Friday brings yet another installment in Peter Jackson’s translation of Tolkien to the big screen. Middle Earth is in my Pagan (and geek) DNA, and to say I’m excited is probably an understatement.
The Mayan Calendar and the End of the World
December 6, 2012 By 31 Comments
About a year and a half ago I sat on a “Pagan Panel” with such luminaries as Selena Fox, Christopher Penczak, and Raven Grimassi. We were asked how the end of the Mayan calendar would affect Pagans. I answered honestly, “Well, when December 21st comes around, I’ll probably be at the bar.”
Christmas Is Not Yours or Mine: The True Origins of the Holiday Season
December 4, 2012 By 28 Comments
Every year I hear the same refrain “Put Christ back in Christmas,” and every year I shake my head. No one faith owns Christmas, it’s a combination of various elements, some pagan, some Christian, some Jewish, and some cultural. Christmas is not yours or mine, it simply is, and it belongs to anyone who cherishes it.
Outside Looking In (or Is Anybody Really Listening?)
December 1, 2012 By 13 Comments
Are the “controversies” that inspire the Pagan Blogosphere actually the issues that we as a community are wrestling with on a day to day basis? Or is there just a small group of Pagans shouting at each other in some small corner of the internet while everyone else is at circle singing whatever chant we are all still allowed to sing together?
Wrestling with Esbats
November 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I’ve been running a small circle in my living room since March of this year. It’s been rather informal, while sticking to a few of the ritual tropes that my wife and I have been using for the last few years. When we were first starting out we met simply for esbats (more technically on [...]
On Vacation, But Links and Stuff (and Cats)!!!
November 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I’m taking a few days off for Thanksgiving, but thought I would provide a few links and other things until I return on Monday (or Tuesday). Lots of great stuff coming up in December, and then lots of traveling and other assorted things in January and February (some of it will be really crazy!). And [...]
Holiday Shopping Guide
November 19, 2012 By 7 Comments
It’s the Holiday Season, and that means it’s time for gift guides and other assorted odes to capitalism. The “spend spend spend mania” that grips this time of year can be a bit much to take, and for those of you who sit out The Holidays I don’t blame you. However, if you are one [...]
Perfect Love and Perfect Trust: My Thanksgiving Ritual
November 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
It’s rare to feel “perfect love and perfect trust” in circle, and I was lucky enough to feel exactly that way this past weekend. After a long year I’m home, I’m happy, and I’m thankful for all the wonderful people in my life. Thanksgiving might not be a sabbat in the traditional sense, but I’m glad that it offers me that moment to reflect on all I’ve been given.
Thanksgiving
November 15, 2012 By 7 Comments
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it speaks to the best of what we can be. It’s certainly about food and family, but it’s also about coming together despite our differences. Every Thanksgiving I eat a pound of turkey, hug my wife, call my Dad, and watch about ten hours of football, but I also stop to remember what it means to be truly thankful for the blessings in my life, and to reflect on the things that bring us together instead of drive us apart.
Drawing Down the Moon: Deity in the Circle
November 12, 2012 By 2 Comments
During Wiccan-style ritual Pagans interact with deity in several different ways. In my estimation there are three distinct ways we do this: Calling to deity, interacting/feeling the energy of deity in the circle, and drawing down the moon.
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