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On Sabbatical: Taking Time to Nurture Yourself
Categories: ArticlesTags: personal practiceI let the Harvest Moon pass by unmarked. Same with Lughnasadh. Same with a handful of other holidays. It wasn’t because it wasn’t on my calendar. It was there, taunting me with its very presence. But I didn’t have the energy or inclination to celebrate. I barely had energy to get up that morning and…
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Priestess and Priest: Getting Specific About Office
Categories: ArticlesIn my tradition, the titles of priestess and priest refer to offices rather than genders. Each role has specific duties, and every dedicant is expected to be able to perform the basic duties of each office before they are initiated. There is a relationship between office and a person’s natural energy flow, and a lot…
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Dechristianizing Yourself: Making Peace with Jesus
Categories: ArticlesTags: 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: ArticlesAs 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: ArticlesTags: 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…