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…
Category: Rituals
This sermon was offered to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Wyoming Valley in July of 2021 Every year I coordinate a large event for my chapter of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans in Frederick, MD. It’s a masquerade ball – a formal gala with a faery and fantasy theme. It’s our big fundraiser of…
I am a teacher of many things. Most of what I share here is pagan spirituality, but I am also a teacher of yoga. I love the way breath and movement come together in a flowing dance. I love the way these beautiful human bodies can move, twist, balance, and open. My great joy over…
I sat where I always do, the thready mists of Helheim swirling before me. The crowd had gathered again, an indistinct circle of hundreds around me. More an impression of a gathering of people than anything solid. I could smell apple blossom on the breeze. My heart hammered in my chest and I could feel…
One of the memes floating around right now talks about the difference between nice and kind, and the way people can be one but not the other. It relates those concepts to different regions of the United States. That meme generates a chuckle for me since the east coast is associated with being kind but…
Laughter and play are some of the most healing activities we can engage in. And as the saying goes, ‘it’s never too late to have a good childhood.’ But how do we get started? How do we free the Survivor from its death grip on our steering wheel? How do we access the Kid self…
Purification practices are part of any healthy magickal life. Basic spiritual hygiene is as important as washing our hands and, right now, wearing a mask outside our homes. However, sometimes we’ve gone through something so challenging, so dark, and so full of pain that a hard reset is necessary. Something like four years of a…
One of the best and most beautiful aspects of modern witchcraft is that it is an evolving path. Although we base a good deal of our philosophy and practice on ancient religions, paganism and witchcraft as we know them today are new. Born of the 60s counterculture and the equal rights movements for women and…
Back on April 7th, I led the Frederick CUUPS community in an online full moon ritual. Our ritual focused on developing an intention and supporting affirmation to carry us through the next lunar cycle. Although this ritual was performed for the full moon, it could be done at any time. The way I am using…
I have a secret to tell you. It goes against everything our Christianity-drenched culture wants you to believe. It goes against a lot of pop psychology. It will probably make you uncomfortable. It’s also true. The first person who told me this secret was the victim of horrific childhood abuse. The kind you don’t recover…