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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…

This month’s Bardic Song is called “Mabon Song”. It is a simple tune that has 4 lines for easier repetition and the melody line is rather easy. I wrote this song to instill balancing energy. As you read it for chanting or singing, the words of the Song illicit an idea of finding balance, because the time of the year is also of balance astrologically. Typically written in a minor key, Pagan Songs have always grasped a sense of spirituality for me, which shows in my music as well. When I am writing Ritual, I always try to include something Bardic, whether it’s chanting, singing or a story to be told or a…

Rafea Anad   I first “met” Rafea Anad on a PBS TV show called Solar Mamas, one of a series of programs collectively entitled Why Poverty? She was thirty-two years old at the time, with four daughters (a fifth came along a bit later.) She is a Bedouin and lived in a traditional tent in the middle of the Jordanian desert, close to the Iraqi border. Her village was said to be one of the poorest of all the desert villages in Jordan. Rafea Anad was given the opportunity to travel to India, to the Barefoot College, to learn to be a solar engineer. This college, the brainchild of entrepreneur…

Tom Swiss: Why Buddha Touched the Earth     Tom Swiss has been a practicing Pagan since 1990, and a student of Asian culture through the lens of traditional martial and healing arts since 1985. He is a karate student and instructor He holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, and has a keen interest in how technological changes affect societies.   Shadowdancer:  How challenging was the research for Why Buddha Touched the Earth? Tom:  I hadn’t had to do this sort of research since my college days, so it was a challenge to pull out some of those old skills. But the Web made…

Healthy Fall Earrings My goal is to reach my 103rd birthday in the far future. But to achieve that in the best possible condition and state of mind needs some serious groundwork. One aspect of it is nurturing myself with healing and empowering, all natural essential oils. I have gone one step further than just lighting up an aromalamp at home; I wear them in my earrings. I created the idea of aromatherapy earrings nearly a year ago, and am totally hooked on it now! I craft the earrings myself, and each model holds a special place for an absorbent material for essential oils. You simply add one drop of…

  Ahn’s Anger by Gail Silver and Christiane Krömer   Age Range: 4 – 7 years Grade Level: Preschool – 2 Hardcover: 40 pages Publisher: Plum Blossom Books; First Ed First Printing edition (August 11, 2009) Language: English     Ahn’s Anger gave a face to the emotion that humans have the most difficulty understanding and properly channeling. Watching my three children grow and evolve, I have worked to each one, in their own way, how to recognize their anger, and not act on it or channel it in a destructive manner. This book addresses well this emotion and opens space for this conversation to take place with even the youngest of…

Uranus still Retrograde in Aries – 15 degrees Uranus is that Planet that hates to be confined. It is known as the “break out” Planet for that reason. When retrograde, Uranus can be responsible, more traditional and relaxed. As Uranus goes retrograde in Aries, there is a feeling of enthusiasm and courage to take responsibility. It is not a time to worry about what others think about you. Do your own thing at your own pace and life will be grand. Uranus goes direct Dec 21 in Aries – 12 degrees.     Neptune still Retrograde in Pisces – 6 degrees Ah, the simple pleasures of seeing more clearly. The…

Lapis   Helps you to understand the mind.  Expands your viewpoint.  It is good for connecting the heart and the mind when worn over the heart.  It purifies and heals.  Worn in ancient Mesopotamia, Persia, and India to cure fever and prevent misfortune, melancholy, and insomnia.  In meditation it opens the brow.   Higher guidance, intuition, connection to higher self, overview, decisions for good of all.  Organizes and quiets the mind.  Opens the throat/Thyroid.  Good for Self expression, writing, creativity, dream insight, Anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, autism, shyness, nervous system, MS, speech, hearing, pituitary, DNA, lymph, inflammation, pain (especially head), and protection.  This great mineral provides mental calming while providing strength of…

The Healing Blanket When my grandma heard that her sister, my great aunt, was ill, she packed up a few things and taking me in tow we headed for my great aunt and uncles ranch. I must have been around six at the time. I remember now, how the living room always smelled of wood smoke and cherry pipe tobacco. The woodstove was opposite the front door and in the middle of the room was a large oval braided rug that my great aunt had made. As a kid, I could sit there for hours tracing the spiral pattern of the rug. My great aunt and uncle’s bed room was…