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johnbeckett

Paganism

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February 2025

February 12, 2025

This Is A Time For Dangerous Magic

You can wait until things get truly desperate and then start working magic. Or you...

February 09, 2025

Trust Your Destiny

The current chaos makes planning for the future difficult. But our choices over time become...

February 05, 2025

Paganism In A Time Of Intolerance

In this time of growing intolerance, the best thing some of us can do is...

February 02, 2025

Keep Your Eyes On What You Want

None of this will stop bad people from doing bad things. But it can stop...

January 2025

January 26, 2025

Remember Who You Are

In 2017 we were inspired by badass park rangers. In 2025 we’re inspired by a...

January 20, 2025

Reality Is Not Determined By Executive Order

I really do want to stay out of the mud this time and not react...

January 12, 2025

Living Well In A Season Of Political Strife

Our challenge for the next four years is to not get caught up in the...

January 05, 2025

Deity Work

Do witches do deity work? Some do and some don’t. But my practice begins with...

January 02, 2025

The Call of Cernunnos

Announcing a new on-line class from Under the Ancient Oaks: “The Call of Cernunnos” based...

January 01, 2025

Divination For 2025

2025 will be a year of moving on. Your victories, your heartbreaks, your grand narratives...

December 2024

December 29, 2024

Top 10 Posts of 2024

The Top 10 posts of 2024 on Under the Ancient Oaks: re-enchanting the world, being...

December 26, 2024

The 4 Best Posts of 2024 You Didn’t Read

I’m still here. 2024 turned out to be a very difficult year for me, but...

December 22, 2024

The Top 5 Novels I Read in 2024

Vampires, Tarot readers, and mediums. Exclusive girls’ schools where strange and mysterious things happen. Two...

December 18, 2024

Celebrating The Solstice of a Coming Long Winter

The seasons are an astronomical phenomenon that can be predicted with precision. But a metaphorical...

December 15, 2024

5 Reasons Why Political Magic Is So Hard

The stories of our ancestors tell of magicians who cursed kings and of kings who...

December 08, 2024

Magic: Just How Much Silence Do We Need To Keep?

“To keep silence” is an important principle of magic. But some people are saying you...

December 04, 2024

Serpents of Circe – A Book Review

Humans are like metals. We can absorb a few things, but push us past our...

December 01, 2024

Where Are The Gods In All This?

Is there a spiritual war going on? The forces of Oppression and Conformity certainly think...

November 2024

November 20, 2024

Rod Dreher, Re-enchantment, and Bad Metaphysics

Conservative columnist and Orthodox Christian Rod Dreher’s new book "Living in Wonder: Finding Mystery and...

November 17, 2024

Choose Your Allies Wisely – And Strategically

Some of y’all don’t know what an ally is, and that’s causing harm for you...

November 13, 2024

This Is Why You Did All That Spellwork

This isn’t what we wanted, but it is what we prepared for. This is why...

November 10, 2024

A Witch Decides A Witch’s Fate

Sometimes you have to choose a side. I choose witchcraft.

November 07, 2024

Do Not Comply In Advance

Acknowledge your feelings – they’re real. Take care of yourself, whatever that means for you....

October 2024

October 27, 2024

A UU Pagan Looks at Death and Beyond

Our mainstream society likes to ignore death and hide it away. But sooner or later,...

October 20, 2024

Six Lessons Of Samhain For The Modern World

I see no reason to separate our celebrations into “secular” and “sacred.” They’re all part...

October 13, 2024

What Is Witchcraft For?

I don’t want to talk about what witchcraft is – I want to talk about...

September 2024

September 29, 2024

Proselytizing For Certainty: An Impossible Task

The apologists of Threads aren’t trying to convert atheists so much as they’re trying to...

September 22, 2024

My Protest Vote – A Cautionary Tale

I have friends who don’t like either candidate in the upcoming election and are considering...

September 18, 2024

Reading Tarot – How I Interact With Clients

Someone asked “what is your reading style?” I gave a brief response (“calm and focused...

September 12, 2024

Demons in the Pagan World

I’m too busy with my own Gods to pay much attention to the spiritual persons...

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