Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
The Rantin’ Raven: The Pagan America Project

The Rantin’ Raven: The Pagan America Project

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 7:27 pm by Dana Corby

The Rantin’ Raven: The Pagan America Project 2017-01-31T19:27:02+00:00 Dana Corby

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Today I almost gave up on writing this column. I’m so discouraged by the political situation in our country I can hardly think straight. Everything I read in the Pagan blogosphere is equally depressing. More so, because these are people I thought I knew and could trust, tearing each other down and our movement (I don’t call it a community any more) with it. I couldn’t think of anything relevant to say in the face of all that but then I had a thought.

Some years ago a great but sadly now defunct Pagan Zine called Enchanté ran a photo essay about the huge amount of Pagan — mostly classical — art in New York City. Then a few months ago someone on Facebook posted a photo of a Greek goddess from a public building in their town, and I had a brain flash. I started the Pagan America Project. And I’m inviting you to join!

Photograph of Zeus, Aphrodite (left), and Demeter with the child, Triptolemus in a pediment at the Museum of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania / Photograph by Ed Uthman / CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikipedia Commons

All over the United States there is an enormous quantity of public art depicting Pagan deities. Murals, statues, busts, cornices, and plaques adorn courthouses, railroad stations, hotels, mansions, even factories. There are even a few whole buildings, like the Maryhill Stonehenge in Washington and the Parthenon in Tennessee with its glorious reproduction of the famous chryselephantine statue of Athena. So much for the contention that America is and always has been a Christian nation — America is full of Pagan images and ideas; it’s just that we don’t notice them anymore.

Joining costs exactly zero. No dues, no Kickstarter or GoFundMe, nothing. All you have to do is request join the Pagan America Project on Facebook.

Then start looking – really looking – at the public spaces where you live. Take photos of the Pagan imagery you’ll discover all around you, and post them, along with a sentence or two describing the image and its location, to the Project’s page. (There are a few stock photos already on the page to show the sorts of thing we’re looking for, but after this no more stock photos will be accepted.) You must have taken the photo yourself or otherwise have a right to it. Invented “deities” like the Statue of Liberty and Portlandia don’t count, no matter how much we may love them.

What’s even cooler? Since I first came up with the idea, the Pokémon GO phenomenon has hit. How about setting a lure at every item of Pagan public art you find, and bringing it to the attention of others in your city? So come on and join the Pagan America Project. These days doing something just for the fun of it is downright subversive!

Click here to like
Patheos Pagan on Facebook.

Click here to like
the Agora on Facebook

The Rantin’ Raven is published on alternate Saturdays here on the Agora. Subscribe via RSS or e-mail!

Please use the links to the right to keep on top of activities here on the Agora as well as across the entire Patheos Pagan channel.

Previous Post

July 14, 2016

Outside The Circle: Jailbreaking the Goddess

Next Post

July 19, 2016 Irish-American Witchcraft: Book Review - Runes Plain and Simple

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul James Jesus Peter