This article is a reprisal of one of my first on Patheos. It's my "Top 10 Tips" for cultivating a sense of Place in an urban environment; a feat that did not come easy for me. I was reared on a family farm with hundreds of acres as my garden. I roamed barefoot from sun-up till sun-down, engaging in more risk-taking behavior than my parents would ever want to know about! Snake spoke to me, coyote sang his eerie song, and bobcat warned me about what happens when you meet Other, out past … [Read more...]
Urban Witchcraft: The Power of Words
November 28, 2013 By 6 Comments
There was a time, not so long ago, when information was shared by word of mouth. Most of us were illiterate. That word has such a nasty taste in the mouth now, doesn’t it? It conjures all sorts of images, from gross ignorance to the cruel acts committed by those same ignorant individuals. I don’t like those conjurings, so I’m going to make-up my own reference phrase (which may have been thought of already by scholars who also ponder such things). Let’s begin again… There … [Read more...]
Urban Witchcraft: The Power of Rot
November 21, 2013 By 6 Comments
In Ireland, the chthonic energy of decay is experienced as Crom Dubh, the dark, bent one who takes the grain under the ground. He was a sacrificial god heavily associated with Lughnasadh. In fact, while many Irish people may never have heard of the ‘festival of Lughnasadh’ (apart from the movie), they have certainly heard of Crom Dubh’s Day: Dé Domhnaigh Crum-Dubh. This is a day of pilgrimage to the high places: a custom maintained with the yearly climb of Croagh Patrick. More … [Read more...]
Urban Witchcraft : Spirit Roads
November 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Most U.S. witches live in cities. This probably holds true for most of the western world, since urbanization is on the rise and predicted to grow. I recently found myself back in an urban environment. Granted, Austin prides itself on its small town vibe, and funky eclecticism, but it’s no rural Ireland! The sounds I hear, and the other-than-human-persons I encounter, are different. Yet, they are still animate, and very eldritch. Since I plan for this to become a multi-part series, … [Read more...]
The Texas Cool Season: when life rejoices!
November 7, 2013 By 2 Comments
While the northern latitudes just opened the Door to the dark time, the dead of winter, we Texans greeted the cool Ancestral breath that offers welcome respite. Here in central Texas, and I can only speak to this one tiny geographical part because our state’s as big as most countries (including most of the U.S.)—now here’s a Texas Tall Tale—heck, you could fit most countries inside our borders and I would still have room for a hundred head of cattle in the back pasture! Where was I? … [Read more...]
Getting clear about my place: the uses of withdrawal
October 14, 2013 By 1 Comment
Recently I read a blog post by Michael Taft at HuffPost, called Take Your Body With You. In it, he talks about the importance of his physicality and sexuality to his spiritual path, and how he believes his commitment to celibacy and giving up all the bodily pleasures he enjoyed so much as a younger man in an effort to reach his spiritual goals was deeply wrong-headed. As a Pagan, I agree wholeheartedly about the sacredness of the body, of sex and of pleasure, and of the vital importance of … [Read more...]
Returning To America : Place As Cultural Experience
September 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Each time I return from abroad, I am struck by just how different things are here in ‘Murica. Spaces are large, cars move fast, and people are pointy. Life in the U.S. is like an oil painting, with layered color, defined texture, and not-so-subtle edges. Contrast this with the watercolor world that is Ireland, where I have lived for the past three years, and suddenly the two cultures, though shaped and influenced by shared or similar values and forces, appear at polar ends of a cultural … [Read more...]
London Calling: connecting with big cities
August 15, 2013 By 9 Comments
Last week I was in London. It was my first real visit to the city (layovers at the airport don’t count), and I was like the proverbial kid in a candy shop. I wanted to see ALL the things, have ALL the experiences, and, probably somewhere deep in my heart, I wanted London to rub off on me. So many British cultural icons emerged from London that the city itself has become iconic. It represents an idea of ‘coolness’, a playground for ‘cutting-edge’ artists and cultural creatives … [Read more...]
The puzzle of the Mother of Modern Witchcraft — a village witch who lived in a tower block
July 5, 2013 By 11 Comments
It's almost a fortnight now since Doreen Valiente - author, poet, and hailed as the Mother of Modern Witchcraft - was honoured by the public unveiling of a 'blue plaque' at her place of residence, campaigned for and paid for by the efforts of The Centre for Pagan Studies. Blue plaques are permanent - and rather lovely - signs mounted on buildings to commemorate famous, important or influential people who lived or worked there. You might think, being one of founders of Wicca, and … [Read more...]
Crossing the boundaries of urban and rural
June 3, 2013 By 1 Comment
A few months ago, Joshua Graham wrote about an urban sense of place and Pagan spirituality. This weekend I went to visit him in Bath, an English city watched over by the Goddess Sulis Minerva. Before I became a rural dweller, I lived in the city of Bath for three years. It was a sight less urban than my home city of Birmingham, and also smaller than the other city I'd lived in for a similar length of time, Cambridge. It felt almost rural to me when I moved there, back in 1996. It both … [Read more...]
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