• Monthly Columns

    Bees in Folklore, Religion, and Superstition

      This is an adapted extract of a video I did recently for Pagan Aid to help raise awareness of their campaign to raise money for Bees for Development, an organisation that helps some of the poorest communities in the world create livelihoods through beekeeping. You can view the original video here.   There are over 250 species of bee in the UK and around 4,000 native species in the United States. Even humble bumblebees have at least 24 separate species, from orange and black red-tailed bumblebees to the classic white, yellow, and black tree bumblebees. However, it’s the honeybee that gets the most attention, generally, when it comes to…

  • Monthly Columns

    GoodGod!

    Meet the Gods: Ra     Merry meet. Cultures since the beginning of time have worshiped the sun. In Egypt, which extends south into the Tropic of Cancer, Ra the sun god was powerful. He was the creator of everything as well as king of all the gods. As such, Ra was a just ruler and a kind father. He’s also a warrior and can dispel darkness with his light. His representation varies: while the most often he is depicted as a man with the head of a hawk crowned by a solar disk he carries across the sky each day, he is also shown as a man with the head…

  • Monthly Columns

    Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light

      This month continues a series of exploration about Our Relationship to the Divine…. Our Relationship to the Divine Part Two: WHO Calls to Me? …. The Divine flows within me. The Limitless All supports me. All Beings of Spirit and Essence are my teachers. I AM the corporeal out-picturing of the Divine’s desire…   When we approach Deity through ritual, devotion or meditation it is with the understanding that there is no need for an intercessor or intermediary for they are both within and without our spectrum of experience. With that being said, however, there is still the need for respect and continued efforts at establishing a working relationship…

  • Reviews

    Book Review – The Pagan Book of the Dead: Ancestral Visions of the Afterlife and Other Worlds by Claude Lecouteux

    Book Review The Pagan Book of the Dead Ancestral Visions of the Afterlife and Other Worlds By Claude Lecouteux Publisher: Inner Traditions 314 Pages Publication Date: 9/15/2020       The Pagan Book of the Dead: Ancestral Visions of the Afterlife and Other Worlds by Claude Lecouteux is a human’s best attempt at a compendium of all possible sources of astral literature from the ancient world. This book would serve as a Bible book if we witches had such.  With such precision, the line between the myriad of pagan folktales, songs, and fables from the Hellenistic, Celtic, and Scandinavian religions, right to the nowadays more accept Christian beliefs of Heaven,…

  • Divination Articles,  Reviews

    Book Review – Tarot & Tequila by David Ross

    Book Review Tarot & Tequila by David Ross Publisher: Tiller Press 272 Pages Publication Date: July 13, 2021     Tarot & Tequila by David Ross, is due for release in the summer of 2021. It will be published by Tiller Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Because this book is not yet available, I am previewing and reviewing a pre-release digital copy. The published version will be either a 272 page hardback or a Kindle e-book. Copyright 2021 by David Ross. Tarot & Tequila is both a Tarot guide and a mixology recipe book. It begins with an…

  • Monthly Columns

    Jazzs’ Gems

    Citrine   (Image by Dieter Staab from Pixabay)   Citrine is a very useful crystal with a multitude of properties. It is a yellow variety of quartz and can be orange, brown or yellow. It is a birthstone for November, and also is connected to Aries, Gemini, Leo and Libra. Its element is Air and its planet is Jupiter. Citrine is also known as the Merchant’s Stone and is also sensitive to heat so it is best not to put it where there is too much light or heat. One tip to know if your Citrine is real vs something like heat treated Amethyst is looking at it in the…

  • Reviews

    Book Review – Sacred Symbol Magic: Harness Their Power for Mind, Body, and Soul by Sarah Bartlett

    Book Review Sacred Symbol Magic Harness Their Power for Mind, Body, and Soul by Sarah Bartlett Publisher: Weiser Books 128 Pages Published: 4/19/2021     All cultures have created symbols drawn from nature, geometry, and mythology that hold meaning, power, and magic. Learn their secret language and you’ll learn to promote a loving relationship with the Celtic knot, wear an Egyptian scarab to enhance psychic protection, and let butterflies promote good health. The All-Seeing Eye, pentagram, bee, labyrinth, lotus, mandala, Buddhapada, Om, the Sator Square and the Unicursal Hexagram are all symbols of spiritual growth. In “Sacred Symbol Magic,” Sarah Bartlett gives practical ideas for using fifty symbols to empower…

  • Reviews

    Book Reviews – Sisters of the Solstice Moon & Walking the Threads of Time (When She Wakes Series) by Gina Martin

    Book Review Sisters of the Solstice Moon (Book 1) by Gina Martin Publisher: Womancraft Publishing 279 Pages Publication Date: June 26, 2019   Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a non-patriarchal world, a world without violence, rape, misogyny and bigotry in all its’ forms? Have you ever imagined what it would be like to live in a world filled with Goddess Mystery Schools, Goddess Temples, Priestesses serving the Goddess in peace and harmony? This book is filled with the joy that is inherent in Goddess worship. The rituals are beautifully written; the power can be felt in the author’s words. I found myself breathless…