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Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times for April/May 2022 Bright Blessings This is our first Spring in our apartment, and as I was deciding what to plant for this year, I pined for the ground and built-in planters I had at our old place. I used to buy so many seeds, and there were years I planted tons of cucumbers and tomatoes as well as pumpkins, roses, herbs, and a whole lot of annual flowers. This year, I am relegated to a limited number of pots, and the truth is, it may be this way for a while, if not permanently. We made it out of the condo successfully…
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As Above, So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
The Mystery of Non-Causality “You are this universe. And you are creating it at every moment. Because you see, it starts now. It didn’t begin in the past. There was no past. If the universe began in the past, when that happened it was now. But it is still now and the universe is still beginning now and it’s trailing off like the wake of a ship from now and as the wake of the ship fades out, so does the past. You can look back there to explain things but the explanation disappears. You will never find it there. Things are not explained by the past. They’re…
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Samildánach – Poetry
Samildánach Will I have any grain to bring To place on the stone within the ring? Will I have flesh to cut and burn And place inside the bubbling urn? Will I have neeps and spuds and carrots To fill these wide and simmering pots? Or shall I send my body’s milk, Sweet like parsnips, smooth like silk? Enough to feed a baby small Enough for summer, more for fall And more for winter still, my stock Is never under key and lock. I am the harvest, am the land Though Tailtiu never took my hand I was not cleared; I am not feared I am the…
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An Irreverent Lughnasadh
Lughnasadh is my least ‘religiously’ observed festival. That seems pretty irreverent for a practicing Pagan, I guess, but my reasons are thus: Lughnasadh tends to fall at the time of year that I am busiest; either with my lovely children, or with camping, or catching up with friends, or all of the above. It can be a busy time in the garden, and it also falls right bang in the middle of the first section of the foraging season. We’ve just run out of wild elder flowers and are moving onto raspberries and blackberries, some of Lugh’s favourite offerings, although that’s from personal experience and not attested to in Irish…
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As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
Christianity: The Great Misunderstanding Now, in the last entries, I’ve aimed a lot of criticism at the Christian faith. Setting aside the purpose of the religion now, and whether or not Jesus was real or divine, let’s examine the lore with a more open mind. Let us assume that Jesus was very real, and his words were truth. Then with that lens, examine Christianity once again from the perspective of the man with whom the religion places it’s namesake. Jesus’ message was very much different from what we find in the Old Testament. Which seemed to be a collection of lore stories centered around sin and blood. The tribulations…
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Poetry – Bealtaine Beacons
Bealtaine is when we light the fires Not just for our desires The things we want and need Whether in poverty or greed But simply to connect, to communicate To let folks know that they are great That we miss them, that they matter That we can’t wait to have a natter Or share a coffee, or a walk Or sit in silence, no need to talk. The world isn’t open just yet But as Bealtaine passes, can we set Our beacons alight and say We are here We care And so we share Our Bealtaine beacons with those Who feed our fires the most. © Mabh Savage…
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As Above So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)
Christianity: The Doctrine “Jesus Christ knew he was God. So wake up and find out eventually who you really are. In our culture, of course, they’ll say you’re crazy and you’re blasphemous, and they’ll either put you in jail or in a nut house (which is pretty much the same thing). However if you wake up in India and tell your friends and relations, ‘My goodness, I’ve just discovered that I’m God,’ they’ll laugh and say, ‘Oh, congratulations, at last you found out.” Alan Watts. There is much to be said on the pagan perspective of Christianity. There are many varying opinions within the followers of each…
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Witch & Popcorn
Review of The 13th Warrior This beautiful film opens in the splendor of the ancient Middle East and we find our hero, Ahmad ibn Fahdlan, cast far away from home for having an affair with a married woman. He is banished for having an affair with a king’s wife to the land of what is called the home of the “barbarians” aka the Norsemen- Odin’s men, pagan Heathens! He and his hosts are told by a holy woman 13 men must go to the aid of Kind Hrothgar- yeah ANOTHER Hollywood take on the epic Beowulf- and the 13th Warrior will be no Northman. As a daughter of Odin,…
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Witch Hunt
There are witches all around us. You can find them anywhere… The Witch on Wheels has been documenting her findings. Meet Priscilla Anne Tennant Herrington The first time I met Priscilla Anne Tennant Herrington was on a weekend Mabon retreat. I was stuck by the energy she held, the gentleness with which she offered wisdom, often in the form of a question that made me think. When she began a pagan discussion group for LGPTQ youth, I volunteered to assist. When I was preparing to crone, she was one of my mentors. She’s one of the witchiest witches I know. “The best thing that ever happened…
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Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times for January 2021 Bright Blessings, and happy 2021! As it is between Sabbats, I get to pick what to write about, and I decided there is something I want to say to my Pagans. Without further ado… An Open Letter to My Pagans It has been over a year since I have seen some of you who I see regularly. Last Winter, we did craft gatherings, and Circles- and in January and February, we died back with the earth for a bit. I was planning to have more craft gatherings, and then Beltane. Then the virus hit. I canceled everything. A…