Gateway Goddess: Interfaith Family Ties Blossom from Ostara to Easter

March 27, 2013 By 8 Comments
Easter Dress

I have an Easter dress. This is the first time since high school I've chosen one. I've visited Christian churches for special occasions. But I'm a visitor only. I get restless as a toddler sitting through the long sermons on uncomfortable pews. The hymns don't speak to me any more than does the idea that I need a sacrificial deity to save me from eternal damnation Thanks for the invitation to come again, but really, I just need to dance in the woods. So why the Easter dress? Why, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Columns, Editor's Picks, Family & Household Practice, Gateway Goddess, Holidays, Interfaith, Love, Sex & Relationships, Ritual and Practice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 8 Comments

The Busy Witch: Balance Within and Without?

March 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Flowers

Listen. Hear that? The birds have started singing again, at least outside my window.  I’ve never been much of a bird lover before, but for some reason this season, birdsong has become one of my favorite sounds.  It’s soul-soothing, and charged with the magic and energy of the coming spring. The darker months have always been a challenge for me, even after moving to the south and discovering a winter where the sun still shines.  There’s just something about the season that slows … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Columns, Holidays, Nature, Ritual and Practice, The Busy Witch Tagged With: , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment

Gateway Goddess: Looking at Lent through Pagan Eyes

February 8, 2013 By 3 Comments
Unplugging from media can be a sacrificial act. Photo by Samuel M. Livingston.

Lent is coming up. And for once, I find myself thinking seriously about the meaning of this season, and its relationship to my own life. I was raised Protestant (Disciples of Christ, mostly) and we didn't do Lent. We also didn't do Advent, which I would have enjoyed, given the prevalence of candy calendars in its celebration. But Lent? Lent was giving up candy, or cartoons, or something else fun. I could do without that season of doing without. But this year, I am in a relationship with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Columns, Gateway Goddess, Holidays, Interfaith, Ritual and Practice Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Family Traditions: Present, Past, Future

April 23, 2012 By 2 Comments
800px-Ostereier_11

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...]

Filed Under: Family & Household Practice, Family Traditions, Ritual and Practice Tagged With: , , , , , 2 Comments

Naturalistic Traditions: All Things March

March 1, 2012 By 6 Comments
Eostreeggs

What can a naturalist celebrate in March? This post is part of Naturalistic Traditions, a column exploring naturalism in Pagan ways.  This column will cover seasonal celebrations, historical and contemporary movements, and ritual practices. Natural cycles March 19th-20th is an Equinox.  That is, it is one of only two times a year when the tilt of the earth's axis is leaning neither toward nor away from the sun.  The name derives from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Columns, Family & Household Practice, Naturalistic Traditions, Nature, Ritual and Practice, Science and Research Tagged With: , , , , , , 6 Comments