“For many of us, the prospect of multiple family gatherings over the next couple months can be anxiety-inducing. Add shopping, holiday parties, school obligations and packed grocery stores, and we have the ingredients for a very stressful season. The good news is that we know it’s coming, which means we can prepare for it. So…
Category: Lifestyle
The Wheel turned, and the final harvest lies behind us. The nights grow longer now and cool darkness whispers against the windows after the sun goes down. It is the time of the inward spiral. Living in rhythm with seasonal shifts includes many challenges, though. Although our ancestors were governed by their seasons and climate,…
The change of seasons can bring in more than a shift in temperatures and sunlight. Over the years, I’ve noticed a pattern around the spring and fall equinox: people also make changes in their lives. Sometimes these are small things – they choose to get healthier, they clean (or purge) their houses, they finally boot…
This past Sunday, I had the privilege of speaking to the Sugarloaf Congregation of Unitarian Universalists. The video recording and text of my sermon is below. As always, if you have any thoughts to share, I’d be happy to hear from you. Hit me up in the comments. My name is Irene, and I am…
Sometimes when I write an article, it’s based on something I’ve been asked a lot, or something that keeps coming up. Sometimes it’s when I notice a pattern, or realize I’m holding a piece of knowledge that isn’t commonplace. But on days like today? It’s when I recognize that I’m struggling, and have been having…
Festival drop is real, and it really and truly sucks. If you haven’t heard the term before, festival drop refers to the depression and malaise that can set in after spending time in a festival environment. People experience varying levels of drop, and those levels tend to change from festival to festival. For example, a…
A friend recently asked me what it takes to be a witch these days. The question was in response to my post on modern virtues for witchcraft. I’ve been turning that question over in my mind since and contemplating all the different skill sets, perspectives and ways of being in the world that contemporary witches…
This week I was the guest writer on the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans Patheos Blog. I think we’ve all had the fantasy about the big, elaborate shrine in a wild-ish place somewhere. We can see it in our mind’s eye – the natural stone, the altar, some vines creeping in a decorative-but-not-annoying way. Maybe…
My practice changes over time. Every turning of the Wheel, I find that my understanding of my own Path has again transformed, and the shining bits of information I’ve added to my hoard are working their way into my magick. I like to joke that I started off as a Grand High Episcopagan – big…
Can you hear it? That super-high-pitched whining sound just above our range of hearing? It’s the collective stress cycles of our friends and family kicking into overdrive. The holidays are here, and we all have to somehow make it to January 2nd without body bags, divorces or involuntary commitment to a room with soft walls…