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Set Up a Birthday Altar
For some people birthdays are just another day, but for others, it’s often seen as a special time. After all, it’s a milestone — it marks the anniversary of your arrival on earth! Whether you’re having a small group of friends over for cake, or going out to a big party at your favorite club, sometimes it’s important to take a few moments just for ourselves to mark our birthdays. You can do this by setting up a birthday altar to celebrate the journey your life has led you on thus far. It’s a good idea to start gathering items for your altar in advance, because you never know how long it…
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Infographic: Magical Links
Print this puppy out and stick it in your Book of Shadows for reference.
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Bona Dea 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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Perfect Love, Perfect Trust
Many people toss around the phrase “perfect love and perfect trust” in the Neopagan community. They sometimes use it as a defense when they are corrected by someone else, or bring it up as an argument when they don’t like what people are saying, as in, “I am TOO right, you’re all being mean, what about perfect love and perfect trust?” I was once challenged by a community member when I pointed out that a popular book was full of shoddy scholarship, blanket statements, and just plain awful ideas. Her response was “But Author X is a respected member of the community! Where’s your perfect love and perfect trust?” Well, as…
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So You’re Invited to a Pagan Ritual…
Perhaps you’re not Pagan, but you’ve been invited by your friend to join in her coven’s next circle. Or maybe your buddy from work has invited you to his upcoming celebration at the park. You want to participate, but have no idea how Pagans behave, or what the proper protocol is for a non-Pagan attending a ceremony. Or perhaps you are a Pagan, but you’ve been invited to attend a ritual with a group that’s brand new to you. So now what do you do? Believe it or not, most rules of common sense and courtesy apply here, just as they would apply to you attending any other religious service. For…
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Eggshell Powder for Protection
I wanted to share with you one of my favorite magical ingredients, which I’ve always referred to as shell powder, or at least that’s what I called it when I started making it nigh on thirty years ago, and the habit done stuck. However, since that time I’ve learned that people who practice hoodoo, Santeria, conjure, and a number of other ATR magical systems use something similar, but it’s called cascarilla powder. Since I’m not a practitioner of those traditions and don’t feel entitled to use the word, for me, it’s just plain ol’ shell powder. That said, shell powder is stupid easy to get your hands on. YOU CAN…
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May 6: Eyvind Kelde Day
May 6 is celebrated by many Norse Pagans today as the day to honor Eyvind Kelda (or Kelde or Kelve). According to Norwegian history, Eyvind Kelda refused to give up his Pagan beliefs and renounce his gods when King Olaf Trygvason was busily converting his country to Christianity. Around the year 995 c.e., King Olaf ordered Kelda to be tortured and eventually drowned, as a lesson to any Norwegian heathens who might be reluctant to embrace the king’s new faith. There isn’t a lot of information about Eyvind Kelda himself, but Angus Somerville and Russell Andrew McDonald say in The Viking Age: A Reader (University of Toronto Press) that Eyvind…
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The Mystery and Magic of Sheela-na-Gig
Although the Sheela-na-Gig is technically the name applied to the carvings of women with exaggerated genitalia that have been found in Ireland and England, there’s a theory that the carvings are representative of a lost pre-Christian goddess. Typically, the sheela-na-gig adorns buildings in areas of Ireland that were part of the Anglo-Norman conquests in the 12th century. She is shown as a homely woman with a giant vulva, spread wide open. Sheela na Gig image by Amanda Slater / Flickr / Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0) Folkloric evidence indicates a long-standing theory that the figures were part of a fertility rite, similar to “birthing stones,” which were used to bring…
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Make a Measure Bag
A measure bag is used in some Pagan traditions, including but not limited to a few forms of Wicca, as a way of forming a magical link between an individual and the group to which they belong. The measure bag is often incorporated into a practitioner’s initiation ritual. If you practice as a solitary, you can still use one as part of a self-dedication ritual to the gods of your tradition. The term “measure bag” comes from the phrase “taking one’s measure.” This phrase means to size someone up, or to see what sort of person they are. Again, this isn’t used in every single Pagan belief system, but if it works for…
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Going to a Sacred Site? Behave Yourself!
Last year Morgan Daimler, who I respect and admire greatly, 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, especially since if we’re ever out of lockdown again, a lot of us will be adventuring outside. 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…
