Honor the Source The other day I was browsing through my dance instructor’s website and I came across a gorgeous photo of her belly dancing. She has lots of beautiful photos, but this one in particular drew my attention because of the quote on it. In large letters at the top of the photo were the words “Honor the Source.” At the bottom corner of the photo was a poem about the womb being the source of life and dancing with the moon. The poem was really beautiful too, but it was the words “Honor the Source” that really stuck with me. In our busy over commercialized society how often…

Coming Out of the Broom Closet (Very slowly and one foot at a time) If there is one thing the Pagan community has in common with the GLBT community it is being stuck in “the closet.” It still amazes me how many Pagans I meet who are struggling with coming out about their Paganism and witchcraft practices. I know their pain all too well. I am still in the broom closet with my immediate family. My family is super Conservative Christian and they have made it clear that if I even show an interest in Wicca or anything like “that” I will be disowned. It is extremely painful to hear…

Ancestor Worship As winter is upon us and Yule is just around the corner I find myself reflecting back on Samhain and our time spent honoring the dead. Ancestor worship has been going on since the beginning of time, and almost all religions embrace some form of it. As Pagans we chose to bring a little ancestor worship into our practice through sabbats, rituals, and altars. One of the most common forms of ancestor worship is an altar dedicated to non-living family members. I have found that ancestor altars are not only a great addition to a witch’s practice, but are also a great way to bring people of different…

Be a Goddess! It has become trendy to tell women to embrace their inner Goddess, but what does that really mean? I think when people tell us to embrace our inner Goddess they want us to embrace things like our divinity, power, confidence, creativity, knowledge, and sexiness etc. It is the idea that we treat and see ourselves as the beautiful divine creatresses that we are. In a world consumed my shallow definitions of physical beauty and female potential this is not always an easy idea to embrace. It came to my attention recently how much I was struggling with this concept in my own life. I went from being…

Yin Yang: Finding the Balance-Part II Last month I wrote about the Chinese concept of yin and yang. I was inspired to write that article based on my own journey from a masculine-based religious practice to a female-based spiritual practice. One way Pagans try to find balance within their spiritual practice is to work with both male and female deities. This is only way example of balance though. Being a balanced witch does not simply mean working with both male and female deities. In fact there can be Dianic witches who are much more balanced than their Pagan counterparts. We need balance in all areas of our lives whether mundane…

Yin Yang: Finding the Balance Yin Yang is the Chinese philosophical concept of balance. It is the idea that there are complementary opposites in everything and that those opposites come together to exist as a whole. It is the concept that you need the light and the dark, the feminine and the masculine etc. to function as a complete whole. Unfortunately this concept of balance has been lost in most the of the world’s major religions. For example Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are all patriarchal religions. Their religions are based solely on male dominated spirituality. This is not yin yang! I use to be a Conservative Christian and my spiritual…

Be Careful What You Don’t Wish For We have all heard the saying “Be careful what you wish for” and it is actually good advice. Sometimes we think we know what we want, but we do not understand the real ramifications of our wishes. For example, someone may wish to win the lottery, only to win the lottery and end up hating what their life becomes. Once someone is famous and well off they often wish they were normal again instead of constantly being asked for money or being blackmailed. Our wishes are not always in our own best interest. As witches we do not have this problem too often.…

Modern Sabbats Last month on June 21st we celebrated the summer solstice, the longest day of sunlight in the year. There are many traditions, symbols, and meanings associated with each sabbat within the wheel of the year, and Litha (aka Midsummer or the summer solstice) is no different. While Litha is considered a lesser sabbat it is still a time of great celebration for many witches and Pagans. Litha falls during the summer, which for many means it is the perfect time for a family sabbat celebration. Kids are out of school and many parents starting to plan out their family vacations. In the ancient times the summer season was…

To Hex or Not to Hex When I first became a witch the word Hex was not in my vocabulary.  In the beginning of my witchcraft studies I learned that “good” witches do not believe in hexing. Wiccans and most other Pagans do not use magic for any type of negative spells, especially the witches who follow the Wiccan Rede, “An ye harm none…”  This is one of the reasons that the mundane community often refers to Wiccans as “white witches” or why you hear the term “white magic.” Just like most beliefs systems and cultures though, what you first learn is only the beginning. Once you start to scratch the…

A Rabbit of Doubt We all have doubts. We all have those times in our lives when we are down, depressed, and just plain tired. It is during these dark times that we usually start to have doubts about our beliefs and our chosen paths. This is not only normal it is completely healthy. Paganism does not have the rules and regulations that the Judeo-Christian religions do. This aspect of Paganism is a double edge sword though and can work both for and against us. One of the reasons it is so easy for a Pagan (or Wiccan) to “lose” their faith is because we do not have any higher…