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Plant Spirit Medicine in Shamanic Practice
What’s in the Brew? Scientist: Mescaline. Shaman: God. Shamans…believe that the information given to us… by other teacher plants or in non-ordinary states such as dreams and meditations is as valid (or more so) than that received from ordinary perception and thought. Furthermore, such information is given to us to be used in daily life not to be ignored, denied, or seen as lacking in merit or purpose. To deny our dreams, after all, is to deny a large part of our human and spiritual experience. Thus, for San Pedro shamans, the visions and insights gained from the plant are there to inform our everyday behavior in the ‘real world’…
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Book Review – The Weiser Book of Occult Detectives: 13 Stories of Supernatural Sleuthing, Edited & Introduced by Judika Illes
Book Review The Weiser Book of Occult Detectives 13 Stories of Supernatural Sleuthing Edited & Introduced by Judika Illes 320 Pages I confess, when I first heard about this book, I thought it was a book about true crime – stories in which crimes had been solved by calling in psychics and other occult professionals. But The Weiser Book of Occult Detectives: 13 Stories of Supernatural Sleuthing is a book of short stories – thirteen of the greatest detective stories ever written. Collected, edited and introduced by Judika Illes, they are an entertaining read for any fan of ghost stories, detective stories or just well-written prose. In the…
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Book Review – Magic Medicine: A Trip Through the Intoxicating History and Modern-Day Use of Psychedelic Plants and Substances by Cody Johnson
Book ReviewMagic MedicineA Trip Through the Intoxicating History and Modern-Day Use of Psychedelic Plants and Substancesby Cody Johnson323 pp Cody Johnson’s “Magic Medicine” lives up to its subtitle, “A trip through the intoxicating history and modern-day use of psychedelic plants and substances.” More politics, history, and anecdote than chemistry or medicine, this book contains twenty-three chapters which profile a diverse number of substances: the 2C-B and the 2C family, 5-MEO-DMT, Ayahuasca, DMT, DOM and the DOX family, LSD, Morning glory, Peyote, Psilocybin mushrooms, San Pedro, Yopo and Vilma beans, MDA, MDMA, DXM, Ketamine, Nitrous Oxide, Salvia, Amanita Muscaria, Cannabis, Dipt, fish and sea sponges, Iboga, and Mad Honey. Over…
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Book Review – The Last Priestess of Malia by Laura Perry
Book Review The Last Priestess of Malia by Laura Perry 520 pages I’ve read some of Laura’s other works before, such as her fascinating work on Minoan spirituality. I’d also very much enjoyed her ghost-love story, The Bed, which is a fantastic example of “Witch Lit”, an exciting genre of magical writing. The Last Priestess of Malia is on a completely different level. I feel like Laura has emerged as an incredible world-builder. She’s created a fascinating insight into what the Minoan culture may have been like, allowing the reader to fully immerse themselves in that world. Aria is a dedicated child of the temple, a priestess whose…
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Book Review – Revolutionary Witchcraft: A Guide To Magical Activism by Sarah Lyons
Book Review Revolutionary Witchcraft: A Guide To Magical Activism by Sarah Lyons 158 Pages “This is a book about magic, politics, and how we can change the world when we blend the two together,” activist and practicing witch Sarah Lyons writes in the introduction to her book, “Revolutionary Witchcraft: A Guide To Magical Activism.” What many refer to as energy, prana or the Force, Lyons likes to call power, noting “politics is about power.” Magic has always been used to channel the power of desperation, pain and rage by people with no other means to achieve justice. And because “[w]itches get their power from a connection with the…
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Oracle Deck Review – Sacred Geometry of Relationships Deck by LON
Oracle Deck Review Sacred Geometry of Relationships Deck by LON The Sacred Geometry of Relationships Oracle is an Oracle deck created by Nautilus Award-winning quantum artist and author LON, and published in 2019 by Beyond Words, 8427 N.E. Cornell Road, Suite 500, Hillsboro, Oregon. LON was born and raised in Holland, attended art school there, and worked in advertising and graphic arts. She discovered crop circles in the early 1990’s and was inspired to begin a 20+ year journey that combined the study of sacred geometry and her creative and artistic abilities, culminating in this Oracle deck. The Oracle comes in a nice sturdy cardboard box just over…
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Oracle Deck Review – Arcane Bullshit Fortune-Telling Deck by Evan Doherty
Oracle Deck ReviewArcane Bullshit Fortune-Telling Deck by Evan Doherty Arriving in time to save us from the disappearance of Mad Magazine, the Arcane Bullshit Fortune-Telling Deck is a self-published fortune-telling deck, created by Evan Doherty and funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign. Doherty feels that the tarot world takes itself way to seriously, and that the occult should be less about rules and formalities and way more about creativity and dick jokes. After getting my hands on this beautifully crafted deck and working with the cards, I tend to agree with him. The deck consists of 105 cards, and yes, there are no suits and no Major and Minor Arcana…
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Interview with Reanna of Woodland Wand Creation
Bright Blessings! Last month, I got to review a great wand by Lady Reanna Shellenbarger of Woodland Wand Creation, and this month, I lucked into an interview! Here is the link to my review if you did not have a chance to read it yet! Read on to learn more about this amazing artist and creatrix, and her sacred, beautiful wands! On their Facebook page, it says: “Welcome friends to my store called Woodland Wand Creation. A magical place of semiprecious stones & enchanting wood from the magical forest. All to make amazing Wands. All work is unique artwork. No two are the same. I work within the respect to…
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MagickalArts
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…
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Excerpt from A Modern Celt: Seeking the Ancestors
Dagda: Good God of the Club and Cauldron There was a famous king of Ireland of the race of the Tuatha Dé, Eochaid Ollathair his name. He was also named the Dagda i.e. good god, for it was he that used to work wonders for them and control the weather and the crops. Wherefore men said he was called the Dagda. (5) Here is a figure that has multiple faces, although the most obvious is of the fierce warrior, with his enormous club that could kill nine men in one blow. The other side of this coin is he could also revive the mortally wounded with the handle of this…