Druid Journal

Guidance by Word, Card, and Star

Philosophy and Religion

  • Selling Salvation: How Much is it Worth?

    Mercy is calling you, won’t you give heed? Must the dear Savior still tenderly plead? Risk not your soul, it is precious indeed; Oh, if today God should call it away, What would you give in exchange for your soul? (Bluegrass standard; lyrics by FJ Berry) How much is salvation worth? In dollars? No, really, Continue reading

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  • The God’s Whisper: Guest Post from Odin

    The God’s Whisper: Guest Post from Odin

    Odin told me a story: his own story. I offer here a shortened version, in his own words. In it, he gives an answer to an ancient riddle; and you may judge for yourself the truth of it. Continue reading

  • A Crime in Our Names: Iran

    “You may say this to Théoden son of Thengel: open war lies before him… None may live now as they have lived, and few shall keep what they call their own.”— Aragorn, speaking to Éomer on the eve of the War of the Ring; from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers A month ago, my wife Continue reading

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

    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 Continue reading

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  • The Future of Neopaganism in the West, Part I: Prestige and Stigma

    Modern religions that are derived from or inspired by the indigenous polytheistic traditions of Europe (I’ll call them Neopagan) have experienced a great resurgence in the last couple of hundred years, and especially in the last fifty or so. This is surprising, because prior to that, everyone pretty much thought they were gone for good. Continue reading

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  • Interview with Frank MacEowen: Moving Beyond Labels

    If you’ve been reading here a good long while, you remember my review of The Mist-Filled Path, a book by Frank MacEowen that struck my life with great force a year and a half ago. Frank’s message came to me at just the right time, and I found that it resolved a lot of issues Continue reading

  • Hanged God Calling on Line One: an Unexpected Interview

    Some time ago I promised my wife I would stop meditating in the car. I was sorry to do it, because some of my very best meditations happened then, but I understood her concern. I’m willing to concede that perhaps deep meditation is not really safe at 70 miles per hour… But on Tuesday I Continue reading

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  • The Truth of Religion II: Einstein’s Mouse

    Einstein didn’t believe in quantum mechanics for a number of reasons; he once asked, “Is it enough that a mouse observes that the moon exists?” In other words, according to quantum mechanics, a mouse can create the universe simply by observing it. This sounds pretty ludicrous, but quantum mechanics is an extremely successful theory — Continue reading

  • The Truth of Religion (or: Yes, Virginia…)

    I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of truth this holiday season. My oldest daughter is nine, and she still believes in Santa, bless her heart. The question is, do I? I mean, think about it. I’m a pagan. I believe in, and have personal experience with, Apollo, Athena, Belanus, Cernunnos, Bridget, and various Continue reading

  • Vaster than Empires and More Slow

    This post is going to be rather more controversial than most. I’ll be getting deep into politics. But this is at the forefront in my mind and conscience, and the shape of government and society is a spiritual issue for me. The Fall of the Empire The name of America tells a tale. Phonosemantically, the 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.

Serialized fiction offered at Patreon

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Axon Firings: Jeff’s fiction blog

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