Seasons of Wicca by Ambrosia Hawthorn
Seasons of Wicca is a good resource for those looking to broaden their ritual collection.
Samhain
Throughout the world, Samhain is typically known as Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere. Historically, this was the last day of the calendar year to the Celts. It was a time when grazing days for cattle were over and the herds were either put away for winter or separated in preparation for slaughter. As such, Samhain is closely linked with death. Farmers have taken the last of their crops and gave the excess back to the Mother for the New Year. In Wicca, Samhain is the third and final of the harvest festivals. It is a time of death in the Earth when the final…
Hiding in Plain Sight
Sometimes, practicing your craft and your faith will require hiding in plain sight. This can be for several reasons, but the most common is safety and professionalism. Now, I'm not talking about kids hiding things from their parents or guardians. That's a different topic and one I will touch on at a later day. I'm talking about needing to hide your faith for specific job-related reasons, or public related reasons.
The Inner Mysteries by Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone || Book Review
This book was recommended to me by a fellow Wiccan when I was searching for a book that went deeper than your typical "Wicca 101". For the most part, it does the job. This book gave me high hopes when, in the introduction, the following quote was written.
Self Hatred is Poisoning Us All
Self love and self confidence is a long and often hard road full of shadow work, fear, and stress. The unknown is a scary thing, and in today's world we are bombarded with words and imagery that make us question our self love. We are taught to hate ourselves, because hate is fuel for the fire of capitalism. If we didn't hate our bodies, cosmetic surgery wouldn't be necessary. If we didn't hate our waist size then diet fads, waist trainers, diet pills, and all those other products that are sold to us to make us love ourselves wouldn't be necessary.
Persephone
Persephone [pər-ˈse-fə-nē] is the Greek Goddess of spring growth and the Goddess Queen of the underworld, married to Pluto (Hades). She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and her myth explains the causes of Spring and Autumn. She was worshiped alongside her mother Demeter in the Eleusinian Mysteries. She has many names, but the most common are Kore and Persephone. She is referred to as Kore when she is Earth-side, bringing Spring to the land by her return as Demeter rejoices. As Persephone, she is the Queen of the Underworld for the dark half of the year, aiding Hades in the receiving of the dead.
Thoughtful Thursday
If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why? I've thought about this before, but I don't think I have one solid answer because there's so much that I want to know. We know that history is written by the victor, and most often, the victor tainted the story of how things happen. I'd like to go back in time to witness the building of Stonehenge. It has always been a mystical place to me that one day I hope to visit. Seeing images of Stonehenge during the Solstices gives me a strange sense of nostalgia.
The Wiccan Rede: Things to Remember
The Wiccan Rede is one of the core tenants that Wiccans follow. It states "An' it harm none, do what ye will", and is open for interpretation depending on your path and tradition. Just because it is a core tenant, though, doesn't mean there isn't some confusion about it. Here are some things to consider.
What makes an altar?
I was sitting at my altar this morning, just for a few minutes, taking a quiet moment to myself before I left for work. It occurred to me that my altar doesn't look how I wished it would, but that's ok. There's a lot of extenuating circumstances around my altar and why it looks the way it does.
Yule 2018 – Finding our Tree
This past weekend, we went on an adventure. Here in Central Oregon you have the ability to purchase a permit to go cut your own tree down rather than paying the $50-ish dollars for the ones they bring in specifically to sell. So, that's what we did!
