changingpathsresources

[changingpathsresources]

The sunk cost fallacy

One of the reasons that people tend to stay in toxic relationships and religions, persist with failing projects, and even watch terrible movies all the way to the end, is the sunk cost fallacy. Continue reading The sunk cost fallacy

[changingpathsresources]

Deconstruction story: Richard Swan

A friend shared a Facebook post by Richard Swan (in the fun group Dull Men’s Club) today, talking about how vanishingly few people are tone deaf, and most people can sing. Richard Swan I take the view that singing is an outpouring of the soul and one of the cruellest things a person can do is to tell someone else that they can’t sing, so this is a topic that is very close to my heart. My…

[changingpathsresources]

Repost: Approaching groups

When approaching groups to work with, check that they are an ethical group. This is a list created by Phil Hine. Continue reading Repost: Approaching groups

[changingpathsresources]

Dealing with door knockers

My best ever riposte to some doorstep evangelists was when they asked me “who do you believe is the ruler of this Earth?” And I replied “I don’t believe the Earth can be ruled, I believe that she’s a goddess in her own right”. The doorstep evangelists practically ran away down the front path. The reason I had this riposte ready was because a colleague had asked me the same question two weeks…

[changingpathsresources]

Just visiting

I’ve often referenced these posts by Annika Mongan, which present a fascinating account of what’s happening energetically at evangelical churches, and at Pagan gatherings. I also got independent confirmation of this by speaking to another Wiccan who sees energy as colours (I experience it as changes in temperature) who confirmed that she saw a lot of orange energy around an evangelical…

[changingpathsresources]

A healing journey

A new book from Moss Matthey, An apostate’s guide to witchcraft: finding freedom through magic, explores his personal journey from fundamentalist Christianity to witchcraft. Moss writes: This book is about my journey from a fundamentalist Christian cult to the joyous and freeing world of Witchcraft. Blending my personal experience with gentle exercises, this book is for anyone who is curious…

[changingpathsresources]

A disturbing history

This is a very disturbing read about institutional abuse by crypto Nazis and very conservative Catholics in Austria in the late 1940s to the late 1980s. Very similar to the treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools, and of Irish single mothers in Magdalen Laundries.  What does this kind of history tell us? That “respectable” people can get away with all sorts of unpleasant…

[changingpathsresources]

Other blogging challenge posts

Two other people participated in the Changing Paths blogging challenge 2024: Jarred the Wyrd-worker and The River Crow. Kudos to Jarred for keeping it up for the whole month and continuing to write blogposts in response to the prompts at the end of the chapters in Changing Paths. And The River Crow wrote some beautiful poetry in response to the prompts. Continue reading Other blogging…

[changingpathsresources]

The future

[changingpathsresources]

Inspirations

Changing Paths challenge day 30: inspirations Many writers worry about being inspired by other writers, in case inspiration comes off as plagiarism. But true inspiration is not plagiarism, it just references its source and then does something completely different. Continue reading Inspirations

[changingpathsresources]

People I admire

Changing Paths challenge day 28. People I admire. (This is by no means a complete list of people I admire. Some of the people I admire are not famous but have spent a lifetime doing a thing in an admirable way.) Continue reading People I admire

[changingpathsresources]

Movies and TV

Changing Paths challenge day 27: movies and TV. Movies and TV that changed my mind / blew my mind. Continue reading Movies and TV

[changingpathsresources]

Deconversion story

Continue reading Deconversion story

[changingpathsresources]

Colours

Changing Paths Challenge day 26: colours For today’s challenge, I’ve pulled up my article about the colours of Paganism from my blog, Dowsing for Divinity. Green is the colour everyone immediately associates with Paganism. It is the colour of nature, of trees, and all growing things. It is associated with the Green Man, a symbol of our connection to Nature, and a manifestation of the…

[changingpathsresources]

Books

Changing Paths challenge day 25: books 📚 I love reading books. I love writing books. I love talking about books. I love having a to-be-read pile. I love rereading books that I have enjoyed. A book is a little world and its characters are mirrors you can hold up, and try identifying with them to make sense of who you are. A book is a way to visit someone else’s head. Or the front parlour of…

[changingpathsresources]

Music

Changing Paths challenge day 24: Music I love music, especially any piece where the artist really put their soul into it. This is often the case with the music of oppressed, displaced, and marginalized peoples. I have very diverse tastes in music but some of my favourite genres are Cajun, klezmer, zydeco, blues, baroque, medieval and renaissance music, and protest songs. I have recently been…

[changingpathsresources]

Festivals

Changing Paths challenge day 23: Festivals I love Pagan festivals and I am very glad that there’s one every six weeks or so, as it takes the pressure off of Yule. If you only celebrate Yule and Easter (and Thanksgiving in North America), there’s so much pressure to get it right and have a good time. But with Pagan festivals, if Yule doesn’t go so well or isn’t your thing, there’s another…