25 Comments
Oct 31Liked by Rhyd Wildermuth

one of the things that's dying for me is a set of difficult family dynamics that have been dogging me since my dad's death. they seem to be reaching a crescendo right now, which is painful, but does seem to offer some hope that things will at least be different from now on—and hopefully, eventually, better. while i obviously can't go into the details much, it does feel good to publicly acknowledge that process.

i think i'm also composting the way my writing has been focused for the past year, and that is something i'm more excited about. already starting to see some green shoots of growth in that new soil.

thanks for offering a space for this!

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Writing is always a kind of composting, I've found. No idea or even sentence ever goes to waste, even if they never actually make it to print.

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Oct 31Liked by Rhyd Wildermuth

There are a number of things which I would like to be rid of but they seem to hang around. But something to discuss with Bridgid this evening perhaps. Did you see my comment on the other post about the relationship between social service and paganism Rhyd ? I would be interested on your thoughts if you are so minded.

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Oh hey, sorry I'd missed it!

There are a few aspects to your question. First of all, a lot of the homelessness we see now is really a continuation of the same process that kicked people off the land during the enclosures, so for me there's an obvious connection.

As the same time, the definition of what service is depends really on the gods you truck with. For me personally, especially because of Brigid, a lot of it is related to hearth-work (thus working with the homeless for so long). But I could imagine someone who doesn't relate with her and instead only with Diana or Freya being uninterested in human social service and instead in wildlife protection, etc.

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Thanks for the reply Rhyd. I suppose the question I'm getting at is how would you respond to a Christian apologetic saying something like ''European civilisation has been shaped in many ways by its Christian heritage. In the Middle Ages the Church started schools, universities and hospitals, and set up systems for caring for the sick and the poor. In the twentieth century, the hospice movement was started by Christians. Even the principles of democracy and human rights are rooted in the Christian doctrine that all people are equal before God. Yet these achievements are now widely seen as a triumph of secularism. What is going on?'' I don't necessarily endorse this view, but does paganism have a similar - or better - ethical basis ?

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Oct 31Liked by Rhyd Wildermuth

Thanks for this - side point; our train system is a kind of purgatory. I worked in London and lived at least an hour away (no matter where I worked or where I lived somehow) by train. I don't live there now and moved to a place without a train station deliberately. So I wouldn't be tempted to ever go through it again. Like much else here, we operate a 'pay more, get less' policy.

What's dying for me?

I've given up several commentators, writers and podcasters I've been following for at least 15 years. Maybe I've changed but they seem increasingly shrill and condemnatory of any opposing views. I'm an Earth sign so changes can be difficult. Mind you, I've previously given up TV, mainstream media, taking notice of adverts and paying my BBC license fee - all in the service of interacting with actual reality - so I've got form!

I've also decided to end my inertia and begin to study Astrology again.

By the way, I bought HTBM this year, and very much enjoyed it. I am left wing still but in the Tony Benn way of my formative years.

Thanks for your writing.

Samhain blessings.

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I've found the rail system to be pretty good in the UK. It's too expensive but much better than it was before the part re-nationalisation in 2002.

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Great. Do you depend on it?

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Yes.

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I'm quite spoiled living on the continent. All the transit is free in Luxembourg and so reliable that when a bus is 2 minutes late I start to compose protest letters in my head and threaten to learn how to drive.

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I've had to move away from many voices I had kept listening to, and I'm glad I've done that.

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Nov 1Liked by Rhyd Wildermuth

What’s dying for me: abandonment issues

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Always best to let those die, I find. But they don't really go so easily. Good courage to you.

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It’s been a long, long journey, and there’s still a ways to go, but I can see progress and it’s such a relief.

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Nov 1Liked by Rhyd Wildermuth

Something dying for me is the need to cling to hope - or at least 'hope' - and to stick instead with faith. I'm pretty accepting of the fact that some form of messy societal collapse is currently underway, occasioned by capitalism/inequality and consequent ecological collapse. I don't really try to entertain hope that we can prevent or reverse this: I think life is going to be shorter, nastier and more difficult for most people. For me, to have 'hope' is to hope FOR something, and I can't really envisage what that something looks like yet. But I do have a faith that in the midst of all the mess, and from it, something better might arise: we might relearn how to be the people we were always meant to be: connected, compassionate, curious. So for me my faith keeps me wanting to do the next right thing, and the next, and so on - to try and be the neighbour I'd want when the going gets really tough. And to accept that that 'something good' might play put on a timescale longer than my own life, or even that of my kids: but in the meantime there are still pots of loveliness: companionship, coffee, a beautifully written word, the sun on leaves, my cat's affection. Faith is alive for me, hope - because I'm not sure what I hope for -- not so much.

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I adore this deeply. It's a really beautiful way of distinguishing the two, and I find your description really closely describes how I felt about this without being able to name it so well. Thanks so much!

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1. Attachment to the fictitious binary of American electoral politics. All energy local and life sustaining. Death doula work for all the other things that will be dying in my lifetime.

2. Any impulse toward enemies. Including my increasingly violent ex. 🙏❤️

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Sorting out the *why* of those enemy impulses has been really useful for me this year. One thing that helped a lot was realizing that the feeling for a need of vengeance or confrontation kept me linked to those people. Though letting go of that "need" wasn't easy, it's definitely helped me fully break off my attachments to them.

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That is a very useful well struck invitation. I realized the other day how exhausting my internal righteousness narrative (played on repeat) was getting even for me! You are right… in the end it’s just another way of staying attached. Thank you for bringing my attention to this. May it assist in the process of finally letting go… and letting be. 🙏

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Nov 1Liked by Rhyd Wildermuth

Sad to have been away from the UK the entire time you were here, therefore unable to meet up. But it's great news about your book reissue. Everyone I gave it to loved it and had lots to discuss about it. What's dying for me? Fearfulness.

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I'm sure I'll be in the UK more often over the next year, so hopefully we can meet up. :)

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I have one word: Yay.

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As I approach sixty I realise that what is dying for me is the self imposed limits I had taken on as I got older. A ‘no point in starting new things at my age’ attitude. As I work with these Saturnine energies (and my second Saturn return finally passed earlier this year) a realisation that there’s plenty of time for new adventures and even if not so what!

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Would never known you were approaching sixty except that you'd told me. You're younger than you think, my friend. :)

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Hmmm, what's dying for me is a relationship I had with one (rather unsupportive) publisher in my native language, and also with a writer whom I illustrated three books but then they decided to work with someone else, without saying a word to me. Also dying: my hatred for washing dishes, as we've gotten a dishwasher! *happy dance*

Also, Rhyd I know you are a Marxist and Marx was a pretty cool guy, but as a person from a post-communist country, I gotta tell you...the ideology is inherently not too bad in many of its aspects, but when APPLIED to a real society of greedy, power-hungry, often selfish humans it can get pretty awful. The Nordic-style social democracy (I am lucky to live in one) is as good as it gets, but I'd never recommend anyone to experience an ACTUAL communism in action (please, read about normalization in Czechoslovakia, the Iron Curtain and other delightful things).

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