Peter Gabriel, Games without Frontiers (Uncensored)
Because sometimes a song says it best
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Setting foot upon the path
“Don’t delude yourself. The minute you set foot upon the path of witchcraft, a call rings out in the unseen world announcing the fact of your arrival.”
-Paul Huson
In July of each year since 1997 I participate in an online class, the Art of Ritual. The first year I was a student, now I’m an instructor. This is a witchcraft 101 class, complete with rituals and mentoring.
Each year, the students start out eager and fresh. Each year their lives change. Each year I watch them be changed by the simple act of accepting magick into their life.
Some try to deny the changes, to stop them from happening. Those students have trouble, they struggle.
Others embrace the changes and I watch them blossom and grow.
Magick — whether you spell it with a k or not — is not easy. It requires a high level of self-knowledge and a willingness to accept that the Gods have tasks They want you to do.
This is the season of the witch, a time of transformation. I feel the tide of the harvest calming as we draw closer to the dreaming time.
What magick will you manifest?
2011 Litany of the Dead
(posted a little late)
2011 SAMHAIN LITANY
Dagonet Dewr, Compiler
As always, editorial comments and content are solely my responsibility. I will forget people; email me at dagonet.dewr@… and I’ll add them to permanent archived copies of this list. More and more every year, I realize we need a central listing point for Neo-Pagan dead; if anyone is interested in making that project a reality, please email me as well. Feel free to disseminate with attribution.
New Year’s Tarot Reading
The question asked, as always: What will the coming year bring?
Covering: Page of Cups: The essence of water behaving as earth, such as a wellspring: An unexpected new relationship that is playful and spontaneous. A romantic soul who embraces compassion and imagination with childlike joy. Gentle reflections on love, spirituality, and the importance of personal relationships in business and material affairs. May herald the birth of a child.
“Shake it Off”
The effing brilliant new release from Florence and the Machine. I can’t wait for the album to be released.
For my sweetie: our ‘gateway’ band
How we both found rock n roll . . .
Styx.
As unlikely a gateway band as they are, both J and I didn’t deliberately listen to anything but ‘soft pop’ until we heard Styx. This song, “Renegade” was the one I remember hearing first; J. thinks “Lady” (or it may have been “Crystal Ball”) was his entree.
From there on, we were drawn deeper into the multiplicity of the rock n’ roll genre.
Thank you, profoundly, Styx.
Private Ritual for the Death of a Parent
We don’t do grief.
~Joan Didion
For most of us, talking about how we feel is difficult, and doubly so when we are grieving. We are in pain, often combined from sorrow and anger to varying levels, and we are alienated from others because of that pain. We may feel guilty, with lots of unfinished business we didn’t have time to take care of in our relationship. Or we may not feel much of anything at all; it’s too distant. People avoid us, or are deeply awkward in our presence. Social niceties encourage us to make it easier on them, which is exhausting, so instead we project a sense of calm, or of not needing sympathy, or of having ‘moved on’ – as if the death of our mother or father was a minor part of our lives.
Flowers for Chemo
Having cancer is like no other experience we ever encounter, and it is a remarkably unique process despite having so many similarities. Based on personal experience, there are a number of herbs (including flower essences, and essential oils) that support a person going through the cancer experience, including chemotherapy.
Bees, Butterflies, and Birds: How to Welcome Flying Friends Into Your Garden
After years of urban and apartment dwelling, I finally moved into a real house with a real backyard. I knew I wanted to create an environment that would attract birds, bees and butterflies and so the seeds of this article were planted.
October Update at Facing North
This month we have a great collection of books from a number of genres:
Dion Fortune’s Psychic Self-Defense and The Secrets of Dr. Taverner
The Guru Question: The Perils and Rewards of Choosing a Spiritual Teacher
72 Names Oracle Cards (our 2nd review of this item)
Wheel of Wisdom
Barbarian Rites: The Spiritual World of the Vikings and Germanic Tribes
Phantom Armies of the Night
The Yin Yoga Kit
The New Orleans Voodoo Handbook
Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook (our 2nd review of this item)
We have several excerpts. Two from Barbara Ardinger’s new book, Secret Lives (we’ll be reviewing her book next month); we also have an exceprt from the forthcoming Silence of the Mind.
This month we are also offering the first of our semi-annual music reviews! Twice a year, in October and April we’ll publish reviews of all of the music we’ve received to date.
This month we have 12 albums:
Uwe Gronau’s Midsummer
Josh Johnston’s The Shape of Things
Janice Faber’s Carried Away
Eddie Gip Noble’s In the Lite of Things
Mike Longo Trio’s To My Surprise
Bell Book and Canto’s Invocation
Annette Cantor’s Songs to the Earth
Moonstruck’s Witch of the Wildwoods
Legend’s Cardinal Points
Aomusic’s …and Love Rages On!
Luna Blanca’s Provence
Tomas Michaud’s Beauty and Fire