Culture Blogs


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Culture Blogs

Popular subjects in contemporary Pagan culture and practice.

Category contains 2 blog entries contributed to teamblogs

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 Bipolar freedom: click your heels three times

 

“You're glowing,” says my friend. “You must have had a good year.”

It's been three since last we talked: Paganicon as family reunion.

Actually, the year has been anything but good: difficulty after difficulty, setback after setback.

He's right, though, and not the first to remark on it: I am glowing. These are the people among whom I can be my truest self, people that speak my mother tongue.

“I'm always at my best among my own,” I say.

He laughs and shakes his head. Corny, maybe, but it's true for him, too. His family threw him out, literally, when as a teen he came out of the broom closet. Pagans have been his people, too, for more than 40 years.

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 Matthew Highton on X:

 

Seriously? Stormtroopers? At Paganicon?

I'm hanging out in the Druid hospitality suite when the masked and armed trio shoulder in through the doorway, scanning the crowd.

Thank Goddess for the Lore: forewarned is forearmed. I step forward.

“These are not the Druids you're looking for,” I tell the leader in his white Darth Vader mask.

He turns to his comperes.

“These are not the Druids we're looking for,” he tells them. “Let's keep searching.”

They turn and go. Behind me, the room erupts in laughter and applause.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 

 

On December 6, 1992, a Hindu nationalist mob tore down the historic 16th century Babri mosque in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya, claiming that it had been constructed on the site of a temple marking the birthplace of the god Ram.

The claims are certainly credible. The Mughal emperor Babur, who built the mosque, despised Hinduism, and such triumphalist behavior on his part would have been entirely in character.

On January 22, 2024, Narendra Modhi—a savvy politician who has played Hindu nationalists as deftly (and as cynically) as Trump has played American Evangelicals—consecrated his newly-built McTemple on the site of the old Babri mosque.

It was a missed opportunity.

 

So, the Babri mosque is gone?

Fine, and good riddance to the old triumphalism.

On its site, yes indeed, let us raise a new temple to honor the Rambhumi, the birthplace (literally, “Earth”) of Lord Ram.

Beside it, let us raise a new Babri mosque.

Hindu and Muslim standing together, side by side, neighbors extending the hand of friendship.

Is this not what Lord Ram, what Allah—what any god worth worshiping—would want?

 

A friend of mine was recently instrumental in opening a new ISKCON center here in town.

When Modhi opened his new Rambhumi temple in Ayodhya, there was a lot of pressure from the congregation to hold a big solidarity celebration at the center.

Goddess bless him, my friend put his foot down.

“What's going on in Ayodhya is political, not religious,” he said. “Prabhupad [the deceased founder of ISKCON] would not have been pleased.”

There was no celebration.

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 Raindrops on puddle. On rainy day , #AFFILIATE, #puddle, #Raindrops, #day, # rainy #ad | Rain drops, Rainy day aesthetic, Abstract

 

You need rain, badly. You decide to do rain magic, but before you have a chance to do the magic, it rains. Should you still do your magic?

Let me restate the case more generally.

You see a need. You propose to cast a spell to bring about X, but before you get about to making your magic, X happens. Do you still cast the spell?

In this situation, authorities—such as they are—are in universal agreement: Yes, you should still cast your spell, you should still do your rain magic.

Here's the operative question: Why?

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Soothe Your Soul with Homemade Massage Candles

Making massage candles is very similar to making any other type of potted candle. I recommend using soy wax as it is so gentle on the skin. Soy is also nice and soft, so it melts easily and stays together in a puddle after melting and can be reused by thrifty crafters. It won’t irritate your skin unless you have a soy allergy; if you have an allergy to soy, you can use beeswax instead, which is widely used. (For example, beeswax is in nearly every single Burt’s Bees product.) The addition of the oils prevents it from hardening again and enables your skin to absorb it. Essential oils or cosmetic-grade fragrance oils are also added to create a soothing atmosphere. All soap-making fragrances, which are also soy candle safe, are perfect choices for scenting your massage candles. Try the basic directions below to make your first candle. For every three ounces of wax, you’ll add one ounce of liquid oil and one-quarter ounce of fragrance. I suggest making two candles in four-ounce metal tins while you master this craft.

You will need these elements:

...
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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Oral Fixations

Food can be foreplay, a wonderful prelude to a night of love. I recommend consuming these aphrodisiacs for your pleasure:

• Almonds, or erotically shaped marzipan

...
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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 Black Phillip: The Real Story Behind the Breakout Goat From 'The Witch'

 

Once we dwelt in the fertile plains. Beef was our food, the milk of cows our drink.

Then we were driven out.

Into the rocky, unfertile hills we fled, which cannot sustain a cow.

We became a people of the goat, for whom the Horned wears caprine horns and hide.

 

Like goats, we witches are survivors.

That's why it can't help but seem to me something of a moral failing that I don't like goat's milk.

Oh, I've tried. “This chèvre has a nice, lemony tang to it,” I say hopefully.

But in my heart, I understand that it's really myself that I'm trying to talk around.

 

Maybe it's just a matter of what I'm used to.

Maybe I'm secretly longing for those fat days of our onetime freedom.

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