• Divination Articles

    Tarot with Lady Saoirse

    Yule 2023 Bright Blessings! As Yule approaches, you might be thinking of which decks you would like to buy to give to loved ones as gifts- and you might be thinking of which decks you hope to get as Yule gifts yourself! Instead of focusing on cards this time, let’s set them aside and discuss the runes. Yule, is after all, named after Odin, and Odin was the one who gave mankind the runes. Some people say the runes are just letters of the alphabet some smart Heathen incorporated into a new form of divination at some point. Others say that Odin intended the runes for people to use to…

  • Monthly Columns

    Create a Mindful Life to Know Thyself

    The wheel of the year turns to Yule or Winter Solstice. In the Northern United States, we have watched the leaves fall, our daylight grow shorter while our nights have grown longer. Frost has covered the ground and remaining leaves. We may or may not have had snow and ice. But we have the return of darkness and the natural introspection that comes with this time of the year. Our ancestors would gather around fires and practice rites and rituals to encourage the rebirth of the Sun and the return of longer days. We can connect with our ancestral wisdom by honoring the old practices. Turning off the lights and…

  • This Month's Holiday

    Yule/Winter Solstice Correspondences

      Yule – Thu, Dec 21, 2023 – Mon, Jan 1, 2024 Lesser Sabbat – Winter Solstice Thu, Dec 21, 2023, 10:27?PM   Other Names: Jul (“wheel”, Old Norse), Saturnalia (Rome ~December 17 & 18), Yuletide (Teutonic), Midwinter, Fionn’s Day, Alban huan, Christmas (Christian~December 25), Xmas, Festival of Sol, Solar/Secular/Pagan New Year Animals/Mythical beings: yule goat (nordic), reindeer stag, squirrels, yule cat, Sacred White Buffalo, Kallikantzaroi-ugly chaos monsters(greek), trolls, phoenix, yule elf, jule gnome, squirrels, wren/robin Gemstones: cat’s eye, ruby, diamond, garnet, bloodstone Incense/Oils: bayberry, cedar, ginger, cinnamon, pine, rosemary, frankincense, myrrh, nutmeg, wintergreen, saffron Colors: gold, silver, red, green, white Tools,Symbols, & Decorations: bayberry candles, evergreens, holly, mistletoe, poinsettia,mistletoe,…

  • Uncategorized

    #166 — The Yule Issue

    Blessed Yule! — Time to get cozy and curl up with your favorite e-zine! In this issue, our authors: Celebrate a Blessed Yule with correspondences, recipes, and more… Sit down with author Ron George to discuss his Elizabeth Franklin witchy fiction series… Explore five varieties of delicious simmer pots to make your home smell like winter… Review the Rebel Oracle Deck and several of its variations… Delve into the Weiser Tarot, a newly re-drawn Rider-Waite-Smith variation… Share book excerpts & poetry… Plus — Tons of book reviews — Pagan Family Prayers & Rituals — The Wheel of the Year — GaeaGenesis — and much more!  

  • Monthly Columns

    GoodGod!

    Meet the Gods: Saturn     Merry meet. In case you don’t have enough holiday activities in December, you can add the 17th to your calendar and observe Saturnalia, one of the most popular ancient Roman festivals. It occurred around the time of Yule. Though originally a one-day event that ignored the distinction between masters and slaves, the activities came to fill an entire week, making for much merry-making and lechery.     Saturn was the son of Caelus, Father Sky, and Terra, Mother Earth. (In Greek mythology they were Cronus, Uranus, and Gaia, respectively.) To prevent a prophecy from coming true – that a son would dethrone him –…

  • Monthly Columns

    MagickalArts

    What Are the Magickal Arts?   … As magickal practitioners we are all “artists” in our own ways, honing our skills of creating magick, weaving patterns of energy that affect change and calling to the most Divine of our natures as we align with cosmos, greater earth and all of the many Beings that inhabit those realms. And, I like where this trend is taking us in exploring the craft in all of forms….   The Seasons Are Waxing and We Honor the Magickal Art of Our Divine Spark!   The concept of the Divine Spark is one that flows strongly through varied spiritual practices. Within the pagan context this…

  • Monthly Columns

    Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light

    A Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel of the Year 2022! The Witch’s Wheel of the Year   We Finish Our Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel and celebrate Yule/Winter Solstice…. We began our journey at Imbolc and now we have arrived at Yule/Winter Solstice. I invite you to revisit the pages and writings that have been crafted this year… Peeking in the Shadows: Imbolc   Yule     Although in many cases the celebration of Yule coincides with the astronomical date of the Winter Solstice, they are distinct in that Yule is a seasonal observance that often lasted longer than the single Sabbat date it is traditionally assigned of Dec. 20/21…

  • Monthly Columns

    As Above, So Below (How the Stars Became Our Hearts)

    Seasons Blessings!     Moving into this period of darkness and the first snows begin to fall. I come to this place of contemplation. And as with the last few pieces, I’ll lose my 3rd person textbook voice. This piece will be a bit meta, as, yes, it’s snowing and I just now started this. Lol. And I said “Lol”. And I said that I said. This message is a download, heavy on my heart with these past moons. A lesson that’s been delivered to me through my personal life, and I feel the need to share.  Blessed Samhain.  What a strange season it has been, closing with a lunar…

  • This Month's Holiday

    Yule Correspondences

      Lesser Sabbat – Winter Solstice Begins Wednesday, December 21, 2022 and ends on Sunday, January 1, 2023   Other Names: Jul (“wheel”, Old Norse), Saturnalia (Rome ~December 17 & 18), Yuletide (Teutonic), Midwinter, Fionn’s Day, Alban huan, Christmas (Christian~December 25), Xmas, Festival of Sol, Solar/Secular/Pagan New Year Animals/Mythical beings: yule goat (nordic), reindeer stag, squirrels, yule cat, Sacred White Buffalo, Kallikantzaroi-ugly chaos monsters(greek), trolls, phoenix, yule elf, jule gnome, squirrels, wren/robin Gemstones: cat’s eye, ruby, diamond, garnet, bloodstone Incense/Oils: bayberry, cedar, ginger, cinnamon, pine, rosemary, frankincense, myrrh, nutmeg, wintergreen, saffron Colors: gold, silver, red, green, white Tools,Symbols, & Decorations: bayberry candles, evergreens, holly, mistletoe, poinsettia,mistletoe, lights, gifts, Yule log,…

  • Crafting Articles

    WitchCrafting: Crafts for Witches

    Yule Decor     Merry meet. You know magic is everywhere when you can find a good idea for Yule in a YouTube video from The Home Depot.     I live on a bus and use mason jars for everything from drinking glasses and vases to making kombucha and storing herbs. “Fuss-Free Holiday Decorations & Prep Techniques” now has me using them to make berry luminaries.     It’s simple: put pieces of evergreen in any-sized mason jar, fill with water, add some cranberries, and float a tea light candle (removed from its holder) on top. Mine will be on my altar, but these would go well on a…