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Book Review – Journeys with Plant Spirits by Emma Farrell
Book Review Journeys with Plant Spirits by Emma Farrell Published by Bear & Company 288 pages Publication date: October 26, 2021 In part one of Journeys with Plant Spirits, Emma Farrell delves into several broad spiritual and supernatural topics that are shared by many shamanic traditions, such as healing wounds from past lives and navigating shamanic journeys through the upper, middle, lower, and other worlds. This introduction takes a primarily animistic view of the plant spirits, with a heavy emphasis on using intuitive practices like meditation to connect to the spirits of the plants. While many of these notions are now well-trod traditional pathways of plant spirit medicine…
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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 Review – Cerridwen: Celtic Goddess of Inspiration by Kristoffer Hughes
Book Review Cerridwen: Celtic Goddess of Inspiration by Kristoffer Hughes Published by Llewellyn Publications 336 pages Publication Date: March 8, 2021 Cerridwen, keeper of the cauldron, the “Goddess” of Awen, mother of Taliesin—any modern day pagan would be hard pressed to not have heard her story. But, who is she really? What is her history? How did she become so revered? Luckily, author Kristoffer Hughes elegantly answers these questions and more in his new work Cerridwen: Celtic Goddess of Inspiration. Hughes, a native Welshman, Chief of the Anglesey Druid Order, and a Haemus Scholar has given us a definitive guide to all things Cerridwen. As he follows her…
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Book Review – The Tree Horoscope: Discover Your Birth-Tree and Personal Destiny by Daniela Christine Huber
Book Review The Tree Horoscope: Discover Your Birth-Tree and Personal Destiny by Daniela Christine Huber Published by Earthdancer, an Inner Traditions Imprint 144 pages Published October 19, 2021 This is quite simply a beautiful little book. Crispy written, easy to read, this book tells you everything you want to know about the Celtic system of tree horoscopes, tree symbolism, and where your destiny resides within this fascinating arrangement. Published in 2021 by Earthdancer, an Inner Traditions Imprint, The Tree Horoscope: Discover Your Birth Tree and Personal Destiny is written by Daniela Christine Huber. She also has pages on the Inner Traditions Imprint webpage, as well as Simon and…
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GoodGod!
Meet the Gods: Belenus Belenus is one of the most ancient, beloved and widely worshiped Celtic deities. It is believed that the Latin name evolved from Bel or Belen, a Celtic word interpreted as “brilliant,” “shining,” or “luminous.” Orally, little is known about Belenus. The most archaeological remains dedicated to him were found in France, thought to be the center of his worship, but artifacts and references to him have been found in Northern Italy, Southern Gaul, the Alps, Austria, Rome, Scotland, Spain, and Britain. His shrines were often dedicated to healing and included therapeutic springs. “Votive offerings found at his shrine at Sainte-Sabine include terra-cotta horses and…
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Gael Song
A Druid’s Garden, Edible Forestry, Year Two A year ago, I wrote an article on putting in an edible forest garden when I was so excited to finally have enough outdoor space to plant one after waiting lots of years for it. And someone requested a follow-up on that first article, so here it is. Just to recap the basics: an edible forest garden is made up of three layers, trees, shrubs, and ground covers, all perennial and all edible in some way. Most of the examples of EFGs I’ve seen look a lot like a jungle, masses of plants scrambling all over each other. But I’m a druid and…
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Couple Begins a Wiccan Tradition, a Church and Projects to Preserve Both An Interview with Lisa Stewart, author of ‘Simply Wicca: A Beginner’s Guide to the Craft of the Wise’
An Interview with Lisa Stewart, author of ‘Simply Wicca: A Beginner’s Guide to the Craft of the Wise’ As young as four, Lisa Stewart began having paranormal experiences. “I set them aside while going through school because I didn’t want to be so different,” she said in a phone interview. In 1989 she came to The Craft of the Wise and began identifying as a witch. Nine years later, she met her husband online. He was living in England. “The first thing I asked him for was his birth information so I could run a natal chart. We had sixty-four compatibilities, so I thought, ‘I think I like…
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GaelSong
In Memory of George Floyd I cannot get that picture out of my mind, the one of the policeman with his knee on George Floyd’s neck. There is a weight of sadness in my world, everywhere I go, as if that man was my own brother. And he was, they both are. So, I want to talk about my soul memories of being a black person. First of all, as I’ve written before, we all have five parts to our spirits, in the exact image of the Creator Sun, the highest light structure in the Creator Sun, where every one of us was once created into light. The five parts…
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Gael Song Second Edition
The Hidden Gem of Solitude With most folks staying at home during this pandemic, I thought an article about solitude might be helpful. I’ve lived a contemplative life for twenty years now, mostly by myself, writing, meditating, in complete silence 90% of every day. Besides three mornings of volunteer work a week, my life is very, very quiet. When my last daughter went off to college twenty years ago, I chafed against the isolation but within a very few months, I began to cherish it and still do. What I discovered fairly quickly is that silence opens the doorway to the Otherworld. In general, beings on the other side…
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The Bee – An Excerpt From Pagan Portals: Celtic Witchcraft by Mabh Savage
The following includes an excerpt from Pagan Portals: Celtic Witchcraft by Mabh Savage An animal that has had many sacred associations throughout the aeons, yet is mentioned all too infrequently in Celtic texts, is the bee. We know the Celts ate honey and drank mead, so they must have had skill with bees, yet it is rarely written of by the scholars of the middle ages who gave us most of the Celtic literature we now refer to. The bee is a dangerous animal that simply needs to be respected. Yes, a bee can sting you and undoubtedly it will hurt. It can even kill, if you are sensitive…
