PaganSquare.com - WitchesAndPagans.com

I was pleased to write an endorsement for the new book, Home to Her, by Liz Kelly, forthcoming from Womancraft Publishing. Pre-orders are currently open for the book. (Side note: I was interviewed by Liz about Walking with Persephone last October.)

Home to Her is a compelling narrative at once personal, herstorical, mystical, and exploratory. Liz’s voice is both gentle and fierce, weaving an engaging book that draws from personal experience—both mundane and mystical—family and ancestral experience, and the work of other foremothers, wayshowers, and theorists from years gone by. 

Willing to wrestle with complex topics such as the legacy of colonialism and European appropriation of indigenous land, voices, stories, and traditions, Home to Her skillfully guides the reader across a multifaceted landscape of experiencing, questioning, exploring, and coming into relationship with the divine in our lives and our world.

Home to Her is a love song to the Sacred Feminine, in her many forms and faces, past, present, indwelling, and strong.

“…I believe that ‘slowness’ is a power that we can and must bring to our magic because the modern need for speed has invaded this practice too. A while back, I picked up a book [of swift spells]. I was struck by the word associations – to be modern is to be speedy, swift and efficient. I am very keen to represent a counter idea – of slow magic: easeful rituals, gentle enchantment and leisurely spells, as well as magic to be found within the process of slowing down and being still. Not as a ‘better’ option, but merely a different one, something that maybe we can embrace, so that we can have options to take things slowly when the mood takes us, or seek it out in our practice. This is the heart of yin magic.”

—Sarah Robinson, Yin Magic

Are you afraid of being still? This is the question that kept arising for me as I made my way slowly through Yin Magic, by Sarah Robinson and published by Womancraft Publishing. Sometimes the most meaningful books are those that take me the longest to read. Yin Magic is a companion book to Yoga for Witches (previously reviewed here), but it also beautifully stands alone. In the book, Sarah invites you to, “dare to inquire: what could stillness look like for me? What does stillness from the busyness of my life look like?”

I regularly get social media messages from people - mostly high school and college students - who have questions about the ancient Minoans. I'm always happy to point people toward accurate, up-to-date resources, since so many websites continue to perpetuate outdated information (a great deal of what Sir Arthur Evans supposed about the Minoans turned out to be wrong).

But I'm not going to write your paper for you.

“Our creations make doorways in the dark for others to slip out of the status quo and into the magic of greater possibility.”

—Lucy H. Pearce (Creatrix)

If you are blind or visually impaired, or just prefer audiobooks to print or ebooks, there are links at the end of this post for your use. I have a limited number of free codes for the audiobook of my new book Asatru: A Beginner's Guide to the Heathen Path, and I would like to give them to readers of my blog who are blind. I am also giving these codes to the blind in my forum, the Asatru Facebook Forum, and on my social media. These codes will all be gone after this month, August 2020.

Here is a link to my new book on Audible. Right now Audible is giving away free copies of my book when you sign up for a 30 day trial of Audible.

I've been quiet for some time now recovering from a hip replacement last July and the second replacement (other hip) in February. You would think that down time would have provided all of the time needed to write, but foggy mind doesn't make for clarity. Now, it's time to write!

I've been spending time of late in trying to think of ways to help during this COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary isolation that has resulted to keep people virus free or at the least minimize transmission and exposure. Our Tradition has postponed or cancelled large gatherings. Our coven has cancelled open events. I have cancelled workshops. And, we are all navigating new ways to remain in touch. So, I wanted to use this post to offer some suggestions: 

You can do this work.
You can live this life.
You are made for these times.
You are capable.
You are bold.
You are brave.
You are needed.
You are strong.
You can rest
when you need to.

For people experiencing unfamiliar levels of isolation in their homes this month, here are some potential resources to check out for "home retreating":