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Our Sally Is Gone
Rural USA, December 21, 1927 Sally May climbed the carved granite steps, careful not to slip on the damp stone. The cave walls wept, and cool drops fell from the ceiling. She could already hear her parents scolding her. They might even send her to bed without supper. Daddy would say, “Sarah, how many times have we told you? Don’t go wanderin’ like that.” Momma would tell her, “Go on to bed, Sally.” In the thirteen years since momma birthed her, they still couldn’t agree on the name. She loved the way grandma said her name with that drawl. SallaMay. Skeletal trees scratched at the cave’s mouth, as if trying…
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In a Forest of Winter Enchantment: A Special Fiction Piece by The Modern Merlin
Good afternoon and Frohes Muttersnacht to you all! For those who don’t know, Mother’s Night is celebrated the night before Yule (the Winter Solstice) in many traditional Germanic customs. Not only are our earthly and ancestral mothers honored, but also the mother goddesses. This part of my Winter holiday celebration is when I switch into a more ancestry-based practice, incorporating various Celtic, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon beliefs concerning the winter solstice tradition. All this, while still honoring Saturnalia, which in essence welcomes in “Jack Frost” or “Old Man Winter” as he is now called. This fiction piece is inspired by the energy of Mother’s Night, and is in celebration of all mothers out…
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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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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…
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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…
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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,…
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#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!
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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 –…
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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…
