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Dechristianizing Yourself: Making Peace with Jesus
Categories: ArchiveTags: dechristianizationOne of the things that is most difficult for new Pagans about leaving Christianity is the expectation that must they leave behind their relationship with the Christian pantheon. But I have found that this method of thinking is counterproductive at best and willfully ignorant at worst. After all, if you’re entering a spiritual movement that
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Devotional Deities: Choosing or Being Chosen
Categories: ArchiveAs Wiccans, we worship the Goddess and the God, either as archetypal representations of a Supreme Being or as distinct deities on equal footing with other deities from other cultures and timeframes. Depending on the tradition, these deities may or may not have names. In the beginnings of Wicca, the names of the deities were
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Dechristianizing Yourself: Making Peace With Unwanted Beliefs
Categories: ArchiveTags: dechristianizationPaganism is largely a religion of converts, and those converts generally come from some sect of Christianity. While it’s true that Wicca and other Pagan paths are now old enough that it’s possible for children and grandchildren to have been raised in the religion or to have come to Paganism from strong folk-religious backgrounds, that
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The Witches’ Pyramid: The Theory of Making Magick
The Four Words of the Magus — to know, to dare, to will, to keep silence — were first written by Eliphas Levi, a 19th Century French occultist. Aleister Crowley added a fifth word later on — to go — and the basis of the Witches’ Pyramid was formed. The Witches’ Pyramid wasn’t referred to
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Esbats and Sabbats: Methods and Tools for Timing Observances
Wiccan practice is based on eight solar observances, called Sabbats and known collectively as the Wheel of the Year, and 26 lunar observances, called Esbats, each year. Some people hold very strictly to celebrating the moment, or at least the day, of the observance. Others are more relaxed about the time of the gathering, factoring
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Building a Personal Practice: A Month-by-Month Guidebook
Categories: ArchiveTags: personal practiceAs the wheel turns to Samhain, the Witches’ New Year, you may feel the pull toward making some witchy new year’s resolutions. To do more witchy stuff. To be more witchy. To enhance your personal practice and live the witchy life. Yes! You can do it! Harness the power of the season of the witch
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The Nine Sacred Woods of Wicca: Unlocking the Secrets of the Sacred Fire
“Nine woods in the Cauldron go — burn them quick an’ burn them slow.” Thus goes the couplet from “The Rede of the Wiccae” by Lady Gwen Thompson. In this poem, originally published in Green Egg in 1975, Lady Gwen doesn’t specify which woods are the nine that should go in the ritual fire, only
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Tradition and Path: Where You’re Walking and Who You’re Walking With
Categories: ArchiveTags: personal practiceTradition and Path are words that get tossed around a lot in the discussion of Paganism and Wicca. Young traditions are sometimes scoffed at as being ‘really just a path’, as if a path is somehow less important than a tradition. There’s the implication that paths are eclectic or made up and thus less authentic
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People of the Library: An Annotated Bibliography of Recommended Beginner Books
Categories: ArchiveTags: reading listsThere are thousands of titles on Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism, magick, and the occult from publishers large and small. Some of them are useful to read and refer back to again and again. Some of them are, quite frankly, not worth the paper they’re printed on. And some of them are so expensive as to be
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Workings in the Inner Temple: Developing Your Spiritual Core
Categories: ArchiveTags: inner templeOnce you have constructed your inner temple, you might wonder what you can do with it besides conduct astral rituals. The answer is, whatever you can imagine. I’ve listed a few ideas below, based on my own experience, with brief instructions on how to perform the exercises. May they serve as inspiration for your own