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As I was considering what to write for this column this month, I thought there was so much to choose from: the @MeToo phenomonen, more political attacks against reproductive freedom and women’s agency, attacks on LGBTQ, attacks on our Mother Earth, and so much more……you get the picture, I am sure. But then I came across this, and it said in a few words what I probably would have written in two pages. This is short, sweet and simple, and yet gets the message across. *** About the Author: Susan Morgaine is a Daughter of the Goddess, Witch, Writer, Teacher, Healer, and Yogini. She is a monthly columnist with PaganPages.org Her writings can be found in The…

  *’Knackered’ is a British slang term meaning ‘extremely tired’, in this context anyway.   Put away the crackers, Can’t you see I’m knackered*? Too many ‘small’ sherries So many Holly berries! It isn’t Solstice any more So clear the fake snow off the floor Sweep the hearth and lock the door. No more carols, no more knocks; No more callers: check the locks! Pull down festive Solstice Socks. But leave the ivy, leave the oak Leave the promises we spoke To truly honour Sol’s return To let the midnight fires burn To cherish love and cherish hope Even though right now I just can’t cope With sales and queues…

The Awakened Dreamer: How to Remember & Interpret Your Dreams Author: Kala Ambrose Publisher: Llewellyn Publications Copyright: 2017 241 Pages “The Awakened Dreamer” is the second book by Ms. Ambrose that I have read. “Spirits of New Orleans: Voodoo Curses, Vampire Legends, and Cities of the Dead,” was the first book by Ms. Ambrose that I read. (I got that book before returning to New Orleans for my husband and my 5th anniversary. We used her book as a tour guide.) Her writing style is very personal. She loves to share her stories with you, the reader. I like that about her. Ms. Ambrose is an excellent writer; she is…

(Calliope 1) This is the second posting of the (en)LIV(en)ING with the Muses Series The Muse, Calliope is the oldest of the Muses and according to the Theogony of Hesiod was foremost of the muses. Holding this preeminence, suggested her creative gifts were many with specific association with music and song and is often depicted playing the harp in early art work. In many mythological tales, Calliope is the mother of the Bard and player of the lyre, Orpheus. Calliope’s gifts of eloquence and music moved through her child Orpheus, considered to be the greatest musician and poet of Greek mythology having the ability to stir the emotions of God and man,…

When I was at my hungriest for a teacher one did not magically appear with the answers I wanted to know. Well not in the way I expected. In hindsight I had many teachers. I was passionate, curious and worked hard to understand. I picked up two practices from two different authors that served me very well. One was to question. “The right question is a key.” The other said “do the work, the rest will come, have faith.” Through my work with spirit in my teens I had already been in a teaching position and I seemed to gather students, or at least people who wanted me to teach…

Happy New Year and Happy Carmentalia! Carmentalia is two separate feast dates honouring the Roman goddess Carmenta. It is said that she could see back in the past as well as forward into the future at the same time, and her history is rife with protests and standing ones ground. At one point the Roman Senate denied certain privileges to women during the Second Punic War but didn’t immediately reinstate those privileges once the war had ended. As a mass of people started to grow to discuss and argue about this inequality, women from all over the countryside joined in, first gathering in the Carmentis gardens at the foot of…

Petrified Wood Also known as Agatized or Fossilized Wood, Petrified wood in all actuality is Quartz and possesses some wonderful healing energies. Once rooted deep within the earth, these crystalline structures have a strong Gaia connection plus grounding and ancestral healing energies. Additional attributes that I have felt from working with these crystals is a fortified strength and a type of wisdom that can only come from something that was and is so deeply connected to the Earth. This peaceful stone is especially good to work with when you have inner turbulence and need to regain or re-establish some inner peace and balance. Since my dad was a rockhound, Petrified…

La Befana   (LA BEFANA. Magic stocking from BEFANA. By incantevolemerletto shop.)   Merry meet. While my mother’s parents were from Sicily, it was not until recently I learned of La Befana, Italy’s oldest and most celebrated legend – about a witch. In Italian folklore, she is an old woman with warts on her crooked nose, wearing a skirt and a black shawl, who flies around on her broom, delivering candy to well-behaved children. In Russia she is known as Baboushka. Children await Babbo Natale on Christmas Eve, but the red-suited man is new compared to the story of the old woman who was too busy cleaning to join the…

“Tree Medicine, Tree Magic” by Ellen Evert Hopman Published by Pendraig Publishing Inc. Published: 2017 Pages: 245 This second edition is updated and revised from the original published in 1992 by Ellen Evert Hopman, a master herbalist, lay homeopath and founding member of The Order of the White Oak. She is currently archdruid of the Tribe of the Oak, a teaching grove for Druids. She holds an M.Ed. in mental health counseling. For each of the 19 trees, she includes an illustration; describes their physical characteristics; gives their practical, herbal and magical uses; and provides Druid insights and recipes. Information for each tree takes up about 10 pages; quotes and…

  I am writing this article on Boxing Day or Annandag Jul in Swedish (our family is in Sweden). I always pay close attention to dreams and my dreams last night were full of children. I am wearing a warm furry silver cloak and walking around a forest. There is a spectacular night sky overhead. The stars are reflected by the ice crystals trapped in my cloak meaning that I myself am sparkling with star light (not unlike a Christmas tree!) I am Mother Winter! All around me child spirits are darting around and playing in trees: luminous, joyful but also “ghostly”, as-yet-unborn. I open my cloak and give them…