Pagan Theology:  Democracy What is the relationship between democracy and Pagan religious practice?  I’m not talking about political democracy.  In this column I’m talking about democracy in our religious practices and traditions.  We know that Pagans gave rise to Western democracy through the Greeks, and many Pagan cultures had democratic political practices [1]. But how far do we go in practicing democracy, and all that it implies, within our groups and covens?   What obligation do we have to operate democratically?  How does democratic practice affect the way we run our groups? This is an interesting question, one that goes deeply into the concept of teacher/taught, elder/junior, and mystery/initiation.  For us…

New Year’s Greetings, I started this blast as seen below a couple weeks ago complete with 2011 calendar of events and then decided to add a reflection. This is New Year’s I know and it’s the 2nd New Year I recognize as Oct 31 is the witches New Year and I clean house then as well but I reflect in a Spiritual way rather then the mundane. Now is also a time I clean the house from top to bottom and I look at my resolutions from last year to see what I’ve accomplished and I look towards the future to see where I wish to be in another year.…

Herbs: marjoram, holy thistle, nuts and cones Colors: brilliant white, blue-violet, black Flowers: carnation, crocus, snow drop Scents: musk, mimosa Stones: garnet, onyx, jet, chrysoprase Trees: birch Animals: fox, coyote Birds: pheasant, blue jay Spirits:  gnomes & brownies Deities: Freya (Norse); Innana, Sin and Antu (Sumeria); Saravati (Hindu); Hera and Irene (Greece); Ch’ang-O (China); Felicitas; Janus, Pax and Venus (Rome) Power Areas: Sluggish, below the surface, beginning and conceiving, protection, reversing spells, Conserve energy by working on your own personal problems that involve no one else. Time to work on new goals.

CAILLEACH Winter has come.  Bringing along its snowflakes, whistling winds, and darker nights. Causing all living things to feel the need to hibernate against this bitter cold, only to return again in the spring refreshed and new.  Cailleach governs all of this. She is a Celtic winter goddess, as well as creation and transformation deity.  She is in the rocky mountain tops and hills. Her blanket of snow rests quietly over all that lives beneath its preserving grasp. She is a death goddess, who lets die out what is no longer needed (in nature and within ourselves) but she also plants the seeds for new life to grow. A very,…

General Curtis E. LeMay The Man Who Most Likely Knew it “All” General Curtis Emerson LeMay (November 15, 1906 – October 1, 1990) was a four-star general in the United Staes Air Force  and the longest  tenured  commanding officer of any independent command in the United States military. He is credited with designing and implementing an effective, but also controversial, systematic strategic bombing campaign in the Pacific Theatre of Operations of The Second World War. During the war, he was known for planning and executing a massive bombing campaign against cities in Japan. After the war, he headed the Berlin Airlift, then reorganized the  Strategic Air Command  (SAC) into an…

Music Review Engineers in Your Ear (E.Y.E) Awhile back we had the honor of interviewing and reviewing Engineers in Your Ear and just in time for the New Year they have just come out with a new album full of great new tracks. This new album is an eclectic collection of some of the best new age musical verse I have ever had the pleasure of listening to; and for a limited time everyone that goes to the E.Y.E band site will be able to hear and download the album for free…

Review of The Weiser Field Guide to Witches:  From Hexes to Hermoine Granger, From Salem to the Land of Oz By Judika Illes I love any book that makes me want to learn more. The Weiser Field Guide to Witches is a surprisingly compact publication, given the breadth of material included by author Judika Illes. While it is by far not an all-encompassing work, The Weiser Field Guide to Witches touches on an impressive array of topics related to modern-day witchcraft, including brief definitions of many of the paths that fall under the blanket term of witchcraft; biographical sketches of many of the men and women that have made contributions…

Aragonite Translucent purple-pink-brown hexagonal, or white needle crystals.  Deep Peaceful meditation; uplifts emotions.  Centering patience under stress.  Helps us navigate business, managerial, personal challenges with a clear head and steady hand.  Giving and receiving easily.  Balances Yin and Yang.  Affects Eyes, Brain, central nervous system, and heart.  It opens the brow chakra.  For day to day living with an open heart and mind.  It is an empowerment mineral in the past given to young adults in recognition of the responsibility of adult tasks now being required of them.  It possesses the ability to strengthen the internal chakra chord so that it is able to bear more light and there for…

January 2011: The Physics of Gratitude Another New Yearis upon us! It is my favorite time of year to take stock of my blessings. I am a firm believer in counting my blessings a little more often. In fact, daily. As a reformed “Glass-Half-Empty“, it is vital for me to constantly remind myself of all I have been blessed with, lest I should lapse back into my old ways of complacency, all too easily. Over the years of my reformation, an interesting thing became apparent to me. Sure, I was more positive of attitude, and found less time to ruminate on all the things I didn’t have, but perhaps most…