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The Abundance of Lammas
As you think of the month of August, what images come to mind? Depending on the part of the world that you live in the answers to that question may be quite different, but for many the first thought of this month is HEAT! Folks in my area often refer to these days as the dog days of summer - a phrase that reminds me of a quote from author Sam Keen who said, “Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability”. As one who has never been very tolerant of hot weather, I have to confess that ...
Lughnasadh: The Deeper Meaning
Over the years, I have celebrated Lughnasadh in several ways. However, this year, while sitting in the outdoors, ever present sauna of an Oklahoma heat wave, I was gifted with the most profound meaning of the Sabbat I’ve ever experienced. If you’ve never been in an Ozark heat wave, here’s a little background on what it feels like…Hot! Sticky! Damp! And ever present! It feels as if summer will never end and you know that you are just beginning to walk into the hot months. The only hope you feel i ...
When Did it Become Unfashionable To Be Monogamous?
I recently returned from a major Midwest Pagan gathering where, much to my surprise, in just four short days I was propositioned, invited to an orgy, and given the opportunity to play Naked Twister. I say “much to my surprise” because as someone who is bespectacled, approaching 50, greying, and who could stand to lose about one-third of my body weight, I honestly don’t consider myself to be that much of a big deal, sexually speaking. Maybe I’m wrong.I also say “much to my surprise” becau ...
What You Do On Your Knees
Controversy seems to happen a lot when you get on your knees, but not more so than when what we’re doing on our knees is praying. The basic definition of prayer is a solemn request or thanksgiving to God or an object of worship. Prayer is what happens when people talk to themselves and hope somebody is listening. But, then again, it’s not. Prayer is also a powerful exchange of energy. There are many aspects of prayer to consider, but let’s first look at the two sides of what prayer is: ...
Practicing What We Preach
Many pagans have been ridiculing each other’s paths. Though they claim to be open and accepting of other views, they are human, and therefore opinionated. When hearing of a path that disagrees almost entirely with their own, many pagans will feel a need to explain how the other person is wrong. It is seen every day within the community in the ridicule of the openly intolerant practices of certain branches of Christianity. Although the majority of the pagan community has a higher average of open- ...
Paganism as a Path of Freedom
Freedom of belief and freedom to choose the specifics of one’s path are some of the most highly valued ideas in Pagan religion and practice. It is something that I have come to almost take for granted. Recently I was exposed in a visceral way to the alternate viewpoints that other religions proscribe to. This exposure triggered some memories from my teenage years, when my quest for spiritual fulfillment became an important facet of those formative years.I was a very religious and devout ...
Quem é Deméter? - Um pouco sobre o culto a Deusa da Terra
Quando Deméter entrou na minha vida, em 2007, eu não sabia direito quem Ela era e não entendi, a princípio, porque uma deusas dessas ia estar comigo. Assim como a maioria das pessoas, eu atribuía à Deusa apenas atributos maternais que não tinham lugar na minha vida aos 21 anos. Mas aos poucos eu fui conhecendo a divindade, seus diversos atributos, suas formas de culto, suas oferendas... e assim eu entendi que, realmente, temos muito em comum.Apesar de sempre lembrarmos do mito do rapto d ...
Riches Upon Riches
I have to really be concerned at the debate that is now waging in many religions over “wealth”. Must we walk in sackcloth, be dirt poor and have no possessions to show just how truly pious we are? It’s a central focus around so many religions: To be or not to be wealthy?Whatever! Why this obsession with money? What about the gist of your religion? What about the “concept”? Let’s examine the “concept”. If you want to be a good person: Love your fellow man. Don’t break the ...
Shangri-La - EcoVillage
Nearly seventy-five years ago, James Hilton imagined a magical city based upon Tibet’s version of the Garden of Eden, Shambhala (Berzin) . His book, The Lost Horizon, inspired Theodore Roosevelt to name the presidential retreat in its honor. Today, there are many, who like Hilton, envision a population of enlightened people who create a sustainable, balanced community in which the environment thrives ecologically, spiritually and culturally. If it can be imagined, it can be made manifest. ...
'Fishes and Loaves' vs. the 'Karma of Lack'
Once upon a time, at a sacred space long ago, I was taught the power of the spoken word and instant manifestation by witnessing over and over again the appearance of that which was both wished for/needed and dreaded in the span of one magickal weekend. It struck me how, as a community, we are made stronger and more susceptible to the weaknesses of our neighbors all at the same time and how one who is not aware of the concept of 'power of spoken word ' can be a detriment in a circle of sa ...
Love: Cast Thyself
This is not an article about the proper mixture of ingredients in casting a pathetic spell that will attract a desired person. Rather, this goes beyond the principles that hold the chemistry of love spells. Many of the world’s religions preach but one lesson --- Love.Love is also the same essence that lies within the pyramid of Magick. As we can read from the Christian Bible, Jesus taught the public the most powerful Magick in the guise of a commandment. Love is present and is preached b ...
Cooking Dinner Does Not Make You a Kitchen Witch
I spent my twenties fighting against who I really was in oh so many ways. I didn't want to be a kitchen Witch. I thought that was the least impressive, most Holly Hobby branch of magic there is. You have to picture me from ten years ago: I'm constantly listening to NIN! I wear boots with sparkly laces to my corporate gig! I'm thrashing around on top of tables pumped full of piss and goldschlagger! I'm trying to break glass ceilings! I'm smoking cigars with the boys! I'm demanding my plac ...
I'm Right, You're Wrong: The Fight to be Different
I was thinking about writing all the examples and instances up front, and then lay out the bottom-line, but then I decided, what the heck: Ladies and Gentlemen, there is not a damn thing you can do to be anything like the person next to you. No matter what you do, no matter how you live, no matter what you think, you will always, from before birth to after death, be different. This is not an opinion, this is not an ‘in-a-perfect-world’ statement, and this is fact, genetically to psycholo ...
Draíochta i dTraidisiúin Gaelach: Magic (k) in Irish Tradition
Ireland is often described as a "magical place" in literature, and modern tourist brochures. Those words are indeed hard to separate from the landscape, mythology, literature, and poems that have been expressed by so many writers produced by this unique island. Magic is a term open to personal interpretation to many people, with a wide range of definitions under its label. More specifically, I'm here to describe its role in Irish Paganism.Magic (k) can be viewed in correlation with relig ...
The Myth of Monotheism
For thousands of years people lived in a world they experienced as populated by a multitude of spiritual forces, nor did they think of them as being subordinate to some central divine king. Today many scholars see this awareness of spiritual multiplicity as a first step towards more sophisticated spiritual understandings, a spiritual journey culminating in monotheism or, alternatively, a focus on NonDual reality. To them, we contemporary Pagans seem a kind of romantic throwback or perhaps even a ...

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