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Deadheads Merry meet! Sales have been going on for weeks, discounting Halloween merchandise and making it possible to stock up on items you can use not just at Samhain, but perhaps throughout the year. One of my favorite decorations, however, costs nothing. Samhain is the final of the three harvest festivals as well as the pagan “New Year’s Eve.” For me, it has always been a solemn time acknowledging that there is no more bounty as the earth shuts down and readies for the deepest darkness, and a quiet time of honoring the ancestors. Since I celebrate the first two harvests with what my garden has to offer, I do…

We usually think the main goal of the game of chess is to “win.” There is a winner and a looser. This has also become the illusion of the “game of life.” If we follow the present societal map that exists all around us on a daily basis, we are told that we must play to win if we wish to be successful. We have lived in a greed based patriarchal society for so long now, with this constant internal battle ingrained so deeply within us. We have forgotten that the true purpose of the game of life is our own Self realization as sovereign beings, which entails understanding our…

The art of Pathworking Many people confuse pathworkings with guided meditations as they become more involved in developing their spiritual practice. The two may seem to describe the same practice, simply with different nomenclature, but when you have a better understanding of what the effects and goals of each are, the differences become more discernible and more apparent. I write a lot of pathworkings and usually incorporate them in my workshops and articles as I can. For years I used guided meditations to relax and reaffirm myself or simply as a way to deepen my ability to remain open and receptive to new information. This was enfolded as part of other…

Table for 2 A common pagan ritual at Samhain is to honor the dead with a Dumb Supper. (Here, dumb means without speaking.)  By casting a circle, smudging or some other method, bring the dining area into sacred space. The table will have been set for two – all in black. One chair is for you and one is for the ancestors. You can drape or otherwise decorate the chair your guests will use, if you wish. Have pictures of your ancestors on the table. Objects that belonged to them may also be put out.  Light one or more candles on the table, and if possible, have them be your…

A while back, I advertised my services for teaching witchcraft on the Witchvox site. I maintain contact with a coven in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but for a number of years I have been a solitary. Currently I live in Norway, a retired witchcraft elder. The witchcraft I teach is the tradition my HPS, Wendy, and I have developed over the years. As she is still active as high priestess of the coven we founded, our approaches have somewhat diverged, though I think we still agree on most issues. At this time I have three active students. One is in Norway, and I see her in person from time to time.…

Welcome to the September Issue of PaganPages.   As we enter into fall we wanted you to have a packed issue to read.  In this issue you will find all your Mabon Correspondence needs.  as well as…   An Interview with Author Tom Swiss   A Featured article on Gavin and Yvonne Frost entitled The Frosts and Consent Culture by Shauna Aura Knight   A Book Review and Craft for the Children’s Book Ahn’s Anger by Gail Silver and Christiane Krömer   Child star Tom North discusses with us trauma from his past and how Meditation has helped him overcome.     We are also proud to introduce our New…

Lord Of The Woodlands Dawn brings a cold grey light beneath a moody sky that does not seem to greet the day with joy. A sleepless night is followed by a solitary walk. I long for peace,- but expectations are not high. The glistening grass has soaked my feet, and chilled me to the bone. I curse myself for such a choice of routes, but still I’m grateful for this time alone. The woodlands beckon me with sheltered paths beneath it’s softly sighing trees. Perhaps in such a sheltered grove My aching mind may find some ease. So I wandered in that twilight world that held the dawn at bay,…

  Applesauce Merry Meet. For the last seven years, I have celebrated Mabon by gathering for a weekend in sacred space with an ever-growing circle of Goddesswomen. I wanted to share something that has become a traditional craft – making applesauce. The apple is one of Mabon’s symbols. It represent the Crone and the harvest. The apple has also been a symbol for life, immortality, healing, wholeness and renewal. For witches, it contains a “secret.” When you turn an apple on its side and cut it open, it reveals a pentagram containing five seeds that stand for the elements and the directions. Apples are a fruit which gives life, but…

Divining With Dice I have a small Crown Royal Bag that I carry with me everywhere I go. In it is a deck of Rider-Waite Tarot Cards, a white quartz crystal, a rosary and a set of dice. I have a folded piece of paper with seventeen divinatory meanings written on it – from two to eighteen – representing the various ways the dice can fall after being thrown. I copied these from Sasha Fenton’s The Fortune-Teller’s Workbook. Fenton calls this “The Simplest Method” and “the oldest method of reading dice.” (Fenton, 78) They follow along the basic lines of numerology – twos are partnership, fives are strife, tens are…

“So You Want to be a Bad Apple”   Most people are familiar with the expression that one bad apple can ruin the barrel. This same principle can be applied to people. It’s seen all the time in work situations, or social situations. All it takes is one person to turn a decent job into a nightmare or a fun social occasion into an ordeal. While I have seen situations in these areas, this article is about the bad apple at Festival and how to be one. First, a pompous name is good. Try for something like Lady Fluffyfairy Twinkletoes Extraordinaire or Lord Mighty Thor’s Son on Earth. You get…