From The Earth Neo-Pagan to The Eco-Pagan

The website earthneopagan.net has now been moved to pagan.eco and is now called The Eco-Pagan. I did this because it expresses in the most direct and simple way what I wish to achieve with this blog.

.Eco aspects of Paganism

For decades, people have referred to Paganism as an Earth-based and Nature-based religion. With this I firmly agree. But Paganism has always been more than that. Paganism is, and must continue to be a very diverse and decentralized group of spiritual paths and/or religions. Almost all Pagans look at least somewhat to ancient religions inspiration for a new spirituality. These are mostly European and Mediterranean pre-Abrahamic religions. I avoid applying the word “Pagan” to non-European/Mediterranean religions. This is because the word developed and evolved in a European context that may not be relevant in other parts of the world.

There are people who wish to reconstruct the old religions as faithfully as possible. While that’s not my personal choice, I’m very glad that they are there because I can learn from them. I have particular respect for Celtic Reconstructionists, not only because of my Scottish and Irish heritage but because there are a lot of misrepresentations of these cultures generally. (For example, the “Celtic Tree Calendar” and “Celtic astrology” are 20th century CE inventions.).

Expressing Earth’s dire needs as Pagans

What I wish to add to the discussion is the dire needs the Earth has in the 21st century CE. I’ve learned about the Earth’s needs and the crises that Earth faces. As I do so, the more I realize the need to view the world in a very different way. A way different than most humans have viewed the Earth over the past 250, 550, or even 10,000 years.

This is why a reconstructed Pagan faith from the past is not, by itself, truly Earth-oriented by definition. Science has given us a picture of a very different Earth than what the ancients understood. At the same time, the ancients do truly have a lot to contribute to the discussion. Reverence for cultures must be combined with an objective and sober look at the Earth’s needs. The Paganism that I strive for blends these cultural and ecological ways to create new traditions appropriate for this day and age.

Finally, my choice of the Pagan.eco domain registers this website with the .eco registry. The domain name .eco was created after the organization responsible for domain names–Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)–allowed entities around the world to apply for creating new generic top-level domains back in 2008 (gTLD’s being domain suffixes). The Dot ECO Community Organization submitted an application in 2012 and was approved.

Registering a domain like pagan.eco also challenges me to think harder about my impact on the environment. It encourages me to push harder to “walk my talk.” I view holding this domain to be a serious responsibility.

Many people besides myself were first drawn to Paganism because of the nature-oriented aspects of it. I am far from being the only environmentally-conscious Pagan or even the most environmentally-conscious. But I hope that Pagan.eco can draw people who really want to create changes in Earth’s time of need. I hope we can create a new spiritual ethic to help meet those needs in these challenging times.