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The Labyrinth Beads: One Witch’s Rosary
Categories: ArticlesPrayer beads have been used for centuries to count out prayers and to serve as a repository of spiritual power, comfort, and protection. In Wicca, and in other Pagan traditions, there is no reason why we can’t use prayer beads as a meditative aid if we feel called to do so. They are a cross-cultural…
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The Summerland: Understanding the Wiccan Afterlife
Paganism in general isn’t concerned with the afterlife. We know there is a life after death, and another, and another, in the cycle of reincarnation. But Wiccans have the concept of a place of rest between lives, called the Summerland. But what is the Summerland, and how can you rest there and also reincarnate? Body,…
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Pagan Prayer: Offerings of Praise, Gratitude, and Hope
Categories: ArticlesI’ve heard people scoff and say they don’t kneel down to their gods, that they stand tall and proud with them. And that’s all well and good. You should have a cordial relationship with your deities, be comfortable around them, be proud to do their work on earth. But don’t you think occasionally you should…
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Empty Womb and Dead Seed: Reconciling Infertility in a Fertility Religion
So much of Wicca is bound up in the idea of fertility — fertility of the land, of the animals, and of humanity. As a religion, we understand this fertility to mean the ongoing survival of the planet and the life that lives on it, but often the first thing that comes to mind when…
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Oaths and Why Not To Make Them (Unless You’re Ready)
Categories: ArticlesA witch is only as good as their word. It’s a lesson I try to teach each of my students. Maintaining good boundaries is an important exercise in living — not just living magickally, but living in general. So are being reliable and appropriately committed. As people, witchy people and just people, we are judged…