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I am surprised that the month is already almost over, and what a month it has been. I had been meaning to write since the year end purification festival, known in Japanese as Nagoshi no Oharae (Half Year Purification), or also my shrine, Hantoshi Kansha Sai (Half Year Appreciation Ceremony), but responsibilities, and also tragedies had hit the country, and my priorities had shifted towards these incidents.

I will start from the beginning — that is, at the end of June on the 24th, we held our Half Year Appreciation Ceremony.
At this time, in Shinto traditions, it is a time to reflect on the year so far since New Year’s. It is an important time of renewal — the renewing and reflection of our hearts and souls. It is also to give thanks for the year so far, and to pray for the next 6 months of the year to go well. The date itself varies from shrine to shrine, but this event is usually commemorating the Summer Solstice, or the time around and after the Solstice.

You've probably noticed that every pair of blue jeans has an extra little side pocket sewn in above the right-hand pocket.

You may have heard this called a “watch pocket,” a vestigial sartorial left-over from the days of pocket watches.

Don't believe it. Here's the real story.

Among the ancient Norse, for obvious reasons, it was customary to carry a small image of one's luck-god on one's person. This hlutr-god (hlutr is cousin to English lot, as in drawing lots) would be suspended from the belt in a little pouch of its own.

(Possibly the most famous story about a lot-god in the lore is that of Einarr Skálarglam. Einarr, a Norwegian, was considering a move to Iceland, but hadn't yet made up his mind. In the meantime, the little silver image of his luck-god Frey, which he carried with him at all times, disappeared. Frey appears to Einarr in a dream, and tells him to settle in Iceland after all. “When you dig the hole for your house's king-post, there you'll find my hlutr,” he tells him. Of course, everything turns out exactly as the god says.)

(Incidentally, Einarr's descendants still live on that same farm in Iceland.)

A lot of people ask me how I got into Modern Minoan Paganism and why I'm inspired to write the books and create the art that goes along with that spiritual path. If I'm honest, the Minoan gods and goddesses have been stalking me since I was a teenager and it just took me a while to pick up on their intent - sometimes I'm slow that way. But once I finally got started, all enthusiastic and rarin' to go, I hit a roadblock: There were virtually no resources out there.

Bear in mind, I'm old enough that when I first started researching the Minoans, I had to resort to actual ink-and-paper encyclopedias and history books. And none of those ever had more than a paragraph or two about the Minoans, usually as a sort of side note before the text started talking about the Greeks.

The term “amulet” comes from the Latin word meaning “defense.” Indeed, amulets are a way to protect yourself that dates back from the earliest human beliefs.

I want to introduce you to my lovely Lilly, named after Lilith, our archetype of independence and women's empowerment. Lilly came to my husband, Roy, and I as if by magic.  We were at the vet, picking up the ashes of our beloved Xena, who had only a few weeks before crossed over into the arms of Mothers Bast and Sekhmet.  Sitting in the unusually empty lobby of the vet's office, this kitty suddenly poked her head up over the counter and looked at me, then Roy, then me, again.  I could feel her asking  "Don't you recognize me?"  It was truly remarkable because, a tri-colored torty, she looked just like Xena's sister - Isis - who had passed away months before.  Yes, we lost both our beloved daughters within 6 months, after sharing 20 wonderful years.  We truly felt as if Xena had facilitated this meeting between Lilly, Roy and I from the Other Side. 

What if you were to sit
by the river of your own life
observing the current
watching the flow,
sensing the depth,
feeling the rhythm,
and not needing
to tell about it,
but instead taking
a long, replenishing
drink.

I’m getting ready to take some time off from classwork and public content generation and planning a bit of a social media hiatus as well as to focus on my piling up book projects. And, our annual Cauldron Month is rapidly approaching. One of my own guideposts of life is Mary Oliver’s Instructions for Living a Life:

When the tribe foregathers, the sacred Fire of Gathering is lighted.

It burns through the duration of the gathering. The priesthood make offerings to It daily and pray for the well-being of the People.

At the end of the gathering-time, the Fire is bid farewell, and ritually extinguished.

There are, of course, innumerable laws governing the treatment of sacred fires. The single most important is this: Treat the Fire as you would an honored guest.

Three in-the-nutshell guidelines to bear in mind: