Did you know that the Raleigh area’s Pagan Pride celebration is the third largest in the United States? And after a record-setting crowd last weekend, we might have to revise that upwards. Congratulations to all that made it a huge success … again. I am so proud to help as a sponsor and participant. See … Read more
Once more the liberal year laughs out O’er richer stores than gems or gold: Once more with harvest song and shout Is nature’s boldest triumph told. ~ John Greenleaf Whittier Today is the Equinox, taken from the Latin for “equal night.” It is the Autumnal equinox in the northern hemisphere, and the Spring equinox below … Read more
Lammas Bread Blessing Bless the earth that grows the grain, Bless the water that gives us rain, Bless the wind that helps seed spread, Bless the fire that bakes our bread. – Words by Diane Baker, music by Anne Hill, Serpentine Music Now the Wheel of the Year turns once more, and the season of … Read more
As the sun spirals its longest dance, Cleanse us! As nature shows bounty and fertility Bless us! Let all things live with loving intent And to fulfill their truest destiny. ~ from a Wiccan Summer Blessing (as reported by the BBC) Happy Litha (Summer Solstice) to those of us in the northern hemisphere, and Happy … Read more
I must go seek some dewdrops here And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear. Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I’ll be gone: Our queen and all our elves come here anon. ~ From A Midsummer Night’s Eve, by William Shakespeare Today is the last day of Spring in the lands above the Equator. … Read more
The many branches of Earth-centered spirituality have come a long way from the early days I remember, like when we were pulling our liturgy from pop fiction (“May you never hunger, May you never thirst” is straight out of Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land). But those days of flying our broomsticks by … Read more
A Seed for Spring Equinox ©Annie Finch Thrusting through the season where I’d waited for spring, tucking up my head, I felt the slanted weight of clouds pressing through the sky above me down towards this grave, till I feel the earth around the place my head has lain under winter’s touch, and it crumbles. … Read more
April 12-13, 2013 in Columbia, SC In today’s post-modern, urbanized world, where everything is a commodity, how and where do Pagans find their sacred places? How should we protect and maintain these sites? In colonized worlds, how do we avoid the appropriation of these lands? If Goddess is immanent in nature, what makes some places … Read more
Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians. ~ Pat Robertson (whose media power, political influence, and global business interests are not a joke) I have been increasingly dismayed by some of the Witchcraft-focused tripe coming out in recent books, TV, and films. But I’ve been … Read more
Brighid of the mantle, encompass us; Lady of the lambs, protect us; Keeper of the hearth, kindle us; Beneath your mantle, gather us; And restore us to memory. ~ Caitlín Matthews, A Blessing for Hearth Keepers Today we celebrate the great Sabbat called Imbolc, Oimelc, or Brigid, or the more Christianized name of Candlemas. By … Read more