I’m about three-quarters of the way through my book The Path of Paganism by John Beckett. I did a lot of reading on my vacation this week; while traveling by plane and bus. I started to combine the book with some podcasts that featured John, because I like to get to hear the author and their perspectives in interview formats. I listened to two podcasts with John Beckett while in flight and they were very interesting. One was focused on camouflage and witchcraft for safety and the other was on the modern witchcraft v. pagan movements. He got tied up with how paganism, witchcraft, and druidism are all under one roof and how he is a druid, but calls himself a pagan, and if pushed would also classify himself as a witch technically. Both podcasts were interesting and added to my understanding of the book.
In Chapter 6: Being Spiritual in a Materialistic Society, he mentioned how he started in paganism after leaving fundamentalist Christianity, by dabbling in Wicca for many years. Then he heard a voice to “Get Serious or Move On.” He knew he wasn’t fully committing due to fear and just reading and not “doing” not practicing. So he starting actually diving deep and meditating, praying, doing rituals with groups, learning about deities. I totally related to this as a former Catholic with a lot of guilt and shame about witchcraft and not full committing.
I got a little hung - up at first on his chapter on the gods, Chapter 4, just because I don’t have a deity worship practice, I have an ancestor altar, and I was essentially thinking this chapter was going to be very “druid” deity worship focused. I was quite surprised! It was basically a skeptic’s chapter: written just for me. I wouldn’t say that now I’m about to totally go out and do all kinds of devotions to the gods, but hey the way John writes is to the common person. And explains, why not try it? Instead of why to to definitely believe something.
Some of the later chapters seem like “everything and the kitchen sink” and a little excessive. So far I do appreciate his perspective as a Unitarian Universalist (UU), as I am also a member of a UU church. He has experience with a CUUPs group (Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans). And in my UU church we have a pagan group, that is not quite organized enough to become a CUUPs group, but this book gives me good ideas about how we could be in the future. So far, I am really enjoying where this book is taking me. And it has opened my mind to other ways of thinking rather than, traditional witchcraft all the time, which is my most common reading.
I looked into the Druid OBOD training as John mentions it in the book, and wow, those druids are very organized about their training as druids! Three levels of online training, verified credentials - very nice. I appreciate that as a super organized person myself! Anyways, just adding my thoughts so far. 