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GoodGod!
Meet the Gods: Ra Merry meet. Cultures since the beginning of time have worshiped the sun. In Egypt, which extends south into the Tropic of Cancer, Ra the sun god was powerful. He was the creator of everything as well as king of all the gods. As such, Ra was a just ruler and a kind father. He’s also a warrior and can dispel darkness with his light. His representation varies: while the most often he is depicted as a man with the head of a hawk crowned by a solar disk he carries across the sky each day, he is also shown as a man with the head…
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Bees in Folklore, Religion, and Superstition
This is an adapted extract of a video I did recently for Pagan Aid to help raise awareness of their campaign to raise money for Bees for Development, an organisation that helps some of the poorest communities in the world create livelihoods through beekeeping. You can view the original video here. There are over 250 species of bee in the UK and around 4,000 native species in the United States. Even humble bumblebees have at least 24 separate species, from orange and black red-tailed bumblebees to the classic white, yellow, and black tree bumblebees. However, it’s the honeybee that gets the most attention, generally, when it comes to…
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Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light
This month continues a series of exploration about Our Relationship to the Divine…. Our Relationship to the Divine Part Two: WHO Calls to Me? …. The Divine flows within me. The Limitless All supports me. All Beings of Spirit and Essence are my teachers. I AM the corporeal out-picturing of the Divine’s desire… When we approach Deity through ritual, devotion or meditation it is with the understanding that there is no need for an intercessor or intermediary for they are both within and without our spectrum of experience. With that being said, however, there is still the need for respect and continued efforts at establishing a working relationship…
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Jazzs’ Gems
Citrine (Image by Dieter Staab from Pixabay) Citrine is a very useful crystal with a multitude of properties. It is a yellow variety of quartz and can be orange, brown or yellow. It is a birthstone for November, and also is connected to Aries, Gemini, Leo and Libra. Its element is Air and its planet is Jupiter. Citrine is also known as the Merchant’s Stone and is also sensitive to heat so it is best not to put it where there is too much light or heat. One tip to know if your Citrine is real vs something like heat treated Amethyst is looking at it in the…
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She Who is All – The Goddess & The Divine Female
Yeshe Tsogyal (Image: Wikipedia) Yeshe Tsogyal was born a princess of Tibet in the year 777 C.E. She was born in the same way as the Buddha; a mantra sounded and her mother bore her painlessly. Her clan name was Lady Kharchen but she is known as Yeshe Tsogyal, which means Wisdom Lake Queen, as when she was born, a nearby lake increased in size. They are the waters of enlightenment. She is also called “Mother of the Victorious Ones”, meaning the Buddhas, as well as “Lady of the Lotus-Born”. She is considered the Mother of Tibetan Buddhism. She is the ultimate wisdom needed for enlightenment. (Image:…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: Lilac Lilac is a flowering shrub in the olive family, Oleaceae, cultivated in many parts of the world including all across Europe and North America. Robust spikes of delicate yet strongly scented flowers come in colours ranging from purples and pinks through to blues and whites. I’ve been writing Notes from the Apothecary for over 6 years now, and some months I struggle to think of a plant that’s magical, seasonal, and of interest to our readers worldwide. I had no such struggle this month, thanks to the wonderful fragrance that stopped me in my tracks as I was out playing with my 3-year-old…
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Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times Summer Solstice for June 2021 Bright Blessings! I can hardly believe it’s just a little over two weeks after Beltaine, and already I’m writing about The Summer Solstice. 2021 is flying by! After more than a year of lockdowns, covid vaccines are more widely available, and States are going to start relaxing mask mandates, opening the way for larger gatherings and indoor things. At 37% of the population of the United States now recorded as fully vaccinated, indeed, many are raring to go to restaurants, and birthday parties, as they have foregone all of that for months and months. Not the top country…
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Author Spotlight: Laurell K. Hamilton
Who is Laurell K. Hamilton? If you have to ask, you are exactly the reason I chose to spotlight this amazing author. If you already know her, then chances are you will look forward to walking through her worlds again with me. Laurell K. Hamilton is an American writer best known as the author of two series- The Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Series, and the Merry Gentry Series. She is no stranger to the New York Times bestseller list, as appearing multiple times for both series. Anita Blake is a professional zombie raiser, vampire executioner and a supernatural expert that consults for the police. There are 30 novels in…
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8 Common Witchcraft Myths Debunked
(Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/witch-riding-motorcycle-toy-163950/) Witchcraft is that area of history that most individuals feel familiar with. From the witches of Macbeth to Salem With Trials, figures of witches have been embedded in our culture. The problem is, not everything we consider a fact is right. In this article, we debunk 8 common witchcraft myths. #1. Witches were herbalist midwives who loved worshiping God No one was Goddess-worshiping especially during the period of witch-hunts. And if they were, they’ve not left any trace in the historical records. Even though some famous politicians, lawyers and historians believed it (such as Heinrich Himmler, Margaret Murray, Jules Michelet, Franz-Josef Mone and Karl Ernst Jarcke…
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Woman Soul; Woman Spirit
(Photo by Mor Shani on Unsplash) There is a book that I carry with my in my bag wherever I go. It’s called “Mother Wit, A Feminist Guide to Psychic Development (subtitle: Exercises for Healing, Growth and Spiritual Awareness). It was written by Diane Mariechild in the early 1980’s. I am not exactly sure why I carry it as I have read it a couple of times. It does seem to be easy to pick up and read while waiting — in a doctor’s office, in a parking lot, etc. I’ve done most of the exercises within the book, some of which were familiar to me from two decades of…