Archive for the 'Massachusetts' Category

The Future of Neopaganism in the West, Part II: Going Organic

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

In the previous post, I outlined a model of prestige and stigma which predicts whether a language or religion will grow or wither in a society. Now let’s take the prestige/stigma model and look at Neopaganism today. By these measures, Neopaganism is in trouble.

Stigmatized Neopaganism

Imagine trying to revive the Latin language. Imagine speaking it at home, teaching it to your children, seeking out Latin translations of modern works, and using it instead of English whenever you could. What would your friends and neighbors think? Do you think lots of people would jump on the bandwagon with you? Do you think that the revived Latin movement — “Neolatinism” — would have much of a future in your society? There are no celebrities speaking Latin on TV. There are no government officials speaking Latin in press conferences. Latin is stigmatized as a dead language with no future; why would anyone want to learn it?

If the analogy between religion and language holds, Neopaganism is in exactly the same situation as Neolatinism would be. (more…)

Posted in Bible, Christianity, Europe, Latin, Massachusetts, Odin, Zeus, atheism, children as natural pagans, holidays, linguistics, monotheism, paganism, polytheism, religion, shamanism | 13 Comments »

Walking to Paradise

Friday, July 27th, 2007

A few nights ago I decided to take a walk just after sunset, as part of my plan to enjoy more exercise during my physical manifestation overhaul. There was still plenty of light, and I planned on only being gone about half an hour, so I didn’t need a flashlight or anything like that. I also didn’t plan on meditating or trying to contact Spirit in any way at all, so I was completely taken off guard by what happened… (more…)

Posted in Apollo, Massachusetts, free will, meditation, reincarnation, synchronicities | 14 Comments »

The Nature Church: A Place for All Pagans

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007

Our Druid grove has recently become involved in a really exciting (and daunting) project that could provide a real boon to all Pagans here in western Massachusetts — and all down the Atlantic Coast of North America, for that matter.

For the most part, the Pagan community here in western Mass can be described as reasonably large, out in the open, and close-knit. But no one knows how many Pagans here are practicing alone, eschewing contact with the rest of us, for whatever reason. And there could be entire communities of Pagans that keep themselves to themselves and never reach out to the larger community.

A Natural Enclave

The Nature Church was that kind of community. Founded in the 1970’s by a close group of friends, it grew slowly, not seeking out or advertising for new members and not communicating with other Pagans nearby — not out of enmity, but simply because the community was whole as it was.

The Church, which is a recognized non-profit organization, owns 2.6 acres of land, the focus of the Church’s activities for thirty years. Here the members gathered on full moons and celebrated their community; here they came together on feast days to worship together and share a meal. They had no dogma: while in general the congregation followed the Celtic Pagan path, there were members of Abrahamic religions as well, — polytheists and monotheists, God worshippers and Goddess worshippers. All were welcome, and all were committed to developing a personal, individual relationship with Spirit.

The Church property is mostly forested, but includes an organic garden, a dilapidated shack (de rigueur on land that was once farmed), a sauna, a barn, and the charred remnants of the meeting house, which was destroyed by arson at Imbolc this year. (more…)

Posted in Massachusetts, paganism | 9 Comments »

Don’t You Go to Church?

Thursday, January 11th, 2007

Zen and the Art of Childhood

Being a non-Christian in the United States is not always easy. I know, because I grew up here, and I’ve never been Christian.

I was raised essentially Zen Buddhist in the southeast, a region not known for its tolerance and open-mindedness. My mother was Zen; my father and his family were Baptist.

When I was in kindergarten, in 1979, my teacher used to lead the students in Christian prayer before lunchtime. She would do it surreptitiously in the classroom, not in the cafeteria, because prayer in a public school was illegal. When my mother found out, she was irate; she demanded that the school put a stop to it. They didn’t. But in a small southern town, you can’t raise too many waves. My mother dropped it.

In fourth grade, I remember my teacher reading stories to the class – Bible stories. Again, there was nothing we could do.

As I approached puberty, the emotion I most frequently associated with religion was incredulity. Whenever the other children found out that I didn’t go to church, or that I didn’t believe in God, they were incredulous. Aren’t you afraid you’ll go to hell? they’d ask. No, I don’t believe in hell. But the Bible says… I don’t believe the Bible, either. But the Bible says… Why do you believe the Bible? The Bible says… (I’m not making this up.)

For my part, I was incredulous about their beliefs, as well. I was amazed that people could just completely believe every word of a two-thousand-year-old self-contradictory book, without, as it seemed, thought or question. Especially when the Bible had so many things in it that were obviously just wrong — things that contradicted evolution, geology, astronomy, etc.

We were children; we couldn’t argue these things out properly. I couldn’t explain my point of view, and they couldn’t explain theirs. The upshot was that I was just too weird to be friends with them. That was ok with me, though, because I thought they were weird. (more…)

Posted in African Americans, Bible, Christianity, Massachusetts, Zen, homosexuality, paganism | 11 Comments »