Beltane

Image credit: the Goddess & the Green Man

As the entire world faces this pandemic and we find ourselves having to stay away from one another, we don't have to worry about social distancing from nature.  A brief escape from quarantine into the sunshine and fresh air will do much to lift our spirits and our hearts.  The sabbat of Beltane is a time for us to give thanks for all that nature has provided for us. Beltane is the celebration of male and female energies uniting to create new life....in the Pagan tradition it honors the union of the Goddess and the Green Man.  It is a joyous celebration of life and fertility and the time to begin planting crops for the season.  As the days get warmer and nature bursts into bloom feel free to venture out and enjoy in a responsible manner.

Joyous Beltane

Life After Pandemic

As the days get warmer, the trees and flowers are bursting into bloom and the birds are singing just as they always have since the beginning. But this year things are different. Upon reflection of our current circumstances I would compare us to caterpillars quarantined inside our cocoons waiting to be set free. Just as caterpillars transform into beautiful butterflies, we too, will transform as we emerge from our cocoons. I don't expect that we will have wings and be able to fly, but I hope that our hearts and minds will be transformed - that we will have learned from this experience how precious and fragile life is, that though we may be different, we are always equal. I hope that we will feel more grateful for what we have, that we will feel more appreciative of what others do for us and that we will be more respectful of nature and our beautiful planet. Most of all I hope that we will all be more loving and show more kindness towards one another, and when the day comes, that we will help each other on the path to healing and recovery. Stay healthy and safe!

Where have all the Pagans gone?

It's the dawn of a new year and a new decade.  Each preceding decade was defined by certain styles, music, pop culture and other factors.  It will be interesting to see what will define the 2020's.  Over the past decade I've noticed a shift in how people view religion and as time goes on I see more and more people leaning towards the Earth religions rather than the mainstream Abrahamic traditions. There are several spiritual/metaphysical shops in my area and they're always busy. People from all walks of life are rediscovering their ancient roots.

Paganism is the general umbrella term that encompasses all of the other Earth religions - Wicca, Druidsim, and so forth.  My friend and I were having a discussion the other day and she made the comment that someone should coin a new work to replace the word Paganism because it has a somewhat negative connotation.  This is unfortunate, but true.  Members of the early church often lumped  Paganism into the same class as Satanism and Devil worship, and its followers were declared heretics but nothing could be far from the truth!  Anyone who knows anything about Pagans know that they are good people who want to honor the Earth and embrace the connections we have to our planet and to each other.  The Earth religions follow the progression of the seasons, the harvests, the solstices, equinoxes and lunar cycles. and to be clear, Paganism had no concept of Hell or Satan. Those are ideas conceived by the Christian churches.  In actuality, the word Pagan is derived from the Latin word Paganus which means country dweller.

Most people who follow the Earth religions today are not country dwellers, so the term in its original context doesn't really apply anymore.  So theoretically, if we were to find a new term to replace the word Pagan, that would give it a more positive connotation what would that term be?

I've wracked my brains trying to come with something brilliant but I think I fell short.  I came up with Earth Magick, Terra Magick ot Gaia Magick to replace the word Paganism and something like Earth Child, Earth Mage or Earth Gnostic to describe its followers or perhaps something like Terra - gnostic or Gaia-gnostic.  Terra and Gaia are alternate names for the Earth and gnostic means knowledge.  Or how about Terra - mage?   Or perhaps we could blend several languages together and come up with something like Nouveau Terran?

Let this be food for thought for everyone who reads it and maybe one day someone will come up with a creative new term that inspires and conveys a positive message and is worthy enough to become an entry in Webster's dictionary.

Thanks for your time and Happy New Year!

Yule Magick

DIY Apothecary Bottles

Amber colored glass apothecary type jars are all the rage right now in the world of home decor.  I came up with a cheap and easy way to make your own.  If you happen to drink the Kevita brand of Kombucha, it comes in an amber glass bottles about 8 inches high.  These actually make great apothecary bottles and it's a good way to recycle them!

Just remove the label from the empty bottle.  Use some Goo-Gone to remove all the glue, then wash the bottle thoroughly with soap and water or put it in the dishwasher.  I used alcohol to further sterilize the inside.  You can purchase labels at craft stores and create your own bottles to store bath salts, alcohol, witch hazel or any other product you want.  You can also decorate the bottles with burlap or jute twine.  You can create some great home made gifts for friends and family while also being kind to the planet.

DIY Snacks

Just a note:  This is not sponsored by any of the products shown here.  


It's just part of life in the 21st century.  So many of the snacks we eat are prepackaged for ease and convenience and many people are okay with it.  The snack pack pictured here is one of my favorites,
however, a 3-pack costs anywhere from $3.50 to $4.00 depending on where you shop and if the item is on sale.  I really like these a lot but as for the price, not so much and you don't get much in the package.  One day, while at the supermarket I was curious to see if I could come up with something similar for a better price.  I shopped around and found some items that would create a similar snack mix for a lot cheaper.

The products shown here cost approximately $11.00 and there is significantly more in each of these larger packages than in the 3-pack snack mix.  I mixed these up together in a ziplock plastic bag and it tasted very similar to the other snack mix and made a whole lot more.  I chose packaged items, but if you shop at places like Kroger, there are bulk food sections available where you may be able to get the items even cheaper.  It might be fun to experiment and create your own different snack mixes using different nuts, raisins and other types of dried fruit.

No disrespect is intended for the original 3-pack snack mix. As I said, for many people it's easy and convenient to pack in a lunch, but for those who are on a tight budget and want more bang for their buck, mixing your own might be the way to go.  And just a side note, if you decide to go with the pre-packaged 3-pack, be sure to recycle the little plastic packages! They're great to use for crafts such as paint or glue trays for the kids or to hold beads while creating jewelry, etc.  

Helpful Hints

As I was shopping in the supermarket a few days ago I noticed more and more people opting to bring their own reusable bags to the store instead of using plastic bags.  This is a habit that I'm trying to make a permanent part of my weekly shopping.  I noticed a young couple pushing one of those smaller two-tiered shopping carts and in the bottom basket they had placed a small plastic tote which had all their fresh veggies in it.  I thought this was brilliant as it avoids having to use all those plastic vegetable bags.  I'm trying to eliminate plastic from my life as much as possible but it's not always easy.  Often times I opt to buy food from the store's deli section as it's made fresh daily and not processed like packaged foods.  When I get it home, sometimes I doctor it up a bit by adding other ingredients and transferring it from the plastic deli container into a glass one with a locking lid.  The plastic deli containers can be reused when you invite people for dinner and give them food to take home.  They are also good for storing crafting items such as beads.  We should all try to reuse and repurpose as much as we can to help protect our planet!

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