Over the past few months, I've started using the term paganism or paganisms on this blog more often — when I'm not using polytheist or theist, with theist my preferred term. A few blog posts from others have led me to understand that this term is under discussion (or under renunciation?) again, and I want … Continue reading The “P/pagan” ship has sailed, I guess
Tag: neopaganism
Why I No Longer Call Myself a Hellenic Polytheist
This blog post gets into our desire for authenticity and how self-reflection and being challenged pushed me to confront unhealthy thoughts, behaviors, and assumptions over the past few years, culminating in dropping the label Hellenic polytheist in favor of describing myself as theistic — I worship Gods. It uses three interwoven things — the article … Continue reading Why I No Longer Call Myself a Hellenic Polytheist
Reclaiming the Self Unadorned; or, Fleeing Pandora’s Division
Inspired by Porphyry’s letter to his wife Marcella, stories of Pythagorean women, Plato’s Gorgias and Alcibiades, Olympiodorus' comment on gender equality in his Gorgias commentary at 18.9, the myth of Pandora, things that happen in meditation that are not wholly communicable, and thoughts I have while doing dishes on why I haven’t worn makeup since … Continue reading Reclaiming the Self Unadorned; or, Fleeing Pandora’s Division
The Ineffable Power of Syllable and Sound
'Do not change the nomina barbara;'that is, the names handed down by the gods to each people have ineffable power in the initiation rites.Chaldean Oracles, Fragment 150, trans. Majercik, where it appears in context from Psellus Nisha Ramayya’s States of the Body Produced By Love is the best experimental poetry book I have read in a … Continue reading The Ineffable Power of Syllable and Sound
Healthy Reverence and Ancestral Traditions
In Plato and the commentators — and in people talking about them — I've often seen positive language about people observing their ancestral traditions, especially as Late Antiquity gets under way and doing so becomes dangerous to one's personal and political safety. In some places, there are remarks that so-and-so is from x place, but … Continue reading Healthy Reverence and Ancestral Traditions
Verses from my Teens
I spent most of today reading Acts of Speech aloud to do proofreading. At some point over the summer (not on the day I was aiming for in my annual goals, AKA eleven-ish days from now, because I don't know what I'm doing), the poetry book will be self-published, and I'll finally have a copy … Continue reading Verses from my Teens
Acceptance and Resistance
Today was a blustery, sunny day. My girlfriend and I went out. I waited in the car rereading passages from Hermias and did a 15-minute Headspace meditation on acceptance while she navigated the line at a store to buy office supplies. People entered and exited every few minutes with balloons. She said that the interior … Continue reading Acceptance and Resistance
Four Brief Reflections on Politics, Consumerism, and Religion
Reflections on materialism, spirituality, religion, and consumerism. TL;DR — I am not a fan of out-of-control consumption.
Why I Support the Wild Hunt
Nobody asked me to write this, but The Wild Hunt is in its fundraising cycle right now. Unless something has happened to my autopay, I support them with a small amount of money each month. Here's why. The Wild Hunt started in 2004 while I was still in high school, and I found it soon after … Continue reading Why I Support the Wild Hunt
KALLISTI 