The issue of consent within the Pagan community is discussed. We take a look at Oya, one of the best-known deities of the West African religion Orisa-Ifá. And how should Pagans view the Abrahamic pantheon? It's Watery Wednesday, our weekly segment on news within the Pagan community! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

For a long time, Pagans have thought of themselves as a "sex-positive" community, with a view of sexuality that is more open and positive than that of the cultural mainstream in the West. But being "sex positive" doesn't necessarily mean giving people carte blanche to approach and touch others who don't want to be touched. Heather Green as The Wild Hunt discusses the issue of consent within the Pagan community.

John Dee, Queen Elizabeth I of England's spymaster and one of the most famous occultists to ever live, still attracts public fascination and interest to this day. But in addition to his work as a spy and a magician, John Dee was also a mathematician and something of an early scientist. At New Scientist, Philip Ball argues this latter aspect of Dee's career is under-appreciated.

Most of the deities Pagans feel drawn to are of European or Asian origin. But African deities, from the Egyptian pantheon to the gods and goddesses of the Yoruba in West Africa, also get a fair amount of attention too. At Patheos, Lilith Dorsey celebrates one of the latter: Oya, goddess of the wind.

Is there a fundamental difference in the way we see the world vs. how our ancestors did? And does it have to do with the kind of stories we tell? At Gods & Radicals, Pegi Eyers considers the importance of "mythic stories."

Although few Pagans feel attracted to the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (among a few others), there's little denying that they are a predominant part of not only Western culture but religion around the world. How then should we view the God of Abraham and Mohammad or the Christian messiah Jesus? Set worshiper G.B. Marian presents one approach here.

Top image by Dominik Schwarz