There's been a lot of talk lately in the blogging world about the idea of 'Pagan Community'. I've written a little about it, from my point of view of course. But more ideas are coming as the year moves forward, and it's interesting to see how things are developing, based on both the evolution of the Pagan 'world' and the everyday one.

Generally speaking, Pagans are a social bunch. We like to get together and chat, whinge a bit, put the world to rights over a drink or two, and generally feel the comfort of like-minded folk. Nothing wrong with this at all.

But there are also those of us who prefer solitary practice, working alone, perhaps communicating over the Internet with specific friends, but more comfortable walking our own path in our own way, thank you.

There is lots of talk in modern Paganism about 'holding space'. It's an idea I rather love - the focused intention and purpose of a (usually ritual) act. But how often do we consciously realize the holding of space in the everyday as well? How far do we become beholden to it as we take it for granted?

Last Summer, I was invited to speak at the LinDhu Gathering in Lincolnshire, UK, on the topic of Modern Druidry.

A recording of the talk has finally been found - so here, for your entertainment, is a spoken blog post, so you can hear my actual voice and what I have to say... enjoy :)

There's a lot of changes going on in the Pagan community in the UK lately. Boundaries are being pushed, people actively questioning where they fit into their own community and the wider world. By and large, this is A Good Thing.

However, I've been involved in a few conversations with other (relatively) 'old hands' - which I think means those who've been around the Pagan block long enough to get over the initial enthusiasm, become cynical, and then rediscover their practice as an actual way of life. And the same frustrations are being raised, time and again.

(Handfasting performed by the author, Stonehenge, May 2011. Photo copyright PeacockPix)

Do you remember when you first stepped onto the Pagan path? Perhaps more years ago than you care to recall, perhaps only recently. But no doubt books and websites were raided for information, ideas, ways to practice, paths to investigate. We truly are blessed with a wealth of information these days, after all.

My quest began before the Internet. My recollection is of picking up 'A Witch's Bible' - that lovely, slightly scary-looking black tome, scavenged easily enough from the shelves of Borders bookstore - and seeing the pictures inside. The photographs from the 1970s of Janet Farrar, beautiful and resplendent in ritual, performing the symbolic Great Rite proudly and publicly. And, of course, very very naked.

Then came that word: 'Priestess'. Not just in Wicca, but everywhere I looked, the goal of all Pagans appeared to be the Priesthood. You were still just learning until you had finally achieved the right to that title. This was just around the time when folks were starting to self-initiate, so the controversy was relatively new.

It's been a while, but I'm back again, lovely readers! I'm currently hard at work on my second book (amongst other projects, as you'll see below), but I will certainly continue to post here as and when I can. Comments and topic requests always welcome.

At this time of year, it's easy to understand why our ancestors (both actual and spiritual), those wise women and cunning men, were considered remote, unusual, untouchable, even fearsome.

As Autumn moves into Winter here in the UK, we feel our natural, animal pull to dig in, hibernate, take time within the darkness to assess the previous year and anticipate the time to come - but I doubt any busy society has ever really allowed that to happen, except when they have no choice. Stoke up the fire, head to the pub or communal house, light and laughter against the outside world.

(Photo - 'Autumn in the New Forest', from Glastonbury Goddess Temple)

A cross-post this week, if I may - between here at my first blog 'home', and the wonderfully eclectic 'Witches & Pagans' site (because if you can't 'moonlight' as a Pagan, then who can?).

I am very aware that I haven't written anything at either location for a couple of weeks. I could give excuses - ultimately, the days have flown past and life has been more important. I'm sure we all know how that goes. Instead, take a wander with me, if you will.

Regular readers know that one of my favourite places for inspiration is as I walk the dog across the hilltop where I live. This evening I wandered the streets, looking out at the fierce clouds parting after an intense rain and thunder-storm just a few hours ago, the remnants of a rainbow, and the slightly 'stunned' feeling of a normal, modern, country village after a violent and unavoidable incident of Nature. The grass is rich and green, the snails appear to have made a small bypass across the path outside one particular row of houses, and the occasional early bat is swooping overhead.

One of the key foundations of modern (and ancient) Paganism is also one of the most contentious. We find it very hard to talk about, it seems, and yet it's fairly key to many people's personal practice. When I've talked about it in the past, it almost seems like I'm breaking a taboo, with the words themselves being 'dirty' or embarrassing. And yet, learning from my passionate and heartfelt Heathen friends, that embarrassment is itself disrespectful, dishonourable and, ultimately, rather foolish.

Who are your Gods and Goddesses? What does Deity mean to you, and how does it influence and affect your Paganism? From the Platonic 'ultimate Male/Female' images (tallying with 'All Gods/Goddesses are One') to the pantheistic, international eclectic transference of pretty much any deity with any other no matter where you yourself live, talking about Deity is a tricky business. Especially because ultimately, nobody can really tell you you're wrong. Or right. Except, perhaps, those Gods themselves.

The Judgement of Paris (Classical)

Today is Lammas-tide, Lughnasadh, the festival of the grain harvest. Across the land, fields full of golden wheat, barley and numerous others have been growing tall, a feast for the eyes as they bend in the breeze, a feast for the birds, bees, mice and other creatures that run between the rows.

In centuries past, it would be entire communities who came out to help with the harvest, threshing, binding and preparing the crop to last them the winter. Fuel is needed for heat, nourishment and sustenance for livestock - without a successful harvest, a lean winter means walking the path between life and death.

These days, it's more the rumble of heavy-duty farming machinery at work that is heard as the harvest is gathered in - but it's no less valuable for that. Despite the knowledge that we can import food, fuel and whatever we need from other places, there's still the essential connection between us and the land as personified in the life of our fuel-stuffs. We celebrate it, we recognise and remember it. Children make corn-dollies, singers remember John Barleycorn.

I've returned today from performing a Handfasting with my partner - not unusual at this time of year. But this was our first on a beach.

Yes, this is Britain. Yes, we've just had semi-monsoon conditions for the last few months. Summer was rumoured to have been cancelled. So much could have gone wrong.

It was beautiful. Golden sands, blue sky, bright sun, lush green grasses and flowers on the path leading from the couple's home to the beach itself... everyone commented that you couldn't have wished for a better day.

I've just come back from a busy trip to London, on a three-day signing and workshopping visit. Hosted by the gorgeous Treadwells bookshop, I met many new people, caught up with old friends and talked a lot about my own particular style of Druidry. Lots of anecdotes and a few practical tools. And I sold out of the copies of my book that I had brought (hurrah!).

Years ago, I studied at a University just outside London, on a site that sadly no longer exists as teaching space. I found a job and a partner and stayed for about 8 years, commuting daily into the Big City, to offices in St Pauls, Oxford Circus and other such bustling locations.

This week, I was acting as Public Druid at two (fortunately) well-attended events. The first was a talk I was giving on Paganism at a local University, as part of their Equality & Diversity initiative; the second, the launch of my first book.

Two very different situations, but in both, I was clearly The Pagan in The Room. Even though I was dressed relatively normally at both (jeans and neutral blouse), people were aware of me and my role, and viewed me accordingly.

Now, I'm not just trying to give myself airs, as my ancestors might have said. I try my damnedest not to be one of those egotistical 'Big Nose Pagans' that everyone knows about; I'm just me, doing my thing, and trying to represent Druidry and Paganism as well as I can, as a real person, not a stereotype.

Officiating at a Handfasting (photograph © J. Baxter)

In your dreams, dawn on the Summer Solstice is a beautiful thing. And it can be, certainly. Watching the colours change in the sky, clouds parting to reveal the sun as the Earth moves beneath your feet... marvellous.

However. This being one of the wettest Junes on record in the UK, I woke up on Solstice morning to discover that I had somehow been transported to Silent Hill. My partner and I ventured out - and 200 metres down the road, we could no longer see the house.

It's almost Solstice time - Summer here in the U.K. Which means, inevitably, that there's simultaneous water-limiting hosepipe bans in one part of the country, and flooding in another.

You may wonder why the British talk so much about the weather? Because it's a force unto itself. But we're a Nature-based spirituality on this page, so we can get away with it, right?

Anyway. With the Summer Solstice comes the inevitably publicity around Stonehenge, and the many thousands of people who go there to watch the sunrise. I've never been to that huge free-for-all, but have often been asked about it (this was last year). It's an event that people associate with Druids, after all.

The life of a Druid is a busy one. Travelling to sit with those in need, teaching folk eager to learn, sharing tales and history, preparing to take up arms against ignorant challenge, leading public ritual on significant days…

And that's just last week!

A year ago, after finding myself without a 'proper' job, I made the decision to take my personal practice of Druidry one step further – and become Professional. I'm now registered as self-employed, and work as active Priest, Multifaith Consultant, teacher and general Pagan About Town.

Friends have been telling me to do this for some time, but it's obviously a big step. A Professional Druid? Do we even need those anymore? I've seen the looks, the raised eyebrows. I just smile.