“To be hopeful is to have a form of emotional resilience. A hopeful person believes that although challenges, grief, and adversity occur in every life, somehow things will work out. They believe that they have the ability to figure out a path forward or respond in a way that makes adversity just another part of…
Tag: lifestyle
Stories wield incredible power, and are one of the core shaping influences in human cultures. We can easily look around the world for examples of this: here in the United States, our culture is shaped by Christian mythology. In India, Hindu mythology forms the culture. In Iceland, the Icelandic and Norse mythology of old supports…
We inherit a lot of perspectives from our parent culture. Some of these are obvious, and we begin the work of deconstructing them pretty quickly. I began hacking at the “girls can’t be strong” trope almost as soon as I could walk. As a result, I’ve made good progress on pulling that particular weed out…
Our will – the function of the brain that makes us do things, even stuff we don’t really want to do, can best be viewed as a kind of mental muscle. We have a finite quantity of it when we start the day; using it causes our reserve of willpower to deplete. This is why…
I felt the coming change of season a few nights ago. The usual August heat had given way during an afternoon thunderstorm and a cool, damp breeze touched my skin. The relief from the sweltering temperatures was immediate, joyful, and then contemplative: I know what this means. Summer is winding down. We still have some…
My practice of life as well as witchcraft is oriented toward the physical senses – I naturally gravitate toward an embodied way of being in the world. I want to feel experiences on my skin, in the movement of my limbs, in the taste on my tongue, in the sounds that I hear, in the…
My homes have always had something of a reputation – a good friend described one of them as a ‘magickal bunker.’ Others comment on the richness of the energy, or how safe and comfortable my houses feel. So, one of the questions I get pretty frequently is how to achieve the same thing: what enchantments…
We’re drawing ever closer to release day for Blackfeather Mystery School: The Magpie Training and a couple great new pieces on the book, school, and all things Glasse Witch Cottage hit the internet over the last few days. Deep gratitude to Ron Padrón of White Rose Witching for a wonderful review. Excited about the book?…
The return of spring is so joyous here in Western Maryland. It seems like the dawn chorus of birds gets a little louder every day as the warm sunlight convinces more spring flowers to open. With grateful hearts, we welcome back the growing season. We begin dusting off our hiking shoes and gardening gloves; we…
High holidays that are spaced fairly evenly throughout the year seem to appear just when you need them the most. I love all the holidays in the pagan wheel of the year, but Imbolc holds a special place in my heart. Imbolc is celebrated on February first and marks the midpoint between the winter solstice…