Pagan Tea Time with Rhyd Wildermuth

Last updated on: January 24, 2014 at 12:22 pm by John Halstead

Pagan Tea Time with Rhyd Wildermuth 2014-01-24T12:22:46-05:00 John Halstead

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I was very excited when Rhyd Wildermuth asked me if I’d like to have Pagan Tea Time with him over Skype. For one thing, if you follow my blog, you know I idolize Rhyd a bit. I was a bit reticent, though, because we are very different people. Would we have anything to talk about? Would I bore him to death? Would he be offended by my very existence? Could we avoid arguing about our differences?

I turns out, I didn’t need to worry. Rhyd (which by the way is pronounced “Reed”) is super cool. He told me about his pilgrimage to Bretagne, a little about what called him there, about working with homeless people, and about busking. He even played his recorder for me! (If you have tea with him in the future, you have to ask him to play. If not, check out some of his music here.)

Yeah, we’re different. I work for The Man. Rhyd works for Humankind. I’m one of those annoying Humanist Pagans who is too stuck in his head. Rhyd is a devotional polytheist whose relationship with the gods I am envious of. I’m conventional. Rhyd is un-. But that’s what made the whole thing so cool. There was no judgment. No contention. We laughed a little about the most recent most intra-Pagan online conflict. Rhyd talked passionately about the synchronicities of the timing of his pilgrimage and the symbolism of one of the sites that he stayed at. I told him about my soul-deep longing to hike the green mountains around Machu Pichu. And whatever our differences, both he and I honor that kind of magic.

In his post about our chat, Rhyd compared the Humanist/Polytheistic online debates (sorry, I’m not sure how to label the “sides”) to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In that scenario, I would most likely be the over-privileged and overly-aggressive Israel. My chat with Rhyd was not the Oslo Accord. It was just tea (or hot chocolate in my case). Two guys having a talk about stuff that matters to them. In the future, Rhyd is still likely to tell me that something I have written on this blog is completely wrong. And I’m likely to tell him he’s missing the point or being over-sensitive. We may even inadvertently offend each other. But, now that we have talked over tea, I am going to hear his words differently. I’m going to listen a little more carefully for the good intention behind his words. I will be a little more careful about how I respond and worry a little more about how he might take my words. And I think the same will be true for him too.

Which is why I think Pagan Tea Time is such a good idea. If you’ve never talked to Rhyd, shoot him a line and invite him to tea. Or someone else you only know through online writing. Even me. I won’t turn anyone down. I can’t promise to be as interesting as Rhyd, but I promise to be as interested in you.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

January 22, 2014

What I believe, just me and no one else

Next Post

January 25, 2014 Why I Don't Call Myself a Polytheist

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ritual Scripts Theology Uncategorized

Select a Month January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book of the Bible is known as the 'Book of Beginnings'?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Exodus Psalms Genesis Job