[QUOTE=samhainautumnwood;219288]Hey Cheesefeet,

Long time no see. 

Haven't run across you since the emergence of the new boards.

I agree with the structure issue. I've set up an altar in the house to reflect the seasonal/family/ancestors interconnection.

Kinda fun integrating my  Pagan/Pantheistic and my wife/child's Christian philosophies
into it.

Unfortunately, I'm running behind in keeping it up. Still have the purple Advent cloth on it from Christmas time.

I need to put some spring/mardi gras elements on it.[/QUOTE]

Good to "see" you as well. This is my first venture back since the changeover...my life has been challenging lately and I am going through a process of selecting which communities (online and off) to continue as part of...so I've been checking back in with some to see if I still "fit".

As a pantheist...I don't follow the traditional assignments to the holy days, I follow what is going on in my life, and my locale. So I don't do a festive Yule at Winter Solstice...because I don't feel festive I feel introspective and like I need to assess this whole survival thing. And I don't feel spring beginning on Feb 1 or 2...indeed, I feel like I am beginning to run out of resources and begin a season of austerity, to allow myself to sort out the difference between need and desire in my own life.

when I notice my altar is "behind" schedule...I check in with myself...is it just a coincidence? or am I hanging on, too busy, not ready for the next thing, uncertain about what the next thing is...etc. Everything gets used to some spiritual advantage...there is no right way, or right schedule, there is just What Is.

It felt good, after the glut of holidays to tone the altar down to something simpler for the perihelion and winter...just a mirror and three candles...at first. Other things have a way of making their way to the altar...a friend finds a stone and brings it by, a photo comes in the mail, etc. I sit back and watch what theme emerges.

I hope that the pan boards here get active again, and that a community forms here.

We are having a bit of winter weather...I could use a little warming up.

I'm a hybrid of Pantheism/Taoism (Tao-chia, the non-religious variety).  I see the world through Pantheist eyes, but use the Tao Te Ching as a moral reference.  I guess another explanation would be that I open my arms to Pantheism, but curl up with Taoism; at any rate, they fit together nicely and satisfy my emotional and spiritual needs.

A site that I like is http://www.everything-is-connected.net/index.html.

I am perfectly comfortable celebrating the standard prevailing culture holidays for my seasonal fix, having been raised (rather loosely) as a christian and being married to one just makes it easier.  Easter and Christmas are based on older, seasonal celebrations, I use the Fourth of July as a summer celebration, and the Halloween to Thanksgiving period celebrates autumn and the harvest.  I'm not that hung up on names or what other people use the holidays for, and I like the idea of making those holidays more inclusive rather than every group having their own celebrations.  Whatever works.

[QUOTE=TygerTyger;813443]There were questions I had that Christianity could not answer. I read Spinoza’s ‘Ethics’ and discovered Pantheism, since then I’ve been a much happier person.

It isn’t all plain sailing and I’ve still got plenty of questions to ask but I feel that I am more likely to get answers following this path without a judgemental deity.[/QUOTE]

Hi TygerTyger...

It's me, cheddar, good to see you here. I used to hang out here a lot, but I find the new format a pain to navigate...but I'm trying to be a better community member.

I, too, gave up on the faith of my childhood, and have since tried to start from scratch and figure out exactly what I do believe. For me that process was alienating and painful and I ended up describing myself as an Atheist for many years.

Recently, I've been going through some sort of internal shift, which caused me to acknowledge that, no, I do not believe in the God of the Bible, but I finally do feel like there's something more out there again. In the past couple of weeks I found this board and realized that Pantheism is a very accurate description for how I see the world and my relationship to it.

I haven't figured out what to DO with that information yet ... to make it a fulfilling spiritual path, but this is a good start.

Btw, thanks for the resources in the original post, Kard. The Practice of Pantheist Mindfulness was inspiring and reminded me of the Ghandi quote I love so much (below).