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Tower Time and Self Care
The past couple of years have been pretty rough for a lot of us, as we see our country rapidly spiraling into the Republic of Gilead, thanks to the absolute shitshow that was the 2016 election cycle. We’ve watched as women’s rights and privileges are chopped away, and we have a giant toddler in the Oval Office who openly brags about grabbing us by the pussy. For many women in America, this has been extremely triggering, and we’re teetering on the raggedy edge of our own sanity. This is why now, more than ever before, self care is so damn important. What is self care? Well, it’s not just physical…
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Fire Safety: Don’t Let Those Robes Burn Up
It’s summertime, which means plenty of us are celebrating ritual outdoors. Inevitably, each year a few cautionary tales trickle out about people who had a gigantic OOPSIE involving a ritual fire, so I wanted to take a few moments to talk about something that should be basic common sense, but let’s face it, it’s not, because people are people. Ritual fire safety is super important, because few things can bring a ceremony screeching to a halt faster than someone sustaining a burn injury. In no particular order, here are a few tips to keep in mind when you’re cavorting around the ritual fire. Indoor Fires If you’re doing some sort…
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I Don’t Care Where You Get Your Tools: You Do You, Boo
Every so often I see people in the Pagan community start clutching their pearls and sobbing about how the Instagram Witches are ruining everything because they’re buying their sage in a Sephora Witch Kit or they got a cute altar statue at a Harry Potter convention or they picked up crystals that OMG ARE NOT EVEN LOCALLY SOURCED. Most of the people in the discussions I saw about this topic fell into one of two camps: either “Who cares, just let them practice,” or “THEY RUINED WITCHCRAFT FOR THE REST OF US FOREVER.” This conversation, though, isn’t really so much about Sephora Witch Kits or Whole Foods or whatever per…
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Get it Gone with Basic Banishing
I don’t care what anyone says, banishing magic sometimes is a necessity. Sure, there are plenty of people who approach it from the mindset of “Well if someone is that terrible, why don’t you do a spell to help them be kinder and more understanding?” Well, frankly, hell nawwww y’all. Some people are just awful, and the onus of responsibility to make them less awful doesn’t have to fall upon the rest of us. Some people just need to get gone. And THAT is where a good banishing spell comes in super handy. I’m going to share four of my favorite types of banishing workings, with the caveat (as always)…
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Makin’ Sigils and Stuff
Sigils are a great way to identify your intent when you’re working magic. A sigil is simply a symbol of your purpose – for instance, you could use a heart to identify love, or a dollar sign to indicate money. Those are the easy ones – and certainly, there are a floppity-million other symbols you can use. If you want to do the standard issue symbols, pick up a copy of Raymond Buckland’s Signs, Symbols, and Omens – it’s chock full of great suggestions. That being said, one way to connect your intent to your working even more effectively is to create a unique symbol of your own. This sort…
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Human Sacrifice in the Ancient Pagan World
For many people in the modern world, finding a Pagan belief system is a positive and life-affirming experience. It’s not uncommon for us to find a joy and lightness in our traditions, something that brings light into once was a dark existence. This is indeed a good thing, and what draws many new people into the Pagan community. Unfortunately, the downside of it is that there can sometimes be an unwillingness to accept that not all Pagan cultures in the past were full of light and love and rainbows. Our ancestors, hundreds of years ago, lived a completely different existence than we do today, and their relationships with their gods…
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The Magic of Singing Bowls and Healing Sounds
In many metaphysical disciplines and traditions, sound therapy is used as a healing modality. This is because certain tones, frequencies, and vibrations are associated with healing in a number of belief systems – people have been doing this for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years. Let’s take a look at a few of the most popular methods, and why they’ve become traditional. Obviously, this isn’t a comprehensive list, because there’s no way I can cover everything in a single blog post – entire books have been written on the subject – but these are some of the most popular. Shamanic Sounds In many traditions, instruments like bowls, bells, rain sticks, rattles, and…
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This is How We Get Nice Things
I first got involved in the Pagan community back around 1988 or thereabouts, but it wasn’t until some twenty years later that I heard someone use the term “love offering.” At first, no kidding, I thought it was in reference to some kind of sixties-era sex practice, but as it turns out, it’s just a phrase that means a donation. Who knew? Not me, that’s for sure. However, whether you call it a love offering or just a donation, at some point, you may find yourself at a Pagan event wondering if you should toss a few bucks in the pot. The short answer is, yes, if you want us…
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Bona Dea, Fertility Goddess of Rome
In ancient Rome, Bona Dea was a goddess of fertility. In an interesting paradox, she was also a goddess of chastity and virginity. Honored originally as an earth goddess, she was an agricultural deity, and was often invoked to protect the area from earthquakes. Unlike many Roman goddesses, Bona Dea seems to have been particularly honored by the lower social classes. Slaves and plebian women who were trying to conceive a child might make offerings to her in hopes of being granted a fertile womb. Her name comes from the Latin for “good goddess.” Although her principal temple was on the Aventine hill, secret rituals and rites were performed in private homes.…
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Don’t Be a Jerk at Sacred Sites
Morgan Daimler, who I respect and admire greatly, recently published a wonderful piece over at Patheos Pagan on Being Pagan and Visiting a Sacred Site. Morgan points out some really helpful things that many people don’t think of; in addition to showing careless disregard of the physical site, there’s often a complete misunderstanding of the traditions involved. Anyway, it’s a great article and you should go read it. Meanwhile, I thought I’d resurrect this one that I published on About.com back in 2014 or so, which is full of some helpful reminders on what NOT to do when you go to a place that’s considered sacred in the cultural context…
