Category: Archive
Articles that appeared in the previous iteration of this blog, called Mirth and Reverence with Amy Rhea.
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Cakes and Wine: The Witches’ Communion
The ritual of Cakes and Wine (also called Cakes and Ale or the Simple Feast) seems like it was ripped directly from the Christian Eucharist. And to a certain extent, it was. The early practitioners of Wicca were brought up in the Church of England, where weekly Communion is a hallmark of the faith. But
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My Queer Life: A Coming-Out Story
Categories: ArchiveIn honor of National Coming Out Day, I wanted to tell my story. I have a secret. Sometimes I wish I were a straight woman. It would be so much easier, less complicated, more accepted than being a Queer person. I didn’t ask to be pansexual. I didn’t ask to be nonbinary. I didn’t ask
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The Labyrinth Beads: One Witch’s Rosary
Categories: ArchivePrayer 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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Mental Health and the Craft: Finding the Balance Between Magical Thinking and Magickal Thinking
Categories: ArchiveMental health is a subject near and dear to my heart because I struggle with several major conditions. I have Bipolar I Disorder, and I have experienced visual and auditory hallucinations while in manic and depressive states. I have Autism and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. I have been frankly suicidal on more than one occasion. And
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Dechristianizing Yourself: Criticizing the Institutional Church
Categories: ArchiveTags: dechristianizationWhile Wicca as a religion is now old enough to have grandchildren — children raised in the faith by parents who were raised in the faith by parents who converted to the Craft — there are still plenty of practitioners who come to Wicca and other traditions in Paganism from Christianity. And many of them
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Embracing Queerness as a Witch: Subverting Norms and Gaining Power
Categories: ArchiveTags: queer witcheryOne of the great Mysteries of the Craft is that each of us is a perfect, amazing, flamboyant, paradoxical reflection of the Divine. Of course, this Mystery looks cheap on paper. Until its full power is realized through direct experience, it seems obvious, cliché, tawdry. The experience of the Mysteries is what makes them powerful
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Meeting Your Ancestors: Beginning Ancestor Veneration at Samhain
Ancestor veneration can be a tricky subject for the newcomer. Whether you’re new to the Craft or just new to the concept of incorporating ancestors into your practice, it can be a challenge. First of all, not everyone knows their biological ancestors. And not everyone has nice ancestors. In fact, most people have some assholes
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The Eightfold Path: Raising Power for Magick
Gerald Gardner wrote about the Eightfold Way, also known as the Eight Paths to Power, in 1953 and again in 1957. He said essentially the same thing in both drafts, namely that combining the eight paths in certain combinations added more power to the rite and that intention and proper preparation were essential to the
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The Three Great Mysteries: Uncovering the Secrets of Magick
The Second Degree Initiation ritual in the Gardnerian Book of Shadows contains a priestly monologue in which the initiate is instructed about the Mysteries of Life: “For there be three great mysteries in the life of man — love, death, and resurrection in a new body — and magic controls them all. To fulfill love
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The Fivefold Kiss: Understanding the Controversial Blessing
The Fivefold Kiss is a blessing ritual first seen in the Gardnerian First Degree Initiation. It involves the priestess or priest (of the opposite gender polarity of the initiate) to kneel and kiss five points on the initiate’s body: the feet, the knees, the groin, the breast, and the lips. He then kneels at her