Dakini (Photo Credit: The Divine Feminine Oracle Deck by Meggan Watterson – Photo by Susan Morgaine) Female, Powerful. Supernatural. Wisdom. Enlightenment. The Dakini are beyond intelligence; they are the embodiment of female wisdom and enlightenment. Dakini, translated, means “sky dancer”. They are seen as the attendants of Kali. Like Her, they can be vengeful and protective. The Dakini can be unruly; they make their own rules and love their freedom. They can appear as intense or nurturing as they represent energy in in all of it’s ever-changing forms. Their resemblance to Kali is seen within the garland of skulls that they wear. She/they is also seen carrying a vessel of…

By the time you read this I will have had my first spot on British national radio. Specifically, the Beyond Belief radio show for BBC Radio 4. American readers, you may be able to get this online! The show was about the religious and spiritual significance of trees, from the perspective of different faiths. I was one of three experts recruited to debate and discuss the topic. So, how did this come about? Well, I was lucky enough that one of my esteemed colleagues from the Pagan Federation pointed me in the direction of a particular post on Facebook. It was from the Arboricultural Association, a British organisation dedicated to…

No-One’s God is “Wrong”Or “My Goddess is More True Than Yours” (Photo by Clarke Sanders on Unsplash) I am not going to be naming and shaming but I read a blog this week that caught my ire. It stuck in my teeth and I chewed it and chewed it trying to figure out exactly why it pissed me off so much. This person decided to “speak for her Goddess” (really?) about how “wrong” everyone was about her quite popular Deity. This sort of stuff is very bad for my blood pressure so I’ll be brief. The main cut and thrust of her “argument” was that deep in the annals of…

Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times For August 2019 Bright Blessings! Lughnasadh is upon us, and is it ever hot! We are due to have heat advisories the next two, possibly three days in my town, and the dog is displeased with how short of a distance I allow her for walks. Exacerbating that is the fact they decided to pour asphalt on our street, so I don’t even want to go outside at all. I spend a lot of time outdoors but truthfully, I don’t remember ever having the issues with heat that I have this year. Have I ever changed! I can remember I thought my mother…

Knowing the Elements in the Turning of the Wheel Meditation is a strong tool in connecting and bonding with the Elements. However, not every one is adept at reaching the deep meditative states that can lead to a successful outcome. There are other avenues that can be explored with equal success, if you are unable to attain deep meditative states. These other avenues also serve to awaken and unlock the creative and artistic abilities in all of us. When I first began actively walking my Path, I felt a pull toward the Elements. I wanted to embrace and incorporate them in my workings, but twenty years ago, scant little was…

The Light and Dark Halves of the Goddess As a light worker, I do self-healing meditations every morning and evening, a simple energetic process to turn ancient fears from my fall from heaven-to-earth into love. And for about 20 years now, I’ve been healing an old, old archetype that creates cancer, diseases of all kinds, starvation, death, and mainly control. My druid guides call her Isle (ishla, meaning mean-ness in Gaelic). But she lives on the dragon star, an Egyptian culture, and most people know her as Isis, the dark half of the goddess. I’ve had all manner of memories of past Egyptian lifetimes, similar Atlantean ones, too, in which…

Creating Sacred Space The Experience of Sacred Space makes possible the “founding of the world”:where the sacred Manifests itself in space, the real unveils itself,and the world comes into existence… Mircea Eliade … What is Sacred Space? Read and re-read the quote above. Take it into your space of meditation. Analyze, dissect and observe it from all angles, perspectives and meaning. Try to feel the weight and breath of its meaning and allow the words to gently wash over you. Digest it and then simply sit with the feeling of satiety its inner essence provides. And, once you have done these things, redo them, one by one. Therein you will…

Notes from the Apothecary: Yarrow One of my favourite wild plants, yarrow is found right across North America, Europe and even as far east as China. The feathery leaves give way to clusters of beautiful, tiny flowers that are loved by bees and other pollinators. Most commonly they are cream or white, but there are many coloured varieties too, including some incredible bright red species that are currently adorning my local park. The plant’s formal name is achillea millefolium. The first part refers to the association with Achilles, who was taught by the centaur Chiron to use the herb to staunch the bleeding of his soldiers. The second part refers…

*The Hedgewitch lives in the space between the Village and the Forest. Between the mundane and the magical. S/He lives with a foot in both worlds. This column is dedicated to the Hedgewitches of the planet earth. The Time of Balance Shifts to Darkness: Embracing The Crone In every season, there are lessons for we observant humans. In the spring we have rebirth and renewal. The lesson of the Maiden. In the Summer hard work, followed by abundance and plenty. Lessons of the Mother. In the Fall we have dying back; the inevitable and necessary death which must come to all living things. But, also, the promise of another cycle…