Summer reveries   Summertime… And the livin’ is easy…   Although at times Mother Nature does her best to hide it these days, if you look at her you can’t deny summer has finally arrived! Later than we are used to, but the trees are blossoming, the grass is green and high, and summer flowers are colouring our gardens and parks. So beautiful! In summer nature looks at her best with the sun shining in a blue sky where a solitary cloud seems lost. Away with the thick winter coats, roaming around freely with your bare feet on the grass. Time for vacations and outside recreation, a barbecue with family…

This month, we are going to discuss a less pleasant card: the Three of Swords.  I will admit I groan with dismay each time I throw the Three of Swords in my daily spread.  It is my least favorite card in the entire Tarot, above the Nine of Swords, or Death, or The Devil, or even The Tower on my personal dread list, and those are cards that can certainly shake your confidence. The Three of Swords is more personal to me, more connected to daily events, and its effects seem to always sneak up on me more quickly because of this.   The Three of Swords is a Minor…

Amelia Earhart   In honour of the recent discovery of the remains of her airplane, I’d like to tell you about Amelia Earhart. She was not the typical warrior woman. She never had to trudge through the desert looking for water, watch a child die, or even sell her soul to the devil. (Just kidding!) However, she did face obstacles that must have seemed insurmountable to most women (and men.) Earhart spent her early years in Kansas, where she was born, and her teen-age years in Chicago. By 1920, the family had moved to California. And that, my friends, is where Earhart fell in love with flying. She took a…

And ye shall be free from slavery             Yesterday in the New Coven Lilith was talking about her studies at University. She is almost finished a bachelor’s degree in World Religions and is feeling confused about all the religions. “Which one is the right one?” she asks.  We discussed henotheism, a term which is often applied to Wicca and means the worship of one god while acknowledging the existence of other gods. Wiccans may call themselves henotheistic because they generally worship one Deity pair in one pantheon as their main Deities, while respecting other religion’s God-forms. For example, we may honour Anu and Cernunnos in our Circles but we still…

A Personal Wheel of the Year   I love the quarterly and cross-quarterly days that make up the Pagan Wheel of the Year – Samhain, Yule, Imbolg, Spring Equinox, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, Autumn Equinox and back to Samhain again. The yearly cycle is a great excuse for seasonal celebrations – and a comforting reminder during difficult times that life goes on. Noticing the Wheel turn is a great exercise in keeping in touch with the natural world. Knowing that Imbolg is just around the corner you are on the lookout for the first signs of spring. At Litha you notice the long sunny days; at Lughnasadh the grain ripening in…

Truth goes far, strong and deep, through the passage ways which we seek, it sets off the light of a million stars so we don’t wander too far through the dark and lose our way.

Bast Goddess of Protection and Pleasure Bast, also known as Bastet or Basthet, just in general as the “Cat Goddess”, was not only known as the Egyptian Goddess of sensual pleasure, but also as protector of the household, bringer of health, and the guardian of firefighters.  Bast is the daughter of Ra, the sun god, and is one of the few sun goddesses that is also recognized as a moon goddess.  The following legend will reveal how she earned such a distinction. As it was told, by day Bast would ride through the sky with her father Ra, in his boat pulling the sun across the sky.  She was ever…

Hi everyone happy 4th of July!  And that is the backdrop for this month’s article.  As every Witch knows, sufficient raising of energy and visualization are imperative for successful spellwork.  Although the 4th of July isn’t a wiccan holiday exclusively, this particular day raises everyone’s sense of independence and freedom, so I have always thought it was the perfect time for an “Independence Spell.” All of us at one time or another have had things in our lives that do not serve our highest good, and just seem extremely difficult to get away from, that is the purpose of this spell. The first item needed for this spell is an…

Kids (Especially) Need to Believe Children start off with an innate belief in magic. They see the things that their parents have generally forgotten how to see. Children look at the world with wonder in their eyes, and they see wonder everywhere. Nature is alive and magical to them. As we grow up, we tend to stop believing in “childish” things. We take a more and more rationalistic view of our world, and our society encourages us to do so. As we grow older we become more jaded to beauty and wonder, and we too often lose the ability to see those things at all. Our world stops being alive,…