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In the Kitchen with Skarlett – To Your Health!!
With the wear and tear of the Holidays behind us and a long, cold (at least in the northern hemisphere) winter ahead of us. We will be most likely up against the dreaded cold and flu season. Now would be a good time to focus on a bit of rest and self care to get you through to Spring. Do keep in mind that these practices are no replacement for professional medical help. But used in concert with sensible medical care, these should help provide relief and healing. There are several deities you can call on to aid you in healing. The big one being Brighid. Her festival of Imbolc…
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The Modern Merlin’s Corner-December 2024: Saturnalia, Yule and Winter Celebrations
IO Saturnalia! I hope my readers are having a joyful and blessed Saturnalia and start of the holiday season. Before getting into the subject of this month’s column, I want to take a moment to address some changes coming in 2025 to this column. Rest assured, I will still be contributing this column to our publication, but I will be re-defining it in some ways, excluding certain subject areas, as they will be touched on by other columns I will be writing, and add in other subject areas into this one. This column will still remain fairly eclectic, but I will be expanding it to include more on the subjects…
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The Modern Merlin’s Corner-November/December 2024: The Sorcerer’s Guide to Winter Magick
In my neck of the woods, the early part of the winter weather season has come upon us, reminding us to slow down, and cherish time with family & friends. Many people don’t like winter, and personally, I am among them; I much prefer the warmer climate of Southern California, but alas, I am, for the time being, as they say, “stuck in Ohio”. Paganism’s interwoven beliefs and traditions concerning the colder months of the year are well documented and today many modern Pagans still imbibe those traditions, hearkening back to a time before the Church and the more organized religion we see today. Aside from the spiritual lessons and…
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GoodGod!
Meet the Gods: Shakok Shakok is the god of winter of the Northern Mountain, according to Native American mythology. The story goes that Acoma’s chief’s daughter, Co-chin-ne-na-ko, married the winter spirit. After he came to live with them, the winters became colder, snow fell harder, the world stayed frozen longer, crops no longer matured, and food became scarce. One miserable winter day as Co-chin-ne-na-ko was searching for food, she met Miochin, the spirit of summer. He was wearing a yellow shirt woven of corn silk; leggings made of green moss; a tall pointed hat, and moccasins decorated with butterflies and flowers. Upon learning her people were eating cactus leaves,…
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Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times for March 2021 Bright Blessings! It’s below freezing outside, and we may get up to eight inches of snow in the next three days. I have been shoveling my backside off this month, because we’ve already gotten PLENTY of snow already, as The Cailleach reminds us it’s still her domain. Not for long! (Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash) In just over a month, it will be Spring Equinox, and, according to weather reports, it will have warmed up significantly by then. Already, the days are longer, and seeds are out in stores…YES we got some seeds. Those who have read…
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GoodGod!
Meet the Gods: Iztlacoliuhqui In Aztec mythology, Itztlacoliuhqui (its•lack•a•lyle•key) is the god of frost. He is the lord of the thirteen days from 1 Lizard to 13 Vulture in the Aztec calendar. At the time Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli was the god of dawn and the planet Venus, Tonatiuh, the sun god, demanded sacrifice and obedience from the other gods before he would move. Angered at the sun’s arrogance, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli shot an arrow at him. Although it missed, the sun retaliated and threw his own arrow back at the morning star, piercing the Lord of Dawn through the head. At this moment, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli was transformed into Itztlacoliuhqui, the god of obsidian stone, coldness,…
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Of Medicine ‘n’ Magick
Winter Here I am in the season we call winter. Yule has passed, and length of daylight is waxing in my world, though imperceptibly. I know it is, though, because the hens are laying again. I know because the stored onions and garlic are waking. I know because I’m taking inventory of seeds, placing orders, and dreaming of the spring-to-autumn gardens that sustain us. I know because I’m already dreaming of Imbolc, that glorious midpoint between winter and spring, when the waxing daylight turns undeniable, and garden dreams move into garden actions, albeit indoors, on shelves aglow with privileged light. But now… in the gloom of true winter, it’s a…
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Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times First Edition
Bright Blessings! Those who have been following my articles know I was prepping to move, right? Thus I did not plant a garden like I usually do, and I even removed perennials, pots, a large raised bed, and gave it all to friends! Well…the pandemic hit, my husband’s hours were cut at work, and while we are making ends meet, it’s just not a great time to buy property for us. I have no idea how long we will be here. I missed an entire year of gardening thanks to this. Don’t get me wrong, I planted zinnias, like always, and I have a couple of potted mums outside with…
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Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times Second Edition
Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times for December 2020 Bright Blessings! We have had an unusually warm November this year, and I have taken full advantage of it to sit and visit outdoors as much as possible with people who I know I am not going to see again until March or April. Covid-19 has hit us hard this month. I am in Franklin County, Ohio, and our county hit purple warning level of public emergency in regards to the levels of Covid19. For the first time, shops and even our Metro Parks are enforcing mask use, and we are back on a curfew again. Next, they may shut…
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Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times for February 2020 Bright Blessings! I write this on January 10. We’ve not had a real winter yet in my hometown, but my garden is sad. We have decided to gear up to list this place for sale, and that means I had to start dismantling my garden. My patio garden I worked years on. All of it has to go. Friends wanted my soil, and came with tubs to fill with the black, rich loam, and then toted away all my pots, stakes, tomato cages, and even my roses. Another friend came to take the box away today. I have another box…
