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Here in Paganistan, as across Pagandom, when you open a bottle of, say, wine, it's customary to pour out the first few drops onto the ground in thanksgiving to Themselves.
But sometimes you forget.
You know how it is. A glass gets knocked over, the wine is lost.
“Was this bottle libated?” someone always asks.
Turns out, usually, it wasn't.
Here we see, then, yet another good reason to pour libations.
In Which the Warlocks Discuss Theology
Best practice addresses present gods.
Just so.
Best to address, say, Thunder, in his presence, in the storm?
Best so.
May one, then, address Thunder in his absence? To address him while, say, the Sun shines?
One may.
How so, if addressing in presence is best?
The Sun shines, though we do not see him. At any given moment on Earth, Thunder is somewhere present, even if not here.
So it is to that Thunder somewhere present, then, that we address ourselves in absence?
On the face of it, paganism sounds pretty easy.
You pick some god or goddess from Long Ago and Far Away. You buy a statue, you light some incense. Voilà: paganism.
But, of course, that's not paganism at all. Go ahead, buy all the statues and light all the incense that you want to.
Long Ago and Far Away, statues and incense: that's not paganism. That's a cartoon of paganism. At best, it's a place to begin.
Real paganism? Oh, that's much harder.
