Skryclad: Clothed In Visions

Observations of the light and the dark of what is, was, and might be in the Pagan community's expansion and evolution.

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Ivo Dominguez Jr

Ivo Dominguez Jr

Ivo Domínguez, Jr. is a visionary, and a practitioner of a variety of esoteric disciplines who has been active in Wicca and the Pagan community since 1978. He serves as one of the Elders of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, a Wiccan syncretic tradition that draws inspiration from Astrology, Qabala, the Western Magickal Tradition and the folk religions of Europe. He is the author of Keys to Perception: A Practical Guide to Psychic Development, Practical Astrology for Witches and Pagans, Casting Sacred Space: The Core Of All Magickal Work; Spirit Speak: Knowing and Understanding Spirit Guides, Ancestors, Ghosts, Angels, and the Divine; Beneath the Skins with other books in the pipeline as well.

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Watching The Flow

Thanks to all of you who checked in with me during and after the hurricane that in our house came to be called Sandy Claws as a tip of the hat to Nightmare Before Christmas. No damage of any consequence came to our home or our shop, just a bit of cleanup to do. We are grateful.

 

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  • Gwendolyn Reece
    Gwendolyn Reece says #
    I have been thinking about these past two posts a lot. Thank you for the contemplative fodder, Ivo! Working on the theory that al

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Your Presence Is Requested

Sorry for the delay in posting my blog, but it has been a whirlwind week including finalizing arrangements with the host hotel for the Between The Worlds Conference, preparations for three major rituals, work on an initiation, family matters, and many other things.

 

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Kool-Aid & Amrit

 

In the last several weeks I've seen links and posts buzzing around in the Pagan social media realm related to the topics of dishonorable leadership, the warning signs of a bad magickal group, cult awareness, and so forth. This is nothing new and indeed at least once a year there seems to be a flurry of this kind of interest. One of the earliest Pagan writers on this topic was Isaac Bonewits, founder of Ár nDraíocht, who in 1979 created the first version of his Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame. It was quite good and updated versions of it are readily available online. Certainly wherever human beings are involved, there is the potential for all manner of dysfunctional behavior. I certainly think that we should be vigilant and on guard against systems, groups, or individuals that make the fulfillment of their needs paramount over our personal spiritual development. On the other hand, and this is where this blog post is headed, our fear over the potential for exploitation has its own unhealthy cost.

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  • Gwendolyn Reece
    Gwendolyn Reece says #
    Let me start this comment by saying that I agree with the primary sentiment that we ought not to be overly afraid of having teache
  • Ivo Dominguez Jr
    Ivo Dominguez Jr says #
    This is exactly the sort of discussion that is needed. Thanks Gwendolyn! I think it is important to create formal relationships i
  • Jae Sea
    Jae Sea says #
    The amount of mis- and dis-information out there does make it more difficult to parse out informed teachers for one's chosen path
  • Leanne Pemburn
    Leanne Pemburn says #
    From my typical position of naivety, I can't recall ever having been warned away from working with a teacher. This attitude expla

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Seeing - Doing

 

I was recently asked the question of how it was possible for someone who had limited to no psychic ability to lead a ritual? I should also add the context of the ritual in question was one that involved operative magic rather than devotional work. In other words how could a person that was seemingly head blind be capable of weaving together the energies that were being directed towards them in the ritual. How does a person who does not perceive subtle forms and subtle energies know whether or not the circle, or whatever magical container they've created, is actually solid and secure? How do they know if there are imbalances that need to be corrected? And lastly how do they know if the work has truly been done? I will be honest and say that if someone had posed that question to me a few decades ago, I would've said that it was not possible. And I would've been wrong in making that summary judgment.

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  • Elissa Rich
    Elissa Rich says #
    An excellent point. Sometimes the work being done is purely intuitive with a conscious focus of will only - I tend to operate that
  • Robin Fennelly
    Robin Fennelly says #
    Ivo, thank you for sharing these insights. As one who does not see or sense in the traditionally defined way, I appreciate the rem

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Avalon & Brigadoon

 

This is the last installment of a four part series on physical infrastructure in the Pagan community. In this post I am focusing on festivals, conferences, and other multi-day events. In almost every culture and every community there is the custom of the gathering of the tribes. Modern pagan festivals, gatherings, and conferences are our equivalent of the gathering of the tribes. For simplicity sake, I'll refer to all these sorts of events as gatherings. In earlier posts in this series I spoke about the value that comes from seeing each other, working with each other, and having places that we can call our own. What makes gatherings different from these other kinds of infrastructure is that they involve large groups of people. Why is that important? For the most part, we are relatively isolated from each other and see only a handful of people at a time that share some commonality with our path. Seeing a multitude of Pagans together is transformative.

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  • Anne Newkirk Niven
    Anne Newkirk Niven says #
    Melissa: to pitch me on your blog idea, email me at editor2@bbimedia.com
  • Melissa Stansbury
    Melissa Stansbury says #
    So how do You "blog"? I just signed up and wish to "blog" in this forum about our ancient Craft....I am a multi-generational Witc
  • Joseph Bloch
    Joseph Bloch says #
    Another wonderful post, and I'm sorry to see the end of this excellent series. Can you recommend anywhere to get a comprehensive

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Sacred Precincts

 

This is part three of four of a series on physical infrastructure in the Pagan community. In this blog post I am focusing on temples, libraries, and land-based projects. For the sake of simplicity I am using the phrase temples, libraries, and land-based projects, but as you read this post also think of retreat centers, community centers, and other sorts of venues as well. There are currently a small number of Pagan temples, libraries, and land-based projects, for which I am grateful but there are not enough.

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  • Joseph Bloch
    Joseph Bloch says #
    I'd love to see someone put together a "model organization". Legal forms, business plan; something that meta-groups across the cou
  • Leanne Pemburn
    Leanne Pemburn says #
    What would it take to get many groups on one area to pool their resources?
  • Joseph Bloch
    Joseph Bloch says #
    I couldn't agree more. However, one thing that we need to also remember is that Pagans as a group cannot rely on the largess of a

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The Once & Future Agora

 

This is part two of four of a series on physical infrastructure in the Pagan community. In this blog post I am focusing on Pagan bookstores and related businesses. For the sake of transparency and disclosure, I'll say that I am the co-owner of a metaphysical bookstore (Bell, Book, & Candle in Dover, De) so I do have a personal interest in this matter. I will also say that it is a labor of love and that there are any number of other ways that I could make a better living with much less work. If my partner Jim, did not have a good job with benefits, I would never have considered a metaphysical store as a reasonable option for myself. This is an artifact of the often strained relationship that the Pagan community has with money and finances. The ambivalence and misgivings related to money and material goods within our community will be a continuing thread throughout this series of blogs.

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  • Emily Mills
    Emily Mills says #
    I really love that you point out how important Pagan bookstores are to people who don't belong to groups. I love being able to att
  • Alan
    Alan says #
    I'm checking on the edit comment question. It certainly seems useful to be able edit ones own comment.
  • Elissa Rich
    Elissa Rich says #
    I posted this at Facebook, and Ivo kindly urged me to share it here: " Great post, and I too want to be able to see more brick-and
  • Ivo Dominguez Jr
    Ivo Dominguez Jr says #
    FYI... Argghh that you can't edit comments once they are posted.
  • Joseph Bloch
    Joseph Bloch says #
    Excellent post, and I agree with everything you say. Could you perhaps give your thoughts on the need (or lack thereof) to represe

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