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Atheopaganism: An Introduction
In recent months, hundreds of new Atheopagans have joined the Facebook group and followed the blog. Lots of folks viewing our path with new eyes, and many wondering how to get started. Accordingly, I thought I’d provide an overview of this Pagan path. Today I posted a video, “An Introduction to Atheopaganism”, to the Atheopagan YouTube Channel. This is a talk I will present at Pantheacon next month. View it below!
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In Memoriam: Mary Oliver
The celebrated poet Mary Oliver has left us at the age of 83. Details of her life and achievements may be found here, but I’d like to say, as an Atheopagan, how meaningful her work was to me, and, I think, to all who find grace and meaning in the movements and manifestations of the natural world. Oliver’s poetry was conversational, accessible. Mostly, she wrote in complete sentences broken by white space. Not for her the opacity that so often passes for “great poetry”; hers was a body of work addressed to people who live here, in the world, and who are struck by moments of wonder and reflection. She famously…
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CALL FOR NOMINEES: Atheopagan Charitable Cause 2019
Well, we took a poll and the results are in: this year, the majority of the community feels we should choose for our support a charitable organization which deals with conservation of the Sacred Earth itself. So now it’s time to submit your nominees! One per person, please, so we have a manageable number to consider. You can submit them in the comments thread below or in the discussion thread in the Facebook group. Please submit your nominee with a short (1-2 sentence) description of what the group does. Deadline for submitting a nominee is January 31. Thanks for participating!
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Raineth Drop and Staineth Slop
Winter is icumen in, Lhude sing Goddamm Raineth drop and staineth slop and how the wind doth Ramm Sing: Goddamm! —Ezra Pound This parody of the famous 13th century English round “Sumer is Icumen In” perfectly reflects how many of us experience the month of January. It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s dark, and it just…keeps…going. In the mainstream Christian culture, there isn’t a thing to celebrate after New Year except for a couple of long “official” weekends with little if any widely acknowledged ceremonial significance, until Easter in March or April*. That’s a very long drought between celebrations. Pagans get a Sabbath at the beginning of February, commonly called Imbolc…
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Atheopagan Events at Pantheacon 2019 [UPDATED!]
Though we were disappointed that Atheopagan submissions for presentation at Pantheacon weren’t accepted to the official schedule this year, that’s not slowing us down! We have three events scheduled in hospitality suites this year, including the popular annual Nontheist Pagan Mixer. The events are: FACING FORWARD: A talk on nontheist Paganism: 1-2:00 pm Saturday, in the Fire Family Suite (Room 247). How is human religious behavior evolving? Where is it likely to go, and how does nontheist Paganism fit into that trend? Nontheist Pagan Mixer: immediately following “Facing Forward”, from 2-3:30 in the Fire Family Suite (Room 247). Wine and snacks served. Enjoy fellowship and conversation with like-minded Pagans! An…
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Talking Paganism in the Mainstream
Ross Douthat, conservative columnist for the New York Times, has stirred some Pagan feathers with a column arguing that rather than becoming fully secular, the US may be moving away from a transcendentalist religiosity (such as that of Christianity and Judaism) and towards “paganism”, which he describes as a religion of “this world” as opposed to one focused on some other world or afterlife. He followed up with this piece, further expanding on these ideas and suggesting that the “civic religion” of the United States may be moving away from Christianity and its paradigms. Douthat is clearly unenthused at the prospect that his theory is correct, but I think he…
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A Community Project: Choosing a Charitable Cause for Atheopagan Support
Atheopaganism isn’t just for its practitioners. As noted in Atheopagan Principle 8, we understand our responsibility to our societies and to future generations. Accordingly, I thought it would be a good thing for all of us, as a community, to identify a charitable cause to support in 2019. I would advertise for contributions to the selected agency on the website, and we could take a collection for the agency at Atheopagan events. The process I have in mind for this selection is as follows: Identify criteria for the agency we will choose Nominate agencies that meet the criteria Vote to select the agency we want to support So let’s talk about the…
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The State of the Path: Atheopaganism in 2019
Atheopaganism is a particular spiritual/religious path: a subset of both Paganism and atheism. There are other atheistic Pagan paths, so ours isn’t the only one, but our particular path has now existed for ten years and has been steadily growing for five. I thought that for my first post of 2019, I would talk a bit about the current state of the Atheopagan path, and where I think we’re going. The primary theme I can see trending within the Atheopagan path is growth. We are growing in numbers, in visibility, and in recognition. Both in followers of the website and in membership of the AP Facebook group, we continue steadily to add…
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Closing the Door with Gratitude
2018 was rough for me. I was unemployed the whole time, begging and borrowing to stay under a roof. It was necessary, but it filled me with shame and embarrassment. I had a series of near-misses with job seeking, finishing second repeatedly. In one case, it seemed I was the top candidate, and then the employer decided against filling the position at all. In July, I was sitting at a stop light when a reckless driver veered around the corner and totaled my car. Two weeks later, I fell, broke and dislocated my left arm. It required surgery—and pins and screws and a metal plate— to repair. Unable to type,…
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Favorite Atheopaganism Posts of 2018
2018 was a hard year. But I did get some writing done. I published more than 100 posts to the Atheopagan website this year on a wide range of topics. In celebration of the New Year, here are thirteen of my favorites, in no particular order: Killing the Sixties: Abuse, Consent, #MeToo and the Pagan Community Unquestionably the most-linked and most-visited post of the year. Crunch Time: Pagan Priorities and the Otherworld If there is a supernatural Otherworld…does it matter? Approaching the Animal Self The beast within. No Gods. No Masters. No Priesthood. Is Pagan clergy a good idea? Producing Your Own Atheopagan Event Planning resources for event production. Walking Our Talk: Modeling a Vision…
