{"id":7483,"date":"2017-12-21T04:00:28","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T10:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=7483"},"modified":"2017-12-13T21:52:59","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T03:52:59","slug":"3-events-2-books-crow-live-oak-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2017\/12\/3-events-2-books-crow-live-oak-tree.html","title":{"rendered":"3 Events, 2 Books, and a Crow in a Live Oak Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Happy Solstice! The astronomical Winter Solstice is this morning at 10:28 AM Central Time. The worst of Winter is yet to come, but from this point forward the days will be getting longer. The light is returning.<\/p>\n

We Pagans may have celebrated last night, or as Denton CUUPS did, last Saturday. But we are a tiny minority \u2013 the bulk of the Western world is getting ready to celebrate Christmas on Monday. That means we\u2019re going to be tied up with family and friends, and the Pagan internet is about to become as dead as Marley\u2019s ghost.<\/p>\n

But before you go, I have some announcements and two mini book reviews. Oh\u2026 and a crow in a live oak tree.<\/p>\n

ADF Texas Imbolc: February 9 \u2013 11<\/h1>\n

This will be my 5th<\/sup> year speaking at the ADF Texas Imbolc Retreat<\/a> at the U Bar U retreat center<\/a> in Mountain Home, Texas. Here are my thoughts on last year\u2019s retreat<\/a> \u2013 you can search for the previous years if you like.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be presenting \u201cBuilding Alliances Across Our Many Communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our need for strong tribes is great, but so is our need for alliances with other tribes who share our concerns even if they do not share our beliefs and practices. This presentation will explore how we can form and maintain intrafaith alliances with other Pagan groups, interfaith alliances with other religions, and secular alliances with non-religious groups. It will also look at our relationships with our spiritual allies in this world and beyond. And it will look at how we can work with others for the common good even when we have disagreements with them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is my Pantheacon presentation. I get to do my first public presentation in front of a small friendly audience, and those who are there get to hear it a week before everyone else.<\/p>\n

This gathering is suitable for Pagans and polytheists of all varieties and you don\u2019t have to be a member of ADF to attend. And it\u2019s drivable from almost any place in Texas. The cost is reasonable, the accommodations are nice, and the conversation is excellent. If you can make it I highly recommend it.<\/p>\n

\"the<\/a>
the main ritual at the 2017 ADF Texas Imbolc Retreat<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pantheacon: February 16 \u2013 19<\/h1>\n

The next week I\u2019ll be at Pantheacon<\/a> in San Jose, California. Pantheacon is the largest indoor Pagan gathering in the world. I\u2019ll be speaking on \u201cBuilding Alliances Across Our Many Communities\u201d on Saturday at 11:00 AM in the Carmel\/ Monterey Room.<\/p>\n

On Sunday at 1:30 PM I\u2019ll be speaking on \u201cThe Shredded Veil\u201d in the OBOD hospitality suite. The first part of this presentation will be my observations and thoughts around what many of us have been experiencing over the past few years, as I described in The Veil Is Shredded<\/a>. The second part will be an open discussion where we can share our recent Otherworldly experiences and compare notes, so we can refine our thinking about what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll also be doing at least one and possibly two presentations in the ADF hospitality suite \u2013 more details on those once they\u2019re finalized.<\/p>\n

CUUPS Convocation: April 20 \u2013 22<\/h1>\n

There were 12 years between the CUUPS Convocation in 2004 and the last one in 2016<\/a>. We\u2019re doing better: the next one will be April 20 \u2013 22 in Fort Myers, Florida. I\u2019ll be one of the featured guests, but I\u2019m not sure what I\u2019ll be doing yet. Possibly the Building Alliances presentation, but possibly something new \u2013 it depends on what comes up between now and then.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going, I encourage you to register early<\/a>. Local CUUPS members had to deal with Hurricane Irma and its aftermath instead of planning and promoting Convo \u2013 they\u2019re getting a late start. But all is well and back on schedule and they could use the early commitments.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a UU Pagan and you have the ability to travel, I strongly encourage you to support the only national gathering for CUUPS.<\/p>\n

Brigid<\/h1>\n

\"Brigid<\/a>Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess<\/em><\/a>
\nby Courtney Weber
\npublished by Weiser Books: May 2015
\n256 pages
\nPaperback: $18.95<\/p>\n

I picked this book up from the author at the Beyond the Gates retreat last August. After I heard Courtney Weber talk about her experiences of Brigid and her relationship with Her, I knew I wanted to read the book.<\/p>\n

This is neither a devotional book (though it is certainly a work of devotion) nor an academic book. Rather, it\u2019s a collection of stories and legends about Brigid from Ireland and other places where the Goddess and the saint have been known. And it\u2019s the experiences the author has had with Her. She mixes in meditations, rituals, and spells.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure who the intended audience was, but it strikes me as perfect for beginning witches and Pagans who are starting out on a Celtic-inspired path. Weber\u2019s cautionary tales against making casual promises to Goddesses make it clear that Brigid is an individual with Her own agency \u2013 and one who expects promises to be kept. But the book doesn\u2019t get into the details of polytheist theology and practice.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an easy read, and while it\u2019s not a work of academic history, the history in it is good. If you\u2019re looking for an introduction to Brigid, or to Celtic-inspired Paganism, give it a try.<\/p>\n

The Darkening Age<\/h1>\n

\"the<\/a>The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World<\/em><\/a>
\nby Catherine Nixey
\npublished by Macmillan:\u00a0September 2017
\n352 pages
\nHardback: $23.64<\/p>\n

\u201cThat all superstition of pagans and heathens should be annihilated is what God wants, God commands, God proclaims!\u201d \u2013 St. Augustine<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The particular form of Christianity I grew up in didn\u2019t pay much attention to church history. They jumped from Revelation<\/em> to D.L. Moody (1837-1899) with barely a stop for Luther, Calvin, and Wesley. I was left with the idea that the early Christians were persecuted, then Constantine made Christianity legal, then missionaries gradually converted all of Europe and some of the Near East.<\/p>\n

That certainly happened, but it\u2019s far from the whole story. In many places, when Christianity became the official state religion other religions became illegal. While many people saw their conversion as something personal, and some (in good polytheist fashion) simply added Jesus to the list of Gods they worshipped, zealous Christians tried to wipe the old Gods and their followers from the face of the Earth.<\/p>\n

They were largely successful. Only 1% of all Latin literature remains to this day. Much was willfully destroyed and some was simply left to decay. Temples were torn down or seized to become churches. The Parthenon \u2013 a temple to Athena \u2013 was used as a church for over 800 years. The Greek academies were closed and the teaching of philosophy was banned. Hypatia\u2019s violent murder by a crowd in 405 CE is far from the only pagan martyrdom.<\/p>\n

The author says:<\/p>\n

This is not to say that the Church didn\u2019t also preserve things: it did. But the story of Christianity\u2019s good works in this period has been told again and again \u2026 the history and the sufferings of those whom Christianity defeated have not. This book concentrates on them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The violence of these early zealous Christians is not very different from what Daesh is doing today in the name of Islam. And make no mistake \u2013 there are zealots in every religion who are more than willing to destroy and kill for the purity of their faith. Only by defending the religious freedom of all can we insure their evil is turned back.<\/p>\n

Nixey is a journalist, not a historian. The book is heavily footnoted, but she is telling a story, not compiling a list of facts. The Darkening Age<\/em> is an easy read, but it is not a pleasant read.<\/p>\n

It is also a necessary read.<\/p>\n

And a crow in a live oak tree<\/h1>\n

I\u2019m not quite done for the year. I\u2019ll have the usual Under the Ancient Oaks year-end features next week. \u201cThe 4 Best Posts of 2017 You Didn\u2019t Read\u201d will be up on Sunday, and \u201cThe Top 10 Posts of 2017\u201d will be up on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll return to my regular blogging schedule on January 2.<\/p>\n

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