Roderick Edwards has been publishing books for the past few years and has a unique understanding about the universe and how humanity interacts with it. His book, The Universe: Of Every Religion and None looks at his perspective of the Universe as a whole and how human beings interact with it. The book is an interesting read and gives one cause to think about how we are part of more than just the mundane. His books can be found on Amazon. He took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his book and life.
What inspired you to write this book?
Like us all, through both a progressive evolution of reassessing what you have been taught, whether you grew up in a religious home or not, you begin to dig deeper into the meaning of your own life and life in general. This is often coupled with some dramatic life change like a catastrophic illness or accident. In my case, I was adopted at age 4 and found my birth family at age 50. This prompted me to question everything and to write the book, The Universe: Of Every Religion and None.
Do you have a personal practice, and what does it consist of?
If we’re talking about practicing a faith, I have boiled my moral expression down to two principles: (1) Be honest. This is an objective practice. (2) Be honorable. This is a subjective practice; but, we all know honorable behavior when we see it, even from our enemies.
Does your family know of it, or are you closeted?
Yes, my family is aware of my books. Some of them are more supportive than others; but as the supreme metaphysicist1 said, “Only in his home town and in his own house is a prophet without honor.”
Where do you think Paganism is headed?
Every time I hear the word Paganism, it makes me wonder two things: (1) Why do we lump so many beliefs into one? (2) It is a negative term, just like calling non-Catholics protestants – which implies rebels or protesters against the accepted belief. I’d like to see the use of the catch-all word decreased. But as for the concept of non-traditional beliefs, I think we’re going to see a continued increase as traditional belief systems have a more difficult time explaining why their doctrines seem to be ineffective in an ever-changing world.
After one is in tune with the Universe, do you recommend they follow the 11 steps continually or follow another tenant? Have you noticed it helped people focus more?
The steps outlined in the book, as I point out in the book, aren’t really steps at all. They are basic human behaviors that will help a person not be caught in the mundane cycles of wake-work-eat-sleep-repeat. So much of humanity’s existence is spent on trying to survive rather than thrive. People who have read The Universe often tell me this is the part that impacted them the most.
How long did it take you to write your book?
Most of my now 19 books are actually short books. They are not more than 100-200 pages on purpose. This makes for a two-hour audiobook. Therefore, it doesn’t take me very long to write them – maybe a month. However, each book usually takes multiple months to years to plan.
Have you received positive or negative feedback?
Obviously, every author receives both positive and negative reviews. I take it all in stride. The kind of reviews I don’t like, whether positive or negative, are one liners like, “It was good” or “It was bad.” I want fuller feedback.
What were some sources you relied on for this book?
I’ve been fascinated with human behavior ever since I was a child. I think this comes from being adopted and always feeling like an outsider and observing why people do and say what they do. This has led me to studying all sorts of religions – which are often the source of people’s actions. I have studied the texts and practices of everything from Hinduism, to Mormonism, Islam, Christianity here in the West, and Sikhism. I like to see the convergence of ideas and the practices they spawn.
Do you feel people are more or less open today then they were in the past?
The book, The Universe, actually has an entire chapter named The Open, dedicated to asking and answering this question. However, the short answer is that while humanity is more open to assessing differing concepts, we are also more open to manipulation and false information as well.
Do you think people are ready to be in tune with the universe, or do you think it will be a continuous cycle within the public?
People have been using the phrase “in tune with the Universe” long before I was a protoplasm. All I’ve tried to accomplish in the book is to get a person thinking about the bigger picture – instead of compartmentalizing in our own ideological corners; be it some traditional belief or some pagan alternative. People will continue to categorize things more generally and most likely attribute it generically to the Universe.
Do you think metaphysical stores becoming more relevant to society is a shift in people becoming more in tune with the Universe?
Like Pagan, Metaphysical is often a blanket term used to describe what I call “Spiritualism” in the book, which ironically is also a blanket term. But Metaphysical, Spiritualism, or Paganism are merely terms used to denote a less concrete belief system. Hence, as people move away from the traditional belief systems, they will begin to search for a replacement. We all need to fill in the void – therefore, we will find something. What better place than a room full of books and material touting itself as a place to find that content.
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