I took a much needed vacation to the woods after an incredibly taxing summer. There, I slept under the Cow Mother's Milky Way, swam in her river, tended to a sacred site, and sat around the fire with friends. It was refreshing in a holy, deep way. It is always a challenge to return to... Continue Reading →
The Blackbird came at the start of the year. He comes at the beginning of things, bearing the Rowan branch that lights the way. The Rowan branch, the flaming brand carried into the Land of the Ancestors, into the Other Realm, that I wear on my wrist and always have in my hand. Here was... Continue Reading →
Clearly, the gods find grains to be an acceptable substitute, so that is what we will use. For the rest of this book, when I say that an animal is to be sacrificed it can be assumed that what is meant is bread that has been ritually identified with that animal. Those artistically and culinarily... Continue Reading →
These are the words the Dead whispered to me as I sat by their fire and offering pit on the last day of the Samhain season. "Ancestors!" my son sings, spinning in circles, "please come to us on an airplane; you are dead but we love you! Come back to us now, and I will... Continue Reading →
There are several lunar observances in Ár nDraíocht Féin which have grown organically through different subgroups in the last few years. As an orthopraxic organization embracing many hearth cultures, and straddling the oft-confusing line between administrative organization and church, to my knowledge there has been no attempt to view these practices holistically. Here is mine,... Continue Reading →
A dear friend asked me, "How should we strive to live?" He wanted to know what makes a good life in accordance with my faith, what influences me in my decision-making, what are my virtues, values, and visions that direct my every day. It's impossible, of course, to speak for all pagans, or even all... Continue Reading →
Part of my exploration of Beauty has been embodiment, that is, living a deliberately pagan life through immersion in the every day. For me (and please forgive any incorrect usage of polythealogical terms, I'm about three years behind the pagan blog world), embodiment has been becoming comfortable in my own body, on the land, and... Continue Reading →
It has been a challenge for me this year to stay true to my vocation -- indeed, at some times I hardly could hear it at all. Life with a toddler is chaotic, loving, and busy. ("Watch, Mommy, watch!" he says to me from under the lilac tree, emptying a load of dirt from his... Continue Reading →
I am drinking my coffee and listening to acoustic music, in blissful silence. My son is with his grandparents, and my husband is sleeping in upstairs. I've slept in also (thanks to the time change) so it's just 8AM now. My hearthfire is lit, prayers have been said, and the smiling faces of the Ancestors... Continue Reading →
star & stone 