Welcome to the 14th episode of Reaching for the Moon, the podcast brought to you by the Witches and Pagans of Everglades Moon Local Council. As we honor the sacrifice of the Warrior God, Lugh, we’ve got a special treat for you!
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Our Lughnassadh podcast features the workshop, “The Warrior’s Mindset” presented by Edward G. Rickey during Equinox in the Oaks. We’ve been saving this workshop especially for this episode since this is the time of year that we honor the Warrior Gods.
We’ve broken up the workshop with some great music, including:
- “Gwydion’s Song to Lieu” by Emerald Rose, from their album “Archives of Ages Past”
- “We Won’t Sleep Tonight” by Crow Women, whose music can be found at their website
You can learn more about Edward Rickey at his blog, Jet Black Wings. He also generously provided us with a resource list if you are interested in learning more about the Warrior Way:
Living the Martial Way – Forrest E. Morgan
The single best book I own on this subject. Heavily leaning towards practicing Asian martial artists, the information can and should be applied more broadly.
The Book of Five Rings – Miyamoto Musashi
The preeminent swordfighter of Japanese history, at age sixty he sat down to write his thoughts after winning 35 duels and establishing his own school of fencing. As with any Japanese/Chinese literature, read several translations, since a single character can have several meanings. Some writers imply all or some alternate meanings, and good translators will work to include the nuances. I have the Cleary translation from Shambala Press.
Jarhead – Anthony Swofford
This is the book I read the passage from.
On Killing – Dave Grossman
Source of the Sheepdog/Wolf analogy.
33 Strategies of War – Robert Greene
Amazing sourcebook from all across classical literature. He uses all kinds of sources to illustrate the systems that win wars. Two of his other books, 48 Laws of Power and The Art of Seduction are ones I highly recommend.
Leaders Eat Last – Simon Sinek
While specifically focusing on team or corporate leadership, Sinek’s work is good for understanding the relationships in organizations and the source of the hormones of emotion that I mentioned.
King Warrior Magician Lover – Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette
A so-so book about warriorship, but a good discussion on male archetypes and how they work or fail.
The Tao of Jeet Kun Do – Bruce Lee
Any practicing martial artist needs to read this book.
Guerilla Warfare – Che Guevarra
Focuses on the relationship between a warfighter and the people he fights for. If you can set aside the politics, an excellent book. If this is your speed, follow it up with Mao Tse Tung’s book On Guerrilla Warfare.
Secrets of the Samurai – Oscar Ratti and Adelle Westbrook
Kooky title but a very good overview of Budo, or the Way of the Warrior in Japan.
Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere – Oscar Ratti and Adelle Westbrook
Probably the best book ever written on the subject.
The Last Article (short story) – Harry Turtledove
A short story in sort of an alternate history. The Nazis defeat the British and invade India, and then have to deal with Ghandi. There’s a powerful lesson here, and an easy read.
The Sword and the Mind – tr. and ed. Hirosaki Sato
This book is a translation of two of the main manuals for swordfighting in the Yagyu-ryu school, known as family-books.
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In addition I’d like to suggest three other sources. They all have Youtube channels and you might learn something from them.
First in Travis Haley, owner of Haley Strategic. He coined the phrase “higher standard of care” that I used.
Haley Strategic
Second is Chris Costa, owner of Costa Ludis training.
Costa Ludis
Third is James Yeager, owner of Tactical Response. He is the source of the comment “I don’t kill people, I protect people. In protecting people, sometimes bad guys die”.
James Yeager
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If you have suggestions or comments, we’d love to hear them! If you’d like to contribute something to our podcast, whether it’s your music, an article, or something else, please leave us a comment below and we’ll get back to you to help make that happen! Please be sure to leave us feedback on iTunes. It’s a great way to help other pagans find us, and makes us feel awesome when we see those 5-Stars!
You may have noticed that we’ve got some really nice music between our segments now. This great music was supplied by JewelBeat. Download your free music and free sound effects at www.jewelbeat.com.
Blessed be! We are EMLC, and We are CoG!
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