Family Traditions: Present, Past, Future

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The teenage girls are hunting for eggs in my parents' yard. They pick through the splendidly overgrown vegetation, snatching at bright colors, and calling out to one another whenever they find one. But they are in a difficult position: their age demands a certain jaded attitude towards all things, so they can't seem too excited, especially over something as childish as hunting for Ostara eggs. One of the girls picks up a bright red egg that had been hidden inside of a bucket containing a … [Read more...]

Making Light: Listening as Mystery Unfolds

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I keep meaning to write something about Anthesteria or Thargelia or something relevant to this time of year, but I’ve been distracted. A few weeks ago, I found out that I’m pregnant and I’ve been occupied with that pretty much exclusively since. The housework is slipping big time, mostly due to the utter exhaustion that comes with the first trimester. It’s like pregnancy narcolepsy; if I sit still long enough, I fall asleep. I’m not eating like I usually do because of the … [Read more...]

All That Sure Is Change…

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Changes There is a saying I used to hear growing up in a coven and around the pagan community as I grew up. That saying was " All that sure is change...". It was a saying that was used to imply that the Wheel of the Year moves on and so does the cycle of our lives. It was a saying that was offered to people to provide comfort; to ease them into (sometimes drastic) changes they had recently undergone. Words have a lot of power and meaning, especially to those who follow the path of … [Read more...]

Dear Jasmine: Family Friendly Gatherings

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Dear Jasmine, I help run a local pagan group and we are wanting to make our events more child friendly. What can we do to as a group to be more welcoming to families. How many family friendly events verses the adults only events should be held a year? What about 12-17 year old age range? Can they participate in more adult functions? Old Pagan Man Dear Old Pagan Man, As a mother who loves to go to festivals and outings allot this is a topic near and dear to my heart. Kudos to … [Read more...]

Does History Prove Polygamy or Polyamory Is Bad?

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Slate.com's Libby Copeland claims that history proves plural marriage is harmful to society: As marriage historian Stephanie Coontz has pointed out, polygyny is less about sex than it is about power. Rich old guys with lots of wives win twice: They have more women to bear them babies and do household work, and they also gain an advantage over other men. After all, in such societies a young man in want of a wife cannot simply woo her. There is too much competition, and he probably … [Read more...]