The Zen Pagan

13/03/2025

It's a simple syllogism: Comfort the dying. Everyone is dying. Therefore, comfort everyone. In this time of increasing anger towards the "other" -- whether the "other" for you is the blue-haired non-binary person or the red-hatted MAGA voter -- it seems a radical idea.

07/01/2025

In a time when so many are deliberately cutting off communication -- calling for their political opponents to be censored, or celebrating the idea of going "no contact" with their families over political or cultural disagreements -- I think we need to take a stand for keeping the lines of communication open.

In a time when so many are deliberately cutting off communication -- calling for their political opponents to be censored, or celebrating the idea of going "no contact" with their families over political or cultural disagreements -- I think we need to take a stand for keeping the lines of communicat...

01/01/2025

So I'm making that my theme for 2025: communication. Let the way be opened, not just between the realm of spirit and the realm of humanity, but within the realm of humanity.Let's fix our mailboxes so we can receive messages from all over. We don't have to agree with the people sending those messages, but if we're going to solve our planetary problems, we have to hear the messages.

So I'm making that my theme for 2025: communication. Let the way be opened, not just between the realm of spirit and the realm of humanity, but within the realm of humanity.Let's fix our mailboxes so we can receive messages from all over. We don't have to agree with the people sending those messages...

05/11/2024

The Trickster generally doesn't make trouble so much as reveal the trouble inherent in the order of the world. The chaos is already there, but we want to sweep it under the rug, ignore it, pretend that the existing order of things is just and good.

23/09/2024

Of all the archetypes we're considering, the Warrior may be both the most problematic and the most promising. Why is the Warrior so fraught? Because the Powers That Be have always needed men to fight their wars....There are two words that we must focus on to understand the Warrior: "mission" and "boundaries".

Of all the archetypes we're considering, the Warrior may be both the most problematic and the most promising. Why is the Warrior so fraught? Because the Powers That Be have always needed men to fight their wars....There are two words that we must focus on to understand the Warrior: "mission" and "bo...

01/08/2024

Over the this turn of the “Wheel of the Year”, we are investigating and paying respect to eight archetypes of mature, sacred masculinity. The Captain At Lughnasadh/Lammas is the sixth installment in this series. Context (If you’ve been reading this series, you can skip this repeating section.) Men’s mysteries matter. Today, young men are confronted […]

The Captain is in the field or on the ship with those he leads, in the fray with them, leading the charge. And the Captain cares directly for his men. He is mentor and caretaker, even if he can also be a stern taskmaster. The captain goes down with the ship because he puts his men ahead of himself.....

01/08/2024

Masculine Archetypes: The Captain at Lughnasadh. "The Captain is in the field or on the ship with those he leads, in the fray with them, leading the charge. And the Captain cares directly for his men. He is mentor and caretaker, even if he can also be a stern taskmaster. The captain goes down with the ship because he puts his men ahead of himself. But as a leader of Warriors, he puts the mission before all." Link in comments to appease The Algorithm.

25/06/2024

Back from Summerisle Burn 2024, now a few days to unpack the car, clean the gear, pack in some productive hours at the various jobs (!), pack the car, and then it's out to southeast Ohio for The Starwood Festival, where I'll be speaking about self-care with Asian Bodywork (as in EarthTouch Shiatsu) and magick (as in Punk Magick). It's a strange life, but it's my life.

20/06/2024

He does not command, he is not a conqueror. Instead the King is the conduit of blessings for his people. This kingship is all duty and no power, no temporal power at least.

20/06/2024

Masculine Archetypes: The King At Midsummer. "The sort of King we are speaking of “reigns but does not rule”... He does not command, he is not a conqueror. Instead the King is the conduit of blessings for his people."

He does not command, he is not a conqueror. Instead the King is the conduit of blessings for his people. This kingship is all duty and no power, no temporal power at least.

31/05/2024

I'm scheduled to speak about acupressure and magick at The Starwood Festival XLIV this July

The Starwood Festival is a transformational event, a non-demoninational spiritual and Neo-Pagan gathering dedicated to consciousness exploration and providing new and varied entertaining experiences.

13/05/2024

This is a really good data point about the difference between religious ritual ("poetry in the realm of acts", in Ross Nichols's wonderful phrase) and religious dogma. I've got no use for dogma. I'm interested in ritual.