To those of you celebrating the equinox, in whichever form, enjoy the holiday! What form do your celebrations take? Let us know – and tell us about (or send us images of) your decorations, altars or shrines, or holiday celebrations.
Monthly Archives: March 2012
TIP: Mercury In Retrograde
It looks like Mercury is going into retrograde yet again, so speak clearly and take time to understand, folks đ
You may be seeing a lot of these warnings about. For those unfamiliar with the concept, hereâs a bit of a low-down:
When a planet is âretrogradeâ, it appears to move backwards across our sky. This is just because of how that planet is moving relative to how the Earth is moving, and it happens three times a year.
In astrology, the planet Mercury, like its namesake, is related to communication. Thus when Mercury is in retrograde, one might find oneself with a sudden inability to make oneself easily understood, with greater problems in writing or communicating, or continually misinterpreting what others are saying.
Iâm not sure how I feel about astrology generally, but Iâve had the retrograde kick me in the arse a few times, so I tend to pay a little more attention to how Iâm communicating, and take a second look if I take offence to something, just in case I have misread.
Happy Anthesteria!!!
In the interests of Paying More Attention to Pagan holidays outside the generic Western European 8, a happy Anthesteria to all Hellenic Pagans and others who are celebrating this week. Enjoy your wine! Hail Dionysos!
(I donât know the Greek way to say âhappy holidaysâ or anything like that. You can probâly tell. I didnât want to look it up and get it wrong and look like an ass. )
Atheistic Witchcraft
Anonymous asked: oh also if there’s any resources on atheistic witchcraft. thanks again
There arenât many, unfortunately! Most books on witchcraft are centred around ditheistic, Wicca-flavoured religious craft and the atheist or non-Pagan witch will need to pick through these things to find something of value. Too many books purport to be about witchcraft and spend more time discussing religion (gods, holidays, religious rituals) than they do witchcraft. This is annoying, especially if oneâs religion is not in line with these books but even if oneâs religion is, and one simply wishes to learn more about the craft itself.
Doreen Valiente, despite being a religious witch herself and considering witchcraft a religion, nevertheless manages to be a good source on witchcraft and magic from a non-theistic perspective. Give ABC of Witchcraft and Natural Magic a read.
Way of the Hedge Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock manages to discuss witchcraft without assuming the reader is theistic or a Pagan, and she has other books (havenât read them yet, so making an assumption here) that may be the same way, such asWay of the Green Witch (but I wouldnât bother with her book about âWiccaâ).
Have a look also for books on witchcraft written from a historical or anthropological perspective, such as Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits by Emma Wilby.
If atheistic spirituality is what youâre after, I havenât read any, but there are a couple around, such as this one. Overall one gets the impression that most of these books on atheism and spirituality spend far too much time preaching to the converted, as it were, about how there is no god and too little time discussing the expression of spirituality for the atheist. You may find something of interest within Taoism or some forms of Buddhism
Other than that nothing springs to mind at present – books on non-theistic witchcraft are something weâre always interested in finding, so if anything else comes up, weâll try to remember to mention it.
The Informed Pagan 