I’m not a huge fan of anniversaries, but this month is the two year anniversary of Raise the Horns. We launched on June 11 of 2012, and then I promptly went Pagan festivaling for a month. Some grand premier that was! Since June of 2012 I’ve posted over 200 articles, only one of which was written by someone other than me. That’s a lot of writing in two years . . . . I originally wanted to post my little Terrible Two Year Anniversary thing a couple of weeks ago, but I was sitting on some news I wanted to share and had to wait until that become a little less hypothetical.
About a month ago I was asked about writing a book for Llewellyn Publications, and it became an official thing a little over a week ago. I feel like I owe all of you a big thanks because I don’t think it would have happened without this blog. My writing has grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years and it’s due to everyone who reads RtH and Patheos Pagan. I’ll be writing all about the athame, a subject I feel pretty knowledgeable about, especially after my rather long article about it last May. It’s all rather exciting, but now the real work of writing the book begins, and you never know they might hate what I come up with! (Let’s hope not!)
I’m not done with new things either. I started a podcast/internet radio show earlier this month and my second episode is on tomorrow evening. I’ve imaginatively titled the show Raise the Horns Radio, and it’s full of pretty much what you read here, but with a bit more snark. Early reviewers have been kind too, telling me things like “you weren’t terrible” and “at least you don’t say and ummm” when you are thinking about what to say. I like talking more than writing, and it usually shows. You can listen in the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at the Pagans Tonight Radio Network. It’s me talking about religion, the Pagan blogosphere, UFO’s, and whatever else comes to mind. I also have guests, tomorrow it’s Heather Greene from The Wild Hunt and John Beckett from Under The Ancient Oaks. Upcoming guests include Sable Aradia, Angus McMahan, and Tom Swiss. You can also download every show on the Blogtalk Radio website.
Last fall I started writing for Witches and Pagans magazine. I’ve got my own column over there called In The Orchard. It’s cool to see my face in a print magazine, sometimes it just feels more “real” to be on actual paper instead of pixels. Strangely my little column is in a section of the magazine called “Teachers and Mentors.” I would have filed it under “Harmless Drudge” since I don’t usually think of myself as a teacher. I’m also going to be doing a once monthly blog article for Pagan Square called Into the Coven. It’ll be all about covens and how mine came together. Covens, what are they good for? Absolutely something, say it again! Covens!
I can understand the confusion about me being called a teacher since I sometimes “teach” workshops at festivals, but my lectures are more like a series of penis jokes with a few factoids thrown in just for fun. I actually really love presenting workshops, and summer usually provides me with a few good chances to do just that. This year I’ll be out on the East Coast/in the Midwest (does western western New York count as East Coast?) for the Sirius Rising Festival at the Brushwood Folklore Center. I’m doing three or four workshops there over the course of a week and sitting in on a panel about the future of Paganism. I’ve been to Brushwood a lot over the last decade and a half, but they’ve never been silly enough to put me on a big panel before. Hopefully it works out for everybody involved (festival, audience, and me!).
In August I’ll be in Greenville North Carolina at The Sojourner Whole Earth Provisions for a weekend of workshops and rituals (and Southern Food, oh how I miss you Southern Food, and yes it should be capitalized). There’s even a whole Facebook page about it it that’s totally worth checking out even if you don’t live in the Carolinas, or even Georgia. I won’t be too far from Atlanta right? At least in comparison to where I’m at now I’ll be really close. Hopefully a few people will show up to this event as to not cost poor Michelle the owner of the Sojo too much money. I’m cheap to hire, but flying me across the country does cost a little bit.
Last but not least I’m going to the United Kingdom in September/October. I’ll be on the other side of the pond for about twelve days and will be based in Edinburgh and London during my stay. If you live in the UK and would like to meet up for a pint or a cup of coffee or tea I’d love to meet you. Talking Pagan shop is one of my favorite things in the entire world and I might have a few free evenings between trips to Stonehenge, Loch Ness, Glastonbury, and Rosslyn Chapel (not in that order). It’s probably more pilgrimage than vacation . . . . . . I’ll also be celebrating my tenth wedding anniversary while I’m in Scotland. I think the only person still left in the “how long will Jason and Ari stay married?” betting pool is my wife Ari! Congrats darling wife and love of my life!
So I’ve got a lot on my plate, but plan to still churn out two or three blog articles here a week. Thanks for being a part of this journey with me. It means more than I can put into words.
PHOTOS
1. Sunflower in my garden (first one of the year!)
2. My cats Summer and Evie
3. Shameless self promotion
4. Me teaching or pantomiming eating a hamburger or something. No one knows for sure.
5. Even President Obama Raises the Horns!
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