People who say certain Gods insist they follow only Them based on a DNA test are misusing DNA and misinterpreting UPG. While I understand the desire to find roots, some roots can’t be discovered. They can only be grown.

Last week’s post on Gods claiming people generated a lot of conversation. Some of that conversation was good, some of it needs to be explored in more depth, and some of it was an arrogant dismissal of people’s most intimate and most traumatic experiences.

On one hand, gratitude is an important part of my spiritual practice. On the other hand, too much gratitude can lead to stagnation. And we have no right to expect gratitude from anyone.

There have been times when I felt stagnant, or when I knew I needed to do something but couldn’t figure out exactly what. Or how. These practices have kept me going, and I expect they’ll continue to do so.

Magic and witchcraft in politics is nothing new. What’s new is that it’s all out in the open, which brings the inevitable response from those with different goals and different values. Large numbers of people are involved in open magical conflict. But I don’t know how many of them understand just how complex the battle lines actually are.

How do we make our Paganism work for us, without grounding it in false or inauthentic narratives? The answer is to ground it in our own first-hand experiences of the Gods, our ancestors, and the land where we are.

Unprecedented metaphysical changes. The crumbling of power structures, and extreme efforts by those with power to cling to it. A growing interest in magic and witchcraft, with resulting magical effects. Increased encounters with Otherworldly persons. This is the environment in which we work. Now, what are we going to do about it?

Adults in our society have very little time that’s truly free. But many of us have a day or two or twelve between the Winter Solstice and the day after New Year’s. Let’s make the most of them.

The Winter Solstice may be humanity’s oldest holy day. It’s a reminder that long nights don’t last forever, and neither do difficult times. Whatever else the Winter Solstice may teach, it teaches us hope and persistence. And you don’t have to be a Pagan to see and feel that.

The end of one decade is a good time to look forward to the decade ahead of us. This isn’t divination or prophecy so much as it’s projection. This is what I expect the next decade will bring to the Pagan movement.

Announcing a new on-line class from Under the Ancient Oaks: “Building a New Myth: Scientific, Animist, and Polytheist Foundations For the Future.” Registration opens January 2; the class begins January 23 and will run for seven weeks. Here are the details.

We’re ten days away from a new decade, so before I do my usual year-end features it seems appropriate to do a retrospective on 2010 – 2019. This is a personal retrospective of the 2010s. It may be too personal, but it’s my story and I want to share it.

While I’ve come to accept that sometimes the Pagan community just doesn’t care about something as much as I do, there are times when I find myself screaming “this is important! Why are you not reading this?!”

2019 has been another great year on Under the Ancient Oaks. It’s been a record year for readership, and I’ve been very happy with the conversations that have come out of the blog, both here and on Facebook. My second book Paganism In Depth came out this year. The on-line class based on it exceeded […]

We are still in Tower Time, but this year’s emphasis is on us: our dreams, our fears, our willingness to work diligently and effectively, and our commitment to fight with all the weapons at our disposal. What do you want most of all? Is your desire greater than your fear?

The new calendar year feels like a new start. For some of us, that means taking our religion and spirituality farther and deeper. Here are nine ways you can improve your Paganism, your witchcraft, your magic, your spirituality – however you describe those beliefs and practices that are most important to you.

I hadn’t planned on reviewing the new Dracula miniseries, but my Facebook comment got a little long, so I turned it into a blog post. The bottom line is that it tries to do too many things and ends up doing few of them well.

Recently I’ve heard several people who work with and for the Morrigan express sadness and regret that things haven’t gone the way they planned – that they haven’t always kept their commitments. After the last one, I heard a familiar voice behind my head say “I demand persistence, not perfection.”

By now I imagine most of you have seen the cynical and offensive article “I spent a week becoming a witch and the results were worrying” by Ceri Radford on the UK tabloid site the Independent. For the new year, Radford says: I decided, for once, to seize the cultural zeitgeist. I picked up a […]

A review of two excellent books for Pagans: one a hands-on guide to magic, the other an experiential guide to working with and for the Morrigan.

A Catholic philosopher says that Paganism is about myths but Christianity is a true story. This is not correct. In any case, the stories of the many Gods are myths. But behind the stories lies the reality of the persons we call Gods.

There are so many opportunities for Pagans to be legitimately offended. We don’t have to ignore offensive behavior – we just have to make sure we don’t let other people control the agenda.

There are plenty of books, blogs, and websites devoted to Wicca and to every form of witchcraft imaginable. There is less for Druidry but still quite a bit. For polytheism there is much, much less. And so here is my letter to beginning polytheists.

If you are a Pagan priest, feel called to become a priest, or if you rely on the services of those who function as priests, you need to read A Practical Guide to Pagan Priesthood.

These are troublesome times. It is natural and good and right to be concerned. But it is not helpful to be inhibited by fear. We are not powerless, and we are not alone.

If you annoy a writer they may write you into their next book and then kill you, or make you the bad guy, or both. Fellow Pagans, we have annoyed the writers of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Voting for real begins tomorrow in Iowa. Let’s trust in democracy – let’s trust that the candidate more of us want will be the best nominee. In November, vote blue no matter who. But in the primaries, vote with your heart.

Animism is the idea that every being in the universe is not a thing but a person, with the inherent dignity and worth possessed by all persons. It has much to teach us about how to relate to the other persons in the natural world, and in the more-than-natural world.

What is the proper mix of politics and religion? Both those who don’t see a difference and those who want to keep them in isolation are making impossible demands. There are many ways to balance the two. This is mine.

Is the surge in the popularly of Paganism and witchcraft causing them to get watered down? What about young people who are writing books and teaching classes without traditional foundations or credentials? And what can we do to make “baby witches” understand the dangers involved with hexing and cursing?

What to do with offerings after you offer them, community priesthood, and how to learn about the Morrigan without getting drafted into Her army.

Gods and spirits don’t wear nametags. Our first-hand experiences of them are usually subtle – they speak in whispers, not in shouts. But with good discernment, over time we learn who we can trust, who’s worth following, and who we would just as soon avoid. They learn the same about us.

Magical successes and magical failures. A search for knowledge and wisdom. A love of Nature, and the spirits I encountered in Nature. I couldn’t have known it at the time, but my childhood foreshadowed my Druidry.

The Pagan community talks far too much about what we’re born with. Too many people look for some hidden identity that makes them special, so they don’t have to do the hard work of developing an authentic spirituality. And yet, some of us are born different.

Otherworldly persons are influencing the stories we write, tell, hear, and see. And in at least a few cases, they’re pretty much writing the scripts themselves. Our best option is to see things as they really are, and then make what alliances are necessary.

Maybe there’s no such thing as second sight or first sight. Maybe there’s just true sight. And true sight can be grown and developed. What follows is not UPG. It’s what I’ve done, and therefore what I can teach. This how you develop the true sight.

Why do some people insist that their call to devoted service is a call to exclusive service? Because they’ve always been told that the Christian God is a jealous God, and they unconsciously assume all Gods must also be jealous Gods.

We don’t talk enough about our magical successes. The more we share the stories of our magical successes, the more we’re reminded that magic is real and the more likely we are to work magic again in the future – and to encourage others to do so as well.

The costs of Daylight Saving Time outweigh the benefits. But if a significant majority of people really want that extra hour of daylight in the summer, just leave the whole country on DST year-round. I prefer standard time, but I’ll be happy to compromise if it means not losing an hour every spring.

If being an Instagram witch or Pagan works for you, great. I’m genuinely happy for you. But if you feel called to something deeper, to something more, just remember: it’s out there, waiting. This is how you can find it.

This is my Pagan Bucket List… or at least, part of it. These are the Pagan things I’d like to do before I take up long-term residence in the Otherworld. You can check back in 30 or 40 years and see how I did.

People who get into stressful situations often fall back on the religion of their childhood, even if they left that religion for a very good reason. There’s no shame in experiencing a crisis of faith. Address it rather than trying to deny it.

I do not intend to provide running commentary on COVID-19, the Coronavirus. There’s plenty of that going around. But before I can get back to ordinary blogging, there are some things I need to say.

As Pagans and polytheists, we don’t need universal religion. We search for truth in many realms, and our religions are the beliefs and practices that bind us together with each other and with our Gods and spirits. It’s not all the same, and that’s a good thing.

Why am I writing about a fictional character in a TV show that ended four years ago? Sometimes something gets into my head and I have to write it out, and once I do I might as well share it in case someone else is thinking along the same lines. Because usually someone is.

I’m trying to strike a balance between staying informed and not obsessing about things I can’t control. But in this upheaval of ordinary life, I see some things I need to pay special attention to. And I suspect most everyone else does as well.

Gatekeeping is what happens when people without authority arbitrarily decide who is and isn’t worthy of being in a movement. But other times what seems like gatekeeping is really a legitimate boundary that needs to be respected. and sometimes what we encounter is less gatekeeping and more an entrance exam.

Ten or a hundred or a thousand years from now, someone is going to want to know what the effect of the pandemic and the response was on ordinary people. They’re going to want to hear from people who never wrote for The New York Times or appeared on Fox News. Let’s leave good notes for them.

I pray that this pandemic and its related suffering will end. Will my prayers be effective? I don’t know, but that’s not the point. I’m a Pagan and a polytheist and praying is what I do.

Psychic Witch is a beginner’s guide to psychic perception and energy work. It’s the best book I’ve found for that purpose. It’s the book I wanted when I was 13 and trying to learn about psychic skills and magic in a straightforward, non-religious way.

As someone who worships a Battle Goddess and a God of the Wild, I’m very sympathetic when deeply religious people tell me “this is what my God wants me to do.” But if your God tells you to do something that endangers thousands of vulnerable people, the proper response is “no.”

The three-part model the soul is popular because it’s familiar and because it’s useful. But ultimately it’s a psychological model. Psychology is not religion and religion is not psychology. This is an alternative that’s intended to begin a conversation, not to establish dogmatic beliefs.

Numerous people have died recently while alone in quarantine. There are things we can do for them, and there are things we can do to make our own crossings easier, whenever they come.

Let’s treat our heroes with honor and dignity, but also with respect for the difficult things they have to tell us. Clap for them but then listen to them, and use what they tell us to make the world a better place.

If the only role you can fill right now being a good ordinary Pagan, then that’s enough. But some of you can take on more, and some of you need to take on more, if only keep your mind off all the things you can’t control. Consider these six roles.

There is power in ritual language. But too many people try to grab that power and they mistake “foreign” (to themselves) for “inherently deep and meaningful” without thinking about what they're doing. They end up like the white folks who get Asian character tattoos that don’t say what they think they say.

Someone asked me what it felt like when I left fundamentalist Christianity. My response was that it was a process that took almost 40 years. Your journey out of fundamentalism doesn’t have to take that long. My prayer is that it moves as swiftly and as surely as possible.

The Under the Ancient Oaks Online Beltane Ritual will be next Friday May 1 at 8:00 PM CDT on Facebook Live.

This year the Beltane fantasy is running smack-dab into the brick wall of quarantines and social distancing. The hype of Beltane as the time when all good Pagans should be having sex has been in decline for some time – this year we know we’re not missing out on anything.

This round of Conversations Under the Oaks had lots of questions about beginning spiritual practices. While these are basic practices, they aren’t just for beginners. As we learn and grow, we don’t outgrow prayer and meditation and such – we maintain them and we build on them.

Three questions on Pagan prayer: one from a former atheist, one from a former fundamentalist, and one from a new Pagan.

It’s a mistake to assume Gods or spirits could not have caused the pandemic, even if we conclude they did not. We need to respect the findings of science and the scientific method and also respect the agency and activity of the Gods. Not one over the other. Both.

Here’s the rest of this cycle of Conversations Under the Oaks: Pagan leadership roles, the limits of interfaith activities, Pagan monotheists, and how to have our own temples.

The many Gods are not relics to be locked away in pretty boxes and brought out for show on special occasions. They are living persons with Their own sovereignty and agency who do Their own things for Their own reasons – at Their own time.

Any living religion is a product of the interactions of the people who practice it, their Gods and spirits, and the place and time where they live. So of course the pandemic has changed my Paganism – how could it not? But my Paganism is helping me get through this, and for that I am very thankful.

Announcing a new on-line class from Under the Ancient Oaks: “Operative Magic – Theory, Strategy, and Practice.” Registration is open now; the class begins June 4 and will run for six weeks. Here are the details.

As a Pagan I’m committed to the idea that while life is difficult and often painful, ultimately it’s beautiful and good.

Good art helps us understand the bad times in which we live. It comforts us, inspires us, and challenges us. Let’s share the good art we find. And if we can’t find what we need, let’s go make it ourselves.

A city official who only selects prayer leaders who meet his own religious criteria is not representing all his city – he’s subtly trying to establish his own religion, in fact if not in law. If Eric Hogue won’t select women to lead civic prayer he should resign.

An Instagram post insisted that “you need tons of training from established witches before you cast your first spell.” While training from experienced witches and other magic users is great, the only way to truly learn magic is to do magic.

Are you better off than you were four years ago? If you are, that’s a very good thing. If you’re not, what can you do to make 2020 look better in December than it does in May? And if that’s not possible, what can you learn from this year that will make 2021 better than 2020?

Religion is far more than belief. Politics is the collective expression of our highest values, and ignoring politics is supporting the status quo. I serve a Goddess of Sovereignty who demands I help build a more just society, but ultimately, devotion comes first for me.

In his eulogy, Rev. Al Sharpton preached against the systemic injustices that led to the death of George Floyd and many others like him. But then he said “I’m more hopeful today than ever.” I think Rev. Sharpton is right.

For those of us who are called to the practice of magic, nothing can take its place. And if you’re going to learn magic, work magic, and make magic a part of your life, why not turn it all the way up?

The Under the Ancient Oaks Online Summer Solstice Ritual will be Saturday, June 20 at 8:00 PM CDT on YouTube.

I do not believe in an actual purgatory. But purgatory is an apt metaphor for the intermediate state in between open conflict and real peace. What we do here and now will determine if we can build a world that is fair and just for all, or if we will yet again descend into the hell of war.

Even if your worship is a private thing, it brings you closer to your Gods. That will cause you to bring Their values and virtues into the world, and help restore Them to a place of prominence and honor in the wider society.

I’ve been doing public ritual for 17 years and I’ve yet to do one perfectly. I’ve learned two things. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. And also, do everything you can to keep from making a mistake. Here’s how to do both.

Those of us who’ve been talking about Tower Time and The Storm for years should not be surprised by anything going on. Let’s quit trying to act respectable and become the strongest, most competent witches, Pagans, and other magical people that we can be, that we need to be, and deep down, that we want to be.

Some Pagans have been doing online rituals for years. Most of us are trying to learn how as fast as we can. I can’t wait to get back to in-person group rituals, but the more ways we can honor our Gods, work our magic, and connect with like-minded folks, the better off we’ll be.

I constantly emphasize doing what must be done. You don’t have to like a bad situation, you just have to deal with it. But “dealing with it” includes having enough good experiences to remind you that life is more than trying to stay alive. We need moments of joy and pleasure.

Initiation is never required, but it is often helpful. And while self-initiation has limits, it can be quite effective. A true life-changing initiation comes from a God or other spiritual ally, regardless of who is officiating.

New anthropological research demonstrates that performing religious rituals helps reduce anxiety in stressful situations. It’s nice to see science confirming what we’ve known all along. What’s not so nice are the materialist assumptions in the study.

An atheist blogger says “part of the case against God is the sheer absence of God.” His problem is the assumption that either the Christian God exists or no Gods exist. For those of us who follow one or more of the Many Gods, this is a reminder to never let other people set the ground rules of our religions.

Good magic requires clear, tangible targets. But the fact that some goals can’t easily be turned into a precise target statement doesn’t mean you want them any less. What do you do when all you have is a dream?

I overthink magic the same way I overthink mundane decisions and circumstances. The good news is that the same traits that cause us to overthink things can also help us confidently move from thinking to doing.

Jason Mankey says he’s a know-nothing witch. While I completely agree that accepting the limitations of our knowledge – and of our ability to know – is a good and necessary thing, I can’t be a know-nothing Druid.

Much of our talk about evil is intended to comfort ourselves: to distance ourselves from people who do horrible things. It lets us tell ourselves that we could never do such things, even though history shows that given the right circumstances, we probably would.

Have things gone quiet for you? Have certain Gods and spirits become conspicuous by Their silence? Are you starting to feel the need for something deeper, more ecstatic, more magical? And if so, what are you going to do next?

When any religion claims ownership of a World Heritage Site that is significant to many people from different religions, it makes the world a little smaller and a little poorer. I am thankful I was able to see Hagia Sophia when it was a museum.

Denton CUUPS Online Lughnasadh Ritual will be Saturday, August 1 at 8:00 PM CDT on YouTube.

I don’t know when I’ll be able to eat in a restaurant or see a movie or attend a Pagan ritual in person again, so I’ll take a bit of beauty where ever I can find it. For me, that comes with darker mornings and earlier evenings.

Do what you have to do to get by. But don’t abandon your dreams. Don’t restrict them. Don’t curtail them. When it comes to your life, don’t set small goals.

For many of us, the Gods and spirits who have been strong presences in our lives have gone silent. We were so busy with the pandemic and responses to injustice and our own lives that we didn’t notice it right away. But eventually we did. And we want it back.

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes – and history is rhyming right now. It’s telling us that while things are difficult and dangerous, we are on the verge of a victory that will be monumental… if we will seize it.

The big questions of life are not idle speculations. They’re a response to the realities of life that face us all. Do I have this all exactly right? Probably not. But the details will sort themselves out. Let’s embrace our immortality as deeply as we can.

Folklore, fiction, scripture, and myth. All of them can be helpful in building a strong Pagan worldview and practice. But they are not the same and we need to know which is which. We need to know if a story originates in imagination or in experience.

Christian fundamentalism in the United States is dying, and a decisive victory over Donald Trump in the upcoming elections will hasten its loss of power. But there are other things we can do to help end it, and to make our own lives better in the process.

Basing your religious and spiritual beliefs on works of fiction is rarely a good idea. But some stories aren’t just made up. They tap into something deeper and more meaningful. Sometimes inspiration comes to us in the form of first-hand experience.