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Balance at the Fulcrum of the Year
Let’s just say, circumstances don’t make these great times for perception of balance. It would be lovely to believe that darkness and light in the world are muddling along roughly in equal proportions at the moment. But that would feel like a big step forward, now. While I sincerely hope the circumstances of your individual life are fantastic, that isn’t what I’m hearing from friends and colleagues. I’m hearing fear, and anger, and a sense of powerlessness to do anything about them. And I’m feeling much the same. And that makes the Sabbath of Harvest all the more important. Because even when things are really tough, there are countless blessings…
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Fire Makes All the Difference
A guest post by Kaigi-Ron. Fire makes all the difference. I know this from two personal experiences – both of which didn’t have a fire the first night, but did on the second…and that one change transformed everyone and everything. The first event occurred years ago, in another state. We were going to share songs and stories around the campfire, as hominids have done for millennia…but that year, we were denied a permit for a fire in our campsite. Ever the innovators, we wove together a basket of branches, decorated it with strips of red cloth, and finished it off with a helpful sign that said “Fire”. We all did our Pagan best…
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What If It Really Is the End of the World?
You know you’ve been thinking this. I have, too. These are times that make hopeful optimism a serious challenge. The effects of global warming and climate change are accelerating, and it is becoming less and less credible to believe that we are going to policy-and-technology our way out of them. Meanwhile, fascism and authoritarianism are on the rise even in the places that have historically been most resistant to them. Atheopaganism is, more than anything else, a religion of reality. We don’t tell ourselves reassuring stories about gods bailing us out of our problems or having a plan for us. We don’t pretend that we have magical powers which will enable…
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Let’s Talk Harvest!
Harvest—the autumnal equinox, which takes place this year on Friday, September 22—marks a time for celebration and culmination, for reflection on the shortening days and on the balance between light and warmth and cold and darkness. It is an opportunity for us to consider how our plans have worked out, and to bask in the satisfaction of those which have led to positive results. And it is a moment for gathering of families and communities to celebrate the abundance we enjoy, focusing on the positives in our lives. Harvest is a reckoning, too. Some things we plant just don’t come up, or if they do, they are stunted and useless.…
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When the World Feels Icky
It’s particularly bad where I am right now. We are experiencing a heat wave that will drive temps up over 110° F today, and even higher tomorrow. In addition, smoke from the wildfires in the northern part of the state has been blown down here, casting a pall over everything and bringing a sharp, unpleasant taste to the air. The sunlight itself is a nauseous yellow, pounding down heat in a creepily still, hotbox environment of smoke. We even had a little earthquake yesterday morning. All in all, it feels like disaster is everywhere. Of course, that’s kind of how it’s been ever since November 8, 2016, when the worst…
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A Reflection on Moon Meet
A guest blog entry by Kaigi-Ron. I was fortunate enough to be one of the celebrants at the very first Moon Meet, and I am deeply grateful. Events like this don’t happen nearly enough…sometimes it seems like we have more total eclipses than we do truly bonding, inspirational experiences such as this. Note to Self: Do Everything Possible to Help Create More of These. I truly believe that this one thing will help make our poor, wounded world just a little bit better. I learned things – about myself, about our emergent IRL Atheopagan community, and about obscure topics like soil drainage in California’s redwood hillsides. For example, did you…
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Miracles of Reality: Reflections on the Impending Solar Eclipse
It’s spectacular. Seriously. When I was a little kid, my parents took me to North Carolina to view a total eclipse of the Sun. I couldn’t have been more than six, but I remember those 2-1/2 minutes of totality vividly, right down to the taste of the chives growing in the field where my father set up his camera tripod. A total eclipse of the sun is one of the great astronomical experiences. Like viewing a comet, except that it only lasts for a couple of minutes. When totality comes, an eerie darkness falls on the land. Animals are disturbed; I heard dogs howling throughout the total eclipse period. That…
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MOON MEET: A Weekend with Atheopagan Friends
Moon Meet 2017 was wonderful! A warm, fun gathering, where we shared meals, rituals, discussions, workshops and a vision for Atheopaganism as a growing path. I went up to the site on Thursday, the day before the event began. Joined by so-helpful Atheopagans Orin, Jody and Collette, we helped site owner Jeffry to complete tidying the site, to decorate with paper lanterns, signs with inspirational quotes and white “Christmas” lights. At night, the forest became magical. We enjoyed a delicious dinner and shared community as the feeling of the event began to settle in. On Friday, we continued to prep the site until the rest of the attendees began to…
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Summer’s End, New Beginnings
The “cross-quarter” Sabbath between Midsummer (the solstice) and Harvest (the autumnal equinox) is a bit of a stepchild Sabbath for many Pagans. This is High Vacation Season, and many are off on adventures or otherwise occupied with the social season of summer. Not only that, but it marks the beginning of the autumn season, and in most places, that just doesn’t square with what is actually happening. Here, I detect the signs of Summer’s End at this time, but they are subtle. Blackberries have ripened, ready for cobbler and pie and all the wonderful things. The climate is firmly in the fog/heat cycle of coastal California: hot days which persist…
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There is a Way
There is a way we can be with one another. It is a way of kindness and mutual respect, of vulnerability and accountability. It is a way of playfulness and joy in the uniqueness and creativity of the other, a shared celebration. It is a way so powerful and yet so simple, a way so pleasurable and so deeply comforting, that it brings me to tears to think of it. And for the past three days, I have been immersed in a warm bath of it. I have been—again—to the fire circle. IGNITE 2017 was a gathering of some of the most incredible, complex, beautiful, creative humans I have ever…
