Paganism

Column: Doing the Gods’ Work – a Conversation with Ben Waggoner

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Pagan Perspectives

Back in 2013 and 2014, when I was getting ready to start gathering sources for my masters’ thesis in Old Norse Religion, I realized something: while the vast majority of medieval Norse-Icelandic sagas were readily accessible in Old Icelandic, quite a few of them were hard to get a hold of in translation. Sure, I could have soldiered on, armed with only my trusty Old Icelandic-English dictionary and go through every single saga in the original language, but it would have taken such a long time that, had I done so, I’d probably still be at it today. What I needed were more general editions and translations, with enough notes and index-entries to quickly find relevant information. When it came to the more popular sagas, such as the so-called “family-sagas” (Íslendingasögur), I had little problem finding good versions. In my excessive exhaustiveness, however, I found a severe lack of material related to the more obscure sagas.

News

Richard Reidy’s “Everlasting Egypt” published posthumously

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Richard Reidy’s book, Everlasting Egypt; Kemetic Rituals for the Gods was published posthumously on July 20. Reidy had been a major influence in transmitting authentic ancient Egyptian (Kemetic) religious practices for the modern world. Richard J. Reidy was born in Ohio on September 25, 1944. In 1997, he founded the Temple of Ra in San Francisco.

Paganism

Column: What of the Christians?

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Pagan Perspectives

One of my most vivid school memories comes from a history lesson I had when I was about seven or eight. From very early on, history had been my favorite subject. The books were always filled to the brim with colorful pictures, and the fact that the topic encompasses just about everything that ever took place regarding mankind drew my attention. That day at school, we were supposed to learn about the Renaissance and the 16th century. As I opened my book, my eyes met with a picture of a crowd laying waste to a church, breaking windows and tearing down statues.

Culture

Resolving to write a book in 2017? Publishers share advice

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TWH – The new year has been rung in and resolutions have been made and, for many, high on the list of resolutions is to finish writing a book and have it published. This is, would be their first attempt at becoming a professional author. While there are many resources devoted to the budding writer, there isn’t much specific to publishers who work with Pagan, Heathen, and other occult topics. The Wild Hunt spoke with several publishers about the kinds of books that they are looking for this year and what common mistakes prevent a book from being accepted. They offer some helpful and direct advice for budding authors.

Living

Taking Sacred Back: an invitation to Pagan ritual

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CLEAR LAKE, Wis. — Judy Olson-Linde and Nels Linde are longtime members of the Pagan community in the Midwest U.S., and one of the things this married couple is known for are large community rituals, which they often organize at festivals such as Pagan Spirit Gathering and Sacred Harvest Festival. After 20 years of facilitating large public rituals, the couple has written a book, Taking Sacred Back, so that others may benefit from their practical experience in this area and run rituals of their own. We caught up with Nels Linde as they were packing for Wic-Can Fest, where they will be putting their skills to use. Perhaps the most important takeaway from that conversation was that any ritual organizer needs to know the audience.