This Week In Heresy

This week we talk to Mark Green, an Atheopagan (or Atheist Pagan). Do you need to believe in deity, spirits, or God in order to have a fulfilling spiritual practice? What is the difference between dogma, belief, and practice (or craft)? And sure, we throw in a little politics in for good measure.

Mark Green is a nonprofit and political professional who has devoted most of his career to environmental protection efforts. He is the creator of Atheopaganism, an Earth-honoring, science-based Pagan path, and manages both the Atheopagan blog and the Atheopagan Facebook group. He lives in Northern California.

Links

Atheopaganism Blog

The Atheopagan Facebook Group

The Spiritual Naturalist Society

In this episode we talk to River Devora, Santera and Heathen, and learn about what Santeria is and is not. What are the misconceptions, and how much has been distorted or twisted by fear? Why do other pagans fear this tradition? What role does racism play in the reactions of people who are outside the tradition? What about animal sacrifice? How do we show respect, not only to this tradition, but to those who practice it?

River Devora is a multi-trad spirit worker, medium, and clergyperson. She has been actively involved in pagan and polytheist communities since 1994, and has led numerous classes and rituals. She initiated as a community priestess with Waxing Muse Coven in 1996, made Ocha to Ochun in 2011, and is oathed to Odin, Freyr, Loki, Juksakka, the Morrigan and the Matronae. She leads a monthly online and in-person class series on polytheist practice called Strong Roots and Wide Branches. She lives with her living and non-living family in a quiet home with a bossy garden.

Links

Email: [email protected]

This episode, we welcome Diana Morningstar, who tells us about her coming out and transition as a transgender woman. She also talks about her life in the pagan and queer communities, pre- and post-transition. Diana gives an honest look at herself, her certainties and doubts about transitioning, and her gravitation towards Goddess culture and the issues she ran into in that culture.

Diana Morningstar has been involved in the neopagan movement since the mid 80's and has participated in Church of All Worlds, NROOGD, Umbanda, and Feri tradition rites among others. She is an initiated witch, a shameless eclectic, and an amazon forest warrior. She has been involved in activism with Earth First! and Queer Nation, and lately with trans issues. She is a transsexual woman living in Sonoma County, CA and is 56 years old. She has journeyed beyond the ninth wave to reach the Isle of Women, and is immensely grateful to be at last on that shore. She writes software, makes graphic art, plays piano and harp, and loves to cycle and hike. The moonlit forest is her true home.

Links

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.miragearts.com

To Survive on This Shore: http://www.tosurviveonthisshore.com/photographs-and-interviews Beautiful collection of stories and pictures from transgender elders.

Books

Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity by Julia Serano

Transgender History by Susan Stryker

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

Lupa GreenWolf joins us in this episode to discuss alternate ways to be an environmentalist and how every little bit helps. How do we navigate the complexities of environmentalism and activism, particularly if someone is a city-dweller and rents their house or apartment? How do we acknowledge that sometimes people can’t do what other people think they should be doing for activism for many reasons: from disability to matters of food justice? We talk about how it’s important to acknowledge one’s strength, how to be responsible when working with others, and how to be mindful of the small things that can help the planet. We also discuss Lupa’s Tarot of Bones project, and the nature of our own ancestors and mortality.

Lupa GreenWolf is a Pagan author, artist and amateur naturalist in Portland, OR. She creates artwork out of bones and other natural materials, and is the author of several books on nature spirituality. She has a Master's degree in counseling psychology and recently completed requirements for certification in Ecopsychology through Lewis & Clark College, and is a certified Wilderness First Responder. She's also the organizer for Curious Gallery, a two-day arts festival celebrating cabinets of curiosity and their contents every January in Portland. When she's not working on the Tarot of Bones and other creative projects, she may be found hiding out in the wilderness areas of Oregon and southern Washington.

Links:

http://www.thegreenwolf.com

http://thegreenwolf.etsy.com

http://www.thetarotofbones.com

Indiegogo Campaign for the Tarot of Bones (Ends May 19): https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-tarot-of-bones/

http://www.curiousgallerypdx.com

Books

Lupa's Books Via Amazon

In this episode we’re joined by Dee Shull to talk about the concept of hospitality and the inclusion of gender variant people in rituals. How do we show hospitality to those who are different? What is a responsible way to be inclusive, even if your group doesn’t represent as a diverse group as the members would like? How do we create as safe a space as possible?

N.B.: This episode was recorded shortly after Pantheacon 2015. There were also technical problems with the sound (my own fault, really) that have since been fixed. My wife, who is my sound engineer, worked a miracle on this episode, however, there will be some lingering weirdness with the audio. And finally, when we discuss “Dianics” in this episode, we are referring to Z. Budapestian Dianics, who are generally trans-exclusionary.

Dee Shull is a decidedly eclectic pagan whose praxis includes some generic Wiccan-flavored elements, heathen practice, animism, and ecstatic work (they prefer the term over “shamanic”). They works most closely with Brighid and the Vanir. They is also genderfluid and queer, and advocates for not just inclusion of gender diverse pagans, but the practice of hospitality by and within groups.

Links

Email (please be mindful that Dee is in the middle of their last terms of their masters): [email protected]

In this episode we’re joined by Lauren Renee Hotchkiss, seminarian and musician, to talk about the role of music in spiritual practice, both Christian and Pagan. How does music touch our hearts? What music touches our spirit, and how can music help us through the difficult times? We also talk about activism, including the recent Bay Area protests for #blacklivesmatter, and about how both in the Pagan and Christian community we have our extremists.

Lauren Renée Hotchkiss is a Christo-Pagan musician, writer, and seminary student who attends the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley. She has played all around the Bay Area, and is currently playing in the band at Grace North Church in Berkeley for Sunday services and monthly labyrinth services, and in Chapel and Taize services at The Pacific School of Religion. She also plays regularly in the Taize services at Newman Hall, Berkeley, and the Metropolitan Community Church in San Francisco. As a Pagan, she is an experienced priestess, cantor and musician who has worked with the various covens and circles of the Fellowship of the Spiral Path, as well as with OBOD and North Bay Reclaiming.

Links

Email: [email protected]

This week we’re joined by Diane Miles, who is a Bishop in the Old (Independent) Catholic Church. Diane describes what the Old Catholic church is and how it compares to the Roman Catholic Church and Gnosticism. We also talk about power, change, hope, and how religions need to evolve in order to make it into the future.

Diane Miles is a Bishop of the Old Catholic Church, a Reiki Master, a registered nurse, and interfaith chaplain, and a medium. Diane works out of Berkeley with a partner through the Church of Holy Sophia in Practice. She is available for Celtic Catholic services and Sufi practice.

Links

Email: [email protected] or [email protected] (preferred)

Website: http://sophiainpractice.com

Books

On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Wishes Fulfilled: Mastering the Art of Manifesting by Dr. Wayne Dyer

This week we are joined by Xochiquetzal Duti Odinsdottir. We not only talk more about the events of Pantheacon 2015, but we also talk about how the progressive movement deals with issues of race. How do we open our eyes to how racism works in our society? What is the future of racism and social justice in America? How do we crack the lenses that we’ve been given by history and by our faiths so that we can see outside our smaller communities and groups?

Xochiquetzal Duti Odinsdottir is genderqueer, AFAB, Mexican (born Stateside), mujerista, social activist, and Witch. Xochiquetzal does a lot of work in joining the Sacred and the Profane. They were recently elevated to High Priest/ess in Treebridge Tradition and are currently trying to figure out what that means (besides MORE work).

Links

Xochi’s email: [email protected]

Xochi’s Website: SacredProfanity.com

Sacred Profanity Facebook Page

Books

Bringing Race to the Table edited by Crystal Blanton, Taylor Ellwood, and Brandy Williams

In this episode, we are joined by Crystal Blanton, priestess, social worker, and author, to talk about not only the events that happened at Pantheacon 2015, but also about why the discussion about racism in the Pagan community is important. We also talk about the wider issues of racism in America, and the realities of living as a Person (and Pagan) of Color.

Crystal Blanton is a High Priestess, clinical counselor/social worker, graduate student in a Social Work program at a California State University and a published author. She writes and coordinates the Patheos blog “Daughters of Eve”, is a writer for Sage Woman Magazine, is a monthly columnist for The Wild Hunt, and on the board of Solar Cross Temple. She has been a practicing Pagan for the last 12 years, worked in Social Services for 17 years, and currently provides clinical intervention services to disenfranchised youth in Oakland schools. She has had the privilege of traveling as a guest at Pagan Spirit Gathering in 2012, and Sacred Harvest Festival in 2011, 2012 and 2014. She was the keynote speaker for the 10th Annual Conference on Current Pagan Studies in 2014. She has also enjoyed the chance to teach and learn at Pantheacon for the past years.

Within her personal life, she has been with her husband since 1996, has four children, and raises a multicultural family in the Bay Area. Among her passion for social justice work, she is an advocate for expanding common understanding of privilege, race relations, the use of restorative justice practices and cultural empathy; furthering constructive discussions that are often taboo and misunderstood in society.

Links

Crystal’s Website

Books

Bringing Race to the Table

Bridging the Gap

Shades of Faith

Shades of Ritual: Minority Voices in Practice

Pain and Faith in a Wiccan World: Spirituality, Ethics and Transformation

This week we talk to Dave Menefee, alchemist and author, about alchemy, specifically plant alchemy. David explains what alchemy is, and how it differs from allopathic (western) medicines. We talk about why allopathic medicine is dragging it’s feet about the mind-body connection and how alternative medicines take more of the whole person into account. We also talk about the Philosopher’s Stone and Dave’s new book, “The Soul Thief.”

N.B.: Dave mentions in the interview a CD for sale by the Philosophers of Nature. Unfortunately, the CD and website are no longer available. If anyone has any information about this CD, please post in the comments.

This episode was recorded in front of a live audience on February 13, 2015 in the st4r.org/Circle of Cerridwen suite at Pantheacon.

David Menefee lives on a 41-acre ranch with his partner Rachel Anderson in rural northern California. David alternates between working from his home office on websites for non-profit organizations and writing short stories and novels. He is also a practitioner of a variety of arcane arts, including brewing and alchemy (which are very closely related), and he teaches a small class in theurgy for local students. David has published book one of the "Gypsy Dreamwalker" series, "The Soul Thief," available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Book two, "The God of Battles," is slated to be published in March of 2015. Rachel and David co-authored "Poems de Terre," a short collection of poetry that's available on Amazon in hardback, paperback and Kindle editions. Volume two will be published in 2015.

Links and Books:

Dave’s email: [email protected]

Websites: sophicarts.org and dmenefee.com

Real Alchemy by Robert Bartlett: http://www.levity.com/alchemy

Light on the Path: A Study Guide for Qabala, Alchemy, & Astrology (IHS Study Guides) (Volume 1) by Mark Stavish and Alfred DeStefano III

Esoteric Archives

Dave’s Amazon Author’s Page: http://smile.amazon.com/David-Menefee/e/B00JDCR1B2