#atheopagan

[booksandwitchery]

My night study time has become a very special ritual. I’ll light candles, light the oil warmer, burn incense, put on Celtic instrumentals, leave something pretty up on my monitors and then either read and highlight, take notes, or journal.

[rainsandrains]

Looking for people to follow! (It will be from my main blog, @a-chilleus)

Please interact if you are:

- Atheopagan

- Naturalistic pagan

- secular/atheist druid

- otherwise interested in mythology (especially British myths both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon) and earth-based spirituality without the woo/pseudoscience/etc

(no disrespect to theist pagans, it's just not my personal belief)

[asocial-squash]

My Practice

just as an overview of how I practice atheopaganism:

I take a lot of inspiration from paganism in its focus on nature and the seasons. I think there's a lot of beauty and "magic" in the real, tangible things around us. I loosely follow the wheel of the year as part of this.

I don't follow any existing pantheon or deities, but I do like to "worship" personified ideas of the Sun and Moon. I use them as symbols to represent values I like to incorporate into my life and occaisionally "pray" to them as a way to process things. I chose these figures because I appreciate that they are real things in our universe that have an observable, studied and proven affect on the Earth. I might apply some spiritual ideas to them, but these are inspired by the real things they do such as warm the Earth or move the tides, as well as common methaphorical ideas used in literature. I might make an entire post just on how I personally symbolize the Sun and Moon.

I enjoy doing "magic" as metaphorical rituals. I don't really do these kinds of rituals often, but I really like using them to work through things, direct my energy, and just have a fun outlet. Basically I enjoy witchcraft from an aesthetic perspective. I'm trying to incorporate more small bits of "witchcraft" into my day-to-day life.

While I take some inspiration from Mark Green's blog on atheopaganism, I mostly do my own things and consider my religion from a very individualistic perspective. I've taken the 13 principles and 4 pillars that he defined and build from there. That's what I appreciate most about atheopaganism, it's essentially whatever you need or want it to be for you.

Overall, I'm pretty passive in the way I practice religion and don't really like strict structure. I enjoy doing rituals like witchcraft for the personal and therapeutic fulfillment and using symbols of spirituality within a fictional narrative. I am very much eclectic in my approach to everything.

[thesunandmoonandtrees]

hello!

now that i've graduated college, i'm excited to have a lot more time and energy devoted to observing atheopagan practices. i've been kind of casually observing for about two years, but haven't had the time or resources to really invest in it until now! currently planning a late harvest/fall equinox dinner with corn, squash, pumpkin, apple, etc. ingredients and i'm super excited!

i've spent four years away from the east coast for school and i am so thrilled to be back somewhere there are real seasons (looking at you, southern california). within the past week the weather has gotten chilly and rainy and perhaps in a few weeks i'll get tired of it, but for now i'm just reminded of the magic of fall i experienced as a kid growing up on the east coast and i couldn't be more excited to be in cold weather again.

would love to follow some other atheopagans/naturalistic pagans, hence the creation of this blog (there are other similar sects i'm sure, but i'm not familiar with the names)!

xx

[alexthepleb]

Another video about Naturalistic Paganism! :)

[itsamia]

Christ in my Paganism!

I wanted to talk a little bit about Christianity in my Paganism. 

I don’t identify as a Christopagan. I grew up evangelical Christian and many of our family friends were straight up fundamentalist Christians (like...hanging out with the Duggars right now would be a phone call or two away *barf*). I have a lot of trauma when it comes to Christianity and the Church. But it consumed my life, so I also have lots of great memories and think fondly on some of the traditions. So it’s a bittersweet relationship with this ideology. 

At this point, I’m really mostly an atheopagan. I don’t necessarily believe in the supernatural - just lots of stuff that maybe science hasn’t caught up to yet. So I certainly don’t believe in the Biblical God or that Jesus was some kind of Messiah. 

What I *DO* believe is that Jesus Christ was most likely a real person, a radical for the time that garnered a following & a lot of attention, and was ultimately killed for being a non-judgmental and open-minded lower-status person. I pretty much regard him as a great person in history, a fantastic philosopher for his time who was in fact way ahead of his time. 

That being said, I don’t really give a shit about most of the Bible. It is irrelevant to me. If I don’t believe Jesus was a Messiah or even reject in the concept of God itself, that wipes out most of the Old Testament. Which - controversial opinion - even for believers, the Old Testament should be irrelevant anyway, only there for historical context. Even something like the Ten Commandments I’m pretty sure would be covered under the whole “treat your neighbor as you would want to be treated” that Jesus said, so....why is the O.T. still a thing? Weird to me. I do really enjoy Ecclesiastes, which seems to be a book of philosophy more than anything else. 

And then....the New Testament. Modern Christians really should start calling themselves “Paulines.” I don’t feel they follow Christ at all. They really just follow Paul. Paul’s additions are so asinine and at times legalistic, it was such a huge mistake to include his writings into the Bible, even as a believer. His writings have overtaken the writings of the life of Christ. And imo, anything that takes away the focus from Christ is blasphemous. But what do I know, I’m just a heathen now. 

So really I only care about very few, tiny parts of the Bible and even those parts I consider historical documents that contain either poetry or a little about the life of a radical (at the time) philosophe whose words are still wise today. I probably wouldn’t be jumping through so many hoops if I didn’t grow up with this. But this is where we get to traditions. 

For example, I still really like celebrating Advent and Lent. Growing up, I always felt these were the times I truly felt spiritual growth. And now looking back, I don’t believe it was because of some “god.” I think there is magic and transformation in rituals, especially when undertaken by an entire community together. 

Maybe I get into those a little more later. 

That’s enough rambling for now. ;)

[geopagan]

#atheopagan #suntree2022 It's really happening! https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdgq2njuzMA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[witch-chi]

hi, my name is witchchi!

this is a sideblog, my main is fembrie which is radfem centered

i'm 21 and south asian

i'm interested in atheopaganism but i'm still very much a baby witch

i'll be using this blog as a virtual BoS where i gather information, explore rituals, and post what i have learned about atheopaganism!

[fox4brains]

hi fellas so i forgot to update yall but i confirmed my harbor seal theriotype 😈 i also discovered that im atheopagan aka atheistic pagan and a green and sea witch (yes that relates to my therianthropy, also if any psychological therian witches have any tips to connect to ur theriotypes pls lmk :D)

[booksandwitchery]

Revering Nature

Throughout my search for science-based pagan books to help me on this path of mine, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer kept popping up--so I finally read it.

I would recommend it to most people, especially those who feel a special connection to the natural world but don't exactly know why. I can see this book offending a lot of people on the right side of the political spectrum, but if you fall into that category I'm betting you found this blog in an accidental or ironic sense anyway.

Ultimately this book is all about reverence for the natural world and the importance of maintaining a spirit of respect, reciprocity and responsibility for the gifts given to us by nature. It makes a strong case for maintaining balance, which is a) weaved throughout pagan religions, b) arguably foundational to them all, and thus c) deeply relevant to my studies. Kimmerer also explains the importance of ritual and ceremony to human beings, regardless of our beliefs (or lack thereof.)

Bits of wisdom I marked down from this important book (just in case this isn't clear, everything inside quotation marks is taken directly from the book) separated by theme:

I. Exploitation of Natural Resources

Kimmerer disapproves of the belief that the natural world is human property to be produced and sold: "The commodification of the natural world is just a popular story told by humans. Strawberries belong to themselves."

II. Indigenous Wisdom & Animism

Thirty percent of English words are verbs, but in many indigenous American tribes this proportion is as much as seventy percent (as with the Potawatomi tribe). The language does not divide between masculine and feminine, but rather between animate and non-animate. We can learn from Potawatomi and other indigenous "ways of knowing" because even their very language acts as "a mirror for seeing the animacy of the world," and honors the universe as "a communion of subjects."

III. The Power of Balance

The author stresses the need to maintain balance with nature and life in general: "Balance is not a passive resting place--it takes work, balancing the giving and taking, the raking out and the putting in." Kimmerer suggests that we should temper our desires with self-discipline, which "builds resistance against the insidious germ of taking too much."

IV. Capitalism and the Death of Contentment

Kimmerer comments on consumer society's tendency to see contentment as a "radicalist proposition" and capitalism's dependence on the creation of unmet desires. This reminded me of The Door to Witchcraft by Tonya Brown, when she writes that we should try our best to have an abundance mentality rather than one of scarcity. We should take from nature only what we need, and give back whenever we can.

V. Importance of Ritual and Ceremony

Kimmerer beautifully explains humans' innate need for ritual and ceremony: "Ceremony focuses attention so that attention becomes intention. . .ceremonies transcend the boundaries of the individual and resonate beyond the human realm. These acts of reverence are powerfully pragmatic." This is deeply reminiscent of my post last year on the psychological benefits of ritual ceremony. This affirmed my belief of why these behaviors are ubiquitous despite all varying forms of thought and belief.

VII. Pessimism in the Environmentalist Community

Regarding the fatalist attitude that has crept into many environmentalist conversations: "Environmentalism becomes synonymous with dire predictions and powerless feelings. Despair is paralysis. It robs us of agency. It blinds us to our own power and the power of the earth."

[rainsandrains]

I wish I new how to handle the wish for the gods for be real. I feel emotional connections to certain figures, but I also know rationally they're not real. I see other pagans talk about the comfort they get from their faith in god/s and I wish I had that. I've tried worshipping a specific pagan god in a sort of symbolic/archetypal sense and in a "I know this is make-believe but I'm doing it anyway" sense and it brought some comfort for a few days at a time and then bean to feel wrong and uncomfortable because I knew it wasn't real.

[asocial-squash]

Introduction

my name is Pumpkin and I have loosely identified as atheopagan for a few years now. I've struggled to incorporate this identity and/or practice into my daily life when I just don't have the time, access, or motivation to do actual rituals often. I have ADHD, building habits is just difficult. I think one benefit to faith-based religions is that you don't necessarily have to do anything for that religion to exist within you and your life. It is possible to just believe and still consider yourself religious. Where a religion like atheopaganism pretty much relies on actions to fully exist within your life. But I want to make it a bigger part of my life, so I made this blog in order to reflect on how atheopaganism is present in my day-to-day experiences and hopefully encourage myself to stay motivated in this goal.

as a disclaimer: I was raised christian. I have never connected with faith or appreciated a lot of the ideas that were taught to me in church growing up. However, while I do not have great experiences with or trust in organized religion, I recognize the benefits and comfort in those kinds of practices. And I find it personally important to remain respectful and appreciative towards other people's faiths despite my own doubts. I do not want to promote any hostility towards anyone's religion or faith, and I will only discuss my own experiences and ideas which are open to change and grow and are not meant to be dismissive of others' experiences and ideas. I am an atheist, but I do not claim to understand the universe better than someone with faith. I do not believe in magic but I do not intend to belittle witches that do.

I don't really expect anyone to find or follow this blog, it is primarily to promote my personal engagement in atheopaganism as a religion. But if you do, you are very welcome to follow whatever rambly posts I make and add to the conversation if you want to

[swirley1618]

[alexthepleb]

The latest video from the Atheopagan society! 

[themageiboline]

On Intent and Purpose - and an update

This blog died as soon as it began. I had thought I’d keep a blog sharing my own rationalistic spiritual practice as it developed, but then I just… Stopped. I think this happened for a few reasons - distracting personal dramas and responsibilities, poor personal routine and self discipline, a self-conscious fear that I might come off as a (very… very unqualified) self help guru, a waning hyperfixation that had previously elevated my interests into blog-worthiness - but that was all then, and this is now. And now I have a plan to break myself of these bad habits and resurrect this blog from the dead at the same time.

I have little interest in sharing my personal dramas any more than is needed for any given article, so suffice it to say I’ve come under great need of the kind of self help the concepts of placebo magic and, as I’ve dubbed it, “mageibo” have to offer and yet I’ve hardly used any at all. So as I sit here writing this on this Beltane night, I pledge to myself that I will right these self inflicted wrongs of neglect and correct my course by whatever measure necessary big or small, and perhaps I’ll share some of this progress along the way.

I never really intended for this blog to be anything serious, yet I’ve always felt a nagging fear I couldn’t quite silence that I might wrongfully portray myself in a way construed as a self help guru - in spite of an utter lack of qualification - or otherwise as an authoritative source on the subject of placebo magic and practices that incorporate it. It almost feels hard to fully avoid that when you’ve literally coined a word to describe it, so let’s set that record straight - I am not in any way shape or form anything close to an expert on this subject or any subject adjacent to it. I am not a psychologist or psychiatrist, I’m not a therapist, I’m no hypnotist or professional meditator, and I’m not even that regular of a practicioner of this “mageibo” either. I am merely an eclectic eccentric with eclectic eccentric ideas about spirituality who’s looking to share some of that to any who would like to listen.

So, if you followed this blog in ages past only to find little come of it, before forgetting of it entirely, expect that to change now. I might even change this profile up a little, making “The Mageibo Line” a separate subblog with the main blog being a broader interest page or something but I’m not sure yet. For now I plan nothing more than to share some details later on further expounding on my predicaments and how I address them, as well as casual, spur of the moment ideas and concepts relating to what I’ve dubbed as mageibo, and how my own conceptual practice of a kind of “reformed druidic mageibo” might be developing. On that note, here’s a conceptual symbol I devised a few days back for the latter:

To represent this idea of “druidic mageibo” I wanted some kind of symbology to illustrate the idea that this views “spirituality” and “magic” as being internal, with gods of the mind and magic of the imagination. I will be following this post up with another soon further detailing this imagery, but needless to say the old Shakespearean (possibly, perhaps even older) quote “the eyes are the window to your soul” goes a long ways in summing it up. Pair that with an understanding of triskelions and the Awen, and you’d get the jest.

[thestars-aremycanvas]

What is Dianic Wicca?