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In light of recent Pagan conversations around the blogosphere on the topic of animal sacrifice, I thought I'd skip ahead in the Vegan Pagan series to offer the animal-centric perspective I had scheduled for January. I'll be back on track next month.

Good Samhain to all!

- Ceallaigh

Note: If you haven't yet read The Vegan Pagan: Introduction, The Vegan Pagan: Interstice the First and The Vegan Pagan: Interstice the Second, I encourage you to do so before moving on to this entry.

This is the least intersectional and least spiritual of the entries I'll be writing on veganism and Paganism. The reason is simple. If a vegan diet is bad for your body, this conversation is over, and that's the way it should be. Conversely, if a vegan diet is good for your body, any spiritual work you undertake is enhanced by the benefit your diet brings you. I'll also be discussing relationships between the vegan diet and disease and the problem of antibiotic resistance as it relates to animal agriculture, since it also relates to food choices and public health.

As before, I've been following the Facebook conversations around my vegan blog entries, and this time I've noticed further discussion around the idea of plant sentience. Some of you have argued that plants are no different from animals and so the eating of plants and animals should be considered on equal footing.

How very animistic of you. I would expect no less from my Pagan community.

It's an interesting question and one deserving of its own space, so I've decided to offer a vegan perspective here in advance of my next major blog entry in the series.

For the sake of argument, let's presume that plants possess independent minds and thoughts of sufficient complexity that they can deliberately communicate with the world. From this premise, a plant-based diet would still represent the most ethical choice and the path of least destruction, because every single animal life requires the consumption of many plant lives. There are a number of peer-reviewed studies explaining feed to meat conversion ratios, but here's a handy chart from NPR that shows the amount of grain, forage and grazing land required to produce a quarter-pound hamburger:

I've been following the Facebook conversation around my first post in this series, and I'd like to address a few things here that I hope will help to facilitate a more congenial conversation around this topic going forward.

First, to my fellow vegan Pagans: If you've allowed yourself to be baited into flaming on Facebook, you're not helping the animals, the Earth or yourself. Difficult as it is to do, you need to remain calm when you address non-vegans in cyberspace, even when you're treated unfairly. Remember what you believe in, and let your ethics guide your responses, not your anger. Thank you.

Second, to my fellow omnivore Pagans: Many of the arguments you've made on Facebook are addressed via the links I provided in my first post, so I would encourage you to peruse them. I would also encourage you to remember that I wrote my introductory post for the very reason that I was concerned about the possible tone of the conversation around this topic.  So please think carefully before you comment. Thank you.

Third, to Witches & Pagans: I understand the need to foster a balanced environment around difficult topics, but I ask you to remember that I have not yet made an argument of any kind. When I do, it will certainly be appropriate to point interested readers to "the opposite argument". Further, I hope to provide the sort of pro-vegan information you can point to for balance when others write anti-vegan blog posts. Thank you.

Finally, to the peaceable Pagans who commented thoughtfully in the aforementioned Facebook thread: Vegan or omnivore; thank you, thank you, thank you.

In the next several weeks, I'll be discussing intersections between veganism and Paganism. As a long-time vegan, animal rights activist and wildlife rescuer, I believe I can bring a perspective to the discussion that might be helpful to vegans and non-vegans alike. But before I do that, I think it's important to lay some groundwork, and that's what this entry is all about.

First, I'd like you to check in with your body and your emotions right now. Take a breath and ask yourself if reading the last paragraph left your neck, shoulders or any other part of your body feeling tight or tense. Consciously release those muscles. Give 'em some love. Now ask your mind, heart and gut if they've thrown up any defenses to the topic at hand. Acknowledge those defenses, if they exist, and remind yourself that you are ultimately in control of your body, your mind and your words. You don't have to let anything in that you don't want to explore, and you don't have to let anything out that hurts others. Now take another breath. Thanks, and good on ya.

I began with that exercise because many people have strong, negative reactions to veganism, and that's okay. It's a mighty challenging subject. That said, I don't want for this space to be about offense and defense. Yes, I believe in what I'm writing about, and yes, I'll be writing about some challenging things. But I'm first and foremost a fellow traveler on the path, and I'm not here to pass judgement on your plate. I'm also not here to be the recipient of reactionary discourse. So let's be kind to one another around this topic, even when we disagree.

For those of you who plan to comment on this series, there's one other thing I'd like you to do. You might not know this, but vegans are asked the same sorts of questions all the time, so often that there are many articles on the Internet devoted to listing and answering them. So before you ask a 'What about...?' question in the comments, please peruse the fine selection of links below. No disrespect, but I won't be answering those questions here if they should pop up.

Song A Day #810: Vegan Myths Debunked WATCH ME FIRST!
Simple Answers to Vegan FAQs
A response to typical comments vegans hear from non-vegans.
Vegan Outreach - Frequently Asked Questions

Above all, I ask that you hang in there with me while we have this discussion. Pretend you're in my house eating an awesome chocolate chip cookie and drinking the finest tea my prodigious tea cabinet has to offer. Pretend you have strong opinions and I have strong opinions, but we want to keep eating these cookies and drinking this tea because they rock and we want to be friends. Thank you.

Last, but not least, I offer you the beautiful, inspirational and amazing "Vegan Pagan Prayer" written by one of our fellow travelers on the path, Dianne Sylvan. Go read it. You won't be sorry.

I'll see you next month.

Happy Thursday, everyone! Today our Earthy Thursday edition brings your the Pagan Environmental Coalition, fracking Stonehenge, the wonders of plantain, and an excursion to coastal Maine and an all-vegan ecosystem.

Will "the public interest" lead to fracking of British world heritage sites? The Independent thinks that's where we're headed.