Monthly Digest: September
Welcome to a new feature: A monthly update of writing, publishing, course, and other information from Gods&Radicals Press!
Recent Articles at ABEAUTIFULRESISTANCE.ORG
The Bee Priestess, by Asa West
Humans can’t become bees, but we can follow a path that bees have laid out. Bees originally evolved from predatory wasps that, for whatever reason, decided to stop killing, and that is why we now have daffodils and poppies and foxgloves and jasmine. A philosophy of nonviolence led to the joyful riot of a planet full of flowers
Feminism as veiled Islamophobia dominates discourse about Afghanistan, by Mirna Wabi-Sabi
From our site editor, a discussion of the way western colonial ideas perpetuate themselves in “feminist” discussions about women in Afghanistan.
Of Selkies And Hag Stones, by Emma Kathryn
Hag stones are steeped in folklore, myth and legend….. In Celtic mythology, it is believed that looking through the hole of a hagstone will make visible the fae, spirits and other magical beings.
Whatever your belief, there’s no doubt that hag stones are magic, that the power that causes the hole is stored within the stone.
About The Book of Onei, By Christopher Scott Thompson
The author of Pagan Anarchism discusses his upcoming release, an antinomian dream grimoire.
The Pagan Music List
Collection #9: Sigur Rós, Trobar de Morte, and Myrkur
Also, see all previous collections at our newly-updated archive, including an index of artists.
Two Essays by Rhyd Wildermuth
Being Pagan: Connecting to Land
On pagan conceptions of land, and on the spirits of land.
Being Pagan: Being Body
“We do not have bodies. We are bodies.” A discussion of the body from a pagan, animist framework and the problem of alienation.
Upcoming Course Deadlines
Five Principles of Green Witchcraft, with Asa West (starts 11 September)
Being Pagan, with Rhyd Wildermuth (starts 2 October)
Land: Loss and Reconnection, with Alley Valkyrie (starts 1 November)
This Month at Another World, the Gods&Radicals Supporters’ Journal
THE PAGAN MUSIC LIST 13
This edition features three bands: Heilung, Annwn, and Vas.
Also, the full archive of previous public editions is now updated here.
EMPIRES CRUMBLE 27: The Graveyard of Empire (video and Audio)
In Episode 27: The Graveyard of Empires, Rhyd Wildermuth and Alley Valkyrie discuss Afghanistan and the misuse of human rights and identity concerns that the US government employed then—and will again—to elicit support for imperialism.
Audio Essay: Here Be Monsters
“Here be monsters,” our maps read, held upside down and read in a mirror, while outside the closed windows of our minds breathes and sings an entire world we are afraid to ever visit…”
An audio version of Rhyd Wildermuth’s essay, “Here Be Monsters.”
BEING PAGAN: Those Who Came Before
“to speak about ancestry and ancestral traditions, we must first understand that the way these concepts are lived and experienced are much more real and present than the way scholars, academics, activists, and others speak about them. What is inherited from those who came before isn’t some abstract idea or material benefit, but rather a tapestry woven from still-living threads of memory, story, and ways of being in the world that cannot be contained in scientific or political categories.”
BEING PAGAN: OF GODS & SPIRITS
“ancient peoples took gods and spirits as a given the way we now take wind, rain, and storms as a given. We know such things exist, but unless we are a sailor, a farmer, or a meterologist, we rarely actually think about them except when the wind, the rain, or a storm is particularly strong and affecting us directly.
Pagan peoples appear to have looked at the gods and spirits in the same way. Priests, druids, shamans, oracles, mystics, and poets gave their time in contemplation of such things, but the majority of others only ever thought about the gods or spirits unless there was a problem, or they had particularly profound or disturbing dreams, desired a blessing for something they were about to do, or needed help with something they could not resolve on their own. At most, the “average” person tended a small shrine in the home, or visited shrines to ancestors on special days, or made prayers or offerings to a god a few times a year, and participated in community rituals that were often also festivals where the religious significance of the event blended seamlessly with the cultural “entertainment” aspects like drinking, feasting, and meeting potential sexual mates.
That is, the existence of gods and spirits was part of the cultural fabric of life itself, rather than a question to be complicated or a philosophical matter to be unraveled.”
Another World is our supporters’ journal. Monthly and Permanent supporters get early and exclusive access to essays, audio works, and videos, as well as free course enrollment, free e-book downloads, and discounts on all purchases.
Not yet a member? You can sign up below, or go here for more information.
Become a permanent supporter of Ritona Books and gain free shipping, free course access, free digital downloads, and access to all paywalled essays ... forever!