The Path Ministry

                 The American “justice system” does not, in fact, dispense justice. What it does is exact vengeance upon those who have done society harm. (Whether that harm is tangible, or merely a violation of some collective moral code.)           The difference between justice and vengeance is quite important. The definition of “justice:” “just behavior or treatment”. The definition of “just” (for our purposes): “based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair.” The definition of “vengeance”: “punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong.” (Source: online dictionary)           What we have in place is rarely fair. People whose crime is basically having no money, such as homeless people, can be charged with vagrancy and asked to pay a fine that they literally could never afford. The “crime” of prostitution (w...

Derived from Ancient Greek haíresis (αἵρεσις), the English heresy originally meant "choice" or "thing chosen". (Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresy ) I am a heretic; I have chosen.   Everyone cherry-picks their ideas, theological and otherwise. Some are just more honest about it. As my old mentor/High Priestess Nan used to say: "Take what works, and shit-can the rest." Religion in particular should be seen as a buffet of ideas, no matter what religious authorities would have you believe. You can absolutely choose which tenets to keep and which to disregard. You would go mad trying to obey every commandment in Leviticus, for example. This freedom to choose has a few caveats, however. For one thing, it is important to remember that the rules you have chosen to follow only apply to you. It is never acceptable to force or expect others to agree with or obey your religious tenets, and the rule of law should not be based on your religious prin...

  Official Wedding Ceremony (Please note that all aspects of this Ceremony can be adapted depending upon the participants’ wishes.) The space should be Sanctified beforehand. Set up an Altar with flowers, candles, and any other items. Altar and Officiant should be in the North, and the participants enter, hand in hand, from the South.   Greeting Dearly beloved, we gather now to celebrate The most joyous of occasions: The union of (Name) and (Name) in holy matrimony. Bear witness as we join them together To share their love and lives. The solemn vows these two exchange today Are meant to last for all time. As such, this is not a bond to enter into lightly Or for the wrong reasons. (Name) and (Name) have been together For (time), and they are now ready To take the next step in their relationship. They come here today, hand in hand, To declare themselves before their loved ones, And take each other as partners in life.   ( Any readings...

  The appeal of the dichotomy is understandable. It’s psychologically soothing to have two clear options, so we can act accordingly. Unfortunately, life is messy and complicated, and many of the dichotomies we embrace as a society are not only false, they are actively damaging. Consider the false dichotomy of “fight or flight,” of which I’ve written before. If you believe you only have two possible responses to perceived threat of trauma, you won’t realize that freeze, flop, and friend may be more appropriate to the situation. You could end up punching your boss, because running away is for cowards. Even worse, however, are the dichotomies we apply to sex, sexuality, and gender: you’re either gay or straight, male or female. What we are finally beginning to acknowledge is that these things exist on a spectrum, and the old labels just don’t work anymore. But there are still those who cling to these false dichotomies and refuse to recognize anyone’s identity if it doesn’t fit in ...

  Omnipotence and the Negation of Free Will   If there is an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent deity, then our concept of free will is an illusion. Consider this: such a deity (let’s call it God, as so many are wont to do) knows everything you will ever do, every decision you will make, from cradle to grave. It is impossible for you to do anything other than that which he has already seen; you cannot surprise God, you cannot do anything contrary to his plan. Nothing will ever happen that he did not know about beforehand, and in fact directly caused, as the creator/controller of the universe. Were there such a deity (and I’m fairly confident there is not), he would be responsible for every tragedy, every atrocity, every natural disaster humanity has ever endured. If there is such a deity, humanity owes him nothing. In fact, I would say he has some serious explaining to do. Now, some of you may be saying to yourselves: What about the Devil? Isn’t he responsible? D...

  On Sacrifice and the Path   Sacrifice is a prevailing theme of many world religions, whether you are giving up life, time, or money. The idea is that you have to pay for salvation somehow; nothing is free, after all. Some religions have an entire laundry list of things you cannot do, things you must give up entirely in order to practice their faith. Some ask for money, either through tithes or “charitable donations.” The entire Christian faith is based on what is an objectively barbaric form of human sacrifice. The message is clear: to be saved, you must offer up something in return, or forgo something you once indulged in. A sacrifice must be made. Pagan spiritual traditions incorporate energetic reciprocity: to invoke the favors of the gods, certain offerings are made. These offerings can be physical or energetic in nature, either cream and honey to please the Fae folk, or personal psychic energy expended during a healing rite. These sacrifices are more personal (as ...

 All our lives, most of us have been told that there are only two possible responses to fear stimuli: fight, or flight. You can either punch that clown, or run away. This is unmitigated bullshit. There are, in fact, five possible responses to fear stimuli: fight, flight, freeze, flop, or friend. Let's unpack these other three options a little bit: Freeze. Pretty self-explanatory, but there is an added benefit to this option: it gives you a moment to think about what to do next. The downside to freezing is that sometimes it's hard to unfreeze and move forward. But sometimes, the best thing to do is hold still with your eyes closed until the clown goes away. Flop. Just go limp, physically or mentally. Demonstrate that you aren't a threat, in the hopes that the aggressor will leave you be. The mental counterpart to the physical flop is to hold your tongue and let them think they won the argument. Flopping is a good option when the point of contention is minimal to the point of...