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Mass Tragedy and Spiritual Response
In the wake of yet another horrific school shooting, I always find myself fielding emails from people who want to know what they can do, because for the love of Pete, thoughts and prayers don’t seem like enough. And yet, for some, thoughts and prayers offer comfort, and it’s the only thing they can think of as a response to a horrible and brutal event. One of my readers says, “I know this sounds crazy, but every time something big and terrible happens–like an earthquake or a mass shooting–I feel so emotionally connected. I don’t even know these people and I still find myself sobbing and crying and reacting as…
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Chakra Basics 101
In many metaphysical disciplines, such as energy work, Reiki, and other healing modalities, practitioners use chakras as a focal point for their intent. While chakra theory originated in Hindu mysticism, it has been adopted by the New Age and metaphysical community. There are seven chakras, or energy vortexes in the human body, and each is associated with various physical and emotional experiences. It is believed that if a particular chakra is blocked or imbalanced, then the individual may have trouble or issues with the corresponding physical or emotional experience. For example, someone whose heart chakra is blocked might be experiencing an inability to open themselves up to a relationship, or…
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Pagans, Lent, and No You Don’t Have To
Every spring, I get a few emails from Pagans who wonder if there’s something special they need to do while their friends and family members are all getting ready to observe Lent. A reader asks, “I’m trying to figure out what to give up for Lent. I’m a Pagan, so it’s kind of hard for me to decide. Do you have any suggestions?” Yes. If you’re Pagan, a good suggestion would be to not even worry about Lent. Here’s the thing: it’s a Christian holiday, and the notion of giving things up for it is unrelated to any Pagan spirituality. Lent is a forty-day period of preparation before Easter, and…
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Organize a Magical Swap Meet
At some point in your life as a Pagan, you’ll probably have moments where you look at a book on your shelf and think, “I will never read that again.” Or perhaps there’s a deck of Tarot cards that you own, but have never really connected with. Maybe you’ve got an athame that’s outlived its appeal, and you’ve replaced it with something new. So what’s a Pagan to do with all that stuff? Why not organize a magical swap meet? Look at it this way – if you’ve got a dozen things you don’t want or need, and you have nine friends who have a dozen things they don’t want…
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Here, There, and Everywhere in 2018
OK, several of y’all have asked me where I’ll be this year, and when, so I’ve updated the event page accordingly! Keep in mind my schedule is constantly evolving, and I have five more conferences/festivals that I have submitted proposals for but not gotten confirmed – once I do, I’ll add those too. Also, there are a couple of great bookstores I visited in 2017 that I’m hoping to get back to this year for a repeat event. Suffice it to say, if you live within about 250 miles of me, we might bump into each other! Also, if you are the organizer of a festival or PPD event, or…
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Karma: Is it Really a Bitch?
Many times, during discussions in the Pagan community – particularly those revolving around perceived negative behavior – you’ll hear someone invoke the idea of Karma, the notion that what goes around comes around. However, the original concept of Karma is far more complex than simply a giant cosmic payback machine. Let’s look at the way some eastern religions view Karma, and how it’s been adapted by the modern Pagan and metaphysical communities. About.com Hinduism Expert, Subhamoy Das, has a great article explaining Karma as a law of cause and effect. In other words, it’s not just bad stuff that comes back on you, but good works and actions as well.…
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Saturday Spellwork: Shiva Stones
The Shiva Lingam is a stone that is found in many aspects of Hindu belief and folklore. A symbol of the god Shiva, the stone itself is sometimes simply called the Lingam. It’s shaped a bit like an elongated egg, but it also has a good deal of phallic symbolism attached to it. Because of its shape, it is connected with both the male and female aspects of life creation. In some of the metaphysical disciplines, the Shiva Lingam is tied to all of the different Chakras, and can be used in healing and energy work. In particular, it is associated with sexual fertility and potency – men who are…
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When I Eat All the Things at Yule
Okay, y’all, I make no secret of the fact that I’ve struggled with my weight all of my adult life. I’m pretty healthy and strong these days, but I know I’ll never be skinny. Regardless, because I love to cook, the holiday season can be a real challenge for me – but I’ve figured out over the years that if I set a few basic rules for myself, I can keep things under control during December. This way I don’t spend January through April hating the way my ass looks in a pair of yoga pants. Watch Your Portions One of the biggest mistakes you can make during Yule is…
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How to Be a Good Holiday Shopper and Not an Asshole
So, this is something I wrote a few years ago when I worked at the Big Chain Bookstore that rhymes with Yarns and Boble, but because I’ve seen so many examples of horrible shopping behavior this year, I wanted to share it again. Here you go, gentle readers. Ten ways to be a good holiday shopper… and not act like a dick to the retail peeps. ——————————————— The December holidays are nearly upon us, and even though Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Solstice are still a good six weeks away, many of my friends are gleefully rubbing their hands together in anticipation of Black Friday shopping. Everyone claims they think Black Friday is an awful…
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Chocolate Santas
Everyone loves Santa Claus, and everyone loves chocolate. Put them together, and you’ve got a delicious holiday treat. But what inspired this idea in the first place? Who came up with the idea of chocolate Santas? And is it really nothing more than ritualized cannibalism? Chocolate is known as an aphrodisiac the world over today, but until fairly recently, it was mostly the domain of the Aztecs, the Mayans, and European royalty. In the mid-nineteenth century, the Industrial revolution brought equipment that mixed dried cocoa powder with cocoa butter. This resulted in a form of chocolate that was not only pourable, but easy to mold. Most likely, the Germans can…
