The Reign of the Cailleach The rich Autumn colors begin to fade and leaves fall gently to the ground. As the days shorten and the sun sits low in the sky, something stirs within the bones of the earth, and she awakens. She is Cailleach, the veiled one. Said to be daughter of the Winter sun, mother to all gods and goddesses and grandmother to all peoples and races of the earth. Wise and cunning, bright eyes and sharp of wit, she sets forth with her magical staff to freeze vegetation and call down the snow.  It is on November 1, in her honor, that we celebrate the festival of…

Numerology Numerology is the study of numbers, and the manner in which they reflect certain character tendencies, as an integral part of the cosmic plan. Each letter has a numeric value that provides a related cosmic vibration. The sum of the numbers in your birth date and the sum of value derived from the letters in the name provide an interrelation of vibrations. These numbers show a great deal about character, purpose in life, what motivates, and where talents may lie. Experts in numerology use the numbers to determine the best time for major moves and activities in life. Numerology is used to decide when to invest, when to marry,…

Guilt For Samhain this year our group will be putting on a ritual themed around the idea of atonement.  Not the “feel bad, please forgive my rotten mess” kind of atonement, but the idea of reviewing the past year, our actions, and their effects in order to see what we can do to affect our fates in the coming year.  In structuring the ritual I began to realize just how closely aligned atonement, review, contemplation, actions, effects, and other items normally associated with all these bad ideas of “sin” and “guilt” are closely aligned with the Pagan concept of fate. For Christians all these ideas are very closely linked through…

Other Names: celtic ~ Summer’s End, pronounced “sow” (rhymes with now) “en” (Ireland), sow-een (Wales) – “mh” in the middle is a “w” sound – Greater Sabbat(High Holiday) – Fire Festival Oct 31-Nov 1(North Hemisphere) – Apr 30-May 1 – The Great Sabbat, Samhiunn, Samana, Samhuin, Sam-fuin, Samonios, Halloween, Hallomas, All Hallows Eve, All Saints/All Souls Day(Catholic), Day of the Dead (Mexican), Witches New Year, Trinoux Samonia, Celtic/ Druid New Year, Shadowfest (Strega), Martinmas or Old Hallowmas (Scotttish/Celtic) Lá Samhna (Modern Irish), Festival of the Dead, Feile Moingfinne (Snow Goddess), Hallowtide (Scottish Gaelis Dictionary), Feast of All Souls, Nos Galen-gae-of Night of the Winter Calends (Welsh), La Houney or Hollantide…

As we enter into the month of “Thank Giving” I wanted to discuss two of the cards in the Tarot Deck that come about to remind us to give thanks for what we have.  A lot of the time as we coast through life we forget to keep mindful of how thankful we are. That being said I’m going to discuss The Sun.  The Sun cards in general means that things are going fairly well for you and even in it’s reversed state the Sun means good things however in the reverse state the card specifically reminds you that you have to be thankful of what you have no matter…

One Tree: A Pagan based martial art now open to the public We have all watched our share of action movies with advanced martial arts choreography in them.  But what do you really know about martial arts? According to Simmons Market Research and a recent study done in the United States it is estimated that 18.1 million Americans participated in karate or some other form of martial art at least once in the past year: including 9.4 million adults, 5.5 million teenagers and 3.2 million children.  The study further revealed that 28 percent of the adults surveyed indicated that they participate in the martial arts “every chance they get.”  Of…

Hello all and welcome to Thrifting the Witchy Way! (take a good look at this picture, it will be important later- there may be a quiz) This is my first article here on Pagan Pages so be gentle.  So let’s just dive right in. First let’s tackle the big one- why thrift? The economy these days sucks BIG TIME. So how is the money savvy witch or witch enthusiast (you know who you are and we love you!) going to spread the brimstone and cobwebs? Get thrifty, that’s how. Witchy style thrifting is so much more than just saving money, or having some creative fun. It’s taking something that is…

Do You Believe In Mary Worth? Mary Worth, Mary Worthington, Mary Whales and Hell Mary, these are all names given over time for one very popular legend.  Trust me you know the one I’m referring to.  If you haven’t taken the dare yourself, you probably know someone who has.  Usually preformed during slumber parties or on a dark Halloween night, you all gather together in front of a mirror, wait; someone has to turn off the lights.  Now with a single candle, the brave chosen one stands in front of the mirror and slowly chants, Bloody Mary.  The call supposedly brings forth the vengeful spirit. There are different variations to…

Wow, November 1st is here!  We are now completely in the throws of the Holiday Season and in addition to the wonder, fun, parties, great family gatherings, friends, etc…, we also have more bills, more stress, more colds, and exhaustion to boot.  What’s a witch to do? Well, as an herbalist and aromatherapist, I could go on forever on the benefits of keeping your immune system up and running smoothly with a host of herbs, and aromatherapeutic oils, but since the article I write for is about spells, how about we address a main concern of most everybody’s at this time of year… MONEY. J Let’s face it, we all…

Join Me in the Red Tent A few years ago I heard about this new movement within Paganism that was all about women reclaiming the sacredness of their menstrual cycles. I was even asked to help out with a questionnaire about how I feel about my menses and menstrual experiences for a book on that exact topic. Let’s just say at the time I was not the best candidate for that questionnaire. The idea of women embracing their monthly periods and seeing them as sacred was a ridiculous concept to me. I hated my periods. I suffer from endometriosis among other female reproductive-related issues, so the idea of loving my…