If you were penned in by a wall Where bombs constantly fall Where fear descends like a pall Wouldn’t you rail against fate? If you were penned in by a fence And only protected by tents If you were starved and afraid How would you face your fate? If your home was destroyed And the future seemed null and void And the smoke and dust that cloyed Wouldn’t you want to escape? Seventy-five years of Nakba (This didn’t start last October) Homes lost, bulldozed, destroyed So much death. Let the people of Gaza live Let them eat and laugh and love Once more among the olive trees In the cooling Mediterrane ..read more

Should I stay or should I go? Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 2 of “Changing Paths” Excellent post from Jarred reflecting on one of the journal prompts from Changing Paths. Hello dear readers! It’s Friday morning so that means once again exploring a journal prompt from the wonderful book, Changing Paths… Should I stay or should I go? Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 2 of “Changing Paths” Get your copy here ..read more

Play Pagan Wordle 7 Check out some of my previous posts Beltane is coming Beltane fires and maypoles Blue Beltane ..read more

Hey everyone, I have been nominated for a COVR award for Changing Paths. If you enjoyed it, please vote for it. And also vote for items in other categories that you enjoyed. Vote in the COVR awards 2024 ..read more

Undermining Christian hegemony ..read more

Play Pagan Wordle 6 Coast path near Bindon Cliffs • Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved] © Copyright Derek Harper Check out some of my previous posts Wonder and delight: Tolkien and Pagan ideas Green witch Eco-spirituality in practice ..read more

There’s an old chestnut that one sometimes sees repeated, that the political spectrum looks like a circle. But that excellent tool, the political compass, makes it clear that there are multiple dimensions to politics. The political compass has four quadrants: libertarian left, libertarian right, authoritarian left, and authoritarian right. The libertarian left is socially left wing, supporting same-sex marriage, abortion rights, divorce, etc; and it’s economically left wing, supporting the welfare state, taxing the rich, and fairly distributing wealth. I know the details of this quadrant much ..read more

“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” — JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring Today is Tolkien Reading Day, founded by the Tolkien Society because it was the day when the Ring was destroyed. It’s also Lady Day, and Tolkien chose it for the date of the Ring’s destruction because of his special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The theme of Tolkien Reading Day this year is ‘Service and Sacrifice’. For many Pagans, Lady Day is a cele ..read more

Play Pagan Wordle 5 Check out some of my previous posts Stone circles Place names Spirits of the Land ..read more

A lot of people suffer from depression and anxiety, me included. It can act as a blockage to spirituality, too. All too often we don’t talk about it, for various reasons. We want to post content that cheers us and others up. And we don’t want loads of spurious advice about how to cheer up. But sometimes we need to be real. CN: depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation. But also what I did to overcome them. Depression I have depressive tendencies, and have been quite depressed at various times in my life. It gets in the way of doing a regular spiritual practice, especially if I am depressed about ..read more