Round the Herne

 I was interviewed by Victoria Young Bennison for her American radio programme Fika United Public Radio on 107.7FM and 105.3FM, which mainly broadcasts in the New Orleans are. The first interview took place in February and was about my Magic of Wolves book: https://soundcloud.com/uprn/fika-with-vicky-author-robin-herne-the-magic-of-wolves-bard-song This was then followed up in April with an interview about Pantheon - the Egyptians book and A Dangerous Place crime anthology. It was an enjoyable experience being able to explore lots of ideas - not just talk about the books https://soundcloud.com/uprn/fika-with-vicky-author-robin-herne-returns-pantheon-the-egyptians-a-dangerous-place Discussing a third interview over the summer, so I guess the listener feedback must be fairly good!

 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...

I recently celebrated my 50th birthday (with a trip to the Eastern Angles theatre to see their excellent spoof of Enid Blyton, "Four and a Half go Wild in Thetford Forest" - if you have yet to see it, book a ticket... lots of new acting talent performing who will doubtless become much better known in future. Drama schools obviously train their graduates well. Edward Kaye playing the clueless posh boy in snug shorts was worth the price of admission alone. Loved seeing Queen Boudicca trundling around in her battle wagon demanding an exit from the Roman Empire and promising millions of sestertii for the NHS. There was even a visit from an eerily accurate version of Ed Sheeran). The prospect of Thetford ending up half under water in two decades' time might not distress too many people, but we may all have to get used to a lot of changes as the environment alters around us. I wanted to record a story for my birthday, but other things got in the way - so here is my belated ...

With Halloween just around the corner I have recorded threee short reviews of classic Doctor Who adventures with an occult flavour to them. The Daemons is a Third Doctor adventure set in the fictional village of Devil's End where a satanic cult led by the Master tries to conjure up an ancient entity that may look like something from Hell but is actually an alien scientist that has been experimenting on humanity. The Image of the Fendahl is a Fourth Doctor story line featuring another dodgy cult, this time devoted to the worship of an alien entity, the last of its species, which consumes all life. Once again a benevolent old witch comes to the Doctor's aid in fighting both cultists and monsters alike before a sinister skull evolves into a more deadly form. Finally the Fourth Doctor, this time accompanied by Sarah Jane Smith, encounters another deranged cult, the Brethren of Demnos, in an adventure called The Masque of Mandragora. Shenanigans unfurl in 15th century It...

A few days ago I wanted to upload something about International Men's Day, but I was too pressured with work and too tired to find the energy or mental capacity to string three words together. Today is both Wolfenoot , a spontaneously created new festival dreamed up by a child and dedicated to the celebration of lupines and canines (being a lupophile, I am always willing to add a celebration to my calendar). Plus today is also the anniversary of the very first episode of Doctor Who being aired in 1963. Not having the wherewithal to churn out three separate contributions, the following meander is a mash-up of all three events. The theme set for this year's International Men's Day by whoever dreams these things up is role models and, conveniently enough, this is where the Venn diagram overlaps because, as a child, the Doctor was one of my central male role models. That my main model should be a fictional entity may say something about the quality of the flesh-and-blood me...

This is another in the series of meandering druidic philosophical reflections (for once not in the kitchen), this time contemplating the nature of language and what we understand by the truth of words. A brief bit of Wittgenstein (but not so much as to make your brain bleed). I'll probably follow up on this at some stage in the future, and see where the musings on linguistic determinism go to.

Finally trying to get my brain back into gear. Having done a few basic "what is paganism" videos, I'm having a go at at least one (maybe more in the future) recordings musing over ideas within druidry. I'm not aiming at an introductory overview, because there are loads of those already. Rather, these will be philosophical, ethical, possibly mystical meanders. If viewers would like more, please suggest topics. If you have had more than enough, well... endeavour to at least be polite about it.

The eighth part of the prattle about basic paganism reflects some thoughts and notions around festivals and rituals - why we celebrate, what we celebrate, and how we celebrate. Cake is the answer to most of it.

Seventh part (I know I keep saying each will be the last one, but keeping keep asking questions). Picking on further on paganism and healing, this time looking at animistic concepts within healing and also touching on Ancient Greek ideas around mental illness (it gets weird).

The trouble is, once I start waffling it's very difficult to shut me up. This fifth part of the Introduction to Paganism series looks at ideas around magic (at an abstract level - it's not some kind of teen Wiccan's guide on how to cast spells!) and also touching a tiny bit on pagan metaphysics. I don't know whether to go into a bit more detail on the different types of paganism - I think it would be better to see Heathens, Wiccans, Kemetics etc. making their own recordings about what they do/believe rather than me recording something. Room for a collaborative effort, maybe?

It's been a long day (no thanks to bloody Abellio trains canceling their service this evening - makes a change from just running late as per) and six hours of semi-coherent lectures. So tonight's quasi-coherent waffle around differing pagan ethical codes may be the least intelligible of the lot. Don't know if I'll stretch to a fifth, as I'm not sure what kinds of things people want to know about (or if I've run out of things worth saying).

I will be taking part in an event on November 25th to raise money for The Dogs Trust, held at Cockfield Village Hall (Church Lane, IP30 OLA in deepest Suffolk) from 7pm to approximately 9pm (storytelling standard time). I will be recounting canine myths and legends from around the world. Tickets are £4 in advance, £5 on the door (contact Kathryn Vernon 01284 827553 to book). Refreshments and a raffle will be available. Do pass the invite on to anyone from the area who might be interested.

This waffle was initially recorded for the Pagan Federation virtual moot. The theme was self-care (not my forte) and the only thing I could think of for it was this reflection on the recreational and re-creative nature of storytelling.

I had been planning on marking Halloween with a somewhat ambitious storytelling performance based around the Seven Deadly Sins, drawing on world mythology for an appropriate story for each sin. However, lack of time to properly promote such an event (in all honesty, I am dismally bad at publicising much of anything) and a general feeling of being a bit frazzled has led me to postpone this till early next year. It was going to be a fund raiser for the UK Wolf Trust, so I shall have to come up with some alternative option for that. I may upload some stories and see if I can work out a way for viewers to donate to  the charity accordingly (though it sounds all a bit technical... I miss the days when you could just pass the hat round at the end of the evening). In the meantime, here is a prattle I recorded about the Seven Sins for the PF virtual moot. Not a subject that many would regard as overly relevant to pagan viewers, but this is my spin on the matter.

I was asked to contribute to the PF disability team's virtual moot over the Lughnasadh weekend. The theme was transitions, so I recorded this waffle about declaring one's sexuality - it's a bit rambling, and I'm not sure it really says what was vaguely circling round my three remaining brain cells, but here it is anyway....

A brief taste of fame being interviewed on Pagan Business Network radio by Ravenwings about writing and books in general.

I've been booked to give a talk on Tuesday 12th July, 7.30pm at the FairTrade centre by the Bury St Edmunds branch of Amnesty. The talk will be on 'Personal Identity and Human Rights' - I will endeavour to make it more interesting than it sounds, focussing on various different ethical challenges and philosophical questions. The talk is free, so if you are around the area tomorrow night and fancy coming along - please do. It would be good to talk to a lively crowd.

I was interviewed by fellow author Lucya Szachnowski for her Bad Witch blog, which can be found here . Fame at last! Now I just need to work on the fortune.

I've been quiet for a few weeks, wrapped up in matters domestic (my partner has moved in and it has been non-stop moving of furniture, cleaning, disposing of excess possessions, cleaning, redecorating, renovating the kitchen, cleaning, oh and cleaning). What little spare brain cells I've had have been used up at work and writing the weekly East Anglian Daily Times ethics & philosophy column, knocking out pagan newsletters, and eating chocolate. Well, it is Easter. Speaking of Easter, there's a short story below that may vaguely amuse some of you. This Saturday (April 2nd) will be the Leaping Hare pagan convention in Colchester. I will be storytelling with Clan Ogma druid group (The Cauldron Cracked, if I can convince anyone to film it I'll upload a copy here) and giving a talk on Celtic Poetry & Magic to replace one of the speakers who has had to drop out. The programme can be found here . Interview with a Rabbit For the record I would like it not...

Fame and fortune (well, no fortune) being interviewed by Robert Lummis for his Universal Energies show on the Felixstowe internet TV channel. It was an interesting experience, and totally unscripted. Clearly I am in dire need of a make-over to stop looking like a hobbit, but that aside hopefully you'll find the topics discussed of interest.