Patheos
18 FOLLOWERS
Hi! I'm John Beckett. 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'm a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and a member of Ár nDraíocht Féin. I've been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals since 2003.
Patheos
1w ago
New Atheist Richard Dawkins’ work on evolution is excellent. But his writings on religion are shallow and weak, and his identification as a “cultural Christian” flows out of that weakness ..read more
Patheos
2w ago
Traditionally, eclipses are bad omens, especially for kings and others in high places. An eclipse is not the time to FAFO. It can be a time to work magic intentionally and mindfully, or to just enjoy and appreciate the ordinary beauty of nature ..read more
Patheos
3w ago
Impatience leads to failure, failure leads to discouragement, and discouragement leads to abandoning spiritual practices that we know are meaningful and helpful. But it doesn’t have to be this way ..read more
Patheos
3w ago
Conservatives like to claim that “our rights come from God, not from government!” But that’s a false dichotomy. Our rights come from Nature. Our job is to recognize them, to encode them into our laws, and to insure that everyone can enjoy them ..read more
Patheos
1M ago
Historian Francis Young says that while ritual is clearly important to us as humans, we don’t understand it all that well, and its practice has diminished since the latter part of the 20th century. He’s right, but we will always create rituals that are meaningful and helpful to us. As Pagans, we have a head start on that. We’re Pagans – we do ritual ..read more
Patheos
1M ago
Some problems can’t be fixed. Sometimes no amount of effort, no amount of money, no amount of influence can fix a problem. Sometimes all you can do is to make it through the day. Sometimes all you can do is survive and advance ..read more
Patheos
1M ago
Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein is as relevant today as it was when she first wrote it. Treat people monstrously and they will become monsters. Treat people monstrously and you will become a monster yourself ..read more
Patheos
1M ago
There are serious ethical issues with the way AI plagiarizes art and with how some companies use AI to keep from paying artists. This isn’t that conversation. This is something simpler, more basic, more personal. I’m already tired of AI art ..read more
Patheos
1M ago
Too many people – many of whom call themselves witches – are unable to recognize when their magic works. They never experience the thrill of a successful spell, they’re unable to learn from their mistakes and from their successes, and they never build the confidence they need to work magic effectively when they have an urgent need ..read more
Patheos
1M ago
First they came for abortion. Then they came for IVF. They’ll keep coming for more and more rights until they’re stopped. The Alabama IVF case is not the ruling of a court in a constitutional republic. It’s the ruling of a theocracy ..read more