It’s so easy to forget how new this Internet thing is. So many of us have come rely on it to learn, to connect, to shop, and to share, but there’s still a lot to work out about how to use it well. Last week, Christine Kraemer (the new managing editor of the Pagan portal at Patheos) pointed out that on Wikipedia, one important online source of information about Paganism, there’s recently been a struggle over which information should be published... Read more
By Molly Sometimes for me the Goddess is a symbol—of my own personal power, of Nature, and of women’s strength and value. Sometimes, like during the death/birth of my third son, She is a literal presence in my life. In November 2009, my third son died during my second trimester of pregnancy. My birth-miscarriage experience with him was a powerful and transforming experience and I was left with a sense of openness to change. A receptivity to larger forces and... Read more
In case you’re just tuning in now, I’ve been experimenting with a weekly short message from the editor on a timely topic. Are these posts working for you? Let me know. This week the topic is Thanksgiving. This Thursday in the U.S. we celebrate Thanksgiving, which provides an opportunity to set or renew a practice of noticing and giving thanks. When we give thanks we make connection. When we give thanks we invite in joy. When we give thanks we notice... Read more
“I have always believed in the need to acknowledge life’s darkness in order to fully experience love-magic. This has never been so clear to me as now, after the birth of my baby girl.” -Francesca Lia Block in Guarding the Moon Recently on the Pagan Families Facebook page there’s been a lot of talk of miscarriage, stillbirth, and other often deeply challenging and painful experiences related to pregnancy and loss. It seems that one of the hardest things about experiencing... Read more
This is Prematurity Awareness Month and November 17 is World Prematurity Day. Here’s a message from the March of Dimes: “November 17 is World Prematurity Day. Every year, 13 million babies are born prematurely worldwide. A million of them never get to celebrate their first birthday, and many more face serious, lifelong health challenges. Raising awareness of this common and serious problem is the first step to defeating it. Visit Facebook.com/WorldPrematurityDay and change your status to show your support. Learn about the progress... Read more
I share a lot of great links and pictures on Facebook and Twitter. Here’s some of the best from October: “The erotic charge that […] lit up the performance of giving birth also seemed to light up the stories they told about it. Many of the stories I heard were not specifically sexual but, in the telling, were filled to overflowing with the kind of intimacy, excitement, pleasure, and passion that articulated itself in and through the birthing body they... Read more
Tuesday is Election Day in the U.S. I won’t tell you here what to mark on your ballot, but I will urge you, if you can vote this week, please do. And if you do vote, then think of the Pagan families. What I mean is, vote for the candidates who are most likely to work hard to make sure we have the freedom and resources to decide whom we’ll partner with, whether and when we’ll become parents, how we’ll... Read more
Let yourself love and be loved by your Ancestors, your Mighty Dead, your Beloved Dead, the Newborns and all other beings in your life, for that is how all souls can indeed be blessed. -Elinor Predota Halloween, Samhain, and Dia de Los Muertos are all marked on my calendar for this week. And all around the Internet, Witches and Pagans are making ready to celebrate this time when the veil grows thin. Many of us honor our ancestors and beloved... Read more
As I explained last week, I’m going to try out making a weekly editor’s post, usually linked to the calendar, the seasons, or current events. Here’s this week’s installment. We’ve been celebrating harvest season in my household. The kitchen counter is lined with giant pumpkins, there’s popcorn drying on the cob, and we’re eating apples with every meal. Maybe that’s why I noticed the other day that the final installment in a series about food and pregnancy had been left... Read more
Pagan Families has mostly been a place to amass our collective resources related to Paganism and the childbearing year, and I’ve tried to mostly be a quiet editor behind the scenes. But I don’t want to seem like the pathetic Wizard trying to pull one over on Dorothy and her friends from behind a curtain, and I do want you to feel like this is a welcoming space where you can bring your experiences and questions. So I’m going to... Read more
Pagan Families
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In