International Podcast Day 2018

It's September 30, which in my personal calendar marks a special occasion: it's International Podcast Day! 

I've been an avid podcast listener ever since I first discovered the world of podcasting. That was in the autumn of 2004, at the time when I had two jobs, and had to take long and boring daily commutes. Thanks to my first iPod, those countless hours spent in public transport - which would otherwise have been totally wasted - transformed into hours spent listening to thought-provoking interviews, exciting radio drama series, and educational programmes.

Podcasting market has since grown exponentially, with podcasts on pretty much every subject imaginable. As with YouTube channels, not all are good, and it can take time to find the ones that will really resonate with you while being at a high level of production quality. To help sift through thousands of podcasts out there, I've compiled a list of top 5 podcasts that caught my attention since last September. This is my third annual list, and since I still regularly listen to all of the podcasts I mentioned back in 2016 and 2017, do have a look at those earlier lists as well.

Ideas from CBC Radio

At the moment I'm subscribed to over seventy podcasts. Granted, I don't listen to all of them on a weekly - let alone daily - basis, but one that I make sure to follow regularly is Ideas, coming from Canada's public broadcaster. First launched in 1965, it's one of CBC Radio's flagship programmes, now available also as a podcast. It's described as a series of "documentaries in which thoughts are gathered, contexts explored, and connections made." If you're into humanities, or just have an inquisitive mind, don't miss this one.

Heaven's Gate

Remember Heaven's Gate, a religious cult involved in a 1997 mass suicide? This 10-episode documentary series presents a unique insight into the workings of this group and the kind of mentality that ultimately led to thirty-nine deaths. It's a captivating story, including interviews with former members, and authentic audio material that wasn't previously publicly available.

Ancient Greek History

There are loads and loads of audio lectures in podcast format, released by prominent universities. With background in Classics, I'm partial to this one. I used it as a kind of refresher course in Greek history, also curious to see how the subject is taught at Yale. Lectures are held by Prof. Donald Kagan (recorded in 2007), and are also available on YouTube, and the Open Yale Courses website, where you can download additional material. The subject matter is presented in a simple and inviting way: it's an introductory course, and you definitely needn't worry that you wouldn't be able to follow. The entire course consists of 24 lectures, each about an hour long. 

And in case the name Donald Kagan doesn't ring a bell, have a look at the 2013 article on him in the Chronicle of Higher Education. He may not be to everyone's liking (ideologically speaking), but as a historian and classicist, he knows his stuff.

The Folklore Podcast

A treasure among podcasts. Hosted by Mark Norman, a British folklorist and researcher, affiliated with the Folklore Society and the celebrated Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. As the title indicates, the podcast - continuously running since 2016 - deals with traditions, customs and myths. Episodes include interviews with leading experts in this fascinating field. On the website, you can support Mark's work by purchasing supplementary e-zines and merchandise. 

Shift Your Spirits

I always aim to feature at least one podcast from the Religion & Spirituality category, which continues to be one of my favourite ones. Over the years, my interests within that category have largely shifted, from more conventional onto those dealing with pagan spirituality or the paranormal. Luckily, there's a good deal of podcasts on these and related subjects, and one of the best ones is Shift Your Spirits hosted by Slade Robertson. It contains talks and interviews in which Slade and his guests address a range of topics, from spiritualism and witchcraft to wellness and astrology. There's something here for everyone who is more into, shall we say, an alternative way of looking at things.

Belief-O-Matic

This is one of my favorite personality quizzes. I take it every once in while, just to see the latest developments in my religious views.

Basically, you get to answer about 20 questions about various religious and social issues, and the software comes up with a sort of compatibility list, how well your views match with the teachings and precepts of 27 religious denominations.

What I've just realized is that my spirituality is not as chaotic as I tend to think. Each time I take the test, the same four or five faiths appear among the top five. And the first two hardly come as a surprise to me:

1.	Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2.	Liberal Quakers (79%)
3.	Bahá'í Faith (75%)
4.	Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (74%)
5.	Unitarian Universalism (72%)
6.	Reform Judaism (69%)
7.	Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (63%)
8.	Jehovah's Witness (62%)
9.	Orthodox Quaker (59%)
10.	Neo-Pagan (57%)
11.	Orthodox Judaism (56%)
12.	Sikhism (55%)
13.	Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (54%)
14.	New Age (53%)
15.	Mahayana Buddhism (50%)
16.	Theravada Buddhism (48%)
17.	New Thought (48%)
18.	Eastern Orthodox (46%)
19.	Roman Catholic (46%)
20.	Seventh Day Adventist (45%)
21.	Secular Humanism (44%)
22.	Islam (41%)
23.	Jainism (41%)
24.	Scientology (40%)
25.	Hinduism (39%)
26.	Taoism (34%)
27.	Nontheist (21%)

You can take the quiz at the Beliefnet website.

Quarterly Book Reviews #2

I was supposed to post these around Midsummer, but I was saving some of the books for my summer break, having decided there was no better place to read them than on an empty beach, in the early morning hours.


GENDER STUDIES/PSYCHOLOGY
Iron John: A Book About Men by Robert Bly (Da Capo Press 2004)

Probably the foundational book of the so-called mythopoetic (or expressive) men's movement. First printed in 1990, it stirred something of a controversy among feminists, masculists and all the other -ists. Using Brother Grimm's ancient fairy tale Iron John, award-winning author Robert Bly analyses eight stages of male growth and writes about the need for mentorship and the restoration of male initiation rites in contemporary culture.

NEW AGE/WICCA & PAGANISM
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham (Llewellyn 2005)

With so many books on Wicca being published every year, it is more and more difficult to find a good practical introduction. Cunnigham's book, sold in about half-million copies, is readily recommended by most Wiccans, and for a good reason. As far as Wicca 101 books are concerned, this one is a must.

HEALTH
The Immune Advantage: How to Boost Your Immune System - The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do for Your Health by Ellen Mazo with Dr Keith Berndtson (Rodale 2002)
With this book I think I have finally found the perfect one-stop resource for disease prevention. Written with a holistic approach, it deals with everything from antigenic determinants (whatever that is) to the power of prayer. There's loads of practical advice, quizzes, tests... All the good stuff.

NEW AGE
The Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra (2004)
Typical Chopra, for the thousandth time. How to unlock the secret dimensions of your life, etc etc. I don't think I am going to read any of his books ever again (says a person subscribed to Chopra's e-newsletter).

SACRED SCRIPTURE
Upanishads (Wordsworth Classics 2000)
Have you ever read something you couldn't quite understand (or even begin to), and yet you were utterly entranced by it, feeling the beauty resonating somewhere deep within?

Celebrate Summer

One of the things I have picked up along my spiritual path so far is the celebration of the ancient sacred days. While most people would identify them with (neo)pagan beliefs and practices, the fact is that all the major Christian holidays were originally pagan days of observance, clothed in Christian imagery during the first several centuries of the Common Era. Christianization of these holidays was supposed to show the all-encompassing superiority of the Christian creed, while heavily relying on pagan symbolism, rites and archetypes.

Going back to the authentic, Earth-based, meaning of these holidays, observing the cycle of the year and devising my own ways to honour it, gave a whole new quality to my spirituality, making it more positive, creative and less dependent on any particular religious or Church teaching. At the same time, it recognizes the Divine - however one might experience it - in the workings of Nature.

Tomorrow happens to be one of the most important solar holidays, the Summer Solstice or  Midsummer. If you want some facts and information about Midsummer celebrations in various cultures (both ancient and modern) and their rich symbolism, Religious Tolerance, Beliefnet, and BBC are great places to start.

Happy Summer Solstice and have a great summer!

This guy can't be an evangelical!

"An evangelical Virginia farmer says a revolution against industrial agriculture is just down the road. [...]

"Joel, who describes himself as a “Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-lunatic farmer,” speaks of his farming as his “ministry,” and certainly his 1,000 or so regular customers hear plenty of preaching. Each spring he sends out a long, feisty, single-spaced letter that could convince even a fast-food junkie that buying a pastured broiler from Polyface Farm qualifies as an act of social, environmental, nutritional, and political redemption."

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AT MOTHER JONES:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/05/no_bar_code.html

Taking Leave of God

I've always thought of myself as a religious person. I've been going to church services regularly for most of my life, reading the Scriptures, thinking about theological issues (rather obsessively at times), teaching Sunday School, volunteering... To cut a long story short, I was a devout Christian. Although there has always been a liberal twist to my faith, I never thought I would come to a point where I would question the fundamentals of my entire belief system. And yet, it did happen.

My "prayer life" was first to disintegrate. It worked fine up until my late teens, but by my mid-20s I realized I didn't really have any clue as to who or what I was praying to, nor why I should be doing it. The concept of Heavenly Father continued to make sense for some more time to come, until it eventually collapsed, leaving behind traces of an inherently ill structure based on emotional void and fear. It finally dawned on me: somewhere along the way I had mistaken neurosis for religion. And so rather than picking up the pieces and moving on, I simply moved on. Ran away, to be more precise, as fast as I could. About two months ago, talking to a close friend, I managed to utter that dreaded word - atheist - applying it for the first time to myself, if only to see how it would sound. Nothing spectacular happened. It didn't hurt a bit. The earth didn't quake. I soon realised it's really not a word I could fully apply to myself, but that's a different story.

All of this is to serve as an introduction to a book that has helped me understand and deal with what I've been going through, religionwise. It's "Taking Leave of God" by Don Cupitt, first published in 1980 by SCM Press. While some of the chapters might be too philosophical and somewhat difficult to process, it's a very exciting book, dubbed by some a manifesto of "Christian Buddhism". Drawing inspiration from religious thinkers and philosophers as diverse as Tertullian, Meister Eckhart and Kierkegaard (to mention but a few), Cupitt attempts to establish a new (or renewed?) and almost Zen-like paradigm of Christian religiosity. Warmly recommended.