Practice
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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…
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A Ritual of Ease for Midsummer
My circle met at my home yesterday. I’ve been circling with the same group for 27 years as of this upcoming Hallows (Samhain). We started as a group of six, and over time have expanded to ten, but all the original members are still here. It’s pretty remarkable. Dark Sun circle is my family. I don’t have blood family any more, so they are it when it comes to celebration of holidays, sharing of confidences, shared grief and celebration. We’ve been through marriages and divorces, all sorts of life changes. Thankfully, no deaths, yet. So it was wonderful to see them. We’re kind of far-flung, so we only get together…
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Hail, the Magnificent Sun!
These are the kindest and best of days. The evenings grow long, the air is mild. Here where I live, anyway, life is good. For our ancestors, too, these were good days. Planting and early tending of crops were over. Early lambs and hunting of spring animals were abundant. After the long, anxious wait of winter, this was a time to enjoy life. The energy of Midsummer night is a long-understood atmosphere in Western culture. It means air warm enough for all-night goings-on outdoors. It means woods and meadows and moon-dappled hilltops. Nights for mystical and amorous adventures! Wherever you live, I suspect you know what I mean. The long, lovely…
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In the Season of Sex
These days, I find it’s difficult just to navigate the world without getting sex all over me. The flowering trees and plants are airing their perfumes. When I get in my car in the morning, the windshield is covered with a fine dusting of yellow pollen. Fortunately, I am not subject to allergies, so it’s amusing, rather than oppressive. Meanwhile, there is all the usual hypersexualized nonsense in our media, of course: the objectifying inside-out world of a repressed people. And then, there is the disgusting story of Kenny Klein. It’s a steamroller, sex is. Grabs a person right by the lizard brain. So much sickness I see in our…
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Real Magic
Reality. It’s filled with marvels! It is not, however, filled with every marvel we can imagine. There are no dragons, nor unicorns. There are no pixies or fairies. And there is no “magic” in the sense of spellcasting, “charging” items with “power” or “energy”, hexes, curses, or otherwise affecting the course of events without material cause. Just as there are no gods, there is no magic. If we soberly consider the evidence, the conclusion is inevitable. Except…well, wait a minute. When a ritual adds to your confidence and performance in a job interview, is that magic? When a ceremony breaks open longheld rage and transmutes it to grief and healing?…
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Pantheacon 2017 and a Growing Community
You know all those friends you have on Facebook who are really dear to you, but you never see? Imagine if there were a place you could go, once a year, where hundreds of them showed up at once. A place full of interesting conversations, and great parties, and meaningful rituals, where hugs abound and laughter is in the air. Real love. Real talk. Real people. That’s Pantheacon, the largest gathering of Pagans in North America. Every year, 1,800-2,500 Wiccans, Wicans, Witches, Heathens, Devotional Polytheists, Animists, Pantheists, and Atheopagans attend. This year’s was particularly sweet. The conference itself ran smoothly, with little drama. I work as volunteer staff, and everyone…
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Why Ritual?
For atheists new to the “pagan” part of Atheopaganism, the frequent question to crop up is: what’s up with these rituals? Why do you do those? And to speak to the rational parts of their minds which are commonly what they most rely on, I answer that ritual enables us to enter the Ritual State (limbic/”trance” brain state, also known to artists as “flow”). It’s pleasurable. It adds depth and meaning to life. But there is more than that. In marking the passage of the seasons, in conducting rituals to recognize, transform and heal our personal woundedness, we gain new hope and motivation towards our goals, and express deep intentions for…
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The Wheel Turns
The days are a bit longer now. The area where I live has been beset by storm after blessed storm, so-called “atmospheric rivers” pouring onshore to deluge the parched land of California. We smile beneath our rain hoods and grumble cheerfully about knotted traffic. And despite the dark, pendulous clouds, it is palpable: the days grow longer. It isn’t December any more. Meanwhile, of course, the greater Darkness we knew was coming after November 8 is now manifesting itself. The petulant toddler we have elected is swinging a wrecking ball in every direction, cheerfully making a mess of all that is decent. This will continue. The wheels are turning: astronomical forces…
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Happy Yule!
May all of you enjoy a warm and nourishing Yule. May we all get through this darkest night feeling loved and safe. Wolcum Yule!
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Yule: The Light in the Darkness
It’s a very dark one this year. And, as for our ancestors, it promises to become darker and colder still in January, after the celebrating is long over. Our Sabbaths are rich with meaning. And sometimes that meaning persists beyond a season. We are about to go through a very, very dark time. Some of our beloveds will not survive it. And though we must fight to defend every square inch of sacred ground that progress has attained, much we love will be lost. It’s going to be Yule for a long time. We must be the light in the darkness now. We much gather with those we love and…
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