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Under the Ancient Oaks: Living a Good Life During Difficult Times

Under the Ancient Oaks: Living a Good Life During Difficult Times

Last updated on: August 22, 2017 at 7:36 pm by John Beckett

Under the Ancient Oaks: Living a Good Life During Difficult Times 2017-08-22T19:36:51-06:00 John Beckett

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.

Here’s the third episode of Under the Ancient Oaks, the video series. In the introduction, I say this is a video series about Paganism, polytheism, and living a good life during difficult times. That raises the question “what do I mean when I say ‘living a good life during difficult times’?”

I don’t think I need to tell you that we are living in difficult times. We face climate change, resource depletion, and species loss. We’re in an economy where a few people are doing very well and most people are struggling to get by. We live in a declining empire where those in power are doing anything and everything to make sure they remain in power, while our elected leaders obsess over limiting access to health care and legislating where people go to the bathroom.

Now, I believe in civic engagement. Representative democracy only works when it’s a participative activity and not left to professional politicians and their wealthy donors. But if we put our hope and trust in politics we will always be disappointed. If we are always responding we allow others to dictate the course of our lives.

We have to drink from a deeper well.

I’m still learning the basics of video production. I feel like I made some improvements with this one, but there are still several technical errors I’m going to have to work out next time. Let me know what you think about the technical and artistic aspects of the videos too. Ultimately, this is about the content – about spreading a message. But I want it to be as good as it can be, within the limitations of time and financial constraints.

Future Episodes

Thank you for all the good feedback on the first two episodes. I was going to do four episodes in the trial run, but I’ve got a new opportunity and now it’s five, so there will be at least two more. After that, I’ll figure out what to do going forward.

Podcast Appearances

I was on Down at the Crossroads with Chris Orapello and Tara Maguire a couple weeks ago. We talked about my spiritual journey, the definition of Paganism, and lots of stuff from the book.

I recorded an episode of The Wigglian Way last week – Sparrow and I discussed several parts of the book. As I write this, that episode hasn’t been released, but look for it in the next week or so. It’s now live.

Upcoming Appearances

Beyond the Gates
Trout Lake Abbey, Washington
workshop: “Paganism and Bad Assumptions”
August 24-27, 2017
https://www.facebook.com/events/331620490521881/

Southern New Hampshire Pagan Pride Day
Manchester, New Hampshire
workshops: “Paganism and Bad Assumptions” and “Daily Spiritual Practice for Pagans”
September 9, 2017
http://www.southernnhppd.org/

The Path of Paganism

Thanks to everyone who’s supported The Path of Paganism: those who bought it, reviewed it, and talked about it on your blogs and podcasts. This is an introduction to Paganism as I understand it and practice it, with an emphasis on experience. Every sacred text you read is the result of someone else’s religious experience, and there is much we can learn from them. But there is also much we can learn from our own.

If you like the book, do me a favor and tell people you like it. Leave a review on Amazon or on one of the book review sites, or just mention it on Facebook.

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