Round the Herne

 The next chapter of Lilian Gask's "Quest of the White Merle" (1909) in which youg Conrad and his friendly robin arrive in Japan.

 The next chapter of Lilian Gask's 'Quest for the White Merle', where the hero Conrad reaches Russia and Mongolia.

 The fourth chapter of 'The Quest of the White Merle' by Lilian Gask (1909) details the hero's adventures on an island of geese and swans. I am starting to run out of silly voices given the sheer volume of characters in this novel.

 This is my reading of the third chapter of 'Quest for the White Merle' by Lilian Gask, wherein the hero Conrad encounters a wide variety of sea birds, all of whom have unconvincing silly accents.

 Admittedly only one person said they would like to hear more of the book, but it doesn't take much to get me into Jackanory mode. This is my reading of the second chapter of Lilian Gask's "Quest of the White Merle" in which the young hero, Conrad, encounters more talking birds in his search for a cure for his father's incipient blindness. If I get a couple more requests, I'll record the third instalment (there are sixteen chapters altogether!)

 I've been thinking a little about Yule traditions. Like many people I not only follow the widespread practices but also have my own particular habits that I repeat every midwinter season. Mine are mostly centred around stories which I like to enjoy. For me it is a time to listen to the audio recording made by theatrical legend Simon Callow of the Charles Dickens' story 'Doctor Marigold's Prescription'. This was one of Dickens regular performances during his touring days, a first-person narrative of a traveling cheapjack's life from his birth through to a Christmas-time reunion with his beloved adoptive daughter. Like all of Dickens' work it is full of sentiment and an observation of the brutal excesses of mid-Victorian life, and perfectly pitched with the balance of humour and pathos. Callow's performance is excellent and filled with a real enthusiasm that might be expected from an acknowledged expert on the author. This is also the season when I love t...

 Today I was given a lovely book as a birthday present (well, one of several gifts) - 'Quest for the White Merle' by Lilian Gask, published in 1909. This is the first chapter of a young boy's adventures into the magical realms of nature - especially with various talking birds. If anyone would like to hear subsequent chapters, let me know and I will record them. I think the book is out of copyright so it should not cause any legal issues. The book has some lovely illustrations by Dorothy Hardy, who painted for numerous children's books over the years. Gask was a prolific author of adventure stories for children, though little known these days. A merle, if anyone is wondering, is an old name for a blackbird.

As it is my birthday today I thought I would record a story from one of my favourite authors, the inimitable Saki. This one is "The Story of St Vespaluus", a mildly comic tale about a young prince whose country is caught at the juncture between Paganism and Christianity - whilst the country is an imaginary one, ancient Lithuania had a tradition of sacred serpents, the zaltys (and the revived Romuvan religion still does revere the grass snake and has a holy day devoted to them). I wonder how often the kind of strange accommodation described at the end of the short story happened in real life?

 The final instalment of the short series of seminars looking at theology within the pagan traditions. This one looks at notions of theodicy (why do people suffer; why are some people so horrible) and touches briefly on ethical codes in different traditions. If you have any questions, post them here and I will answer in the message section (or it might inspire a future podcast).

 The second instalment (a few days late going up due to the mayhem of life) looks at different understandings of deity in various forms of paganism and touches briefly on other orders of spiritual beings. If you have any questions for the third and final part, please add them to the comment section below. As previously, if you find this useful please make a donation to a food-bank or similar kind of charity in a place near you.

 Finally got round to putting together the short intro to Pagan Theology, having talked about it for months on end. This course will be in three parts, each uploaded on Thursday evenings and exploring different aspects of theology for pagans. I was going to do this as a live podcast, but various factors have made that difficult so I've opted for pre-records instead. If you have any questions or there are specific topics you would like covered in future instalments, please add your comments to this post. In the spirit of reciprocity (as mentioned in this first recording), if you find this series useful or interesting, please "pay" for it by making a donation to a food-bank or similar service near you - whether donations of actual food or through a monetary gift to them. If you're more of an animal-person then help feed the residents of an animal shelter local to your neighbourhood.