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The 4 Best Posts of 2024 You Didn’t Read

The 4 Best Posts of 2024 You Didn’t Read

Last updated on: December 26, 2024 at 3:00 am by John Beckett

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The 4 Best Posts of 2024 You Didn’t Read 2024-12-23T09:42:40-06:00 John Beckett

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I’m still here.

I wrote almost 150 blog posts a year for 13 consecutive years. And then blogging in general declined, due to social media restrictions (Facebook et al. not sharing posts with links to keep people from clicking away from the social media sites) and because of many readers’ short attention spans. And then Pagan blogging declined, meaning the kind of deep (if sometimes contentious) conversations we had back in the mid-2010s have pretty much stopped happening.

And then 2024 turned out to be a very difficult year for me, on about six different fronts.

But I’m still here. I kept blogging, because I had something to say and I couldn’t not say it.

Most of my posts are on Paganism in one form or another: posts about the Gods, spiritual practice, our seasonal celebrations, and our way of understanding life and the world. I’ve tried to write more about magic and witchcraft this year, not just because I finally claimed the title of “witch” but because these are traditions and tools we all need in these difficult times.

I review books I think are helpful to Pagans, or that cover topics of interest to us. And sometimes – as with my movie-related posts, I write about something just because I like to write about it.

I’m trying to limit my political posts, but sometimes I need address an issue from a Pagan perspective, or I’m struggling to deal with a political situation and I know other people are struggling too.

But unlike those years when I was writing 150 posts a year, I’m not pushing myself to hit a fixed schedule. If I have something to say I’m going to say it. If I don’t, then there won’t be a blog post that day.

Either way, I’m still here.

And whether I write 156 posts (as I did in 2018) or 68 (as I did this year) there are always some that don’t get the response I expect. They have important concepts in them, and if you missed them the first time, I hope you’ll read them now.

Sign up for my personal newsletter

Writers want to be read, but what I want most is for what I write to be read by the people who are interested and invested in Paganism, polytheism, witchcraft, and all the other spiritual, religious, and magical topics I write about. If you’re reading this post, that’s probably you. The best way to make sure you don’t miss anything is to sign up for my personal weekly newsletter.

This isn’t the Patheos newsletter. This is my personal e-mail newsletter that goes out most Friday mornings (but not this coming Friday morning – I’m on vacation and the next newsletter will be on January 3rd). Sign up on my teaching site at:

https://undertheancientoaks.com/newsletter/

The newsletter has links to the current week’s blog posts. It also covers things that don’t fit into the blog format, mostly in my usual range: Paganism, polytheism, and witchcraft. Current events and politics. Interesting stuff from other people. What I’m working on that you’ll see in the near to medium future – be the first to find out about new classes, appearances, and such.

Enter your e-mail in the big green block and do the not-a-robot thing. You’ll get a confirmation e-mail – respond to it and you’re set. You have to respond to the confirmation e-mail – my mailing service wants to make sure you really want the newsletters and someone isn’t signing you up for something you don’t want.

The four best posts of 2024 that you didn’t read

Dealing With Doubt: A Modern Pagan Approach (August 2024, #56 in readership)

A Catholic priest wrote about doubt from a Catholic viewpoint, oversimplifying a complex situation by saying “have faith!”

Pagans can have religious and spiritual doubt too. But if we are wise, we will approach our doubts differently, beginning by acknowledging that religious questions are inherently uncertain, and that believing the “right” things is not what’s most important.

Hold loosely but practice deeply. Remain open to new evidence, new experiences, new ways of thinking. If what you find – or what finds you – convinces you that your ideas aren’t correct, or that there’s something better, then change your mind – change your life.

But while you’re following that path, explore it as deeply as you can. Go all in with whatever it is: worship the Gods, do divination, work magic – whatever beliefs and practices call to you. See where they take you. If it works for you, keep going. If it doesn’t, try something else.

How to Make a Monster (March 2024, #58 in readership)

A meme I see occasionally says:

Knowledge is knowing Frankenstein isn’t the monster.

Wisdom is knowing Frankenstein is the monster.

This is a dangerous oversimplification.

This post starts with the history of Frankenstein, and with my experiences with both the novel and the movie adaptations. Then it explores the question of “how do you make a monster?” and comes to a conclusion:

There are two monsters in this story, and two ways of becoming a monster.

Treat people monstrously and they will become monsters.

Treat people monstrously and you will become a monster yourself.

A UU Pagan Looks at Death and Beyond (October 2024, #60 in readership)

My sermons usually aren’t well read. They’re much longer than typical blog posts, and while they’re unapologetically Pagan, they’re tailored towards a Unitarian Universalist audience. But this sermon / blog post went up just before Samhain and it reminds us all that the time to think about death and what comes after is not when we’re about to die, or when we’re at the funeral of a loved one. The time to think about death is on a beautiful Sunday morning when we feel like we’re going to live forever, even though we know we won’t.

To be human is to be aware that we are alive, and to also be aware that someday we will die. How do we deal with this great and terrible knowledge?

Reading Tarot – How I Interact With Clients (September 2024, #62 in readership)

Given the current popularity of Tarot, I’m genuinely disappointed that this post wasn’t more widely read. It’s one thing to be able to read the cards. But even if you’re the world’s best reader, you still have to figure out how to communicate what you see to the querent. That’s an entirely different process and skill set.

And the need for these skills is just as strong when the querent is yourself.

I’m planning to re-open for readings next year, once the new Call of Cernunnos class is finished in February. I’ll announce it in the newsletter when I do.

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