In this episode, I speak with pagan writer and activist John Halstead on the themes presented in his excellent and perceptive two-part essay published by Gods&Radicals, entitled ‘“What If It’s Already Too Late?”: Being an Activist in the Anthropocene’ and ‘“Die Early and Often”: Being Attis in the Anthropocene.'
In this discussion, John expounds on his experience of coming to terms with the stark truth of our present predicament regarding global climate change, as was presented in his first essay when he asks the question “What if it’s already too late?” We discuss the journey individuals must make when this question appears in their lives, and the various ways we can interpret and process the likely answer to this question. In John’s second essay ‘“Die Early and Often”: Being Attis in the Anthropocene,’ John presents a pagan perspective to the subject of the human-caused ecological crisis unfolding presently, and guides the reader into a mythological understanding of humanity’s role within the grand cycle of life and death, using the archetypes presented in the Myth of the Dying God as a framework to process civilizational collapse and the destructive role humanity has played within the living systems of the planet.
John Halstead is a native of the southern Laurentian bioregion and lives in Northwest Indiana, near Chicago. He is one of the founders of 350 Indiana-Calumet, which works to organize resistance to the fossil fuel industry in the Region. John was the principal facilitator of “A Pagan Community Statement on the Environment”. He strives to live up to the challenge posed by the statement through his writing and activism. John has written for numerous online platforms, including Patheos, Huffington Post, PrayWithYourFeet.org, and at Gods & Radicals. He is Editor-at-Large of HumanisticPaganism.com. John also edited the anthology, Godless Paganism: Voices of Non-Theistic Pagans. He is also a Shaper of the Earthseed community which can be found at GodisChange.org.☽
☽Source: godsandradicals.org
Episode Notes:
- Read John’s first essay ‘“What If It’s Already Too Late?”: Being an Activist in the Anthropocene’: http://bit.ly/2NPPs8y
- Read John’s second essay ‘“Die Early and Often”: Being Attis in the Anthropocene’: John’s second essay ‘“Die Early and Often”: Being Attis in the Anthropocene’: http://bit.ly/2R7SMdf
- John is the Editor-at-Large of Humanistic Paganism: https://humanisticpaganism.com
- Follow John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnhhalstead
- John has several blogs, including https://allergicpagan.com and https://praywithyourfeet.org
- This episode features the songs “Burn Out Blues” and “Time Off” by Washed Out from the album Mister Mellow.
- This episode features audio from episode three of season three of “Newsroom” Source: https://youtu.be/XM0uZ9mfOUI
