Druid Thoughts: Beltain Without Ritual
Beltain has been and gone. I didn’t celebrate this year in any obvious sense. I’m finding the seasons hard to get to grips with at the moment. In February it was hot enough, in the south west of...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Who Polices the Druids?
Do any Pagan organisations have the means to respond if there’s a pedophile priest accusation in our ranks? Would we handle a sexual abuse scandal any better than the Catholics have, or the UK's...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Is There Really a Devil?
I think the Devil is a way of putting outside of us all the things we don’t want to admit are part of being human. We kill and torture, rape and abuse. Once we admit that evil wears human faces, then...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Books for Druids
If you want to be a Druid, study everything, and try to find study materials written by people who knew what they were talking about. Let’s get away from fantasies of Atlantis and other such works of...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Pagans and Pornography
Erotic content can be beautiful and inspiring. It can prompt us to connect more deeply with our lovers and give us knowledge and confidence for exploration. Anything that celebrates and honours sex can...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Christio-Pagans
Whatever you do in response to Christio-Pagans, please, don’t fear and resent them because they are different. Don’t feel threatened by their unfamiliarity. Don’t let prejudice and assumption lead you;...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Gratitude for Community
When I have been hurt and lost, my community has brought soft words of encouragement. When I have not known where I belonged, people from my community made a point of telling me that I was wanted. When...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Pagan Portals
Introducing Pagan Portals from Moon Books: focused introductions to particular areas of Paganism, including Nimue Brown's new SPIRITUALITY WITHOUT STRUCTURE.
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Plastic Pagan Gurus
On the surface, Plastic Pagan Gurus are convincing. They appear to be everything we want Pagan leaders to be, and they play to those desires. It can take a long time to realise that you’re being sold a...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Pagan Author, Christian Characters
It’s a shame that someone seeing ‘Druid’ in my autobiography would assume that means ‘hates Christians’. The track record of relations between Pagans and Christians is not what it might be. I live in...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Our Own Priests and Priestesses
Even if we are our own priests and priestesses, it serves us to remember that we will still need other priests and priestesses, for community, and for those times when we really can’t do it for...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Strength in Diversity
Go back ten years or more, and there was a lot of pressure within the Pagan community to present a united front. We weren’t many, and we needed a coherent narrative that people could grasp and be...
View ArticleSeekers and Guides: Wicca Has No Gurus, Only Teachers
We often expect our spiritual teachers to be perfect. Sable Aradia explains that teachers of the Craft usually aren't, and why this is a good thing.
View ArticleSeekers and Guides: Why Free Events Discriminate Against the Pagan Poor
Why charging a small fee for events and workshops is actually of benefit to Pagans who are less wealthy than others, and how important community effort is for the greater good of the group.
View ArticleLoop of Brighid: The Nine Pure Choice Graces, Part 2 – The Grace of Voice
The second of the nine “pure choice graces” is the grace of voice. While the grace of voice could refer to ordinary speech, Brighid’s association with poetry makes it especially appropriate to...
View ArticleSeekers and Guides: Happy Anniversary Patheos!
Sable Aradia looks back at her Patheos Pagan experience in celebration of Patheos' 5th Year Anniversary.
View ArticleSeekers and Guides: The Doers and the Don’ters
The most important element in Pagan leadership is willingness to stand up in the field. But some people seem determined to be lawnmowers. Sable Aradia discusses how to recognize them and what to do...
View ArticleDruid Thoughts: Terribly Important Pagans
Why as Pagans are we so keen to mimic the political structures and power bases of other religions? Why are we so excited by titles, and so keen to pin them to ourselves?
View ArticleSeekers and Guides: The Downward Spiral – Depression and Suicide in Paganism...
I’ve been there: standing at a Samhain altar, about to priestess for my community for the very first time, when we were told that Jodi, a sweet woman who was always smiling, was not late; she was dead...
View ArticleA Pagan Short History of Valentine’s Day
Valentine's Day is not regarded as a particularly Pagan holiday, although some of the ideas and practices around it have their roots in Paganism. In this guest post on the Agora, James Lindenschmidt, a...
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