Pagan Paths


PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.

  • Home
    Home This is where you can find all the blog posts throughout the site.
  • Tags
    Tags Displays a list of tags that have been used in the blog.
  • Bloggers
    Bloggers Search for your favorite blogger from this site.
  • Login
    Login Login form

Paths Blogs

Specific paths such as Heathenism, blended traditions, polytheist reconstructionism, etc.

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Coffee with Odin

Recently, it occurred to me that when I speak with the gods, and they speak back to me, they are using my brain to communicate with me, so they use whatever they find in my brain. I speak to them in my native language, English, and they speak back in English. Or, they might speak in symbols with which I am familiar, and therefore may understand. They speak in the sounds, sights, and smells that have meaning for me. For example, I might see an animal I associate with a specific god, such as a butterfly for Sigyn. The gods don't really need to communicate with signs, since I have time set aside every day for communication with them. But they send them sometimes anyway, because it brings me joy, awe, and wonder.

Daily ritual anchors the gods in my life each day. There are rituals meant to be unique and only done once and there are rituals meant to be the same every time, and both have value. My small daily rituals are meant to be similar to each other every time. 

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Tasty Treats, Minoan Style

Food is such an important facet of human culture and a great way to connect with others. It's also a fabulous way to make a long-ago culture feel more real.

I've shared about Minoan food and cooking before, here and hereToday, I'm going to go all "ancient food blogger" on you with an actual recipe.

...
Last modified on
Recent comment in this post - Show all comments
  • Calysta Rose
    Calysta Rose says #
    oh this sounds delicious! I'll have to try this soon ty!

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Rockin' Religion: The Minoan Baetyl Ritual

Considering that we can't read the Linear A records the Minoans left behind, we know a surprising amount about their religious practices. Much of it is what we would expect from a Bronze Age culture in the Mediterranean and adjacent regions: processions, libations, temples, shrines. The art and archaeology tell us as much.

But some of the Minoans' religious practices were distinct from their neighbors'.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
The Animate World is the Normal World

I happened on a scientific paper saying that believing in or sensing the spirit in an "object" was abnormal. How sad it must be to live in a world full of dead things, where everything is inanimate. Worse to evangelize it and say animist religion and fairy tales are pathological.

Animist religion is not something from the dusty past. Many modern religions have animist components, not only modern revivals of pagan and heathen religions, but continuous religions too.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Sacred Smoke: Minoan Incense

We Pagans love our incense! That has been the case for a very, very long time. As you might expect, the Minoans also enjoyed incense, and plenty of it.

The fresco above is from the West House in Akrotiri. It shows a young girl adding what looks like saffron threads to an incense burner. We know she's a girl because of her unnaturally white skin. And we know she's not an adult because of her hair - it's shaved, with a few long locks, an indication of a person who has not yet come of age.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Minoan Ritual: Entering the Temple

The thing about spiritual practices is that that you have to actually practice them. Which means you need methods, formats, structures.

In Ariadne's Tribe, we have a ritual format that we use to celebrate our connection with the Minoan deities. I had the pleasure of sharing it with the delightful folx at Mystic South last weekend. I hope to get to do another, more colorful ritual next year.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

Apparition, Forest

 b2ap3_thumbnail_Trees-and-Sun.JPG

We pass through so many scenes in a day. We are confronted by wonders and images that are sometimes difficult to believe. Often, we discount them. Sometimes, we see them,  but they do not register in our consciousness, only to be recycled as we sleep and as we dream. Yet, from time to time, we are confronted by things that we just cannot dismiss or ignore or just explain away. I had one of these happenings just the other day.

...
Last modified on

Additional information