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

The Allergic Pagan

Home
Pagan

2011-11-08T09:50:22-05:00

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.

Family Mid-Autumn Ritual

Last updated on: November 8, 2011 at 9:50 am By John Halstead

Here’s the outline for my family ritual for All Hallows. Because I was exhausted on Halloween, we decided to delay the ritual for a week, and so we celebrated it this past Sunday, which was closer to the mid-autumn point (Nov. 7) anyway. This ritual is geared for the ages of my children 9 and 13. As they they get older, we will alter the ritual accordingly. All Hallow’s Eve / Mid-Autumn 2011 My son reads: The last time we... Read more

2011-11-02T12:53:33-05:00

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.

Memorial

Last updated on: November 2, 2011 at 12:53 pm By John Halstead

About a year ago ( September 30, 2010), my uncle killed himself. I was the first time I had experienced the death of someone close to me that I loved. This past Sunday, my local UU church observed a Day of the Dead service, and my family and I remembered Dan’s passing. We brought pictures of Dan to the church to place on an altar with other pictures congregants had brought of loved ones. The pastor slowly struck a bell... Read more

Uncategorized

death

memorial

2011-11-01T09:04:41-05:00

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.

The best laid plans …

Last updated on: November 1, 2011 at 9:04 am By John Halstead

Well, I said I would post the warts and all here. Now I know why Pagan parents might not want to have a Pagan family ritual on Halloween. After spending two days constructing a haunted house on my front walk and porch (and spending ungodly amounts of money), and then getting myself and everyone else in costume, and then walking my kids for two hours through the neighborhood in the mid-40’s, and then forgetting to eat dinner, all after a... Read more

Uncategorized

2011-10-28T16:23:38-05:00

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.

Halloween as a Holy Day

Last updated on: October 28, 2011 at 4:23 pm By John Halstead

Over at Patheos, Star Foster has posted about Halloween and the Christian “war” on Halloween. She emphasizes that Halloween is a “secular holiday”, even for most Pagans: “Yet only a very small minority of us actually claims to celebrate Halloween as a religious holiday, and generally if they do it’s either to use a common term that’s easily understood or for promotional reasons. The majority of Pagans don’t claim Halloween as a holy day, though we do celebrate on October... Read more

2011-10-28T14:47:37-05:00

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.

Religious Identity, Boundaries, and Authority

Last updated on: October 28, 2011 at 2:47 pm By John Halstead

I was just listening to a lecture which I downloaded from The Teaching Company entitled “The Terror of History: Mystics, Heretics, and Witches in the Western Tradition”. (By the way, I love these lectures from The Teaching Company. I’ve purchased over a dozen of them — always when on sale though.) Anyway, the lecturer, Teofilo F. Ruiz, was speaking about the Waldensian heresy, which was started by Peter Waldo in the 12th century. Waldo was a rich merchant converted to... Read more

2011-10-26T18:46:59-05:00

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.

Tradition, Rootedness, and Freedom

Last updated on: October 26, 2011 at 6:46 pm By John Halstead

Tradition, tradition! Tradition! Tradition, tradition! Tradition! Who, day and night, must scramble for a living, Feed a wife and children, say his daily prayers? And who has the right, as master of the house, To have the final word at home? The Papa, the Papa! Tradition. The Papa, the Papa! Tradition. From Fiddler on the Roof A few days ago, my wife and I had conversation number 7. We have certain conversations that we have over and over in our... Read more

2011-10-21T15:54:26-05:00

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.

My love/hate relationship with Neopaganism, Part 2

Last updated on: October 21, 2011 at 3:54 pm By John Halstead

Why I love Neopaganism: #1 I love that Neopaganism honors the dark as well as the light. Jung wrote that “one does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light,but by making the darkness conscious.” Probably the most significant realization of my life has been that I am not one; I am many seeking to become one; and that true power does not come from setting the parts of myself at war with one another, but from integrating my many... Read more

2011-10-21T15:24:41-05:00

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.

My love/hate relationship with Neopaganism, Part 1

Last updated on: October 21, 2011 at 3:24 pm By John Halstead

Why I hate Neopaganism: #1 I hate magic. Most Neopagans seem to believe in some form of instrumental or practical magic (i.e., spells). I have complained extensively about this elsewhere. Not only do I not believe in the mechanics of “raising energy” or the premise that intention is power, but I find the notion of controlling nature as a religious practice to be discordant with what I understand as the Neopagan ideal of atunement with nature. I am fortunate... Read more

2011-10-20T21:34:44-05:00

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.

The Storm King

Last updated on: October 20, 2011 at 9:34 pm By John Halstead

Yesterday we had an amazing storm. The wind blew and blew, for hours. The rain fell, but did not pour, the whole time. This is unusual for where I live. Our storms are usually violent, but brief. Since we are nearing All Hallow’s Eve, my mind was naturally drawn to the legend of the Wild Hunt. I could imagine that the the Hunter had released the Wild Hunt yesterday and all manner of wild dark spirits were racing through the... Read more

2011-10-19T18:23:03-05:00

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.

Movies that are religious experiences, Part 2 (Solaris)

Last updated on: October 19, 2011 at 6:23 pm By John Halstead

A little while ago, I posted about my favorite movie, The Fountain. It is one of three of my all time favorite movies. The second one is Solaris. I first saw Solaris at the international film theater as an undergraduate. It was the 1972 Russian version by Andrei Tarkovsky. I went right out at read the book by Stanislav Lem, which became one of my favorite books. It was remade in 2002 by Steven Soderbergh, and starred George Clooney. The... Read more

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was David’s best friend?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jonathan Joseph Saul Samuel

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ritual Scripts Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month 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 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Pagan