The great queen of heaven, Inanna, I will hail!The only one, come forth on high, I will hail!The pure torch that flares in the sky,The heavenly light shining bright like the day,The great queen of heaven, Inanna, I will hail!Of her standing in the sky like the sun and moon,Known by all lands from south … Read more
Halcyon days, now wars are ending.You shall find where-e’er you sailTritons all the while attending With a kind and gentle gale. — Halcyon Days by Thomas Shadwell (1642 – 1692) Winter Solstice draws near, and we enter into the Time Out of Time. Once upon a time, Alcyone (also called Halcyon) was the daughter of … Read more
Sweet Surrender © by Leslie MarcusThe RipeningBy Kay CristaWith my thanks to LibbyAnn for sending this to me! This Livinghas softened the hard fruitof my being Everyday, tendernessclaims more of metaking me holyinto ripeness Let me notfall from the branchripe but untasted Rather, let the Belovedpluck me in ripenessand pierce me with His bite Releasing … Read more
Here’s a powerful prayer-spell that would work in perfect harmony with our intentions, as we light our second candle and celebrate the New Moon tomorrow, thanks to one of my favorite conjurors of illumination and magic, Rob Brezsny: TO THE TRICKY GODDESS OF BENEVOLENT MISCHIEFPRAYER OF GRATITUDE All hail the Tricky Goddess of Benevolent Mischief, … Read more
DREAMS WITHIN DREAMSby Fiona MacLeod (William Sharp) I have gone out and seen the lands of Faery,And have found sorrow and peace and beauty there,And have not known one from the other, but found eachLovely and gracious alike, delicate and fair.“They are children of one mother, she that is called Longing,Desire, Love,” one told me: … Read more
Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road. — John Henry Jowett (1864 – 1923 ) As you shift your attention from what you don’t have, … Read more
Charge of the Goddess Traditional by Doreen Valiente, as adapted by Starhawk: Listen to the words of the Great Mother, Who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names: Whenever you have need of anything, once a month, and better it be when the moon … Read more
Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.— Will Rogers To people who practice earth-centered spirituality, the “material world” is not separate from the Divine, much less is it evil. Why, then, should we harbor attitudes that money in some way degrades what … Read more
Loneliness by Isatree Sai PodaengSo the sidewalk is crowded, the city goes byand I rush through another day;and a world full of strangers turn their eyes to mebut I just look the other way. They roll by just like waterand I guess we never learnGo through life parched and emptystandin’ knee deep in a riverand … Read more
It takes dynamite to get me upToo much of everything is just enoughOne more thing I just got to say —I need a miracle every day,I need a miracle every day. — Bob Weir/John Barlow Every year in August, I have been going on a week-long spiritual retreat to West Virginia. But last year, I … Read more