My half-awake short answer was “you give them something to be engaged with, something they’re passionate about.” But this is a deep question that requires a lot more than a quick answer.

Why do you want to talk to proselytizers anyway? Nobody gives out trophies for Best Performance in a Front Porch Religious Debate. If you do, make sure it’s your choice and not because they manipulate you into thinking you owe them even a second of your time.

There are empty and hurting places in our lives and they aren’t going to go away. Let’s fill them with beauty, whether your beauty takes the form of rainbows and sunshine, or guitars and synthesizers and black leather.

A very personal and rather rambling post about what it means – for me – when the Awen slows but the spiritually-mandated workload is still heavy.

The Seven of Swords has come up with a frequency and in positions that have gotten my attention. That’s usually a sign it’s doing more than simply providing an answer to the questions asked. Rather, the forces and trends the Seven of Swords represents are becoming more prominent in the wider world.

The class I’ve been talking about since February is now open for registration. To sign up, go to the new website UndertheAncientOaks.com, click on Courses, and follow the instructions.

This is what I hope to see in 50 years, 100 years, 300 years. But the big vision I’ve described in this post can’t be built from the top down. It has to be built from the bottom up.

“Fairies just want help us.” “Another Midsummer and I still haven’t been carried away by the fairies.” And worst of all, people offering to teach others “how to work with the fairies” when their advertisements make it clear they know virtually nothing about actual fairy lore. Ignorance and arrogance around the Fair Folk can be hazardous to your health and well-being.

Paganism In Depth, the new on-line class, Mystic South, travels, and more.

Whatever else this combination of natural, supernatural, and human-caused events may bring, it is also bringing opportunity.

What does it mean for Pagans to worship together? What does it take for us to worship together? And why might we not want to worship together, at least not all the time?

I hope someday we’ll have good, solid, robust training programs for Pagan and polytheist priests in many traditions. But until then – and even afterwards – those of us who want to be Pagan clergy can learn a lot by observing clergy of other religions.

Some people want to be Pagans, but mainly they want to do their own thing. If my wildest dreams come true and Paganism becomes an institutional religion, what place is there for them?

If we did not feel for those who will be most affected by climate change we would not be truly human. But if we obsess over the worst-case projections, we will sink into despair and we won’t be able to save ourselves, much less anyone else. And I see too many people approaching despair.

It’s easier to become a priest and to serve as a priest inside a community. If you can train under someone who’s experienced and qualified, so much the better. But if a God calls you, and you do the work, and the deity accepts your service, then you’re Their priest.

We aren’t trying to deal with the storm just to survive. We’re trying to deal with the storm so we can build a better world in its aftermath – or even while it’s still raging. And building a better world requires a vision of just what it is we want to build.

There’s some major spiritual decluttering going on. Some voluntary, some not. Some pleasant, some decidedly not. And much more that needs to be done. Because the storm is here, and we have to deal with it.

Paganism is about actions and relationships, but some people still insist on asking “what do you believe?” If they have a sincere curiosity, I want to help them learn. And sometimes explaining things on their terms helps them understand that we have different foundational assumptions that are neither right nor wrong, only different.

When our ancestors converted to Christianity, we lost traditions, we lost infrastructure, and we lost vocabulary. What do we want our priests to do and what should be the responsibility of the people in general? Can anyone actually fill all these roles?

How big is your Paganism? How inclusive is your Paganism? What specific needs does your Paganism have? What will the Pagans in your Paganism support? The infrastructure needs of your Paganism aren’t necessarily the same as the infrastructure needs of my Paganism.

Imposter syndrome goes beyond genuine humility. It lies about your own accomplishments and exaggerates the accomplishments of others. And the worst part of imposter syndrome isn’t how it makes you feel – it’s what it makes you stop doing that you really want to do.

Serving my community is part of my priesthood. But I am also called to serve Them directly in the ways that They request/demand, for reasons that are known only to Them, and that have no obvious value in the ordinary world.

I understand envy of the institutions and infrastructure of Catholics and other Christians. But envy isn’t helpful. Let’s become the best Pagans we can be, and then build the institutions and infrastructure we need, here and now.

“I didn’t expect it to be so real.” As unique as this comment was, the message is one I heard from others at our Beltane ritual: this is meaningful, this is sacred, this is real. The elements that made this ritual so powerful can be incorporated into any Pagan ritual.

Given the excesses and abuses of religion, some question whether we should take the step from raw experience to formal religion, and many people are choosing not to take it. But for most of us, practicing religion is far more beneficial than simply responding to religious experiences.

A recent BBC.com article asked “how and why did religion evolve?” While it was good up to a point, it essentially attempted to explain religion while ignoring religion. If you want to understand the origins of religion, you have to look at religious experiences.

Facts are real. They may be complicated and they may be unpleasant, but we ignore them at our peril. If facts conflict with our beliefs, our beliefs must change – the facts aren’t changing.

Finding someone who will defeat Donald Trump is essential. These are my thoughts on how we can best wade through the list of 20 candidates (so far) and give ourselves the best chance of getting this right.

Learning to trust your mystical experiences is hard. It’s hard to overcome our mainstream society’s insistence that they can’t be real. But we can figure it out.

Repaganizing an ancient rite involves a lot more than adding an “s” everywhere you see “God” and changing “Lord” to “Lord and Lady.” But some ancient rituals and spells were created in a polytheist environment, so it stands to reason that if they’re restored to a polytheist environment they’ll still work… perhaps even better.

Maybe I’m just in a cynical mood, but I’ve seen too many “signs you’re really something special but you just don’t know it” articles. People are out there searching desperately for their calling in life and they need better guidance than clickbait listicles.

Today we continue with more Conversations Under the Oaks. What are some things you can do to build a system of regular ritual devotions? What do you do when a deity stops talking to you? And how can we embrace darkness and shadow in our lives – even if we don’t like those terms? The […]

Many traditional activities for Imbolc are designed for large groups, but many Pagans are solitary practitioners, either by choice or by necessity. Here are eight things you can do to celebrate Imbolc as a solitary.

Many traditional activities for the Winter Solstice are designed for large groups, but many Pagans are solitary practitioners, either by choice or by necessity. Here are eight things you can do to celebrate the Solstice as a solitary.

As a progressive Texan, this election brought me the emotional devastation of being so close and yet so far. I’m going back to my religious work now, but I’m going to stay engaged with mainstream politics, because this country and its people are too important to abandon them to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

What do you get when a Druid decides to hold a public ritual in a small rural town in Tennessee? Controversy that’s not unexpected but still disappointing in 2018. Fortunately, the Wayist Druid ritual was safe and successful.

This is the moment we can do something that will make a tangible difference over the next two years and set the tone for 2020 and beyond. Or we can continue to allow 26% of the country to drive us off the cliff. If we turn out, we win.

This is the moment we can do something that will make a tangible difference over the next two years and set the tone for 2020 and beyond. Or we can continue to allow 26% of the country to drive us off the cliff. If we turn out, we win.

I originally thought the value of the Big Tent metaphor was its bigness. Now I think its value is its portability. We can set it up where ever we need it and do what we need to do, then go back to work on the things we’re really passionate about.

Why do some Pagans blame Trickster Gods for bad things like Christians blame their devil? How does magic work? Can you work magic for yourself? Can you pay someone to work magic for you? Responses to eight questions for Conversations Under the Oaks.

What’s a woman to do when she feels called by a God whose stories include rape? This is a question I feel very unqualified to answer. So I turned to ADF priest and fellow polytheist Rev. Lauren Mart. This is Lauren’s response.

What’s a woman to do when she feels called by a God whose stories include rape? This is a question I feel very unqualified to answer. So I turned to ADF priest and fellow polytheist Rev. Lauren Mart. This is Lauren’s response.

The Wheel of the Year is central to modern Paganism because it's an accessible connection to both our ancestors and to Nature. Our changing climate will demand changes to our celebrations, lest we become proper English ladies and gentlemen giving ourselves heat stroke from wearing London fashion in Jamaica.

Many traditional activities for Samhain are designed for large groups, but many Pagans are solitary practitioners, either by choice or by necessity. Here are eight things you can do to celebrate Samhain as a solitary.

Many traditional activities for Samhain are designed for large groups, but many Pagans are solitary practitioners, either by choice or by necessity. Here are eight things you can do to celebrate Samhain as a solitary.

What do newcomers need to know about Paganism when they’re just starting out? That’s an incredibly broad question – it’s why we have so many Paganism 101 books. Here’s some general information, some resources, and what you need to know if you decide to practice the particular form of Paganism I practice.

What do newcomers need to know about Paganism when they’re just starting out? That’s an incredibly broad question – it’s why we have so many Paganism 101 books. Here’s some general information, some resources, and what you need to know if you decide to practice the particular form of Paganism I practice.

This is the story of a new devotional painting of Manannán mac Lir by Pagan artist Ashley Bryner.

This is the story of a new devotional painting of Manannán mac Lir by Pagan artist Ashley Bryner.

Myths are more than fictional stories and they aren’t intended to be read literally. Oftentimes we have to look past the obvious to get to the truth, and what seems to be contradictory is simply two or more lessons embedded in the same story.

Myths are more than fictional stories and they aren’t intended to be read literally. Oftentimes we have to look past the obvious to get to the truth, and what seems to be contradictory is simply two or more lessons embedded in the same story.

Hospitality is among the greatest of Pagan virtues, and it means more than offering food and drink. People come to us looking for a community where they can learn sacred traditions and explore the deepest questions of life. What will they find when they arrive? Here are seven things we owe newcomers to Paganism.

Religion is ultimately about relationships: with our families and communities, with the natural world, with our virtues and values, and with our Gods and spirits. Building relationships with other persons requires communication. There are ways we can talk to the Gods, and there are ways we can hear from Them.

Imagine, if you will, a conclave of cats gathered to discuss and debate the true nature of humans. It is much the same when we humans discuss and debate the true nature of the Gods.

Over the past few days many of us have descended into our own personal hells, reliving our worst days over and over again. What is done is done and cannot be undone. We can only work to dismantle the patriarchy and oligarchy that invests unworthy men with power over the lives and bodies of women, people of color, the poor, and others they deem inferior.

There is no shame in fear and doubt – they’re part of being imperfect humans who have to make decisions with imperfect information. But fear and doubt can be overcome, and TV preachers can be banished into irrelevance.

Your main thing isn’t everyone else’s main thing. People who try to manipulate others into supporting their causes are behaving exactly like street corner preachers who are certain everybody who doesn’t believe like them is going to hell. You don’t have to listen to them.

Xenophanes said that horses would worship Gods that look like horses. But some of our Gods are not in our image. What does it mean that some deities have chosen to reveal Themselves in other-than-human form?

We’ve all heard someone say “funerals are for the living.” No. This is sacrilege. This is a Protestant and humanist idea that has no place in Paganism and polytheism. Funerals are for the community, which includes both the living and the dead.