In this collection, Druids, Wiccans, Heathens, Polytheists, and others show how to ground good consent practices in Pagan stories, liturgies, and values. Although many Pagans see the body and sexuality as sacred, Pagan communities still struggle with the reality of assault and abuse. To build consent culture, good consent practices must be embraced by communities, not just by individuals--and consent is about much more than sexuality. Consent culture begins with the idea of autonomy, with recognizing our right to control our bodies in all areas of life; and it is sustained by empathy, the ability to understand and share the emotional states of others.
The term "polyamory" describes non-monogamous relationships based on honesty and affection. Presenting a fascinating peek inside the polyamorous lifestyle from a Pagan perspective, Raven Kaldera offers practical insight and spiritual depth into a vastly misunderstood way of life. Relating polyamory to astrology and the elements (air, fire, water, earth, and spirit), the author addresses all aspects of the polyamorous life, including family life, sexual ethics, emotional issues, proper etiquette, relationship boundaries, and the pros of cons of this lifestyle. Kaldera also discusses polyamory as a path of spiritual transformation and shares spells, rituals, and ceremonies for affirming one's relationships and spirituality.
This anthology calls Pagan and Goddess mothering into focus by highlighting philosophies and experiences of mothers in these spiritual movements and traditions. Pagan and Goddess spirituality are distinct, yet overlapping and diverse communities, with much to say about deity as mother, and about human mothers in relationship to deity. Authors share creative voices, stories, and scholarship from the forefront of Pagan- and Goddess- centered home, in which divine mothers, Goddesses, diverse female embodiments, and generative life cycles are honoured as sacred. Authors inquire into how their spirituality impacts the perceived value and experiences of mothers themselves, while generating new ways of imagining and enacting motherhood in spiritual and daily life. Pagan, Goddess, Mother opens spaces for dialogue in areas such as how Pagan- and Goddess- centred mothers engage in, and are impacted by, their spiritual leadership through practices of ceremony, ritual, magic, and priestessing. Authors consider mothers' lived connections with their children, family life, and themselves, through nature, the Earth, and mothering as a spiritual practice. Chapters reflect upon the ways that Pagan- and Goddess- identified mothers creatively navigate daily interactions with dominant religions, the public sphere, community leadership, and activism facing the challenges of such while forging new pathways for spirited well being in mothering and family life.
As our world has become increasingly dependent on technology, and our Western societies have become woefully “Crackberried”— to use the title of a recent documentary on the emotional and social pitfalls of our too-wired ways—an intriguing phenomenon is occurring: There is an increasing amount of interest in returning to some of the simpler arts that were neglected or left behind with the onslaught of technology. Artisans and everyday crafters are finding a renewed satisfaction in making something with their own hands; some are even communicating about the inherent physical- and mental-health benefits found in handwork—and, even more than that, they are framing their handwork as meditation or spiritual practice. In today’s sophisticated and pluralistic society, people are more aware than ever that spiritual practice can be defined more expansively—and the popularity of books focusing on alternative spiritual practices demonstrate that readers are hungry for new (or ancient) ways of enhancing their inner lives. In Crafting Calm the author will explore these new forms of creative spiritual practice and the benefits they provide. The format of With Shannon's book will itself be creative, a rich “potpourri approach” that weaves together interviews, historical facts, projects for readers to do themselves, quotations, and suggested resources. Crafting Calm will serve as an inspirational resource guide to a broad assortment of spiritual practices gathered from the global arts-and-crafts communities, as well as from people who don’t consider themselves artists but who have adopted creatively expressive forms of spiritual practice. While there have been a few books published focusing on a particular form of creative spiritual practice (Skylight Paths, for example, has published books on beading as a spiritual practice; painting as a spiritual practice; and using clay as a spiritual practice), no one has yet explored the breadth of possibilities for creative spiritual practices contained in Crafting Calm.
From the author of "Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone: A Primal Guide to Animal Magic" comes a new work that redefines the modern concept of practical animal totemism.
In Pagan Theology, Michael York situates Paganism—one of the fastest-growing spiritual orientations in the West—as a world religion. He provides an introduction to, and expansion of, the concept of Paganism and provides an overview of Paganism's theological perspective and practice. He demonstrates it to be a viable and distinguishable spiritual perspective found around the world today in such forms as Chinese folk religion, Shinto, tribal religions, and neo-Paganism in the West. While adherents to many of these traditions do not use the word “pagan” to describe their beliefs or practices, York contends that there is an identifiable position possessing characteristics and understandings in common for which the label “pagan” is appropriate. After outlining these characteristics, he examines many of the world's major religions to explore religious behaviors in other religions which are not themselves pagan, but which have pagan elements. In the course of examining such behavior, York provides rich and lively descriptions of religions in action, including Buddhism and Hinduism. Pagan Theology claims Paganism’s place as a world religion, situating it as a religion, a behavior, and a theology.
Taking the reader into the heart of one of the fastest-growing religious movements in North America, Sabina Magliocco reveals how the disciplines of anthropology and folklore were fundamental to the early development of Neo-Paganism and the revival of witchcraft. Magliocco examines the roots that this religious movement has in a Western spiritual tradition of mysticism disavowed by the Enlightenment. She explores, too, how modern Pagans and Witches are imaginatively reclaiming discarded practices and beliefs to create religions more in keeping with their personal experience of the world as sacred and filled with meaning. Neo-Pagan religions focus on experience, rather than belief, and many contemporary practitioners have had mystical experiences. They seek a context that normalizes them and creates in them new spiritual dimensions that involve change in ordinary consciousness. Magliocco analyzes magical practices and rituals of Neo-Paganism as art forms that reanimate the cosmos and stimulate the imagination of its practitioners. She discusses rituals that are put together using materials from a variety of cultural and historical sources, and examines the cultural politics surrounding the movement—how the Neo-Pagan movement creates identity by contrasting itself against the dominant culture and how it can be understood in the context of early twenty-first-century identity politics. Witching Culture is the first ethnography of this religious movement to focus specifically on the role of anthropology and folklore in its formation, on experiences that are central to its practice, and on what it reveals about identity and belief in twenty-first-century North America.
The Twelve Steps developed by Alcoholics Anonymous are powerful tools to transform the lives of people who struggle with addiction, co-dependency, and compulsive behaviors. Unfortunately, Pagans in recovery are likely to struggle with the Christian assumptions and language found in many of these programs. This book is intended to support a Pagan's participation in any Twelve Step program, by showing that the effectiveness and relevance of these tools does not depend on a specific religious or spiritual tradition. This book attempts to bridge the gap between the Christian and Pagan understanding of the Twelve Steps, while remaining faithful to the original Twelve Step process. The Pagan in Recovery is the result of Deirdre Hebert's ability to live her Pagan faith in the midst of a program with a deeply Christian heritage, and demonstrates that anyone, of any faith, can experience freedom from addictions, compulsive or co-dependent behaviors through this process.
Within the past twenty years, contemporary Pagan leaders, progressive Christian and Goddess theologians, advocates for queer and BDSM communities, and therapeutic bodyworkers have all begun to speak forcefully about the sacredness of the body and of touch. Many assert that the erotic is a divinely transformative force, both for personal development and for social change. Although "the erotic" includes sexuality, it is not limited to it; access to connected nonsexual touch is as profound a need as that for sexual freedom and health. In this book, Christine Hoff Kraemer brings together an academic background in religious studies and theology with lived experience as a professional bodyworker and contemporary Pagan practitioner. Arguing that the erotic is a powerful moral force that can ground a system of ethics, Kraemer integrates approaches from queer theology, therapeutic bodywork, and sexual minority advocacy into a contemporary Pagan religious framework. Addressing itself to liberal religious people of many faiths, Eros and Touch from a Pagan Perspective approaches the right to pleasure as a social justice issue and proposes a sacramental practice of mindful, consensual touch.
