Do you identify more with your conscious or unconscious mind?

There are at least two people inside each of us:

1. There is the rational, deliberate, conscious mind.  It’s the one you can feel or even hear working when you puzzle out a tough math problem.
2. And then there is the unconscious, intuitive, instinctive mind.  This is the one that does the math, without you ever realizing it, to determine exactly how to high jump over that next hurdle.

The question is, which one is the real you?

This time, instead of a long discussion of context, I thought I’d just keep it simple.

Some food for thought:

• If you do a ritual believing there is no such thing as deity, yet the emotional response rising up from within is as if there were, which is your true belief?
• Western thought since Plato has given us the picture of the rational mind as ruler, but Jung observed that we do not create our thoughts, we are handed them.  If it’s the unconscious mind that gives you your thoughts, who’s really in control?  Moreover, which one is more rational?
• Many psychologists now recognize that cognition is not only in the brain but also in the muscles and organs; that is, much of it is embodied.  This wider cognition is not usually conscious.  For example, you may consciously intend to hit the ball with the bat, but you can only witness whether and how you hit it or not.  Even farther from consciousness is “cognition” outside the body, such as writing.  Some think of this as a kind of cognitive prosthesis, an off-loading of cognition into the environment (see the slideshow below, for example).  If you’re willing to go as far as finding cognition outside the body, then what does that mean for self-identity?  Is the skin-bag still the boundary of selfhood, or are “you” something much wider, much greater?
• Whichever aspect of the mind you identify with most of the time, are there certain times when you identify with the other more?

I look forward to hearing your comments.

Recent Work

The view from above: A Stoic meditation, by Donald Robertson

What if the universe doesn’t love you back?  by B. T. Newberg

Naturalistic Druidry: A retrospective, by WhiteHorse

Next Sunday

Heather explores the intersection between Secular Paganism, Humanism, and her own life.

Am I a Secular Pagan?  by Heather Van de Sande

Appearing Sunday, June 23rd, 2013

Divination is a way of discovering meaning through special ritual methods.  Such methods include tarot cards, runes, ogham sticks, omens read in natural events, and so on.

Mirriam-Webster‘s definition doesn’t quite capture the significance in Contemporary Paganism:

the art or practice that seeks to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge usually by the interpretation of omens or by the aid of supernatural powers

In contrast to fortune-telling, most Contemporary Pagans seem to lay the emphasis not on seeing the future but on seeing potentialities, paths one may take toward the future.  Many also emphasize learning something about the will of deities or spirits via such methods.

From a naturalistic standpoint, any kind of literal fortune-telling or communication with deities seems unlikely, but divination remains a powerful tool for lateral thinking.  Divination, which often involves rich symbolism and associative thinking, can be an effective way to stimulate the creative imagination.

An exploration of naturalistic omenry can be found in the article Symbols in the sky.

Check out other entries in our HPedia.

(This is a brief excerpt from my book, The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy: Stoic Philosophy as Rational and Cognitive Psychotherapy, published by Karnac and available for order online now.)

Plato has a fine saying, that he who would discourse of man should survey, as from some high watchtower, the things of earth. (Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations)

Take a moment to settle into your posture and make yourself comfortable… Close your eyes and relax… [Pause.] Be aware of your breathing… Notice the rhythm and pattern of the breath… Do nothing for while, just be content to contemplate your breathing more deeply… [Pause.] Now, begin by paying attention to the whole of your body as one… From the top of your head, all the way down into your fingers and down into your toes… Be aware of your body as one… every nerve, muscle and fibre… Don’t try to change anything. Don’t try to stop anything from changing… Some things can change just by being observed…

Just be content to notice whatever you notice, and feel whatever you feel… Be a passive, detached observer… As you continue to relax, turn your attention deeper within, and become more aware of your body… until you can almost imagine how you look right now… Begin to picture yourself as if seen from the outside… Now just imagine that you are taking a step back and looking at yourself. It really doesn’t matter how vividly you can picture yourself, it’s just the intention, just idea that matters. Imagine your body posture… your facial expression… the colour and style of your clothing…

Now keep looking at the image of yourself resting there, and imagine your own feet are gently leaving the ground. You begin floating serenely upwards, slowly and continuously, rising upwards. All the while your gaze keeps returning to your own body, now seated there below you as you rise above it. Keep looking down toward your body as you float higher and higher…. The roof and ceiling disappear, allowing you to float freely upward. Gazing down you see yourself seated comfortably below in the building, looking contented and contemplative. You see all the rooms, and any other people around.

As you continue to float gently higher and higher, your perspective widens more and more until you see the whole surrounding area. You see all the buildings nearby from above. You see the people in buildings and in the streets and roads. You observe people far below working, or walking along the pavement, people cycling or driving their cars, and those travelling on buses and trains. You begin to contemplate the whole network of human lives and how people everywhere are interacting with each other, influencing each other, encountering each other in different ways…

Floating higher, people become as small as ants below. Rising up into the clouds, you see the whole of the surrounding region beneath you. You see both towns and countryside, and gradually the coastline comes into view as your perspective becomes more and more expansive… You float gently up above the clouds, above the weather, and through the upper atmosphere of the planet Earth… So high that you eventually rise beyond the sphere of the planet itself, and into outer space… You look toward planet Earth and see it suspended in space before you, silently turning… resplendent in all its majesty and beauty…

You see the whole of your home planet… the blue of the great oceans… and the brown and green of the continental land masses… You see the white of the polar ice caps, north and south… You see the grey wisps of cloud that pass silently across the surface of the Earth… Though you can no longer see yourself from so far above, you know and feel that you are down there on Earth below, and that your life is important, and what you make of your life is important. Your change in perspective changes your view of things, your values and priorities…

You contemplate all the countless living beings upon the Earth. The population of the planet is over six billion people… You realise that your life is one among many, one person among the total population of the Earth… You think of the rich diversity of human life on Earth. The many languages spoken by people of different races, in different countries… people of all different ages… newborn infants, elderly people, people in the prime of life… You think of the enormous variety of human experiences… some people right now are unhappy, some people are happy… and you realise how richly varied the tapestry of human life before you seems.

And yet as you gaze upon the planet Earth you are also aware of its position within the rest of the universe… a tiny speck of stardust, adrift in the immeasurable vastness of cosmic space… This world of ours is merely a single planet, a tiny grain of sand by comparison with the endless tracts of cosmic space… a tiny rock in space, revolving around our Sun… the Sun itself just one of countless billions of stars which punctuate the velvet blackness of our galaxy…

You think about the present moment on Earth and see it within the broader context of your life as a whole. You think of your lifespan as a whole, in its totality… You think of your own life as one moment in the enormous lifespan of mankind… Hundreds of generations have lived and died before you… many more will live and die in the future, long after you yourself are gone… Civilisations too have a lifespan; you think of the many great cities which have arisen and been destroyed throughout the ages… and your own civilisation as one in a series… perhaps in the future to be followed by new cities, peoples, languages, cultures, and ways of life…

You think of the lifespan of humanity itself… Just one of countless billions of species living upon the planet… Mankind arose as a race roughly two hundred thousand years ago… animal life itself first appeared on Earth over four billion years ago… Contemplate time as follows… Realise that if the history of life on Earth filled an encyclopaedia a thousand pages long… the life of the entire human race could be represented by a single sentence somewhere in that book… just one sentence…

And yet you think of the lifespan of the planet itself… Countless billions of years old… the life of the planet Earth too has a beginning, middle, and end… Formed from the debris of an exploding star, unimaginably long ago… one day in the distant future its destiny is to be swallowed up and consumed by the fires of our own Sun… You think of the great lifespan of the universe itself… the almost incomprehensible vastness of universal time… starting with a cosmic explosion, a big bang they say, immeasurable ages ago in the past… Perhaps one day, at the end of time, this whole universe will implode upon itself and disappear once again… Who can imagine what, if anything, might follow, at the end of time, in the wake of our own universe’s demise…

Contemplating the vast lifespan of the universe, remember that the present moment is but the briefest of instants… the mere blink of an eye… the turn of a screw… a fleeting second in the mighty river of cosmic time… Yet the “here and now” is important… standing as the centre point of all human experience… Here and now you find yourself at the centre of living time… Though your body may be small in the grand scheme of things, your imagination, the human imagination, is as big as the universe… bigger than the universe… enveloping everything that can be conceived… From the cosmic point of view, your body seems small, but your imagination seems utterly vast…

You contemplate all things, past, present and future… You see your life within the bigger picture… the total context of cosmic time and space… The totality is absolute reality… You see yourself as an integral part of something much bigger, something truly vast, the “All” itself… Just as the cells of your own body work together to form a greater unity, a living being, so your body as a whole is like a single cell in the organism of the universe… Along with every atom in the universe you necessarily contribute your role to the unfolding of its grand design…

As your consciousness expands, and your mind stretches out to reach and touch the vastness of eternity… Things change greatly in perspective… and shifts occur in their relative importance… Trivial things seem trivial to you… Indifferent things seem indifferent… The significance of your own attitude toward life becomes more apparent… you realise that life is what you make of it… You learn to put things in perspective, and focus on your true values and priorities in life… One stage at a time, you develop the serenity to accept the things you cannot change, the courage to change the things you can, and the wisdom to know the difference… You follow nature… your own true nature as a rational, truth-seeking human being… and the one great nature of the universe as a whole…

Now in a moment you are beginning to sink back down to Earth, toward your place in the here and now… Part of you can remain aware of the view from above, and always return to and remember that sense of serenity and perspective.

Now you begin your descent back down to Earth, to face the future with renewed strength and serenity… You sink back down through the sky… down… down… down… toward the local area… down… down… down… into this building… down… down… down… You sink back gently into your body… all the way now… as your feet slowly come to rest upon the floor once again…

Now think about the room around you… Think about action… movement… think about looking around and getting your orientation… raising your head a little… Begin to breathe a little bit more deeply… a little bit more energetically… let your body feel more alive and ready for action… breathe energy and vitality into your body… breathe a little deeper and deeper again… until you’re ready to take a deep breath, open your eyes, and emerge from meditation… taking your mindfulness and self-awareness forward into life… beginning now… take a deep breath… and open your eyes now… when you’re ready… entering the here and now with deep calm and serenity…

This article first appeared at Stoicism and the Art of Happiness.

The author

Donald Robertson is a psychotherapist, specialising in cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), and the treatment of anxiety.

His background is in academic philosophy and he has a special interest in the relationship between ancient philosophy, especially Stoicism, and modern psychotherapy. He is the author of dozens of journal articles and several books on philosophy and psychotherapy:

● Build your Resilience (2012)
● The Practice of Cognitive-Behavioural Hypnotherapy (2012)
● The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (2010)
● The Discovery of Hypnosis: The Complete Writings of James Braid, The Father of Hypnotherapy (2009)

Donald’s Website:
www.londoncognitive.com

Check out Donald’s other articles:

• Stoicism: Gods or Atoms?

Recent Work

What if the universe doesn’t love you back?  by B. T. Newberg

Naturalistic Druidry: A retrospective, by WhiteHorse

What do Druid Naturalists do?  by WhiteHorse

Next Sunday

The beliefs and behaviors of our conscious, reflective minds are not always the same as those of our unconscious, intuitive parts of ourselves.  So which is more “you”?

Conscious or unconscious: Which is the real you?  by B. T. Newberg

Appearing Sunday, June 16th, 2013

In the Contemporary Pagan community, there is a general distinction between soft and hard polytheism.

Soft polytheism encompasses views of the gods as figurative to some extent, whether that means they are metaphors for aspects of nature, or metaphors for some greater transcendent divine power (which may or may not go beyond what a naturalist usually considers “nature”) that is difficult to grasp except through human-created imagery.  To that extent, different deities may be seen as aspects of one another.

In contrast, hard polytheism asserts deities are distinct entities, usually as causal agents with their own independent wills and personalities.  The fullest account of this view is probably John Michael Greer’s A World Full of Gods.  The view is described in brief by Celtic Reconstructionist Seren:

I believe that the gods, spirits and ancestors are as distinct as much as they can be closely intertwined: Sometimes the gods might be seen as spirits, or as ancestors, or both, or neither of these things. They are timeless, and they are Otherworldly. They are in this world and outside of it.

It’s also described by Star Foster:

As a hard polytheist I believe in distinct, sentient Gods that move within nature’s laws.

The claim that deities “move within nature’s laws” is worth remark.  Janet and Stewart Farrar agree with regard to magic: “magic does not break the laws of nature”, as does Starhawk: “No magic spell will work unless channels are open in the material world.”  These claims point to the complicated issue of what constitutes “nature” within Pagan discourse.  An article on that complicated issue is available here.

It is also worth noting that Star capitalizes her “G”, whereas many others do not.  HP adopts the editorial policy of not capitalizing the g, with the intention of distinguishing against the classical monotheist “God”, which is traditionally capitalized because it is a name.  No disrespect is intended.

Naturalism, wherever it includes multiple deities that do not transcend nature as defined by reliable scientific evidence, might overlap with soft polytheism or be considered a subset of it.  Otherwise, it may be considered a third alternative.

See also “Deity.”

Check out other entries in our HPedia.

June 5th is World Environment Day, a time to stimulate awareness of the environment and enhance political attention and public action  This year’s theme is “Green Economy: Does It Include You?”  From the website:

The UN Environment Programme defines the Green Economy as one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.

Practically speaking, a Green Economy is one whose growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emissions and pollution, enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. These investments need to be catalyzed and supported by targeted public expenditure, policy reforms and regulation changes.

But what does all this mean for you? Well, this essentially what the second part of the theme is all about. If the Green Economy is about social equity and inclusiveness then technically it is all about you! The question therefore asks you to find out more about the Green Economy and assess whether, in your country, you are being included in it.

For example, we might speak of relating to the universe as to a friend, or symbolize the universe as a cosmic mother.  Since it is generally only humans with which we engage in such relationships, this is a form of anthropomorphism.*

Do you do this?  Is it an intentional part of your practice?

A Pagan characteristic?

I would wager that the vast majority of Pagan forms of naturalism anthropomorphize to some extent.  The language of deities, spirits, and ancestors is a prime example.  Gaianism is clear anthropomorphism as well.** Among published authors, Glenys Livingstone relates to Cosmic Creativity as a triple goddess, and Brendan Myers writes of humanizing the landscape as a confrontation with existential loneliness.

The language of magical energies might defy the pattern, since it sounds like a metaphor to the physical world, but arguably any talk of purely mental effects could be construed as anthropomorphic in some sense (see Richard Carrier’s views on the “supernatural”).  Perhaps the only Naturalistic Pagans free of anthropomorphism are those who carefully couch their language only in terms directly appropriate to nature, and respond with feelings of awe and wonder but not love.  For example, an article by Jonathan Blake carefully distinguishes between gratitude to the universe and gratitude for it.  Rua Lupa also takes great care to avoid anthropomorphic language.

So, is anthropomorphism essential to specifically Pagan forms of naturalism?  Maybe, maybe not.  I don’t want to spark a fruitless who’s-Pagan-and-who’s-not debate here.  Since I think the term “Pagan” is a not a star but a constellation, it’s a matter of perspective.  All I want to suggest is that anthropomorphism might be particularly germaine to our community, and we should pay attention to it.

Neither do I wish to suggest that anthropomorphism is necessarily a bad thing.  In fact, I suspect it might be essential to most forms of Naturalistic Paganism, at least in a limited form.  To some extent, it may even be unavoidable in human cognition.

A matter of feeling?

Whether or not you anthropomorphize might come down to the feelings you treasure most in a spiritual practice.  Some speak of awe and wonder, others love and a sense of belonging.  The former feelings, compounded apparently from a mix of fear of curiosity, can be appropriately experienced in relation to nearly anything dangerous and grand, from a tiger to a pulsar.  The latter, on the other hand, are specifically social feelings, and depend on a certain degree of anthropomorphism.

The validation of feelings is particularly delicate in spirituality.  When theists vociferously assert the reality of their gods, I suspect what they’re really asserting is the validity of their social feelings toward them.  Our society has not yet reached a point where we can feel at ease relating socially to an entity we know is not actually social in nature.  It feels too much like an imaginary friend.  So people swear their gods are real to avoid the sense that they’re feelings are invalid.

Is anthropomorphism appropriate?

On the one hand, if we could learn to validate our feelings some other way instead – perhaps by accepting our anthropomorphism of the universe the way we accept the anthropomorphism of pets – we might be better off.

On the other hand, perhaps any anthropomorphism of the universe is too much.  If it obscures clear perception of the universe, or leads us into errors of thinking that take us down the wrong path, the harm might outweigh the good.

What do you think?

*Of course, it is also possible to have social relationships with animals, such as pets.  That might open up the possibility of zoomorphism.  On the other hand, even relationships with animals probably draw on cognitive modules evolved for human social interactions, so it might still be appropriate to speak of anthropomorphism.

**At least in its common spiritualized form.  The original Gaia Hypothesis proposed by Lovelock and Margulis only likens the planet to a self-regulating organism, without any stipulation of consciousness or the capacity for relationship.  It is, at most, a kind of biomorphism.

Next Sunday

Discover an ancient meditation that’s surprisingly modern.

The View from Above: A Stoic meditative practice, by Donald Robertson

Appearing Sunday, June 9th, 2013

Recent Work

Naturalistic Druidry: A retrospective, by WhiteHorse

What do Druid Naturalists do?  by WhiteHorse

Truth or compassion – which takes priority?  by B. T. Newberg

Participatory reverence, by Hypatia’s Girl

Naturalism is a worldview with numerous technical definitions, each with their own virtues and difficulties.  One of the oldest definitions comes from Littré’s 1875 Dictionnaire de la langue française, which defined naturalism as:

“the system of those who find all primary causes in nature” (Furst and Skrine, 1971).

Variations on this definition continues to enjoy popularity today.  Concentrating on causes, it allows analysis to focus on how people explain events, which makes it more or less portable across historical eras.  Like most all definitions of naturalism, it does not escape the question of differing concepts of nature in different eras, much less the question of the so-called supernatural, which remains problematic in Pagan contexts today.

Other popular definitions obtain, such as these from Wikipedia:

• Methodological naturalism, naturalism that holds that science is to be done without reference to supernatural causes; also refers to a methodological assumption in the philosophy of religion that observable events are fully explainable by natural causes without reference to the supernatural
• Metaphysical naturalism, a form of naturalism that holds that the cosmos consists only of objects studied by the natural sciences, and does not include any immaterial or intentional realities

These two are clarified by William E. Kaufman, starting with methodological naturalism:

Naturalism may be defined as “the disposition to believe that any phenomenon can be explained by appeal to general laws confirmable either by observation or by inference from observation” (CRN 21). This does not mean that everything that happens in the universe is at present explainable. Rather, naturalism represents a methodological recommendation concerning the theory of knowledge. What it suggests is that the only instruments of knowledge we possess are reason and critically analyzed experience. Claims to knowledge based on a special faculty, such as mystical intuition, must therefore be recognized as assertions of faith which cannot be verified and can only be evaluated in terms of their consequences for human conduct. The reliance on reason and critically analyzed experience is thus the method of naturalism, its logic of inquiry.

Kaufman goes on to speak of metaphysical naturalism:

Naturalism as a theory of reality, however, can be problematic because of the ambiguity of the term “nature.” For most naturalists, nevertheless, it is safe to say that “nature” signifies the totality of reality — its substance, functioning and principles of operation, since what distinguishes naturalism from other metaphysical standpoints is its claim that there is nothing beyond nature.

HP adopts only methodological naturalism as an essential tenet; metaphysical naturalism is left up to the individual to accept or reject.  This is simply and purely a statement of what HP is, not a dogmatic proclamation of what is right or wrong for all people in the universe to believe.  Those who practice HP do not invoke supernatural causes; others are free to do as they see fit.  Invoking supernatural causes is neither condoned nor condemned; it just isn’t HP.

Metaphysical naturalism (also called philosophical or onotological naturalism) is left up to the individual to accept or reject.  Some may find it questionable to believe in the existence of the supernatural while denying it any causal influence, but that is for individuals to judge for themselves (those interested may see Barbara Forrest’s treatment of the methodological-philosophical naturalism debate).  The only naturalism required for a path to be considered HP is methodological naturalism.

In HP, naturalism refers to methodological naturalism, unless otherwise specified.

Note that the definitions above rely on definitions of nature and science, which are not uncontested.

See also “Nature”, “Supernatural”, and “Science.”

Check out other entries in our HPedia.

Can we learn from past mistakes, in order to build a better future?

Yesterday’s article, entitled “What Do Druid Naturalists Do?”, explored the activities of the recently-defunct Druidic Order of Naturlists (DON).  This follow-up article draws insight from DON’s twilight, in order to build a better community for the future.

Sadly, since I wrote the original article about 3 years ago, the Druidic Order of Naturalists is no longer active.  However I would like to share some ‘lessons’ that I learnt from our ‘experiment’ with a naturalistic pagan group in the United Kingdom.

I still believe naturalistic paganism can be as coherent and viable as any form of  ‘religious’ or theistic paganism.  However to be an effective movement the naturalistic pagan must focus on the positive. The group has to be more than a platform for criticizing religious beliefs, pagan or otherwise.  It is easy for the naturalist to say what she doesn’t believe in without knowing what they are ‘for’ and what contribution they can make to wider paganism/society. Also while some naturalists have a deep personal disillusionment with religion, you should not let this become the main motivation driving the group.

 Relations with other Pagans

In my opinion, our particular ‘experiment’ with naturalistic paganism did not sit easily within the wider pagan (druid) community in the U.K. We were met with bemusement from many druids but a negative reaction from only a small minority.  At the time it was a breath of fresh air because someone needed to start an unprejudiced debate about druidry and its relationship with modern science. The debate we started also tested the limits of the supposed tolerance and acceptance for different viewpoints within the community.  It was very heartening that some religious pagans supported us and defended our right to a place in the druid community even if they could not agree with us.

I know that some people who previously described themselves as atheist, agnostic or humanist, found us to be a way into paganism. They saw in us something that resonated with them without appearing unreasonable. We were not afraid to tackle the intellectual problems of being pagan in the modern world.  When it came to ideas we were also very creative.   That said, while our group had great discussions amongst ourselves, we were often too focused on the intellectual, and this put some people off. We also talked about the value of the non-rational aesthetic but didn’t get around to celebrating it enough.

1.  Be polite

Unfortunately, druidic naturalism also alienated some former friends in the wider pagan community.  This was because of the manner in which some over-enthusiastic people initiated debates. Beware! Most pagans join groups (online or in person) to meet those who are like minded. They don’t expect to be/want to be challenged about their beliefs in a pagan context.  Politeness requires that despite having something to say, you need to be invited to debate/critique. Above all, don’t preach. Such bad manners may be considered arrogant and intolerant.

2.  Emphasize commonalities

When engaging with other pagans the naturalist should proceed cautiously and with humility.  You should emphasize what all pagans have in common: a spirituality or worldview inspired by nature and the ancestors’ stories. Naturalists should be able to value religious paganism as providing at least a life-enhancing system of symbols and values that helps people express their deep connection with nature, their creative imagination and a particular identity or cultural history. And of course all pagans should love nature and want to  protect their environment.

3.  Don’t proselytize

Remember there is no urgent need to convince our fellow pagans of the greater rightness of naturalistic paganism and to show them the alleged error of their ways.  To try to do so is proselytism. Don’t do it. We should not conflate the irrational with the non-rational and exaggerate the supposed malign consequences of ‘magical thinking’ within the pagan community – such concerns are often misplaced:  after all its not religious pagans who have the guns or bombs, nor are they likely to run the government.   Even without naturalistic pagans trying to ‘keep it real’, general pagan values provide some immunity against magical thinking getting out of hand: very kooky stuff is tolerated but most of pagans value personal freedom and hate dogma.  It would be a bizarre irony if naturalistic paganism itself became seen as ‘dogmatic’ with regard to fellow pagans. Druidry extols the bardic arts – and we should follow the bards’ methods.  They knew that sometimes the best way to expose foolishness in high places is not directly but by subtle arts and wicked satire.

4.  Appreciate ‘private truth’

It also can’t be the purpose of naturalistic pagans to insist religious pagans follow a scientific method because they seem to be making claims about reality. This is too harsh a demand and fails to understand the nature of these truth ‘claims’. The basic datum of the pagan is neither a religious text or empirical experiment, but personal experience, intuition and gnosis.    The naturalistic pagan needs to appreciate the value of a pagan’s ‘private truth’, while naturalism deals in ‘public truths’ that require proper objective validation. Paganism is not based on propositions, theories and concepts, so naturalistic paganism cannot be an academic exercise that tries to present a ‘de-mythologized’ version of traditional paganism.

Relation to ritual

Naturalistic paganism needs to translate from the internet forum, and from being a debating society to personal action or in other words, just living it. And this means not ‘over-thinking’.

1.  Don’t over-think it

Either you feel your paganism viscerally – in your “heart and guts” when up close and personal with nature –  or you don’t get it at all. The naturalistic pagan who finds most other paganisms an embarrassment or an affront to  her rationality needs to question if they really want to be  ‘pagan’ at all.  Naturalistic paganism also can’t work simply as a half way house, a stopping point on the road out of paganism. It must be about more than pagan folk losing their religion.

2.  Agree on a ritual approach

One further point about naturalistic paganism and rituals:  the Druidic Order of Naturalists  tried to develop its own ‘naturalistic’ rituals, but this proved a lot more difficult than expected. There was disagreement over whether ‘religious’ terminology should ever be used and even the ‘point’ of ritual. The naturalist pagan certainly has to find compelling, new reasons for doing collective ritual. Crossing our fingers behind our backs and carrying on with rites from habit is an empty gesture.  It turns out we have to ‘believe’ in the ritual after all.  If you try to replace ‘supernatural’ terminology it is hard to build a consensus on what the alternative should be, and the attempt can look like parody.  But the assumption that all traditional terminology must change is also a form of wooden literalism.  To be a pagan naturalist, the naturalist has to learn to appreciate the value of the aesthetic, symbols and the ‘mytho-poetic’ in ritual. Don’t fall for the false dichotomy that insists the mythological is either all objectively true OR false (and hence worthless).

3.  Expect the sublime

If you want your collective ritual to be more than amateur dramatics you must retain the expectancy of something sublime happening to you.  You must have, yes, ‘faith’ in the power of your collective intent, even if you wish to understand it as some kind of placebo effect. It is efficacious, but do we always need to know how it works and why?  No. Sometimes we need to suspend the rational analysis, just listen and feel and ‘be’.

In my opinion, to be genuinely naturalistic and truly pagan you need to hold your beliefs lightly, and your doubts lightly too.

The author

White Horse:  Has a day job working for an insurance company and lives with his wife and children in South East Wales. His interests include: law and public policy, environmental issues, ancient and early medieval history, and the Western Mystery Tradition.

White Horse blogs at Silurian Grove.

What exactly is it that a Druid Naturalist does?

The following is an article excavated from the Druidic Order of Naturalists, which is unfortunately now defunct (though its website is still accessible).  While the Order may no longer operate, its legacy remains instructive for naturalists of all stripes.

This is a non-exhaustive and definitely non-compulsory list of things that some (but not all) members of the Order might be involved at any one time and which the Order can encourage and facilitate:

Naturalistic Ritual

• Celebrating Nature and our fundamental connection and response to it, notably the seasonal festivals and cycles of nature familiar to most pagans. We wish to design and take part in rituals and celebrations that don’t require a belief in the supernatural but are yet evocative, profound and inspiring.
• Celebrating the entirely made up festival of Yode (See below)
• In the long term contributing to the development of alternative rituals for rites of passage from birth to death and developing celebrants to take part in these. Promoting humanistic and non-religious celebrants and rites of passage generally.

Exploring the “Other World” of the Unconscious & Personal Transformation

• Practising meditation techniques that include promoting tranquility, mindfulness/focus or a sense unity with nature and all that is, to find creative inspiration, and solve problems. A meditation may be guided or solitary, through, say breathing exercises or chanting/drumming or focussing on some aspect of nature or deep immersement in creative acitivity. Individuals may ‘meditate’ through a simple walk in the woods or sitting watching the sea or through the thrill of a thunderstorm and so on……
• Working with the unconscious and understanding mind-body relations in health promotion including the placebo effect, and learning how ‘alternative therapies’ factually result in healing, if and when they really do.
• Journeying in the profound inner ‘other world’ including practices that produce altered states of consciousness and awareness (e.g. sweat lodge, legal substances). The purpose of this is self knowledge, the promotion of self-healing and personal transformation.
• Developing our unconscious ‘intuitive’ capacity which appears to be the true basis of ‘divinatory’ techniques, while demonstrating the non-scientific and erroneous basis of some predictive claims.
• Utilising mythological archetypes in our journeyings (including those drawn from ancient polytheism and folk stories) , for self-understanding, visualisation, affirmation and individuation.
• Having an interest in parapsychology and applying scientific methods to the study of supernaturalistic claims e.g. ESP.
• Developing critical thinking skills that enable us to see through pseudo-science, logical fallacies, urban myths, snake oil purveyors and false religious or New Age hogwash generally

Developing a holistic but naturalistic world view

• Discussing and developing ideas about the interplay of science, ecology, psychology, art and spirituality that has implications for the individual and society, seeing mankind as one among other species, with no ‘right’ to treat the rest of nature for his own exclusive ends. Nature has no particular purpose or goal, man has no particular privileged status, yet if humans have worth we can also treat other creatures as having inherent worth and rights too. Our regard for other creatures is not sentimental, while our ethics avoid any unnecessary harm, we note that species compete and kill to satisfy their needs, yet each may develop a niche and there can be a ‘balance’ within nature.
• Emphasing in the need for individual freedom with responsibility. Personal ethics may involve enlightened self interest but also noting society has its own ecology – social life is more than the sum of individual desires and as social animals we must co-operate for the good of all.

Environmentalism/peace making

• Our eco-humanist ethics may be manifest in environmentalism and the protection of species/landscape from our fellow man
• Pledging ourselves to preserving the planet through changing individual life-styles, appropriate activism and politics. In much of the world environmental damage is the result of social injustice and poverty and we must challenge this injustice too.
• Caring for future people/ descendants working to bequeath them a world at least as beautiful and diverse as the one we inherited.
• Druidic Naturalists are committed to the traditional druidic role of peacemaking, reconcillation and dispute resolution. We support world leaders who promote a just peace.
• We would reject racism but also the labelling and classifying of people in arbitrary ways e.g according to race or religion, and we also realise that self-identity and sexuality is fluid.

Challenging traditional irrational and religious beliefs/power where imposed on others.

• Druid Naturalists will tend to be very skeptical of supernaturalistic claims and miracle stories, asking for evidence’. We believe in the druid maxim ‘truth against the world’. No spiritual (or political) leader or teacher should be beyond challenge.
• Druid Naturalists will tend to strongly challenge theistic and supernaturalistic perspectives where these are being imposed or preached by other groups/religions while seeking to offer alternative philosophical and spiritual meanings and outlooks.
• Druid Naturalists may campain for a secular society. Religious belief/dvisions – even benign beliefs – should not be the basis of our institutions and law making including in education.

Creativity

• Promoting creativity and artistic self expression and skills, particularly through the traditional bardic arts of creative writing and poetry, story telling, music and craft, but also modern methods including photography and webdesign. This creativity is especially inspired by our relationship to the landscape, nature, history and folklore of the Celtic lands.

Finding Identity/Honouring the Ancestors (human and non-human)

• Considering it a duty to remember and respect (without idealising) our ancestors and their stories. For those who have gone before are immortal in the sense of being still with us – in our memories or our genes and/or in the knowledge they passed on and in the consequences of their actions for good or ill. We hope that we too will weave interesting and authentic life stories and be remembered among the honoured ancestors,
• Seeking a sense of belonging/rooted-ness in our land, its stories, folklore, customs, by community and co-operation. Having a positive view of our identity while at the same time not treating those with other identities unfavourably.
• Not considering any particular period of history ‘better or worse’ in all regards, but finding particular sense of identity in the pre-Christian celtic and pre-celtic cultures and being interested in the mysteries of the megalithic monuments e.g. Stonehenge.
• Celebrating and demonstrating that our ancestors include the non-human species from which we have evolved by natural selection, a river of life back to when our ancestors were single celled creatures. And further back in the aeons of time, ultimately we know we are ‘stardust’ – made of elements created within dying stars.
• Promoting/defending Darwinian Evolution by natural selection as the best explanation for the origin and diversity of life forms and underpinning our belief in kinship with non-human animals.

Being a Techno-Druid Community

• While looking for inspiration in the past at the same time fully embracing sustainable technology and a scientific worldview.
• Creating an internet community through forums, social networking sites and discussion boards to which everyone can contribute and be heard.

Getting Together

• Encouraging open, fun and somewhat anarchic gatherings of the Order including camps. A gathering is called a ‘Speak Easy’.
• Being part of/co-operating with the wider druid/pagan community: seeking wider acceptance/recognition of the naturalistic path, and acceptance of pantheistic, agnostic and atheist paganism/druidry as valid expressions of spirituality/paganism

This article previously appeared here and here.

The author

White Horse:  Has a day job working for an insurance company and lives with his wife and children in South East Wales. His interests include: law and public policy, environmental issues, ancient and early medieval history, and the Western Mystery Tradition.

White Horse blogs at Silurian Grove.

Next Sunday

Many of us speak of the Cosmos almost like we have a relationship with it.  Why?  And is it appropriate?

What if the universe doesn’t love you back?  by B. T. Newberg

Appearing Sunday, June 2nd, 2013

Recent Work

Truth or compassion – which takes priority?  by B. T. Newberg

Participatory reverence, by Hypatia’s Girl

Is Naturalistic Paganism beneficial to society?  by B. T. Newberg

There are generally four different uses of “Pagan” floating about, in order from most restricted to most broad:

1. Someone belonging to a range of contemporary religions/spiritual paths inspired by pre-Christian Indo-European or Mediterranean traditions, though not necessarily attempting to recreate them exactly as they were. This meaning can be more precisely denoted by “Contemporary Pagan” or “Neopagan”, but Pagan rolls off the tongue better and serves as a nice shorthand.
2. Someone belonging to such a contemporary religion or a historical person belonging to said pre-Christian Indo-European/Mediterranean traditions from those times, e.g. Roman polytheists of Classical times, Norse, Greeks, Egyptians, Indians, etc. This usage is somewhat anachronistic as the ancient peoples did not call themselves Pagan but were called that derogatorily by Christians in the late Roman era. Nevertheless, the term has been reclaimed by moderns and now serves to emphasize the link between those moderns and their spiritual ancestors.
3. Someone belonging to a contemporary religion or path which shares certain things in common with Neopagans, such as an earth-centered nature-based path or an interest in the Occult. E.g. Gaians might be covered under this meaning.
4. Anyone belonging to a non-Abrahamic religion.

HP used to use “Pagan” to refer primarily to the first two, and sometimes a little more inclusively to include the third, with the fourth being considered too broad to be of much use.  However, in 2013 popular opinion found this usage unnecessarily restrictive, so “Pagan” has now opened up to include the fourth meaning.

Halstead has analyzed Contemporary Paganism in terms of three partially-overlapping centers of interest, resulting in some tension and conflict in the community:

The Three Centers of Paganism (adapted from Halstead)

Recently, controversy has raged over the definition of “Pagan”, mainly as a matter of identity in the community.  Essential characteristics, as well as who/what to include or exclude have been central issues.  There have been notable debates over the appropriateness of Atheist Pagans and “Christo-Pagans” under the Pagan umbrella.

Check out other entries in our HPedia.