The Modern Merlin
The Modern Merlin has been a Polytheist and Animist Pagan, Witch, Sorcerer, Wizard, Druid, Mystic, Ceremonial Magician, Occultist, Shaman, Seer and Soothsayer for 15 years, worshipping and casting magick with deities and spirits from many cultures, including Ancient Greece, Rome, Norse & Germanic, Celtic, Egyptian, Sumerian, as well as many Faeries, Nymphs, Dryads, Ancestors and other nature and land spirits and spirits of place. He is a Priest of Hecate, Diana, Hades, Lilith and Persephone. He has experience in the Left and Right Hand Paths, working with both hands as needed. He currently practices Necromancy and Deathwalking, as well as Traditional Witchcraft, Druidry, Hellenism and Ceremonial Magick, incorporating all of them into a cohesive practice, with some shamanic touches. He studies and practices Astrology as well as Tarot and other forms of divination such as Runes, Palmistry and Ogham. He has also been investigating the paranormal for over 10 years and has a keen interest in researching various mythologies, cosmologies and folklore from around the world. He is the Co-Editor of PaganPages.Org and he has a personal blog where he shares Astrological, Pagan, and other magickal wisdom for free! He gives readings and other spiritual services on his Facebook Page, The Modern Merlin, as well other free informational posts for everyone to see!
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Book Review-The Tradition of Natural Taoism: The Way of Free and Easy Wandering in Oneness by Jason Gregory
Book Review The Tradition of Natural Taoism: The Way of Free and Easy Wandering in Oneness By Jason Gregory Publisher: Inner Traditions 224 page E-Book Release Date: September 9th, 2025 After a short winter break, I’m back at it tons of reviews to get out to you all! First up, The Tradition of Natural Taoism. For those who have been following my articles, I’m sure this is no surprise, as I spent much of the summer working with Taoism and Buddhism. This book introduces the reader to applicable, easy practices to be at one with the all. The way of nature, or Tao, is distilled into modern concepts, and modern life is applied…
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Yuletide, Saturnalia and Closing Out 2025
Hello everyone, I hope you’re all enjoying your holiday season, and that it continues to go well for you. For many, this time of year is difficult for a multitude of reasons, including myself. While I won’t get into why, I do want to offer some closing thoughts for those who have had a less-than-spectacular 2025. For many, 2025 is the final shedding of the skin (it is the year of the Snake, after all), and that skin shedding process can be painful. Loss, death, change, and even dramatic life altering events are likely to have happened. Whatever 2025 brought you, I wish you resolution, peace, and joy as the…
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Our Favorite Places to Get Witchy Shit: The Modern Merlin
Hello everyone! It’s a snow day here in my neck of the woods in Northeast Ohio, so I decided to take the initiative this morning and kick off a new column series that we’re super excited for. This is going to be a collaborative column, with all or many of us here at the PaganPages family participating. As the holidays approach, many are traveling out of town to visit family, and we figured we could share our favorite witchy/occult/spiritual shops and businesses-whether a brick and mortar, small business, or online. Given the state of our politics in the U.S., we’re also looking at this as a form of protest-favoring small…
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Time to Cut the Shit: The Rant About Magick, Paganism, the Occult and Witchcraft That No One Else Wants to Have
My first entry in a little while is going to be brutally honest, and I’m not apologizing about it, either. I’m going to cuss, talk a little shit (from a place of love), and hopefully get some gatekeeping assholes to get off their fuckin’ high horse! To be frank, I’m fed up with the toxicity I see in the online Pagan community, and the Pagan community at large. It’s absolutely fucking ridiculous; some of y’all are out here acting less mature than a toddler throwing a temper tantrum! This is a rant about, and to, the Pagan community, the witch community, the occultist community, and the magickal community. It’s time…
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Book Review-Seasons of the Witch: Yule Journal by Lorianna Anderson, Illustrated by Giada Rose
Book Review Seasons of the Witch: Yule Journal By Lorianne Anderson, Illustrated by Giada Rose Publisher: Rockpool Publishing 208 Page Full-Color, Illustrated Paperback Release Date: October 7th, 2025 Seasons of the Witch: Yule Journal is a great exercise in witchy mindfulness-especially for those like myself who aren’t big fans of Winter and Yule/Christmas. This journal has an appeal to it, partially because of the artwork, which is beautiful, but also because it contains the greatest wisdom of all within it: yours. Whether animal medicines, such as Bear, Cardinal and Deer, are prompts to look within during the dark months, or encouraging things like decorating to be witchy rituals, this journal is…
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Book Review-Earth Magic: A Grimoire of Nature Spells by Cheralyn Darcey
Book Review Earth Magic: A Grimoire of Nature Spells By Cheralyn Darcey Publisher: Rockpool Publishing 327 page, illustrated Hardcover Release Date: September 16th, 2025 Earth Magic: A Grimoire of Nature Spells is a beautifully illustrated, designed, and practical book of spells involving nature. Be it trees, flowers or herbs, this grimoire really does contain just about every (non-toxic) plant that would be common for witchcraft practitioners. The spells themselves are original to the author, with this book being a compilation of three of her previous spellbooks. I received my copy of this book a couple months ago and worked with it in the time leading up to this review. The spells…
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Messages of the Mums: Reflections on Grief, Samhain, and Honoring the Departed
Hello friends, I hope you’re all doing well and staying warm during these last few days of spooky season. It’s cold where I live, as November’s soggy and cold climate approaches. I originally had an entirely different idea for a Samhain/Halloween piece, but life has a way of showing you what’s most important, and what you should share. I unexpectedly lost my oldest cat, Maxwell, who was only 5 years old, two and a half weeks ago, and my home and family has been reeling from that since. He was the heart and center of our family and household. Life has been difficult without him, to say the least. Grief…
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The Face in the Window: A Ghost Story
Hello again friends! I’m back with another spooky tale, this time one that I personally experienced when I was a little kid staying the night at my grandparents’ house (the same grandpa who went to the cemetery I previously wrote on). I didn’t learn many of the details that clued me into the reality of my experience being a ghost, until well over 20 years after it had happened. I didn’t tell anyone it happened, but it scared me shitless. I was only 8 or so years old, and at that age, didn’t understand the spiritual side of life yet. I’ve always had clairvoyant and medium-like abilities, but given the…
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The Green Ghost of Maple Grove Cemetery: A True (and Forgotten) Northeast Ohio Haunting
Hello friends, I’m so happy to be writing another piece for you in my favorite time of year! Given the natural inclination towards ghost stories and other paranormal, creepy and supernatural stories this time of year, I’ve decided to unearth an ancestral ghost story to share with you. This story scared the crap out of me when I was little, and my grandpa told me about what he experienced at that old cemetery off of North Chestnut in Ravenna, Ohio. Before we get into the story of my (now late) grandfather, whom I’m also hoping to honor in my own way with this article, I think it’s necessary to go…
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The Modern Merlin’s Summer Reading List: Lessons, Perspective Shifts, Transformation and Impermanence
Hello friends! I know it’s been a hot minute since you’ve last heard from me, and I do apologize for that. To be honest, I hit a moment of deep inner change, one that I’m still not completely out of. During this process of change, I came to realize that returning to my roots in Buddhism and Taoism wasn’t enough; I had to apply those practices in my daily life, something that I still struggle with, and likely will for the remainder of my time in this life. That’s not to say that it isn’t worth it; in my view, it’s well worth it to be mindful, live in the present moment,…
