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Venus enters Cancer Sunday, June 2, 2013 – 9:56 pm EDT Love is blissful when Venus enters Cancer. There is deep concern and caring between partners. Love making is true to heart and offers emotional connections. Until Venus exits Cancer, be passionate and compassionate with your partner and the benefits will astound you.   Neptune goes Retrograde – Pisces at 5 degrees Thursday, June 7, 2013 – 8:45 am EDT The “Pink Fog Machine” normally keeps us from seeing the truth clearly, because Neptune can askew our vision. When retrograde, Neptune can see things more clearly, like the fog has been lifted, for a short time. It helps you to…

I’d like to begin this month’s column by saying thank you for the warm welcome I received last month, and also for the wonderful suggestions. I’m delighted that so many PaganPages readers are open to the idea of an exploration of faith that is going to move outside of traditional Pagan boundaries. About midway through May I began my project. Rather than jump right into to my search with a heavy theological tome or holy book, I decided to start with something a bit lighter, a spiritual biography of a sort entitled Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine. In it, Eric Weiner, a self-described “gastronomic Jew” decides to…

Last time, we talked about the Nine of Cups, a lovely card of possible emotional fulfillment.  If you haven’t read the last column, please take a moment to do so before continuing.  This time, let’s look at the Nine of Cups in a different way; let’s reverse it.   Not every Tarot Reader reads reversals, and some decks, such as the Shadowscapes Tarot, are not set up for reversed interpretations.  But most Tarot decks allow for reversals, and in fact, reversals can add depth and texture to a reading.  However, a reversed card does not always present itself in a manner that facilitates easy interpretation.  Like the Tarot in general,…

An Assembly of Sorcerers “There ye shall assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, and to these shall I teach things that are as yet unknown.” (1) If you search on the internet for Witchcraft twenty-five and a half million sites come up! If you had the time to read them all, do you think that you would learn the secrets of the Goddess, also called “Sorcery“? Would those internet addresses reveal spells that would bring you love, wealth, health, immortality, riches, power and more? What is Sorcery? Here’s the secret (the unknown): Sorcery is power; power to do whatever you want. A funny thing happened and I…

Only A Matter of Time The concept of time has always been an intriguing topic. Humans have always tried to find a way to manipulate it, reverse it or fast forward it, just to relive, or forget certain experiences. Sometimes the clock reveals so much more than just the time of day or evening. There are so many superstitions surrounding time. Its 11:11 make a wish, or how many stories do we remember where something magical or terrifying was going to happen right at midnight also known as the witching hour. Great pieces of literature such as The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Macbeth mention The Witching hour. Usually this…

Neil Gaiman told me to be a dandelion. My daughter went to hear Neil speak, and she asked him to inscribe a book for me.  “Buzzy,” he wrote, “be a dandelion!” (Buzzy is my nickname.) I asked my daughter what Neil meant by that. She gave me a convoluted response about caring less about making money and replicating the species than sending seeds of creativity out into the world. This was amusing information, coming from a daughter whose college tuition requires payment so she is eligible to see Neil Gaiman speak at her school. Silly me, for replicating the species. However, I am blissfully happy to be a dandelion. Gladly,…

    A Meditation on Oneness   It’s easy to say that we are one, and easy to believe it intellectually.  This meditation is for helping us experience that oneness.   To begin, I’m going to tell you a story.   Last week I had to fly on a plane for the first time in 18 years.  While I was sitting in my window seat, looking at my home state through the haze of turquoise sky, I felt my awareness expand the way it does in meditation and trance.  I looked at the people on the plane with me.  I listened to their voices, their laughter, their breath, and in…

Deosil (pronounced jesh’l) or clockwise or sunwise follows the Sun’s path, at least in the northern hemisphere.  Tuathal or widdershins or counter-clockwise pertains to the Earth, as the Hopis teach.  Both directions are sacred but have different meanings and functions. When witches wish to make something, they cast a spell while circling deosil.  If they want to unmake, they circle tuathal.  Deosil is for raising the cone of power; tuathal is for delving the reverse cone of power.  The cone of power raises power from the depths of the Earth, including the depths in each Witch, and sends it through the zenith (or ‘Height’) of the circle out into the…

I bask in the warmth of the Sun’s pure rays and receive all the gifts it bestows.   Ah, summer is upon us and the beautiful month of June brings our wheel of the year to Solstice!  The bounty of summer is all around us and it is a joy to move through the long days.   Flowers, fruit, birds and bugs flourish during June bringing their gifts to our senses.  It seems easy to feel gratitude at this time of year.  It is our turn to give to nature through gardening and bird care.  Whether planting a garden, tending to flowers, building bird houses and feeders or sitting outside…

I started practicing Paganism as a solitary practitioner in 2010.   In that short time my life has changed quite a bit and I’ve learned more than I thought there was to know. From reading books to meeting people, I’ve had the opportunity to see the world through new eyes. It has been an amazing experience, and I know it’s just the beginning.   But it hasn’t been all roses.   Most people on this path know how difficult being a new Pagan can be. The overwhelming differences in belief systems, the stigma we face from others that don’t take the time to understand us, finding books at libraries and…