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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 — Hekate: Goddess of Witches by Courtney Weber
Book Review Hekate: Goddess of Witches by Courtney Weber Published by Moon Books 224 Pages Published: August 1, 2021 “…Who is Hekate? Like many goddesses of the Old World, Hekate’s origins are mysterious. She is commonly known as a goddess of ancient Greece, a period which is generally understood to encompass 1200 BCE–500 CE, but she did not originate there. She may have originated in the Minoan civilization (2700–1100 BCE), or was at least influenced by gods of that culture. Evidence of Hekate worship has also been found in Sicily, Libya, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Syria. The town of Lagina is thought to be home to her most…
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Nurturing Your Wild Child
Imbolc – Bringing Brigid into your Family We find in Irish Pagan Traditions a Goddess who embodies fertility and healing as she brings the warmth with her Sacred Flame to make Spring anew in the lands. In fact, her Sacred Flame remains eternal and is lit each year at Imbolc in Kildare, Ireland to bring her back to the forefront, renewing the temperatures and asking the lands to be fertility of animal and plant life. Brigid takes on many roles in both the Celtic Pagan Goddess and the Catholicism ideas – yet for both she is a safe harbor for children, leading and guiding them as a Goddess/Saint of…
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Book Review – Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration, and Change by Day Schildkret
Book Review Hello, Goodbye 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration, and Change by Day Schildkret Publisher: Simon & Schuster 208 Pages Publication Date: March 1, 2022 Events shape our lives, stirring up emotions, bringing transitions, and forcing changes. These moments — a birth, health crisis, marriage, job transfer, the loss of a pet, leaving for college — tend to get lost amid routinely busy days with their unending demands. Day Schildkret, artist and author behind the Morning Altars movement, believes we need ritual to observe, sanctify, and make sense of these transitions. Being mindful of them, being willing to honor these times with purpose and meaning, provides…
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SpellCrafting: Spells & Rituals
Easy Imbolc Merry Meet! I celebrate sabbats on the astrological dates. This year, astrological Imbolc falls on Thursday, February 3. Below is a list of easy ideas I’ve collected to help you do something simple yet meaningful for the sabbat. Light a candle at dawn to greet the sun, or at some point during the day, light every candle in the house and offer a short blessing. Gather up all your candles and bless them. Prepare for the coming spring with some house cleaning. Rather than doing the whole house, which is overwhelming, pick one thing: organize a bookcase, clean a cupboard, or strip the bed and wash the linens,…
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Dream Achievement Spell
I have always felt a pull to live off the land, like it’s my life’s purpose to homestead. I’ve always sought a deeper connection with the earth around me and have wanted to be able to have a long term connection with a specific piece of nature with time to nurture and build it. Because of this pull I have fashioned my entire life around this goal, thankfully finding a wonderful partner and friends to do it with. We live out of a skoolie, my friends out of their own, which is almost fully converted specifically to find the place we feel a pull or need to call…
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Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times for October 2021 Bright Blessings and Happy Fall!!!!! I write this two days before fall Equinox, knowing you will read it after it occurs, and we are headed to Samhain, final harvest. In years past, I have written on many things from historic and modern observances to how to prep the garden for winter in ways that benefit wildlife. This year, I have something different on my mind I’d like to focus on. Being thankful. Before I delve into that topic more, I will write about some of the history of Samhain, however. What is Samhain? Samhain is a Pre-Christian Pagan…
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Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light
This month continues a series of exploration about Our Relationship to the Divine…. Our Relationship to the Divine Part Four: A Ritual of Calling to the Divine …. The Divine flows within me. The Limitless All supports me. All Beings of Spirit and Essence are my teachers. I AM the corporeal out-picturing of the Divine’s desire… Ritual brings us closer to whomever or whatever we are hoping to deepen a connection with. It is through ritual that we learn more of ourselves and step more fully into the true nature of who we are as Divine Beings learning the ways of physical and corporeal existence.…
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Nurturing Your Wild Child
As Pagan parents, we can find explaining and deciphering this time of year to our children a great challenge within our paths of instruction to them. Death, Life, The Spirit Realm (or whatever you wish to address it as) meld together at the beginning of a crossroads leading up to the end of this Wheel’s turn at Samhain. Metaphorically, we can teach our children through the imagery of Harvest, the warmth of Summer ending, and the cold of Autumn beginning here at the Autumn Equinox – more commonly known to Pagans as Mabon or Alban Elfen. So, how do we represent life & it’s celebration in a way…
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Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times for August 2021 Bright Blessings! Lughnasadh is upon us, and is it ever hot! We are due to have heat advisories the next two, possibly three days in my town, and the dog is displeased with how short of a distance I allow her for walks. Exacerbating that is the fact they decided to pour asphalt on our street, so I don’t even want to go outside at all. I spend a lot of time outdoors but truthfully, I don’t remember ever having the issues with heat that I have this year. Have I ever changed! I can remember I thought my mother…
