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It's well known that certain Christian sects like the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to celebrate the major holidays of Christmas and Easter, because they rightly recognize their Pagan roots. The more I contemplate the issue, the more convinced I become that the Christian Church itself is much more Pagan than its founder ever intended.  

This idea may seem confusing, since our modern Pagan movement has always set itself against Christianity as the engine of the Burning Times and witch trials. But wouldn't it be ironic if a religion that began as a metaphysical, idealistic sect of Judaism had morphed, over the centuries, into just an opposing form of Paganism?  

Pagans don't believe in Satan, but we certainly know when things aren't going the way we planned. You could say that the devil is anything that stands between you and your dharma – the work, service, or path in life that you feel destined to fulfill, and which would bring you the most contentment.  

The devil doesn't have to assume a human form; it is most often encountered as negativity - a barrier, or a depression, or a convinced rigid belief within your own mind that blocks you from making any further progress.  

Every regimen of study, work, personal grooming or health which I have ever adapted and used successfully in my life, had to contain the elements of Reasonableness and Moderation. I never had the constitution for unremitting fanaticism. The Middle Path has always worked best for me. Whenever I did undertake a campaign of intense, focused effort, no matter how convinced of its necessity I might have been at the outset, I always found myself needing to take days off for rest and re-evaluation. 

The Buddha discovered the Middle Path when he overheard a music teacher observing that if you don't tighten a string enough, it will not play; but if you tighten it too much, it will break! That made sense to Siddhartha, and it makes sense to me. 

Having passed (by quite a few) the required number of years and an appropriate series of experiences, it appears that I have become a sage. I can now look back over the events of my life and connect the dots. 

As a young man I felt that I was a reincarnated sage who was constantly seeking reconnection, through my vague but compelling memories, to my former wisdom and power. I now see clearly that it's silly to split hairs over titles. Druid, hierophant, teacher, bard, yoga philosopher - titles are just signposts. They indicate a certain type of calling that can never be fully encompassed by words.

If you're old enough, you may remember a television cartoon series from the 1950's called "Crusader Rabbit." He was, as I recall, sort of a Don Quixote-type character - tending to tilt at windmills which most folks would judge imaginary or not worth the effort. Whether that memory is correct or not, it's the way I often feel. Very few people ever seem to share my sense of injustice at the little subtleties in our culture.  

My wife and I receive healthcare in Arizona from the Banner Health organization. Banner is one of the largest healthcare conglomerates in the U.S., managing hospitals and medical practices all over the country. Yet, when we are admitted into the hospital for a procedure and are asked on the intake form to indicate whether we have a religion of choice, only certain ones are on their computer list and they do not include Pagan, Neopagan or Heathen. Most surprisingly, in light of recent acknowledgment by the Armed Forces and the Prison system, the Banner list doesn't even have Wiccan! (We are not Wiccan, strictly speaking, but it's close enough for Jazz. We'd take it.)

I do not lay claim to being a great Astrologer. In that regard I humbly defer to other bloggers on this site whose calling it is to cast horoscopes. I also realize that people born under the same sign can differ quite a bit in personality because of numerous other influences - rising signs, moon signs, etc. - which are usually different, while those same elements can make people of opposing signs more akin than one would normally expect.

I'm even aware that the Vedic Astrologers of India don't go by the month you were born; they determine your astrological sign by the month it was likely you were conceived! So there are many variables in this ancient field of study.

When mature theologians study the question without pubescent embarrassment, it is clear that there is a point at which female Goddess worship is inseparable from pornography. Try as we might to separate the sacred from the profane, and to tease out the purely biological facts of procreation from the universal hormonal urge to have a good time, we are continually faced with areas in which they become the same thing. To most spiritual Pagans, the congress of vulva and phallus is sacred - a celebration of the life-rhythms of the universe.