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GoodGod!
Meet the Gods: Saturn Merry meet. In case you don’t have enough holiday activities in December, you can add the 17th to your calendar and observe Saturnalia, one of the most popular ancient Roman festivals. It occurred around the time of Yule. Though originally a one-day event that ignored the distinction between masters and slaves, the activities came to fill an entire week, making for much merry-making and lechery. Saturn was the son of Caelus, Father Sky, and Terra, Mother Earth. (In Greek mythology they were Cronus, Uranus, and Gaia, respectively.) To prevent a prophecy from coming true – that a son would dethrone him –…
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Book Review – Shadow Animals: How Animals We Fear Can Help Us Heal, Transform, And Awaken
Book Review Shadow Animals: How Animals We Fear Can Help Us Heal, Transform, And Awaken by Dawn Baumann Brunke Publisher: Bear & Company 320 pages Release Date: November 8, 2022 Dawn Baumann Brunke introduces a new way to approach shadow work: using animals as teachers. “Shadow Animals: How Animals We Fear Can Help Us Heal, Transform, And Awaken” explains how these animals can help us recognize and explore our own shadow selves. I found the concept original, non-threatening and insightful. Our fears, feelings, and phobias about various animals can help us see the hated, abandoned, judged, and denied aspects of ourselves. Buried traumas and childhood fright…
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Book Review – The Moon Manual by Quinn K. Dyer and Morgan V. Fay
Book Review The Moon Manual by Quinn K. Dyer and Morgan V. Fay Publisher: Quinn K. Dyer 238 pages Release Date: May 17, 2022 The moon affects magick just as it affects the tide. “The Moon Manual” details the phases of the moon, providing correspondences practitioners may incorporate to further strengthen magick workings. Each zodiac sign has its own chapter that begins with naming its ruling planets, spells and magick that fit with that energy, representative tarot cards, and herbs and crystals that support that sign. The pages that follow then delve into details of the best types of magick to do on the new, waxing…
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Book Review – The Path of Elemental Witchcraft: A Word Woman’s Book of Shadows by Salicrow
Book Review The Path of Elemental Witchcraft A Word Woman’s Book of Shadows by Salicrow Publisher: Destiny Books 576 Pages Published: May 31, 2022 Salicrow shares her personal experiences in “The Path of Elemental Witchcraft: A Word Woman’s Book of Shadows” as a way of teaching readers how to engage with earth, air, fire and water. For each element she offers a variety of techniques, spells, and rituals for communication, divination, and healing. Other workings include enchantment, protection, geomancy, and transformation – all with five or more lessons to help develop skills that form sacred, personal relationships with the natural world. This guide reads like the author’s own…
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Witch Hunt
There are witches all around us. You can find them anywhere… The Witch on Wheels has been documenting her findings. Meet: Catherine LaForza Catherine is a 60-year-old Witch, a warm glass artist, caregiver, Grammy and Death Midwife who has been a practicing pagan since 1990. We connected this summer when I was in Connecticut. She’s a caregiver to her husband who has not only survived, but thrives as a 20-year heart transplant recipient. Their experiences dancing on the edge of Death has led her to train as a Death midwife. Birth and Death are spokes on the same wheel; both are initiations and transitions. Death midwifery sits…
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WitchCrafting: Crafts for Witches
Yule Decor Merry meet. You know magic is everywhere when you can find a good idea for Yule in a YouTube video from The Home Depot. I live on a bus and use mason jars for everything from drinking glasses and vases to making kombucha and storing herbs. “Fuss-Free Holiday Decorations & Prep Techniques” now has me using them to make berry luminaries. It’s simple: put pieces of evergreen in any-sized mason jar, fill with water, add some cranberries, and float a tea light candle (removed from its holder) on top. Mine will be on my altar, but these would go well on a…
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Book Review – Pagan Portals: Harvest Home by Mélusine Draco
Book Review Pagan Portals: Harvest Home by Mélusine Draco Moon Books 96 Pages Publication date: August 25, 2022 This book, one of a series of Pagan Portal shorts, focuses on two of the three harvest festivals: Lammas/Lughnasadh and the Autumnal Equinox/Mabon. Mélusine Draco presents the history, customs, traditions, symbolism, and folklore associated with a variety of autumn festivals from “ye olden days,” when emphasis switches from the goddess to a “male domination of the seasonal rites.” Harvest celebrations occur over a number of weeks, as the crops are gathered, culminating with the cutting of the last sheaves of Lammas grain,…
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Book Review – Traditional Brazilian Black Magic by Diego de Oxossi
Book Review Traditional Brazilian Black Magic: The Secrets of the Kimbanda Magicians by Diego de Oxóssi Destiny Books 128 Pages Publication date: August 31, 2021 Diego de Oxossi, a Chief of Kimbanda and an Orishas Priest, details the tradition of Afro-Brazilian black magic. Although it’s been demonized, Kimbanda is a spiritual practice embracing both the light and dark aspects of life through worshiping the entities Eshu and Pombajira. The book is written in a scholarly fashion, with references, documentation, and examples. Before the introduction are three pages about African and Portuguese vocabulary used in the book. While I find foreign…
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Witch Hunt
There are witches all around us. You can find them anywhere… The Witch on Wheels has been documenting her findings. Meet: Kathleen Kfrey Kathleen lived about a mile from my condo, yet I had to leave to meet her. I did a three-card tarot reading for her on Christmas 2020 and we have stayed in touch through tough times, and now both of our lives are transitioning. We meet when I’m in Connecticut, and found we have lots more in common in addition to the Craft. We’ve gone thrifting, shopped tag sales, and shared meals. She’s offered help with painting tie-dyed-looking stripes on Karma and other…
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WitchCrafting: Crafts for Witches
A Wheel of the Year Merry meet. Samhain and the end of the pagan year is a good time to create a Solar Wheel using Indian corn, a common seasonal decoration. Gather eight ears of corn that are the same length and have husks. To represent the quarters, pick four that are similar in color, and select another color for the cross-quarters. Using all one color, or a random selection can also represent the eight sabbats. A wire wreath form, bent metal hanger, grapevine wreath, or circle of sturdy cardboard can serve as a base. You’ll also need a small cardboard circle. Attach two ears of corn opposite…
