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Time
Read more: TimeChanging Paths challenge 19: Time 🕰️ ⏰ Humans haven’t always thought of time as linear. A cyclical view of time seems to me to be more in tune with Nature. Many cultures see time as cyclical, or as a set of interlocking cycles: the cycle of the sun, the moon, the stars, the rotation of…
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On being a Queer Muslim
Read more: On being a Queer MuslimAmazing conversation on being a Queer Muslim, leaving and returning to your religion with a fresh perspective, navigating different spaces that don’t support every aspect of who you are, and dealing with religious trauma. Watch the video
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Intuition
Read more: IntuitionChanging Paths challenge day 18: Intuition Spidey sense, gut feeling: we might call these a sort of bodily knowledge, but they are key components of intuition.
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My path
Read more: My pathChanging Paths challenge day 17: my journey Despite the adage that one supposedly becomes more conservative as one gets older, I have in fact become more left-wing. I’m generation X but apparently this is also true of millennials. Good job millennials, keep it up. In terms of my Pagan path, my goals have shifted towards…
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Life
Read more: LifeChanging Paths challenge day 16: life. “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” — Maya Angelou Maya Angelou also said that none of us are free until we are all free. The bottom line is that…
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The sky
Read more: The skyChanging Paths challenge 15: the sky. The sky has a huge impact on my mood. If it’s blue with a few clouds, I’m happy. If it’s dramatic, I’m excited. If there’s a rainbow, I love it (especially the rainbow that appeared the day after Ireland voted for same sex marriage). If it’s grey and overcast,…
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My path
Read more: My pathChanging Paths challenge day 14: my path. I don’t really describe my path as a spiritual path anymore. I think of it as an embodied path. My practice is to notice the beauty in the everyday: flowers, trees, music, the landscape, the sky, food, and poetry. As The Charge of the Goddess says, all acts…
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Roots and wings
Read more: Roots and wingsChanging Paths Challenge day 13: Roots and wings Today’s prompt is a reference to Carolyn McDade’s classic song, Spirit of Life, which contains the line “roots hold me close, wings set me free”. My family roots are in nonconformist churches but there’s also a strong tradition of loving Nature. My Mum loved Nature and so…
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Songs
Read more: SongsChanging Paths challenge day 12: Songs. Singing has always been a big part of my spirituality, and I love being in choirs. I dream of organizing a Pagan choir again one day.
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Wonder and awe
Read more: Wonder and aweChanging Paths challenge day 11: wonder and awe. I experience wonder and awe in response to Nature, whether in the form of mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, trees, or on a smaller scale such as the beauty of flowers or the complexity of a spider web.
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Animals and birds
Read more: Animals and birdsChanging Paths challenge day 10: animals and birds. I love animals and birds and Nature. It feels like such a privilege to see animals and birds in the wild. In our garden we have chipmunks and cardinals and robins and rabbits. We were once visited by a very floofy skunk. We have only seen one…
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Drama
Read more: DramaChanging Paths challenge 9: drama. I took this photo of a rather dramatic sky the other day. Whenever I see clouds like this, it reminds me of the bit in The Blues Brothers movie where one of them says “we’re on a mission from God”.
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Dreaming of change
Read more: Dreaming of changeChanging Paths challenge day 8: dreams The world is dreaming of alternatives to capitalism and colonialism. The student encampments are temporary autonomous zones (TAZs) where students are demonstrating alternative ways to live: that people from different backgrounds and religions can live side by side, and cooperate. If we want to move away from capitalism, colonialism…
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Change
Read more: ChangeChanging Paths challenge day 7: Change Most people do not cope well with change, especially if it involves loss or destruction of their former way of life. It is hard for people with privilege to imagine losing more than one person in your family or friends group at a time: imagine losing all of them…
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Reconnecting
Read more: ReconnectingChanging Paths challenge day 5: Reconnecting Reconnecting with your spirituality when you feel uninspired, or heartbroken. Heartbroken at the multiple genocides, wars, massacres, injustices happening in the world. Heartbroken over climate catastrophe and species destruction.
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Nature
Read more: NatureChanging Paths challenge day 4: Nature. 💚🌿 Many years ago, when I was a child, I was told that the Israeli settlers had planted trees in the desert and made Israel greener. I was told this at an event organized by evangelical Christians. This shows the prevalence of Zionism among evangelical Christians. (1)
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Peace
Read more: PeaceChanging Paths challenge day 3. Peace. Deep within the still centre of my beingMay I find peace.Silently within the quiet of the GroveMay I share peace.Gently, powerfully, within the greater circle of humankindMay I radiate peace. — Druid prayer for peace (OBOD)
Blog
Blog archive
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Ways of talking about faith
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Tenth anniversary edition of All acts
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Meditation is powerful
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DARVO
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Do you fear death?
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Discerning good theology
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Red flags
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Rapping about the rapture
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Unpacking religious baggage
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Deprogramming with Gillian Jenkinson
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Debunking clobber verses
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Pagan Roots — available now
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Toxic positivity
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