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The Modern Merlin’s Corner: Trance States using Entheogens and Sacred Plant Medicine
Article Cover Photo Credits: Pinterest search for “psychedelic witchy art” My reason for writing on this subject is because my column entry last month mentioned using trance state to connect with local spirits of place, the Land, etc., and so, I decided after checking with the publisher, that I would share my knowledge in this area, and give you my tried and true method of using Entheogenic plants to reach a trance and visionary state and maintain it. This is my preferred method of contacting the Otherside, doing journeying, and the like, but which entheogenic plant I use varies by day, purpose, how I’m feeling, etc. I will not give…
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Good God!: Kalfu
Kalfu (also Kalfou or Carrefour) is the Haitian Vodou God of Intersections. His name literally means “the crossroads,” which is the point where four roads emerge or two paths cross. It is also the point where magic manifests, where choices are made, and fates are forged. He is thought of as “the devil at the crossroads.” a terrifying god, a red demonic beast equated with Saten. One of their most powerful gods, Kalfu allows or denies spirits to cross into the real world “with an understanding into the nature of chaos and creation, good and misfortune, and injustices,” according to Wikipedia. Although other spirits know him, he often remains a…
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Weyland’s Whey July 13th “Sounds Like Salem” Part Two Column
Weyland’s Whey July 13th “Sounds Like Salem” Part Two Column “Tact is after all a kind of mind reading.” –Sarah Orne Jewett Sounds Like Salem, Part Two: Here There Be Pirates” Salem is most famous for witches, real and imagined, past and present, sure. But there were pirates here too. Lots of ’em. And plenty roamed the North Shore during the Golden Age of Pirates (1650s to the 1730s). Guys like Black Sam Bellamy, who captured over fifty ships in the course of his career, including famous slave ship Whydah Galla. Black Sam was one of the youngest and richest pirates ever, nicknamed the “Prince of Pirates”. He and his crew perished…
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The Modern Merlin’s Corner: What’s in a name? The Power and Magick Behind Names
Names are some of the fundamental words we learn when we’re being taught how to speak any language. Every thing has a name. Every place has a name. Every one has a name. Place names, surnames and first names, middle names, magickal names are just some examples we see everyday, Pagan or not. In magick, both ancient and modern, it’s a pretty well accepted fact that having a spirit (or person’s) name, gives power over them. Examples of this are abundant in the Medieval Grimoire tradition, especially in works like The Goetia and other well-known grimoires. Knowing a deity’s name doesn’t give you power over them, but it does help you connect to their current of energy, and…
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Weyland’s Whey, 2024 Litha/Dyad Moon Column
“In Wicca, rituals are ceremonies which celebrate and strengthen our relationships with the Goddess, the God and the Earth.” –Scott Cunningham Doubleheader Say it “LEE-tha””. (Don’t fret if you’ve had it wrong for years, I just learned how to pronounce it last week.) I prefer the name Midsummer, cause to me it just sounds cooler. Either way, this Summer Solstice Sabbat celebrates the year’s longest day. The focus is usually on the power of the sun. This year’s Litha overlaps the June esbat. To me, that definitely adds another layer to the celebration! I plan to do a Sun Salutation in the morning and a Full Moon circle…
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Weyland’s Whey, June 17th Column, Faun Review
“Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will.” –Aleister Crowley MUSIC Review Faun German group. Pagan, folk, medieval music and darkwave. Performances combine medieval and modern instruments like the hurdy-gurdy, lutes, bagpipes and celtic harp. Their vocals are in diverse languages including Latin, Greek, German and English. Formed in 1998. I had the good fortune to score a telephone interview with one of the band members a few years ago during my first stint with PaganPages. (How many years ago? Oh, about umpteen, back when I was still in my frisky fifties!) It was an absolute pleasure and the friendliest interview I’ve…
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The Modern Merlin’s Corner: Owls and Oaks: Wisdom of the Seen and Unseen
My personal spiritual journey has been zig-zagging lately, between different topics, practices, pantheons and spirits. Lately, I’ve been on a path of deepening my connection with the land, the animals that inhabit it, and the spirits, too. When I began reading Celtic Goddess Grimoire for my review, which you can read here, I began sensing an even deeper appreciation for nature than I already had. I felt a deep connection with the trees, animals and land that I see everyday, and I can only explain this as Nemetona’s presence, one of the Goddesses in that book that really came through, along with Melusine, as I live in a town that was literally…
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Weyland’s Whey, May 27th, 2024
Working on My Dreams The Weylander has many interests. Coffee! Pizza! And dreaming. Especially lucid dreaming, in which you realize you’re dreaming while you’re actually doing so. This can help you achieve a sort of control over events in your dreams. I can do it once in a blue moon. In the most recent one, Sparkle and I were walking down a road at night. I told her we needed a car. She said we didn’t have one. I said, “I’ll make one.” And suddenly we were cruising down that country road. (I didn’t notice what kind of a car it was, but the steering wheel was on the right. Maybe…
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Weyland’s Whey
Weyland’s Whey by Weyland Smith For Your Deliberation Cody’s Wish Cody Dorman was born with a rare genetic disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. It severely impacts growth and development. During a Make-a-Wish visit to Gainsborough Farm, Kentucky, in 2018, a 5-month-old weanling came over to Cody and his wheelchair and placed its head in his lap. They bonded. The horse’s owners decided on the name Cody’s Wish. Cody and his family often journeyed to watch the horse compete. At the 2023 Breeder’s Cup, the horse’s final race before retirement, expectations were low. Too many great horses. No way Cody’s Wish could win. When the bell rang, he started out at the…
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Spiritual First Aid: Defense Against Love Spells
Welcome to the latest edition of Spiritual First Aid! I apologize it’s been so long since my last column. Life has been a little hectic between my personal life, and with my new book being released and the many many side projects I have going on I have neglected the thing that gives me the most joy- writing. Some of these projects, you might know about, such as The Invisible College, the nonprofit I founded to aid the development and infrastructure of the spiritual communities we all hold dear. I also have some other new projects on the horizon that I’m going to keep silent on for the moment as…
