When I say that ritual is sometimes too focused on the people involved (and people, period) to its detriment, I am not talking about disdain for humanity. I'm more talking about the fact that we live in a speaking, complex, multilayered world, vast and mysterious. And as fascinating as human beings are, we are only a tiny tiny fraction of it. Read more
I’d like to think that bravery can be grand or small, and that little acts of self preservation are as brave as selfless acts of sacrifice. One thing I do know; it takes bravery to face tough choices, and a whole lot of self-reflection. At this time of New Year change, I offer this spell to you in the hopes that it may help you face any choices with bravery and clarity. Read more
Sable Aradia offers a basic how-to starter guide to set up an online education program for cyberwitches. Read more
Recently a discussion of the nature of the Gods and how Pagans relate to them has broken out. The Pagans of antiquity had strangely similar debates; Cicero, for instance, states that there's such a wide variety of opinion on the subject "even among the wisest" that it's hardly surprising that people are confused. Read more
Crowley infuses these plays with the energy of sacred invocation, making explicit the implicit magic of good drama; he is turning (or perhaps returning) the magic of performance to a sacred end, calling upon a specific deity and sharing that energy a group. In doing so, the audience is (hopefully) initiated into the mystery of the conjured divinity. Read more
We spend a lot of time questioning each other’s Paganism, arguing about who and what is most authentic, and fretting about who is not a ‘proper’ Pagan. I offer this list as an attempt at sanity around the subject, and with tongue just a little bit in cheek. Read more
If the universe is nothing but atoms, as modern physics proclaims, what place can there be for gods? None, some might say. Surprisingly, this was not the conclusion of the earliest atomists. Ancient Greek naturalists, far from rejecting religion, sought ways to understand religion in naturalistic terms. In short, they became Naturalistic Pagans. Read more
If a stand against the incipient racism and homophobia present in our society is to be made, there are some key things that parents can do with their children to make them able to think critically about prejudice. Read more
What makes honor so important? Why should we still be concerned with keeping our word in a society that places such little importance on it? Heathens have no doctrine or dogma, but this does not mean we lack guidelines for conduct that honors our gods. Read more
Parents complained about a Wiccan Yule display at a school in Oklahoma. In order to avoid conflict, the school's superintendent claimed that they would remove all religious displays. But what they really did was replace everything with "Christmas." Read more
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