He was the first person to employ the word "pantheist" in English and envisioned a Pantheist Society.  He was born on this day in 1670.  Learn more at http://naturepantheist.org/toland.html.

Writer, naturalist, and self-described Pantheist, born on this day in 1830.  He coined the phrase "trust in wildness" to substitute for the simple "love of nature" when we mean trust in nature as both the creator and sustainer of health, happiness, and joy.  He described it as a modern form of Pantheism:  "It is a philosophy, a faith; it is even, if you like, a religion."  (from ​Pantheist Vision)

A festival marking the transformation of life to death.- the end of the agricultural year, departure of migrating and hibernating animals, and decay and death of vegetal and animal life.  Observed by remembering departed ancestors and contemplating one's own mortality.  Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed, and visiting graves with these as gifts.  
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​From Pantheist Vision:  

The primary goal of this day is to develop a compassionate culture to make our world a fairer place for all living creatures -- where animals are recognized as sentient beings and full regard is always paid to their welfare.  Celebrated in a variety of different ways in many countries, with no regard to nationality, religion, faith, or political ideology, World Animal Day sometimes includes a Blessing of the Animals."  Click on the picture above for more information.

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Today is also World Rhino Day! Watch this video to learn more about the endangered Sumatran rhino.

First day of Fall in the northern hemisphere, and first day of Spring in the southern. In the northern hemisphere, it is observed as Mabon, celebrating the harvest, the time when the work of the summer has resulted in an abundance of the fruits of the earth.  Happy Autumn!  
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Today is the International Day of Peace, a United Nations sanctioned holiday dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence.  Listen to Jane Goodall's message below about what peace means and what you can do.
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From Pantheist Vision, we read:

This eminent British historian and major interpreter of Western Civilization in the 20th century was born in 1889.  Toynbee's sweeping perspective on human history led him to affirm a Pantheist world view:  "If I am right in my diagnosis of mankind's present-day distress, the remedy lies in reverting from the Weltanschauung of monotheism to the Weltanschauung of pantheism, which is older and was once universal."

From Pantheist Vision we read:

Astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson observes that Margaret Burbridge, born on this day in 1919, gave us "the greatest gift of astrophysics to civilization in the 20th century," proving that we are largely made of stardust.  In 1957, she was the lead author of a landmark scientific paper on the origin of chemical elements, showing that most elements are forged by thermonuclear reactions within stars, in a process now called stellar nucleosynthesis.  This includes elements such as carbon that make up plants and animals, oxygen in the atmosphere, and gold and silver mined from the ground.  She was considered one of the foremost astronomers in the world, and long regarded as a trailblazer for women in the field, well known for her work opposing discrimination against women in astronomy.