Philosophy and Religion
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The Animist and the AI, Part I: ChatGPT’s Knowledge of Self
ChatGPT is a fascinating artifact. At time of writing, it has only been released a few weeks, but society at large is desperately grappling with it, almost as if it were an existential threat. What is it? Is it a sentient being? Is it a plagiarist? Does it enable cheating on essays? Is it an… Continue reading
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Apollo and Coronis: Solstice and the Coronavirus
In Druidry, as in many other religious traditions, we pay attention when seemingly significant coincidences occur. When we notice strange patterns and echoes where we expected only random noise. Meaningful happenstance. When we were thinking about this year’s Solstice message, we thought about gods of healing. Apollo, for example. For the Greeks, he was the… Continue reading
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The Symphadox: Physics, Animism, Synchronicity, and Neural Nets
Back in 2014, musing on Emma Restall Orr’s excellent Wakeful World, I presented a paradox at the center of the mind / body dualism that’s usually assumed by both western science and religion. The crux of the paradox is: why are we conscious, but other things aren’t? Most people consider humanity conscious, but all other… Continue reading
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Dogma Bites Man: the Role of Reason in Religion
The road to enlightenment can be, and has been, walked by people contemplating the Bible’s oddly phrased, simplistic, and disjointed attestations, precisely because they are odd, simplistic, and disjointed. Continue reading
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The Face of Justice
The hooded eyes Open to let just enough light in, each photon carrying the universe within it — The rest of the face utterly relaxed, at rest. Continue reading
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Things Fall Apart: Why We Think Everything’s Getting Worse
Most Americans, year after year, continue to think that the country is on the wrong track. The older you are (i.e, the more experienced you are, and the more of history you’ve seen), the more likely you are to think everything is falling apart. And it’s not just in America: worldwide, people tend to think… Continue reading
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Meditation: Animist Consecration
Last night my awesome wife Ali and I joined in a set of consecration ceremonies at our Unitarian Universalist church. Along with the Reverend’s UU blessing and our friend Chris’s Wiccan consecration, we demonstrated a Druid / Animist method of connecting with an object. I say “connecting with” an object instead of “consecrating” because in… Continue reading
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Powers of Darkness
The children have collectively created a mythology that is rich, colorful, and choked with fear and desperation. Continue reading
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Big Data Will Blind You
Not all of us are scientists, but all of us today are consumers of science. And I mean science, not technology. When we want to lose weight, or make more money, or find that perfect someone, we don’t go to gurus, and we don’t go with our guts. We look at the latest studies. It’s… Continue reading
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In Which Links are Forged and Pods are Cast
My attention has been away from this blog for a while, so I thought it might be interesting to collect some links to what I’ve been working on. Over at Faith, Fern, and Compass, for example, I’ve contributed a couple of articles that might be of interest to you: The Sea in the Skull Theologians… Continue reading
About Me
Word, Card, and Star – a journey through language, divination, and inspiration. A chronicle of my search for guidance, insight, and a connection to nature and the ancient world. Along the way, I hope to discover beauty, connection, groundedness, and a sense of wonder.
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