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As Above, So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
In the Beginning… The Big Bang itself may be up for debate, but what’s not, is what the universe was made up of in her early moments. In those early moments, the universe was pure energy. According to CERN, The European Organization for Nuclear research, it took the universe (then made of pure energy) about 380,000 years to condense into the first elementary particles, quarks and gluons. Quarks we’re the very first building blocks of matter. The gluons containing the strong nuclear force that holds them together. These atoms were mainly hydrogen and helium, the simplest and most abundant elements in the universe. These atoms formed huge clouds,…
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Dancing Into Summer – Poetry
Pick up your feet Your dancing feet Even if you’re stuck in one place Even if you’re body refuses Or simply can’t Close your eyes Let your thoughts dance Tap tap tapping down the corridors Of your mind Whirling in worlds Of soul and spirit Sending your essence flying high Towards a domed ceiling Candelabras shaking Under the onslaught of joy Dance, dance, dance into summer Heat waves a slave to the beat Solstice imbalance pouring Funk into the shadows Open the windows and Fly, fly out into blue Into fluffy white Into thirsty, hot afternoons And giddy evenings Sing, laugh, love Embrace the chaos that you can And…
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Interview & Book Review – Espiritismo: Puerto Rican Mediumship and Magic by Hector Salva
Interview & Book Review Espiritismo: Puerto Rican Mediumship and Magic by Hector Salva Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser LLC. 242 Pages Publication date: February 1, 2022 Bright Blessings, Readers! I would like to share an exciting new book with you that was written by Hector Salva, and he also goes by Papa Hector. It’s called Espiritismo: Puerto Rican Mediumship and Magic and was published this year, 2022 by Red Wheel/Weiser LLC. The book is a substantial 242 pages and is well written. First, a little about Papa Hector. The book says about him, “Born and raised in a family lineage of brujos (witchdoctors, healers, sorcerers), HECTOR SALVA was raised by…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: The Beech Tree The common beech, or Fagus sylvatica, is a majestically large deciduous tree, native to North America and Europe, and a vital part of the ecosystem thanks to being home and food to many forms of wildlife. There are other beech species, all in the Fagus genus, with some native to Asia, including Fagus japonica, the Japanese blue beech, and Fagus engleriana, the Engler or Chinese beech. In the U.K. where I live, we often see “Copper Beeches”, which have distinct, purple-bronze leaves and look like they’re straight out of a fantasy tale. Interestingly, this isn’t a different species, but a carefully cultivated…
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Road to Runes
Nauthiz – Need and Sacrifice As part of my ongoing journey to understand more about the runes, I’ve decided to go totally random and use a rune generator rather than my physical set of runes. I’ve fallen out with these runes for personal reasons, and I do have another set but I don’t feel like I’m attuned to them yet. As frustrating as this purgatory-like stage is for divination purposes, it’s the ideal opportunity for getting some straight up learning in without questioning my own abilities or biases. The rune generator I’m using is ifate.com which I also chose at random after a quick Google search. This month I’ve…
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Book Review – Healing Plants of Greek Myth by Angela Paine
Book Review Healing Plants of Greek Myth by Angela Paine Published by Moon Books 348 pages Publication date: April 29, 2022 Angela Paine’s Healing Plants of Greek Myth has a wonderfully focused subject area which it sticks to very well: exploring the plants which play roles in ancient Greek mythology, especially those which had medicinal use. It’s useful to note that unknown and potentially fictional plants do not make an appearance here; moly, for example, is not explored at all. The book starts with a detailed introduction to the central deities, heroes, and stories of Greek mythology, as well as a lovely description of the author’s visit to…
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Book Review – Empty Cauldrons: Navigating Depression Through Magic and Ritual by Terence P. Ward
Book Review Empty Cauldrons: Navigating Depression Through Magic and Ritual by Terence P. Ward Publisher: Llewellyn Publications 288 Pages Publication Date: January 8, 2022 It is very difficult for many people who suffer from depression to talk about it. Some can discuss it with friends and family, some reach out to professionals, and the rare few share their journey on social media and other public forums. There is still a lot of stigma attached to depression and many choose to keep their depression a secret out of fear of being stigmatized or to prevent feelings of being further ostracized. Empty Cauldrons is a pagan perspective that takes a…
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Book Review – Brigid’s Light: Tending the Ancestral Flame of the Beloved Celtic Goddess, Edited by Cairelle Crow and Laura Louella
Book Review Brigid’s Light: Tending the Ancestral Flame of the Beloved Celtic Goddess Edited by Cairelle Crow and Laura Louella Published by Weiser Books 256 Pages Published: March 2022 “Brigid is a shapeshifter. As a goddess, she takes many forms: as a woman of various ages from girl to crone, as a serpent, as a pillar of fire, and as a woman with flames emanating from her head. Sometimes she appears as a single being, but she may also take the form of a triplicity, or as three sisters. Brigid seems able to take on the spiritual characteristics most needed and most accessible to her devotees…” ¹ Brigid’s…
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Book and Deck Review – Soulflower: Plant Spirit Oracle by Lisa Estabrook
Book and Deck Review Soulflower: Plant Spirit Oracle by Lisa Estabrook Publisher: Findhorn Press 44 card deck and 176 page guidebook Publication Date: March 29, 2022 “The one big truth that I most wish to share is that we already have, and always have had, everything we need to be happy, to be whole. We are not broke; we are simply disconnected from our hearts and the truth of who we are,” Lisa Estabrook writes in the preface. She had lost her way in the culture of constant action, separation, scarcity, and elusive goals such as success and happiness. To begin listening to her heart and soul again…
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Book Review – Nightside of the Runes: Uthark, Adulruna and the Gothic Cabbala by Thomas Karlsson
Book Review Nightside of the Runes: Uthark, Adulruna and the Gothic Cabbala by Thomas Karlsson, Ph.D. Published by Inner Traditions 288 pages Publication date: February 12, 2019 Nightside of the Runes: Uthark, Adulruna and the Gothic Cabbala is an exploration of esoteric meanings and correspondences of the runes in two parts. In fact, it is actually two books. Each was published separately in German, Swedish and Italian, then published as one volume in the first U.S. edition. Thomas Karlsson lays out the “nightside,” or hidden dimensions of the runes, through the work of Sigurd Agrell, a Swedish runologist and professor of Slavic languages, and Johannes Bureus, a Swedish mystic…
