Round the Herne

 What started off as some research for a lecture (around male friendship) took me off down various mythological tangents, including into the daimona/goddess/spirit Philotes from Ancient Greece who formed and sustained friendships between people (and sometimes also sexual relationships, but that is a side issue). The work-related research has been looking at the connection between social isolation and what are euphemistically called negative life outcomes - ill health, mental problems, increased chances of suicide etc.). While friendship may not get anywhere near the modern cultural coverage of romance (thinking about all those soppy songs, films, Mills & Boon novels etc.), in ancient times there were plenty of tales about friends going off on adventures together.

 A reflection for the Suffolk Jungian Circle on the topic of Jung & Modernity (being discussed via Teams on the evening of March 26th - if you want the link to join in, please leave a message). Some of this also touches on postmodernity and the ideas of Elisabeth Eisenstein on types of culture and communication technology, though maybe each of those could be a separate discussion in their own right.

 As part of my job I organise various public conferences and seminars. This year we are trialing a few online mini courses in social sciences, starting with three evenings introducing some sociological theories and ideas. These are free to participate in, but you will need to let me know that you want to take part so the Teams link can be sent out. The first of these seminars takes place tonight at 7.30pm and is followed by another session next Tuesday evening and the one after that. The weekly topics are below. If you want the link, drop me an email at robin.herne@easterneducationgroup.ac.uk (the under-16s will need parental permission to tune in). What’s the Big (sociological) Idea – these virtual sessions explore major sociological theories: Week 1: Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and the Functionalists; Week 2: Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, and Feminism; Week 3: Michel Foucault and Postmodernism.

 A meander through the topic of history, story, and pseudohistory - partly inspired by reading Gore Vidal's book "Julian" about the life of the Emperor Julian. I highly recommend the book and really liked the epistolary style, with the alternation between the Emperor's own autobiography and two querulous old philosophers who knew Julian and spend the book bickering with each other about how accurate the autobiography actually is. I did think about making an audio recording of Vidal's book, but at 479 pages I doubt anyone would want to listen to something that went on that long.

 A reflection on a variety of issues from a polytheist perspective - linking the notion of worship (from the Anglo-Saxon weorth-scip) to Max Weber's ideas on religious value systems, medical ethics and the boundaries of Beauchamp and Childress's philosophising around moral values in medicine.

 The other week at work I ran a seminar on Jean Baudrillard's theories around the nature of hyper-reality in a world as immersed in mass media as ours is. Following a few questions and emails afterwards I started musing about how Baudrillard's ideas might apply within modern paganism. I've yet to more towards anything like a cohesive idea on this, but the podcast is part of the reflective process of toying with concepts. Hopefully viewers might provide some feedback and ideas of their own, which will help with reaching something a little more concrete. The French sociologist's ideas are merging in this meander with those of the Australian scholar of religion, Adam Possamai. He draws on a fair amount on Baudrillard and writes about hyper-real religions (ones heavily influenced or based entirely upon works of openly acknowledged fiction). Possamai regards paganism as decidedly hyper-real. On consideration I find myself rather agreeing with him (though I have hopes that th...

 This was a seminar given on the afternoon of 16th January 2021 via Facebook Live as an activity for the Ipswich Pagan Council, looking at ways in which Jungian theory can be applied to the understanding and practice of modern paganism. I asked the people tuning in to the live broadcast to donate £5 to The Dogs Trust. If you find this recording useful or interesting, perhaps you would also like to donate? If you are unfamiliar with Facebook Live, it allows viewers to type questions, comments etc. None of the comments can be seen in this recording, but knowing that I could see the messages at the time may help to contextualise who it is that I am responding to. For once it is not the voices in my head. Should you have any questions or feedback, please post your comments here on the blog.  

This talk was given at the IPC October Moot, looking at some vaguely connected ideas around the magical nature of language. Due to the need to edit out some "colourful comments" emanating from the audience I've used a free editing service which includes the watermark - I'm far too much of a cheapskate to pay for the upgrade and get the watermark removed.

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.

The final installment about epistemology within polytheism, including a short muse on how Foucault's ideas on the Regimes of Truth could potentially apply. If viewers have any questions to pose, I could address them in future philosophical asides.

Finally a visit to the barber today, so I look less like someone who sleeps in a ditch and shouts at pigeons. To mark the day, here is a meander through some philosophical concepts around epistemology from a polytheist stance - how do polytheists know what they claim to know? How can the truthfulness of claims be assessed (and what do we even mean by truth anyway)? There will be a follow-up to this at some stage, as there are other ides that I want to explore - and if anyone has any questions or reflections of their own, it will help to shape where the next video ramble goes.