About us
The Forest Way: Re-visioning Western Outlooks on Nature, Society, and Self
Europeans have lost touch with their roots — with their sense of community and heritage, with their natural environments and mystery traditions.
In their place, we’ve seen the rise of cosmopolitan mindsets, of technocratic regimes, of dictated ‘sameness’ and universalist discourse.
This group is meant for those who wish to reconnect with their roots, rediscovering allegiances to ‘people’ and ‘place,’ and cultivating a love for the European longue durée.
Whether through cultural outings, nature-based activities, or text-centred discussions, we seek to step off the train of homogenising futures to walk a forest path — the ‘way of the woods’ that leads back to our roots and on to an alternate future, there to encounter a new sense of vitality and purpose.
Please join us!
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Terms of Service
By accessing and using Meetup, entering your RSVP, and continuing to attend our events, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions.
Disclaimer
In no instance will organisers be held liable to any party for any direct, indirect, consequential, or other damages arising from his or her attendance at one of our events. Attendance is at your own risk. The organiser, co-organiser, host, and Meetup are not responsible for loss, damage, theft, injury to oneself or equipment, allergic reactions, traffic or parking violations, or accidents with your vehicle.
RSVP Etiquette
Some circumstances and venue settings necessitate that we limit the number of attendees. In that case, we’ll create a waiting list for anyone who would like to participate should a space become free.
If you’re unable to attend an event that you’ve registered for, please be courteous in updating your RSVP the night before so as to enable organisers to prepare accordingly, potentially allowing others the opportunity to sign up in your place.
If you mark yourself as attending but fail to turn up, we will record this as a ‘no-show.’ Organisers reserve the right to discontinue membership of those who have accrued two or more ‘no-shows’ for this meetup’s events, or who have remained inactive in the group for more than a year.
Thank you!
Upcoming events
3
Enlightened Tribalism
Walter Scott monument, Princes steeet, Edinburgh, GBPlease note that the venue is in the vicinity of the Scott Monument and will be announced to RSVPing members closer to the event date. We will NOT be meeting at the monument, itself.
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For this event, we’ll listen to a recent interview with the political philosopher and bioethicist, Jonathan Anomaly, about his 2024 article, “Enlightened Tribalism,” which begins this way:
“In Western societies, tribalism is often regarded as undesirable. Liberal theorists want to minimize tribal impulses, highlighting dangers like war, loss of individual autonomy, and the seemingly irrational religious and ethnic traditions that cement tribal affiliations. We argue, to the contrary, that efforts to eradicate tribalism are futile, and that tribalism itself is crucial for the flourishing of human life. We argue for an ‘enlightened tribalism.’”
Find the interview here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qg_UqF1mtYrudhdYueOMNuteOXwym8mX/view?usp=sharing
Weather permitting, we’ll aim to meet outside (with an indoor location lined up just in case).
Please join us!
C&S
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Here’s a link to the article for reference: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RpL-rxjD9bWlXpMSn6pctGuPqm_Mo6u0/view?usp=sharing
Please note that this will be a joint event with the New Culture Forum Edinburgh Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/new-culture-forum-edinburgh-meetup/), with an invitation extended to members of the NCF Locals platform as well.
7 attendees
Michael York on Pagan Theology
Walter Scott monument, Princes steeet, Edinburgh, GBPlease note that the venue is in the vicinity of the Scott Monument and will be announced to RSVPing members closer to the event date. We will NOT be meeting at the monument, itself.
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What does ‘pagan’ mean to you? How might we define ‘European paganism,’ broadly conceived?
In this event, we’ll be looking at selections from Michael York’s 2003 book, Pagan Theology, to start a conversation about what may constitute the basics of a ‘pagan’ worldview, both in ancient European contexts and in the present day.
Here’s a quote from York’s text:
“Paganism suggests an interactive relationship among the different poles of reality: in one sense, the world, humanity, and the supernatural.
“Paganism takes neither the submissive attitude toward the godhead characterized by Islam nor the appropriative one toward nature as condoned by Genesis. Nor is its godhead so removed as is that of the Deist, neo-orthodox Christian, or Vedantist that it is unaffected by human behavior.
“The dynamic of paganism is such that instead, the world or nature is altered by humanity and the gods as much as they are by both it and one another. In paganism, the essential realms of reality, however conceived, are essentially codependent.”
Find the reading here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14SBTf7nCNfURPrRsvChPsruPFs_xuUEh/view?usp=sharing
We’ll try to meet outside for this event, weather permitting.
Please join us!
C&S
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Please note that this will be a joint event with our European Paganisms Meetup group: https://www.meetup.com/europeanpaganisms/
2 attendees
Reflections on The Righteous Mind
Walter Scott monument, Princes steeet, Edinburgh, GBPlease note that the venue is in the vicinity of the Scott Monument and will be announced to RSVPing members closer to the event date. We will NOT be meeting at the monument, itself.
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In this event, we’ll be considering the ‘moral foundations theory’ of the social scientist, Jonathan Haidt, particularly as fleshed out in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SOQduoLgRw&t=557s
The presentation draws upon the findings from his 2012 book on the same theme, which we can use as a supplement for our discussion:
The Righteous Mind (Chapter 7): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1B95v7JRgfdD3ZjgDWM4HNMwfSgIxOAkk/view?usp=sharing
Weather permitting, we’ll aim to meet outside (with an indoor location lined up just in case).
Please join us!
C&S
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Please note that this will be a joint event with the New Culture Forum Edinburgh Meetup group (https://www.meetup.com/new-culture-forum-edinburgh-meetup/), with an invitation extended to members of the NCF Locals platform as well.
5 attendees
Past events
20
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