Naturalistic Paganism

Category: Wayne Martin Mellinger


THE NEW AMERICAN RELIGIONS OF NATURE: Part 1 – DOING ECO-THEOLOGY IN THE ANTHROPOCENE,  by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. [The Dionysian Naturalist]

Rather the defining characteristics of Nature Religions should be evident in how their adherents live their religion.  Belief in the absolute sacredness of Nature transforms people’s everyday actions and their relationship with their natural environments. I call this new way of life “the Earth Path”.  Initially it is a journey of discovery and transformation in which one develops a radical ecological consciousness, loosing the estrangement from nature so prevalent in our modern lives.

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Tripping With the Gods – On Entheogenic Spirituality:, (Part 5 of 5) by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. [The Dionysian Naturalist]

Dionysian Naturalism has a religious anthropology stressing what we are, rather than what we should be, one dissolving the gap found in the social sciences between systematic models of utilitarian, calculating, goal-oriented and rule-governed behavior, and our more nuanced, more integral, caring selves.

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Tripping With the Gods – On Entheogenic Spirituality:, (Part 4 of 5) by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. [The Dionysian Naturalist]

THE ENTHEOGENIC EXPERIENCE Through the process of consuming entheogenic sacraments people can “wake up” to their “True Nature”, gaining liberation and freedom from the limitations of ordinary life. Through these processes we become introduced to the mysteries of Ultimate Reality…

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Tripping With the Gods – On Entheogenic Spirituality:, (Part 3 of 5) by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. [The Dionysian Naturalist]

THE PHARMACRATIC INQUISITION The emergence of patriarchy in the Neolithic era led to several related social structural changes which radically altered the role and function that mind-altering plants played in societies. The two most central of these are (1) the…

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Tripping With the Gods – On Entheogenic Spirituality:, (Part 2 of 5) by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. [The Dionysian Naturalist]

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The use of substances to alter consciousness seems to be innate. UCLA Professor Ronald Siegel (2005) calls it the “fourth universal drive”, as natural as hunger, thirst and sex.  Many other animal species also pursue intoxication, including elephants,…

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