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Select a Month June 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 October 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 January 2015 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 August 2013 July 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

June 2016

June 09, 2016

Politics, Pagan religion and the 2016 elections- up at Public Square

I was asked to contribute to a public square discussion on faith and politics over...

June 05, 2016

The Trance of Belief II: Awakening and enjoying

(updated 6/7/2016) Part II picks up where my earlier post on how strong belief can...

April 2016

April 27, 2016

The Trance of Belief: Part I.

Global warming Most of the otherwise reasonably competent people we know who are global warming...

February 2016

February 05, 2016

Social Justice from a Pagan perspective

Last week I gave a keynote talk at the Conference of Current Pagan Studies on...

January 2016

January 31, 2016

The role of esotericism in Pagan religion

I had the good fortune to just come across a two-part article in Patheos by...

December 2015

December 22, 2015

My Near Death Experience in Maine: a lesson in compassion

The Maine coast and its adjacent islands result from the spectacular meeting of ancient...

October 2015

October 31, 2015

The Parliament of the World’s Religions and the Future of Religion

The Parliament of the World’s Religions, held from October 15-19, in Salt Lake City, was...

July 2015

July 01, 2015

Swastikas and the Stars and Bars as Symbols

( This column recapitulates the basic points about the swastika and Confederate flag...

June 2015

June 22, 2015

Probing the Depths of the Charleston Murders: a Pagan perspective

The racist terrorism that killed so many in Charleston this past Wednesday was followed almost...

June 11, 2015

Caitlin Jenner, the Duggars, and Us

Caitlin Jenner and the ‘Quiverfull’ of Duggars are perfect symbols for the profound cultural changes...

May 2015

May 15, 2015

The Language of Power and the Language of Care

Languages are alive, their words and meanings existing in a kind of linguistic ecosystem, but...

March 2015

March 22, 2015

The spiritual gifts of Wicca do not stop with Wiccans

Wicca and similar NeoPagan traditions have already helped humanity far out of proportion to our...

January 2015

January 13, 2015

Why monotheisms are so violent. And why the best monotheists are not.

Monotheism seems to have an innate proclivity to violence *and* it has inspired some of...

August 2014

August 23, 2014

A response to Niki Whiting’s review of my book, Faultlines

Replying to reviews with which an author disagrees is in many ways a waste of...

July 2014

July 23, 2014

Environmentalism and Pagan religion

In the name of a more humane future, Pagans must do all we can to...

June 2014

June 12, 2014

Polytheism, Emergence and the One

There is no contradiction between being a genuine polytheist, one arguing there may be unimaginably...

April 2014

April 02, 2014

Considering ‘Privilege,’ White, Wiccan, and otherwise. Part III: Occult and Spiritual Dimensions

Resentment, envy, and self-righteousness push away from the heart, narrowing it or shutting it down....

March 2014

March 27, 2014

Considering ‘Privilege,’ White, Wiccan, and otherwise. Part II: When the language of privilege works and when it does not

The problems with 'Wiccan privilege' as a concept are rooted in the current abuse of...

March 22, 2014

Considering ‘Privilege,’ White, Wiccan, and otherwise. Part I: Wiccan privilege

The word “privilege” is too abstract to do the work that needs to be done...

March 11, 2014

Looking to the future: Pagan religions in 50 Years

Amid this rich spiritual diversity most of us will come together in a deeper appreciation...

February 2014

February 11, 2014

Don Frew on saving Pagan lives, ‘Wiccan privilege’ and interfaith

Few if any NeoPagans have been more active than Don Frew in our interactions with...

February 04, 2014

What is Paganism? Part VI: The New Age and the Limits of Pagan Religion

Despite many similarities and considerable overlap at a personal spiritual level, New Age religion is...

January 2014

January 30, 2014

What is Paganism? Part V: ChristoPaganism and the Limits of Pagan Religion

Jesus could become a part of a Pagan narrative, and from my perspective, he is...

January 27, 2014

What is Paganism? Part IV: Interfaith Recognition

The most convincing evidence supporting the definition of Pagan religion that I have discussed in...

January 23, 2014

What Is Paganism? Part III: Pagan Religion from a Historical Perspective

When I write about "Pagan religion," I am writing about religions with the oldest roots...

January 20, 2014

What is Paganism? Part II: A Spiritual Taxonomy

Categories arise from out of the questions we ask and are only as useful as...

January 16, 2014

What is Paganism? Part I: The Basics: Religion, Spirituality, and Stories

Theology arises from people trying to figure out the abstract concepts behind the basic story...

December 2013

December 09, 2013

Faultlines Book Release, and Why Pagans Should Work with Other Religions

We are undergoing a fundamental shift in humanity’s spiritual orientation: from one rooted in agricultural...

November 2013

November 01, 2013

Does America Need a Civil Religion?

Gus diZerega is featured in Patheos' new Public Square, a new discussion space designed to...

October 2013

October 23, 2013

Samhain 2013

Samhain and Day of the Dead celebrate the end of the cycle of physical life,...