Chas Clifton points us to two Pagan-themed episodes of the Australian radio program “The Spirit of Things”. This week you can download an interview with Graham Harvey (co-editor of “The Paganism Reader”) on the subject of Animism and modern Paganism.

“OK, so Animism is a broader term. It’s a specific kind of way of approaching the world, treating the world as a community of living persons, ‘people’ perhaps is an easier way to say that. So there are people who are human, and then there are people who are rocks or badgers or eagles or plants of every kind, fish persons and so on. And it’s a question about particular kinds of Animists engaged with specific other-than-human persons, in different ways.”

You can download the episode, here, or you can read the full transcript.

Next weeks program will feature interviews with Marian Dalton and Dr. Douglas Ezzy about “dark” Paganism and why rituals involving death and darkness are important.

“Witches’ Sabbats that include death rituals are frightening, but they have a therapeutic value, says PhD student Marian Dalton, a witch who practices Dark Paganism. And strong communal values are also evident, says paganism researcher Dr. Douglas Ezzy from the University of Tasmania. Paganism’s earth-based spiritualities often exclude the importance of the sea but sociologist Sylvie Shaw has discovered that “deep blue religion” is alive and well.”

It is rare for programs on religion and spirituality to focus on modern Pagan themes for more than one week in a row so this is a special treat.

Tags: Paganism