The Marine Corps motto is ‘Semper Fidelis’ – Always Faithful. For those of us who served in the Corps, there’s another motto we heard regularly as well: ‘Semper Gumby.’ This amusing saying means ‘Always Flexible.’ I’ve been thinking about it a fair bit as the latest pendulum swing of the pandemic knocks over various events,…
Happy New Year, friends. 2022 is here and I hope it’s starting off gently for you. The other day, I saw John Beckett (an absolutely wonderful Pagan blogger – you should definitely follow him if you’re not already) post a wrap-up of his most popular writing from the year. It inspired me to look at…
Many years ago, I was introduced to the idea of selecting a single word for each calendar year to act as an intention, touchstone, and big-picture goal. The beauty of a single word intention is that the simplicity means multiple ways of connecting are possible. For example, my word for 2020 was ‘Manifest.’ An interesting…
I got married recently and heard many lovely things from attendees after the celebration. The most consistent feedback was about the ceremony – how it was the most beautiful, authentic, and moving ceremony many friends had witnessed. My spouse and I are ritualists – we both love ceremony and the weaving of the sacred in…
Within the world of agriculture, there is a vital part of crop growing known as letting land “lie fallow.” To fallow a piece of earth is to leave it deliberately unsown – to let it rest. This time of rest allows more fertility to gather in the soil, guaranteeing a better crop later. It is…
When my spouse and I first got together, they hated winter. An early career spent outdoors in the worst of the weather caused a strong aversion to everything related to the months of the inward spiral. Seven years on, they’ve shifted their viewpoint to a grudging tolerance for the season and genuine enjoyment of some…
“No one writes good music anymore.” “All the best movies have already come out.” “Fiction today just isn’t what it used to be.” I’ve seen the same complaint leveled across multiple interest areas. Over and over again, the refrain of ‘the new stuff is terrible’ rings out. From people who think metal began and ended…
I have some big news to share today. Many of you already know that I teach Blackfeather Mystery School with my co-teacher Caine Dreamwalker. Our school is in its third year right now. Blackfeather Mystery School is a full-spectrum training in Empowered Witchcraft. It is a synthesis and outgrowth of more than 20 years in…
The intersections of older spiritual practices and modern life are interesting and complex. Halloween season is a bubbling brew of history, belief, contemporary attitudes and goofy good times. Within paganism, the world of Earth-centered spirituality, October is the season of the ancestors and contains our New Year on the 31st. Our cycle ends, and then…
When I turned 40, my social media feed changed. I’ve always gotten some advertisements for yoga and other fitness products and programs. I’m a yoga teacher, so I’m a good target for those kinds of ads. Likewise, I’ve always seen at least a handful of ads for makeup and hair products. But it seemed…