“Pagan Roots: Reclaiming concepts of the sacred” will be published on 22 April 2025 and available from all online stores.
Contemporary Paganism has sought to recover some concepts that were lost or rejected in past centuries, but has ignored or rejected others that were absorbed into Christian discourse. Can we reclaim some of these terms and recover their original meanings?
Nowadays I am fairly and squarely a Pagan and an inclusive polytheist Wiccan, but one who has been enriched by my wobble.
I gained many good friends, sorted out my anger and fears, and learned new spiritual techniques and concepts.
I’ve written four books (All acts of love and pleasure: inclusive Wicca, Dark Mirror: the inner work of witchcraft, The Night Journey: Witchcraft as Transformation, and Changing Paths) since then and co-edited another (Pagan Consent Culture with Christine Hoff-Kraemer).
I’m still skeptical-but-open-minded. I’ve had spiritual experiences that were deeply satisfying and meaningful. At heart I’m an animist and a lover of flowers and trees and animals and birds. As I write, I can hear birds singing. And the singing will never be done.
The goal of the book is to help you decide your own path by guiding you through the perils and pitfalls of the terrain, and asking questions to help you deepen your understanding of the reasons for your desire to change paths.
I left Unitarianism in the end because of archetypes. The archetype that fits me the best is that of the witch, and it’s an archetype that sits uncomfortably in the Unitarian path. (The combination may work for others: didn’t work for me.)
I left Christianity because of its exclusivist views on salvation and the institutional homophobia.
And when I left Paganism for a while in 2007, it was because of it being excessively heterocentric / heteronormative, and other reasons too lengthy to get into here.
However, at the end of the day, you have to pick something (could be atheism, could agnosticism, could be a religion or spirituality) and make it work for you. I chose inclusive polytheist Wicca.
Well I’m not sure that Paganism is my “new” path any more as I’ve been a Pagan for 38 years now… but what keeps it fresh? Seeing the beauty of nature, and when humans interact with nature harmoniously. The changing round of the seasons. Seeing the trees burst into leaf and the flowers coming out every year.
I came to terms with being gay in 1996. At the time I was an evangelical Christian and tried to keep my faith for two and a half years. It didn’t work. I realized that even if I accepted I was gay, my upbringing had taught me to hate myself and see myself as worthless so I needed a change.
Part 2: My First Witchcraft Book
I made many new friends to support me. The friend group I got involved with consisted of a lot of witches and Pagans. I asked one of them for a book recommendation. They recommended Cunningham’s book. I fell in love. Magic resonated with me. And the God and Goddess were full of love and acceptance.
Changing Paths 