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In Her Service: Walking the Goddess Walk
Categories: ArticlesTags: 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: ArticlesTags: 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: ArticlesTags: 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…