Last month in April, as we looked for the sacred in the mundane world, I shared information and photography of The Angel Oak in Charlston, SC. This month, I share with the beauty and majesty of The Luray Caverns. All photos taken by Susan Morgaine and Joe Stanley, Jr. Enjoy! The Luray Caverns, Virginia (US)

Meditation as a Way of Life By Alan L. Pritz Recently, Pagan Pages was contacted by Quest Books to offer the book, “Meditation As a Way of Life” by Alan L. Pritz, for a book review. As the Meditation columnist and long time Kundalini Yoga and Meditation teacher, the book was forwarded to me by my editor. While it was not broken down as such, to me, the book was written in two parts; one being the spiritual journey of Reverend Pritz and the second being the *how-to* of meditation. As an interfaith minister, Reverend Pritz states that he deems spirituality as “nondenominational and ideally suited for inner awakening”. I…

Gaia “Gaia, the beautiful, rose up, Broad blossomed, She that is the steadfast base of all things. And fair, Gaia first bore the starry heaven, equal to Herself, to cover her on all sides, and to be a home for the blessed gods” ~~ Hesiod, Ancient Greek Poet In the beginning, there was Chaos — and then, Gaia rose. ********************************************* (Photo credit: Pinterest) There was no shape, no boundaries; chaos coalesced into our Mother, Gaia, the Earth beneath our feet, Great Mother of us all, complete within Herself. Before Time, there was only She. Time, named Chronos, was her child, but she was lonely and felt desire. She created Uranus,…

There are places around the world that not all would call *sacred*. I would hazard a guess that Witches and Pagans see the world differently than most, and would call sacred many things that the mundane world does not. Today, I write of two of them, both visited on a recent drive from FL back to my home in MA (US). You will notice that this column is mostly photographs, as they speak much louder than anything else I might say of these two magnificent places — gifts to us from the Goddess Gaia. All photographs were taken by Joe Stanley, Jr. and myself. The Angel Oak, South Carolina, US…

Healing Through Meditation “Prayer is where the mind is one-pointed and one talks to Infinity. Meditation is when the mind becomes totally clean and receptive, and Infinity talks to one.” ~ ~ Yogi Bhajan In past columns, I have talked about the benefits of a meditation practice – a calm mind, clarity of thoughts, ridding yourself of unwanted emotions, and relaxing and unifying your mind, body, heart, and spirit. Meditation also gives us the ability to heal ourselves. We do this by using the universal energy of the Infinite. By using basic breath exercises, we increase our Prana, (see Prana article here), the life force within ourselves. As we breathe,…

Ixcacau In honor of Valentine’s Day and the exorbitant amount of chocolate that is given as gifts, this month we honor Ixcacau, the Mayan Goddess of Chocolate and Cocoa (the word “cocoa” comes from Her name). Ixcacau was a symbol of strength. She was one of the Ancient Fertility Goddesses, a Goddess of the Earth, a Goddess of Abundance. Hunger was banished as She took responsibility to feed Her people. Her people never feared under her protection. She was also worshipped in Central and South Americas, and for the Azteccs, She was Xochiquetzal, Goddess of Fertility, Flowers and Fruit. There are several stories of Her that stand out in the…

Ten Light Bodies of Consciousness *Commencing this month, I will be expanding the column to include other aspects of Kundalini Yoga, while still talking about meditation along the way. As always, I am more than happy to answer your questions.* **The Ten Light Bodies of Consciousness are a combination of Kundalini Yoga and Tantric Numerology, which will be discussed more in depth later in the column.** You, as an individual, are more than just your physical body. You have ten light bodies. Like the chakras that we have talked about the last 7 months, the light bodies are all extremely important to your well-being and, at times, overlap in their…

Isis I have chosen Isis for this month’s column because I do believe it is time for us and Her to reclaim Her name from those who use it to bring terror, evil, murder and injustice into our world. She is a Goddess from the beginning and She is still worshipped today. Let Her name be heard and live beyond those who dishonor her. “There, in the beginning was Isis, Oldest of the Old, She was the Goddess from whom all Becoming arose. She was the Great Lady, Mistress of the Two Lands, Mistress of Shelter, Mistress of Heaven, Mistress of the House of Life. She was the Unique. In…

The Temple of Dendur/Dendura/Denderah (Photo credit: touregypt.net) This beautiful shrine which honors the Goddess Isis, was part of a larger temple dedicated to Hathor. It was originally built on the left bank of the Nile in Nubia during the reign of Augustus Caesar. It was dedicated to both Isis and Osiris to honor the sons of a local Nubian chief. It is also called “Per Rekh en Iset”, meaning “The Place of Knowing of Isis”. The shrine, which stood on a wide stone platform, is small with three rooms, but extremely powerful. There is a portal with a front court and an inner sanctuary. There are carvings of the king…

The 7th & 8th Chakras As I mentioned in the previous columns, when doing any chakra work, it is imperative to keep yourself grounded. While you can use any grounding exercise that you prefer, I have always used this one in my chakra classes: **Stand up, grip toes to the ground, long deep breathing, visualize your roots going deep into Mother Earth, keeping you grounded and centered. Inhale and bring the earth energy up to the base of your spine; exhale and let the energy return to the Earth. With each inhale, receive healing energy from the Earth; with each exhale, release all negativity. This will not hurt Mother Earth,…