From Spirit’s point of view, disaster is an opportunity for growth. I know this is very hard to bear in mind when faced with imagery of blood and terror, or when people you know leave this world suddenly. Spirit is not limited by what we perceive as limitations, Spirit does not see what we call…
Category: Community
A Very Tardy Writeup of Pantheacon
Over Presidents’ Day weekend, I attended Pantheacon in San Jose. Envision 3000 pagans, 4 days of workshops and rituals (with up to 14 of those being held simultaneously in any given time slot), plus vendors and readers and book signings and hospitality suites, in an airport hotel. This was my second year attending and my…
Economics and Paganism
Recent surveys have shown that there .67% of the population self-identifies as “Pagan” when asked about their belief system. That is a slightly higher percentage than Seventh Day Adventists or Unitarian Universalists. I find that many people I encounter, whether they identify as “Pagan” or simply “spiritual,” would love to have a community of people…
Tragedy, yes, but also an opportunity
I woke up this morning and, unusually, was prompted to turn on the television. I was just going to put it on the Seasonal Music station; in order to get there, I go to channel 2 (CBS here) and scroll backwards. CBS was, of course, showing scenes from the Connecticut school shooting. After assessing the…
Food as a Sacred Act of Community
Eating has always been a strongly social activity in my life. When I have something important to talk about, when I want to download information or decompress with someone after an event, when I want to get to know someone better, when I am working on fostering community, I always want to do it over…
It’s summer!
In many cultures, the concepts of light, the Sun, and love all hold similar meanings. The light of the Sun is seen as a symbol of the light of the Divine, for it feeds and nurtures us, brings us sustenance, and shows us the way. But there are other types of love besides divine love….
Sorting and Processing Through Relationships
I am seeing a lot of people concerned right now about the balance and fairness of their relationships (friendships, familial, and romantic). Fairness is a concern generated the negative ego. The higher self revels in connection and does not pay attention to who initiated what last. Relationships are not balance sheets, and it is certainly…
Notes from the Labyrinth
It’s Good Friday. The culmination of Lent. If Lent is about acknowledging and defusing our ego attachments, Good Friday is about seeing what is left and letting the rest die away. The death throes of the ego. I went to the Labyrinth stressed and cranky today, which I know to be my ego resistance. It…
New Moon and Ostara
I’ll be doing ceremony on Thursday… We are honoring both the New Moon (in Aries) and Ostara, the Spring Equinox. Additionally, we are in a Mercury Retrograde that started in Aries (new beginnings), moved into Pisces (creating emotional balance at the end of a cycle), and will move back into Aries after Mercury does direct….
February 2012 Newsletter
February is a special month to me. Its length is variable and odd. It is the only month that has fewer than 30 days, and once every 4 years, it has more days than usual. For that alone, it stands out. It begins with Imbolc or Oimelc, the first fertility festival, sacred to the Goddess…
Celebrating the Solstice
There’s a lot going on energetically right now, you might have noticed. We’re coming up on Solstice and a new moon, Mercury is finally not retrograde anymore, it’s the holiday season, and the weather is in overdrive everywhere, it seems. And there’s something else, too; can you feel it? Something’s coming. The astrologers are telling…