Round the Herne

 To celebrate the arrival of a magnificent statue of Sebek in the house (a gift from close friends), I have recorded a story featuring the Great Crocodile. He is a side character in the myth, so I have padded his role somewhat - there being little in the way of surviving stories in which He is central. This story forms a subplot to the infamous Myth of the Lettuce, which regular readers of this blog will be familiar with. This story is a bit graphic and not suited for either children or anyone listening whilst bored at work. The kinds of things which horrify 21st century Westerners did not much phase Ancient Egyptians. The city of Nekhen was called Hierakonpolis during the Ptolemaic Period, meaning the City of the Falcon - and it does indeed contain the oldest example of a zoo so far found in the world.

 This is my reading of the first of Oscar Wilde's nine children's stories, "The Happy Prince", first published in 1888. It is a sad little story, weaving a very Christian sentiment alongside the mythology and natural beauty of Egypt. I wonder if growing up with parents so devoted to Irish myth helped to emphasis the importance of friendship and devotion tot he young Oscar (given that it is a prominent theme in much Irish myth)?

 A couple of people who had missed the start of the Leaping Hare convention last Saturday asked if I would record a version of my talk on the Royal Myth of Egypt. I've tried to keep to the same length as at the convention and as close to identical topics. This is a reflection on the myth of the feuding brothers and the trials and tribulations faced by their sister in restoring her beloved. If these topics are of any interest to readers (both of you), let me know and I will explore further in future. Tomorrow, Sunday 3rd, I will be giving a talk on the Egyptian concepts of Ma'at and Isfet at an MBS fair being held at Kegrave Community Centre - I shall be talking at 1pm, if anyone fancies coming along to listen.

 My new book "Pantheon - the Egyptians" arrived in bookshops in late May. Due to interminable covid restrictions the launch was virtual (though I hope to have a real world one at some stage - watch this space).  This link is for the talk give via Facebook Live, which includes a brief reading from the book and general description of what it is about, as well as a general chat about some of the dynamic tensions to be found with Egyptian mythology and how people in the 21st century can potentially understand them. There is a competition (of sorts) at the end for people who want a free copy. The deadline to get your answer in will be midnight on Sunday 6th June - I will then put all the names in a hat and draw a winner. If anyone is interested in future books, I am currently working on a novel and an idea for a book around philosophy and polytheism. There are also some anthologies which Moon Books is putting out later this year and early next year which include chapters by me - a...

In September I gave a live talk via Facebook for my publisher (Moon Books), talking about Ancient Egyptian religion as a taster for the new book. Might be of some interest to people who tune in to this blog on occasion. 

Some thoughts on a dripplingly hot day, as I skulk in the shadows, about the nature of narrative and its relationship to polytheist religions as well as to our own lives as individuals. Narratives can be both positive and negative (or a parson's egg of both) and the prime purpose of this podcast is to get my listeners - both of you - to think about the role story plays in your life and the lives of the communities of which you are a member. Touches a little bit on Baudrillard's idea that we are living in a synthetic bubble as a result of the impact of cinema and TV on our expectations of reality. Could go into this more from a pagan point of view (do we expect our religions to be more like the things we see on TV than reality), but an hour of waffle seem sufficient for one day. Also brings in Collette Dowlings now somewhat dated ideas from the Cinderella Complex as an example of the potential negative impact of a widespread story.

A couple of days ago my publisher let me know that the latest book had been completed (in terms of cover art, lay out etc.). "Pantheon - The Egyptians" will be in the shops for May 2021, which is some positive news for me amidst the sea of gloom in the world at present. The book explores Egyptian mythology, history, theology, ritual and so forth - details on how to purchase will be added once the book becomes available for retail. To mark the event I have finally found time away from work to make a short recording of a prayer to Tehuti, the ibis-headed god of writing, which is given in both English and a reconstruction of how it may have sounded in the language of Kemet. There on ongoing discussions between linguists as to exactly how early Egyptian may have sounded, which is partly a problem of vowel sounds which readers were expected to know rather than having made explicit to them in reading hieroglyphs. The people who carved the letters clearly never envisioned a day w...

Not that I think anyone else gives a toss about my views of Doctor Who episodes, but I'm enjoying the self-indulgence of wittering about classic adventures that I enjoy. So here are three more reviews. First up, back in 1964 the First Doctor (William Hartnell) encounters a race of telepathic geriatrics on the strangely named Sense Sphere who live in fear of humanity (can't think why)... Then there is this review of a Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) story from 1968 which is bereft of peculiar-looking aliens but instead deals with the deadly monster that is politics as a sinister politician destroys no end of people in his quest for power and wealth, with slight shades of how the Eloi and Molochs from H G Wells' Time Machine started off. Finally (until the reviewing bug bites again) Tom Baker strides forth in a battle against the evil of Sutekh in the 1975 adventure Pyramids of Mars where Egyptian mythology, Gothic romance, and alien menace combine to great effe...

This is a waffle around why some pagans make offerings, considering both theological and practical aspects, made whilst making fudge (though, to be honest, the consistency is closer to toffee - which is what comes of not being able to find my sugar thermometer).

Tomorrow night I have been asked to give a talk on Kemeticism (Egyptian paganism) at the Lowestoft Moot - which takes so long to get to on the train it might well feel like a journey of a thousand miles. However, the title of this post refers to a story about how the goddess Aset (Isis) began her long expedition across Egypt to flee from the vengeance of her brother Setekh. The opening part of the story - I suspect there were probably many sections to the saga at one point in time, but much of them have been lost, or at least remain untranslated from their hieroglyphic status - details how she acquired her seven golden scorpions. If you are in Lowesoft tomorrow , come along to the  Telecom Social Club, Clapham Road South, Lowestoft NR32 1QR between 7pm and 9pm.

This is the version of the Great Royal Myth of Egypt recorded for my Religious Studies students (one of their essay questions is about it). I've used the Egyptian transliterations of the divine names rather than the Greek. The classes are three hours long, but I wish we had more time to discuss what the myths mean and how they can be interpreted. Setekh gets a bad reputation in this story, but he is a fascinating presence and there is a great deal more to him than some pantomime villain.

Today was the sixth annual Eisteddfod in Suffolk, and the first one that I have not actually organised. Instead, this year Fiona Dowson organised it and I took part as a contestant. There were five storytellers and as many poets. The theme set for the stories was "goddesses", and the other tales told were an account of Macha's foot race, a legend told of Erzulie-Freda and one of her rather misguided lovers, the sage of Ceridwen and Gwion Bach (which one the contest), and the story of Perseus and his mother Danae. My own contribution was the story of Sekhmet, a near-identical version of which I have recorded from the comfort of my own sofa.

My publisher has put out another anthology, for which I have written a chapter. It is a collection of pagan poetry by six authors: myself, Beverley Price, Tiffany Chaney, Lorna Smithers, Romany Rivers, and Martin Pallot. It's available through any good bookshop at £4.99 and has something for almost everyone's tastes. It's always a pleasure to receive the advance copies and see ones work on the page. My selection includes poems inspired by the mythology of Greece, the Northern climes, China, Egypt and the Celts. I will record one for the YouTube channel and upload it in a couple of days. Beverley (who lives near me) and I will be holding a book launch after the midwinter madness is out of the way. Watch this space for more details.

It's been a long day, and I'm feeling a trifle tired now ~ but happy and reflective. The Bibliomancer's Ball, whilst not as packed out as it could have been, was a quiet success. We paid for the hall and made just over £40 for the Ipswich Hospital CCU. It was good to finally put a face to some people I have known via Facebook. Apparently Mercury is retrograde or something, and it certainly started out with computer chaos and what appeared to be a wiped memory stick with a lifetime of pagan talks, workshops etc. Thankfully we had our very own technomancer present, Will, who resurrected the dead after engaging in his arcane arts and conjured forth PowerPoint presentations from the UnderVoid. My electronic memories continue to dwell in my brain extension, though I shall be crating back-up copies for future reference. Lorna Smithers gave a fascinating talk on the inspirational nature of landscape and its attendant folklore in inspiring poetry. Maybe there are poems about Ipsw...

A life long devotee of Doctor Who, I have watched the final episode ('The Name of the Doctor') twice now and have all sorts of ideas whizzing round the Space-Time Continuum that passes for my mind. I am making concerted efforts not to give away any spoilers lest my reader not have seen it yet, however I was quite struck by a throwaway line towards the end of the episode in which the Doctor states that a name is a promise, a commitment (talking about choosing to call himself Doctor, rather than whatever name he was born with). Whilst there was quite a lot of Christian imagery in the show during Russell T Davies' reign (rather odd, considering he is an atheist), there has been and remains a certain amount of pagan imagery in the show ~ the living sun in '42' for example, and if 'Love and Monsters' wasn't based on a pagan moot then I don't know what it was based on. In many ancient cultures it was common for people to be given (or sometimes chose fo...