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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…

As I write this, it is the middle of January, 2017. It is a cold, dreary, overcast day in Massachusetts. A perfect day to journal, to meditate, to contemplate. It is also the week of the inauguration of a president-elect that many, many people feel is repugnant, an insult to the office of President. I must say that I am one of those people. Everything I stand for and believe in runs completely counter to what that man represents. I have been on my spiritual path for four decades; yes, 40 years. I am a daughter of the Goddess. I love my path. I love my Goddess. I love to…

Spiralled Edges – New Beginnings and Imbolc Chaos and Change I had an entire idea for a nice article about Imbolc and how it symbolises new beginnings in our lives. But I’ve torn that all up, in a figurative sense, because of all that is happening around the world in recent weeks. The US has a new president, Great Britain is poised to leave the European Union, and refugees are fleeing yet another war in yet another country. Right now, the whole world is really chaotic, and really rather scary. As human beings, we tend to not like chaos and change. Change can be dangerous our subconscious tells us. People…