The Dionysian Naturalist

[appears in the blog Humanistic Paganism , 2015] The relationship between humans and our natural world is enshrined and encapsulated in interpretive schemes and manners of conceptualization.  Our conceptions of nature act as resources which guide our everyday practices and give us a sense of possibility.  Given our current ecological crisis, enflamed as it is by global climate change and numerous other issues, we must critically scrutinize our current conceptualization of our natural world, figure out if it is contributing to our problems and consider potential alternatives that might be able to guide us to a more sustainable way of living.  Before addressing our modern image of nature, I first review the conceptions of the natural world found among our archaic ancestors.  I conclude by arguing that we need a new way of thinking about nature—as a “sacred living system”. “The Wisdom of the Earth” Close examination of the conceptions of the natural world...

Enchanting Naturalism [forthcoming, Humanistic Paganism] by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. I went looking for the soul of modernity and surprisingly found it to be alive, although severely injured and in vital need of resuscitation.  Let me first comment on the “alive” characteristic of the soul of modernity.   Religious institutions, theological doctrines and embodied spiritual traditions still inform most people’s lives and worldviews on the northern American continent.  Even that growing segment of the population called “None of the Above” (for their lack of official and formal religious identification) are often deeply involved in a wide range of alternative spiritual experiences in their personal and everyday lives.  These might include transcendent experiences in nature, yoga, tai chi, or other (often Eastern) traditional movement regimes, or Kaballah, prayer or other contemplative practices, etc.  Modernity, at least as how experienced ...

DANCING WITH DIONYSUS: ECSTASY, NATURALISM AND RELIGION IN THE AGE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE [chapter forthcoming in John Halstead (editor), Godless Paganism ] by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D. “ A religion, new or old, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reference and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge”.  Carl Sagan (1994) Pale Blue Dot My goal in this essay is to explore a form of “Godless Paganism” I refer to as Dionysian Naturalism—an approach to religion ground in scientific evidence but imbued with reverence and awe, and centered around spiritual ecstasy.  I contextualize this “earth-centered” spirituality and search for sacred ways to experience altered states of consciousness within the contours of my autobiography.  The importance of ecstatic experiences in religious behavior is highlighted and I briefly mine the...