Here is where you’ll find a complete index of our past contributors and their works. Authors are currently listed in alphabetical order by their first names. To become a contributor, see our Submission Guidelines.

Views and opinions expressed by individual author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of NaturalisticPaganism.org. Not all contributors necessarily identify with the path of Naturalistic Paganism or share its views.

Aaron Hernandez

Aaron Hernandez: Professional Alternatives are a group of experienced psychologists in Virginia doing counseling practice. We as Counselors, Culpeper VA provide services like family counseling, marriage counseling and individual counseling for people seeking help on any sort of emotional or mental health issues.

See Aaron Hernandez’s Posts

Dr. Adrian Harris

Dr. Adrian Harris:  I offer one-to-one Counselling in South East London and run workshops at various venues.

My nature connection walks and workshops which draw on my own research and spiritual practice, are perhaps best described as ecopsychology. Because I ground all my work in the wisdom of the body, I use an embodied approach and Focusing.

You can follow my blog, read my articles and talks, or discover exercises I’ve created. Lost? A click on the labyrinth will always take you to a map of the site.

I have an eclectic background which includes environmental work and a PhD in Religious Studies. You can e-mail me about anything you like!

See Dr. Adrian Harris’ Posts

Áine Órga

Áine Órga:  I practice a that spirituality is very much earth-based, and the wheel of the year I follow is for the most part the same as that of modern Paganism.  My self-identification as a Pagan has been gradually solidifying over the past year, and so too has an uneasy balance between my emotional pantheism and my rational atheism.I seek a connection with the divine Cosmos on an emotional level, but I am skeptical by nature, and have a tendency to believe only in what can be proved or at least somewhat backed up by modern science. My spiritual practices are therefore largely metaphorical. However, I feel that religious or ritual observance and meditation is an important aspect to human nature, and find it emotionally and psychologically beneficial.

You can read more of Áine’s writing at her blog, HearttStory.org.

See Áine Órga’s posts

Alison Leigh Lilly

Alison Leigh Lilly is the producer and co-host of Faith, Fern & Compass, and the editor of No Unsacred Place, a project of the Pagan Newswire Collective. Nurturing the nature-centered, mist-and-mystic spiritual heritage of her Celtic ancestors, she explores themes of peace, poesis and wilderness through essays, articles, poetry and podcasting. Her work has appeared in numerous publications both in print and online, including Aontacht Magazine, Sky Earth Sea,  and The Wild Hunt. You can learn more about her work on her website: alisonleighlilly.com

Faith, Fern & Compass is currently running a promotional campaign where anyone who recommends FF&C to a friend via the recommendation form on our website will get a free phonosemantic name analysis from Jeff (and whoever recommends the most new listeners wins a free album of guided meditations).

See Alison Leigh Lilly’s Posts

Anna Walther

Anna Walther Anna is an everyday animist and UU Pagan whose spiritual interests include healing, the creative process, sacred place, gardening and foraging, poetry, mythology, and Reclaiming Witchcraft. She facilitates the Pagan Alliance at First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin. Anna’s work also appears on TejasWeb.org, JustThis, the journal of the Austin Zen Center, and her blog Wildseed Within.

See Anna’s posts

Annika Garratt

Annika Garratt is an artist/illustrator from Bournemouth UK. She produces colourful mixed media artwork on canvas as well as fluid ink illustrations, often based on folklore and mythological themes. Annika sells original paintings on canvas as well as fine art prints. If you have any questions about Annika’s work, feel free to contact her by email. You can also find Annika at:

• http://vimeo.com/channels/annikagarratt
• http://annikagarratt.wordpress.com
• http://www.facebook.com/artistannikagarratt

See Annika Garratt’s Posts

Antal Polony

Antal Polony:  For better or worse, I am a writer trying to figure out the world, do right by humanity and make his own way here in Oakland, CA, my hometown and frequent influence. Last year I completed my first novel, Inheritance, which I like to describe as a political thriller/family drama. Seems at this point that it’s not going to get published, but I received more than enough encouragement along the way not to take the outcome personally. I’m probably well past the point of no return where I could have decided whether or not I wanted to be a writer — then again, I’ve been writing since I was eight years old, right around the time I first started saying that I wanted to be a writer. So, maybe I never had a say in the matter, and all else was merely a process of elimination. Any how, I’m here now, at the beginning of what will surely be a long and terrible journey. Wish me luck.

See Antal Polony’s Posts

AtheistWitch

AtheistWitch: I was born in the middle of the United States, but have been living in Europe for most of my adult life.  I was raised an Evangelical Christian, but started to disconnect from my denomination at around the age of 16 when I realized I was gay.  I only admitted to being an atheist around the age of 23.  At some point, I started researching Wicca and Paganism in depth and liked most of what I saw, but didn’t want to give up my Atheism.  Since Wicca’s symbols are nominally related to real natural events or aspects, I realized I didn’t have to. While I don’t consider myself a Wiccan, I today call myself a naturalistic, atheistic eclectic, solitary witch.  I celebrate the wheel of the year, meditate, do rituals both complex and simple, strive towards better understanding of self and others as I try to be an ecological eater and walk through the greener parts around my area on a regular basis.  It is an ever-evolving practice, one that attempts to remain scientifically and logically grounded, while at the same time involving a lot of humor and being very “me”.”  Here is the link to my blog: atheistwitch.blogspot.com

See Atheist Witch’s Posts

B. T. Newberg

B. T. Newberg founded HumanisticPaganism.com in 2011, and served as managing editor till 2013.  His writings on naturalistic spirituality can be found at Patheos, Pagan Square, the Spiritual Naturalist Society, as well as right here on HP.  Since the year 2000, he has been practicing meditation and ritual from a naturalistic perspective.  After leaving the Lutheranism of his raising, he experimented with Agnosticism, Buddhism, Contemporary Paganism, and Spiritual Humanism.  Currently he combines the latter two into a dynamic path embracing both science and myth.  He headed the Google Group Polytheist Charity, and organized the international interfaith event The Genocide Prevention Ritual.

In 2009, he completed a 365-day challenge recorded at One Good Deed Per Day.  As a Pagan, he has published frequently at The Witch’s Voice as well as Oak Leaves and the podcast Tribeways, and has written a book on the ritual order of Druid organization Ar nDriocht Fein called Ancient Symbols, Modern Rites.  Several of his ebooks sell at GoodReads.com, including a volume of creative nonfiction set in Malaysia called Love and the Ghosts of Mount Kinabalu.

Professionally, he teaches English as a Second Language.  He also researches the relation between religion, psychology, and evolution at www.BTNewberg.com.  After living in Minnesota, England, Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea, B. T. Newberg currently resides in St Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and cat.

B. T. currently serves as the treasurer and advising editor for HP.

See B. T. Newberg’s Posts

Bart Everson

Bart Everson is a writer, a photographer, a baker of bread, a husband and a father. An award-winning videographer, he is co-creator of ROX, the first TV show on the internet. As a media artist and an advocate for faculty development in higher education, he is interested in current and emerging trends in social media, blogging, podcasting, et cetera, as well as contemplative pedagogy and integrative learning. He is a founding member of the Green Party of Louisiana, past president of Friends of Lafitte Corridor, sometime contributor to Rising Tide, and a participant in New Orleans Lamplight Circle.

Bart is also a regular columnist here at HP.  His column is called A Pedagogy of Gaia.

See all of Bart Everson’s Posts

Ben Sibelman

Ben Sibelman is a contributing member of the SolSeed Movement, as well as an environmental activist, amateur graphic artist, writer, and programmer. He is working on a sci-fi novel set in a hollow-asteroid colony in the 25th century.  Ben’s  personal blog is OpenSpace4Life.

See Ben’s Posts

Blue

Blue is, in no particular order, an atheist, Thelemite, Chaote and magic(k)ian, who has been building a relationship with Aphrodite and her series for 25 years. Practice and labels need not be congruent. You can read more of Blue’s writing at Garden of the Blue Apple: Musings About Aphrodite.

See Blue’s Posts

Bran th’ Blessed

Bran th’ Blessed is a Pagan Mystic, the former since the early 1970s and the latter since an incident in February of 1969. He has been a human being since several months before his birth in 1949, and has been round and about in this universe for some 13.8 billion years and on this planet for around 4.6 billion years, although the written records are poorly maintained past several thousands of those years. Anything he has written is public domain and need not be attributed; only the ideas are important, and your heart will tell you to which of those ideas you are open.

See Bran th’ Blessed’s Posts

Brandon Sanders

Brandon CS Sanders is a contributing member of the SolSeed Movement.  His interests include cosmic and earth centered spirituality, fruits of religious practice, humanity’s obligations to the earth, and fostering nurturing community.

See Brandon’s Posts

Brendan Myers

Brendan Myers:  Canadian philosopher and writer Brendan Myers is the author of several well-respected books on mythology, folklore, society and politics, ethics, and spirituality.  His work is studied by college professors, social activist groups, interfaith groups, Celtic cultural associations, and even Humanist societies, in many countries around the world.  In 2008 he received OBOD’s prestigious Mount Haemus award for professional research in Druidry.  Since earning his Ph.D in environmental ethics at the National University of Ireland, Galway, he has lectured at several colleges and universities in Ontario, and toured much of Canada and Europe as a public speaker.  In his varied career Brendan has also worked as a musician, a labour union leader, a government researcher, an environmentalist, and as a simple country gardener.  Brendan’s books in print to date include:

• Loneliness and Revelation
• The Other Side of Virtue
• A Pagan Testament
• The Mysteries of Druidry
• Dangerous Religion (out of print)

Brendan is also one of the hosts of Standing Stone and Garden Gate podcast.  Bio text courtesy of Brendan Myers’ Facebook page.

See Brendan Myers’ Posts

Brock Haussamen

I live in New Jersey and taught English at a community college for nearly four decades. I am married and have a daughter, a grandson, and step-children here in the state.

I retired from teaching in 2006 in part to move on from teaching and partly to try to help reduce poverty locally and through global advocacy. For the past few years, I’ve served as a financial coach for low-income families.

I’ve also been thinking about the questions that catch up with most of us sooner or later: What is my purpose? How will I face death? What do I believe in? I’ve always liked and trusted the descriptions from science of how living things work and how we all evolved. But I could not put those descriptions together with my questions. Gradually, I’ve been coming to see how the history of life over 3.8 billion years stands inside and throughout my being and the being of others.

In my blog at threepointeightbillionyears.com, I’ve been exploring the variety of ways in which our experience is anchored not just in our evolution from primates but in the much longer lifespan of life itself.

See Brock Haussamen’s Posts

Bryan Beard

Bryan Beard, originally from Wisconsin, is an artist and photographer who currently teaches English in South Korea.  He is often found haunting hills and hollows, photographing mushrooms or biking mountain trails.  Working primarily in ink and oil, Beard is interested in natural forms and landscapes.  Inspired by immediate sensations in nature, Beard draws from his imagination.  “It’s just my habit to stare at the trees when I’m riding my bike, and then I’ll see an interesting branch or something…”  From there, forms emerge on their own from the creative depths.  Bryan Beard can be found online at GreeneBeard.com.

See Bryan Beard’s Posts

C Luke Mula

C Luke Mula is the voice of one crying out in the wilderness. Endlessly fascinated by meaningful experiences of all stripes, he is constantly experimenting with ways to make life more meaningful, a process he calls “faith design.” He co-directs The Way to Actuality, a website founded to foster the discussion and discovery of Purpose wherever it can be found, regardless of religious or secular context.

See C Luke Mula’s Posts

Carolina Gonzalez

Carolina Gonzalez: I am the owner of Camino De Yara, a website+blog+shop dedicated to offer information, services and handmade spiritual items about Maria Lionza’s cult, a mixture of Spiritism and Animism born in Venezuela, a country I’m deeply tied to. I have been reading Tarot for 24 years, and working as an independent, self-employed Spiritual Worker for almost 20. I am also a guest blogger for Pagan Square, and an ordained minister of the ULC.

See Carolina’s Posts

Catherine Podd

Catherine Podd: I am a 30 something over-thinker who contemplates our amazing planet and universe every moment possible. Massage Therapist and Reiki Teacher by day, loving mom to a son on the AWEtism spectrum the rest of the time.

See Catherine Podd’s Posts

Crafter Yearly

Crafter Yearly earned a PhD in political philosophy and now works as a professor at a teaching institution in the midwest. Her research is in the areas of antiracism, feminism, and social constructivism. She was introduced to Paganism by Wiccans, but has come over time to adopt a purely naturalistic reverence for the Earth and the Universe.

See Crafter Yearly’s Posts

Chris Highland

Chris Stedman

Chris Stedman is the Interfaith and Community Service Fellow for the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard University, the Emeritus Managing Director of State of Formation at the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue, and the Founder of the first blog dedicated to exploring atheist-interfaith engagement, NonProphet Status. Chris received an MA in Religion from Meadville Lombard Theological School at the University of Chicago, for which he was awarded the Billings Prize for Most Outstanding Scholastic Achievement.

A graduate of Augsburg College with a summa cum laude B.A. in Religion, Chris writes for The Huffington Post Gay Voices and The Huffington Post Religion, where his work is among the most commented upon in the site’s history, and he is the youngest panelist for The Washington Post On Faith. He is at work on a memoir for Beacon Press (2012), and his writing has also appeared in venues such as Religion Dispatches, The Journal of College and Character, Tikkun Daily, AltMuslimah, The New Gay, and The New Humanism.

Previously a Content Developer and Adjunct Trainer for the Interfaith Youth Core, Chris is an atheist and secular humanist working to foster positive and productive dialogue between faith communities and the nonreligious. He has spoken and lead workshops on this topic at college and university campuses all across the United States; in 2011, the University of Oregon Alliance of Happy Atheists recognized Chris’ work with their first annual Happy Heathen! Award, and The Huffington Post named him one of the top interfaith activists on Twitter.

Chris was raised in a secular home but converted to evangelical Christianity after being invited to church by friends at 11 years old. After years of wrestling with theology and his sexual orientation, Chris left the Christian tradition and spent some time exploring. Eventually he recognized that he was an atheist and secular humanist, and today he works to advocate for the mutual respect of religious and non-religious individuals.

See Chris Stedman’s Posts

Colin Robinson

Colin Robinson has been studying and writing about the vision of Kali since late 1984. He lives in Sydney, Australia, and has visited India to worship at temples in and around Calcutta. He is the creator of the web-site Dancing World-Soul Kali, where you can find reviews of modern books about Kali and Tantra, studies of Sanskrit sources, accounts of personal experiences of Kali’s presence, and articles relating the vision of Kali to current world concerns.

See Colin Robinson’s Posts

Connie Barlow

Connie Barlow is an acclaimed author of popular science books and articles, and developer of THE GREAT STORY website. Connie’s most recent book, The Ghosts of Evolution (Basic Books), was Amazon.com’s top-recommended science book for several months in 2001. Her previous books, Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science (Copernicus Books), Evolution Extended: Biological Debates on the Meaning of Life (MIT Press), and From Gaia to Selfish Genes: Selected Writings in the Life Sciences, all explore the nexus of science, meaning, and inspiration.

Barlow, an evolutionary humanist and Unitarian Universalist, is also a well-known developer of curricula for children’s religious education that highlight our shared evolutionary story. Since 2002, she and her husband (Rev. Michael Dowd) have lived entirely on the road as “America’s evolutionary evangelists” — which is also the title of the couple’s occasional podcast. She posts videos on evolutionary themes on YouTube under the name “ghostsofevolution”.

She is founding member and webmaster of Torreya Guardians, an internet community of botanists, naturalists, and others dedicated to ensuring the continuing persistence in the wild of America’s most endangered conifer tree: Torreya taxifolia. The group’s efforts in moving this tree northward in a time of rapid climate change has been showcased in Orion, Audubon, and other conservation magazines. In the 1990s she contributed articles to Wild Earth magazine toward encouraging others in conservation to develop “deep-time eyes” by way of learning the history of evolutionary change and paleoecological interactions.

See Connie Barlow’s Posts

Dana Corby

Dana Corby began her studies in Witchcraft in 1970 and was initiated into the Mohsian Tradition in 1974. She formed her first coven in 1977, has been a teaching priestess ever since. She is the senior-most practicing High Priestess of the Tradition, with all its existing covens descending from her. Author and publisher of “The Witches Runes” and several chapbooks, as well as an ongoing contributor to the Pagan press, Dana is also one of the contributing Elders to “Keepers of the Flame,” an oral-history book edited by Morgana Davies and Aradia Lynch and available through Amazon.com (shameless plug.) She may be best-known, though, for her work on the first album of Pagan music ever produced, Gwydion Penderwen’s “Songs for the Old Religion.”

See Dana Corby’s Posts

Dave Salyers

Dave Salyers has been involved with the Neo-Pagan and various related spiritual paths for the past 30 years. He is a registered Cherokee tribal member and has a Master’s in Cultural Anthropology as well as a Master’s in Social Work. He works professionally in those fields. Dave is married and has two teenage children, two cats, and a variety of critters.

See Dave’s Posts

Debra Doggett

Debra Doggett: I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember.  Being a writer is more than something I do.  It is the way I see the world, the way I process it.  I believe in the power of stories.  They make us smile, make us think and give us untold moments of enjoyment. My stories come from the landscape around me and the worlds I build in my head.  I am proud to be a storyteller, and I hope my work leaves you both satisfied and entertained.

See Debra Doggett’s posts

Debra Macleod

Debra Macleod, B.A., LL.B. is a couples and family mediator, a top-selling marriage author-expert and a popular resource for major media in North America. She is the leading proponent of the New Vesta tradition and order. Her New Vesta book series and Add a Spark women’s seminars “spread the flame” into modern lives and homes. You can visit Debra’s private practice at DebraMacleod.com or her Vesta website at NewVesta.com.

See Debra Macleod’s Posts

Donald Robertson

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

See Donald Robertson’s Posts

Drew Jacob

Drew Jacob is a priest of many gods, a seasoned nonprofit professional, a writer, an observer and all too frequently a student of his own misadventures. He follows the Heroic Path: the idea that the highest goal in life is to live gloriously, to distinguish oneself through one’s deeds, to be clever and brave and become known for it – to use the moments of life to leave a lasting and worthy impression on the world.  He is the author of Rogue Priest and the new ebook Walk Like a God: How to Have Spiritual Moments With No Church and No Dogma.  Currently he is in preparation for the Great Adventure, a walk across two continents from Minnesota to Brazil.

See Drew Jacob’s Posts

DT Strain

DT Strain is a Humanist Minister, certified by the American Humanist Association (AHA) and a Spiritual Naturalist. He is the founder and director of the Spiritual Naturalist Society.

Rev. Strain speaks and writes on a wide variety of philosophic concepts and participates in several organizations. His “Humanist Contemplative” group and concept has since helped inspire a similar group at Harvard University. He is former president of the Humanists of Houston (HOH), and has served as vice-chair on the Executive Council of AHA’s Chapter Assembly, on the Education Committee of the Kochhar Humanist Education Center, and as a member of the Stoic Council at New Stoa.

His writing appears in the Houston Chronicle and has been published in magazines, newsletters, and in the AHA national publication “Essays in the Philosophy of Humanism”. He has been a guest speaker on the Philosophy of Religion panel discussion at San Jacinto College, and has appeared on the Houston PBS television program, The Connection, discussing religious belief and non-belief. DT Strain is an enthusiast of Stoicism, Buddhism, and other ancient philosophies; seeking to supplement modern scientific and humanistic values with these practices. His essays and blog can be found at www.HumanistContemplative.org.

See DT Strain’s Posts

Eli Effinger-Weintraub

Eli Effinger-Weintraub is rooted in the Twin Cities Watershed. She practices a mongrel brand of naturalistic Reclaiming-tradition hearthwitchery influenced by Gaia theory, naturalistic pantheism, and the writings of Carl Sagan. But she tries not to think too deeply about any of that and mostly just rides her bicycle, instead. Eli writes plays, creative nonfiction, and short speculative fiction, often inspired by the visual art of her wife, Leora Effinger-Weintraub. She is also a mercenary copyeditor. Find her online at Back Booth, on Twitter as @AwflyWeeEli, and at the Pagan Newswire Collective blog No Unsacred Place, where she writes the Restorying the Sacred column.

See Eli Effinger-Weintraub’s Posts

Eric Saumur

Eric Saumur is a contributing member of the SolSeed Movement with a deep love for Life but especially for trees. He writes science fiction (mostly about forests) which he posts on the SolSeed wiki. He spends as much time as possible admiring wilderness and dreaming about the stars. He also helps coordinate a community garden and enjoys dreaming up rituals to celebrate the SolSeed liturgical calendar.

See Eric Saumur’s Posts

Eric Steinhart

Eric Steinhart is a professor of philosophy at William Paterson University. He is the author of four books, including Your Digital Afterlives: Computational Theories of Life after Death. He is currently working on naturalistic foundations for Paganism, linking Paganism to traditional Western philosophy. He grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He loves New England and the American West, and enjoys all types of hiking and biking, chess, microscopy, and photography.

See Eric’s Posts

Erik Oakenshield

Erik Oakenshield is a druidic practitioner, tarot reader, and horoscope writer for Oranum. He has practiced many forms of Paganism in conjunction with druidism, and considers himself a well-rounded Pagan with an interest in all things spiritual.

See Erik Oakenshield’s Posts

Genevieve Wood 

Genevieve Wood is the founder of FlameKeeping, a pantheistic philosophy of life.  In her day life she is a stay at home mother and a knitter.  FlameKeeping was founded due to a lack of philosophical structures in pagan religions.  The idea of FlameKeeping is that everyone and everything is part of the Divine Universe.  We need to work together to improve that divine, building and co-creating the universe through our lives.  We are not passive participants, we are active shapers in the future and must live as such.  More information can be found at www.flamekeeping.org and in her book Kindling Our Stars, available at Lulu.com and Amazon.com.

See Genevieve Wood’s Posts

Glen Gordon

Glen Gordon was introduced to Paganism by friends while living overseas in Europe during the late 90’s. He underwent both Wiccan and Neodruidic training during his formative years, but had not self-identified as a Pagan when his path diverged into land-centered spiritual naturalism ten years ago. His focus has been on cultivating beneficial relationships with the natural living world surrounding him wherever he lives. During this time, he discovered Unitarian Universalism and has been active in his local congregations for many years. Since 2007, he has worked on varied projects regarding BioRegional Animism, including this 5 minute video, the words of which came from a short UU sermon he gave. He has spoken on the topic of ecology and the land on a few occasions for his local congregation and facilitated a now-disbanded group of UU Pagans and spiritual naturalists. In the past, he maintained the blog, Postpagan, and is excited to share some of that material at HumanisticPaganism. Currently, you can find Glen writing occasionally for No Unsacred Places and helping achieve Green sanctuary status for his beloved UU community, where he helps create and lead ecological aware earth- and land- focused ceremonies for the solstices and equinoxes.

Glen is also a regular columnist here at HP.  His column is called Postpagan Ceremony & Ecology.

See all of Glen Gordon’s Posts

Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Glenys Livingstone Ph.D. has over thirty years experience on a Goddess path, which has included diverse spiritualities and a scientific perspective, inner work as well as academic scholarship. Her studies have been in theology, ritual, archaeomythology, social ecology, psychology, sociology and education.

Glenys is the author of PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion, which was an outcome of her doctoral work in Social Ecology from the University of Western Sydney. Glenys’ doctoral research was an experiential study of the three phases of the Triple Goddess – Virgin, Mother, Crone – as Creative Cosmological Dynamic, and the embodiment of Her in seasonal ritual as a catalyst for personal and cultural change. More recently, Glenys’ continued ritual practice of the seasonal Wheel of the Year and research, has deepened her identification of this Cosmic-Organic Creative Triplicity with the Triple Spiral engraved by the ancients at Newgrange (Bru na Boinne) in Ireland.

Glenys grew up in country Queensland Australia. Glenys considers herself a student of the Poetry of the Universe – a language expressed in scientific story, mythological metaphor, ancient and contemporary images of integrity, body movement and dance, stillness, chants and songs. By these means, she conducts geo-therapy – ecological reconnection – for herself and with others.

Glenys’ work is grounded in the Old European indigenous religious practice, integrated with evolutionary perspective and Goddess scholarship.

Glenys’ M.A. is in Theology and Philosophy and included education in liturgical practice at the Jesuit School of Theology Berkeley California. She lives in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney with her beloved Taffy (Robert) Seaborne, who is also a graduate of the School of Social Ecology and rich life experience. Glenys teaches, writes and facilitates the seasonal rituals in her Place with an open community.

See Glenys Livingstone’s Posts

Gus DiZerega

Gus diZerega is a Gardnerian Elder with over 25 years practice, including six years close study with a Brazilian shaman. He has been active in interfaith work off and on for most of those 25 years as well. He has conducted workshops and given presentations on healing, shamanism, ecology and politics at Pagan gatherings in the United States and Canada. He is the first Pagan blogger for Beliefnet. His first Pagan book Pagans and Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience won the Best Nonfiction of 2001 award from The Coalition of Visionary Resource. His second, Beyond the Burning Times, is a joint Pagan and Christian authored book discussing relations between the two religions. He is completing a new book: Faultlines: The Sixties the Culture Wars and the Divine Feminine. This will argue the US’s current political and cultural struggles reflect a four-way division between “traditional” religion, liberal and “Baconian” secular modernity, and spiritual traditions that have gone beyond the modern paradigm.

See all of Gus DiZerega’s Posts.

Heather Van De Sande

Heather Van De Sande is an ex-Catholic, ex-Wiccan, ex-born-again-Baptist who became an Atheist while trying to recommit to her Catholic roots. She currently lives in Kentucky with her husband and very spoiled dog, works in IT, has a technical focused blog at http://sharepointdiva.wordpress.com and annoys her co-workers by rejecting all blessings on her sneezes. … She can occasionally be found at either The Lexington Atheists Meetup Group or The Louisville Atheists and Freethinkers Meetup Group and has just started the Frankfort Humanists, Skeptics, and Freethinkers FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FrankfortHSF

See Heather Van De Sande’s Posts

Heather Wiech

Heather Wiech is an international relations scholar, philosopher, human rights activist, blogger, tutor, culinary artist, photographer, techie nerd, mythology enthusiast, and spiritual naturalist.  http://heatherwiech.com

See Heather Wiech’s Posts

Henry Lauer

Henry Lauer: I have always been drawn to things mysterious. I am some kind of Heathen, fascinated by the cultures and mythologies of my ancestors ­(and beyond, too). Deeply in love with the process of healing and its facilitation. A pretender to all manner of thrones, be they runic, music, chaotic, or philosophical. An Antipodean expatriate. I have a few strings to my well-worn bow. I offer rune readings online via findrune.com. I co-edit Hex Magazine. I play music, ­sometimes folky, sometimes heavy, often times both. I write and dream. I live for traditional cuisine and food-made-from-scratch. I have two goals in life: to think lightly and to do the next right thing. Sometimes I feel the heavy hand of Woden tapping on my shoulder.

Henry blogs at Spirit Cuts Life: Rooted Heathen Living.

See Henry’s Posts

Hilaria

Hilaria: My name is Hilaria. I’m 28, I live in Tuscany and I’m about to get a degree in Modern Philology (my focus is Renaissance Studies) at the University of Florence. I consider myself a seeker and a hopeless “bookworm.” I simply love learning, because there’s no other way to embrace and understand the unknown and make it finally familiar. My highest goal is to become a college professor.

My academic and mundane passions are literature and history. I always felt a strong emotional bond with ancient Greece and ancient Rome, without forgetting that I live in the 21st century…

On the spiritual side, I left Christianity in my teens. I wanted more than believing. I wanted knowledge. I started studying the religions of the world and it was an epiphany. The most powerful word I encountered, the one that gave me goosebumps was “paganism”; on that dusty old path my life changed for good.

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Hypatia’s Girl

Hypatia’s Girl: Political philosopher in training, obsessive follower of news, feminist, socialist, absurdist (or perhaps that’s the world we live in). Also, my kitties.  Hypatia’s Girl blogs at Hypatia’s Girl Is Angry.

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Ian Edwards

Ian Edwards is the Pagan editor for the on-line magazine “Bellaonline”.  He has been practising magick since he lived in Mexico in 1979, and following the Pagan path since the mid 1980s.  Ian spent most of his early life travelling as his father was first in the British Royal Navy and later part of the British Embassy staff in various parts of the world.

During his travels he saw and learned about the indigenous spiritual paths of many countries and also trained in several martial arts with strong psycho/spiritual roots including Aikido, Fung Sau Kung Fu, and Ninjutsu.  He is a third degree black belt in the latter which he was presented with by the Grandmaster of the Bujinkan system after studying the art in Japan.

He also helped out at a Pagan shop called “Broomsticks” in his natal city of Portsmouth (UK) run buy an existentialist Pagan. Ian learned a lot about that path in addition to appreciating the many different spiritual systems that used the shop for supplies and discussing esoteric matters.  He is the author of The Wizard’s Way to Wealth published by Cappel Bann Publishers.

See Ian Edwards’ Posts

IAO131

IAO131 is a practitioner and devotee of Thelema, a member of Ordo Templi Orientis, the co-creator and co-producer of the Speech in the Silence podcast (http://www.speechinthesilence.com), and an author whose works include essays on Thelema, magick, mysticism, and psychology and various books including Naturalistic Occultism: An Introduction to Scientific Illuminism. Many of his works including his latest essays can be found on his website: http://www.iao131.com

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Jake Diebolt

Jake Diebolt works as a GIS Technician (translation: map guy) on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada. By night he reads, writes, and cooks (he does the best he can). He also enjoys archery, hunting and getting pushed face-first into snow banks (see photo).

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Jason Pitzl-Waters

Jason Pitzl-Waters: Since launching “The Wild Hunt” in 2004, Jason Pitzl-Waters has become one of the leading voices for analysis and insight into how modern Pagan faiths are represented within the mainstream media. In addition, “The Wild Hunt” has also conducted in-depth interviews with prominent figures within modern Paganism, academia, and religion journalism. Jason wants to raise the level of discourse and journalism on important issues within the modern Pagan and Heathen communities, while advocating a broader commitment to encouraging religious multiplicity and solidarity (where appropriate) with surviving indigenous and non-monotheistic faith groups.

In addition to his work with The Wild Hunt, Jason has also written for newWitch Magazine, PanGaia Magazine, Thorn Magazine, and Llewellyn Worldwide. He also maintains a weekly podcast entitled“A Darker Shade of Pagan” that explores underground music from a Pagan perspective.

Jason is a former Board of Director member of Cherry Hill Seminary, and is coordinating The Pagan Newswire Collective, an open collective of Pagan journalists, newsmakers, media liaisons, and writers who are interested in sharing and promoting primary-source reporting from within our interconnected communities.  You can contact Jason at jpitzl at gmail dot com.

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Jennifer Adele

Jennifer Adele is an independent author and nature gal, whose sense of adventure is only matched by her predilection for the magical and macabre. Her love of the written word in its various forms and her fascination with the symbolism inherent in all languages provides an ancient, deep, and eclectic background to her works. She is also an active lecturer and educator for many local groups and public education venues. Her written works on broad-based educational topics, plants, animals, symbolism, and a wide range of nature-based subjects, as well as her creative writings and fiction, have been frequently featured in national and international publications. On a more personal note, Jennifer is mom to three dogs and three cats and greatly enjoys nature hikes, organic art, photography, cooking, painting, wild crafting, and travel.

Jennifer is the author of The Haunting of Willow Tree Court and Spellbound … novels of magic and mystery!

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John Halstead

John Halstead is Editor-At-Large and a contributor at HumanisticPaganism.com. He blogs about Paganism generally at AllergicPagan.com (which is hosted by Patheos) and about Jungian Neo-Paganism at “Dreaming the Myth Onward” (which is hosted by Witches & Pagans). He is also an occasional contributor to GodsandRadicals.org and The Huffington Post and the administrator of the site Neo-Paganism.com. John was the principal facilitator of “A Pagan Community Statement on the Environment,” which can be found at ecopagan.com. He is a Shaper of the fledgling Earthseed community, which is described at GodisChange.org. John is also the editor of the anthology, Godless Paganism: Voices of Non-Theistic Pagans.

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John Ryan Haule

John Ryan Haule: On my way to an early-morning organic chemistry class one day in the early 1960’s, I had a brief life-transforming religious experience. Having been raised Catholic, I interpreted the event in Christian terms and, after graduation, entered something like a monastery. There I encountered Jung’s writings and became convinced that there was nothing distinctively Christian about my experience. It was simply human and archetypal. I then left the religious order and earned a doctorate in religious studies, writing my dissertation on Jung and Heidegger. I taught in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Northeastern University for three years before heading for Zurich where I underwent analytic training. I have been practicing Jungian analysis more than thirty years and am the author of eight books and numerous articles.  Please check out my website (www.jrhaule.net) for more information on my interests.

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Jon & Heather Cleland-Host

Dr. Jon Cleland Host is a scientist who earned his PhD in materials science at Northwestern University & has conducted research at Hemlock Semiconductor and Dow Corning since 1997.  He holds eight patents and has authored over three dozen internal scientific papers and eleven papers for peer-reviewed scientific journals, including the journal Nature.  He has taught classes on biology, math, chemistry, physics and general science at Delta College and Saginaw Valley State University.  Jon grew up near Pontiac, and has been building a reality-based spirituality for over 30 years, first as a Catholic and now as a Unitarian Universalist, including collaborating with Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow to spread the awe and wonder of the Great Story of our Universe (see www.thegreatstory.org, and the blog at evolutionarytimes.org).  Jon’s youtube channel, with videos about DNA, spirituality, and more, is here.  Jon and his wife have four sons, whom they embrace within a Universe-centered, Pagan, family spirituality.  He currently moderates the yahoo group Naturalistic Paganism and maintains a hub page for Naturalistic Paganism.

Jon is also a regular columnist here at HP.  His column is called Starstuff, Contemplating.

See all of Dr. Jon Cleland Host’s Posts

Heather is a parent and a scientist raising her four children to explore the world through scientific understanding and with spiritual appreciation of the Universe. She has a Master of Science degree in Physics from Michigan State University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a Bachelor of the Arts degree in English Literature, also from the University of Michigan. She teaches physics as an adjunct instructor at Delta College, runs the Math Mania program at a local elementary school, has worked at Dow Corning as an engineer and at NASA as an intern, and she has led science outreach workshops for K-12 students through joint programs between NASA and the University of Michigan. She is a naturalistic non-theist, whose faith has been shaped by her childhood within the Episcopal Church, her adult membership in the Unitarian Universalist church, and through Buddhist meditation.  She has a passion for bringing science and spirituality to everyone in a fun way, both for her own family and for the wider community of the Earth.  She is a co-author with Jon Cleland-Host of Elemental Birthdays: How to Bring Science into Every Party.

Jonathan Blake

Jonathan Blake: Born into a Mormon family who had followed railroad work to the Mojave Desert, Jonathan Blake struggled with religious doubts from early childhood but went on to serve as a Mormon missionary in upstate New York and to marry his first love during a secret ceremony in a Mormon temple. With the birth of his two daughters and a growing sense of responsibility for their welfare, he sought greater certainty about his religious beliefs and more knowledge about Mormon history. What he learned caused his faith in Mormonism to fall away and his eyes to be opened to a world with more freedom and beauty than he had imagined. He now seeks to live according to the dictates of his own conscience and to learn as much as humanly possible about the cosmos. Still living in the Mojave, he recently completed a Master of Science degree in computer engineering and earns his living as a data warehousing professional.

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Ken Apple

My name is Ken Apple. I am fifty years old, I live in Puyallup Washington with my wife and youngest son. I attend the Tahoma UU congregation in Tacoma, WA. I have worked in book sales for almost twenty years, because I can’t imagine trying to sell anyone something else.

See Ken Apple’s posts here.

Lupa

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Maggie Jay Lee

Maggie Jay Lee is interested in growing a new religious culture grounded in the everyday shared world and the public revelations of science, that celebrates our relationship with Cosmos, Earth and each other, and strives to bring us into right relationship with the Nature inside and outside of us.  She draws inspiration from modern cosmology, evolutionary psychology, and the myths and wisdom traditions of ancient Hellas.  M. Jay is a member of the Universal Pantheists Society  and the Spiritual Naturalist Society, and she has studied with Glenys Livingston author of PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. She celebrates the creative unfolding of Gaia in west Tennessee, where she lives with her husband, two dogs and cat.

Maggie is the author of a regular column here at HP.  Her column is called Musings of a Pagan Mythicist.

See all of Maggie Jay Lee’s Posts

Mark Green

Mark Green is a writer, thinker, poet, musician and costuming geek who works in the public interest sector, primarily in environmental policy and ecological conservation. He lives in Sonoma County on California’s North Coast with his wife Nemea and Miri, the Cat of Foulness. For more information on Atheopaganism, visit Atheopaganism.wordpress.com, or the Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/godlessheathens.21.

Mark is also a regular columnist here at HP.  His column is called An Atheopagan Life: Practices and musings of an Earth-honoring atheist.

See An Atheopagan Life posts

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Mathieu Thiem

Mathieu Thiem is a bioregional animist who spends his time studying the art of mythic living and running a blog called The Woven Song. www.wovensong.com

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Meg Pauken

Meg Pauken is a writer, former lawyer and mother of two living in rural northeastern Ohio, USA. Raised as a Roman Catholic, she is a Unitarian Universalist and has felt the call of paganism since her childhood. She blogs about family and spirituality at Tales from the Sandwich Chronicles.

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Megan Manson

Megan is an eclectic Pagan from the UK who also practices Shinto, the Japanese “Way Of The Gods.” She is actively involved in the field of Japan-UK relations, interfaith activities, and her local Pagan community. Her blog can be found here, and her facebook page here.

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Melanie Elizabeth Hexen

Melanie Elizabeth Hexen is a midwife, regionally famous bellydancer, homeschooling mother and matriarch of the Many Hands House. She has been a witch for 25 years, and her belief system is currently based on the writings of Terry Pratchett and the teachings of Steven Posch. Follow her blog The Pagan Family.

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Rev. Michael J Dangler

Rev. Michael J. Dangler has been an  Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF) member for over 10 years. He is currently an ADF Senior Priest and a Grove Priest of Three Cranes Grove, ADF, in Columbus, OH. He currently serves as the ADF Clergy Council Preceptor, overseeing all formal clergy and initiate study within ADF. His academic background is in history and religious studies, and he has written several books on Druidry for ADF. His personal webpage is at http://www.chronarchy.com/

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Michelle Briere

Michelle Briere has always had a head filled with characters talking to each other, which made it only natural that she either ended up in a loony bin or put them down in writing. She blames it on Chris Carter and the writers of X-Files fan fiction for her leap into writing. Once she discovered fan fiction, it was a scream and jump off the cliff and into hangers. Lots of ‘slash’ here, (gay couples) but then it is fan fiction. –Warning: some adult content. This was only the start, though, a great place for a budging writer to practice.

With more and more original characters added to the fan fiction stories, this eventually led to fully original stories which are currently on her website at http://www.michelebriere.com

She’s on Facebook, if you’d like to say Hi: https://www.facebook.com/michele.ashipu

Or just drop an email at michele.briere@outlook.com

See Michelle’s Posts

Mike Ryan

Mike Ryan is an environmental scientist and a nature venerating naturalist who lives with his wife and son in north central New Jersey.

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Molly

Molly is a certified birth educator, writer, and activist who lives with her husband and children in central Missouri. She is a breastfeeding counselor, a professor of human services, and doctoral student in women’s spirituality at Ocean Seminary College. She is ordained as a Priestess with Global Goddess. Molly blogs about birth, motherhood, and women’s issues at http://talkbirth.me and about thealogy and the Goddess at http://goddesspriestess.com. She is presently working on a thesis about birth as a spiritual experience and welcomes idea sharing.

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MortalCrow

Mortal Crow: I am a mom of 2 small kiddos, 1 step-kiddo, 1 big kiddo (also known as husband), 3 dogs, 4 cats, 24 chickens, including 3 roosters (George the Bastard, Bill and Ted) and 4 goats (Pan, Mu, Loka and Flora). I am an archer, a writer, a crafter, a blackbelt, and a knitter. I am a spiritual equalitarian, a feminist, a heathen and a Pagan. For me divinity comes from within and it is both and neither, male and female, God and Goddess. I also like to think I’m funny. I am a member of the Moonpath Circle and local chapter of CUUPS and a Priestess of the Sisterhood of Ahel Adom. MortalCrow blogs at As The Crow Flies.

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NaturalPantheist

NaturalPantheist:  A former Christian, I now see myself as a Naturalistic Pantheist with an interest in Druidry. I blog at NaturalPantheist.com on issues relating to scientific and naturalistic approaches to spirituality.  I’ve lived in both China and the UK and I love to travel. I’m a country boy at heart but also strongly believe in getting involved in my local community here in Devon, UK. My interests include religion & philosophy, social media & technology, current affairs and walking. My blog is at www.naturalpantheist.com.

NaturalPantheist currently serves as the social media coordinator for HP.

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Nick Ace Westward

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Paula Barkmeier

Paula Barkmeier: Creating art was my true love as a child. As I grew older, I abandoned my art and went into medical studies. This eventually led me into alternative medicine. Soon before having children, I came back to my passion of art.

As a mother of two young boys, I have the opportunity to witness and absorb their wild animal energies. Motherhood has helped me to reconnect with my deeper instinctual self….the self that all humans contain, but which often times has been suppressed in order to be the “good little girl or boy” that we are taught to be.

I see this disconnect from our instinctual animal selves as ultimately leading to a disconnect from and destruction of Mother Earth and all her creatures. This stems from a belief that we humans are separate from nature.

In addition to being artist and mother, I am a practitioner of homeopathic medicine and Craniosacral Therapy. All of these practices inform one another in a rich and powerful way, keeping me awake to the subtleties and interconnections between all that exists.

My art studio is at the Casket Arts Building in Northeast Minneapolis. As a healing practitioner, I work out of my home in the Bryn Mawr neighborhood (Minneapolis). I look forward to sharing my work with many of you.

Discover more at PaulaBarkmeierArt.com.

Renee B.

Renee B. is a housewife living in the South. Originally from the plains states, she was raised in a non-religious household. After meeting some Pagans as a young adult, she has been forging her path through the vast forest of Paganism and living according to the Wheel of the Year for almost 20 years. She identifies as a Naturalist Pagan and Atheist. She writes a blog at http://wheelday.blogspot.com/.

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Renee Lehnen

Renee Lehnen is a registered nurse and recent empty nester living in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. With her new found free time, she enjoys outdoor sports, working on local environmental projects, and gazing at the sky wondering, “What does all of this mean?”

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Rhys Chisnall

Rhys Chisnall grew up in the Suffolk countryside and as such has a deep interest in nature and wildlife.  He works as a lecturer at Otley College of Agriculture and Horticulture, specifically with special needs students, and is currently studying for a degree with the Open University in Philosophy and Psychology.  He has been interested in Paganism since his teen years and was lucky enough to be trained by a coven who takes a naturalistic approach to the Craft.  He later joined that coven and now runs a training group for those interested in initiatory Witchcraft.

See Rhys Chisnall’s Posts

Rua Lupa

Rua Lupa is a Canadian Metis of Celtic and Anishinabek (Native peoples of the Great Lakes region) descent.  Living on the ‘Great Whitestone Island of the Lake Seas’, I am a Permaculture Designer, Wildlife Technician Alumna, Founder of Ehoah, Saegoah, Naturalist (Both in studying Natural History & Naturalism), Bioregionalist, and Citizen of Earth. My primary interests are Homesteading, Historical Craft (SCAdian in Ealdormere), Bushcraft and Forest Gardening.

You can find my writings at Canadian Mutt (https://canadianmutt.wordpress.com/).

My work on Ehoah can be found at ehoah.weebly.com, and my artwork can be found at http://rua-lupa.deviantart.com/

Within the Society for Creative Anachronism I am known as Fáelán Ruadh ua Aodha, and so some of the papers published will be under that name

See Rua Lupa’s Posts

Ryan Spellman

Ryan Spellman lives happily in the foothills of Appalachia with his wife of seven years and three spoiled kitties. He is lucky enough to spend his day job working at a library and does a little web and graphic design, painting, drawing and almost anything else creative he can get his hands on as time allows.

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Sable Aradia

Sable Aradia (Diane Morrison) has been a traditional witch most of her life, and she is also a licensed Wiccan minister and a Third Degree initiated Wiccan priestess in the Star Sapphire tradition. She makes her living doing psychic and Tarot readings, writing, and teaching workshops, and she is also a speculative fiction writer and a musician. Sable is the author of “The Witch’s Eight Paths of Power: A Complete Course in Magick and Witchcraft” (Red Wheel/Weiser, 2014). She continues to write “Seekers and Guides” at her new blog Between the Shadows here at Patheos Pagan, and she also writes a column called “49 Degrees: Canadian Pagan Perspectives” at PaganSquare. For further information, please visit her website http://www.sablearadia.com.

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Scott Oden

Hailing from the hills of rural North Alabama, Scott Oden‘s fascination with far-off places and times began in grade school, when he stumbled across the staggering and savage vistas of Robert E. Howard and Harold Lamb.  Though Oden started writing his own tales at the age of fourteen, it would be many years before anything would come of it.  In the meantime, he had a brief and tempestuous fling with academia before retiring to the private sector, where he worked the usual roster of odd jobs-from delivering pizza to stacking paper in the bindery of a printing company to clerking at a video store.  Nowadays, Oden writes full-time from his family home near Huntsville.  Oden is the author of the critically-acclaimed historical novels MEN OF BRONZE (2005), MEMNON (2006), THE LION OF CAIRO (2010), and the forthcoming A GATHERING OF RAVENS.

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Shauna Aura Knight

Shauna Aura Knight is an artist, author, ritualist, presenter, and spiritual seeker, Shauna travels nationally offering intensive education in the transformative arts of ritual, community leadership, and personal growth. She is the author of The Leader Within, Ritual Facilitation, and Dreamwork for the Initiate’s Path. She’s a columnist on ritual techniques for CIRCLE Magazine, and her writing also appears in the anthologies Stepping in to Ourselves, A Mantle of Stars, Calling to our Ancestors, and Bringing Race to the Table.

Shepherd King

Shepherd King is a philosophical naturalist and occasional Pagan based out of Austin, Texas.  When he’s not expounding the virtues of theological noncognitivism or translating Sanskrit, he can be found meditating in his favorite field, writing bad sci-fi, and wishing he had a dog.

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Stephen Batchelor

Stephen Batchelor is a contemporary Buddhist teacher and writer, best known for his secular or agnostic approach to Buddhism. Stephen considers Buddhism to be a constantly evolving culture of awakening rather than a religious system based on immutable dogmas and beliefs. In particular, he regards the doctrines of karma and rebirth to be features of ancient Indian civilisation and not intrinsic to what the Buddha taught. Buddhism has survived for the past 2,500 years because of its capacity to reinvent itself in accord with the needs of the different Asian societies with which it has creatively interacted throughout its history. As Buddhism encounters modernity, it enters a vital new phase of its development. Through his writings, translations and teaching, Stephen engages in a critical exploration of Buddhism’s role in the modern world, which has earned him both condemnation as a heretic and praise as a reformer.  His work, including audio, video, and publications, can be found at www.stephenbatchelor.org.  Bio text and bio photo courtesy of www.stephenbatchelor.org.

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Stifyn Emrys

Stifyn Emrys is an author of five books, including “Requiem for a Phantom God,” a critique of Abrahamic monotheism. His first novel, “Identity Break,” is due out in February 2013. He lives in California with his wife, Samaire Provost, author of the “Mad World” YA series. His books are available on Amazon (www.amazon.com/-/e/B008LHKFM2) and Nook (www.barnesandnoble.com/s/stifyn-emrys?dref=2207). Follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/semrys.

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Telmaris Green

Telmaris Green (pseudonym) is a psychotherapist in private practice in Indianapolis.  She holds an M.A. in English Renaissance from Indiana University, and a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.  She has given numerous local presentations on the treatment of trauma, dissociation, and personality disorders, including Dissociative Identity Disorder.  Contact her through her wordpress blogs, Skeptical Witch and Solitary Witch.

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Thalassa

Thalassa:  I’m a (occasionally) doting wife, damn proud momma of two adorable children, veteran of the United States Navy, part-time steampunk hausfrau, a beach addict from middle America, Civil War reenactor and Victorian natural history aficionado, a canoeing fanatic, Unitarian Universalist and pantheistic Pagan,and a kitchen witch and devotee of various aquatic deities.

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Thomas Geddes

Thomas Geddes is a Witch/Sorcerer, a Mystic, an Agnostic, a seeker, and a sometimes artist, traveler, and free spirit living in far off New Zealand.

Though young, he has been on the path (a path) for somewhere between 10-15 years.  The path he is following, or creating, is an odd mix of Neo-Paganism, Humanistic Paganism, Greek Myth, “Traditional” witchcraft, and European folklore.  With a big side-serving of skepticism, agnosticism, and science.  He can find no straight line of agnosticism, but rather flips back and forth between humanism and literalism.  Thomas writes a blog about his explorations in agnosticism and witchcraft at Up The Styx.

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Thomas Schenk

Thomas Schenk: “If asked, I’d call myself a Space-age Taoist, Black Sheep Catholic, Perennial Philosophy Pantheist, Dharma Bum.   In other words I am a kind of spiritual and philosophical mutt.  I’m not out to change the world, for I believe the world has a much better sense of what it is supposed to be than I ever could. But I do try to promote the value of the contemplative life in these most un-contemplative of times.  I don’t know if the piece presented here has any value, but I feel blessed that I can spend my time thinking about such things.  My version of the American dream is that here, as the child of a line of farmers and peasants going back through the ages, I have the privilege to live with my head in such clouds.”  Thomas is also the author of the naturalistic spirituality blog Golden Hive of the Invisible.

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Tom L. Waters

Tom L. Waters has an eclectic spiritual background. Raised an atheist, he embraced Unitarian Universalism in the 1990s, and became increasing drawn toward paganism as a personal practice, eventually transitioning from UU into the local pagan community in northern New Mexico. He embraces both intellectual and experiential paths to understanding. Although he still retains a broadly Pagan perspective on the spiritual dimensions of life, Tom does not currently maintain a regular Pagan practice. He is an avid gardener and amateur iris breeder and loves cooking, languages, history, and philosophy. He works as a radiation dosimetrist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and lives in rural northern New Mexico with his wife Karen and two cats.

Tom Swiss

Tom Swiss describes his spiritual path as “Zen Pagan Taoist Atheist Discordian”, which usually baffles questioners enough to leave him alone. Over the past decade he has built a reputation as a lecturer on subjects spanning the gamut from acupressure to Zen and from self-defense to sexuality. He is an NCCAOM Diplomate in Asian Bodywork Therapy, a godan (fifth-degree black belt) in karate, a poet, a singer/songwriter, an amateur philosopher, and a professional computer geek. Tom has previously served as President of the Free Spirit Alliance. He is the author of “Why Buddha Touched the Earth” (Megalithica Books, 2013). Find out more about his wacky adventures at www.infamous.net.

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Tomas Rees

Tomas Rees:  I want to know why some people believe in gods, and what the psychological and social consequences of those beliefs are. I read the research, and when I find something juicy I write it up and post it at Epiphenom. If you’ve found something interesting, or just want to say ‘Hi!’, then drop me an email.

Who am I? Well, I’m a medical writer by profession, living and working on the south coast of England. I have a PhD in biotechnology, and an interest in what makes people tick.

My contribution to the sociology of religion, on the causes of international differences in religiosity, was published recently in the Journal of Religion and Society (see related blog post).

In the media:

• I’m an Op-Ed columnist for Free Inquiry, the largest-circulation humanist magazine.
• Reasonable Doubts Episode 62 – Religion and Society
• Who needs God? – article in New Humanist January 2010.
• Appearance on BBC Radio 4 in August 2009.

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Treeshrew

Treeshrew: I’m an aspiring naturalist druid. I don’t believe in gods, spirits or magic but I do love nature and think the universe is a pretty amazing place. My personal beliefs fluctuate a bit, but could generally be described as atheist, agnostic, animist, pantheist or any combination thereof. I believe that science is the best way to understand reality and our place in it, and I find that the practices of modern druidry are beneficial for creating a sense of meaningful relationship with the inter-connected natural world of which we humans are a small part.In my professional guise, I work as a librarian at Cambridge University and my interests include comparative mythology, evolutionary biology and the psychology of religious belief and experience. I’m also a life-long Whovian and all round nerd.  Follow Treeshrew at Endless Erring.

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Trent Fowler

Trent Fowler is an English teacher in South Korea.  He graduated with a degree in Psychology from Hendrix college, where he also studied philosophy and neuroscience, among other things.  Though he considers himself a staunch atheist, he is still very much interested in ritual, meditation, and various religious practices which can serve as a means for exploring and changing consciousness.  As a writer, he has worked for numerous websites, blogs, and small businesses.  He also enjoys hiking, playing guitar, dabbling in electronics with mixed results, and learning everything he can about anything he can.

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Urban Haas

Urban Haas, a.k.a. Oungan François, finds humor in life while strumming to a different tune.  He’s a musician, blogger, traveler, activist, Vodouan, technologist & mediator. Urban Haas is a priest of New Orleans Vodou, and the author of Chasing the Asson.  He lives on a hobby farm in southern Minnesota with his wife, two dogs, and his horses.

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Ursula Goodenough

Ursula Goodenough is Professor of Biology at Washington University.  One of America’s leading cell biologists, she is the author of a best-selling textbook on genetics, and has served as President of the American Society of Cell Biology and of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science.  She and her family live in St. Louis, Missouri, and in Chilmark, Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard.  (bio text from Sacred Depths book flap, courtesy of Ursula Goodenough)

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Velody Dark

Velody Dark is a mother of two small children and a certified teacher in her state who has been walking a pagan path for over fifteen years. She is also the creator behind Treegold & Beegold, a blog and handmade business that focuses on Life, Parenting from a Pagan perspective, and Crafts with tutorials. Her handmade shop includes a large variety items aimed for the family from embroidered children’s items, tarot bags, and vinyl decals.

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Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D.

Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. is a Santa Barbara-based social justice activist, writer, and educator who uses spiritual practices to create a better world.  Specifically, Wayne is very active in helping our neighbors of the streets transition into permanent housing and environmental issues.  He has taught at the Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and Berkeley campus of the University of California, Ventura College, the Fielding Graduate University and Antioch University Santa Barbara.

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WhiteHorse

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.

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Xia

Xia is the founder and director of Temple of the Goddess, a federally-recognized Goddess/Pagan church with headquarters in Los Angeles, California. As a writer, mythologist, ritual artist, and Priestess, Xia has been writing about the myths and archetypes of the divine feminine for more than twenty years, as well as creating and facilitating rituals for both groups and individuals. She has led thousands of men and women in transformational rituals. Xia is currently completing Feminine Alchemy, a nonfiction book of myth, ritual, and healing through Goddess archetypes. To find out more about Xia, connect and follow her at Feminine Alchemy (https://femininealchemy.net) and Temple of the Goddess (http://templeofthegoddess.org/home.htm).

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