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Weyland’s Whey 2025 Beaver Moon Column
Leave It to Beaver No, Pilgrim, the Beaver Moon wasn’t named after the old TV show. This moniker came from Algonquin Native American tribes and the American colonists, who were fond of nicknaming full moons based on hunting trends, weather conditions and farming routines. This one will also be another supermoon–no relation to Clark Kent–the biggest and brightest full moon of 2025. It will be the second supermoon of the year, followed by a third next month. Magically, it’s energy represents preparation, security and resourcefulness. It’s a good time to round up and protect what you’ll need to weather the winter. And not just physically. (I’m making up Sparkle’s Yule gift list…
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Art & Academia for October 2025
Here are a few of the art and academia pieces I was captivated by this past October. I tried to keep themes spooky and or witchy for Samhain/ Halloween! Science Nobel Prize for Chemistry 2025: Hermione’s Enchanted Handbag Some of you may have heard the Nobel Prize laureates in Chemistry, announced on October 8th, 2025, work was likened to Hermione’s enchanted handbag. The reality might not be quite as fantastical as the enchanted bag from the Harry Potter series, but it’s still pretty freaking cool. This year’s Nobel Prize went to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi for their pioneering work on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). MOFs are crystalline networks built by linking metal atoms with…
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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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Weyland’s Whey Samhain 2025 Column
Samhain The online version of The Encyclopedia Britannica says that Samhain was originally held on November first by the ancient Celts. Hundreds of years later the Christian church stacked it’s own traditions onto Samhain. Pope Boniface IV established All Saints Day in the Seventh Century CE as a holy day. A century later the holiday was moved from May thirteenth to November first, probably as a Christian replacement for the pagan one. The night before the new Christian celebration turned into All Hallows Eve, eventually shortened to Halloween. In modern times neo-pagans and Wiccans have included Samhain onto the Wheel of the Year as one of the Greater Sabbats. Many…
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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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Weyland’s Whey October 2025 Harvest and Supermoon Column
Shine on, Harvest Supermoon It will happen on October 6th, and it’s going to be the biggest and brightest full moon of 2025. The first of three–count ’em, three!–consecutive supermoons this year. Astrologically, this luminary falls in Aries, so think passion and impulsivity. It’ll be the spice in your cider, Pilgrim. Shaken and stirred. (Yahoo!, www.northjersey.com, www.space.com, Old Farmer’s Almanac) Canary in a Coal Mine Call them circles of bad intentions. Where wiccans and pagans aren’t welcome. Other minorities are already labeled unwanted, unloved, hunted even. Maybe I’m paranoid. I hope I am. But I can feel bad intentions in the air, growing stronger. Halloween is a secular holiday derived…
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Cody’s Column: For the Love of Wisdom
What wisdom does your land hold? How about the people who live there? These are two essential questions that have guided me on a quest to become more connected and explore a realm beyond my own, uncomfortable at times, but filled with adventure. It all started when I began working at the local library a little over a year ago. I had just finished a stint on an organic apple orchard, picking apples, juicing them, and bottling the juice on site. Before that, I had worked on my own farm, during which I experienced a manic episode that nearly separated me from reality and all that I love. The…
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Weyland’s Whey Mabon 2025 Column
Mabon This year Mabon will arrive on Monday, September 22nd. It’s the second harvest on the Wheel of the Year. (Lughnasadh is first, Samhain is third), and it celebrates feasting, giving thanks, and preparation for Winter. Mabon Activities Try a nice, quiet walk outdoors. Helpful hint: don’t take along a dachshund, unless you’re collecting ulcers. Delinquent barks at everything. Now, since my heart attack, I’d like to think she’s actually trying to “protect” me against (to her) perceived threats, but a stroll with her is far from tranquil. I reserve walks with my little girl (three or four times a day, Pilgrim–puppies need exercise!) for times I can concentrate on her, not trying…
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Learning Lunar: New Moon into Waxing Crescent, Autumn Equinox 2025
If you’ve been following previous issues of Learning Lunar, you’ll see that we’ve looked at some of the major moon phases both generally and in relation to the specific time of year. This month, I want to get super specific and look at the exact phase and movement of the moon around the Autumnal Equinox. Why? Because I love this time of year. The Autumn Equinox is very magical for me, and has seen me go through many changes, some good, some bad; some happy and some sad. This year’s equinox holds bittersweet mixed emotions, thanks to a run of events coming to an end, but with it, the opportunity…
