Starhawk

Pagans and end-of-life care

Providing counseling as part of end-of-life care is good medicine, good religion, and good sense.

By Starhawk | November 4, 2009; 11:42 AM ET | Comments (1)

The True Spirit of Halloween, for Real Witches

For real Witches, Halloween has a deeper, spiritual meaning. This is the season when we honor the ancestors, mourn those who have died this year, and celebrate life.

By Starhawk | October 29, 2009; 12:08 PM ET | Comments (57)

How do I know what is good? Empathy tells me. That which furthers life, health, beauty, biodiversity, freedom, compassion, love, fairness and justice is good. If I act with integrity in the service of what I love, if I take responsibility for my actions and the well-being of others, I will do good.

By Starhawk | October 28, 2009; 08:35 PM ET | Comments (33)

Swine Flu, Health Care Decisions and Morality

Our traditions do tell us this: We are all embodiments of the divine, the Goddess. We all deserve flourishing health and lives of vitality.

By Starhawk | October 16, 2009; 01:04 AM ET | Comments (6)

An Epidemic of Bullying

It may be cheap fun to watch someone else get pounded by the thugs--but bullies have a way of turning on their former friends and allies. Watch out--you may be next!

By Starhawk | September 18, 2009; 04:05 AM ET | Comments (11)

Weapons in the Circle?

Guns do not belong at church, at synagogue, in the Mosque or in the Pagan grove. Nor, for that matter, do they belong in town hall meetings or political forums, in rock concerts or High Schools or on our city streets.

By Starhawk | September 10, 2009; 06:35 PM ET | Comments (25)

What to Teach Our Children About Religion

Teach our children about the wide variety of faiths and systems of value that our diverse population hold, and to respect other beliefs and non-beliefs.

By Starhawk | September 1, 2009; 05:36 PM ET | Comments (2)

On Compassion and the Release of the Lockerbie Bomber

Can we get MacAskill to emigrate and run for Justice Minister here? Perhaps he might free Leonard Peltier, an American Indian Movement activist who has been imprisoned for the last thirty-three years on perjured testimony by a tainted witness for the alleged murders of two FBI agents in 1975. Peltier, who is aging and whose health is deteriorating, was recently denied parole, with his next hearing set for 2024.

By Starhawk | September 1, 2009; 05:33 PM ET | Comments (1)

Health Care and Goddess-based Morality

In the Goddess tradition, healing is sacred. That means it is an area of life that has a value that cannot simply be measured by profit-and-loss sheets, akin to the value of life itself.

By Starhawk | August 19, 2009; 12:56 PM ET | Comments (41)

Separate the Civil and the Sacred

I don't believe the state has any business telling us who we should love or how. As a Pagan, I see marriage as one option for nurturing relationships--but not the only option. And I don't want another religion's values to define it for me.

By Starhawk | July 29, 2009; 12:28 PM ET | Comments (13)

If Male is Sacred, Female is Devalued

So if our only images of the sacred are male, and all positions of spiritual authority are held by men only, inevitably women will be devalued.

By Starhawk | July 26, 2009; 08:20 AM ET | Comments (12)

Obama's Speech Made Us Safer

This speech makes us all safer, and does a better job of it than a thousand drone attacks or military forays.

By Starhawk | June 6, 2009; 03:19 PM ET | Comments (49)

Tiller's Muder an Act of Terror Against Women

The murder of Dr. Tiller was an act of terror. Although its immediate victim was a man, it was aimed at women's hearts and minds, designed to shatter our oneness and assert control.

By Starhawk | June 3, 2009; 12:06 PM ET | Comments (12)

Witches Abhor Torture

In our 'thealogy,' the Goddess is immanent in every human being. Torture is a desecration of the sacred. It dehumanizes both the victims and the perpetrators, who must warp their souls and shut off any sense of empathy or compassion to carry it out. It erodes the moral ground we stand on when we as a nation allow torture in our name.

By Starhawk | May 11, 2009; 11:58 AM ET | Comments (35)

Time to Apologize to Witches

It's more than time that the Catholic and Protestant Churches both apologized for centuries of persecution of Witches, Pagans and those they deemed 'heretics' for believing something different than standard dogma.

By Starhawk | April 11, 2009; 12:18 PM ET | Comments (63)

Better Question: Why Does Evil Exist?

Contrary to popular belief, Witches, Wiccans, Pagans, Druids and all our kin do not believe in Satan.

By Starhawk | March 27, 2009; 09:35 AM ET | Comments (88)

Faith in the Goddess is Growing

Is America losing faith? Not, apparently, faith in the Goddess, as Wicca and Paganism seem to be growing while everything else is fading.

By Starhawk | March 23, 2009; 05:25 PM ET | Comments (5)

Stem Cells and Morality: A Pagan's View

Wiccans, Pagans and practitioners of Goddess religion have no organized authority to pronounce on moral issues.

By Starhawk | March 18, 2009; 09:20 AM ET | Comments (2)

Define "Responsible"

The core teaching of Goddess traditions is simply this: we are all interconnected and interdependent. If we recognize that truth, if we acknowledge that we must all pull together, we can steer through even the heaviest rapids. But if we start pushing people off the raft and fighting over the oars, we will all go under, responsible and irresponsible alike.

By Starhawk | March 5, 2009; 06:46 AM ET | Comments (54)

U.S. Must Earn Respect With Consistent Values

Yes, we can move forward into a new era of peace and trust, if we do three simple things: recognize the diversity and humanity of Muslims and all people, return our country to respect for human rights and international law, and demand the same from our allies.

By Starhawk | February 3, 2009; 07:35 AM ET | Comments (14)

Killing Children in Gaza and Israel

Killing children is never morally defensible. It is indefensible when done by rockets and suicide bombers, but it is equally indefensible when done by F16s, aerial bombardment, tanks and ground troops, or for that matter, by slow starvation, lack of medical supplies and care.

By Starhawk | January 13, 2009; 08:37 AM ET | Comments (13)

Think Global, Act Global on Climate Change

Climate change is a moral and ethical issue as well as a scientific and political one

By Starhawk | December 2, 2008; 06:26 AM ET | Comments (1)

Compassion Begins with Mother Earth

Compassion includes compassion for the earth, for all the interrelated and interacting life forms, for the plants, animals, birds, trees, even the microorganisms that sustain life. For if we don't include that broader community in the scope of our compassion, if we continue to destroy the very systems that support our lives, we cannot survive.

By Starhawk | November 13, 2008; 07:53 AM ET | Comments (250)

We All Earned the Puppy

Obama's election allows us to believe, not in him, but in the capacity of ourselves and our compatriots to move beyond racism and prejudice and choose a path of hope.

By Starhawk | November 10, 2008; 07:43 AM ET | Comments (37)

A Witch's Halloween

Are children who dress up in costumes and beg candy door-to-door participating in a Pagan rite? Does shopping in December makes you a Christian? Does chugging a beer during Mardi Gras makes you Catholic?

By Starhawk | October 31, 2008; 10:39 AM ET | Comments (35)

Pagan Values and Politics

Pagans see every human being as an embodiment of the divine. So we have a strong religious reason to vote for the candidate who will protect human rights, who will most fairly administer justice, who will serve the interests of the poor, provide for the old and the ailing, and nurture the children.

By Starhawk | October 30, 2008; 01:09 AM ET | Comments (94)

The Goddess Empowers Women

The Goddess is deep compassion--but she's not always sweet. She empowers us to be strong as well as kind, wild as well as nurturing. Ultimately, she is nature herself, the great cycles of birth, growth, death and regeneration that move through all of life.

By Starhawk | October 21, 2008; 01:20 PM ET | Comments (518)

Reject the Politics of Hate

Those of us who lay claim to some form of spiritual leadership should absolutely condemn the tactics of personal attack. We should call our politicians and our communities to think, speak and act from our best selves, not our worst, from respect and compassion, not from stoked-up rage and hate.

By Starhawk | October 20, 2008; 12:56 AM ET | Comments (89)

Judging Character They Have, Not Characters They Know

Goddess, God or fortune, preserve us from ever being subjected to the laser scrutiny trained on a presidential candidate! It's a wonder we can find anyone halfway sane to run for that office. The most important company a candidate keeps is that of her or his own conscience.

By Starhawk | October 10, 2008; 07:32 AM ET | Comments (106)

Will You Defend My Constitutional Rights?

Should you be elected, will you defend my Constitutional right to freedom of religion? Will you defend the rights of all Americans to worship as we please, whether we worship Jesus or Diana, Allah or the Virgin Mary, the Lord God as King or the Queen of Heaven?

By Starhawk | October 2, 2008; 02:05 PM ET | Comments (192)

Abortion and the Goddess

Whatever our views on pregnancy and choice, we share a moral imperative to care for the living children around us, to safeguard their health and to assure them the opportunity to grow up and fulfill their purpose on a thriving, healthy planet.

By Starhawk | September 25, 2008; 08:16 AM ET | Comments (132)

An Economy of Interconnection

A moral economy, in Pagan terms, would be very different. It would root enterprises in place and community, and be founded on the concept of balance and interconnection.

By Starhawk | September 17, 2008; 04:44 AM ET | Comments (140)

God On Our Side

Sarah Palin's God may want her to build the pipeline, but I've had personal communication from Thundering Herds of Reindeer Gods that say, "No way!"

By Starhawk | September 11, 2008; 01:13 PM ET | Comments (110)

At the Republican National Convention--New Moon Ritual

This is how magic works: We are gathered on sacred ground overlooking the Mississippi to celebrate the new moon and to begin this week of demonstrations and actions outside the Republican National Convention. We have an intention for the ritual, an intention the ritual planners have been working with here in the Twin Cities for months: to court an upwelling of earth wisdom.

By Starhawk | August 31, 2008; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (14)

Bad Moon Waning

I certainly would have told the Democrats that they're holding their convention during the waning phase of the moon, when it's harder to generate power, whereas the Republicans have commandeered the waxing phase of rising energy. Bad move, Dems.

By Starhawk | August 29, 2008; 12:02 PM ET | Comments (225)

Sex, Forgiveness and Politicians

Why are we so obsessed with every politician's sex life? Here's breaking news: power is sexy. Men who have power (and most likely women, too, although it works somewhat differently for us) are mega-attractive, and they act on it. Politicians do it. Gurus do it. Televangelists, new age shamans, priests and princes do it. Democrats and yes, even Republicans do it.

By Starhawk | August 26, 2008; 02:52 PM ET | Comments (26)

Take a Stand on Climate Change

Recently, major climate change scientist Jim Hanson has warned that the tipping point for runaway climate change is around 350 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere. We are now at about 385--already beyond the limit.

By Starhawk | August 16, 2008; 06:18 AM ET | Comments (34)

Tough Financial Times and the Goddess

When I need advice or guidance in times of trouble, be they economic, personal, or spiritual, I don't need a High Priestess or an oracle to interpret her voice, or a sacred grove in which to pray. I just need to step outside--a cracked pavement in a parking lot with weeds poking through will do.

By Starhawk | August 7, 2008; 11:15 AM ET | Comments (15)

The Chaplain's Role

Chaplains in the military should be well-trained in ecumenism, tolerance, and versed in the beliefs and practices of the multiplicity of religions they are likely to encounter, including Pagans, Muslims, Native Americans, Hindus, Buddhists and others beyond Christianity and Judaism.

By Starhawk | July 23, 2008; 05:55 AM ET | Comments (11)

The Paranormal and the "Normal"

What is ‘normal’ is for people to have dreams, intuitions, hunches, flashes of inspiration, incidents of serendipity, and moments of deep connection that can’t be measured or predicted.

By Starhawk | July 21, 2008; 06:03 AM ET | Comments (159)

A Sacred Choice and a Civil Right

Given the amount of time, energy, and agony we spend on love, shouldn’t it be an occasion of public amazement and celebration when two people find each other? If that commitment confers with it certain civil rights, then those rights should be equally available to all.

By Starhawk | May 23, 2008; 02:02 PM ET | Comments (90)

Nonviolence Still the Way

Today in the town of Bil’in in the Occupied Territories of the West Bank of Palestine, ten nonviolent protestors were injured by the tear gas and rubber bullets with which the Israeli army responds to the weekly demonstration against the wall. They are direct inheritors of King’s legacy.

By Starhawk | April 5, 2008; 07:10 AM ET | Comments (44)

Denied Entry Into Israel

To consider that Israel might be doing wrong, might herself be oppressing another people, is excruciatingly, emotionally painful. And yet it is the values of my Jewish upbringing that pushed me toward involvement

By Starhawk | April 1, 2008; 11:50 AM ET | Comments (176)

Two Legs of the Monster

One challenge of Goddess spirituality is to put the sacred back into the world, to heal the split and to speak for the deep value of each one of us and of the natural world that sustains life.

By Starhawk | March 31, 2008; 05:15 AM ET | Comments (117)

Religious Rights for Pagan Prisoners

Patrick estimates that there are twenty to twenty-five thousand Pagan prisoners in the U.S. correctional system.

By Starhawk | March 5, 2008; 09:31 AM ET | Comments (347)

Obama Casting a Good and Needed Spell

Magically speaking, then, Obama is casting a good spell. Whether he wins or loses, he’s filling the psychic and emotional atmosphere with words like ‘healing’ and ‘hope’. The effect is like a clean breeze blowing through a morass of stinking, noxious fumes.

By Starhawk | February 23, 2008; 08:16 AM ET | Comments (257)

Whose God? My Pagan Gods?

I’m a Pagan. We have many Gods, with widely varying sets of standards. Are we going to amend the Constitution in favor of Hera, Goddess of marriage, or Aphrodite, Goddess of unbridled love?

By Starhawk | January 25, 2008; 03:09 PM ET | Comments (321)

A Pagan's Christmas Resolution

I'd vote for such a resolution if I could write it myself - with a few edits.

By Starhawk | December 29, 2007; 02:03 PM ET | Comments (51)

Let's Celebrate All Deities

I do not support Christ being the star of the show in public celebrations—not unless he’s willing to share the stage with Lugh the Sun God and Saule the Sun Goddess, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna, Judah Macabee and a host of others.

By Starhawk | December 19, 2007; 11:01 AM ET | Comments (116)

Sex Scandals: The Pagan Perspective

In a sane world, we would be far less scandalized by the pleasures politicians indulge in, and far more outraged by the deaths they cause.

By Starhawk | November 29, 2007; 07:53 AM ET | Comments (331)

Forgiveness and Learning

The Goddess does not preside over a system of reward and punishment. Our framework for spiritual growth and ethical behavior is one of learning

By Starhawk | November 15, 2007; 08:58 AM ET | Comments (109)

Torture Is Never Justified

The use of torture undermines our moral credibility and makes a lie of any claims that we stand for democracy or even decency. Every time we torture, we create a hundred new enemies.

By Starhawk | November 7, 2007; 06:27 AM ET | Comments (117)

Children's Health Care: A Prime Moral Imperative

Something is terribly wrong with our values and priorities when we spend billions of dollars to kill and begrudge the cost of healing and care for children, and for adults

By Starhawk | November 2, 2007; 01:04 PM ET | Comments (101)

Consider Both Halloweens

Truly if a committee had sat down to design the Most Fun Holiday Ever, they could hardly have done better than Halloween.

By Starhawk | October 31, 2007; 10:10 AM ET | Comments (40)

The Real Meaning of Halloween

At this time of year, we say, “the veil is thin that divides the worlds, the seen from the unseen, the day to day from the mysteries.”

By Starhawk | October 30, 2007; 06:07 PM ET | Comments (2)

Pagans Embrace Science

From a Pagan point of view, there’s no contradiction between religion and science. Our Goddess is immanent in the earth and the cycles of nature, and the more we understand about the earth, the deeper is our sense of awe...

By Starhawk | October 26, 2007; 01:07 PM ET | Comments (2)

Starhawk's Fall/Winter Schedule

Starhawk’s Fall/Winter Schedule: * The Spiral Dance -- October 27, San Francisco * Samhain ritual -- October 28, Sebastopol * On-Line Course: "Inner Compass: Finding and Holding the Vision" -- starts November 12 * Urban Earth Activist Training Weekend Series...

By Starhawk | October 23, 2007; 01:55 PM ET | Comments (1)

Pagan Spiritual Values

Yet there are Buddhists who fail in compassion, Christians who lack charity, and yes, even Pagans who drive SUVs and don’t compost their garbage.

By Starhawk | October 23, 2007; 09:30 AM ET | Comments (301)

A Pagan View of Death

Pagans see birth and life as a great gift, and the reward of a good life is to be reborn again among those we have loved before.

By Starhawk | October 12, 2007; 02:37 PM ET | Comments (169)

Time to Become Pre-Emptive Peacemakers

Retaliation and revenge have a grim logic of their own, that can never be satisfied by more of the same, and can never bring us true security.

By Starhawk | September 14, 2007; 08:24 AM ET | Comments (80)

Pagan Chaplains and Public Servants

Supporting a Pagan’s right to freedom of worship is one of the best things Christians can do to safeguard their own freedom.

By Starhawk | July 10, 2007; 09:31 AM ET | Comments (125)

No Morality in Continuing an Immoral War

We can serve no moral purpose by continuing an immoral aftermath to a deceitfully conceived, ineptly conducted, failed and immoral war.

By Starhawk | June 21, 2007; 08:24 AM ET | Comments (167)

Faith During Wartime

Emotions are energy, and energy is lifeforce, the counter to death.

By Starhawk | June 5, 2007; 07:19 AM ET | Comments (119)

Starhawk's Summer Schedule

Starhawk’s Summer Schedule—June-August The Short Version: Friday, June 8 Louisville, Kentucky pre-conference workshop: "Earth as Teacher, Earth as Healer" Friday-Sunday, June 8-10 Louisville, Kentucky Earth Spirit Rising Conference: "Return to Earth Wisdom" Friday-Monday, June 29- July 2 Ontario, Canada weekend...

By Starhawk | June 3, 2007; 07:36 PM ET | Comments (2)

Religion is a Human Construct

From the Pagan perspective, it’s all poetry.

By Starhawk | May 29, 2007; 09:57 AM ET | Comments (94)

Blessed by the Goddess

I’ve had losses and disappointments, but they are far outweighed by the gifts the Goddess has blessed me with.

By Starhawk | May 20, 2007; 09:28 AM ET | Comments (93)

Conditions for Forgiveness

When someone commits an act that harms another, the balance of community is disturbed. To restore the balance, a healing process must take place

By Starhawk | April 25, 2007; 06:35 PM ET | Comments (77)

Pagans, Witches and Media

For Witches and Pagans who feel underrepresented in the mainstream media, the world has never offered so many avenues through which we can make our own media.

By Starhawk | April 2, 2007; 09:31 AM ET | Comments (58)

Discrimination Against Pagans

While I can’t speak to the issue of discrimination against Catholics, I can say that religious discrimination against Pagans and Wiccans and indigenous religions is omnipresent in the U.S.

By Starhawk | March 18, 2007; 08:30 AM ET | Comments (87)

Four Years Ago Today

Act because hundreds of thousands who are now alive are marked for death if this war goes on or expands into Iran. Act because every perfumed flower and every bud that breaks into leaf this calls to us to cherish and safeguard life.

By Starhawk | March 16, 2007; 11:35 PM ET | Comments (2)

Can I Design the Lesson Plan on Wiccan?

There’s no better way to get kids to hate religion than to make it a mandatory subject in school

By Starhawk | March 11, 2007; 10:51 AM ET | Comments (825)

The Goddess Blesses All Forms of Love

The Goddess blesses all forms of love.

By Starhawk | March 1, 2007; 09:33 AM ET | Comments (73)

To Be A True Friend of the Jewish People

True friends of Israel will not support her in policies that sow hatred and reap retribution. Real allies of the Jewish people will listen to and amplify the voices of all those who cry out for justice.

By Starhawk | February 20, 2007; 02:18 AM ET | Comments (115)

Goddess Tradition Sees Sexuality as Sacred

Sexuality allows us to share and connect with one another, and therein lies its holiness.

By Starhawk | February 18, 2007; 12:47 PM ET | Comments (869)

Climate Change: A Moral Imperative to Act

Climate change calls us to become humble—a virtue most religions preach, and a word which has the same roots as humus. We must literally return to earth.

By Starhawk | February 9, 2007; 07:48 AM ET | Comments (130)

Starhawk's February Appearances

Tuesday, February 6 Swarthmore, Pennsylvania supper and talk "Dreaming the Dark": Activist and author Starhawk plunges into mass protest movements with the ancient wisdom of wicce and alternative forms of energy. She's led her spiritual comrades into the turbulence of...

By Starhawk | February 4, 2007; 03:38 PM ET | Comments (9)

On Prayer at Brigid

Prayer is what mediates between our human minds and that which we cannot envision or even imagine.

By Starhawk | February 3, 2007; 01:13 PM ET | Comments (69)

Campaigns Need Values, Not Media Images

If I were making the rules, anyone who ran for public office would have to spend a week living on the streets with the homeless and a month living on a welfare budget.

By Starhawk | January 26, 2007; 04:20 PM ET | Comments (60)

Women and the Goddess

Some early cultures in Western civilization became less egalitarian when they grew more focused on war.

By Starhawk | January 23, 2007; 06:13 AM ET | Comments (23)

Our Goddess Weeps At Our Wars

As someone born Jewish in the post-Holocaust era, I can’t say that an armed response is never justified or necessary. But let us not call it ‘just.’

By Starhawk | January 15, 2007; 07:30 PM ET | Comments (433)

Again and again, I experienced that sense of oneness in direct contact with the natural world.

By Starhawk | January 9, 2007; 04:50 PM ET | Comments (12)

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