GoodGod! Meet the Gods: Janus (Image by Samantha Sullivan) Merry meet. January is named for Janus, the Roman God of Gates and Doors. His name comes from the Latin word ianua, which means door. Gates and doors divide two places. Going through them, you leave one space and enter another. That makes it fitting that Janus presides over New Year’s Day, when we close the door on one year and open the door to another. The god Saturn bestowed upon Janus the ability to see into the future as well as the past, thus it is appropriate that he is depicted as having two faces – one looking behind looking…

  Calling Kali-Ma (Kali The Awakener from the Daughters of the Moon deck) Merry meet. We are coming into some dark times, and one of the most powerful and the most frightening of the dark goddesses is Kali-Ma. While she represents the Dark Mother, this article is focused on Her as the warrior. In the Hindu tradition, Kali is the Goddess of death, destruction and resurrection. She is fierce. She wears a belt of skulls, there is blood dripping from her mouth as she stands upon the body of her husband, holding up his severed head and, in another hand, the machete she used. Kali was created to destroy the…

Interview with Psychic Brittany Quagan Elfin empath goes from panic attacks to helping others heal. Brittany Quagan knows the exact moment her whole life changed. She was 22 and working for a corporate insurance company. One day, while having a meltdown in her cubical, a woman she would later learn was a psychic medium and who has since become her friend, told her she the problem was not anxiety. Quagan argued her therapist would say otherwise, but the woman told her, “You are feeling the energy from everyone around you.” As strange as it sounded, Quagan knew it was true. “It’s because when I was a little kid I always…

Yule Spell Merry meet. At Yule, the darkest night before the rebirth of the sun, it is said the Holly King dies and the Oak King is born. A simple spell that echoes that is to gather three dried holly leaves, and using a mortar and pestle, crush them into a powder. On a piece of paper approximately four inches square, write in red ink a single word representing something you wish to give birth to. Add the holly powder and fold, roll or twist the paper up around it. Light it from the flame of a red candle, or by another symbolic means and as it burns in a…

Sorghum Besom Merry meet. There’s something special about crafting your own magical tools. I just completed making a besom and it was simple enough you might want to try it. I had been sweeping my floors with corn brooms for more than a decade before I heard the term broomcorn. Flipping those two words triggered a brainstorm. Corn. I could grow corn. I could make my own broom. The first challenge was to find the seeds at a nursery. An employee consulted reference material to tell me the scientific name was sorghum bicolor. On Beltane, I planted a row about nine feet long and after thinning the seedlings, I ended…

GoodGod! Meet the Gods: The Horned God (PHOTO: Holly King The Holly King by Raven Willowhawk) Merry meet. The Horned God roams the forests – wild, loving and protecting the Goddess and her children. He is the oldest of the Gods and perhaps the most common depiction of masculine divinity. Many pagans believe that the Horned God is the Lord of Death, ruling the underworld or Summerland, and is therefore the one to comfort and console the dead as they await rebirth. Since ancient times, the Horned God has been associated with fertility, the forest, the field and the hunt. He is known by such names as Cernunnos, Pan, Herne,…

Meet the Gods: Odin Merry meet. “You teach best what you most need to learn.” Reading that in Richard Bach’s 1977 book, “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah,” made me realize a long time ago we are all teachers and we are all students. The women I’ve circled with for nine years honor only the Goddess, so my work with gods has fallen by the wayside. That’s precisely why I volunteered to begin writing a column about gods. Each month I plan to research another one and present a small biography, hopefully leaving some links to additional information. I am partially of German descent, so the first god I…

Book review The Witches’ Almanac, Issue 36 Water: Our Primal Source Published by the Witches’ Almanac Ltd. This almanac, founded in 1971, has become a traditional pagan reference. It starts with the beginning of the astrological year, running from Spring 2016-17. Its theme is water; the current year’s theme is air. One of the parts I find most useful is the moon calendar noting the moon’s phases and place in the zodiac. I also enjoy the year’s astrological forecasts for each zodiac sign, beginning with the vernal equinox. Each two-page spread touches on highlights for the year, health, love, spirituality and finance. Other reference information includes astrological keys, eclipses, retrograde…

Plant Wands Merry meet. As the wheel turns to the third harvest, I was moved to harvest some of the energies from the world around me, inspired by the Botanical Spirt Wands made by Rosemari Roast of Walk in the Woods, located in Winsted, Connecticut. Cleaning up my community garden plot at the end of the season, I gathered a selection of plants, living and dead, adding to it from outside my back door. o how-to Making an assorted bouquet of about eight pieces, I wrapped the stems together with fibers. One I wound with twine. For the other, I tied a scrap of novelty yarn at the top and…

Knot Magick Merry meet. A simple yet powerful way to cast a spell is by putting knots in a cord. It could be for protection, healing, invoking energies or giving yourself confidence. Sailors once had witches put wind into knots, so if they found themselves in a calm, they could untie one of the knots to get wind to fill their sails. Before beginning, fix your desire firmly in your mind as you feel what its like to have what it is you are asking for. A round silk cord or other natural fiber is generally preferred, but anything from a shoelace to yarn to ribbon can be used. You…