I had the honor to have Martin Bunzl on the podcast this past week. He taught Philosophy for 40 years at Rutgers University. We discussed his new book, “Thinking While Walking: Reflections on the Pacific Crest Trail” along with several other topics extending from the subject of litter to the social forces that influence our relationship with nature. We touched on subjects such as removing CO2 from the environment, genetically engineered foods, energy consumption and climate change that is the result of these contributing factors.

About Martin Bunzl:

I taught Philosophy at Rutgers for 40 years before retiring. Philosophy is a hard task master – you can spend a lifetime thinking about a problem and hope to make incremental progress in clarifying what is going on, even if you can’t solve it. Frustrating as that may seem, to me, it has been a privilege to be paid to spend my days just thinking. My recent work lies at the intersection of philosophy and the environment, with a special interest in climate change. I’m interested in both questions of risk and questions of responsibility. Risk, when it comes to uncertainty about how what we do may produce catastrophic outcomes. Responsibility, when it comes to understanding our duty to do no harm without it being clear to whom, or to what, we have that duty. I blog about these, and other issues of pressing concern, at www.mbunzl.com which also provides information about other areas of my research. My just published book, Thinking while Walking: Reflections on the Pacific Crest Trail, is an invitation for the reader to walk sections of the trail from the Mexican border to the Canadian border with me and think about everything from the mundane (what makes litter litter) to the profound (how to make sense of our duty to nature). Throughout the book, I come back to one theme in one way or another - the “constructed” idea of ‘nature’ as a romantic ideal that blinds us to our role in shaping the world since we established settled agriculture thousands of years ago. I’m especially interested in the way that creates a false binary in responding to the climate crisis between the ‘natural’ and the ‘artificial’. I’m also interested in the way our romantic conception of nature constitutes a rich society’s privilege that ignores what we need to do to insure the wellbeing of all people in the world.

Martin Bunzl also has a blog at www.mbunzl.com and you can find his other works available on Amazon by going to https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001HCU8KC which I think you will find to be very interesting reads.

Is the rapture about to happen? Media and news outlet use Fear, uncertainty, and doubt in their reporting? Censorship in a Pagan Facebook community? Say it isn’t so! I talk about these things in today’s episode. Hope everyone is doing well, the fish pond is going to well so far. Feel free to leave a comment below (visit the website at www.spiritualgardening.net) or reach out on the Spiritual Gardening Facebook Page. You can also reach out to me via email at spiritualgardening@fastmail.comand Instagram.

Check out these links:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/if-you-grew-up-51276813

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578692937

Music Credits:

Whiskey on the Mississippi by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4624-whiskey-on-the-mississippi

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

I’m relatively new to podcasting and one of the things I am especially new to is having guests. My first guest was The Existential Ginger, which went very well. If anything, my lack of preparation was apparent. I never gave much thought about screening guests beforehand, which would fall under common sense. So, in this episode I talk about the interview that went badly, all the things I have been busy with, I touch on other things such as existential crisis’s, Bob Ross, and the right to repair movement. This is mostly just an update and will be back to the drawing board for future episodes. I do have some stuff coming up later this month, so stay tuned for that.

I had someone reach out who at first I thought they wanted to interview me, but wanted to come on my podcast for an interview. In short, the interview was a hot mess and is not something I will publish. Of course, you’re probably wondering how bad it could possibly be and perhaps that peaks your interest in regard to listening to the interview. Here’s what happened…

This person inquired about an interview on my personal social media under a fake name. I initially thought it was some sort of scam and was inclined to ignore it but I messaged this person back and began asking him questions and I got back that he wanted to discuss spirituality, history of religion and so forth. My mistake is going back to my bad habit of skimming over messages that are very long and the red flag was buried in his response in regards the “the truth” that he’s found and the lies and deception. Do you see where this is going? This person is a flat-earther. Now, the fact that he’s a flat-earther isn’t as much of a problem for me as that the interview turned into 2 hours and 30 minutes of incomplete thoughts, lack of understanding and rambling. He also cut me off or talked over me almost every time I spoke as if he had answers.

Here’s the thing, I could spend plenty of time explaining why flat earth is a bunch of nonsense, but that would be futile. He only provided other YouTube videos for me to watch as supposedly proof. That’s just not good enough for quality content. There was also a lot of wind noise as he was out hiking, not a good setup for a good recording. My problem is not so much with what a flat earther believes but the accompanying lack of critical thinking that seems to go along with it. I don’t claim to be an expert in any particular field, but I am not going to allow my podcast to become an echo chamber for things I do not value.

You can read more by going to my website at www.spiritualgardening.net

Links:

Flat Earthers Explain Philosophy - https://flatearth.ws/contextualism#more-1222

Existential Crisis - https://www.healthline.com/health/existential-crisis

Bob Ross - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxcnsr1R5Ge_fbTu5ajt8DQ

Louis Rossmann - https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup

Visit us on:

Facebook - www.facebook.com/spiritualgardeningpodcast

Instagram - spiritual.gardening

Website: www.spiritualgardening.net

Email: spiritualgardening@fastmail.com

Just a quick check-in to wish everyone a blessed Beltane. Hope everyone is doing well and staying safe during these crazy times. There is more stuff that I am working on that is on the way, so be on the lookout for that.

In this episode I have on my first guest, Charisse from her own podcast The Existential Ginger, which you should most definitely check out. We talked about quite a few topics in the hour-long episode but did focus a lot about her leaving the Mormon church. She has an episode titled “My Existential Crisis” on her podcast where she discusses in depth her story about her leaving the Mormonism and Christianity altogether. My focus was to discuss what she currently beliefs and what stayed the same.

This being the first interview I’ve done of any kind in about 10 years, I don’t think I did too bad and as with all things that are new, I did learn a few things and will definitely apply them to future episodes. Afterall you owe them a good interview, having someone take the time out of their day to be a guest on your podcast, video or whatever it is a big deal. A huge thanks to Charisse for being on the podcast, help me thank her by checking out her podcast or perhaps buying some of the merch!

Also, Is your red the same as my red?

Links:

https://therealwhmg.com/podcasts/existential-ginger

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2wyznwrbU5hlgUPOaJX9Tr?si=14Q47950SZau-MYJqIC32Q

Music Credits:

Too Cool by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4534-too-cool

Inspired by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspired

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Today, March 17th, marks the Christian holiday of St. Patrick’s Day which marks his death back in the 5th century. St. Patrick’s Day honors the patron saint of Ireland whose real name is Maewyn Succat. He is named St. Patrick because that’s the name of the place where he was buried. Christians in Ireland have celebrated this as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. However, the history of St. Patrick isn’t so great for many Pagans, many who protest or don’t acknowledge the holiday at all.

You may have heard of the sermon given by St. Patrick that was so powerful that is drove all the “snakes” out of Ireland. The snakes are a metaphor referring to the removal of the Pagans and Druidic priests from Ireland. The myth, however, that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland isn’t even true. The conversion to Christianity took place over a long period of time. This was done gradually and aggressively, stripping away the native Irish’s traditions, religion and the worship of their Gods and Goddesses by means of social pressure which likely went well beyond that. The effects of the evangelism did leave its marks on Catholicism, many of the Irish Gods and Goddesses are Saints. Saint Brigid, Saint Oliver Plunkett, Saint Cataldus and others (note, I didn’t research all these Saint as to which were the old Irish Gods and Goddesses).

While St. Patrick’s Day has become a more secular celebration such as wearing green, drinking beer and various festivals. Pagans do protest St. Patrick by wearing a serpent pin or shirt on or around the holiday and the Pagan holiday Ostara. Some choose a bolder means of protesting by creating a Spring Snake Wreath.

This research on St. Patrick’s Day lead me to realize that religious colonialism still occurs today, often in the form of missionaries. I am not anti-Christian, but I am anti-evangelism. I don’t think it is right to shove religion down someone’s throat in the name of charity. Helping people is great by itself, it shouldn’t come with the Bible or any other religious strings attached. Seems that some people who participate in missions look to be humbled, the mentality is selfish because it is not about you. It should be about the effects on the people you’re supposed to be helping. There are plenty of people who need help and you don’t have to travel to another continent to do so. You should help people for the sake of helping, not because it makes you feel good, or that it humbles you.

Sources:

https://metro.co.uk/2017/03/17/how-a-pagan-celebrates-st-patricks-day-6513439

https://www.history.com/topics/st-patricks-day/history-of-st-patricks-day

https://www.irishpost.com/life-style/twelve-irish-saints-who-arent-st-patrick-94008

https://www.facebook.com/pagansoftheancientmountains/posts/1776196509151443

https://bethanygu.edu/blog/mission-trips/mission-trips-bad/

https://www.lsureveille.com/opinion/opinion-mission-trips-essentially-modern-day-colonialism/article_f948dfc6-e307-11e9-9082-5324e6d75d1c.html

Music:

Inspired by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3918-inspired

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In this episode I discuss whether God, or any deity, expects to be worshiped and if so, just how far do we take it. I had come across a YouTube video that appeared to ask this question, but it became more about mocking Christians than actually answering the question itself. I also took a look at an article on Learning Religions that made some distinctions about worshiping different deities and how worshiping the wrong way might be a “buzzkill” for the deity that you worship.

I also bring up a really good piece of advice from Kurt Vonnegut, an American Author, about not being good at things. I think many people have an assumption that they must be good at something in order to do it. For instance, I’m doing this podcast, with no prior experience, I’m talking about religion and spirituality with no prior experience either yet here I am. Just the same as my career, I didn’t learn all the skills and knowledge overnight and same goes with hobbies and different interests.

This being a shorter episode I also realize that St. Patrick’s Day is coming up and I should do a show about that since my knowledge pretty much ends with wearing green. Finally, I got a new microphone which has made the audio quality much better. This was after breaking the one I had which really wasn’t suited for podcasts as it picked up a lot of noise in the room, so editing and post-production is much easier now.

Remember to visit the website at www.spiritualgardening.net and like us on Facebook.

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a-F8QXMBZk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut

https://medium.com/writers-blokke/a-life-lesson-from-kurt-vonnegut-of-all-people-4cbd3284c740

https://www.learnreligions.com/appropriate-worship-honoring-the-gods-2561946

Music Credits:

Adding The Sun by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5708-adding-the-sun

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

In this episode I talk about the wheel of the year and the upcoming Sabbat (festival) Ostara. Ostara occurs on March 21 on the vernal equinox and is celebrated by many Pagans. I also talk about some of my experiences with anxiety and depressions and how it stunts you spiritual growth and some of the things I have done to help overcome anxiety and depression.

Explicit content

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_the_Year#Spring_Equinox_(Ostara)

https://www.goddessandgreenman.co.uk/ostara/

https://occult-world.com/astarte/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%92ostre

Music Credits:

Glitter Blast by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4707-glitter-blast

Peace of Mind by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4199-peace-of-mind

Light Awash by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3978-light-awash

License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license