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Vinayaki This Goddess makes me so very happy. Finding her started last Yule when my husband gave me a statue of Ganesha. I was surprised because my spirituality is Goddess-based only. I placed him amongst my Hindu Goddesses. A couple of months later, looking at Him, it occurred to me that there just HAD to be an elephant-headed Hindu Goddess. Frantic research ensued, and voila……I give you Vinayaki. (Photo Credit: exoticindiaart.com) Little is found in Hindu scriptures about Vinayaki and just a few images exist of Her. She is most generally associated, of course, with Ganesha and is assumed to be his Shakti. She is also said to be the…

Rose Quartz   Soft pink in color, Rose Quartz has a way of inviting you into its loving aura. It’s obviously a therapeutic stone for the heart chakra but really this crystal has the ability to harmonize with all of the chakras. Each chakra resonates with the loving energy that flows from Rose Quartz, gently drawing off any negative energy and replacing it with loving vibes. Rose Quartz is undoubtedly a powerful crystal with the purist love energy. You’ve probably heard or have been told to add a piece of Rose Quartz to your bedroom nightstand to revitalize your relationship, this is great but can also be overwhelming. If the…

When I was doing an online course about magic in the Middle ages, a question was posed: How does magical thought differ today, from that in the Middle Ages? One thing that magic in the Middle Ages and magic today has in common is that it is always a form of transformation. The sick are healed; the weather is changed; a shapeshifter moves silently through the night; a lover changes his/her mind. The main difference that I can see is that there was so little understood about the world in the Middle Ages, almost everything could be seen as a magical act. A woman who used Willow bark to ease…

  “Active Kindness” Apparel Line is Clothing with a Cause, Benefits Teen Anti-Bullying   Compassion Brands, the first fashion company to launch retail collections that offers real-time help to teens in crisis, and The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc .,  launched their line  of Active Kindness, now available at all Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson’s, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers stores and online, in addition to loveonahanger.com. The new fashion collection incorporates details of its partnering teen crisis center, Teen Line, on all product and packaging, offering kids and teens help in real time as they shop. Compassion Brands and Stony Apparel teamed up to design the stylish Active Kindness t-shirt collection for…

Notes from the Apothecary: Horse Chestnut Conkers! That was always the main appeal for me. This grand, stately tree with its leaves like great hands, giving shade from the summer heat, and shelter on a rainy day, and all we wanted to do was wait until the conkers were falling. We would string them up and smash them together, revelling in this annual autumn battle. I still collect conkers, but they don’t get strung up any more. Rather, they sit on altars, usually at north, as a reminder of the changing season and that great things start small. I have one in my pocket right now, and feeling its smooth,…

One Year Wiser: A Gratitude Journal Mike Medaglia ISBN-13: 978-1910593219 As the calendar year comes to a close and a new witches year begins, you may find yourself thinking about appropriate gifts for friends and loved ones. Some people are easy to please, but some people seem to already “have everything” or at least have no need for more possessions to weigh them down. What to do with those people? Well, what better than a gratitude journal? One Year Wiser is a journal interspersed with reflections by the author on finding balance and gratitude of each moment of each day. Quotes from Kahlil Gibran to Maya Angelou and the Dalai…

 I Rose (from a  Hekate Meditation):  My rose was blue I stepped beneath the arch My rose was gold Or peach Softness incarnate Never crimson Never bold Tentative like my Steps. I rose beneath the arch To meet four faces Framed with snake With sea With sinister teeth With chains With all the keys I need To break free. I rose and took The proffered seaweed Tiny bladders ready To pop with salty sweetness A shoreline promise Of things to come. I rose, hands out Filled with light; Stepping into darkness My rose was black Ashen; withered Suddenly alive again! Gold and glowing Snakebite antidote Starlight flowing I rose; I…

As winter approaches in our hemisphere, there is a tendency to take a little more time for reflection. The sense of wonder and anticipation which Springtime brings to us is long past. For many of us it will begin again after Yule,- when are thoughts are once more drawn to the year ahead. Summer, with all its moots, rituals and events is still a warm memory. Autumn, with its riot of colours and chaotic weather, is slowly slipping into Winter. Opportunities for being out in nature are reduced for many people and modern civilisation tends to loom much larger in our lives. With the coming of Christmas, – western commercialism…

Meet the Gods: Odin Merry meet. “You teach best what you most need to learn.” Reading that in Richard Bach’s 1977 book, “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah,” made me realize a long time ago we are all teachers and we are all students. The women I’ve circled with for nine years honor only the Goddess, so my work with gods has fallen by the wayside. That’s precisely why I volunteered to begin writing a column about gods. Each month I plan to research another one and present a small biography, hopefully leaving some links to additional information. I am partially of German descent, so the first god I…

Anxiety vs Meditation I’m getting back into meditation this month. I’m fortunate enough to be involved with groups of spiritually minded people who are far more organised than I and can arrange structured workings. Without this kick in the butt I struggle to grant myself the time needed to clear and de-clutter my messy mind space. It’s strange, isn’t it, how we can work so much harder for others, than we can work solely for ourselves… Or is that just me?   Anyhoo, I’ve done my first, proper meditation in months and it was wild, intense, and full of vivid imagery that almost immediately led to poetry. This makes me…