Statistics show that people fear death less as they grow older, and that Catholics fear death far more than Protestants, Others, or Nones. What does that mean for us as Pagans? More importantly, do you fear death? www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

A recent Tarot reading advised me to “keep your goal in front of you every day.” When I thought about how I can best do that, I realized I’ve done this many times before. The process works for me, and it’s likely to work for you. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Bad times inspire good art. Florence Welch has made good art with Everybody Scream. It’s witchcraft for people who don’t know they need it. And for some of us who do. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

I cannot accurately convey what it was like to be in our Samhain ritual. You had to be there to watch, listen, speak, move, and participate. But I can share the Call of the Morrigan, not for ancient Ireland or even for 2010 America, but for us here and now. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

You do not have to be born with 90th percentile psychic skills and intuitive abilities to read Tarot or to practice any other form of divination. Natural ability helps, but what matters most is what you do with the gifts you have. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

A man who has spent his entire life denying reality and avoiding consequences is starting to understand that he’s going to die. Donald Trump is building a state ballroom because he knows death is getting close and he’s grasping for any sort of immortality he can get. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

The holiest day on the modern Pagan Wheel of the Year is rapidly approaching and I’m in no mood to celebrate. But I’m going to celebrate anyway. Because at Samhain – especially this Samhain – we need to remember who we are. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Like a bad romantic relationship, the religion I left was toxic. No amount of tradition, no amount of universality, no amount of liturgy would have ever made it healthy. I needed to get out so I could find something better. I needed to cut the cord. And I did. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Attacks on Paganism almost always include attacks on magic that label it naïve, evil, or both. We need not engage in bad-faith debates with our attackers, but we need to make sure we aren’t influenced by our enemies just because they’re louder and more numerous. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Nature is our source and our sustenance. We are a part of Nature – not the head and not the center, but one part among many. We are connected to all the other parts and all of them are connected to us. Nature is not fallen – Nature is good and holy. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Real professionalism is technical competence, customer service, and continuous improvement. “Professional appearance” is the preferred culture of the people in charge and nothing more. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Here are my annual Halloween movie recommendations: ten good horror movies you probably haven’t seen, or haven’t seen in a long time. Vampires, witches, folkloric mermaids, a cursed theater, and an old dark house; made as early as 1932 and as late as 2015. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Are the Gods many, one, or none? We owe it to ourselves to contemplate this question and to choose the answer that seems most likely to us, rather than simply accepting what we were told as children – or acquiescing to the loudest voices in the public square. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

I wish Pagans were the threat “Pagan Threat” says we are. I wish we had the power, the influence, and the organizational competency it says we have. Instead, this book tries to make Pagans the scapegoats for the internal failings of conservative religion. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Factual reporting and relevant analysis are more than helpful – they’re necessary. But secular news and political analysis will only take us so far. We need to put current events into a Pagan and magical context so we can understand our place in them. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Celebrating the Fall Equinox will help you remember who you are, even as the world continues to spiral out of balance. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

The Serenity Prayer has been part of addiction recovery programs since 1941. But as useful as it is, it is inadequate for the situation we find ourselves in today. What do we do with the things we cannot change, but that our values will not allow us to accept? www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

I got nothing, folks. Or at least, nothing that hasn't already been said a million times. Pay attention to your surroundings, physically and metaphysically. Stay in close contact with your people, over here and over there. I see no indication the temperature is going anywhere but up. Hope I'm wrong.

Modern Paganism is an honest religion. It does not ask us to believe things we can’t honestly believe. It celebrates our humanity in all its glorious imperfection. And it gives us the resources we need to deal with the Big Questions of Life. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Education is a process that is never finished. If we keep looking, we can keep learning more and more about the sacred topics and trends that are important to us, and in doing so, we can make our personal and group practices deeper and more meaningful. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Registration is now open. Details are on the Patheos blog and on the UTAO website. To register, send me an e-mail. I’ll send you a PayPal request for the course (I can also take Venmo and some other payment methods – just ask if you’d prefer), once that’s done I’ll register you for the class.

While we can never be sure, we can examine the evidence, study the beliefs of our ancestors, search our own thoughts and feelings, and then come up with a tentative answer that provides meaning and comfort to us as we deal with the inevitability of death. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

James Dobson is dead and you are alive. You are learning, and growing, and healing. You win. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Registration is now open. Details are on the Patheos blog and on the UTAO website. To register, send me an e-mail. I’ll send you a PayPal request for the course (I can also take Venmo and some other payment methods – just ask if you’d prefer), once that’s done I’ll register you for the class.

Announcing a new 8-week on-line class from Under the Ancient Oaks: “Unpacking Your Religious Baggage So You Can Live A Magical Life” begins on September 4 and registration is now open. Details are in Module 0 on the Courses page. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Whether we are deconstructing an old religion or working to recover from toxic religion, it’s important to make sure what we believe is something that’s meaningful and helpful to us and not what we were told we had to believe. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

“Unpacking Your Religious Baggage So You Can Live A Magical Life” - a new online course from undertheancientoaks.com. The module list is on the website on the Courses page. More details when registration opens on August 18.

Acting with a plan is far more likely to be successful than acting without a plan, and plans made using clear and complete information are far more likely to be successful than plans make up on the fly. Thus the need for clarity. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Coming in September: Under the Ancient Oaks Course 11 “Unpacking Your Religious Baggage So You Can Live A Magical Life”

As part of my Sigil Magic workshop at Mystic South, I created a sigil to get home safely on Sunday night. Did it work? Did I get home because of magic? Here’s what I know for sure: I got what I wanted on a day when a lot of people who were flying didn’t. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

The people I talked to at Mystic South were frustrated, fearful, and angry. But they were still there, trying to figure out their place in this unwelcoming world. However uneasy they may have felt, they were still moving toward The Star. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

The story of how our Ritual of Resistance and Alliance came to be at this year’s Mystic South conference, and what it may mean for us going forward. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Mystic South 2025: new rooms, same great conference. Dark Goddesses and cord cutting, sigil magic and the Ritual of Resistance and Alliance, and the spiritual presence of Morgan Daimler even though they weren’t there. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

A recent Tarot reading was overwhelmingly positive… except for the Wheel of Fortune, which warned that I’m overlooking random chance, some low probability event that could pop up out of nowhere and throw a wrench into my plans. And now I know to look out for that. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

If some AI conversations resemble conversations that come through Ouija or Tarot or direct communication with spirits, the simplest explanation is that some spirits have picked up AI as yet another tool with which to communicate with humans – for good and for ill. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

The Southern Baptist Convention is condemning “willful childlessness which contributes to a declining fertility rate.” How arrogant. How presumptive. The choice to have children or not must always remain with the individual and never with the church or the state. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Last year honesty compelled me to admit things in my life weren’t good. This year honesty compels me to say that things are better, because I accepted reality and did what I needed to do, and because of the grace of the Gods. I like the direction I’m headed. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Televangelist and Trump advisor Paula White claimed that if people would send her $1000 she would make her God “their enemies’ enemy.” How small does she think her God is? How powerful does she think she is? And what can Pagans and polytheists learn from all this? www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

The religious environment is shifting yet again – people are becoming more religious. Let’s embrace our Paganism and be ready to welcome those who are looking for what we have. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

If you practice a variety of magical techniques you won’t reach for a hammer when the problem requires a screwdriver. And when circumstances present you with a situation that’s beautiful and powerful, you’ll be ready to make good use of it. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

I spent much of Thursday learning more about the new pope, and then it was time for my evening prayers. “I wish the new pope well, but I am thankful I found this Pagan path that means so much to me. Here I have found meaning, comfort, and purpose.” www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

As a Druid who is a member of ADF I am happy to spread the word that we have a new Archdruid: Rev. Jan Avende. Jan was kind enough to respond to my questions about their background, their approach to Druidry, and their goals for the future of ADF. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

"Sinners" is every bit as good as the buzz says it is. It mixes multiple genres and it handles all of them brilliantly. It’s a good, original story told very well. Sinners is many stories, told on many levels, and they’re all true. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

"Sinners" really is that good. I was going to wait for it to hit streaming, but after all the talk I wanted to see it in the theater, and I'm glad I did. It's a good horror movie, a good vampire movie, and just a good movie period. If you think you might like it, you will.

When we celebrate Beltane – publicly, loudly, deliciously – we promote Pagan concepts, thinking, and practices to ourselves, our community, and the world at large. More importantly, we remind ourselves who we are. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

I can’t see a way out of “all this.” But I’m firmly convinced there is a way out – a way through. Choose your path. If you’ve done that, recommit yourself to the path you’ve already chosen. And then do the work that’s in front of you now. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

“Everything happens for a reason” is technically true, but in the context in which it is usually uttered it is blatantly and harmfully false. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

A fundamentalist Christian group said “a biblical worldview applies to every area of life.” We know the problem with that. I want to discuss the matter of worldview: what it is, why everyone has one, and why most people need to examine theirs more carefully. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...

Today, March 23, is the Feast of Cernunnos. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the Lord of the Animals, the Lord of the Hunt, and the God of the Wild. www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbe...