Merry Meet and Welcome to the February Issue of PaganPages EMagazine. It has been awful cold and snowy out.  We hope you are all warm and safe, snuggled by your computer, covered in a blanket, and reading PaganPages. In This Issue: An Interview with Gary Kowalski and Review of “Earth Day: An Alphabet Book” Spells Spells and more Spells…. Pagan Parenting advice on Being Pagan and Pregnant And we’d like to know would you… Have a wonderful day of love. ANNOUNCEMENT: We are currently looking for writers to fill the following positions: herbal column incense & oils column If you are interested, email us at [email protected]

Springtime Calls Ghost Hunters Back Outdoors Ridgelawn Cemetery Well, we had a big winter thaw here in Michigan.  Two feet of snow melted and the temp even hit the 50s.  The blanket of winter draws back to reveal the grass, freshly green from its long slumber.  The birds return and the scents of new life are in the air. It was short-lived, though.  As I finish this article, a winter storm- complete with snow, freezing rain, and sleet descends upon the area.  But that brief taste of springtime brings with it thoughts of sunny days and fun in the great outdoors.   If you’re a ghost hunter, thoughts this time of…

Pregnant and Pagan As I write today I am 31 weeks pregnant with my second child.  My body is preparing for the sacred event of bringing forth a baby, birthing both a new soul and a new version of the mother in myself.  Making the “mundane” moments of life sacred is part of my spiritual path.  Because pagans are nature/earth based in our beliefs it seems that we herald being in our bodies and treating them as temples. I often wonder how we do at this though.  Do we really treat our bodies with the care and reverence that we have for our gods or our sacred places?  And when…

A Solitary Imbolc The sound of the bell fills the air, soft and low As an ancient reminder As Above, So Below The practitioner stands in the velvet cover of night So there’s no interruption to this time honored rite She stands still in the darkness, firmly wrapped in her cloak And centers her energy to welcome Imbolc The natural items on her altar, become magic in her hands As has been the Witch’s way for many years, in many lands The golden glow of candle light, the sweet smell of burning herbs In perfect love, and perfect trust she say’s her heart felt words She gives her thanks to…

Limerick The limerick is a five line poem that has a very distinctive rhythm. It follows a rhyme scheme: AABBA, with the first, second, and fifth rhyming lines being longer than the third and fourth. Limericks are often humorous (and the best ones are dirty). This one, from Wikipedia, is an excellent example: The limerick packs laughs anatomical In space that is quite economical, But the good ones I’ve seen So seldom are clean, And the clean ones so seldom are comical Using limericks in spellcasting can be very fun. In my personal experience, the topic of which I was casting was never serious, an in I need this to…

FREYA Love is in the air.  Yes, a very cliche saying, but one that Freya would agree with always.  She is the Norse goddess of love, and enjoys getting arrangements of flowers and dancing to music.  Along with the prettiness she was also a warrior goddess of the Valkyries.  On her missions as the leader,  she would ride on her chariot of two blue cats across the sky, creating what is now called “the northern lights.”  When she got to the war battle field, she would claim the souls of the bravest warriors who died, and bring them back with her to rest in perfect peace.  A very kind women,…

Have you ever had a sibling that you just couldn’t stand? A brother or a sister that for some reason no matter how hard you tried, they just rubbed you the wrong way? Or if you don’t have siblings somebody in your life that for one reason or other just drove you bonkers? If so then you’ll be happy to know that even Gods and Goddesses had this problem. Norse trickster god Loki couldn’t stand his brother (even if they were only brothers by adoption) Thor. In some versions of Greek and Roman mythology Hades or as he’s known to the Romans, Pluto would do his best every so often…

Imbolc “I remember I saw you, I saw you dancing through the woods. I watched you dance away the snow, from the shadows where I stood. I smelled your scent within the breeze, it dropped me to my knees. As I watched you, so longingly…. And the Wheel turns, can you feel the fire inside, begin to burn? Can you hear the wind whisper our names? Destiny that cannot be changed As it is willed, so is it done Our dance has just begun When the Moon is kissed by the Sun” Imbolc, I imagine somewhere deep within a sacred grove of ancient trees. The youthful God stands quiet and still. The Mother…

Bringing Imbolc to the Table In February, we celebrate Midwinter. It is the time that we see the first hints of spring as Old Man Winter says farewell. The snow is melting, and birds are returning. Some like to focus on fire and candles during this time, as it is a symbol of the sun. Spicy hot foods are entirely appropriate as are foods that are cooked by fire–baked, roasted, or even flambed. In the same nature, sun-dried fruits and vegetables honor the sun. Others find themselves honing in on the physical signs of spring through seeds, sprouts, early spring vegetables, and dairy products. It is also common to use…

Marking Time Last month, I discussed setting aside time and space – any time and space you can use regularly – for a meditation practice. Once you’ve started integrating meditation, or even just a few minutes of quiet time, into your habits, you can start shaping that time and space to further your meditation practice. I can’t emphasize enough that the most important thing about meditation is doing it. If you try one of these suggestions, and it pushes you further away from making your practice a regular part of your life, scratch that approach and go back to what you were doing before, or try something else. For beginners…