PaganPages.org

Interview with Supporters of the Water Protectors How their visit to Standing Rock changed them (Diane Hasz and Debra Cohen prepare to leave Connecticut with a car packed with donations in November.) Diane Hasz, 70, and Debra Cohen, 65, met as Occupy activists and became friends, coven sisters, Bernie Sanders campaigners and, most recently, supporters who visited Standing Rock in November. People support Standing Rock for a number of reasons; indigenous rights, thwarting a militarized police force, social justice and others but in the end we all have one thing in common, both women agreed, saying, “We are all connected. Everyone is downstream from one water source or another. Mni…

Melusine Draco: Author, Teacher and Witch     Melusine Draco is a very prolific author, with titles ranging from Pagan Portals: Pan to Starchild I: The rediscovery of stellar wisdom. Melusine talked to Mabh at Pagan Pages about her writing, her teaching and other mysteries. Mabh Savage: Why are some of your books under the name Suzanne Ruthven and some under Melusine Draco? Melusine Draco: For many years the ‘day job’ was working as a creative writing tutor, author and editor of a creative writing magazine. In order to keep the persona different from my esoteric writing there had to be a different name for readers to identify with. I’ve…

GoodGod! Meet the Gods: Februus (Image by Samantha Sullivan) Merry meet. February is named for Februus, the Roman God of Purification. He lived in the underworld and became known as the King of the Underworld, but then his name became so intertwined with Pluto, eventually it became another name for Pluto, the God of the Underworld who judged the dead. (The Greek called him Hades. He is the one who abducted Persephone.) According Wikipedia, “He was also worshipped under the same name by the Etruscans as the god of purification, and also the underworld. For the Etruscans, Februus was also the god of riches (money/gold) and death, both connected to…

The Blackbird: Piper at the Gates of Dawn   mage Credit: Manfred Schulenburg via Wikimedia Commons. Lon Dubh in gaelic, the blackbird is one of the most liminal birds I have ever encountered. It sings at dawn and dusk, the miniature master of the times of transformation. I have always seen it as the guardian of boundaries; it sings only when things are about to change, to mark the edges of time and space. It was no surprise for me to discover, then, that the Celts associated the blackbird with death and rebirth. Rhiannon, a Celtic goddess or otherworldly being who features in the Welsh Mabinogi, is connected to three…

Lilith and the Dark of the Moon     The Moon wanes towards its Full Light on February 10th and the opportunity is ripe to reach out to the potency of this energy and claim the light of your own fullness. As the Goddess completes her lunar transformation she blankets her radiance in a knowledge that is deep in its interior reach within the very core of who we believe ourselves to be. Although, we often speak of the discomfort of standing naked and vulnerable in the brilliance of light’s examination what is overlooked is the ability to hide within that light and make excuse for why we are not self-aware.…

  February 1, 2 Other Names: Imbolg (im-molc)(em-bowl’g) (Celtic), Candlemas (Christian), Brigantia (Caledonii), Oimelc, Festival of Light, Brigid’s (Brid, Bride) Day, La Fheill, An Fheille Bride, Candelaria (Mexico), Chinese New Year, Disting-tid (Feb 14th, Teutonic), DisaBlot, Anagantios, Lupercalia/Lupercus (Strega), Groundhog Day, Valentines Day. Animals & Mythical Beings: Firebird, dragon, groundhog, deer, burrowing animals, ewes, robin, sheep, lamb, other creatures waking from hibernation. Gemstones: Amethyst, garnet, onyx, turquoise. Incense/Oil: Jasmine, rosemary, frankincense, cinnamon, neroli, musk, olive, sweet pea, basil, myrrh, and wisteria, apricot, carnation. Colors/Candles: Brown, pink, red, orange, white, lavender, pale yellow, silver. Tools,Symbols, & Decorations: White flowers, marigolds, plum blossoms, daffodils, Brigid wheel, Brigid’s cross, candles, grain/seed for blessing,…

divination with runes   Runes are something in which I have just recently been gaining an interest. Recently – as in, the last six months. Before that time, I was busy with other forms of divination – mostly the Tarot – and number-based divinatory systems. Systems that basically worked together. When I first started learning about women’s spirituality, wicca, witchcraft, and goddess religions in the late 1980’s, I naturally read books about divination. I read everything I could! I received my first deck of Tarot cards in 1988 – as a gift from a friend – and took to the Tarot right away. Although I was interested in other forms…

The Love of Chocolate Dark and delicious, almost everyone loves chocolate. This little bean is not only tasty but also quite magickal. It has a long history of use throughout several countries and cultures. Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao tree, discovered over 3,000 years ago in the rain forests of Central America. Originally it was used as an alcoholic beverage. Prized by Ancient Mayan societies, Chocolate from the very beginning was an integral part of rites and rituals. The Mayans has uncovered a way to cultivate the beans. Next they dried, roasted and ground them into a paste. This was then combined with chili peppers and…

  (Page of Swords Tarot Card from the artist Ciro Marchetti http://www.ciromarchetti.com/)**   Let’s cement what we learned last month when we talked about the King of Swords, by examining another Tarot “royal” of the suit of Swords, the Page of Swords. This will be the first time we talk about the Pages, so first a review of some basic information. A Tarot deck has 78 cards. There are 22 Major Arcana cards, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that are easy for us to identify with and connect with at some point in our lives. There are…

The Best Oatmeal Bars in the World!!!!!   I love oatmeal cookies. I do confess though – I do not particularly like oatmeal-raisin cookies. Raisins are OK but I would rather use dried cranberries or cherries. Right now, I am totally and completely in love with dried cherries. An herbalist friend of mine suggested that I eat them to help ease my arthritis and a month ago, I happened to get a big bag of them at one of Lowell’s very generous food pantries. So naturally, I decided I would put them into some cookies. Well – if you’re going to have cherries, you just have to have chocolate, don’t…