Along with writing, teaching witchcraft, and offering readings, I am a minister. This September marks 20 years since my ordination – I have spent nearly two decades in service to the Pagan (and sometimes wider) community. This means death and grief are familiar companions of mine. I have sat with the dying and held their…
Tag: ancestors
I recently had a chance to hang out with Lonnie Scott of Weird Web Radio for a wide ranging, often hilarious, sometimes profane (that part was my fault) foray into Heathenry, magic, and more. I had a blast and I think you can tell! ‘This episode features Irene Glasse! Irene is the co-author of The…
I’m old enough to remember a time before the internet, when being Pagan was more isolating than it is now. These magical devices we carry around with us, and our laptops and computers at home, enable us to connect to a world of other practitioners. One of the interesting upshots of this connection is that…
One of the things that drew me to Paganism early on was its emphasis on sovereignty: our path through this spiritual form is a self-governed one. We are our own priests, liturgists, omen-readers, and teachers. The edges of our Path gradually form themselves out of the different approaches and techniques we try. Over time most…
New for 2023! I’m offering monthly Friday Night workshops on Zoom, starting in February, on a variety of Pagan and witchy topics. These workshops are all stand-alones, so you can take the entire series or just the ones that appeal to you. They are $15 each, with sliding scale options for folks who face financial…
The pagan year ends on Oct. 31 at Samhain (pronounced sow-ehn). Samhain is the old Celtic name for this holiday and the one we continue to use today. As a belief system connected to an agrarian calendar, our year reflects natural cycles. All around us, the trees are in the middle of their annual transition…
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…
Anybody who has attended a Pagan event in the Mid-Atlantic region has most likely encountered Irene Glasse. As the president of Frederick Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (FCUUPS) in Frederick, Maryland, and the organizer of that organization’s annual Frederick Pagan Pride Day, Glasse has contributed to numerous events and organizations in Maryland and nearby environs….
The Wheel of the Year has turned once more. Samhain is past and the days grow shorter and darker till Yuletide reaches us. This is the season of shadow and quiet, of the inward spiral. I think of the time from mid-October till Yule as Veil Season. Although many people focus their Ancestral work specifically…
This short sermon was offered for the October 25th, 2020, streaming service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. Full text below. This is one of my favorite parts of the year. I think I am a constant disappointment to my friends who love beaches and summer. It’s just not my thing. Give me gray,…