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One of the refrains that often passes between friends of mine is that this is the craziest/stupidest/wildest/scariest timeline, the adjective changes depending on the events of the day that are inciting our remarks. The word timeline is used as a sort of nod to a speculated multi-dimensionality of time in which we all exist and where there are actually multiple concurrent timelines. Somehow, we’ve just managed to end up in the most wack-a-doodle one due to our good/bad fortune, personal hubris, or perhaps merely our firm belief that it was the Berenstein and not Berenstain Bears.
Denise Levertov, photo of Amalie & Julie by Lill-Veronica Skoglund
Gen Z is swapping traditional faiths for magic spells.
Netty has been practising magic for 16 years. She cast a spell to get her current job in banking. She credits other spells with securing subsequent salary raises. She once used a spell to make her boss like her more. Another bagged her the love of her life, seven years ago. She still has the honey jar she used for it – into which she put herbs, a petition and a Corona bottle cap he’d discarded. (She assures me he knows about it.) Raised a Catholic, Netty has not completely reneged on the faith, nor does she see any conflict in casting spells and praying to saints. You might call her a Christian witch. You might be surprised to know there are thousands of them.
Witches’ Sabbath (1797–98), Francisco Goya. Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid
The figure of the witch has been reborn in recent years. In 2021. . .With this revival came a wave of feminist reclaimings of the witch. Many a placard at pro-choice demonstrations now bears the slogan: ‘We are the granddaughters of the witches you couldn’t burn.’
On the anniversary of the Pendle witch trials, which saw 12 people accused of witchcraft in Lancashire in 1612, we take a look at four objects that encapsulate the power of the witch as a symbol of superstition and feminine power.
Newgrange, Ireland – 2016
Patheos has just completed a feature on The 100 Most Holy Places on Earth. It’s an interesting list – check it out if you’re interested in such things. It’s a click-through feature but at least it’s a fast click-through. The list is dominated by the “Big Five” religions – the only two that specifically apply to modern Paganism are Newgrange at #95 and Glastonbury Tor at #51....
Rather than argue about the rankings and advocating for our favorite sites that were left off, I’d rather discuss more basic questions: what makes a place sacred? What makes a place holy? How can we recognize sacred places when we encounter them? And what can we do in sacred places that we can’t do in ordinary places?
I’ve run an online pagan moot for about a year now. It’s like your everyday in person pagan/ witchy meet up but has attendees from around the world. And is in your own living room.
We meet on the last Sunday of the month with no expectation for attendees to be there every month and explore a different pagan or spirituality inspired theme each time.
You can find out more about it herehttps://www.heidmind.com/bennus-table
Bennu’s Table started back in September 2022 from a desire I had to share some of my own practise
Image credit: Devolver Digital
A splendid, engrossing blend of visual novel and card creation game, where the cards you create are the means of navigating dialogue and pursuing a story about outcast witches, their griefs, lusts and more destructive tendencies. Here's another review.
During the pandemic, Carlene O’Connor, author of the Irish Village Mystery series, got a reading from her tarot teacher. He said that her next book was going to be different. O’Connor didn’t understand what he meant, since she was planning on writing another book in her cozy series.
But the next day at a meeting discussing her next work, her publicist pointed out that her darker cozies tended to do well, and her editor suggested doing something different. O’Connor said in an interview, “My jaw hit the floor. Then I got really excited about it because I had always wanted to branch out a little bit more as a writer.” That book became No Strangers Here (2022), the first in the County Terry Mysteries.
I also took a Tarot for Writers class from Kris Waldherr and found it enormously helpful in character development and figuring out plot points.
Tarot is so much more than just picking a card and reading what the guidebook that came with your deck says about it. The way you interact with your tarot deck is deeply personal, so you can customize your experience with different rituals, setups, and more. Here’s how to get more out of your brand new tarot deck and jump-start your tarot practice!