Dr Robin Douglas

The strange genre of apocalyptic literature This piece is about a hair-raising form of writing which claims to give insights into the mysteries of the end times and the heavenly realms. We are talking here about apocalyptic literature. For some modern Christians, both laypeople and scholars, apocalypticism is an embarrassment. If you hear that someone…

A further post in my series republishing The Folklore of Herbs (1946), a book by Katherine Oldmeadow, who was a significant figure in the British pagan revival. CHAPTER VII. POISONOUS HERBS. Although we are told that there is healing in every herb that grows, it is dangerous to experiment with them. As medicines they should be administered…

The British state doesn’t just look after the material interests of its citizens. It looks after their spiritual destiny as well. With not one but two state churches – the Church of England and the Church of Scotland – the United Kingdom is more than usually solicitous of its citizens’ religious welfare. Today, all this…

A further post in my series republishing The Folklore of Herbs (1946), a book by Katherine Oldmeadow, who was a significant figure in the British pagan revival. CHAPTER VI. HEALING HERBS. Growing in field, hedgerow and garden there are healing herbs that for thousands of years have soothed and comforted the aches and pains of man and…

A further post in my series republishing The Folklore of Herbs (1946), a book by Katherine Oldmeadow, who was a significant figure in the British pagan revival. CHAPTER V THE STILLROOM Long ago, a country house of any importance had its own stillroom, and its ruler, under the jurisdiction of the mistress of the house, was called…

This is my translation of the “Prayer to Selene” which appears at PGM IV.2785-2890. One interesting thing about this prayer is the way in which it blurs together several goddesses of the pantheon, including Selene, Artemis, Persephone and the Fates. This is typical of the mystical strand in Greek and Graeco-Egyptian religion. The PGM sometimes…

I wasn’t quite happy with the existing translations of the Mithras Liturgy, so I made my own. The text can be found here. Here is an audio recording of it.

Fr Calvin Robinson and the strange world of ‘wandering’ clergy There are several different models of Christian priesthood – the good, the bad and the ugly. The good is based on the idea that the priest is a living presence of Jesus Christ. A servant of their community: a pastor, teacher and friend. The bad……

This is an article on the contemporary Pagan community in England and Wales, based on what the census results can tell us. How many Pagans are there? Where do they live? What do they look like when broken down by age and sex? What is a Pagan? Pagans are difficult to count, for several reasons.…

It was never about God Blasphemy is in the news again following the overturning of Hamit Coskun’s conviction for burning the Qur’an. “There is no offence of blasphemy in our law”, declared the court near the beginning of its judgment. This is true, but the history here is more complex than is generally realised. England…