The Passing of a Mighty Heathen

As students and lecturers of the study of Religion, Philosophy and Ethics we often find ourselves engaging with the subject of death and what may or may not come afterwards. Death is a theme that many find difficult to talk about or sometimes even accept the inevitability of, so when someone closely related to the RPE course passes the subject becomes immediate, elemental and very real. Stuart Brogan was a regular contributor to our course and was a genius at explaining the lived experience of Heathenism and wider Paganism in the UK in the here and now. He was a mighty character in all respects, intellectually, personality wise and physically. He joined us on campus for one very memorable session and we took students to visit him at Wyrdraven (Welcome to Wyrdraven | The Viking store in Glastonbury) his Pagan, Viking, Heathen store just off Glastonbury high street. I personally made sure that I popped my head round the door of the shop every time I visited Glasto and he always remembered me, asked about the students and made me feel very welcome. Sadly Stuart passed away a couple of weeks ago leaving a huge gap on the Glasto scene, I know this because I was there last Sunday and for me the place felt subdued and a little empty. We are taking a group of students, many of whom recall Stuarts session a couple of years ago, to the town next week and I know that we we all say a quite thankyou too him and wish him a speedy and safe voyage to the next destination on his journey.