Creation's Paths

Breath as Offering: A Christopagan Practice

Breath is so ordinary that we forget it is extraordinary. It comes unbidden, steady as a tide, unnoticed until something interrupts it. We know the sudden gasp of fear, the shallow rise and fall of exhaustion, the ragged breath when we are sick. Yet beneath all those moments lies the same truth: breath is life.In this episode of Creation’s Paths, we began with the simple reminder that life in our breath is our life. Too often, spiritual traditions turn breath into something to control, to discipline, even to constrain. An effort at restraining life itself. But the practice we explored was not about constriction. It was about letting breath become prayer, letting the air itself speak the Name of the Divine.This is the kind of practice that first feels like a gentle breeze on a cool fall day: soft, refreshing, peaceful. But it doesn’t stop there. Beneath that quiet surface, the practice deepens, grounding us like roots pushing into rich soil and rising like the charged air before a storm. Breath becomes both anchor and surge, weaving us into the great current of life.The practice begins with ancient names. Matthew Fox, in his teachings on Radical Prayer, pointed to a way of praying the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter Name of God, by shaping the mouth and throat as though speaking YHVH while breathing in and out. No vocal cords, no sound, only the rush of air forming sacred syllables. The Name itself becomes breath.Later, Rabbi Rami Shapiro deepened this understanding in Judaism Without Tribalism, distinguishing two ways we encounter the Divine: Yah, “I Am,” the inward presence; and Ehyeh, Being itself beyond us. Breath carries both: the inhale, “Yah,” turning us inward, centering us in selfhood; the exhale, “Ehyeh,” releasing us outward into community, creation, and relationship.Jewish tradition also speaks of two inclinations, the yetzer ha-ra (the self-directed impulse, sometimes mistranslated as “evil”) and the yetzer ha-tov (the communal or altruistic impulse, “good”). Breath, again, becomes the place of balance: the inhale honors the self’s need for oxygen, life, renewal; the exhale honors the world’s need for creativity and creation it’s self. In this back-and-forth, the Name of God becomes the rhythm of our very existence.Layered upon these roots are Creation Spirituality’s Four Paths: Positiva (awe and wonder), Negativa (letting go, emptiness), Creativa (birthing newness), Transformativa (healing and justice). Breath can move through these paths, each inhale and exhale carrying us through transformation, wonder, surrender, and creativity.What begins as simply saying the Name with breath grows quickly into a deep meditation on self and cosmos. Inhaling, we are filled, self affirmed, grounded, alive. Exhaling, we are emptied, poured out for others, surrendered into communion. It is the yesh and the ayin, fullness and emptiness.The practice reveals subtle truths: selfishness is not always evil, for inhaling is necessary to live. Selflessness is not always holy, for endless exhaling leaves us collapsed. We need both: the courage to take in life for ourselves and the generosity to release life for others. Brian put it plainly: if all we do is inhale, we faint; if all we do is exhale, we expire.There is also mystery here. Each breath can feel like the ocean becoming a drop and the drop returning to the ocean. Each cycle of fullness and emptiness is a miniature creation, a tide that carries both the particularity of the self and the vastness of the cosmos. Thich Nhat Hanh called mindfulness the greatest magic because it brings us into the only moment that exists, the present. In this practice, mindfulness and prayer merge, each breath becoming spell, prayer, offering.Breath touches everything. What I exhale becomes food for trees; what trees exhale becomes food for me. Breath connects species, people, and places into one vast circulatory system of life.Prayed in this way, breath also connects traditions. It holds the Jewish mystical sense of the Divine Name too holy to speak, yet spoken in every breath. It carries the Christian vision of the Spirit as breath or wind (ruach, pneuma), moving in and through all. It resonates with Buddhist mindfulness of breathing as doorway to presence. It sits comfortably in Druidry, which sees the breath of the wind as the breath of the world.Breath also connects the personal and the political. Our balance between inhale and exhale mirrors the balance between self and community, between individual needs and collective responsibilities. Too much inwardness leads to narcissism; too much outwardness leads to unthinking conformity. But when the two dance together, we breathe justice.The advanced practice Brian offered makes this even more explicit: inhaling as transformation, holding in awe, exhaling as surrender, holding in creativity. This rhythm trains us not only to pray but to live: taking in the world’s wounds, holding them in wonder, releasing them in service, and pausing long enough to let new worlds gestate.So how do we embody this? Begin simply. Sit or lie down comfortably. Let your shoulders relax. Inhale, shaping your mouth as though saying “Yah.” Exhale, shaping your lips as though saying “Ehyeh.” Don’t force sound, let the air itself be the word.Feel the rhythm: fullness and emptiness. Notice the peace, like a cool autumn breeze. Notice the grounding, like roots drinking deeply. Notice the rising energy, like the charged air before a storm. Let your awareness sharpen until you feel not just your lungs but the whole web of life breathing with you.Practice safely. Don’t force breath-holds. Don’t clench your throat. This is not a contest of endurance. It is prayer. Breathe naturally, gently, and if discomfort rises, release.In time, you may add the pauses. After an inhale, hold for awe. After an exhale, hold for creativity. Let the Four Paths shape your breath: becoming, beholding, surrendering, birthing. Let the cycle turn until it becomes second nature, until every breath becomes a liturgy of transformation.This is not meant to be lofty or distant. It can be morning centering, evening unwinding, or a quick re-grounding in the middle of the day. It can accompany your prayers, or it can be your prayer. What matters is that it keeps you alive to the presence of Spirit in and around you.For me, this practice begins as peace: a soft breath, like the wind through trees on a fall afternoon. That peace sinks into my bones as grounding, reminding me that life is not abstract but in this air, this body, this earth. Then, without warning, the peace turns electric, a rising surge like storm-air alive with possibility. Awareness sharpens. Connection hums. I feel the life of trees, the pulse of animals, the hush of stones, all tied together by breath.This practice reminds me that holiness is not locked in temples but carried in our lungs. Every inhale is the gift of being. Every exhale is the offering of self. Breath is the Name of the Holy One, spoken not with voice but with life.And so my prayer is simple: may we learn to notice our breath. May we let it carry us into peace, root us in life, and awaken us to the storm-charged presence of the Divine all around. May each breath we take be offering, communion, and blessing. Amen.Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.Thank you for Tips / Donations: * https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett * https://patreon.com/cedorsett * https://cash.app/$CreationsPaths* Substack: https://www.creationspaths.com/New to The Seraphic Grove learn more For Educational Resource: https://wisdomscry.com Social Connections: * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/creationspaths.com * Threads https://www.threads.net/@creationspaths * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/creationspaths/#christopagan #CreationSpirituality #breathprayer #mysticism #druidry #Brigid #breathwork #contemplation #sacredpractice #prayerChapters:00:00 Introduction: The Divine Breath01:07 Host Introductions01:16 Overview of Divine Breath Practice02:08 Matthew Fox's Radical Prayer Teaching04:34 Understanding Divine Connection: Internal and External15:08 Advanced Practice: Four Paths Breathing18:15 Safety Guidelines for Breath Work20:04 Closing Thoughts and Blessing Get full access to Creation's Paths at www.creationspaths.com/subscribe

Five Things I Wish I Knew Before Becoming Christopagan

Christopaganism is cringe. Or at least, that’s what I’m told now and again. Maybe it is a little cringe to believe in something, to put your trust in Spirit, and to do the work of faith. In a culture that wants everything spoon-fed and easy, Christopaganism doesn’t oblige. It isn’t the kind of path that gets done for you. It’s a living, embodied faith that you make your own. Step by step, ritual by ritual, day by day.If I could go back, there are five things I wish I had known before I started naming myself Christopagan. These aren’t just private reflections, they’re woven from the questions and confusions that so many of us carry. And the truth is, many of us were already Christopagan long before we admitted it.The Surface: Incoherence or Wholeness?The first stumbling block was the accusation of incoherence. Isn’t this just syncretism? A messy mash-up of two incompatible religions? I used to wrestle with that a lot. Raised evangelical, I was drilled on the need for a “cohesive worldview.” Anything less was a sign of error.But history undoes that fear. The early Israelite religion had a divine council. Christianity developed over centuries out of Judaism. Judaism itself absorbed influences from surrounding cultures. Multiplicity was always part of the tradition. What we now call “religion” is a relatively modern category, invented in the 18th and 19th centuries. For most of human history, faith wasn’t a box you fit into, it was a way of living, a relationship, a cycle of practice and story.Once I stopped demanding a monolithic voice and started listening for the harmony in many voices, the charge of incoherence melted away. Christopaganism isn’t a contradiction; it’s a continuation of what faith has always been: plural, evolving, seeking coherence in practice rather than in dogmatic system.The Roots: Belonging and TraumaThe second lesson was about belonging. Many Christopagans wonder, “Do I fit in either world?” Too pagan for Christians, too Christian for pagans, it can feel like an exile. But what I learned is this: most resistance is not about you. It’s about wounds carried by communities.Many pagans bear scars from Christian family, churches, or cultures that condemned them. When they bristle at your presence, it isn’t you they’re rejecting, it’s the harm they survived. The healing comes not from demanding acceptance, but by showing that you are not that kind of Christian. That you are safe, open, willing to listen.And for Christians who would ostracize someone for mixing paths? If their concern for “purity of doctrine” outweighs their care for the sick, the poor, the brokenhearted, then they are not the kind of community Jesus pointed us toward. Better to knock the dust off your shoes and walk on.The Hidden Depths: Woo Woo, Simplicity, and PracticeThe third lesson was learning to face the sneer of “woo woo.” It’s a phrase often flung at mysticism, at magic, at embodied ritual. Some of the criticism is fair. There’s a difference between shallow consumer spirituality and the hard, humble work of a living practice. But there’s nothing foolish about seeking a spirituality that breathes, moves, and changes you.Magic, for example, is not a vending machine. It’s more like Habitat for Humanity: you put in the sweat equity, Spirit puts in the grace, and together something new rises. Prayer, ritual, spellcraft, they aren’t meant to be empty gestures. They are meant to work. They’re meant to change you, and to shape the world around you, even in small and quiet ways.And here’s what I wish I knew earlier: practice doesn’t have to be elaborate. It doesn’t have to exhaust you. A simple prayer, a cup of tea brewed with intention, a nightly offering to the house spirits—these small acts ripple with power. Consistency matters more than complexity. Faith is not proven by how many tools you collect, but by the fruit that grows in your life.The Interconnection: Already OneThe fourth and most surprising lesson is this: I was already Christopagan. Long before I named it, my life was shaped by myth and saint, by story and Spirit. I read Greek myths for their wisdom. I prayed to Brigid long before I called her Saint or Goddess. I talked to the birds, watched for omens in clouds, felt the Divine alive in nature.Denial is a river, and I drowned in it for a long time. But the day I admitted what was true, something changed. A deep sigh came over me. The fight was over. The armor cracked. Calm and release came first, followed quickly by joy. Suddenly all the oddities of my life: the quirks, the practices I never had a name for made sense. They belonged. They fit. I had been Christopagan all along.This is the reassurance many of us need: you don’t become Christopagan by magic words or sudden conversion. You recognize it. You name what was already true. You come home to yourself.The Center: Living What You KnowSo what do we do with this? We trust our instincts but we don’t stop there. We explore, investigate, test all things, and hold fast to what is good. That is what Paul urged, and that is what our ancestors in every tradition have done.Christopaganism is not about serving two masters. It is about serving the one Source of life, who is God, through many faces and voices. We eat and we drink; we live by ritual and by prayer. The point is not to prove our coherence to anyone else, but to embody love, justice, and reverence for creation.I encourage you: if you have felt the tug of myth, the pull of saints, the call of earth and Spirit, stop fighting the denial. Breathe the deep sigh. Allow the oddities to line up into a path. You may already be Christopagan, and naming it may give you the courage to walk more freely.Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.Thank you for Tips / Donations: * https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett * https://patreon.com/cedorsett * https://cash.app/$CreationsPaths* Substack: https://www.creationspaths.com/New to The Seraphic Grove learn more For Educational Resource: https://wisdomscry.com Social Connections: * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/creationspaths.com * Threads https://www.threads.net/@creationspaths * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/creationspaths/#Christopagan #CreationSpirituality #ChristianWitchcraft #Mysticism #Paganism #Druidry #CelticSpirituality #Magic #ChristianPagan #SpiritualPathChapters:00:00 Introduction - Addressing Misconceptions About Christopaganism01:03 Host Introductions02:20 Topic 1: Perception of Incoherence in Christopaganism09:15 Topic 2: Identity and Acceptance in Both Communities12:44 Topic 3: Addressing 'Woo Woo' Misconceptions21:05 Topic 5: Realizing You Were Already Christopagan28:20 Closing Prayer and Outro Get full access to Creation's Paths at www.creationspaths.com/subscribe

What is Christopagan Atonement?

For many, the very sound of the word atonement stirs unease. It may recall the tightness in your chest when a preacher spoke of God’s wrath, the guilt-heavy sermons that made love feel conditional, or the sense that your worth was forever in question. In some traditions, atonement was framed as paying off a cosmic debt to a God more feared than loved. This fear-based telling left its mark: a false scarcity mindset where grace is rationed and belonging must be earned.But even in the shadow of this baggage, something deeper calls. Beneath the layers of fear, there is a quieter knowing that perhaps the word could mean something else. Perhaps atonement is not a shackle but a key, not a sentence but an opening. The hope lingers: that atonement could name the mending of what’s broken, the restoration of a bond never truly lost.To rediscover that meaning, we look back to the roots. In the Hebrew scriptures, the word for atonement means to cover over a breach, to mend a broken connection. Ancient covenant life understood that relationships within the community and between a people and their God would sometimes fray. Atonement was the process of repair, not payment. It was an act of right relationship.The shift came with translation. Moving from Hebrew into Greek, the language changed. Greek terms leaned toward commerce, ransom, payment, buying back. This transactional framing spread quickly in the early church, raising questions foreign to the Hebrew imagination: Who held us captive? What was the price? Who was paid? In the centuries that followed, these questions hardened into doctrines, bolstered by medieval church systems that saw spiritual debt as a tool for control. Retributive justice, punishment as the measure of righteousness, took root in both church and culture, and the older vision of relational restoration faded from sight.Christopagan practice invites us to dig beneath those later layers. When we do, the older vision re-emerges: atonement as the ongoing work of mending relationships, living in right relationship with ourselves, with Spirit, with one another, and with the living world.This deeper truth speaks directly against the false scarcity mindset. Divine love is not meted out to the worthy few — it is unending, abundant, unbreakable. Even our pain, even our sense of falling short, is not proof of rejection but proof of life. The ache we feel when something is broken is the sign that we are still connected enough to long for repair.Like a mother cradling her child, Spirit does not withhold love until we prove ourselves. The embrace is there before the apology, before the change and it is that embrace that makes change possible. Atonement in this light is not appeasement; it is participation in the endless flow of love.This personal restoration cannot remain inward. Once the beam is removed from our own eye, once we have reclaimed our right relationship with self and Spirit, we are able to help mend what is broken in our communities. Personal healing becomes the soil in which communal healing grows.In Christopagan practice, this often looks like small but steady acts: repairing trust with a friend, reconciling after conflict, ensuring that our circles of belonging are truly open. It also shapes the way we resist harm. Rather than perpetuate cycles of retribution, we seek restoration. Rather than closing the door forever, we create space for those willing to return in honesty and humility.Atonement becomes the pattern of our life together, not as a one-time event, but as a shared rhythm. When harm is done, the question is not “How do we punish?” but “How do we mend the breach?” Sometimes that mending restores relationship; other times it simply brings peace and prevents further harm. Either way, it moves us toward wholeness.To live this way is to make atonement a daily choice. It is a personal decision enacted through action, renewed each day as we move through the world. It begins in the quiet of our own hearts. In prayer, in discernment, in the willingness to see clearly where the breach lies. And it comes alive in what we do: offering a needed apology, returning what was taken, showing through our choices that we will not repeat the harm.Spiritual practice fuels this work. Prayer and ritual keep us grounded in love’s abundance. Discernment helps us hold grace and boundaries together. Ethical action gives form to what we believe, making our faith visible in the way we live.Not every relationship can or should be restored. There are harms that require distance, boundaries that protect the vulnerable. But as a people, we can create communities that make repair possible, that honor both justice and mercy. This is what it means to embody atonement. To let it guide not just what we say, but how we move, how we mend, how we belong.Christopagan atonement is not a chain but a key. It is not a demand for payment but an invitation to return. At its heart, it is the work of mending, the living choice to be in right relationship with ourselves, with Spirit, and with each other. It is the repair of a bond that fear could not destroy, the reconnection to love that never left us.In this light, atonement is hope. It is liberation from the false scarcity mindset that tells us love must be earned. It is the healing of wounds left by retributive theologies. It is the steady hand beneath us as we learn to walk in love again. It is the voice of Spirit whispering, “You are mine, and you are loved,” even when we feel lost.And as we heal, we become healers. The work that begins in us flows outward, mending the fabric of our communities, helping others remember that love is endless, that the breach can be healed, and that we belong to one another.Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.Thank you for Tips / Donations: * https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett * https://patreon.com/cedorsett * https://cash.app/$CreationsPaths* Substack: https://www.creationspaths.com/New to The Seraphic Grove learn more For Educational Resource: https://wisdomscry.com Social Connections: * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/creationspaths.com * Threads https://www.threads.net/@creationspaths * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/creationspaths/#Christopagan #CreationSpirituality #RightRelationship #RestorativeJustice #SpiritualHealing #Atonement #PaganChristianity #Metanoia #HopeAndLiberation #HealingTheBreachChapters:00:00 Introduction to Atonement in Progressive Faith01:12 Host Introductions02:21 Channel Updates and Series Information02:48 Traditional Understanding of Atonement05:53 True Meaning of Atonement in Covenant Faith08:33 Historical Evolution of Atonement Concept12:27 Christopagan Perspective on Atonement20:22 Actions vs Words in Right Relationship24:27 Making Amends and Societal Restoration29:14 Closing Thoughts and Prayer Get full access to Creation's Paths at www.creationspaths.com/subscribe

Christopagan Faith in Troubled Times

The world feels raw these days. Heat waves stack one upon another, storms sweep in with fury, and the news from far-off lands carries sorrow and anger in equal measure. On top of that, each of us is carrying the weight of our own daily struggles: illness, loss, uncertainty. In my own life, I recently faced a sudden illness that left me bedridden for weeks, unable to walk unassisted or even muster the energy to speak prayers aloud. It was a season of deep vulnerability, the kind that none of us chooses and all of us will eventually encounter.Yet even in the midst of weakness, I discovered that my Christopagan faith was not an abstract belief to be set on a shelf, it was a living presence, a thread binding me to something larger than my pain. I have prayed every night for years, calling the four archangels, the spirits of earth, sea, and sky, and the shining presence of the Shekinah to watch over my home. When I could no longer speak those prayers, I felt them rising on their own, carried for me. In dreams or visions, the archangels stood their posts, my ancestors whispered courage, and even a beloved cat long gone curled on my chest in comfort. Whether mystical reality or the gift of my imagination, it didn’t matter. The truth was in the experience: I was not alone.Faith, at its best, is not about clinging to rules or policing belief. It is about connection. The Latin root of “religion” means “to bind together,” and in crisis, that bond can hold us steady when everything else shakes. My connection to Brigid, to Jesus and Mary, to the very earth beneath me, reminded me that I was part of a living web that no illness could sever. Brian and I spoke often about how such times ripple out to affect everyone in the circle. The one who is sick can feel like a burden; the one caring for them can feel helpless, even guilty for their own moments of frustration. Faith helps break these spirals, not by erasing the hardship, but by reminding us of the deeper unity between us.This is why practice matters before the storm comes. A deep, rooted faith equips us to meet our anger, fear, and grief without being consumed by them. As Brian reflected, crisis tempts us toward quick, destructive reactions, but the steady discipline of prayer, ritual, and connection gives us other options. It teaches us to recognize the warning signs of a “dark path” and to choose the harder, more life-giving way. It doesn’t guarantee the storm will pass quickly or painlessly. But it hedges our chances. It keeps our roots deep enough to hold fast.And the roots do not all look the same. For me, it is Brigid’s forge, Julian of Norwich’s “all shall be peace,” the spirits of earth, sea, and sky. For others, it may be justice, love, the law, or the tending of the land. The divine dwells in all things, and whatever soil allows you to grow in strength and compassion that is where you must plant yourself. When we are rooted in what is holy to us, no one can poison that soil. The connection remains, carrying us through even the harshest seasons.If I learned anything from my recent trial, it is that rooting ourselves in faith is not a single act, but a habit of presence. We plant the seed in moments of peace, water it with daily practice, and strengthen it through small acts of courage and devotion. Then, when the winds rise, the tree of our faith does not suddenly appear. It is already there, grown over years, able to bend without breaking. In that way, the crisis does not build the faith; it reveals it. And perhaps that is the quiet promise faith makes to each of us: not that we will escape the fires and floods of life, but that when they come, we will find ourselves already held, already connected, already home.Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.Thank you for Tips / Donations: * https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett * https://patreon.com/cedorsett * https://cash.app/$CreationsPaths* Substack: https://www.creationspaths.com/New to The Seraphic Grove learn more For Educational Resource: https://wisdomscry.com Social Connections: * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/creationspaths.com * Threads https://www.threads.net/@creationspaths * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/creationspaths/#christopagan #creationtheology #druidry #mysticism #spiritualresilience #brigid #paganism #faithjourney #animism #panentheismChapters:00:00 Introduction00:45 Faith During Dark Times02:18 Podcast Updates and Schedule Changes02:40 Personal Experience with Illness04:45 Impact on Caregivers09:26 The Role of Faith in Recovery15:24 Finding Your Spiritual Path20:17 Justice and Faith25:21 Understanding Divine Presence27:56 Closing Prayer Get full access to Creation's Paths at www.creationspaths.com/subscribe

Lughnasa and Celebrating One Year: A Journey Through Creations Path

As Lughnasa’s first fruits are gathered, we mark a year of walking Creation’s Path through harvest and hardship, silence and song. This episode reflects on the mysteries of change: how illness, pause, and return can shape a community as deeply as celebration. We share hard earned lessons from a year of spiritual exploration, celebrate the bonds that have formed, and reveal the new paths opening ahead. The invitation: honor your own harvests, trust the turning, and step forward into the sacred unknown.www.fractalkinship.comThanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.Thank you for Tips / Donations: * https://ko-fi.com/cedorsett * https://patreon.com/cedorsett * https://cash.app/$CreationsPaths* Substack: https://www.creationspaths.com/New to The Seraphic Grove learn more For Educational Resource: https://wisdomscry.com Social Connections: * BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/creationspaths.com * Threads https://www.threads.net/@creationspaths * Instagram https://www.instagram.com/creationspaths/#Lughnasa #FirstHarvest #Christopagan #CreationSpirituality #Druidry #SpiritualJourney #SacredGrowth #ViaCreativa #FractalKinship #PodcastAnniversaryChapters:00:00 Opening & Lunar Celebration01:38 Overview of Changes04:23 First Year Growth & Milestones07:15 New Content Formats11:36 New Podcast Series Announcements17:02 Membership & Support Details19:45 Thank You & Future Plans21:41 Closing Thoughts & Blessing Get full access to Creation's Paths at www.creationspaths.com/subscribe