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Book Review – Witch, Please: Empowerment and Enlightenment for the Modern Mystic by Victoria Maxwell
Book Review Witch, Please: Empowerment and Enlightenment for the Modern Mystic by Victoria Maxwell Published by Red Wheel208 Pages Published: March 2022 “When we start getting into magical work we often get so carried away with the magic, connection to spirit and high- vibe feelings that we forget to ground ourselves in the here and now. But grounding is incredibly important. If we don’t stay grounded, our magic has nowhere to anchor itself. We can try to manifest amazing things in our lives, but if we aren’t present in our own bodies and in our own lives, that magic has nowhere to go. Or sometimes what happens is…
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MagickalArts
What Are the Magickal Arts? When I began this column for PaganPagesOrg many years ago, I had a vision of filling it with writings focused on exploring the magickal weavings of artistic endeavor. I am after all a former professional ballerina. One of my children is a trained fine artist, another is a classically trained musician, and all five of my children are excellent writers and artists in their own rights including the sciences- a pediatrician, a biomedical engineer and a veterinarian. As the years continued forward I have come to using the term Magickal Arts as an expression of the artistic and refined nature the Craft requires. As magickal…
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Summer Solstice/Litha Correspondences
(Wood Sun Garland with Rice Paper Center, Limited Edition by Jessica Pezalla of Bramble Workshop on Etsy.) June 21, 2022 Also known As: Midsummer, Midsommer, Summer Solstice, Litha, Alban Hefin, Sun Blessing, Gathering Day, Feill-Sheathain, Whit Sunday, Whitsuntide, Vestalia, Thing-tide, St. John’s Day Purpose Rededication to the Lord and Lady, beginning of the harvest, honoring the Sun God, honoring the pregnant Godddess Dynamics/Meaning Crowning of the Sun God, death of the Oak King, assumption of the Holly King, end the ordeal of the Green Man Tools, Symbols & Decorations The sun, oak, birch & fir branches, sun flowers, lilies, red/maize/yellow or gold flower, love amulets, seashells, summer fruits…
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Book Review – The Goddess Devotional Deck: #30DaysofGoddess Companion by Molly Remer
Book Review The Goddess Devotional Deck: #30DaysofGoddess Companion by Molly Remer Publisher: Brigid’s Grove 100 cards Goddess Devotional Deck #30DaysofGoddess Companion was created as a month-long promotion for Molly Remer’s Whole and Holy, the second in a series of three goddess devotional books, that was published in December 2020. The practice began January 2021. When followers wanted to continue past the thirty days, she kept producing content, surpassing 500 consecutive days this past May. While some people continued with the ongoing practice, this companion devotional deck offers an alternative. It was meant to keep things simple. Small. Easy. Quick. Portable. This deck leaves me no reason not to…
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Book Review – My Pocket Self-Care: Anytime Activities to Refresh Your Mind, Body, and Spirit by Adams Media
Book Review My Pocket Self-Care: Anytime Activities to Refresh Your Mind, Body, and Spirit by Adams Media Published by Simon & Schuster 176 pages Publication date: December 8, 2020 This cute little book is an excellent addition to my library of self-care books. It covers the body, mind and spirit, rather than just one of those topics like some books I own. I think it’s great how it is small enough that I could just throw it in my purse and have it easily at hand. In fact, it lived in my purse as I was reading and reviewing it. Now it lives on my nightstand for quick…
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Book Review – Once Around the Sun: Stories, Crafts, and Recipes to Celebrate the Sacred Earth Year by Ellen Evert Hopman
Book Review Once Around the Sun: Stories, Crafts, and Recipes to Celebrate the Sacred Earth Year Written by Ellen Evert Hopman Illustrated by Lauren Mills Publisher: Destiny Books Publication Date: May 3, 2022 160 pages Once Around the Sun: Stories, Crafts, and Recipes to Celebrate the Sacred Earth Year is an illustrated collection of tales with related activities celebrating eight Pagan festivals and the changing seasons. Each is beautifully done, with an illustration, an original story based on a traditional folktale meant to be read aloud, and crafts, recipes, and activities that relate to the story. Ellen Evert Hopman identifies as a follower of the Earth religion, known…
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Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light
A Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel of the Year 2022! The Witch’s Wheel of the Year In the February Issue we began exploring the Sabbats of the Witch’s Wheel of the Year and beginning a journey of filling our BOS with information about how we celebrated and what we found to be true of our practice. For a review of what the Wheel of the Year is take a look at February’s posting here: Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting A Book of Shadows and Light-February2022 We Continue Our Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel and call to the Light of the Summer Solstice…. THE SUMMER SOLSTICE/LITHA The King…
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Words – Poetry
WORDS Before the written word, there was the spoken word. Before the chronicles of history, there were stories. Before tabloids and the messy spawn of scandalous gossip, ballads and epic poems sounded in mouths of bards and minnesingers. Against the blind furies of forgetfulness, arose high cultures of memory. Long before civilized humanity slumped into pulp fiction and sado-masochistic fantasies, myths were weaving threads of truth into archetypes, extending the dimensions of reality. Guiding words of fire’s intensity and eloquence resonate joyously through the alchemic laboratories of time! You who have befriended Tolkien and the Shire, Arthur, Merlin, and voyagers to the Isle of Women, far, far off in the…
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Book Review – Journeys with Plant Spirits by Emma Farrell
Book Review Journeys with Plant Spirits by Emma Farrell Published by Bear & Company 288 pages Publication date: October 26, 2021 In part one of Journeys with Plant Spirits, Emma Farrell delves into several broad spiritual and supernatural topics that are shared by many shamanic traditions, such as healing wounds from past lives and navigating shamanic journeys through the upper, middle, lower, and other worlds. This introduction takes a primarily animistic view of the plant spirits, with a heavy emphasis on using intuitive practices like meditation to connect to the spirits of the plants. While many of these notions are now well-trod traditional pathways of plant spirit medicine…
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Book Review – The Way of Abundance and Joy: The Shamanic Teachings of don Alberto Taxo by Shirley Blancke
Book Review The Way of Abundance and Joy: The Shamanic Teachings of don Alberto Taxo by Shirley Blancke Publisher: Destiny Books Publication Date: February 15, 2022 272 pages Sharing ancient Andean shamanic wisdom and practices with people in the United States for more than 20 years, don Alberto Taxo explains, “So those who have the qualities of the power of the Eagle need to develop a bit more the power of the Condor: perception, intuition, feeling, flowing. And those who have developed Condor power a lot and lack the Eagle power need to cultivate qualities of logic.” Recognized as a master yachak (a shaman of the elements), don…
