of the function of humour is to subvert the accepted order of things. Whenever an individual or a group take themselves too seriously, humour -- especially satire -- cut them down to size. For example, humour was really important for subverting the Puritan hegemony in 17th century England. Read more
A friend on Facebook asked, how does magic work? My immediate response to this was, it depends what you mean by magic. Read more
I am Pagan because no other way makes sense. The living world speaks to me in every moment. My Paganism teaches me how to listen to that world, and also how to respond. Read more
There are several different modes of ritual, which have different meanings and purposes. When writing rituals, you can deliberately make use of these different modes to create a different mood, depending on the purpose of your ritual. Sometimes a ritual can include more than one of these modes. Read more
If there is any objective external reality to the energies that Pagans talk about, then how might it work? There is an electromagnetic field around the Earth, and around anything through which electric current flows, including anything that is alive. If these energies are anything, then it must be something to do with electromagnetism. Read more
There are many different views of how deities relate to each other and to the universe. My personal view is that there is an underlying divine energy, which emanates from the divine source. In my view, neither the underlying energy nor the divine source have a personality. From the underlying energy, all beings emerge -- humans, spirits, deities, and animals. Read more
Some people might argue that Paganism benefits from its counter-cultural status, and that teaching it in UK schools will just make it too respectable and dull. On the other hand, given the negative stereotypes that circulate about Pagans among the general population, a bit of education about Pagan traditions would be a very good thing. Read more
Dowsing for Divinity
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