John Beckett - Paganism in Depth: A Polytheist Approach

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Beckett grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside his back door. Wandering through them gave him a sense of connection to nature and to a certain Forest God.

John is a Druid in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and a member of r nDraocht Fin. Locally, he is a member of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, who he served as Coordinating Officer for twelve years be f ore stepping down from formal leadership in 2017. His blog, Under the Ancient Oaks , is part of the Pagan channel of the multifaith website Patheos. John has been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals since 2003. His first book, The Path of Paganism: An Experience-Based Guide to Modern Pagan Practice, was published by Llewellyn in 2017.

John lives in the DallasFort Worth area with his wife, Cathy, and their cat, Sophie. Blogging wont pay the bills, so John earns his keep as an engineer.

Copyright Information

Paganism In Depth: A Polytheist Approach 2019 by John Beckett.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2019

E-book ISBN: 9780738760681

Book format by Samantha Penn

Cover design by Shannon McKuhen

Editing by Laura Kurtz

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Beckett, John, author.

Title: Paganism in depth : a polytheist approach / John Beckett, author of

The path of paganism.

Description: First Edition. | Woodbury : Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd., 2019. |

Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019006102 (print) | LCCN 2019012332 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738760681 (ebook) | ISBN 9780738760643 (alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Paganism.

Classification: LCC BL432 (ebook) | LCC BL432 .B43 2019 (print) | DDC

299/.94dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019006102

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

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Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Acknowledgments

Much of the material in this book was originally written for my blog, Under the Ancient Oaks . Its been organized, edited, reorganized, reedited, and then edited again. What you hold is not the result of copying and pasting text from blog to book. Rather, its an entity all its own.

This book would not have happened without the support and inspiration of my family of choice.

To Jason Mankey, my editor at Patheos Pagan, who keeps telling me how great my writing is: Im still not sure I believe you, but I like hearing it. Im extremely grateful for your support, and for your dedication to the Pagan movement even when things get more difficult (and more personal) than they should.

To Chris Godwin, Amanda Godwin, and all the people who make the ADF Texas Imbolc Retreat something to look forward to every February: you show us what public polytheism can be.

To Gabrielle Milburn and Morgan Milburn: you stand as constant reminders that inexperience can be quickly overcome with consistent effort. Your dedication inspires me.

xii To Linda Masten: your love for your ancestors is a joy to see, and your commitment to your communities is beyond virtuousit is heroic.

To Cynthia Talbot: you are my fellow priest and co-adventurer on this journey of depth and discovery. This book is your story as much as it is mine. I do not know if we will get there in this lifetime, but we have gone far and we will go farther, and we are leaving good notes for those who come after us.

To Cathy Beckett: this is not your path, but somehow you are always there, supporting me and those around me, no matter how strong the storms even when the storms have real rain and wind and were all cold and wet. I could not do this without you.

To all of you, and to all the friends, family, and co-religionists who are too numerous to list but whose support is critical: thank you.

Introduction

I still remember the joy I felt when I first discovered Paganism.

I learned the Divine is feminine as well as masculineand many, not one. Nature is sacred. Magic is real. I would later learn that none of those things are universal in Paganism, but this is what was presented to me and I liked it. Something in the core of my being had always whispered that these things wer true. Now I finally had a name to attach to it.

I loved it and wanted more. I wanted to go deeper .

So I went exploring. I bought books and devoured them. I collected magical tools and consecrated them. I cast spells and celebrated the turning of the seasons. I talked to as many other Pagans as I could find and asked them questions as long as theyd answer. And as I talked with them, I noticed something interestingmost of them were using the same books I was using. Paganism, it seemed, was Scott Cunningham, Silver RavenWolf, and Starhawk. They were good authors, but I already knew their books were primarily for beginners. Where were the intermediate and advanced books? Where was the deeper material?

I soon learned a few things; first, that the form of Paganism I had been introduced to was Wicca, and Paganism is more than Wicca. Its broader than thatthere are many varieties of modern Paganism. Before I could find the deeper levels of Wicca, I found Druidry. Once again, I felt joy when I discovered a name for something I always knew was true.

I took Druidry deeper. I joined the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and worked through the study materials for their three grades over a six-year period. I read books on practicing Druidry by Philip Carr-Gomm, John Michael Greer, and Isaac Bonewits. I read books on the history of Druidry by Peter Berresford Ellis and Ronald Hutton. I started going to Druid gatherings where I could compare notes with other practicing Druids and learn from them.