Category: Practice
-
How Do We Begin?
Sometimes I find myself out of balance. Today, for example, I came into my room — the place where I light my incense, still my mind, perform acts of reverence and celebration — and I found myself uncertain about how to begin. My mind was a repository for too many things. There was clutter everywhere. […]
-
Fragments of a Full Life
I tore it down. I tore it all down. I looked at my space, my little corner room, which is both an office and the home to my small shrine, and I realized that there was something wrong. There was something stale. It did not feel like a sacred space, like an active creative space. […]
-
A Daily Practice Matters
This morning we slept in until 7:30. That may not seem incredibly early to some (it isn’t all that early for my husband and I), but it’s a vacation compared to the day of surgery and the first day of recovery. We woke to discover that my kid was experiencing some sharp pain, a common […]
-
Autumn Becomes Emotional
The Rosemary is hanging all about my room, dried and waiting to be stripped from the stem. I look out the window, and the smattering of leaves around my house, an autumnal moat, is a reminder that there are still many things to do in preparation for the winter. The silence I used to write in, […]
-
What Do Pagans Want To Read In Their Blogs, Magazines And Books?
Writing is a bitch sometimes. I’ve given myself a number of writing projects, some religious in nature and some more scholastic. Some are a blending of the both. I’ve also begun to explore what it would be like to take my writing to print. All of these things are squeezed into my calendar and shuffled […]
-
My Friend Got Stuck in the Winter
We’re searching for new beginnings, my friend and I. Yesterday, we took to driving along open roads, through fields turned yellow from the heat, with music playing loud enough to drown out all else, and we let the sound paint a picture of how much we’d changed. A year ago, my friend and I let […]
-
The Offerings of Man, the Obligations of Gods
I approach my home shrine in the morning and prepare my offerings. Into three small, porcelain sake glasses, which were given to me by my stepfather, I pour a small bit of sugar, oats, and oil. These were the foods that made the most sense to me, although I’m not sure why. Whether I’m clothed […]
-
How Does Paganism Handle Turnover?
A friend messaged me this morning to tell me she’d been fired. The news was unexpected, as it often is, and she was understandably torn up over it. My heart sunk, and I hurt for her. I wanted to reach out and embrace her, but I couldn’t. There was only text between us, and the […]
-
Do Not Speak, and You Will Be Heard
Today I approached my altar in silence. Speaking the words out loud, my standard approach to a daily ritual, felt unnecessary. In my mind, in my heart, the words rang out with perfect clarity, and I trusted that whomever needed to hear them would. The effort I put into my daily practice waxes and wanes, […]
-
Remembering to Remember
We don’t know how to relate to one another. This became evident by the end of my first day of tarot readings at Isis Books. We don’t really know how to be in relationships, which is interesting to me because we are in relationships. Our lives are chalk-full of relationships. Yet, somehow, they remain a great mystery […]
-
Awaking Me Loudly: Seduced By the Tarot
Transformation is a slow process, and challenging to describe. Best to be on the lookout for that initial spark of change, and then follow it wherever it leads you. The Chariot: The pursuit of the Divine is a series of sublimations; a refinement of the base; lead to gold. – March 29th, 2009 The tarot […]
-
Chew on THIS, Pagans.
We set fire to the kitchen last night. Metaphorically, I mean. The conversation started while I was preparing dinner, and it continued on throughout the meal and into the clean-up. I woke up thinking about it, and I feel compelled to share some of it with you, my readers; my community of dig-deepers. I’m not […]
-
Doing It Alone on the Equinox
I find that the best way to get my house clean is to throw a party. My desk may be covered with books and papers, my laundry bin filled, and my various interests — knitting and sewing being those that come with the most accessories — all sprawled out across the dining room table, but […]
-
The Action of Worship
My religion is experienced in the doing. This became clear to me as I entered the sacred space of our ADF ritual at Pantheacon, lifted my voice to invoke the spirit of Inspiration, and, for a moment, left my mind behind. When I stepped in front of the altar and began to sing, I was […]
-
Liturgy is Sexy to *this* Druid
Here’s why ADF is awesome: The Core Order of Ritual. There are other reasons, too, but the Core Order of Ritual (or COoR) tops my list at the moment. The COoR is the key liturgical framework for ritual that unites the Druids of Ár nDraíocht Féin, regardless of what Hearth Tradition they’ve adopted for themselves […]
-
Pill Popping Deities
Are the Gods little more than metaphysical designer drugs for the New Age? Are we in service to them, or is it the other way around?
-
Turning Over The Earth
The Spring comes, and my life transforms. It seems to be almost as reliable as the coming of the Cottonwood snow. It happens every year, this pull towards the world; this letting go of Winter’s introspection.
-
I Think I Saw A Goddess
In front of me stood a large tree, next to which was a stone well (not unlike the one I’d seen at the holy site in County Kildare). Between these two sat a third.
-
A Beautiful Noise
This mashup of religious expression is coming from a sincere place, and I believe sincerity to be the most important ingredient in one’s religious life.
-
On Meditation and Devotion: Weeks 10, 11, & 12
March has been quite productive. Spring is definitely upon us! I’ve been working away from home for over half of the month, relying heavily on my portable altar for morning worship.
-
On Meditation and Devotion: Weeks 7, 8, and 9
I think it is time for me to return to the DP material and search out techniques to control my mind. It’s time to bring more mental discipline into my practice.
