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A Tale of Two Prides: Why I Needed Pagan Pride More Than Gay Pride
Categories: ArchiveTags: queer witcheryMy parents were very observant of the Episcopal faith when I was growing up. My father was a lay minister, my mother was a leader in our congregation’s St. Anne’s Guild, I was an acolyte and later a crucifer. The kids all went to Sunday School and Children’s Chapel. As we got older, we took
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In Her Service: Walking the Goddess Walk
Categories: ArchiveTags: priestesshoodI was a month shy of my seventeenth birthday when I decided I wanted to be a priestess. I envisioned leading rituals, working magick to heal people, and teaching starry-eyed seekers about the Mysteries of the Craft. What I did not envision – not at sixteen and not at twenty-six – was the massive amount
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Vo-Tech Clergy: Preparing Pagans for the Unglamorous Work of Ministry
Categories: ArchiveTags: priestesshoodAn elder in my tradition told me on more than one occasion that being Pagan clergy isn’t a master’s degree but rather a vo-tech certificate. She put it that way to illustrate the fact that much of what Pagan clergy do to serve their communities is learned through practical experience and on-the-job training. It’s a
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Recitation, Vibration, Intonation, and Resonation: Harnessing the Power of Sound
Sound has been on my mind a lot lately. I’m teaching my students about the power of recitation, vibration, intonation, and resonation in magick through the use of the Qabalistic Cross, the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram, and the Middle Pillar exercise. These ceremonial magick operations are part of our tradition’s spiritual heritage, and
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Sci-Fi Parables: Teaching the Craft through Storytelling
Jesus wasn’t the first teacher to ever use stories to teach moral or spiritual concepts. Aesop – famous for his fables – lived in Greece six hundred years earlier. Before him, in the 8th Century BCE, Homer wrote down orally-transmitted epic poetry, including the Iliad and the Odyssey, that illustrated spiritual themes while also entertaining
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Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There!: Embracing Slow in a Fast-Paced World
Categories: ArchiveTags: personal experience“Don’t just do something, stand there!” I credit Deacon Pierce Hewlett (1916-2005) in my childhood Episcopal congregation for teaching me this wise play on words as a reminder to slow down and think things through before acting. My mother often reiterated it to me as well. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ignored
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The Triple Ring: A Protection Spell
Categories: ArchiveOne of the first spells I learned as a young witch was the Triple Ring. When my teacher, a spry old crone named Susan, realized that my go-to shielding spell was making me oblivious to all sorts of things in my surroundings — which made perfect sense as I was visualizing a thick, red brick
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Teaching the Craft: The Fine Art and Science of Personal Responsibility
Categories: ArchiveI learned the Craft of the Wise in a few different ways. I first learned on my own by reading and experimentation. Then I found a community group that led me to a training circle led by a high priestess and learned through weekly study sessions, complete with handouts and homework assignments. My advanced training
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The Amateur Priestess: Serving for the Love of Goddess
Categories: ArchiveI am an amateur priestess. I serve the Pagan community out of love, and have been in some capacity or another since 2011. There was a time when I dreamed of monetizing my spiritual skills – I think every witch goes through this phase – but I learned through hard experience that the professional witch
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Sybil Leek’s Six Tenets of Witchcraft: Words from the Original Witch Queen
Before Laurie Cabot was the “Official Witch of Salem”, there was Sybil Leek, “Britain’s most famous witch”. Sybil Fawcett Leek (1917-1982) was called “Dame Sybil” by some and “That Damn Sybil” by others. A colorful character by any stretch of the imagination, she was a Witch, psychic, and occultist. She grew up in the New