I live in the mid-Atlantic, a region blessed with a long growing season. It is high summer here. Hot days and abundant sunlight drew the first round of life from the dark earth. Afternoon thunderstorms watered tender, twining greens. The spring seeds grew and flourished, and the first harvest has now been gathered: radishes, peas,…
Category: Pagan
This sermon was for the July 19th, 2020, service for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. Text below. I can always tell when a writer doesn’t actually spend much time outside. I’ve read so many stories where the forest is described as quiet. Even in the middle of winter, quiet is not a thing that…
The July sun shines bright and merry in the summer sky and the vegetables are starting to be heavy with this year’s harvest. This time of year, we would normally be several Pagan gatherings in and the lack of time with my chosen community weighs heavily on me. I find my thoughts returning again and…
Sacred poetry has long explored the liminal spaces between the ecstatic and the mundane, the tragic and the joyful, the sacred and the profane. The shining new addition of The Gorgon Verses to that body of spiritual inquiry includes the paths of gender, sexuality, and identity. Through verse sometimes spilling gently, sometimes rushing in great…
The world outside our homes is chaotic right now. A raging pandemic, struggling economy, squabbling culture and high seasonal heat have come together to create a truly unpleasant summer cocktail. Although we cannot leave all our worries at the door when we return to our sanctums, there are some simple practices we can implement that…
The prolonged stress of physical distancing, a looming pandemic, a tumbling economy, and long-overdue conversations about and attempts to redress the racist systems in American culture has a lot of us feeling off balance. I recently had to start making some larger lifestyle adjustments simply because my ‘normal’ methods of supporting my own mental health…
In what should be a surprise to absolutely no one, I was a theater kid. My life in high school revolved around two big productions every year: a drama in the fall and a musical in the spring. My theater classmates and I sacrificed blood, sweat, tears and countless hours for each of our shows. …
A little over 20 years ago, I joined the Marine Corps. Yeah, most people make that face when they find out. I know it does not seem terribly likely. It is, however, 100% true. What can I say? At age 18, I desperately needed the structure and discipline of the military. To be utterly frank,…
Think about the friendships you value the most. Maybe you are thinking about your best friend or the sibling who just ‘gets’ you. Maybe you are thinking about that friend who makes you feel better every time you are together – the one that somehow helps you see the brightness in life. Friendships take many…
There is great power in spiritual practice. One of the truest things I know about magick and life is that which is fed increases. Repetition matters. We form deeper friendships with people we interact with regularly, we become more skilled at the work we do frequently and the paths we often tread become easier to…