“Not your ordinary pagan conference”

As some may know, last year a new organisation came into being. APT was set up to spread information about polytheism and to help polytheists to network with each other.

This May, APT is having its first conference. This will be held on May 13th at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston.

At the heart of the conference will be panels where authors, academics, and pagan practitioners present short ... talks giving different perspectives on a central topic, followed by audience discussion. The aim is to get people from a variety of backgrounds talking to each other and sharing their knowledge, wisdom, and insights. APT aims to make this a conference where everyone who attends will be inspired with new ideas to explore.

Panel topics include:

• Polytheism and Animism - with keynote speakers for the conference
  
• On the fringes of Europe: reconstructed polytheism in Russia and Malta
  
• Sacred Landscapes: perceptions and taboos
  
• Less Well-known Polytheist Traditions (e.g. polytheism in Russia)
  
• Trickster deities and ‘The Loki discussion’ (roundtable debate)

Participants include Graham Harvey, Kathryn Rountree, Andy Letcher, Anne Ferlat, Jenny Blain and many others; there will also be practical workshops and group discussions running throughout the day and performances by Gordon the Toad and others in the evening. Cost is £10 (£2 discount if booked before April 8th).

Where I’ve been

Been meaning to do this one for a while. Interesting to see where I have been, not counting places I have only passed through on train or bus, obviously — I didn’t beam myself to Cornwall after all. (Which calls to mind what Peter Cook said when he was asked how he liked to travel: Well I like to be beamed, but unfortunately it isn’t always available.) Possibly a couple missing — I may have been to Rutland and to Moray, for example, but I honestly can’t remember.

I've visited the counties in yellow. Which counties have you visited? made by marnanel map reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of the Ordnance Survey. © Crown copyright 2001.