Today is a “do something” day. We’ve spent a couple days focusing on the issues that are most cluttering our internal closets and blocking the progress we want to make in our lives. Today, we move something physical. We declutter—something. Just one something. Today, we start with the Power of One. This will help us create a more effective release ritual on Day 5. The physical area of my own home that bothers me most at this time is the... Read more
Each journey needs a beginning. Our Samhain ritual journey’s starting spot will be either an altar or an artwork, or a bit of both. Traditional Samhain altars I’m familiar with tend to have certain elements in common: images of dead family members or friends; candles; crystals, or other natural items; images of skulls or bones; items that belonged to people we have loved and lost. A friend of mine who grew up connected to the magical roots of her Appalachian... Read more
“Dad is being transferred. We’re moving. Go to your room and go through your things and get rid of the ones you don’t need any more.” I first heard that sentence from my mother when I was seven years old. Seven. How do you know, at seven, what you don’t need any more? I loved everything. I wanted to keep everything. And so, at seven, or eight, or nine, or ten, the result was the same. Me, feeling torn in... Read more
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about decluttering. Not just the kind that has left me, for the first time in my life, with more drawer space than things to put in them. But the kind of decluttering that led me to hold on to some physical objects and all the emotions trailing from them for so long. And that it’s the season to cut those cords and clear that soul clutter for good. I can mark phases of my... Read more
No one wants The Tower. But sometimes, we need it. I pulled two cards for this full moon lunar eclipse. The first to appear was the Page of Wands. Happy card, beginnings, a new bright spirit holding a crystal-peaked wand high in the sunlit desert, light flowing in seven rays from it. Yes, a good card for any season. And yet, it didn’t seem right for the energies I sensed most strongly. So I asked again. And drew The Tower.... Read more
There is a potent domestic magic in clearing away that which no longer serves. We make room for new growth in our lives by clearing away the things we no longer use, just as we make room for new growth in our gardens by clearing away last year’s crop. Read more
Just as some Pagans have made it their life’s task to recreate the ancient religious practices as best they can, so too have modern musicians sought to recreate the ancient music of old Sumer and Babylon. "The Flood" is the result. Read more
This year’s Winter Solstice is not only the point at which we in the Northern Hemisphere begin to move towards longer days. It also is the New Moon. Clearly, this is a potent Yule. Read more
Those hands are the ones that make faith and love visible. Those hands are the ones that will heal. Those hands, those gestures, are the only ones that have given me hope. Those are the hands of heroes. Read more
I saw Interstellar last weekend. And I think it is the most Sagittarian thing I have seen in ages. Looking at the stars, discovering the Gods and exploring the sciences, that’s Sagittarian territory. It’s also the thing that will save us. Read more
Gateway Goddess
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