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- Category: Working with Land Spirits
Go Outside!
by Phil Brucato
Where are you, right this minute? If you’re like most of us, you’re probably sitting inside an air-conditioned house, maybe with a TV or computer humming away in the background, electric light on overhead and the smell of fast food wafting through your living space.
Aren’t we Pagans? Don’t we revere Nature? Didn’t we renounce the gods of books in favor of a gospel spoken every moment by the Earth? Yes? Then why are so many of us sitting inside with feet propped up on coffee tables, remote in one hand and cheeseburger in the other? As summer arrives, is there any good answer for that question?
Really. Go outside.
Normally, this column focuses on Paganism and popular culture. Not all culture, though, comes from books, games, music, or the Internet. As I pondered my next article, my roommate Cory and I got on a rant about Pagans who spend their lives wrapped up in air-conditioned cocoons. That’s when I knew what I had to write about this issue: not about passive media culture, but about the active culture just outside the culture of the living world.
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- Category: Personal Altars
Milagros
Little Miracles For All
by article and photos by Joan Robinson-Blumit
Miracles. Except for the most cynical, the majority of us want to believe that miracles can occur; and, in fact, extraordinary things do happen in seemingly hopeless situations. Frequently the miracle is attributed to a Higher Power, whose intercession is believed to come after we contact them.
As Pagans many of us utilize spells, often likening them to prayers. We also fashion amulets, talismans and charms, imbuing them with our energy or with requests to our gods to protect, cure, or assist us.
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- Category: Reviews
Taking Up the Runes
by Diana Paxson Weiser
2004
I have been awaiting the release of this book for over a year with great anticipation and for once, I was not disappointed. Paxson’s “Taking Up the Runes” is a thorough, ingenious, and most of all refreshingly practical guide to exploring and understanding this key element of Northern magico-religious practice. I would place this book at the forefront of modern runic literature. Not only does it hold its own in the company of such well-respected works such as Aswynn’s “Northern Magic and Mysteries” and Thorsson’s “Futhark” but in many ways, it surpasses them.
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- Category: Opinion
Who’s that knocking on my door:
Should Pagans proselytize?
The Road to Hel in a Handcart.
In answer to the question of whether Pagans should “witness” to non-Pagans, I offer an example of just what Pagan proselytizing might actually look like in real life …
Lady Lorien Mistopheles the Charitable and Lord Ariel Storm-watcher the Grey of the Rosarian Tradition are knocking at the door of the Kingdom Hall down the street from their home. A Witness answers the door.
“Uh … we’re … uh … like, here to witness to you,” stammers Lord Ariel.
“And I am likewise a Witness. Are you a member of our fellowship?”
“Uh, no. I’m, like, we’re members of the Coven of the Green Bank and Rushing River.”
“The Russian River? Are you visiting from California? That’s a state much in need of Witnessing. I applaud your work, young fellow.”
“Oh, no,” says Lady Lorien. “We’re from right here, you know. Totally. We’re your neighbors. We’re here to talk to you about — ”
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- Category: Book Reviews
The Womanly Art of Alligator Wrestling:
Inspirational Stories for Outrageous Women Who Survive by Their Wisdom and Wit
by Ana Tampanna
Silsby Publishing Company
Don’t let the “inspirational” part of this book’s title scare you. It isn’t New Age fluff. There are real and metaphorical alligators in here. What this book really contains is a diversity of stories about women solving problems, often without much regard for what they “should” be doing.
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- Category: Book Reviews
Crappy to Happy, Small Steps to Big Happiness Now!
by Randy Peyser
Red Wheel/Weiser
Crappy to Happy is helpful, entertaining, and often intriguing. The author illustrates her steps to happiness with poignant, sometimes painful stories from her own life. Written with wit and wisdom, this book can either be read straight through from beginning to end or dipped into to gain insight or assistance when needed.
Read more: Crappy to Happy, Small Steps to Big Happiness Now!
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- Category: Blended Traditions
Holy Mother
by Archer
The Sistine Madonna by Raphael ©2008 clipart.comMy great-grandmother’s print of Raphael’s Sistine Madonna hangs in the closet where I keep my altar. The Virgin steps barefoot on the earth, her mantle blowing back from her face, her serious little son cradled easily to one side. She looks out, her expression unreadable. She seems younger than me, and yet so much wiser.
I’ve been praying to her.
I’ve been Pagan for many years, but somehow this image has never lost its appeal. In a way, such unorthodox prayer is typically Pagan, reflecting both the flexibility of Pagan spiritual practice and the diversity of Pagan origins. For while ancient Paganism certainly influenced Christianity, the reverse is true as well. As Christians drew from ancient cult when they built up the figure of the Virgin Mary (sparsely depicted in the Gospels), so modern Pagans draw from the emotional resonance of the Virgin’s story to shape their own version of the Goddess. It is that resonance that draws me, a quality that doesn’t feel Christian or Pagan, just deeply, mysteriously human.
