{"id":210,"date":"2011-10-01T21:09:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-01T21:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment\/"},"modified":"2011-10-01T21:09:00","modified_gmt":"2011-10-01T21:09:00","slug":"re-enchantment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html","title":{"rendered":"Re-enchantment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sharon Knight<\/a> is the lead singer of Pandemonaeon<\/a> and a Pagan in the Anderson Feri Tradition<\/a>. Last week she wrote a piece for her blog titled \u201cTo Re-enchant The World<\/a>\u201d where she said<\/p>\n

To re-enchant the world implies that it has been disenchanted. The concept of disenchantment appears to have been coined by a turn-of-the-century German Sociologist named Max Weber, to express the loss of mystical, magickal, or religious worldviews in favor of purely scientific, mechanistic, and capitalistic worldviews. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While this is very appropriate for our time, it is not a new phenomenon. Over 200 years ago, the English poet William Wordsworth wrote<\/p>\n

The world is too much with us; late and soon,<\/i>
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:<\/i>
Little we see in Nature that is ours;<\/i>
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!<\/i>
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;<\/i>
The winds that will be howling at all hours,<\/i>
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;<\/i>
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;<\/i>
It moves us not.\u2013Great God! I\u2019d rather be<\/i>
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; <\/i>
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,<\/i>
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;<\/i>
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;<\/i>
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.<\/i><\/p>\n

As an engineer I know the benefits of science and rationality very well. As a Unitarian Universalist I applaud the use of reason in religion (though that very same disenchantment is behind the fundamentalists\u2019 insistence on a literal interpretation of scripture<\/a>). As I\u2019ve stated many times, I like living in our technologically advanced world with smartphones and hybrid cars and air conditioners and general anesthesia.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not enough \u2013 we need to re-enchant the world. The question is how?<\/p>\n

In an e-mail to fans of her band, Sharon says we need \u201ca little more Harry Potter and a little less bank fraud.\u201d She\u2019s right \u2013 the arts play a huge part in re-enchanting the world. Books and movies and music allow us to travel through time and space, to bend the laws of Nature (but not the laws of human nature \u2013 that\u2019s what makes good fiction so believable), and they show us what life could be like if we didn\u2019t waste so much time \u201cgetting and spending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spending time in Nature<\/a> helps to re-enchant the world. The great outdoors is just as big and just as awesome as it was when you were seven or eight or nine. There are adventures to be had in your back yard, messages in the clouds and stars and wisdom in the trees. Getting outside is the easiest, simplest, and cheapest way to put a little magic back in your life.<\/p>\n

Re-enchant the world by doing some enchanting. I don\u2019t talk a lot about spells and charms and potions, mainly because my practice is primarily religious, not magical. But folks, magic works. Sometimes it works by changing your circumstances. Sometimes it works by changing you. Sometimes it works in ways you wish it wouldn\u2019t \u2013 in the words of Stephen Sondheim, \u201cwishes come true, not free.\u201d Magic is no substitute for hard work\u2026 but hard work is no substitute for magic. Do both.<\/p>\n

We cannot and should not deny reality and live in an imaginary world \u2013 remember Harry Potter\u2019s Mirror of Erised<\/a>. There are things that must be done<\/a>. Do them. But don\u2019t let them eat up your whole life. <\/p>\n

Keep an eye out for Proteus rising from the sea, and listen for Triton blowing his horn.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sharon Knight is the lead singer of Pandemonaeon and a Pagan in the Anderson Feri Tradition. Last week she wrote a piece for her blog titled \u201cTo Re-enchant The World\u201d where she said To re-enchant the world implies that it has been disenchanted. The concept of disenchantment appears to have been coined by a turn-of-the-century […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nRe-enchantment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sharon Knight is the lead singer of Pandemonaeon and a Pagan in the Anderson Feri Tradition. Last week she wrote a piece for her blog titled \u201cTo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Re-enchantment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sharon Knight is the lead singer of Pandemonaeon and a Pagan in the Anderson Feri Tradition. Last week she wrote a piece for her blog titled \u201cTo\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-10-01T21:09:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html\",\"name\":\"Re-enchantment\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-10-01T21:09:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-10-01T21:09:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Sharon Knight is the lead singer of Pandemonaeon and a Pagan in the Anderson Feri Tradition. Last week she wrote a piece for her blog titled \u201cTo\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Re-enchantment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Re-enchantment","description":"Sharon Knight is the lead singer of Pandemonaeon and a Pagan in the Anderson Feri Tradition. Last week she wrote a piece for her blog titled \u201cTo","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Re-enchantment","og_description":"Sharon Knight is the lead singer of Pandemonaeon and a Pagan in the Anderson Feri Tradition. Last week she wrote a piece for her blog titled \u201cTo","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html","og_site_name":"John Beckett","article_published_time":"2011-10-01T21:09:00+00:00","author":"John Beckett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Beckett","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html","name":"Re-enchantment","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-10-01T21:09:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-10-01T21:09:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad"},"description":"Sharon Knight is the lead singer of Pandemonaeon and a Pagan in the Anderson Feri Tradition. Last week she wrote a piece for her blog titled \u201cTo","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/10\/re-enchantment.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Re-enchantment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/","name":"John Beckett","description":"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad","name":"John Beckett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Beckett"},"description":"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}