PaganPages.org

  Early in my teaching career, I was at a crossroads.  After three years as a public schoolteacher, I wasn’t sure whether I was cut out to be an educator.  I loved the kids and teaching, but it was clear from my run-ins with school administrators and colleagues that I was not on the same wavelength as them.  Even during my practicum work as a university student, I was told by my mentor that she would do everything in her power to make sure I didn’t become a teacher. I was upsetting the applecart with the new education ideas I brought with me into the field. Luckily, my faculty associate…

June 2018 for Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times Bright Blessings. I had a delightful conversation today with a neighbor. This neighbor is one of my buddies. You can find us out front, giggling, gabbing, venting, chatting with other neighbors, and going gaga for the neighborhood dogs together. We became unexpected teammates in gardening four years ago. I had ran out of gardening space on my back patio, and had planted everything I could in my front space, so I begged neighbors at my building to allow me to plant things in their spaces. He was the last one I asked, and he turned out to be the most…

“The Lunar Nomad Oracle: 43 Cards to Unlock Your Creativity and Awaken Your Intuition”   by Shaheen Miro Published by Weiser Books Published: 2018 Pages: 146-page Guidebook + Deck of 43 Cards   In his first deck, Shaheen Miro presents a set of 43 keys that tap into your lunar self and unlock the unfolding mysteries of life. Based on the symbols in the Lenormand deck, he has added more cards as well as more layers of meaning to all the cards. While still serving to understand the mundane circumstances of our daily lives, these cards delve deeper into the creative and intuitive self – the lunar self. The solar…

  Bright Blessings! I am thrilled to be doing a tv show & film review column. I DO sometimes luck into a film review and interview in a current film or book, but this column is different. I will be selecting films and shows that have Pagan, supernatural, sacred, or witchy themes, and doing a review. No interviews involved, and I will be doing reviews of things that are not new releases. How fun is that? For my first review, I selected The Last Witch Hunter, a 2015 film starring Vin Diesel, the immortal Michael Caine, and Elijah Wood.   (The Last Witch Hunter Movie Trailer on YouTube.com.)   Filmed…

  For My Witches in the Wardrobe Being a Witch can be difficult when you have to hide who you are. It makes it a challenge to practice your Religion or Craft. I, myself, am “Out of the Broom Closet.” Now that is a phrase that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The thought that a person has to hide who they are turns my stomach! No matter WHAT it is they are made to feel they need to hide about themselves! But, I understand not everyone has the freedoms I do. No, I am not talking american, I am talking the freedoms of everyday life! It could be…

Browned Butter Blondies The first time I made “Blondies”, I was in fact making Chocolate Chip Cookies and I realized that I didn’t have enough time to bake four pans of twelve cookies on each pan, so I put the cookie dough into a lightly-greased 9×13 pan and a picnic tradition was born. This was many years ago – my son James was just a little guy. I have made many pans of “Blondies” – some with dark chocolate chips, some with white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, some with crushed peanut M&M’s, some with walnuts or pecans or even cashews – the variations are endless. So, I was pleasantly…

I downloaded Spellcaster on January 26, 2018. I started right away doing the daily draw of the cards. Every day I get both, the one card draw and the 3 cards draw. It does seem that it is random. It uses the Rider-Waite deck and the meanings are somewhat standard to what the LWB says for them. So, there is no big surprise there. I did pay for the Rock Guide and the Runes. The Rock Guide has 23 listed rocks, and that has not been updated since I got the app. The Runes are a daily draw or a 3 Runes draw. The meanings are again standard from the…

Dragonfly Merry meet.     With the magic of midsummer comes the magic of dragonflies. Their gossamer wings, narrow body and big eyes make them seem like they come from the Land of Fae I imagined in my youth as being all wee and cute. I have many memories of lazing on the lake on an inner tube or raft and having one or more landing on me, as if finding an island on their long journey over the water. Some would stay for many minutes. Seeing them reminds me of those warm, long days. To hold on to that essence of summer and the solstice – as the cold…

Notes from the Apothecary: The Poppy With colors ranging from a delicate, golden yellow to brash, bold scarlet, the poppy is a self-contained paradox. Powerful, yet delicate and short lived, this evocative flower has been associated with sleep, death and rebirth for many centuries. This connection comes from the fact that opium, a powerful drug used for inducing sleep and trance like states, is derived from the seed pods of one particular kind of poppy, papaver somniferum. It is possible that humans have been cultivating this poppy since 6000 BC. Red poppies are also a symbol of remembrance, ever since the trench warfare that took place in World War One…

Bad Witch Book Review Pagan Portals: The Hedge Druid’s Craft by Joanna Van Der Hoeven   The Hedge: Intersectional Magick   What happens when a witch, a faery worker and druid blend these paths into one? Oddly this has been a question for me and my path for a while. Apparently according to this author her answer was the hedge, the edge of all three spaces. Liminality and the places between are where magick is created, where things are born and die. Finding the place where things meet, end and over-lap is always interesting. This solution of sorts was pleasing to me, if missing something, though I could not say…