By Angela Raincatcher
The podcast currently has 23 episodes available.
My guest today is John Beckett, Druid and author of The Path of Paganism and Paganism in Depth. John is a Druid in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and a member of Ár nDraíocht Féin. He has served 12 years as the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and 3 years on the Board of Trustees of CUUPS Continental. His blog, Under the Ancient Oaks, is part of the Pagan channel of Patheos, the largest multi-religion website in the world. John lives in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and earns his keep as an engineer. He calls his personal practice “ancestral, devotional, ecstatic, oracular, magical, public, Pagan polytheism” because, as he says, he hasn’t come up with a catchy name for it yet.
Click here for a transcript of this episode.
Some of the resources mentioned in this interview include:
A World Full of Gods by John Michael Greer
The Book of Cernunnos edited by John Beckett and Jason Mankey
The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens by Morgan Daimler
Raven Goddess: Going Deeper with the Morrigan by Morgan Daimler
The Book of the Great Queen: The Many Faces of the Morrigan from Ancient Legends to Modern Devotions by Morpheus Ravenna
The Morrigan: Celtic Goddess of Magick and Might by Courtney Weber
My guest today is polytheist mental health counselor and owner of Hygeia Counseling Services in Baltimore, Maryland, Michael Reeder. Michael has a Masters in Clinical Community Counseling and a post-master degree in Spiritual and Existential Counseling from Johns Hopkins University. He has been a licensed clinical professional counselor for almost 20 years and has worked with hundreds of clients in Maryland and the District of Columbia. He is the author of the chapter on Neo-Pagan traditions in Spiritual Guidance Across Religions, published in 2014, and has presented multiple workshops on spirituality and counseling, trauma disorders, peer counseling skills, and more for organizations such as the Harford County Department of Social Services, Hospice of Baltimore, Baltimore County Community College, and several religious groups. You can find him online at www.hygeiacounseling.com.
Click here for a transcript of this episode.
A few resources we referenced in this interview include:
Cherry Hill Seminary
Spiritual Mentoring: A Pagan Guide by Judy Harrow, 2002
My guest today is Dr. Sabina Magliocco, Ph.D. She is Professor of Anthropology and Chair of the Interdisciplinary Program in the Study of Religion at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. A recipient of Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Humanities, SSHRC, Fulbright and Hewlett fellowships, and an honorary Fellow of the American Folklore Society, Dr. Magliocco has published on religion, folklore, foodways, festival, and witchcraft in Europe and North America, and is a leading authority on the modern Pagan movement. She is the author of numerous books and academic articles, including The Two Madonnas: the Politics of Festival in a Sardinian Community, Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America, Neopagan Sacred Art & Altars: Making Things Whole, and “Reclamation, Appropriation and the Ecstatic Imagination,” in the Handbook of Contemporary Paganism, edited by James R. Lewis. With filmmaker John M. Bishop, she produced the documentary film series “Oss Tales,” on a May Day custom in Cornwall and its reclamation by American Pagans. I will put links to all these works in the show notes. Dr. Magliocco’s current research is on fairies in the Anthropocene. She is also trained in the Gardnerian and Reclaiming traditions and co-leads a coven in Vancouver, B.C.
Click here for a transcript of this episode.
Web: https://anth.ubc.ca/faculty/sabina-magliocco/
Other papers and people referenced in this interview include:
Nova Religio Journal, volume 23, number 4, May 2020
Egil Asprem
My guest today is Solomon Pakal, who was born and raised in the Latino Folk Magic scene of Washington DC. Solomon came to know and exercise his indigenous witchcraft roots over the span of two decades, while also cross-training and participating in various forms of spirituality ranging from Santeria, Ceremonial Magic, Nichiren Buddhism, and many more traditions. He is a former United States Army Officer with experience in Latin America, the Indian Subcontinent, North and East Africa, and Central and Southern Europe. Solomon actively works to educate about authentic Maya pagan practices through presentations and rituals at occult festivals, conferences, and museums. As a former soldier and Mixed Martial Artist, his combat analysis frameworks bring a unique perspective to the mechanics underlying the many forms of the occult.
Click here for a transcript of this episode.
You can find Solomon online on Facebook at Solomon Pakal Spirit Services and Solomon Pakal.
Some of the resources, people, and books mentioned in our conversation include:
Popul Vuh by Dennis Tedlock
Chilam Balam
Dr. Edwin Barnhart, director of the Maya Exploration Center
Save Ancient Studies Alliance
Mesoamerican Studies Online
Mayan Atlantis by Luke Caverns (video)
Jade Maya
My guest today, Mhara Starling, was born in North Wales, was raised on the Isle of Anglesey, and speaks Welsh as her native language. She is a Swynwraig, a modern-day Welsh Witch, and leads Cylch y Sarffes Goch (Circle of the Red Serpent), a Welsh coven operating in the Welsh marches. She is the author of Welsh Witchcraft and Welsh Faeries, an Awenydd of the Anglesey Druid Order, and teaches on the subject of Welsh magic and lore both online and in person.
Transcript for this show is coming soon.
You can find Mhara online at:
Mhara Starling @ Llewellyn Worldwide
YouTube
TikTok
Patreon
Other links at Linktree
Some of the other resources and organizations referenced in this episode include:
The Mabinogion
Anglesey Druid Order
Sisterhood of Avalon
My guest today is Mesopotamian polytheist, artist, writer, researcher, and educator Samuel David from Sangamon County, Illinois. Samuel facilitates rituals, community workshops, and presentations as a representative and steward for É-Sangamon, or Temple Sangamon, and founded the Order of the Rod and Ring. He is also the founder of Four Reeds, a legally registered 501(c)3 non-profit religious organization primarily dedicated to maintaining the spiritual legacy of the Mesopotamian people. He is also a chairperson for The Council of Near Eastern Pagan Religions and is actively involved with the Temple of Inanna. As a writer, Samuel’s focus is primarily on the reconstruction movement, and his work includes Rod & Ring: An Initiation into a Mesopotamian Mystery Tradition, Lioness: The Song of Inanna, and The Red Shepherd: Toward a New Image of Dumuzid.
You can find him online at:
* Facebook.com/iamsanueldavid/
* Instagram at @rodandring
* Youtube.com/@rodandring
* Patreon.com/rodandring
* Rod & Ring: Ancient Near East Meets Modern West | Ancient Near East Meets Modern West (wordpress.com)
You can find many of the books referenced during our conversation on Samuel’s recommended reading list.
Click here for a transcript of this episode.
Other resources referenced in this episode include:
Halley’s Bible Handbook
academia.edu
Greek Magical Papyri (PGM)
My guest today is Mudang Seonmi, an officiated Mudang or Korean shaman-priest. Mudang Seonmi is mixed Korean diaspora, having lived in Seoul, Korea, for the first handful of years before moving to the United States to be raised by her native Korean mother and Korean mixed father. She is LGBTQIA+ and diagnosed AuDHD. She went through her initiation ceremony (신내림굿) with an elder in 2017. Prior to her initiation, she had been an eclectic witch and pagan since 2001. Some of her primary gods are the War Cutter Goddess, Mudang Goddess, Prosperity God, 7 Star Gods, and Heavenly Fairy Goddess. Her pantheon contains hundreds of other gods and goddesses as well!
Her website is firelightlotus.com, and you can find her on Instagram at @themudang.
Click here for a transcript of this episode.
In this episode, we referenced a few books you may want to check out.
Shamans, housewives, and other restless spirits: women in Korean ritual life by Laurel Kendall, University of Hawaii Press, 1985.
The life and hard times of a Korean Shaman: of tales and the telling of tales by Laurel Kendall, University of Hawaii Press, 1988.
An Illustrated Guide to Korean Mythology by Choi Won-Oh, Global Oriental, 2008.
Welcome to the first episode of Season 2. Today’s episode is a commentary looking at In Praise of Polytheism by Maurizio Bettini, professor of classical philology at the University of Sienna.
Click here for a transcript of the episode.
You can purchase In Praise of Polytheism through the University of California Press.
There is also a blog post about the book on their site.
I ask all my guests to start and end their interviews with a prayer of invocation and one of thanksgiving. In this teaser, hear the voices of my guests from Season 2 uplifted in prayer — one line from each.
Season 2 starts Sunday, September 22, 2024. You can find the schedule at our website: PolytheismToday.com.
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I’m excited to announce that Season 2 of the Polytheism Today podcast premiers on Sunday, September 22, 2024.
This season, our line-up includes a Korean shaman-priest, a Druid, a Mesopotamian priest, an anthropologist, and much more! Check out our guests, topics, and schedule on our website.
You can subscribe to the podcast on Apple podcasts or listen to them here on Substack.
The podcast currently has 23 episodes available.