Welcome   __________________________________________________________________   In This Issue…   An interview with the incredibly talented artist Cristina McAllister: Beautiful Connections.  She opens up to PaganPages about her artwork and her life.     New Series ‘Project Afterlife’ Premieres a  Six-Part Original Series Sunday, August 9 at 10/9c Only on Destination America.  Read about it and our review of it.     Learn to make a Lavender Wand for yourself in Witchcrafting: crafts for Witches.     We premeire the first part of a Short Story this month: Kiara, Episode One   __________________________________________________________________     We are…

Lughnasadh on the Mountain Some years ago my Druid sister, RhosynTan and I combined our two training groups to celebrate a Lughnasadh camp out on the mountain. Our theme was the funerary games for Lugh’s foster mother. We secured the site for the weekend and charged our grove members $25 per adult (14 and under Free). This covered the campsite, fees, munchies, dinner and dessert for Saturday night and breakfast, lunch, dinner and more munchies for Sunday. RhosynTan and I worked on the “games” that the men would participate in for over a month. The fun part was taking some traditional games (boar hunt, axe throw, horserace) and modifying them…

  Spiralled Edges – The Narrow Life Path Think about being on your life path for a moment. What does it look like? When I thought about my own life path, for some reason I always pictured myself on a tight rope, carefully balancing my life on that thin rope and avoiding the extremes of leaning too far either direction. I didn’t want to fall off my path! I’ve been working on changing this narrow view of my own life path over the past few years. I had a first clue that perhaps I wasn’t seeing things as they were when I did a shamanic journey for the purpose of discovering…

Bardic Song of the Month – July 2015 This month’s Bardic Song is called “Element Song”. It is a simple tune that has a nice poetic feeling to it for easier repetition and the melody line is rather easy. Keep repeating the tune over as often as you wish. As the Energy of the Song reaches a peak, the leader should hold their hands up high and bring them down on the last word of “Peace!” I wrote it in 3/4 Timing to give it a waltz feeling. Each line echoes the direction and ends with its corresponding Element. The verb offers a simple action for each Element. The song is intended to be…

I live in Westerville, Ohio. In the past weeks, big things have happened that have reminded me that I was a historic tour guide and am the daughter of a cemetery worker. My understanding of the dead and the past is unusual due to these things. First off, as to the cemeteries, mom sold cemetery property and directed funerals for over twenty years. I went along for appointments in people’s homes while they were discussing grave markers, caskets, what type granite they preferred, what size urn or vase they preferred, etc. I knew how to behave at a funeral and how to be a comfort to strangers mourning the death…

  Divining by Pendulum Recently, I received a beautiful pendulum from our generous editor, Jenn. I have used pendulums in the past but they were homemade ones of braided embroidery floss & crystal buttons. This is a really nice one! It felt really good in my hand and it was weighted perfectly. And I loved the pentacle etched into it! Although I have used pendulums in spell work in the past, I naturally had to pull out my books and do some research on using one. I was rather dismayed at what I found, or what I didn’t find. But perhaps that’s because of my own preconceived notions and I…

What’s in a Name? When I first got an internet connection years ago in the nineties, it was still in its infancy for private individuals. It was exciting and I was a bit insecure. There was so much to explore and I discovered lots of websites and forums. People told me “Don’t interact on the net with your own name, that’s dangerous!” So I had to choose a nickname on the spot. I couldn’t come up with anything at first. Then I looked at my little collection of Tinkerbell stuff that I had been collecting since I was a kid, so I decided I would use Tinkerbell. Hmm, there already…

  Lavender Wand “As Rosemary is to the Spirit, so Lavender is to the Soul.” – Anonymous Merry Meet… Lavender has the magical attributes of sleep, peace, purification, protection, love, clarity of thought, long life, visions, wishes and attracting men. Physically it is an antidepressant and a sedative. It also stimulates the immune system. As an offering to the gods, witches were said to throw lavender into the Midsummer fire. One way to save a bit of this powerful summer-blooming herb is by making a lavender wand. For this one, I selected 18 stems of lavender, but I think 24 pieces might be better. (Note: it must be an even…

The New Moon The Lunar cycle has eight phases- new, crescent, waxing quarter, gibbous, full, disseminating, waning quarter and balsamic. Each of the eight phases also moves through each of the 12 astrological signs, creating a total of 96 combinations. The natural cycle of birth, life, and regeneration is symbolised by the lunar cycle. The cycle continues with the moon spending about two days in each planet. The lunar phases can be made useful when planning your magickal work, plus it is always useful to have your rituals and spells coincide with the appropriate astrological influences. When working magick, if the spell if not urgent, it is best to plan…

Croning : The Ritual Merry meet! This month is the fifth of a six-part series on croning – a feminine rite-of-passage ritual for those reclaiming the power and wisdom of the old woman, the crone. Below is the croning ritual that was used last Mabon on the first night of our weekend retreat for a group of Goddesswomen from three states known as Ladys of the Lake (Yes! Ladys … because ladies was taken.) It was written and led by three dear sisters, all crones themselves. About 19 in all were present, including sisters who had not circled with us before. As part of the first night’s ritual, I was…