Product Description

Paganism means living in harmony with nature and respecting all that nature has to offer. It is a sustainable way of life that has existed in the British Isles for thousands of years and that has survived secretly among scattered households throughout the UK. Although it is not a religious path (true pagans do not worship deities), paganism will appeal to anyone who cares about the environment, who is interested in maintaining an organic lifestyle or who believes in respecting their roots whilst catering for the future. Paganism may be thousands of years old, but it is particularly suited to meeting our twenty-first century concerns. In "The Modern Pagan", Brian Day explains how to live in a way that honours the land and its inhabitants. There is advice on celebrating seasonal festivals, on cultivating a true pagan garden, on creating delicious food and drink from hedgerow fare, on herbal medicine and on working for the benefit of all. The core principles of Modern Paganism will make sense to anyone who is tired of the hustle and bustle of our polluted lifestyles, and who is looking for a way to connect with their surroundings.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #231355 in Books
• Published on: 2006-01-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Spirit and Destiny
"an essential tome"

From the Publisher
A guide to harmonious living through modern pagan principles

About the Author
Brian Day was brought up near Nottingham and acquired, from his family, an early interest in folk traditions, herbalism, music and linguistics, which led to a lifetime of study of the folk culture of the British Isles. With degrees in chemistry, biochemistry and computing, Brian has enjoyed a career as an international educational consultant, university lecturer and computer analyst. He has written and lectured extensively on folk culture and is a keen singer of folk, operatic and choral music, having discovered and transcribed several 'lost' English traditional carols. He is the author of The Celtic Calendar.

Customer Reviews

A good book with an identity crisis
If you are looking for a book about the religious aspects of Paganism, then this may be a disappointment.
However, as a guide to how to live a life more attuned to the world around you, then this is a great find! In this respect it is ideal for those following a pagan spiritual path, but is open to any spirituality.
There is a lot of reference to the paganism of the past and the author extracts the secular aspects of said traditions and incorporates them into a practical guide to a modern nature-based lifestyle. The only missing part is the religion.
My only criticism is that the book may come end up falling between two stools. It's not really "pagan" enough for those who follow pagan spirituality - e.g. although the festivals are included these are treated as markers of the passage of the year. Yet the very word "pagan" in the title may put off non-pagans!

plan for an integrated lifestyle
This is a terrific book - it articulately describes the components of a modern, green, nature-based lifestyle. Rather than pushing any particular spiritual path, however, Day examines the historical roots of the custom, superstition and religion that is our cultural heritage and then explains why it is that so many feel spiritually lost. He then goes on to describe in some detail aspects of organic and green living, natural health care and diet, community and familial relationships, education and environmental responsibility and shows how they relate within a rich and holistic way of living. He offers this grounded lifestyle, with its natural rhythms, as an alternative to modern materialistic culture. What is remarkable in a book of this kind is the balance and articulation of ideas, and their detail. (I have read literally hundreds books on the topics covered but still learned new things!) And although strongly argued, Day's views are always intelligent, compassionate and factually accurate. This is the one book I'd recommend to anyone wishing to understand 'the point' of modern paganism.

Strange (and not in a good way).
Day has decided that paganism(s) are "not spiritual" and nothing to do with religion. I guess that's a lot of people out there who are, to his mind, doing it all wrong and they need to follow the advice in his book.

The advice itselt is strange. Embrace nature but your garden, if you have one, should be turned over to wildlife and not primarily used for growing food organically and sustainably (you must, however, buy organic local food at the shops - because we can all afford to do that!). He gives advice on breastfeeding which you MUST do WHEN you have a child. I always love advice from men on birth and breastfeeding from men, especially the sort an ultra-conservative monotheist would come out with.

The mention of Celts in every other sentence in the first part of the book is irritating. There was never one unified Celtic culture or belief system and they were not peaceable, tree-huggers either before or after the coming of Christianity. A lot of the UK's language and culture is Germanic. If this book was in Welsh or Gaelic he'd have more of a point with his endless praise of things Celtic but it isn't, so he doesn't. In fact, he's remarkably quiet when festivals and folk practices have Saxon or Scandinavian origins - they are included but their pedigree is ignored.

If you want a book about living a more natural lifestyle there are dozens of better books on the market. There are also plenty of self help books on the market for those who are stressed and want to break away from the horrors of modern living (at least Tom Hodgkinson's "How to Be Free" has a sense of humour about the whole thing and doesn't nanny the reader).