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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in theology

Posted by on in Studies Blogs
Ancestor Worship & Dealing with the Dead

Ancestor worship has become a popular topic in the Pagan community, but it is worth noting that it is not universal, or necessarily normative. It can also lead to some problems. . .

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  • Neil Pitchford
    Neil Pitchford says #
    There is one aspect of ancestor interaction that you haven't raised here (possibly because you are not familiar with it) and that
  • Shodo Hathos
    Shodo Hathos says #
    When you have no ancestor practice or training in ancestor work to then give advice on ancestor practice seems presumptuous at bes
  • Phaedra Bonewits
    Phaedra Bonewits says #
    I think the custom of naming our spiritual and intellectual influences as "ancestors" is an artifact of not having ancestor revere
  • Sam Webster
    Sam Webster says #
    I think the problem lies in when we do a thing only because those before us have done that thing. Perhaps that is a hook for some,
  • Elizabeth Creely
    Elizabeth Creely says #
    One more thing...what is the title of the picture accompanying the article and who is the artist?

Posted by on in Studies Blogs
Abortion Rights are a Theological Battle

As you probably know there has been a powerful and effective move on the part of the Republican party to restrict access to abortion and other reproductive health services at the state level since the 2010 elections. What drives this is a theological notion that amounts to the establishment a religion in violation of the 1st Amendment of the US constitution. Those who object to the imposition of restrictions on access to abortion should recognize that it is a theological battle. Come see why. . .

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  • Rick
    Rick says #
    I would argue that almost all legal differences of opinion such as this have theological roots. For those of us that have a theolo
  • Rick
    Rick says #
    I would argue that almost all legal differences of opinion such as this have theological roots. For those of us that have a theolo
  • Herb
    Herb says #
    I don't think you'll find much disagreement with your thesis on this forum. However, it begs the question: Where do you set the ag

Posted by on in Studies Blogs
UPG: an ugly, misguided notion

“Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis” as a term is dismissive and insulting, but worse it turns us away from the only spiritual reality…experience.

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  • Francesca De Grandis
    Francesca De Grandis says #
    Sam, it has been a long time, glad to see you are still fighting the good fight. Thank you for the spiritual ardor yr post demonst
  • P. Sufenas Virius Lupus
    P. Sufenas Virius Lupus says #
    I agree, and have written similar things in the past... It amazes me how often "That's UPG," or even just the phrase "Your person
  • Scott
    Scott says #
    PSVL, your observations suggest to me that (a) we don't fully grasp the context of the ancients in this respect - remember, they w
  • Miss Lynx
    Miss Lynx says #
    I don't think anyone (or at least, that anyone other than perhaps hardcore atheists, or fundamentalist members of scripture-based
  • Apuleius Platonicus
    Apuleius Platonicus says #
    In fact, individualism, diversity, and cosmopolitanism were all firmly established features of ancient religion. The reason why mo
We Don't Need No Stinkin' Theories

(or The Fundamentals of Polytheism: Principle #1)

Today i was reading a good article by John Halstead summing up various perspectives in the recent heroes vs. superheroes community wide debate. Now I don't agree with much of Halstead's theories mind you, and completely disagree in every possible way with the very idea of "Jungian Neo-Paganism",  but he's a thoughtful and engaged writer and I respect his willingness and ability to delve *critically* into an idea or controversy, which he did in this article. I was particularly taken with his idea that behind much of the polytheistic response here  is resistance to the de-sacralizing of our traditions and that is absolutely correct. We are fighting to keep the Gods and the numinous, the Powers, and mystery in contemporary traditions of the sacred and it's an uphill battle. 

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  • Christine L Berger
    Christine L Berger says #
    Thank you, Tess, very well said. It can be a difficult transition even after years in the craft. As they say: This shit just go
  • Tess Dawson
    Tess Dawson says #
    I think what's needed is a paradigm shift more so than any theory right now. And I think that sometimes a person can mistake belie
  • Christine L Berger
    Christine L Berger says #
    It was worth reading all the comments just for this.
  • Apuleius Platonicus
    Apuleius Platonicus says #
    The claim that mere mortals are incapable of understanding the nature of the Gods is intrinsically nonsensical, because it already
  • Freeman Presson
    Freeman Presson says #
    I'm surprised at this coming from you. I know you are very well-read in the ancient philosophers. So, please tell me, on what subs

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

As I see it, there are three pillars of the Kemetic religion(s), in all its (or their) many forms. These pillars are:  The gods, the practices, and the concept of ma'at. It is this third, ma'at, that I will be discussing in this particular post.


Ma'at is often translated as Truth, Justice, Good, Order, or Cosmic Order. It is all of those things at once, in a way that can't be adequately conveyed with any one of the above English words or phrases.  For the Egyptians, the stability of the cosmos was not a fundamentally different thing from a king ruling justly. They were both manifestations of ma'at, and the lack thereof (an unstable cosmos, an unjust king, with the resulting disorder in the land) would be considered a lack of ma'at, and signs of  its opposite, isfet (often translated as "evil" or "disorder".)

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  • Sihathor
    Sihathor says #
    I recently saw a video on YouTube called "What Would Happen If The World Lost Oxygen For Five Seconds", which illustrates really w
  • D. R. Bartlette
    D. R. Bartlette says #
    I like your thoughts on Ma'at. I'd like to expand, however, on your statement: "we humans live on ma'at as well, even though we mi
  • Sihathor
    Sihathor says #
    So we do! I guess it would be more accurate to say then, that we humans also live on ma'at, like on bread (and through bread, as

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
My Pagan Theology

Yesterday was Walpurgisnacht, the night in which German witches are said to fly around on broomsticks and revel. Today is Beltane and my birthday. I was born in the early morning hours between Walpurgisnacht and Beltane, to a German mother and an Irish-German-American father  in the birth town of the Grim brothers. It makes me think that magic runs in my blood, and yet this is the first year in which I will dance the may pole.

It haven't even walked this pagan path for a full year and a day. I am still a new witchlet and yet I am practically watching my theology come together - like pieces rising from the ashes of a puzzle destroyed in the fire. When my previous Christian theology went up in flames I thought agnosticism was the best the world could offer me. The resurrection of belief has been more than an intellectual delight, it has been a breath of new life. To not only disbelieve the old things but to believe in new things. I believe again!

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Posted by on in Studies Blogs
Transcendental Hogwash

Or, How Transcendentalism and Panentheism are theological notions unworthy of contemporary Pagans.

The view I take in these matters is Pantheist, which simply stated is the intuition that All is God (from Pan = All, Theos = God), for whatever value of ‘God’ you care to apply. Many Pagans today hold to some variation on this perceptive. The Pantheist view makes ideas like Transcendentalism and Panentheism logically untenable, and they have some further consequences for Pagans that make it worthwhile to remove them from our thinking.

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  • John Halstead
    John Halstead says #
    Addendum: This is Whitehead and Hartshorne's view too. They describe a God in "dipolar" terms, having two natures: eternal and te
  • John Halstead
    John Halstead says #
    I don't think you can dismiss panentheism by reducing it to the logical fallacy you described. I'm not as smart as Spinoza or Har
  • Jamie
    Jamie says #
    Thanks! That was quite interesting and thought-provoking.

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