Imbolc is, for me, also a Sabbat about keeping promises. After Winter Solstice, we know, both scientifically and from past experience, that the days are getting longer. But around here, it takes a while for that to be apparent to our senses. Based on my schedule, around Imbolc is when I really start to see that increase in light. Imbolc keeps the promise that Winter Solstice made. So I want my Imbolc celebrations to be about keeping promises that past me made and my executively dysfunctional ass then promptly forgot.
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Why Paganism Hasn’t Failed…Yet.
John Halstead has written an article around a table lifted from the anthology Deep Green Resistance. It’s a great piece: go ahead and read it. I’d say that’s about 2/3 of a perfect assessment of modern Paganism and the current Pagan community…at least in the US, where I am familiar with it. He’s not wrong, … Continue reading Why Paganism Hasn’t Failed…Yet.
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Brightening
It interests me that the new dawn in American politics comes at the same time that it has become evident (in the Northern Hemisphere) that the days are lengthening. We are no longer in the darkest of winter; the February Sabbath approaches, and the Sun, though young, is definitely returning. A member of the Atheopagan … Continue reading Brightening
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The Winter Cross-Quarter (Winter Thermstice) Approaches! + 8 Online Rituals
For those of us in more Northern climes, the Winter Thermstice, or Imbolc, means ice and snow. Here in Michigan, frozen lakes usually become strong enough to drive cars onto, and that ice also freezes bubbles rising from the lake…
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Betting On the Ponies
If you’ve been paying attention to my social media or my shop links at all, you may have noticed that I haven’t really been posting much in the way of new hide and bone art for the past year or so. It’s not that I’ve stopped; I still make some fun things for my Patrons … Continue reading Betting On the Ponies
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Coming Up Dry for the Festival of Water
In my Wheel of the Year, the February Sabbath is Riverain, the Festival of Water. This is because ordinarily, it rains torrentially in late January and into February in my region. The hills grow emerald with new grasses and the creeks swell and thunder. It is a beautiful time, the time of burgeoning life. But … Continue reading Coming Up Dry for the Festival of Water
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How the larger community sees altars and why it matters, by Lexi Phillips
Your altar can be considered a spiritual hub of your home. Depending on your traditions there is a great flexibility about how you decorate your altar and the symbols you use. But what happens when the neighbors come to dinner…
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The Unthinkable
Because it has never happened before, we think it cannot be. And this is ironic, because we believe that in our aspirations and efforts, we can make what has never been. We know that with heart and work, we can make a better, kinder world. Unfortunately, those with awful values and hatred in their hearts … Continue reading The Unthinkable
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The Top 10 Blog Posts of 2020
What a wild year! Who imagined, back on January 1 of 2020, that this year would hold what it did? The tumult of 2020 showed us many things, some scary, some sacred, some simply new. Looking back helps us in…
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Beginnings
Ask around in Pagan circles, and you’ll get disagreement about when the year actually begins. Some say at Hallows (Samhain): the new year is birthed at the very moment of the death of the old. Some say Yule, with the rebirth of the “baby Sun”. And some—not many, but some—go with the calendar year, January … Continue reading Beginnings
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