Revering theU

niverse

Caring forN

ature

Celebrating

Life

WO

RLDPA

NT

HEISM

Our statem

ent of principles is not something

that mem

bers are expected to sign or recite. It is

more like the notice on our d

oor, to let people

know w

hat we stand

for. If you like it, come on

in, you'll find plenty m

ore amazing people like

yourself inside. It’s a statem

ent mad

e by fallible

humans, and

it’s revisable in the light of

experience and science. It is review

ed every few

years, in consultation with m

embers.

We revere an

d celebrate the U

niverse as

the totality of bein

g, past, present an

d futu

re.

It is self-organizin

g, everevolving an

d

inexh

austibly diverse. Its overw

helm

ing pow

er,

beauty an

d fun

damen

tal mystery com

pel the

deepest hu

man

reverence an

d won

der.

All m

atter, energy, an

d life are an

intercon

nected u

nity of w

hich

we are an

inseparable part. W

e rejoice in ou

r existence

and seek to participate ever m

ore deeply in

this u

nity th

rough

know

ledge, celebration,

meditation

, empath

y, love, ethical action

and

art.We are an

integral part of N

ature, w

hich

we sh

ould ch

erish, revere an

d preserve in all

its magn

ificent beau

ty and diversity. W

e

shou

ld strive to live in h

armon

y with

Natu

re

locally and globally. W

e acknow

ledge the

inh

erent valu

e of all life, hu

man

and n

on-

hu

man

, and strive to treat all livin

g beings

with

compassion

and respect.

All h

um

ans are equ

al centers of aw

areness

of the U

niverse an

d natu

re, and all deserve a

life of equal dign

ity and m

utu

al

respect. To this en

d we su

pport

and w

ork towards freedom

,

democracy, ju

stice, and

non

discrimin

ation, an

d a world com

mu

nity

based on peace, su

stainable w

ays of life, full

respect for hu

man

rights an

d an en

d to

poverty.

There is a sin

gle kind of su

bstance,

energy/m

atter, wh

ich is vibran

t and in

finitely

creative in all its form

s. Body an

d min

d are

indivisibly u

nited.

We see death

as the retu

rn to n

ature of ou

r

elemen

ts, and th

e end of ou

r existence as

individu

als. The form

s of "afterlife" available to

hu

man

s are natu

ral ones, in

the n

atural

world. O

ur action

s, our ideas an

d mem

ories of

us live on

, according to w

hat w

e do in ou

r

lives. Ou

r genes live on

in ou

r families, an

d

our elem

ents are en

dlessly recycled in n

ature.

We h

onor reality, an

d keep our m

inds open

to the eviden

ce of the sen

ses and of scien

ce's

un

endin

g quest for deeper u

nderstan

ding.

These are ou

r best mean

s of comin

g to know

the U

niverse, an

d on th

em w

e base our

aesthetic an

d religious feelin

gs about reality.

Every in

dividual h

as direct access throu

gh

perception, em

otion an

d meditation

to ultim

ate

reality, wh

ich is th

e Un

iverse and N

ature.

There is n

o need for m

ediation by priests,

guru

s or revealed scriptures.

We u

phold th

e separation of religion

and state, an

d the u

niversal h

um

an righ

t

of freedom of religion

. We recogn

ize the

freedom of all pan

theists to express an

d

celebrate their beliefs, as in

dividuals

or in grou

ps, in an

y non

-harm

ful

ritual, sym

bol or vocabulary

that is m

eanin

gful to th

em.

our principles

Check us out or join us on the W

eb at ww

w.pantheism

.net

or email us at info@

pantheism.net. For current m

ailing address see the link “Contact U

s.”

Everything harmonizes w

ith me, w

hich is harmonious to thee, O

Universe. N

othing for me is too early or too late, w

hich is in due time

for thee . . . From thee are all things, to thee all things return.

Marcu

s Au

relius

revering natureD

o you feel a deep sen

se of peace and

belongin

g in th

e midst of n

ature, in

a forest,by th

e ocean, or on

a mou

ntain

top? Are

you speech

less with

awe an

d won

der wh

enyou

look up at th

e sky on a clear m

oonless

nigh

t and see th

e Milky W

ay thickly strew

nw

ith stars? W

hen

you see breakers crash

ing

on a rocky sh

ore, are you u

plifted by the

energy an

d creativity of existence?

Do you

find it im

possible to believe insu

pernatu

ral beings, an

d difficult to

imagin

e anyth

ing m

ore worth

y of reverence

than

the beau

ty of natu

re or the pow

er ofth

e un

iverse?

If you an

swered yes to th

ese question

s,th

en you

r spiritual h

ome m

ay be World

Panth

eism. In

the W

PM w

e take the real

un

iverse and n

ature as ou

r starting an

dfin

ishin

g point, n

ot some precon

ceived ideaof G

od. We feel a profou

nd reveren

ce and

awe for th

ese, similar to th

e reverence an

daw

e that believers in

more con

vention

algods feel tow

ards their deity, bu

t with

out

grovelling w

orship or belief th

at it has a

min

d that w

e can in

fluen

ce throu

gh prayer

or ritual.

We believe th

at hu

man

ethical system

sare created by h

um

ans, n

ot by gods. Ou

rsare geared to deep respect an

d concern

forall h

um

ans an

d all life forms. O

ur

metaph

ysics are natu

ralistic and scien

tific.O

ur beliefs recon

cile spirituality an

dration

ality, values an

d environ

men

talcon

cern w

ith scien

ce and respect for

evidence.

At th

e very core of our spiritu

ality areth

e emotion

s with

wh

ich w

e joyfully

embrace ou

r place in th

e un

iverse. In th

e

WPM

we revere an

d care for natu

re, we

accept this life as ou

r only life, an

d this

earth as ou

r only paradise, if w

e look afterit. W

e revel in th

e beauty of n

ature an

d the

nigh

t sky, and are fu

ll of won

der at their

mystery an

d power.

We u

se the n

ame pan

theism

forcon

venien

ce, because it h

as a long an

dven

erable history. B

ut ou

r reverential an

dcelebratory approach

to life and n

ature is

also know

n as religiou

s hu

man

ism,

religious n

aturalism

, religious ath

eism an

doth

er variants. It is in

harm

ony com

patiblew

ith U

nitarian

Un

iversalism an

d we h

avem

any U

U m

embers. It is n

ear to natu

re-w

orship, ph

ilosophical Taoism

, modern

Stoicism

, and deep ecology. It is com

patiblew

ith th

ose forms of w

icca and pagan

ismth

at see magic an

d the gods as sym

bolsrath

er than

realities, and to W

estern form

sof B

uddh

ism th

at celebrate natu

re and

everyday life. The W

PM offers a com

mu

nity

for people of all these orien

tations.

We live in

deeply troubled tim

es wh

enscriptu

re-based fun

damen

talisms obsessed

with

paradise and m

illenn

ium

domin

ate the

course of w

orld politics and dim

inish

the

quality of all ou

r lives. There h

as never been

a greater need for a spiritu

ality focussed on

life on th

is earth, an

d a futu

re for all the

living th

ings on

earth.

People often ask: A

re we a ph

ilosophy or

a religion? It’s u

p to you to ch

oose wh

at youprefer. For som

e people we are a ph

ilosophy

of natu

re and life, oth

ersadd in

religious elem

ents

such

as celebrationor m

editation.

Perhaps ou

r most im

portant resou

rce is

each oth

er. The prin

ciple personal ben

efit of

mem

bership is th

e feeling of h

aving su

pport

for your ow

n beliefs, an

d the opportu

nity of

comm

un

icating w

ith like-m

inded folk in

our

mailin

g lists or meetin

g them

in local

groups.

Throu

gh com

mu

nication

with

other

panth

eists, both on

the In

ternet an

d in real

life, you can

gain th

e friendsh

ip of like-

min

ded people. Pan m

agazine an

d the

messages of th

e mailin

g lists provide

inspiration

and ideas from

the w

isdom an

d

practice of other pan

theists.

Belon

ging to an

organized grou

p can be

particularly im

portant w

hen

you feel

isolated in you

r beliefs, for example if m

ost

people aroun

d you belon

g to a

supern

aturalist religion

. Mem

bers often fin

d

that beliefs th

at have so far been

main

ly

theoretical begin

to seem m

uch

more real

once th

ey can in

teract with

a group of like-

min

ded people.

There is also th

e know

ledge that you

are

helpin

g to bring aw

areness of th

ese same

possibilities to others w

ho h

ave been

isolated so far, as well as to th

e man

y people

wh

o are un

happy w

ith tradition

al religions

and are search

ing for a spiritu

al approach

more in

tun

e with

the n

eeds of our presen

t.

Som

e people are hesitan

t because of

their u

nh

appy experience w

ith tradition

al

chu

rches, an

d media coverage of dan

gerous

cults. W

orld Panth

eism bears n

o

why join?

resemblan

ce to a cult or a h

ierarchical

chu

rch. O

ur su

bscriptions are m

odest, we

have n

o offices, salaried staff or professional

priesthood. O

ur m

embersh

ip fun

ds are

dedicated entirely to m

ember services, an

d

to public in

formation

and com

mu

nication

.

If you join

, you w

on't get "su

cked in" to

anyth

ing. If you

wan

t to meet oth

er

mem

bers, to help ou

t or become m

ore

active, great. If you don

't, you w

on't be pu

t

un

der any pressu

re to do so.

Som

e people ask wh

y it is necessary to

organize at all. If w

e were n

ot organized, w

e

could n

ot satisfy our m

embers' real desires

for comm

un

ication an

d social contact an

d

non

e of our lists w

ould exist. W

e could n

ot

make th

ese beliefs more w

idely know

n as a

rational spiritu

al option, m

eanw

hile

traditional religion

s such

as Ch

ristianity

spend m

any billion

s on spreadin

g their

beliefs. We cou

ld not w

ork towards h

elping

people with

natu

ral weddin

gs and fu

nerals

in keepin

g with

their beliefs.

We h

ave a nu

mber of m

embersh

ip

levels. The basic m

embersh

ip ($30, or $12

for studen

ts and people on

low in

comes)

inclu

des the m

agazine, free em

ail

forwardin

g address and access to all ou

r

mailin

g lists and W

eb forum

s. There is also

a low-cost m

embersh

ip for $8 providing fu

ll

Intern

et access. Mem

bership is free to

people in poor cou

ntries.

Hot coronal loops, photo T

RAC

E

The C

osmos w

as not made by gods nor

men, but alw

ays was, and is, and ever

shall be, ever living fire.

Heraclitu

s

Coronado beach, C

alifornia, photo Audrey Pavia

I believe in the cosmos. A

ll of us are linked to the cosmos.

So nature is my god. To m

e, nature is sacred. Trees are my

temples and forests are m

y cathedrals.

Mikh

ail Go

rbach

ev

Alth

ough

the detail an

d emph

asis may differ,

the core of ou

r comm

on belief is reveren

ce for

Natu

re and th

e Un

iverse just as th

ey are, as

revealed to us by ou

r senses an

d science. W

e

find th

at this reveren

ce, and th

e sense of

belongin

g and u

nity w

hich

it brings, can

fulfil

the m

ajor needs people seek from

a religion,

with

out an

y sacrifice of logic or respect for

evidence an

d science. Th

ey can h

elp us cope

with

life’s problems an

d traum

as, and give u

s

a positive accepting approach

to life in w

hich

we focu

s on w

hat w

e have, n

ot on w

hat w

e

don’t h

ave, on th

e positive, not th

e negative.

Most of u

s don't believe in

miracles or

supern

atural en

tities. New

energies an

d new

phen

omen

a will certain

ly be discovered or

explored, but w

hen

they are, th

ey will all be

part of natu

re. We accept th

e profoun

d

mystery of th

e un

iverse, but w

e don't feel an

y

need to explain

it in term

s of a creator or

personal G

od behin

d it all.

We don

't regard this life as a w

aiting room

or a staging post on

the w

ay to a better

existence after death

. We believe th

at this is

our on

ly life, one w

hich

we accept an

d affirm

joyously. M

ost of us don

't believe in a

consciou

s personal afterlife as in

dividuals. W

e

do believe that w

e will live on

in real an

d

concrete w

ays, throu

gh ou

r genes, ou

r acts

and creation

s in life, an

d the m

emories w

e

leave of ourselves. O

ur ph

ysical elemen

ts will

be recycled in n

ature. M

any of u

s prefer

natu

ral mean

s of burial so as to ach

ieve this.

We h

ave a health

y and positive attitu

de to

life in th

e body. We leave private m

orality up to

the in

dividual an

d feel it is quite in

appropriate

for religions to in

terfere with

wh

at people

drink, eat, sm

oke or do in th

e bedroom.

Provided no-on

e is harm

ed, private life is

private and is th

e choice of th

e individu

al.

We feel reveren

ce and love for n

ature an

d a

need to care for h

er. Natu

re was n

ot created for

us to u

se or abuse - N

ature created u

s, we are

an in

separable part of her, an

d we h

ave a duty

of care towards h

er. This earth

is not a

temporary stage on

wh

ich w

e await th

e day

wh

en G

od violently closes dow

n th

e show

: it is

our on

ly hom

e, and it can

be a paradise if we

look after it

We don

't simply co-exist u

ncom

fortably

with

science: w

e fully em

brace science as an

importan

t part of the h

um

an exploration

of the

awesom

e un

iverse. We en

thu

siastically

embrace th

e vast, creative and dyn

amic

cosmos revealed by th

e Hu

bble Space

Telescope, and of evolu

tion as th

e way in

wh

ich livin

g thin

gs develop their m

yriad forms

and com

mu

nities. W

e don't of cou

rse endorse

all the tech

nology th

at has been

created usin

g

science - m

uch

of it has been

harm

ful. B

ut w

e

believe that n

ew, gen

tler and m

ore eco-friendly

techn

ologies are needed to deal w

ith ou

r

environ

men

tal crisis

what w

e believe

Copse on H

ampstead H

eath, photo Paul Harrison

what w

e offerO

ne of ou

r key goals is to facilitate contacts

between

people wh

o share th

ese beliefs, soth

ey can provide m

utu

al friendsh

ip and

support an

d, if they w

ish, u

ndertake

collective celebration an

d action. Th

is isdon

e throu

gh ou

r local groups an

d our

man

y email lists an

d bulletin

boards. Ou

rw

hole approach

is participatory and

interactive.

World Pan

theism

is a vibrant an

dgrow

ing in

ternation

al comm

un

ity with

mem

bers in 55 cou

ntries an

d all US

States.

It is a netw

ork of opportun

ities forcom

mu

nicatin

g with

and m

eeting people of

your ow

n kin

d – people with

a deepreveren

ce for natu

re and th

e won

der of the

un

iverse, people wh

o care about h

um

anrigh

ts, the w

elfare of anim

als and th

e health

of the en

vironm

ent. A

nd, if you

wish

,en

gaging in

shared exploration

, celebrationan

d action w

ith th

em.

The W

PM offers its m

embers a w

ideran

ge of services wh

ich are con

tinu

allyim

proving as ou

r mem

bership grow

s.C

urren

tly we h

ave over 60 mailin

g lists. Ou

rtw

o core lists are the Ideas List, for

discussion

of religious, ph

ilosophical an

dscien

tific ideas, and th

e Com

mu

nity List

wh

ich is for sh

aring life experien

ces, natu

redescription

, ideas for celebration an

dgath

ering, poetry an

d so on.

There are local m

ailing lists for

coun

tries and for in

dividual U

S states to

mae it easier for people to get to kn

ow each

other an

d arrange get-togeth

ers, plus a

nu

mber of special in

terest lists foren

vironm

ental action

, vegetarians, politics,

relationsh

ips, autobiograph

ical writin

g, and

various aspects of W

PM’s fu

ture. You

can

check ou

t wh

at lists we h

ave at:h

ttp://ww

w.pan

theism

.net/com

mu

nit.h

tm

Man

y places have h

ad gatherin

gs wh

erepeople h

ave foun

d fellow spirits an

d new

friends. W

e have a grow

ing n

um

ber of localgrou

ps wh

o meet for n

ature w

alks &picn

ics, outin

gs to places of special natu

ralor scien

tific interest, discu

ssions an

d so on.

We assist an

yone seekin

g to form a local

group to locate m

embers n

ear them

and

with

advice about activities an

d meetin

gform

ats.

Ou

r magazin

e and n

ewsletter Pan

coverseveryth

ing from

problems of everyday livin

gan

d spirituality, or copin

g with

disaster, topan

theist art, en

vironm

ent, scien

ce and

philosoph

y, with

new

s of the W

PM,

inspiration

al insigh

ts from m

embers, an

d aregu

lar alman

ac of dates of interest an

dsolar &

lun

ar events. You

can see sam

plecopies at:h

ttp://ww

w.pan

theism

.net/pan

.htm

.

Ou

r Image G

alleries on th

e Web h

avesection

s for mem

bers’ portraits, local and

intern

ational m

eetings, tradition

s and

practices, mem

bers’ pets, gardens an

dm

uch

more.

Mem

bers can also claim

a free email

forwardin

g addressyou

rnam

e@pan

theism

.net, or forw

arding

addresses at any of ou

r 19 other dom

ains,

such

as natu

re-worsh

ip.net

or sacredearth.org. O

r you can

purch

ase atru

e popmail accou

nt @

panth

eism.n

etfor life.

We can never have enough of nature. W

e are enabled to

apprehend at all what is sublim

e and noble only by the perpetual

instilling and drenching of the reality that surrounds us.

Hen

ry David

Tho

reau

Colliding galaxies N

GC

4038 and 4039, Hubble Space Telescope

The W

PM aim

s to provide an em

otionally

satisfying altern

ative to theistic beliefs, w

ithou

t

the sacrifice of reason

or evidence th

at can be

involved in

some religion

s. We su

pport the

ideas and valu

es of reverent n

aturalism

,

concern

for environ

men

t, hu

man

rights an

d

religious freedom

.

We w

ork to make th

ese as widely kn

own

as

possible. We do so by m

eans of ou

r Web site,

and th

e related natu

ral/scientific pan

theism

site. Together th

ese get about 45,000 page

views per m

onth

.

We pu

blish leaflets an

d Pan m

agazine, an

d

we prom

ote the W

PM's beliefs an

d values

throu

gh advertisem

ents, lectu

res, articles and

interview

s in m

edia. We also participate, as a

movem

ent an

d as individu

als, in efforts by

related organization

s. We are orien

ted towards

helpin

g our m

embers to live ou

t their beliefs

and valu

es in su

stainable w

ays. We don

’t just

talk about carin

g for natu

re, we provide a

framew

ork to facilitate effective action, for

those w

ho w

ant action

.

Ou

r programs h

ave so far saved 100 acres

of natu

ral habitat. U

nder ou

r wildlife h

abitat

schem

e, interested m

embers pledge th

at they

will m

anage th

eir land or garden

s sustain

ably,

with

native plan

ts and an

imals in

min

d. Ou

r

promotion

s with

EcologyFu

nd directly spon

sor

conservation

organization

s such

as the W

orld

Parks En

dowm

ent an

d the N

ature

Con

servancy, savin

g wild lan

ds in developin

g

and developed cou

ntries. W

e are also the

largest religious grou

p saving h

abitat at

EcologyFu

nd by daily clickin

g, exceeding th

e

total of all Ch

ristian grou

ps combin

ed. We h

ave

an en

vironm

ental action

list wh

ich pu

ts out

action alerts abou

t topics rangin

g from forest

and A

rctic policy, to female gen

ital mu

tilation

and fam

ily plann

ing aid.

We also take action

in relation

s to hu

man

rights an

d freedoms. W

e have raised m

ore

signatu

res for UN

ES

CO

’s 2000 Man

ifesto for

Peace and N

on-V

iolence th

an an

y other

nation

al non

-governm

ental organ

ization in

the

US

A. W

e recently join

ed a brief to the U

S

Su

preme C

ourt stressin

g the problem

s of the

words “u

nder G

od” in th

e US

Pledge of

Allegian

ce as recited in sch

ools. Panth

eists and

Bu

ddhists w

ere the on

ly religious grou

ps

coun

tering th

e official stance, on

behalf of th

e

30 million

or so Am

ericans w

ho do n

ot

subscribe to a m

onoth

eistic religion.

We believe th

at everyone sh

ould h

ave the

right an

d facility for weddin

gs and fu

nerals in

keeping w

ith th

eir beliefs. WPM

Mem

bers

are auth

orized to perform th

ese ceremon

ies

wh

en frien

ds and fam

ily request. In

the lon

ger

run

we h

ope to create a netw

ork of volun

tary

celebrants able to h

elp out

in th

e design an

d

performin

g of natu

ral,

life-embracin

g weddin

gs

and fu

nerals.

our goals

A know

ledge of the existence of something w

e cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the

profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it is this know

ledge and this emotion that

constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious m

an.

Alb

ert Einstein