Podcasts about Modern Paganism

So what, exactly, was “The Enlightenment”? According to the Princeton historian David A. Bell, it was an intellectual movement roughly spanning the early 18th century through to the French Revolution. In his Spring 2025 Liberties Quarterly piece “The Enlightenment, Then and Now”, Bell charts the Enlightenment as a complex intellectual movement centered in Paris but with hubs across Europe and America. He highlights key figures like Montesquieu, Voltaire, Kant, and Franklin, discussing their contributions to concepts of religious tolerance, free speech, and rationality. In our conversation, Bell addresses criticisms of the Enlightenment, including its complicated relationship with colonialism and slavery, while arguing that its principles of freedom and reason remain relevant today. 5 Key Takeaways* The Enlightenment emerged in the early 18th century (around 1720s) and was characterized by intellectual inquiry, skepticism toward religion, and a growing sense among thinkers that they were living in an "enlightened century."* While Paris was the central hub, the Enlightenment had multiple centers including Scotland, Germany, and America, with thinkers like Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant, Hume, and Franklin contributing to its development.* The Enlightenment introduced the concept of "society" as a sphere of human existence separate from religion and politics, forming the basis of modern social sciences.* The movement had a complex relationship with colonialism and slavery - many Enlightenment thinkers criticized slavery, but some of their ideas about human progress were later used to justify imperialism.* According to Bell, rather than trying to "return to the Enlightenment," modern society should selectively adopt and adapt its valuable principles of free speech, religious tolerance, and education to create our "own Enlightenment."David Avrom Bell is a historian of early modern and modern Europe at Princeton University. His most recent book, published in 2020 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, is Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution. Described in the Journal of Modern History as an "instant classic," it is available in paperback from Picador, in French translation from Fayard, and in Italian translation from Viella. A study of how new forms of political charisma arose in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the book shows that charismatic authoritarianism is as modern a political form as liberal democracy, and shares many of the same origins. Based on exhaustive research in original sources, the book includes case studies of the careers of George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Toussaint Louverture and Simon Bolivar. The book's Introduction can be read here. An online conversation about the book with Annette Gordon-Reed, hosted by the Cullman Center of the New York Public Library, can be viewed here. Links to material about the book, including reviews in The New York Review of Books, The Guardian, Harper's, The New Republic, The Nation, Le Monde, The Los Angeles Review of Books and other venues can be found here. Bell is also the author of six previous books. He has published academic articles in both English and French and contributes regularly to general interest publications on a variety of subjects, ranging from modern warfare, to contemporary French politics, to the impact of digital technology on learning and scholarship, and of course French history. A list of his publications from 2023 and 2024 can be found here. His Substack newsletter can be found here. His writings have been translated into French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Hebrew, Swedish, Polish, Russian, German, Croatian, Italian, Turkish and Japanese. At the History Department at Princeton University, he holds the Sidney and Ruth Lapidus Chair in the Era of North Atlantic Revolutions, and offers courses on early modern Europe, on military history, and on the early modern French empire. Previously, he spent fourteen years at Johns Hopkins University, including three as Dean of Faculty in its School of Arts and Sciences. From 2020 to 2024 he served as Director of the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies at Princeton. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a corresponding fellow of the British Academy. Bell's new project is a history of the Enlightenment. A preliminary article from the project was published in early 2022 by Modern Intellectual History. Another is now out in French History.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. FULL TRANSCRIPTAndrew Keen: Hello everybody, in these supposedly dark times, the E word comes up a lot, the Enlightenment. Are we at the end of the Enlightenment or the beginning? Was there even an Enlightenment? My guest today, David Bell, a professor of history, very distinguished professor of history at Princeton University, has an interesting piece in the spring issue of It is One of our, our favorite quarterlies here on Keen on America, Bell's piece is The Enlightenment Then and Now, and David is joining us from the home of the Enlightenment, perhaps Paris in France, where he's on sabbatical hard life. David being an academic these days, isn't it?David Bell: Very difficult. I'm having to suffer the Parisian bread and croissant. It's terrible.Andrew Keen: Yeah. Well, I won't keep you too long. Is Paris then, or France? Is it the home of the Enlightenment? I know there are many Enlightenments, the French, the Scottish, maybe even the English, perhaps even the American.David Bell: It's certainly one of the homes of the Enlightenment, and it's probably the closest that the Enlightened had to a center, absolutely. But as you say, there were Edinburgh, Glasgow, plenty of places in Germany, Philadelphia, all those places have good claims to being centers of the enlightenment as well.Andrew Keen: All the same David, is it like one of those sports games in California where everyone gets a medal?David Bell: Well, they're different metals, right, but I think certainly Paris is where everybody went. I mean, if you look at the figures from the German Enlightenment, from the Scottish Enlightenment from the American Enlightenment they all tended to congregate in Paris and the Parisians didn't tend to go anywhere else unless they were forced to. So that gives you a pretty good sense of where the most important center was.Andrew Keen: So David, before we get to specifics, map out for us, because everyone is perhaps as familiar or comfortable with the history of the Enlightenment, and certainly as you are. When did it happen? What years? And who are the leaders of this thing called the Enlightenment?David Bell: Well, that's a big question. And I'm afraid, of course, that if you ask 10 historians, you'll get 10 different answers.Andrew Keen: Well, I'm only asking you, so I only want one answer.David Bell: So I would say that the Enlightenment really gets going around the first couple of decades of the 18th century. And that's when people really start to think that they are actually living in what they start to call an Enlightenment century. There are a lot of reasons for this. They are seeing what we now call the scientific revolution. They're looking at the progress that has been made with that. They are experiencing the changes in the religious sphere, including the end of religious wars, coming with a great deal of skepticism about religion. They are living in a relative period of peace where they're able to speculate much more broadly and daringly than before. But it's really in those first couple of decades that they start thinking of themselves as living in an enlightened century. They start defining themselves as something that would later be called the enlightenment. So I would say that it's, really, really there between maybe the end of the 17th century and 1720s that it really gets started.Andrew Keen: So let's have some names, David, of philosophers, I guess. I mean, if those are the right words. I know that there was a term in French. There is a term called philosoph. Were they the founders, the leaders of the Enlightenment?David Bell: Well, there is a... Again, I don't want to descend into academic quibbling here, but there were lots of leaders. Let me give an example, though. So the year 1721 is a remarkable year. So in the year, 1721, two amazing events happened within a couple of months of each other. So in May, Montesquieu, one of the great philosophers by any definition, publishes his novel called Persian Letters. And this is an incredible novel. Still, I think one of greatest novels ever written, and it's very daring. It is the account, it is supposedly a an account written by two Persian travelers to Europe who are writing back to people in Isfahan about what they're seeing. And it is very critical of French society. It is very of religion. It is, as I said, very daring philosophically. It is a product in part of the increasing contact between Europe and the rest of the world that is also very central to the Enlightenment. So that novel comes out. So it's immediately, you know, the police try to suppress it. But they don't have much success because it's incredibly popular and Montesquieu doesn't suffer any particular problems because...Andrew Keen: And the French police have never been the most efficient police force in the world, have they?David Bell: Oh, they could be, but not in this case. And then two months later, after Montesquieu published this novel, there's a German philosopher much less well-known than Montesqiu, than Christian Bolz, who is a professor at the Universität Haller in Prussia, and he gives an oration in Latin, a very typical university oration for the time, about Chinese philosophy, in which he says that the Chinese have sort of proved to the world, particularly through the writings of Confucius and others, that you can have a virtuous society without religion. Obviously very controversial. Statement for the time it actually gets him fired from his job, he has to leave the Kingdom of Prussia within 48 hours on penalty of death, starts an enormous controversy. But here are two events, both of which involving non-European people, involving the way in which Europeans are starting to look out at the rest of the world and starting to imagine Europe as just one part of a larger humanity, and at the same time they are starting to speculate very daringly about whether you can have. You know, what it means to have a society, do you need to have religion in order to have morality in society? Do you need the proper, what kind of government do you need to to have virtuous conduct and a proper society? So all of these things get, you know, really crystallize, I think, around these two incidents as much as anything. So if I had to pick a single date for when the enlightenment starts, I'd probably pick that 1721.Andrew Keen: And when was, David, I thought you were going to tell me about the earthquake in Lisbon, when was that earthquake?David Bell: That earthquake comes quite a bit later. That comes, and now historians should be better with dates than I am. It's in the 1750s, I think it's the late 1750's. Again, this historian is proving he's getting a very bad grade for forgetting the exact date, but it's in 1750. So that's a different kind of event, which sparks off a great deal of commentary, because it's a terrible earthquake. It destroys most of the city of Lisbon, it destroys other cities throughout Portugal, and it leads a lot of the philosophy to philosophers at the time to be speculating very daringly again on whether there is any kind of real purpose to the universe and whether there's any kind divine purpose. Why would such a terrible thing happen? Why would God do such a thing to his followers? And certainly VoltaireAndrew Keen: Yeah, Votav, of course, comes to mind of questioning.David Bell: And Condit, Voltaire's novel Condit gives a very good description of the earthquake in Lisbon and uses that as a centerpiece. Voltair also read other things about the earthquake, a poem about Lisbon earthquake. But in Condit he gives a lasting, very scathing portrait of the Catholic Church in general and then of what happens in Portugal. And so the Lisbon Earthquake is certainly another one of the events, but it happens considerably later. Really in the middle of the end of life.Andrew Keen: So, David, you believe in this idea of the Enlightenment. I take your point that there are more than one Enlightenment in more than one center, but in broad historical terms, the 18th century could be defined at least in Western and Northern Europe as the period of the Enlightenment, would that be a fair generalization?David Bell: I think it's perfectly fair generalization. Of course, there are historians who say that it never happened. There's a conservative British historian, J.C.D. Clark, who published a book last summer, saying that the Enlightenment is a kind of myth, that there was a lot of intellectual activity in Europe, obviously, but that the idea that it formed a coherent Enlightenment was really invented in the 20th century by a bunch of progressive reformers who wanted to claim a kind of venerable and august pedigree for their own reform, liberal reform plans. I think that's an exaggeration. People in the 18th century defined very clearly what was going on, both people who were in favor of it and people who are against it. And while you can, if you look very closely at it, of course it gets a bit fuzzy. Of course it's gets, there's no single, you can't define a single enlightenment project or a single enlightened ideology. But then, I think people would be hard pressed to define any intellectual movement. You know, in perfect, incoherent terms. So the enlightenment is, you know by compared with almost any other intellectual movement certainly existed.Andrew Keen: In terms of a philosophy of the Enlightenment, the German thinker, Immanuel Kant, seems to be often, and when you describe him as the conscience or the brain or a mixture of the conscience and brain of the enlightenment, why is Kant and Kantian thinking so important in the development of the Enlightenment.David Bell: Well, that's a really interesting question. And one reason is because most of the Enlightenment was not very rigorously philosophical. A lot of the major figures of the enlightenment before Kant tended to be writing for a general public. And they often were writing with a very specific agenda. We look at Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau. Now you look at Adam Smith in Scotland. We look David Hume or Adam Ferguson. You look at Benjamin Franklin in the United States. These people wrote in all sorts of different genres. They wrote in, they wrote all sorts of different kinds of books. They have many different purposes and very few of them did a lot of what we would call rigorous academic philosophy. And Kant was different. Kant was very much an academic philosopher. Kant was nothing if not rigorous. He came at the end of the enlightenment by most people's measure. He wrote these very, very difficult, very rigorous, very brilliant works, such as The Creek of Pure Reason. And so, it's certainly been the case that people who wanted to describe the Enlightenment as a philosophy have tended to look to Kant. So for example, there's a great German philosopher and intellectual historian of the early 20th century named Ernst Kassirer, who had to leave Germany because of the Nazis. And he wrote a great book called The Philosophy of the Enlightened. And that leads directly to Immanuel Kant. And of course, Casir himself was a Kantian, identified with Kant. And so he wanted to make Kant, in a sense, the telos, the end point, the culmination, the fulfillment of the Enlightenment. But so I think that's why Kant has such a particularly important position. You're defining it both ways.Andrew Keen: I've always struggled to understand what Kant was trying to say. I'm certainly not alone there. Might it be fair to say that he was trying to transform the universe and certainly traditional Christian notions into the Enlightenment, so the entire universe, the world, God, whatever that means, that they were all somehow according to Kant enlightened.David Bell: Well, I think that I'm certainly no expert on Immanuel Kant. And I would say that he is trying to, I mean, his major philosophical works are trying to put together a system of philosophical thinking which will justify why people have to act morally, why people act rationally, without the need for Christian revelation to bolster them. That's a very, very crude and reductionist way of putting it, but that's essentially at the heart of it. At the same time, Kant was very much aware of his own place in history. So Kant didn't simply write these very difficult, thick, dense philosophical works. He also wrote things that were more like journalism or like tablets. He wrote a famous essay called What is Enlightenment? And in that, he said that the 18th century was the period in which humankind was simply beginning to. Reach a period of enlightenment. And he said, he starts the essay by saying, this is the period when humankind is being released from its self-imposed tutelage. And we are still, and he said we do not yet live in the midst of a completely enlightened century, but we are getting there. We are living in a century that is enlightening.Andrew Keen: So the seeds, the seeds of Hegel and maybe even Marx are incant in that German thinking, that historical thinking.David Bell: In some ways, in some ways of course Hegel very much reacts against Kant and so and then Marx reacts against Hegel. So it's not exactly.Andrew Keen: Well, that's the dialectic, isn't it, David?David Bell: A simple easy path from one to the other, no, but Hegel is unimaginable without Kant of course and Marx is unimagineable without Hegel.Andrew Keen: You note that Kant represents a shift in some ways into the university and the walls of the universities were going up, and that some of the other figures associated with the the Enlightenment and Scottish Enlightenment, human and Smith and the French Enlightenment Voltaire and the others, they were more generalist writers. Should we be nostalgic for the pre-university period in the Enlightenment, or? Did things start getting serious once the heavyweights, the academic heavyweighs like Emmanuel Kant got into this thing?David Bell: I think it depends on where we're talking about. I mean, Adam Smith was a professor at Glasgow in Edinburgh, so Smith, the Scottish Enlightenment was definitely at least partly in the universities. The German Enlightenment took place very heavily in universities. Christian Vodafoy I just mentioned was the most important German philosopher of the 18th century before Kant, and he had positions in university. Even the French university system, for a while, what's interesting about the French University system, particularly the Sorbonne, which was the theology faculty, It was that. Throughout the first half of the 18th century, there were very vigorous, very interesting philosophical debates going on there, in which the people there, particularly even Jesuits there, were very open to a lot of the ideas we now call enlightenment. They were reading John Locke, they were reading Mel Pench, they were read Dekalb. What happened though in the French universities was that as more daring stuff was getting published elsewhere. Church, the Catholic Church, started to say, all right, these philosophers, these philosophies, these are our enemies, these are people we have to get at. And so at that point, anybody who was in the university, who was still in dialog with these people was basically purged. And the universities became much less interesting after that. But to come back to your question, I do think that I am very nostalgic for that period. I think that the Enlightenment was an extraordinary period, because if you look between. In the 17th century, not all, but a great deal of the most interesting intellectual work is happening in the so-called Republic of Letters. It's happening in Latin language. It is happening on a very small circle of RUD, of scholars. By the 19th century following Kant and Hegel and then the birth of the research university in Germany, which is copied everywhere, philosophy and the most advanced thinking goes back into the university. And the 18th century, particularly in France, I will say, is a time when the most advanced thought is being written for a general public. It is being in the form of novels, of dialogs, of stories, of reference works, and it is very, very accessible. The most profound thought of the West has never been as accessible overall as in the 18 century.Andrew Keen: Again, excuse this question, it might seem a bit naive, but there's a lot of pre-Enlightenment work, books, thinking that we read now that's very accessible from Erasmus and Thomas More to Machiavelli. Why weren't characters like, or are characters like Erasmuus, More's Utopia, Machiavell's prints and discourses, why aren't they considered part of the Enlightenment? What's the difference between? Enlightened thinkers or the supposedly enlightened thinkers of the 18th century and thinkers and writers of the 16th and 17th centuries.David Bell: That's a good question, you know, I think you have to, you, you know, again, one has to draw a line somewhere. That's not a very good answer, of course. All these people that you just mentioned are, in one way or another, predecessors to the Enlightenment. And of course, there were lots of people. I don't mean to say that nobody wrote in an accessible way before 1700. Obviously, lots of the people you mentioned did. Although a lot of them originally wrote in Latin, Erasmus, also Thomas More. But I think what makes the Enlightened different is that you have, again, you have a sense. These people have have a sense that they are themselves engaged in a collective project, that it is a collective project of enlightenment, of enlightening the world. They believe that they live in a century of progress. And there are certain principles. They don't agree on everything by any means. The philosophy of enlightenment is like nothing more than ripping each other to shreds, like any decent group of intellectuals. But that said, they generally did believe That people needed to have freedom of speech. They believed that you needed to have toleration of different religions. They believed in education and the need for a broadly educated public that could be as broad as possible. They generally believed in keeping religion out of the public sphere as much as possible, so all those principles came together into a program that we can consider at least a kind of... You know, not that everybody read it at every moment by any means, but there is an identifiable enlightenment program there, and in this case an identifiable enlightenment mindset. One other thing, I think, which is crucial to the Enlightenment, is that it was the attention they started to pay to something that we now take almost entirely for granted, which is the idea of society. The word society is so entirely ubiquitous, we assume it's always been there, and in one sense it has, because the word societas is a Latin word. But until... The 18th century, the word society generally had a much narrower meaning. It referred to, you know, particular institution most often, like when we talk about the society of, you know, the American philosophical society or something like that. And the idea that there exists something called society, which is the general sphere of human existence that is separate from religion and is separate from the political sphere, that's actually something which only really emerged at the end of the 1600s. And it became really the focus of you know, much, if not most, of enlightenment thinking. When you look at someone like Montesquieu and you look something, somebody like Rousseau or Voltaire or Adam Smith, probably above all, they were concerned with understanding how society works, not how government works only, but how society, what social interactions are like beginning of what we would now call social science. So that's yet another thing that distinguishes the enlightened from people like Machiavelli, often people like Thomas More, and people like bonuses.Andrew Keen: You noted earlier that the idea of progress is somehow baked in, in part, and certainly when it comes to Kant, certainly the French Enlightenment, although, of course, Rousseau challenged that. I'm not sure whether Rousseaut, as always, is both in and out of the Enlightenment and he seems to be in and out of everything. How did the Enlightement, though, make sense of itself in the context of antiquity, as it was, of Terms, it was the Renaissance that supposedly discovered or rediscovered antiquity. How did many of the leading Enlightenment thinkers, writers, how did they think of their own society in the context of not just antiquity, but even the idea of a European or Western society?David Bell: Well, there was a great book, one of the great histories of the Enlightenment was written about more than 50 years ago by the Yale professor named Peter Gay, and the first part of that book was called The Modern Paganism. So it was about the, you know, it was very much about the relationship between the Enlightenment and the ancient Greek synonyms. And certainly the writers of the enlightenment felt a great deal of kinship with the ancient Greek synonymous. They felt a common bond, particularly in the posing. Christianity and opposing what they believed the Christian Church had wrought on Europe in suppressing freedom and suppressing free thought and suppassing free inquiry. And so they felt that they were both recovering but also going beyond antiquity at the same time. And of course they were all, I mean everybody at the time, every single major figure of the Enlightenment, their education consisted in large part of what we would now call classics, right? I mean, there was an educational reformer in France in the 1760s who said, you know, our educational system is great if the purpose is to train Roman centurions, if it's to train modern people who are not doing both so well. And it's true. I mean they would spend, certainly, you know in Germany, in much of Europe, in the Netherlands, even in France, I mean people were trained not simply to read Latin, but to write in Latin. In Germany, university courses took part in the Latin language. So there's an enormous, you know, so they're certainly very, very conversant with the Greek and Roman classics, and they identify with them to a very great extent. Someone like Rousseau, I mean, and many others, and what's his first reading? How did he learn to read by reading Plutarch? In translation, but he learns to read reading Plutach. He sees from the beginning by this enormous admiration for the ancients that we get from Bhutan.Andrew Keen: Was Socrates relevant here? Was the Enlightenment somehow replacing Aristotle with Socrates and making him and his spirit of Enlightenment, of asking questions rather than answering questions, the symbol of a new way of thinking?David Bell: I would say to a certain extent, so I mean, much of the Enlightenment criticizes scholasticism, medieval scholastic, very, very sharply, and medieval scholasticism is founded philosophically very heavily upon Aristotle, so to that extent. And the spirit of skepticism that Socrates embodied, the idea of taking nothing for granted and asking questions about everything, including questions of oneself, yes, absolutely. That said, while the great figures of the Red Plato, you know, Socrates was generally I mean, it was not all that present as they come. But certainly have people with people with red play-doh in the entire virus.Andrew Keen: You mentioned Benjamin Franklin earlier, David. Most of the Enlightenment, of course, seems to be centered in France and Scotland, Germany, England. But America, many Europeans went to America then as a, what some people would call a settler colonial society, or certainly an offshoot of the European world. Was the settling of America and the American Revolution Was it the quintessential Enlightenment project?David Bell: Another very good question, and again, it depends a bit on who you talk to. I just mentioned this book by Peter Gay, and the last part of his book is called The Science of Freedom, and it's all about the American Revolution. So certainly a lot of interpreters of the Enlightenment have said that, yes, the American revolution represents in a sense the best possible outcome of the American Revolution, it was the best, possible outcome of the enlightened. Certainly there you look at the founding fathers of the United States and there's a great deal that they took from me like Certainly, they took a great great number of political ideas from Obviously Madison was very much inspired and drafting the edifice of the Constitution by Montesquieu to see himself Was happy to admit in addition most of the founding Fathers of the united states were you know had kind of you know We still had we were still definitely Christians, but we're also but we were also very much influenced by deism were very much against the idea of making the United States a kind of confessional country where Christianity was dominant. They wanted to believe in the enlightenment principles of free speech, religious toleration and so on and so forth. So in all those senses and very much the gun was probably more inspired than Franklin was somebody who was very conversant with the European Enlightenment. He spent a large part of his life in London. Where he was in contact with figures of the Enlightenment. He also, during the American Revolution, of course, he was mostly in France, where he is vetted by some of the surviving fellows and were very much in contact for them as well. So yes, I would say the American revolution is certainly... And then the American revolutionary scene, of course by the Europeans, very much as a kind of offshoot of the enlightenment. So one of the great books of the late Enlightenment is by Condor Say, which he wrote while he was hiding actually in the future evolution of the chariot. It's called a historical sketch of the progress of the human spirit, or the human mind, and you know he writes about the American Revolution as being, basically owing its existence to being like...Andrew Keen: Franklin is of course an example of your pre-academic enlightenment, a generalist, inventor, scientist, entrepreneur, political thinker. What about the role of science and indeed economics in the Enlightenment? David, we're going to talk of course about the Marxist interpretation, perhaps the Marxist interpretation which sees The Enlightenment is just a euphemism, perhaps, for exploitative capitalism. How central was the growth and development of the market, of economics, and innovation, and capitalism in your reading of The Enlightened?David Bell: Well, in my reading, it was very important, but not in the way that the Marxists used to say. So Friedrich Engels once said that the Enlightenment was basically the idealized kingdom of the bourgeoisie, and there was whole strain of Marxist thinking that followed the assumption that, and then Karl Marx himself argued that the documents like the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which obviously were inspired by the Enlightment, were simply kind of the near, or kind of. Way that the bourgeoisie was able to advance itself ideologically, and I don't think that holds much water, which is very little indication that any particular economic class motivated the Enlightenment or was using the Enlightment in any way. That said, I think it's very difficult to imagine the Enlightement without the social and economic changes that come in with the 18th century. To begin with globalization. If you read the great works of the Enlightenment, it's remarkable just how open they are to talking about humanity in general. So one of Voltaire's largest works, one of his most important works, is something called Essay on Customs and the Spirit of Nations, which is actually History of the World, where he talks learnedly not simply about Europe, but about the Americas, about China, about Africa, about India. Montesquieu writes Persian letters. Christian Volpe writes about Chinese philosophy. You know, Rousseau writes about... You know, the earliest days of humankind talks about Africa. All the great figures of the Enlightenment are writing about the rest of the world, and this is a period in which contacts between Europe and the rest the world are exploding along with international trade. So by the end of the 18th century, there are 4,000 to 5,000 ships a year crossing the Atlantic. It's an enormous number. And that's one context in which the enlightenment takes place. Another is what we call the consumer revolution. So in the 18th century, certainly in the major cities of Western Europe, people of a wide range of social classes, including even artisans, sort of somewhat wealthy artisians, shopkeepers, are suddenly able to buy a much larger range of products than they were before. They're able to choose how to basically furnish their own lives, if you will, how they're gonna dress, what they're going to eat, what they gonna put on the walls of their apartments and so on and so forth. And so they become accustomed to exercising a great deal more personal choice than their ancestors have done. And the Enlightenment really develops in tandem with this. Most of the great works of the Enlightment, they're not really written to, they're treatises, they're like Kant, they're written to persuade you to think in a single way. Really written to make you ask questions yourself, to force you to ponder things. They're written in the form of puzzles and riddles. Voltaire had a great line there, he wrote that the best kind of books are the books that readers write half of themselves as they read, and that's sort of the quintessence of the Enlightenment as far as I'm concerned.Andrew Keen: Yeah, Voltaire might have been comfortable on YouTube or Facebook. David, you mentioned all those ships going from Europe across the Atlantic. Of course, many of those ships were filled with African slaves. You mentioned this in your piece. I mean, this is no secret, of course. You also mentioned a couple of times Montesquieu's Persian letters. To what extent is... The enlightenment then perhaps the birth of Western power, of Western colonialism, of going to Africa, seizing people, selling them in North America, the French, the English, Dutch colonization of the rest of the world. Of course, later more sophisticated Marxist thinkers from the Frankfurt School, you mentioned these in your essay, Odorno and Horkheimer in particular, See the Enlightenment as... A project, if you like, of Western domination. I remember reading many years ago when I was in graduate school, Edward Said, his analysis of books like The Persian Letters, which is a form of cultural Western power. How much of this is simply bound up in the profound, perhaps, injustice of the Western achievement? And of course, some of the justice as well. We haven't talked about Jefferson, but perhaps in Jefferson's life and his thinking and his enlightened principles and his... Life as a slave owner, these contradictions are most self-evident.David Bell: Well, there are certainly contradictions, and there's certainly... I think what's remarkable, if you think about it, is that if you read through works of the Enlightenment, you would be hard-pressed to find a justification for slavery. You do find a lot of critiques of slavery, and I think that's something very important to keep in mind. Obviously, the chattel slavery of Africans in the Americas began well before the Enlightment, it began in 1500. The Enlightenment doesn't have the credit for being the first movement to oppose slavery. That really goes back to various religious groups, especially the Fakers. But that said, you have in France, you had in Britain, in America even, you'd have a lot of figures associated with the Enlightenment who were pretty sure of becoming very forceful opponents of slavery very early. Now, when it comes to imperialism, that's a tricky issue. What I think you'd find in these light bulbs, you'd different sorts of tendencies and different sorts of writings. So there are certainly a lot of writers of the Enlightenment who are deeply opposed to European authorities. One of the most popular works of the late Enlightenment was a collective work edited by the man named the Abbe Rinal, which is called The History of the Two Indies. And that is a book which is deeply, deeply critical of European imperialism. At the same time, at the same of the enlightenment, a lot the works of history written during the Enlightment. Tended, such as Voltaire's essay on customs, which I just mentioned, tend to give a kind of very linear version of history. They suggest that all societies follow the same path, from sort of primitive savagery, hunter-gatherers, through early agriculture, feudal stages, and on into sort of modern commercial society and civilization. And so they're basically saying, okay, we, the Europeans, are the most advanced. People like the Africans and the Native Americans are the least advanced, and so perhaps we're justified in going and quote, bringing our civilization to them, what later generations would call the civilizing missions, or possibly just, you know, going over and exploiting them because we are stronger and we are more, and again, we are the best. And then there's another thing that the Enlightenment did. The Enlightenment tended to destroy an older Christian view of humankind, which in some ways militated against modern racism. Christians believed, of course, that everyone was the same from Adam and Eve, which meant that there was an essential similarity in the world. And the Enlightenment challenged this by challenging the biblical kind of creation. The Enlightenment challenges this. Voltaire, for instance, believed that there had actually been several different human species that had different origins, and that can very easily become a justification for racism. Buffon, one of the most Figures of the French Enlightenment, one of the early naturalists, was crucial for trying to show that in fact nature is not static, that nature is always changing, that species are changing, including human beings. And so again, that allowed people to think in terms of human beings at different stages of evolution, and perhaps this would be a justification for privileging the more advanced humans over the less advanced. In the 18th century itself, most of these things remain potential, rather than really being acted upon. But in the 19th century, figures of writers who would draw upon these things certainly went much further, and these became justifications for slavery, imperialism, and other things. So again, the Enlightenment is the source of a great deal of stuff here, and you can't simply put it into one box or more.Andrew Keen: You mentioned earlier, David, that Concorda wrote one of the later classics of the... Condorcet? Sorry, Condorcets, excuse my French. Condorcès wrote one the later Classics of the Enlightenment when he was hiding from the French Revolution. In your mind, was the revolution itself the natural conclusion, climax? Perhaps anti-climax of the Enlightenment. Certainly, it seems as if a lot of the critiques of the French Revolution, particularly the more conservative ones, Burke comes to mind, suggested that perhaps the principles of in the Enlightment inevitably led to the guillotine, or is that an unfair way of thinking of it?David Bell: Well, there are a lot of people who have thought like that. Edmund Burke already, writing in 1790, in his reflections on the revolution in France, he said that everything which was great in the old regime is being dissolved and, quoting, dissolved by this new conquering empire of light and reason. And then he said about the French that in the groves of their academy at the end of every vista, you see nothing but the gallows. Nothing but the Gallows. So there, in 1780, he already seemed to be predicting the reign of terror and blaming it. A certain extent from the Enlightenment. That said, I think, you know, again, the French Revolution is incredibly complicated event. I mean, you certainly have, you know, an explosion of what we could call Enlightenment thinking all over the place. In France, it happened in France. What happened there was that you had a, you know, the collapse of an extraordinarily inefficient government and a very, you know, in a very antiquated, paralyzed system of government kind of collapsed, created a kind of political vacuum. Into that vacuum stepped a lot of figures who were definitely readers of the Enlightenment. Oh so um but again the Enlightment had I said I don't think you can call the Enlightement a single thing so to say that the Enlightiment inspired the French Revolution rather than the There you go.Andrew Keen: Although your essay on liberties is the Enlightenment then and now you probably didn't write is always these lazy editors who come up with inaccurate and inaccurate titles. So for you, there is no such thing as the Enlighten.David Bell: No, there is. There is. But still, it's a complex thing. It contains multitudes.Andrew Keen: So it's the Enlightenment rather than the United States.David Bell: Conflicting tendencies, it has contradictions within it. There's enough unity to refer to it as a singular noun, but it doesn't mean that it all went in one single direction.Andrew Keen: But in historical terms, did the failure of the French Revolution, its descent into Robespierre and then Bonaparte, did it mark the end in historical terms a kind of bookend of history? You began in 1720 by 1820. Was the age of the Enlightenment pretty much over?David Bell: I would say yes. I think that, again, one of the things about the French Revolution is that people who are reading these books and they're reading these ideas and they are discussing things really start to act on them in a very different way from what it did before the French revolution. You have a lot of absolute monarchs who are trying to bring certain enlightenment principles to bear in their form of government, but they're not. But it's difficult to talk about a full-fledged attempt to enact a kind of enlightenment program. Certainly a lot of the people in the French Revolution saw themselves as doing that. But as they did it, they ran into reality, I would say. I mean, now Tocqueville, when he writes his old regime in the revolution, talks about how the French philosophes were full of these abstract ideas that were divorced from reality. And while that's an exaggeration, there was a certain truth to them. And as soon as you start having the age of revolutions, as soon you start people having to devise systems of government that will actually last, and as you have people, democratic representative systems that will last, and as they start revising these systems under the pressure of actual events, then you're not simply talking about an intellectual movement anymore, you're talking about something very different. And so I would say that, well, obviously the ideas of the Enlightenment continue to inspire people, the books continue to be read, debated. They lead on to figures like Kant, and as we talked about earlier, Kant leads to Hegel, Hegel leads to Marx in a certain sense. Nonetheless, by the time you're getting into the 19th century, what you have, you know, has connections to the Enlightenment, but can we really still call it the Enlightment? I would sayAndrew Keen: And Tocqueville, of course, found democracy in America. Is democracy itself? I know it's a big question. But is it? Bound up in the Enlightenment. You've written extensively, David, both for liberties and elsewhere on liberalism. Is the promise of democracy, democratic systems, the one born in the American Revolution, promised in the French Revolution, not realized? Are they products of the Enlightment, or is the 19th century and the democratic systems that in the 19th century, is that just a separate historical track?David Bell: Again, I would say there are certain things in the Enlightenment that do lead in that direction. Certainly, I think most figures in the enlightenment in one general sense or another accepted the idea of a kind of general notion of popular sovereignty. It didn't mean that they always felt that this was going to be something that could necessarily be acted upon or implemented in their own day. And they didn't necessarily associate generalized popular sovereignty with what we would now call democracy with people being able to actually govern themselves. Would be certain figures, certainly Diderot and some of his essays, what we saw very much in the social contract, you know, were sketching out, you knows, models for possible democratic system. Condorcet, who actually lived into the French Revolution, wrote one of the most draft constitutions for France, that's one of most democratic documents ever proposed. But of course there were lots of figures in the Enlightenment, Voltaire, and others who actually believed much more in absolute monarchy, who believed that you just, you know, you should have. Freedom of speech and freedom of discussion, out of which the best ideas would emerge, but then you had to give those ideas to the prince who imposed them by poor sicknesses.Andrew Keen: And of course, Rousseau himself, his social contract, some historians have seen that as the foundations of totalitarian, modern totalitarianism. Finally, David, your wonderful essay in Liberties in the spring quarterly 2025 is The Enlightenment, Then and Now. What about now? You work at Princeton, your president has very bravely stood up to the new presidential regime in the United States, in defense of academic intellectual freedom. Does the word and the movement, does it have any relevance in the 2020s, particularly in an age of neo-authoritarianism around the world?David Bell: I think it does. I think we have to be careful about it. I always get a little nervous when people say, well, we should simply go back to the Enlightenment, because the Enlightenments is history. We don't go back the 18th century. I think what we need to do is to recover certain principles, certain ideals from the 18 century, the ones that matter to us, the ones we think are right, and make our own Enlightenment better. I don't think we need be governed by the 18 century. Thomas Paine once said that no generation should necessarily rule over every generation to come, and I think that's probably right. Unfortunately in the United States, we have a constitution which is now essentially unamendable, so we're doomed to live by a constitution largely from the 18th century. But are there many things in the Enlightenment that we should look back to, absolutely?Andrew Keen: Well, David, I am going to free you for your own French Enlightenment. You can go and have some croissant now in your local cafe in Paris. Thank you so much for a very, I excuse the pun, enlightening conversation on the Enlightenment then and now, Essential Essay in Liberties. I'd love to get you back on the show. Talk more history. Thank you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

This morning we are returning to an annual sermon series we refer to as our New Year Essentials. These sermons address subjects to which we must repeatedly return for the glory of God and the transformation of lives. These are different sermons, taking different angles, on issues we need to come back to again-and-again. Today, we address a challenging and heated topic. But, Jesus' people are called to stand up for the weak, marginalized, and defenseless- so we must enter into the fray.

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/sYqJomnunFgThe deeper exploration of Paganism begins with its roots in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and the question of how ancient paganism was regarded then. It considers the mainstream views of that paganism in that period, which veered between regarding it as a religion of ignorance, tyranny and bloodshed, and one of great artistic and literary achievements that prepared the way for Christianity. It goes on to show how new ideas about it developed amongst radicals, which preserved the admiration for the accomplishments of ancient paganism while throwing away the caveats.This lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton  on 30th October 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Ronald is the Gresham Professor of Divinity.He is also Professor of History at the University of Bristol and a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Learned Society of Wales.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/origins-modern-paganismGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

What is modern Paganism, and how does it relate to witchcraft, Druidry and other phenomena? This lecture is designed to answer that question, and in doing so to provide an overview of the different traditions that make up Paganism today. It will show what they have in common, and what makes each one unique. It will suggest the ways in which Paganism differs from other religious traditions and what it has especially to offer the modern world. It will also address the question of its relationship with ancient paganism.This lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on 18th September 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, LondonRonald is the Gresham Professor of Divinity.He is also Professor of History at the University of Bristol and a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Learned Society of Wales.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website:https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/modern-paganismGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://gresham.ac.uk/support/Website:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport the show

From Shia LaBeouf to Rob Schneider and Candace Owens, a number of celebrities are, as they say, swimming over the Tiber into the arms of the Roman “Catholic” Church. What we want to look at on this episode is whether or not they are swimming back “Home to Rome” or ultimately swimming themselves right into the arms of what is an enemy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Support Us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/goodfight We're on Rumble! https://rumble.com/GoodFightMinistries The Submerging Church https://vimeo.com/ondemand/submergingchurch

Pull up a chair in the Magick Kitchen as we sit down with Ivo Dominguez, Jr. With over 45 years in the Craft, Ivo shares stories and perspectives of the trends and changes over his life. He explores the astrological impact and explanations of the ebb and flow of so many topics: the solitary vs. initiatory approaches to magick, community ritual and public engagement, and more.  We talk astrology, and get some perspectives only Ivo could give us. Ivo Domínguez, Jr. is a visionary, and a practitioner of a variety of esoteric disciplines. He has been active in Wicca and the Pagan community since 1978, has been teaching since 1982. Ivo was a founding member, of the first coven of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel a Wiccan Tradition where he currently serves as one of its Elders. The Assembly of the Sacred Wheel is a Wiccan syncretic tradition that draws inspiration from Astrology, Qabala, the Western Magickal Tradition and the folk religions of Europe. He has taught at many conventions/conferences across the United States and abroad. Join Leandra in The Rebel Mystic Community for LIVE monthly rituals, group mentoring, and more. In this community, Leandra shares her decades of knowledge and experience in a safe and inviting space. Get inspired today! Learn more HERE. Access BONUS EPISODES of the Magick Kitchen Podcast + get several monthly rituals, meditations, and exclusive videos by joining at the Initiate tier or higher in Elyse's Magical Living Community. Start your free trial here: patreon.com/elysewellesJoin the newsletter: seekingnumina.comView courses here: patreon.com/elysewelles/shopAbout Your HostsHerbalist, Tea Witch, Shadow Witch, Occultist, Blogger & Author Leandra Witchwood has 25+ years of working knowledge in the Craft. Her training began with Ceremonial Magick evolving into a more organic free-form style of Witchcraft. Her work includes Magickal Herbalism, Tea Magick, Shadow Work, and Kitchen Witchery. Leandra also writes books on Witchcraft. Learn more at www.LeandraWitchwood.com  or www.TheMagickKitchen.comElyse Welles is a Greek-Egyptian and American earth intuitive witch and author. An initiate of the eclectic Faery Tradition, her practice is centered on connections to land spirits and sacred places (numina). She is a monthly columnist for The Wild Hunt, & Witch Way Magazine. Learn more @seekingnumina on Instagram, and seekingnumina.comConnect with Leandra and Elyse in the Magick Kitchen Pantry: a free and paid community where you're invited to a library of Table Talk bonus episodes with us! Join through either of our private communities: The Rebel Mystic by Leandra Witchwood and Magickal Living with Elyse Welles. Follow Elyse @seekingnumina on Instagram and Facebook, and sign up for her newsletter, read her articles, and view her tours and retreats to Greece at seekingnumina.com. Follow Leandra @leandrawitchwood on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok and find her blog and books at leandrawitchwood.com.Leave us a voicemail for a chance to be featured on an upcoming episode! https://www.speakpipe.com/TheMagickKitchenPodcast

Music by:Inspiration by MIxaund - https://mixaund.bandcamp.comMusic promoted by:https://www.free-stock-music.com

Myth vs History: Does Belief Need Facts? Do you need evidence to believe? Does spirituality need scientific validation? Uncover the relationship between myth and historical truth in esoteric and Pagan paths. How do myths shape spiritual beliefs, and what happens when they contrast with historical evidence? Does belief require evidence? Key Questions: - Can myths shape spiritual practices without historical evidence? - What's the role of the Triple Goddess in modern spirituality? - How do Jungian archetypes explain spiritual myths? - Can personal spiritual experiences be valid without historical backing? This video is a must-watch for those navigating the intricate web of belief, myth, and evidence in their spiritual journey and for anyone curious about the balancing act between historical fact and transformative personal belief. CONNECT & SUPPORT

The apocalypse in Paganism, Pagan Survivalism and Heathen Preppers. Doomsday prepping for Pagan survivalism, survivalists and heathen preppers. Let's explore Dr Angela Puca's findings from my research delivered at the University of Cambridge at the British Association for the Study of Religion 2023 conference. CONNECT & SUPPORT

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Do books on modern paganism have a translation problem when it comes to Celtic sources? A discussion with Kris Hughes on an important subject. Courses on Celtic myth and folklore: https://celticsource.online/courses-page

#shamanism #trance #consciousness CONNECT & SUPPORT

#stregheria #strega #italian Is the Strega tradition founded by Raven Grimassi representative of Italian folk magic, vernacular healing or cunning folks? The influence of Wicca, Charles Leland and Aradia - the Gospel of the Withes - on Italian American reinterpretations. CONNECT & SUPPORT

#ostara #pagan #wiccan A talk on Paganism, Wicca, the Spring Equinox and Ostara from an academic and Religious Studies scholar. CONNECT & SUPPORT

00:00 In this Podcast, recorded for Quantum Sauce, I tackle: 3:26 What is Paganism? 9:02 What is Wicca? 11:59 What is the Pagan Wheel of the Year? 17:19 Ostara and how Pagans celebrate the Spring Equinox. 24:07 The Spring Myth of Persephone, Hades and Demeter CONNECT & SUPPORT

A new MP3 sermon from The King James Bible Seminary is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Modern Paganism & Witchcraft Subtitle: The Writings of Moses Speaker: Myron Baughman Broadcaster: The King James Bible Seminary Event: Teaching Date: 6/30/2023 Bible: Deuteronomy 18:9 Length: 27 min.

Promotions:Free TAROT CARD READING: ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Items discussed on Podcast ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Contact UsInstagram: @hocuspocusletsfocusFacebook: Hocus Pocus lets focusEmail: hocuspocusletsfocus@gmail.com✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Cover art by IG https://www.instagram.com/drop.dead.zombie/?hl=en ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨ Want to help support the Podcast? Consider becoming a Patron!https://www.patreon.com/hocuspocusletsfocus ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨Advertise with us!Just shoot us an email over to hocuspocusletsfocus@gmail.com✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨***Disclaimer***We are not doctors, lawyers, or professionals. We are amateurs, and nothing we say should be taken as advice, instruction, or seriously. Any action taken based on what we say or imply can and will lead to illness, existential crisis, injury, yor worse potential death. HPLF makes no promise or guarantee, expressed or implied, and assume any legal liability or responsibility for any injuries resulting from the use of information contained within our podcast.

Susane and D kick off the episode by discussing the emergence of AI apps designed specifically for witches. These apps provide tools for spellcasting, divination, and connecting with the spiritual world. They highlight the convenience and accessibility these apps offer, allowing practitioners to explore their craft anytime, anywhere. However, they also acknowledge the potential drawbacks, such as the loss of tangible, physical interactions that are inherent to traditional witchcraft.The duo then transitions into the impact of AI on social media platforms and its role in building communities for modern witches. They explore how AI algorithms can curate personalized content, connecting witches with like-minded individuals, and fostering a sense of belonging within the online pagan community. Susane and D discuss the positive aspects of this digital space, including the exchange of knowledge and the empowerment it brings to practitioners. They also touch upon the challenges of maintaining authenticity in a virtual realm, as well as the potential for misinformation and appropriation.Next, our hosts turn their attention to the integration of crystals in computers and how it amplifies the magical energy of technology. They discuss how witches incorporate crystals into their devices to enhance their spiritual connection and intention-setting while working with AI. Susane and D share personal anecdotes and explore the significance of this practice in merging ancient wisdom with cutting-edge technology.To conclude, Susane and D weigh the pros and cons of AI in paganism. They emphasize the importance of striking a balance between utilizing technology to enhance their craft and preserving the fundamental aspects of traditional witchcraft. They encourage listeners to embrace the opportunities that AI brings to the pagan community while remaining grounded in their beliefs and values.Join Susane and D in this thought-provoking episode as they unravel the fascinating possibilities and considerations within the realm of Tech Paganism. Discover the wonders and challenges of merging ancient wisdom with the digital age, and explore how AI has truly created a magical space for witches to express themselves and connect with one another.Promotions:Free TAROT CARD READING:✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨Items discussed on Podcasthttps://tinyrituals.co/blogs/tiny-rituals/emf-protection-crystals-what-to-buy-and-how-to-use-them   ✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨Contact UsInstagram: @hocuspocusletsfocusFacebook: Hocus Pocus lets focusEmail: hocuspocusletsfocus@gmail.com✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨Cover art by IG https://www.instagram.com/drop.dead.zombie/?hl=en✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨Want to help support the Podcast? Consider becoming a Patron!https://www.patreon.com/hocuspocusletsfocus✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨Advertise with us!Just shoot us an email over to hocuspocusletsfocus@gmail.com✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨***Disclaimer***We are not doctors, lawyers, or professionals. We are amateurs, and nothing we say should be taken as advice, instruction, or seriously. Any action taken based on what we say or imply can and will lead to illness, existential crisis, injury, yor worse potential death. HPLF makes no promise or guarantee, expressed or implied, and assume any legal liability or responsibility for any injuries resulting from the use of information contained within our podcast.

Archpriest Geoffrey Korz explains the historical practice of paganism and its resurgence today. (John 9:1-38)

Archpriest Geoffrey Korz explains the historical practice of paganism and its resurgence today. (John 9:1-38)

Archpriest Geoffrey Korz explains the historical practice of paganism and its resurgence today. (John 9:1-38)

  In the annals of research on extraordinary experience there are certain cases that are so strange that they stand out from the crowd. These experiences are utterly bizarre, and cannot be neatly classified or easily understood. This is the Deep Weird.   “Cleansing in Modern Paganism and Witchcraft”, by John Beckett: https://tinyurl.com/y49y95ew   “Deep Weird; the Varieties of High Strangeness Experience” edited by Jack Hunter: https://tinyurl.com/53d5bdz3   Dr Jack Hunter's Website: https://tinyurl.com/4n8x6662   The Fairy Census: https://www.fairyist.com/survey/   6 Degrees of John Keel: https://6degreesofjohnkeel.com/     Theme music is courtesy of Sara Rudy and her band Hello June, and is used with their permission. The song “Fight, Don't Fight” can be downloaded at: https://tinyurl.com/4w82ttm9   If you want to find out more or get any of their music, you can find them at https://www.wearehellojune.com/ or on Bandcamp at https://hellojune.bandcamp.com/   Esoteric Book Club can be found on: Facebook: @esotericbookclub Instagram: esotericbookclub Web: www.esotericbookclub.org

Heathenry, a modern movement drawing on pre-Christian pagan religions, has become associated with the violent, racialized politics of the alt-right. Less well known is the fight to make heathenry — and the progressive values it can promote — inclusive and open to all. Guests: Robert Schreiwer, Heathen activist, founder of the Heathen tradition of Urglaawe, Manager of Huginn's Heathen Hof and Heathens Against Hate, and Steer of the Troth (2016-2019 and again in 2020). Founder of In-Reach Prison Services. Michael Strmiska, associate professor in global studies at SUNY-Orange and author of Modern Paganism in World Cultures. Lauren Crow, co-host of the Heathen History podcast. Ben Waggoner, co-host of the Heathen History podcast. Thomas Engelmann, outreach specialist at Life After Hate's ExitUSA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Heathenry, a modern movement drawing on pre-Christian pagan religions, has become associated with the violent, racialized politics of the alt-right. Less well known is the fight to make heathenry — and the progressive values it can promote — inclusive and open to all. Guests: Robert Schreiwer, Heathen activist, founder of the Heathen tradition of Urglaawe, Manager of Huginn's Heathen Hof and Heathens Against Hate, and Steer of the Troth (2016-2019 and again in 2020). Founder of In-Reach Prison Services. Michael Strmiska, associate professor in global studies at SUNY-Orange and author of Modern Paganism in World Cultures. Lauren Crow, co-host of the Heathen History podcast. Ben Waggoner, co-host of the Heathen History podcast. Thomas Engelmann, outreach specialist at Life After Hate's ExitUSA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

In this episode, Barbara takes us on a trip down memory lane. She gives us a glimpse into her childhood, sharing many of the ups and downs that she faced along the way. She talks about how when she entered adulthood she felt like the rug was pulled up from under her and how she had to hustle to stay afloat. And then she shares the quest she pursued in search of a feeling of home and where she ended up landing. This episode highlights Barbara's road of healing and so much more.Barbara Heller is an award winning songwriter, podcaster, filmmaker, and educator.  She is also a published author, playwright, and voice over artist.   Subscribe to her award winning podcast See One Beautiful Soul. Barbra leads "Meditate & Create”  Workshops that Ignite Great Healing and Wonderful Creations from the hearts of her students and colleagues. She is committed to making this world more mentally well, safe, and comfortable for all ages!You can grab some of Barb's original guided mindful meditations here. Email her at info@BarbHeller.com for more information on her Classes, Coaching and Workshops!

Today I had on the bearded viking, David Christiansen, to talk all about what paganism actually is, modern day vikings, norse paganism, aliens or Extraterrestrials, and much more. David's Links to everything he does: https://beacons.ai/beardedviking7 Nick's Links to everything he does: https://linktr.ee/nick.zei

What it's All About: Anglo-Saxon Pagans are a loose label used to describe the diverse group of historically Pagan peoples living in the territory of modern England, beginning with Germanic peoples during the 5th century and continuing into the present. They may share certain commonalities with Modern Paganism, such as reverence for nature and other animals (particularly equine), divination practices, and seasonal celebrations. However, they may also differ in beliefs and practices that reflect their diverse origins and varying understandings of what makes up "pagan." For example, while Anglo-Saxon Pagans may share some commonalities with Modern Paganism, they may also have different understandings of what makes up "pagan" tradition. This is what I am going to discuss on this podcast. The spirit guide of the week is Eostre and the dream symbols are serial killer, sewing machine, and shaving. Songs Featured: Pagan Girl by Emerald Rose Pagan by Moon and the Nightspirit Odin by Pagan Rap Gang Eostre by Norse Gael Thor's Hammer by Ohrenpeyn Upper Midwest Terrorist Society (And Sewing Bee) by Murphy's Midnight Rounders Wilde Rose by Wolfenmond Cool to be a Witch 2.0 by Alexian Links Mentioned The Anglo-Saxons and Religion Religion in the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms Anglo-Saxon Religion Eostre - Spring Goddess or NeoPagan Fancy? Eostre Eostre All About Eostre Anglo-Saxon Heathenry I am not an Anglo-Saxon, I am an Anglo-Saxon pagan History of Theodish Beleif

With the upcoming shamanism video, many people have asked about mentorship within pagan practices today. So today Caleb and I, discuss the complicated nature of establishing new mentors in beliefs that used to rely so heavily on them. 

In the first of a two part Hallowe'en special, Tom and Dominic are joined by Professor Ronald Hutton to explore the history of modern paganism: from Wicca to Druids, and from Himmler to the Glastonbury Festival. Do its roots reach back to a genuine pre-Christian past? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's not devil worship. It's not make-believe. Modern-day pagans are taking part in a diverse array of spiritual practices and reviving traditions of long ago. (Originally broadcast in September 2018.)

First talk of Panel 1 - Who Owns this Place? Pondering Identities, chaired by Alice Purkiss, talk by Ronald Hutton (Bristol).

Fr. Bill talks about St. Boniface, the Apostle to Germany, and how he confronted the paganism of the people of that region, and how his example of zeal and audacity can serve to confront the modern paganisms of today.

As a secular/non-religious person, I live a life of secular ethics, secular morality, and The Ten Humanist Commitments: Altruism Caring for the World Around Us Critical Thinking Empathy Ethical Development Global Awareness Humility Peace and Social Justice Responsibility Service and Participation. https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/beliefs/buddhism (This whole link describes me accurately.) https://www.uri.org/kids/world-religions/buddhist-beliefs (I strongly agree with Buddhist beliefs, I say that responsible usage of alcohol is good.) https://www.uua.org/beliefs/what-we-believe/beliefs/pagan (Many Unitarian Universalists like me draw inspiration from the cycles of seasons, the beauty and complexity of the natural world, and the intricate relationships between humans and all the other life on this planet. Some of us practice indigenous religions and Modern Paganism. All of these are part of the sixth source of our living tradition that I live by, "spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature." Our worship services include writings, poetry, and ritual of earth-centered traditions. As allies in indigenous peoples’ struggles for cultural survival, we do not borrow indigenous practices and use them as our own. We respect indigenous religions as paths to native peoples’ spiritual and cultural renewal, and welcome those who practice them. We also welcome those who identify as Pagans, including Wiccans, Druids, and practitioners of Goddess Spirituality. The Modern Pagan movements have many Unitarian Universalists among them. Some of our congregations have Modern Pagan groups within them, organized as chapters of CUUPS (the Covenant of UU Pagans).  Explore Earth-Centered Connections It's About Time, Persephone from UUWorld Dawn Meditation for the Fall Equinox from UUWorld From Skinner House Books: Aisha's Moonlit Walk: Stories and Celebrations for the Pagan Year From inSpirit: The UU Book and Gift Shop: In Nature's Honor: Myths and Rituals Celebrating the Earth From Beacon Press: Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood: A Treasury of Goddess and Heroine Lore from Around the World Connect with Modern Pagans through the Covenant of UU Pagans Aisha's Moonlit WalkStories and Celebrations For the Pagan Year By Anika Stafford From Skinner House Books A fictional modern-day family celebrates the eight pagan holidays over the course of a year. Buy This Book For more information contact info@uua.org. SHARE: --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/antonio-myers4/support

A conversation with Jimi Two Feathers about civil rights activism and diversity in the modern pagan movement At the break, a selection of poems from EarthSpirit Member Sophia Lanciano Jimi Two Feathers' Organizations: Community Change Inc. Dance New England Earth Drum Council Sophia Lanciano @miniature_sophie on instagram Music by Sam Arthen-Long Recorded and Produced at Singing Land Studio singinglandstudio.com Learn more about the EarthSpirit Community earthspirit.com Earthspiritvoices.wordpress.com

This week we talk about older stories that have had their influence on modern pagans, including the Mabinogion, King Arthur and the Wife of Bath. Our guest is Hayley Arrington who has the Loathly Lady website which she calls Arthurian musings from a feminist witch.Joanna van der Hoeven - Down the Forest Pathhttps://downtheforestpath.com/2018/04/03/women-of-the-mabinogion/Is the Wife of Bath a feminist character?https://www.thoughtco.com/the-wife-of-bath-feminist-character-3529685Loathly Lady – Hayley Harrington's Websitehttps://loathlylady.wordpress.com/author/loathlylady/ Hayley's book recommendations ·       Girl God Publisinghttp://thegirlgod.com/publishing.php·       Seasons of the Witch by Patricia Monaghan  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1878980092/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i14·       Whole and Holy: a Goddess Devotional by Molly Remer https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whole-Holy-Devotional-Molly-Remer/dp/B08NRZ965V/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=whole+and+holy&qid=1615039538&sr=8-1·       Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths Paperback by Charlene Spretnakhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Title-Goddesses-Early-Greece-Collection/dp/0931452007/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&hvadid=80607977779239&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=lost+goddesses+of+early+greece&qid=1615039776&sr=8-2

April and Jen welcome special guests Bear and Wendy Griffin from Artio Artisanals to discuss how they incorporate Modern Paganism into their lives and livelihood. We chat about Pagan traditions, core beliefs, and how Paganism has brought them many blessings. Visit http://artioartisanals.com to learn more - Hail Artio! Please send your questions to spiritualbasicspodcast@gmail.com or visit our website http://spiritualbasicspodcast.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/spiritual-basics/message

This week Mathias and Daniel are really excited to talk with Ethan Stark an administrator of Heathens Against Hate, an organization dedicated to inclusivity in heathenry through the philosophy: "We are our deeds."Together they will be diving into the topics surrounding the difficulties faced by people who practice modern paganism and heathenry; the primary one being groups interested in practicing racism and white supremacy who tarnish the image of this newly emerging religious practice. Learn some of the things you should watch out for if you yourself are interested in checking out Paganism, as well as some of the hard conversations you might have to have as a practicing Heathen, both to educate people or steer people you care about from going down a bad road. It's good stuff, if complicated. Also this is our one year anniversary! It's hard to believe that this all started out with a scholar and a self described, "idiot from Yorkshire." We've come so far, at least in terms of equipment... This has been especially evident in the last month or so since our amazing Patreon supporters have given us the ability to purchase new equipment and help Daniel focus more time on the podcast. Thank you so much, your support truly means the world to us!If you are interested in joining please check us out at: www.patreon.com/NordicMythologyPodcastWe try to offer a variety of cool rewards including episode guides, special story time episodes, and add free versions of the show. Members also get to participate in special Q&A sessions with the hosts. That's it, if you've read this far give yourself a pat on the back, and if you've been listening to us since the beginning thank you, thank you, thank you, you are amazing.This weeks sponsors: Idle Sleep, Things from Another World and Horns of Odin.www.idlesleep.com - 25% off store wide with FALL25www.hornsofodin.com - 10% off store wide with HORNS10

Heathenry, a modern movement drawing on pre-Christian pagan religions, has become associated with the violent, racialized politics of the alt-right. Less well known is the fight to make heathenry — and the progressive values it can promote — inclusive and open to all.GUESTSRobert Schreiwer, Heathen activist, founder of the Heathen tradition of Urglaawe, Manager of Huginn’s Heathen Hof and Heathens Against Hate, and Steer of the Troth (2016-2019 and again in 2020). Founder of In-Reach Prison Services.Michael Strmiska, associate professor in global studies at SUNY-Orange and author of Modern Paganism in World Cultures.Lauren Crow, co-host of the Heathen History podcast.Ben Waggoner, co-host of the Heathen History podcast.Thomas Engelmann, outreach specialist at Life After Hate’s ExitUSA.

The conclusion to ExGarage's talk on Wiccanism. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exgarage-podcast/support

Wicca the modern pagan movement is now marketing its self for the family? --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exgarage-podcast/support

Wicca and its practices and so much more! ExGarage! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exgarage-podcast/support

What is Wicca where did it come from where is it going? Find out in this episode of ExGarage! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exgarage-podcast/support

It's a hell of a story!Happy Yule, Y'all! It's our penultimate Sabbat episode, and it's all about the Winter solstice!Join us for History, Rituals, and Recipes!Things we talked about this episode:Winter Solstice Piebaretribe.blogspot.com/2012/02/winter-solstice-pie.htmlBasic Wassail Recipelearnreligions.com/go-a-wassailing-for-yule-2562973Modern Ritualtheseasonalsoul.com/family-winter-solstice-ritual/www.witchbitchamateurhour.comWant to help support the Podcast? Consider becoming a Patron!https://www.patreon.com/wbahpodcastAdvertise With Us:www.advertisecast.com/TheWitchBitchAmateurHourSnag yourself some WBAH Merch!teespring.com/stores/wbah-podcast-storeContact Us (Come Eat With Us)Instagram @WitchBitchAmateurHourTwitter @BitchHourFacebook @WitchAmateurHourwbahpodcast@gmail.comHandwritten letters are actual magic!PO Box 865Canton, Tx75103Theme music by:https://www.fiverr.com/master_serviceWe are not doctors, lawyers, or professionals. We are amateurs, and nothing we say should be taken as advice, instruction, or seriously. Any action taken based on what we say or imply can and will lead to illness, existential crisis, injury, your pets no longer loving you, and death. We make no promise or guarantee, expressed or implied, and assume no legal liability or responsibility for any injuries resulting from the use of information contained within our media.

It's commonly believed that the cultural wars in the West reflect a conflict between Christianity (more generally, religion) and secularism. In this episode we entertain a thesis put forth by law professor Steven Smith (and previously by T.S. Eliot), which is that modern cultural conflicts might be better understood as reflecting a historical battle between Christianity and paganism. As a start to our exploration of this intriguing thesis, we spend the lion's share of this episode unpacking core themes of paganism, including pantheism, animism, and forms of pagan worship. Listeners will learn about syncretism and henotheism and even encounter chthonic goddesses which were the focus of orgiastic temple worship practices. As we discuss these topics we describe how the psychedelics seem to spawn pagan beliefs and how pagan views are making their way into current scientific and philosophical theories of consciousness (i.e., panpsychism). Most importantly, we highlight (sometimes shocking) ways that paganism is manifesting in our society today, including how pagan ideology is being blatantly conveyed in the characters and storylines of popular movies and Netflix shows for children, and by the placement of pagan statues in prominent places (even scientific institutions; e.g., CERN).Bibliography:Books:Arnold, C. (2001). Power and Magic: The Concept of Power in EphesiansFox, R. L. (1987). Pagans and Christians.Smith, S.D. (2018). Pagans and Christians in the City: Culture Wars from the Tiber to the Potomac.Research Articles:Genovese, J. E., & Little, K. D. (2015). Two studies of Superbrain Yoga’s potential effect on academic performance based on the Number Facility Test. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2(4), 452.News:CBNNEWS | Statue of Molech, Pagan Deity of Child Sacrifice, Displayed at ColosseumBloomberg | Earth Needs Fewer People to Beat the Climate Crisis, Scientists SayMIT Technology Review | Critics blast a proposal to curb climate change by halting population growthThe Atlantic | What It’s Like to Trip on the Most Potent Magic Mushroom | Michael PollanArticles:Counter-Currents | Greg Johnson - Yeats' Pagan Second Cominghistoryhit.com | The 12 Gods and Goddesses of Pagan RomeEncyclopaedia Britannica | Horus - Egyptian Godvox.com | 40 maps that explain the Roman Empirepranichealingontario.ca | SUPERBRAIN YOGA.pdf (opens pdf)YouTube:YouTube | How do you explain consciousness? | David ChalmersYouTube | David Chalmers: How Does Panpsychism Fit in Between Dualism and Materialism?YouTube | The British Museum | Living with gods: Shiva lord of the danceYouTube | Michael Pollan | The Opposite of Spirituality is Egotism | London Real excerptYouTube | Graham Hancock - The War on Consciousness BANNED TED TALKYouTube | The history of Atlantis and The Lost Trident of Atlan | AQUAMAN (IMAX) [HD] ClipYouTube | Wonder Woman History Lesson (720p)YouTube | The Pagan City, the Christian City, and the Secular City | Steven SmithYouTube | Culture Wars as Pagan Counterrevolution | Steven SmithYouTube | Coming Home? The Imminent Immanent City | Steven SmithYouTube | Ryan Reeves | Roman Pagan Life and WorshipMovies & Shows:Granblue Fantasy: The AnimationFinal Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)Wonder Woman (2017)Aquaman (2018)Shazam! (2019)WHERE TO FIND USWebsite:notconformed.showEmail:info@notconformed.showRSS Feed:https://feeds.simplecast.com/Q7v05iI6

Hello and welcome to Attempting Murder Podcast, a safe space for personal gnosis. Attempting Murder is lovingly offered to our patron Goddess, The Morrigan and the greater community. Your hosts are Willow, Raevan and River Monthly Topic: Gnosis “Gnosis” Episode 2, Season 1, Recording Segments: 1. Personal Reflections - What’s Goin’ On - a Five min segment per just getting folks up to speed. a. Raevan b. River c. Willow 2. Monthly Topic - Gnosis A. Wrote Paganism/catholic Paganism B. What Can Go Wrong C. But Gnosis though 3. Morrigan Moments Personal - Special focus on The Morrigan/Face Time; plans for meditations, offerings, discussions of experiences of the past month. Links and Resources: "Why Unverified Personal Gnosis is Good and Necessary" March 14, 2019, Patheos, John Beckett https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2019/03/upg-why-unverified-personal-gnosis-is-good-and-necessary.html "The Infinite and The Beyond" Season 1, episode 006: The Spirit of Modern Paganism & episode 007: Paganism and Being Pagan. https://www.infinite-beyond.com/ Christoper Orapello - The Infinite and Beyond - Seasons 1 Áine Órga Warren - Blog http://www.aineorga.com/ "The Dreaded Unverified Personal Gnosis" September 24th 2016, Tyra Ulfdottir https://www.rationalheathen.com/2016/09/24/the-dreaded-unverified-personal-gnosis/ "Why Unverified Personal Gnosis Should Not be Dreaded." April 28th, 2019, The Rational Heathen https://www.rationalheathen.com/2018/04/28/why-unverified-personal-gnosis-should-not-be-dreaded/ Lecture and hands on course in drawing Celtic Knot Work by Patrick Gallagher, Celtic Art, Ltd. at Celtic International Conference: 2000, Milwaukee Wi. http://www.celtart.com/mainindex.html Celtic Women International https://www.celticwomen.org "Reckoning with Christianity through a Pagan Lens," Wild Hunt, October 12, 2019. By Luke Babb https://wildhunt.org/2019/10/column-reckoning-with-christianity-through-a-pagan-lens.html "Overcoming Spiritual Programming: The Journey From Fear To Freedom" Patheos, NOVEMBER 21, 2019, CYNDI BRANNEN https://www.patheos.com/blogs/keepingherkeys/2019/11/spiritual-deprogramming-the-journey-from-fear-to-freedom/ "Sometimes The Gods Take What They Want and Sometimes What They Want Is You," Patheos NOVEMBER 17, 2019 BY JOHN BECKETT https://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2019/11/sometimes-the-gods-take-what-they-want.html https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1303&context=honors Cultural Appropriation in Contemporary Neopaganism and Witchcraft, Kathryn Gottlieb, University of Maine http://baringtheaegis.blogspot.com/2012/08/unverified-personal-gnosis.html?m=1 Unverified Personal Gnosis, Mayra Rienties, Baring the Aegis blog Musical & Artistic Contributors: Art Lesley Lycan at https://twitter.com/LesleyLycan. Opening music "Realm of Hope," by Jonathan Segev available at https://soundcloud.com/jonathansegev/realm-of-hope & https://youtu.be/YHbEz1TVrz8 contact: Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jonathansegev Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan_jo... Twitter: https://twitter.com/MisterSegev closing music "Easily," by Johny Grimes available at: Johny Grimes https://soundcloud.com/johny-grimes Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Other Music: Traveler -Alexander Nakarada Music used: Traveler by Alexander Nakarada @ SerpentSound Studios https://soundcloud.com/serpentsoundst... Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Follow us on Twitter at @AttemptingMurd1 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/attemptingmurder/message

As the Abrahamic dispensations falter in the west, ancient Pagan faiths are becoming increasingly popular. How are they different than their original forms? How do they manifest with modern audiences and in the digital revolution? What are some of the negative aspects or dark sides of modern Paganism? From sacrificing to the gods to politics in covens, from cool Pagan flicks to the purpose of magic, we get a state of the union of Paganism today. Astral Guests — Scarlet Ravenswood and Dan Shakus, hosts of The Cosmic Keys Podcast

We meet those who call themselves witches, wiccans, druids and other practitioners of paganism, and learn about their diverse array of practices.

It's not devil worship. It's not make-believe. Modern-day pagans are reviving pre-Christian spiritual traditions.

In this episode I take a deeper look at the philosophical concepts that undergird the Age of Enlightenment, through my examination of Peter Gay's 'The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism.' In this book, Gay examines the connections that the philosophes felt with the ancient Greek and Roman thinkers, and the culture of criticism that they fostered in their conflict with Christianity.More at www.neofusionist.com

Today we feature a conversation with Koe Creation, the second generation s3x educator for the 21st Century! This weekend their premier book, and memoir titled This Heart Holds Many; My Life as the Non-Binary Millennial Child of a Polyamorous Family was published through Thorntree Press. Today we will discuss their life, and the process of crafting their story. WithPolyAnna.com Patreon.com/WithPolyAnna Suggested Links: http://Koecreation.com https://www.amazon.com/This-Heart-Holds-Many-Polyamorous/dp/1944934723 https://uwm.edu/lgbtrc/support/gender-pronouns/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Paganism https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42789727-this-heart-holds-many Guest Social Media: @Koecreate Guest Email: KoeCreation@gmail.com *Theme Song: "Somethin for Ya" by Mnage Quad --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/withpolyanna/support

In this episode, we'll be putting the spotlight on priestess, shaman and massage therapist Jamie, whose take on gender and shamanism stands in unity with mediumships both…… Read more "Unpronounceable Celtic Words and Gender Shit Shamanism, Mediumship and Gender in Modern Paganism"

We explore the lives of those who call themselves witches, pagans, Wiccans, Druids, and everything in between. It’s a diverse group  - with an array of different spiritual practices and beliefs. 

It's not devil worship. It's not make-believe. Modern day pagans are taking part in a diverse array of spiritual practices reviving traditions of long ago.

Welcome To Weird Web Radio! I'm your host Lonnie Scott. This episode features the current ADF Archdruid Jon Drum. Jon and I cover his beginnings in Paganism, and take that chat all the way to the current day. Of course, we cover hauntings too. Jon and I share a common challenge as well. We are both in leadership positions in Paganism. His is the Archdruid role of ADF. Mine is being on the High Rede of The Troth. That led me to ask him some questions about how he navigates those unique challenges, and also how he feels about the Bonewits scandal.  Some of the topics we cover include: Earth Mother Finding the Gods Drawing Down The Moon New Reformed Druids of North America Early Days of ADF & Evolution What is a Druid? Becoming Archdruid The Challenges of Pagan Leadership Teamwork Dealing With The Isaac Bonewits Accusations Consent Culture Being A Solitary Pagan Training Pagans Building Community Mentors Scholarship in Paganism Abusers In Religion Working With House Spirits Daily Spiritual Routine Handling Hauntings Recognizing The Hemispheres Message to ADF You can find more information about the ADF and even join by visiting http://adf.org Jon Drum is the current ADF Archdruid as well as a Senior Priest in ADF. He is a frequent contributor to Oak Leaves (ADF Newsletter) and he honours the Earth Mother and Manannan mac Lir is his daily workings. He is a poet and a writer and the author of Arise from Vapours, Willow Flow, and A Tree for the Earth Mother, all available at amazon.com. Kick back, relax, and enjoy the show! SHOW NOTES SUBSCRIBE ON iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify! Also streaming on mobile apps for podcasts! Intro voice over by Lothar Tuppan. Outro voice over by Lonnie Scott Intro & Outro Music by Nine Inch Nails on the album ‘7’, song title ‘Ghost’, under Creative Commons License.

Lee is joined by the hosts of the Walking the Unnamed Path podcast, Michael Greywolf and Mathew Sydney, for a discussion of magic, connection, and the wisdom found as men who love men. From the politics and ethics of hexing modern politics to how traditions shift after the passing of their founder, their passion is explored from a place of serious introspection and humor alike. **   Passion And Soul Podcast: iTunes Subscription: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/passion-soul-podcast-by-lee/id840372122 RSS Feed: http://passionandsoul.libsyn.com/rss Past MP3 files: http://passionandsoul.libsyn.com PassionAndSoul Audio Page: http://passionandsoul.com/audio Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/erotic-awakening-podcast/passion-and-soul Walking the Unnamed Path Podcast: Website: http://unnamedpath.com/walking-the-unnamed-path-podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/unnamedpath/ Contact Michael Greywolf: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.greywolf.98 Twitter: https://twitter.com/GreywolfMusings Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelgreywolf Email: michaelgreywolf.musings@gmail.com Contact Mathew Sydney: Website: http://www.mathewsydney.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mathewsydney Links, Events, People and Movies Mentioned: Essence of Shibari by Shin Nawakiri: https://www.amazon.com/Essence-Shibari-Kinbaku-Japanese-Bondage/dp/1942733852/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pass-20 Lee appearances on All Acts of Love and Pleasure Podcast: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/witchschool/2015/04/02/ptrnall-acts-of-love-and-pleasure-kink-and-paganism-pagan-variety-show-mmr    http://www.blogtalkradio.com/witchschool/2016/08/04/ptrnall-acts-of-love-and-pleasure-lee-harrington-traversing-gender-pvstba The Unnamed Path: http://unnamedpath.com Prof. Roy Mitchell on UAA Podcast: http://greenandgold.uaa.alaska.edu/podcasts/index.php?cat=Roy-Mitchell Council of Magickal Arts Beltane Gathering: http://www.magickal-arts.org/festivals-beltane.php Stone and Stang: http://stoneandstang.com Brotherhood of the Phoenix: http://brotherhoodofthephoenix.org Minoan Brotherhood: http://www.minoan-brotherhood.org The Path of the Green Man: Gay Men, Wicca, and Living a Magical Life: https://www.amazon.com/Path-Green-Man-Living-Magical/dp/080652653X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pass-20 Old Unnamed Path Podcast with Hyperion Archive: http://unnamedpath.com/archives/category/podcast PantheaCon: https://pantheacon.com/wordpress/ Black Leather Wings: http://www.blackleatherwings.org Hexing/Binding of Trump: http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/02/witches-are-planning-to-hex-trump-this-friday.html Dr. Susan Harper on Walking the Unnamed Path Podcast: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/witchschool/2017/02/25/walking-the-unnamed-path-episode-13-pagan-activism-w-dr-susan-harper Z Budapest bars trans women from attending women's ritual: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/wildhunt/2012/02/gender-transgender-politics-and-our-beloved-community.html Gender and Transgender in Modern Paganism: https://www.amazon.com/Gender-Transgender-Modern-Paganism-Gina/dp/1105433781/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=pass-20 “When we simplify things down to just the memes, we lose the capacity for conversation around the issues.” – Lee Harrington Lee's Upcoming Events/Appearances: http://passionandsoul.com/appearances/ Lee Harrington Contact Information: http://www.PassionAndSoul.com http://www.FetLife.com/passionandsoul http://twitter.com/#!/PassionAndSoul https://www.facebook.com/lee.harringon https://www.facebook.com/passionandsoul

CONFERENCIA Y PRESENTACIÓN DEL EVENTO GLOBAL Religión, espiritualidad y medio ambiente. Christian Ortiz  Psicólogo / Sacerdote de la Diosa / Fraternidad de la Diosa /   Es reverendo de la tradición de la Diosa -Priest of the Goddess, Doctor en estudios religiosos en Divinidades en la ULC, miembro de la Fellowship of Isis (FOI), conferenciante de la Goddess Conference,  certificado por INMUJERES en sensibilización en Género. Especialista en prevención y atención de Violencia por UCC – ELPAC (México). Co-autor de “Call of the God: An Exploration of the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism ” y coordinador de la Fraternidad de la Diosa Evento Global “MADRE TIERRA” Cultura de la paz – Ecología – Espiritualidad La fraternidad de la Diosa Invita a celebrar: “El Día internacional de la Madre Tierra” Conferencias – Rituales – Meditaciones Abril 2016 http://fraternidaddeladiosa.blogspot.mx/

CONFERENCIA Y PRESENTACIÓN DEL EVENTO GLOBAL Religión, espiritualidad y medio ambiente. Christian Ortiz  Psicólogo / Sacerdote de la Diosa / Fraternidad de la Diosa /   Es reverendo de la tradición de la Diosa -Priest of the Goddess, Doctor en estudios religiosos en Divinidades en la ULC, miembro de la Fellowship of Isis (FOI), conferenciante de la Goddess Conference,  certificado por INMUJERES en sensibilización en Género. Especialista en prevención y atención de Violencia por UCC – ELPAC (México). Co-autor de “Call of the God: An Exploration of the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism ” y coordinador de la Fraternidad de la Diosa Evento Global “MADRE TIERRA” Cultura de la paz – Ecología – Espiritualidad La fraternidad de la Diosa Invita a celebrar: “El Día internacional de la Madre Tierra” Conferencias – Rituales – Meditaciones Abril 2016 http://fraternidaddeladiosa.blogspot.mx/

CONFERENCIA Y PRESENTACIÓN DEL EVENTO GLOBAL Religión, espiritualidad y medio ambiente. Christian Ortiz  Psicólogo / Sacerdote de la Diosa / Fraternidad de la Diosa /   Es reverendo de la tradición de la Diosa -Priest of the Goddess, Doctor en estudios religiosos en Divinidades en la ULC, miembro de la Fellowship of Isis (FOI), conferenciante de la Goddess Conference,  certificado por INMUJERES en sensibilización en Género. Especialista en prevención y atención de Violencia por UCC – ELPAC (México). Co-autor de “Call of the God: An Exploration of the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism ” y coordinador de la Fraternidad de la Diosa Evento Global “MADRE TIERRA” Cultura de la paz – Ecología – Espiritualidad La fraternidad de la Diosa Invita a celebrar: “El Día internacional de la Madre Tierra” Conferencias – Rituales – Meditaciones Abril 2016 http://fraternidaddeladiosa.blogspot.mx/

Join RevKess and Kalisara as we host a panel of authors and group organizers to talk about Gender Binary in modern Paganism. In Paganism, most often Wicca, this manifests as the idea that there is a balance of Goddess and God that must be considered. However, many see this as having emotional and psychological effects, particularly for those who identify as gender-queer or gender-fluid. Our panelists are: Hollis Taylor, publisher of DiversiTree.org, & Holistic Yogi & Life Coach. (ne/nem/nir/nirs/nemself)Jaina Bee, priestx of CAYA Coven, & co-founder of CAYA’s Rainbow Moon Circle. (e/em/eir/emself)Melissa ra Karit, feminist, activist, and writer at Everyday Sacred and Beyond the Binary blog. (ze/zir/zir)Kitsune, genderqueer Initiate in CAYA's Wildflower tradition. (they/them/theirs)Lindsey Williams, feminist & author of Motherhood. (she/her/hers)P. Sufenas Virius Lupus, founder of Ekklesía Antínoou, author & blogger at Aedicula Antinoi & Speaking of Syncretism. (e/em/eir/eirs/emself)

In this third episode that coincides with Pantheacon, we talk to P. Sufenas Virius Lupus about the evolution of gender in regards to Deity. Do the Gods really care about their, and our, gender? Can we create new deities that are inclusive and that work for us? How have we evolved in our thinking around gender? How does pagan isolationism contribute to issues of gender and inclusion? We also talk about how sharing and listening to the stories of people can put a human face onto the “other.” (And there’s some Buffy spoilers for the uninitiated.) P. Sufenas Virius Lupus is a metagender person, and the founding member, Doctor, Sacerdos, Magistratum, and Mystagogos of the Ekklesía Antínoou (a queer, Graeco-Roman-Egyptian syncretist reconstructionist polytheist religious group dedicated to Antinous, the deified lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and other related gods and divine figures), a contributing member of Neos Alexandria, and a Celtic Reconstructionist in the traditions of filidecht and gentlidecht, amongst other spiritual pursuits.  Lupus’ work (poetry, essays, and fiction) has been published in many of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina devotional volumes, and in the anthologies Datura and Mandragora edited by Ruby Sara, When the Lion Roars edited by Galina Krasskova, Etched Offerings edited by Inanna Gabriel and C. Bryan Brown, Rooted in the Body, Seeking the Soul edited by Tara Miller, Bringing Race to the Table edited by Crystal Blanton, Taylor Ellwood and Brandy Williams, and the periodicals Witches & Pagans, Abraxas, Circle Magazine, Eternal Haunted Summer, Walking the Worlds, and Air n-Aithesc...and, there's always more on the way!  E has also published a book of poems, The Phillupic Hymns (2008), and the book-length poem All-Soul, All-Body, All-Love, All-Power:  A TransMythology (2012), and also several other monographs:  The Syncretisms of Antinous (2010); Devotio Antinoo:  The Doctor's Notes, Volume 1 (2011); A Garland for Polydeukion (2012); A Serpent Path Primer (2012); and Ephesia Grammata:  Ancient History and Modern Practice (2014). Lupus used to write the "Queer I Stand" column at Patheos.com's Pagan Channel, and currently writes the "Speaking of Syncretism" column at Polytheist.com.       Links Lupus’ blog: Aedicula Antinoi:  A Small Shrine of Antinous (Which includes a link to eirs books): http://aediculaantinoi.wordpress.com/   Lupus’ Email: aediculaantinoi@hotmail.com Gender and Transgender in Modern Paganism

Join me and Phyllis Curott tonight as we discuss Modern Paganism, a broad subject, during which we'll share a wide range of thoughts, pet peeves and the hope we believe Goddess and Earth-based Spirituality holds for the future of humanity.  Phyllis will share her social justice activism in the Parliament of the World's Religions, the Women's Task Force, the Women's Speakers Program co-sponsored with Tibed House and the Foundation for Women's freedom and Spirituality she's establishing with like-minded allies.....and much, much more

In this month’s podcast, Lee is deeply touched by an essay by Foxfetch in a new anthology, and shares his reflections on transsexual deities. Along the way he opens up to the world his journey through gender, from queer to bi-gendered to transgendered to transsexual… to perfection and back to gender identity challenges. Join Lee as he reflects on divinity, creation myths, the shapes of universal power, and gives you a glimpse into how he processes it all- through tears, poetry and passion. Episode Notes: Gender and Transgender in Modern Paganism http://cerridwen.st4r.org/wiki/index.php/Gender_and_Transgender_in_Modern_Paganism Foxfetch http://foxfetch.wordpress.com/ Starry Goddess Myth http://templeoracle.com/starry-goddess/ Reeldoe www.goodvibes.com/display_product.jhtml?id=1-3-BA-1203&kbid=148903