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Frequently Asked Question: Why do some people say Asatru is a religion and some say it's a folkway? What's the difference and who is right?

My answer: There are heathens who practice only the religion, heathens who practice only the folkway, and heathens who practice both. There are also xians and secular communities who practice various of the folkways we heathens claim as heathen, and some pagans who practice them too, for example maypole customs. Whichever way you want to do your heathenry is fine.

Don't get me wrong: I love apples.

But when's the last time that you bit into an apple and had juice run down your forearm and drip from your elbow?

A good pear is truly a full-body experience.

Pears. I just ate my first one of the season. OMGs.

The Witch Goddess's sacred flower is, of course, the Rose, but the Rose family is a large one. Apples are roses. So are pears. Cut one with the stem. Like an apple, it will show forth the Flower of Life. And cut across the stem, behold: the Fivefold Star of Rebirth.

We've been eating pears for a long time: since, apparently, the Neolithic, if not before. They ate them in the Lake Villages of Stone Age Switzerland. They're mentioned in Linear B inscriptions from Mycenaean Greece. The name pear comes ultimately from Latin, which got it from Greek, which got it from the Phoenicians (p'ri = “fruit”).

And every pear's a little goddess. Hold one in your hand. It's like one of those big-hipped Mamas that the ancestors made to make the garden grow. It irks me when people say that a situation has gone “pear-shaped” to mean that it's gone wrong. Is the implication really that perfection = round? Round things roll away and break. Low centers of gravity mean stability.

I had developed a serious unrelenting hatred for a particular young salesgirl.  You have to understand, my experience with her ilk that would visit our office was with her rival company.  Those young women were well dressed like fancy stewardesses, clicking into the office with treats, dressed in conservative corporate gear, perfect lipstick.  They were like deadly viper assassins of the sales world – they would come in, ask for someone, remind me that they can give cpe, hand over their classy treats, smile and leave promptly.  I love them unapologetically.

But this new breed from the other company was . . .just the worst.  Crummy cheap treats (bad), lingering (worse) and overly familiar (death knell).  I couldn’t stand the way she would dress, all hipster casual cute like this would endear her to other tired older admins like myself.  I had a plastic mug from her rivals that was a pretty blue on my desk and I used it for candy related trash so I would not find mystery wrappers strewn all over my desk because some of our clients are goddamn savages.  She immediately assumed this swore my allegiance to her rivals instead of it being a nice colored mug in the cabinet I found, making me dislike her even more intently.  I moved from dislike to outright hatred when she came with some of her brethren at ten to five and proceeded to linger.  Bitch ain’t nobody want to talk to you!  Also, why you got a posse?  Is this suddenly a dangerous neighborhood and no one else but you got the memo?

What do you want to change in your life? Make a list and jumpstart your to-change list with these crystals. For example, I am embracing the wisdom that less truly is more, I am ready to let go and release some of my belongings that no longer serve me and have become clutter, if you want to get more organized, l get some lazulite. Crystals and sacred stones can be a great source of clarity and help process emotions. Please note that I do NOT even consider crystals to be clutter. They are gorgeous and also helping the entire household with good vibes and good energy.   Also, I have never really had any jade, but recently, I feel like I need the grounding and stabilizing effects of this stone. Additionally, I need to get more prosperity-minded. I need to be better about saving money and thinking in terms of my future security so I’m not reading tarot out on the sidewalk when I’m 90! So, I have been walking through San Francisco’s Chinatown and feeling very attracted to different jades. I’m sure you feel such urges and attractions, too. Often, this might be your subconscious giving you a gentle nudge about some growing you need to do. Listen to those inner voices, and you will reap the benefits again and again.

Change Your Life With Sacred Stones:

Because I was very different in my interests as well as my life circumstances from that of many of my classmates I was badly bullied in grade school. However what was worse was that I had no good way to respond to my classmates' unkind behavior. It wasn't until I discovered meditation that I acquired a way of controlling not only my reactions and responses but also of avoiding the potential complications of thoughtlessly spontaneous and perhaps provocative words and actions.

150,000 years of pagan history, and it took the so-called 20^th century to reduce the gods to the level of co-workers.

“I work with [Name of Deity].”

How many times have you heard this expression?

Note who's the active agent. Note the nature of the partnership. Note the implied equivalence.

The ancestors would never have used the phrase “work with” to describe their relationship with their gods. They might have worshiped a particular god. They might have offered to a certain goddess. They might have made their prayers to said gods.

But—for the most part—modern pagans are afraid of worship. (Why? Another day, another post.) Mostly we don't offer to our gods. We're not particularly strong on prayer, either. I.e. we have rejected the spiritual technology of the ancestors.

So much the worse for us.

As the earth begins her winter’s rest in the Northern Hemisphere, there are quiet reminders of ongoing life as heather and heath begin to bloom. Although heath and heather are nearly identical and the names are often used interchangeably, there is a simple way to tell them apart. Heath has needle-like foliage (think spruce tree) while heather has tiny, scale-like foliage (think cedar tree).