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Book Review – Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition: Customs, Rites and Ceremonies by Nigel Pennick
Book Review Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition Customs, Rites and Ceremonies by Nigel Pennick Publisher: Destiny Books 352 Pages Publication Date: 5/21/2015 Like many of Nigel Pennick’s books, Pagan Magic of the Northern Traditions, is a scholarly survey of the cultural uses of magic in the everyday world of pre-Christian Northern Europe. It is not a “how-to” book. It’s better than a how-to book; Pennick explores the practices and customs that underlay our understanding of telling time, the powers and associations of the days of the week, the seasons and the year, household magic and protection, colors, planetary magic, and the power of sigils and objects, among…
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As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
The Roots of the Earth: Acknowledging Our Divine Heritage The moons of the previous month no doubt have you reeling in some way. Moons have always been the way the universe speaks directly to us. Even humans with no spiritual background whatsoever feel like a full moon does something to them. The reason for this is, it’s absolutely true. Spirit or no spirit, the moon exerts its gravitational force on every atom in your body, which of course subsequently effect brain chemistry. Though this can be explained scientifically, it doesn’t mean the universe isn’t awake, and communicating to you consciously. This is to say, regardless of you spiritual background,…
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‘Elemental Magick’ Book Excerpt from Year of the Witch by Temperance Alden
Elemental Magick What is elemental magick, and why is it relevant to intuitive witchcraft? In a nutshell, elemental magick works with and calls on the elements to manifest specific outcomes and goals. There’s not a single person who goes through their day without experiencing any of the elements. We may walk outside in the morning and feel a breeze, go for a walk and sense the heat of the sun on our skin. We could water our plants, or choose to compost/recycle. All of these experiences are simple ways that we experience (and sometimes take for granted) the elements, often without much pause. On the most basic level, we…
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‘The Grief Ritual’ A Ritual and Interview with Bernadette Pleasant, Somatic Healer and Creator of the Emotional Institute
‘The Grief Ritual’ A Ritual and Interview with Bernadette Pleasant, Somatic Healer and Creator of the Emotional Institute It’s almost two o’clock on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and I’m lying on my back on the floor of my stepson’s empty room, sobbing uncontrollably. My feet rest on the carpet and as I feel the fibers between my toes, I remind myself to let it all go: tension, pain, sorrow — everything I don’t want to burden others with, and everything I shouldn’t carry myself. I feel it melt away from my body and into the earth, flowing off of my body like water, lightening me with every shaking…
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Book Review – A Modern Guide to Charles Godfrey Leland’s Gospel of the Witches-Aradia by Craig Spencer
Book Review A Modern Guide to Charles Godfrey Leland’s Gospel of the Witches-Aradia by Craig Spencer 240 Pages A Modern Guide to Charles Godfrey Leland’s Gospel of the Witches-Aradia by Craig Spencer is a fresh version of timeless material first published in 1899. Mr. Spencer had his work cut out for him in updating this classic by Charles Godfrey Leland that gives the view of Italian Folk magic as told to him by hereditary Italian witches. The book is separated into two parts. Part One: The Gospel and the Revelations, contains the sections of Leland’s original work with the “Revelations” offered by the author as commentary. Part Two:…
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Book Review – Demons and Spirits of the Land: Ancestral Lore and Practices by Claude Lecouteux, Translated by Jon E. Graham
Book Review Demons and Spirits of the Land Ancestral Lore and Practices by Claude Lecouteux Translated by Jon E. Graham 212 Pages In Demons and Spirits of the Land: Ancestral Lore and Practices, Claude Lecouteux has written a fascinating and well-resourced exploration of pre-Christian Europe’s relationship with the spirits of the land. The writing is academic in nature, with many quotations from and cites to original sources deftly weaving centuries of cross-cultural traditions from Northern and Western European. Lecouteux describes the practices by which humans first respected the spirits of natural places, then colonized and “civilized” those places, changing their relationship with the local beings. With numerous references…
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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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Book Review – Pagan Portals: Seeking the Primal Goddess-The Magic and Mystery of the Hearth Fire by Mélusine Draco
Book Review Pagan Portals Seeking the Primal Goddess The Magic and Mystery of the Hearth Fire by Mélusine Draco 96 Pages The opportunity to review this book peaked my curiosity due to my recently growing interest in studying ancient goddess cultures within European traditions from historical, anthropological, and archaeological lenses. Draco’s book is an interesting blend of locating the goddess across history as well as in modern pagan practices. I especially enjoyed the sections on the hearth fire’s connection with the goddess and–in my interpretation of this section–an undercurrent of feminism that has endured through the ages. The images that sprung to my mind of women tending sacred…
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Book Review – Psychedlic Mysteries of the Feminine Edited by Maria Papaspyrou, Chiara Baldini & David Luke
In “Psychedelic Mysteries of the Feminine,” a diverse group of authors, artists, historians, scientists, ecologists, herbalists, shamans, poets, doctors, lawyers, and therapists deliver an interdisciplinary message of hope and healing for our traumatized and increasingly poisoned world. This book is a well-balanced collection of essays which draw on a large number of original sources and academia to explore the history of feminine themes in the tradition and usage of psychedelic pharmaka, from beer and cannabis to ayahuasca and LSD. The psychological narrative of the book includes discussion of Jungian archetypes of women as earth mother, goddess, medicine woman, and more, as well as exploration into what psychedelics can teach us…
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Review of the ‘Circular Wall Calendar and Wheel of Year 2020’ by Monica-April Skinner of QuintessentLife Etsy
Review ‘Circular Wall Calendar and Wheel of Year 2020’ by Monica-April Skinner of QuintessentLife Etsy From the very moment I took this calendar out of its wrapping, I absolutely adored it! I have seen other Goddess-oriented calendars over the years but nothing like this one! This is truly an innovation. Other Goddess calendars kept the tradition square shape of regular calendars while using a lunar-based system – I remember one that showed the days of the (lunar) month in a spiral shape that was almost impossible to read. This calendar is totally different. Created by Monika-April Skinner, a Wiccan artist who sells via her Etsy, QuintessentLife, this calendar…