I think everyone knows what it’s like to not feel magickal when you truly want to feel magickal.

Jason Mankey, ‘Dirty Witchcraft Secrets‘

John Beckett has a post on boundaries and roles within Paganism and Pagan traditions that I found to be useful in some of its framing.

We often talk, in the Pagan community, about not taking our Gods for granted, about not only coming to them with requests and seeking help.  And while I have seen the topic of watching the tone in which we speak to spirits discussed, it is much rarer to see a discussion about making sure all our relationships are balanced and go both ways.

Kylara, ‘Ethical spirit work‘

I enjoyed this post, on Agora, about considering what we spend our time worried and preoccupied with. Not exactly the most novel of topics, but one that is best returned to again and again. Especially in this season.

Sometimes, in order to hold onto our core beliefs and keep them authentic, we learn to build walls in our minds to separate us from the other systems, which often works very well. The only difficulty is that the walls often take on a life of their own.  They become powerful entities in themselves if we are not constantly vigilant, that can narrow our understanding and move us toward becoming dogmatic and isolated. The main way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to begin to learn about other traditions and religions, connecting with what is aligned with our ideology and leaving the other behind.

Om Prakash Gilmore, ‘How Many Religions Can You Speak?‘

Thenea on Magick from Scratch wrote a short post questioning the appeal of dangerous deities.

Finally, some self-promotion, for a post I wrote on Patheos earlier this week: Preparing for Unsafe Gods.

When you start demanding respect, simply for existing, there tends to be a severe erosion of trust for that same individual. Perhaps, this is where we tend to have the issues that tend to arise in Pagan leadership.

[…]

In our Pagan communities, it seems that the leadership is more concerned with keeping power than practice the art of compassion and seeking to grow others to be leaders for the future.

Tommy Elf, ‘With Respect and Trust‘

Tommy Elf also has another post about leadership and what leadership looks like within Paganism.

A post from Keen about Feast Week (back in September), a fun weeklong ‘festival’ of meals relating to Tolkein’s Fellowship of the Ring.

Jason Mankey made a list of ‘5 Ways to Make Your Paganism Better‘. I found all of his points worth consideration and adopting to my own practice (where I wasn’t already doing them!), but apart from that don’t have much to say except ‘go read it’.

John Beckett wrote a post on house cleansing, a topic that I feel is rather underappreciated within Paganism and polytheism. Often we find ourselves focusing on establishing sacred space for certain rites and can neglect our greater home. The importance of having a physically clean space shouldn’t be ignored, though your space doesn’t need to be perfect either. But if your space is covered in grime or unknown sticky gunk or just a mess, it will be harder to focus on spiritual or religious matters.

Then again, arguably all ritual involves consciously enacting/participating in an image of divine principles using the theology, ritual, myth, and other resources that come from the wellsprings that the Gods have given us. Perhaps it doesn’t matter if others do not see the essence of them as long as the people who worship the Gods do.

Kaye, ‘Stepping Back Is Important‘

Damh the Bard wrote this excellent post on the harvest festivals last month that I’m only getting around to sharing now, but I recommend everyone read it and consider how you connect (or don’t) with the harvest festivals. Living in Europe has definitely changed how I relate to those common Pagan holy days.

Over on Patheos Pagan, Cyndi Brannen wrote about spiritual death and the season of autumn. An interesting read that touches on spiritual dismemberment and witchiness.

There don’t seem to have been any religious temples, in the classical sense, in Ireland. There were many large monuments and sacred sites, but these were mostly open air locations. Any that were enclosed, such as the great Passage Tomb at Brú na Bóinne (Newgrange, County Meath), were quite cramped – physical space wise, you wouldn’t be fitting a lot of live bodies into that passage and the chambers. It makes sense that any large scale community rituals, feast days, etc would have been conducted in the open air, with maybe an ‘inner circle’ element happening in an interior space within the broader context.

Lora O’Brien, ‘Pagan Priesthood in Iris History‘ (also check out ‘A Practical Guide to Pagan Priesthood‘, O’Brien’s new book)

Morgan Daimler has a post up on their PaganSquare blog about the relationship between folklore, pop culture, and fairies. (Always a favorite topic of mine to read!)

Here’s a post from earlier in the year, by Anna Applegate, about prayer and its importance within Paganism and polytheism.

Lastly, an important post by Thenea about ‘thoughts and prayers‘. Many Pagans and polytheists seem perfectly fine using our own version of ‘thoughts and prayers’ in place of actually trying to fix problems that we can address. Any call for us to think more critically about what we are doing (or not doing) is beyond valuable.

I’m tired of stories that present love as something effortless and suggest that effort implies it isn’t real love.

Nimue Brown, ‘Love and understanding‘

Joe from Caffeine-Fueled Magick has a post on a non-toxic flying ointment. As he notes in his own post, it’s good to do your own research on the ingredients of such ointments. You should make sure to test out a small bit on your body before slathering it everywhere as well, in case you have an allergic reaction.

If I decide to spent all of my time watching Netflix with my partner, I don’t spend the time in devotion to a godd.

Irisanya Moon, ‘Related to the Godds, Relating to Each Other‘ on Patheos Pagan

Building further on the above quote, I want to share this post by Nimue Brown on how we develop relationships, as well as what tends to happen when we just let them happen ‘magically’.

Books often paint this picture of ‘advanced practice’ as something that is frankly unrealistic for most people.  Being advanced doesn’t mean you have a three hour long ritual for every Sabbat that includes a full meal, crafts and seasonal spellwork. …Advanced practice means that you have advanced beyond looking for other people to tell you what you should be doing and how to do it, and you have started making those decisions for yourself.  You determine what your advanced practice is, and the more people we can get talking about it, the more everyone benefits!

Kylara, ‘Advanced practice‘

Annora Silverros has a good post on the offerings we can make to the gods. The post touches on a lot of my own thoughts concerning offerings and what we give the Gods, what we can give Them and why it matters.

Here’s a post by Tommy Elf on identity and labels and being a Pagan that could be useful for Pagans and polytheists of all ‘levels’ (beginner or experienced).

Here’s a cool and informative glossary for terms used in the LV-246 Tradition.

And here’s an awesome poem by Nimue Brown, about romance and metaphors and – just read it.

Paganism. What a great big, wide open expanse that this is. And yet, I have always wondered what draws people to it – what are they seeking from it – what are they expecting of it… Why this? Why here? Why now? Such a perplexing part of this concept of Spirituality to explore, and yet I know that what I write here is only going to be a small part of it because people are individuals. And individuals can have so many varied reasons for doing any one particular thing.

Tommy Elf, ‘Hard work, Dedication, Communication. Do You Think It Is Worth It?‘

Jean Pagano, on PaganSquare, has a prayer for ‘corners’.

How do you tell, from the outside, if someone is doing the needful inner work to keep their life and/or their art in order? How much space do you give someone to stare dreamily into the middle distance? The odds are it will depend a lot on what they do the rest of the time, and how much you value that. None of us are under any obligation to find anyone else’s processes acceptable – it’s all about negotiation in the end. How we make space for each other is an important question in all relationships.

Nimue Brown, ‘Creatively doing nothing‘

Laura Perry, also over on PaganSquare, wrote about reconstruction vs revival, from a Minoan Pagan perspective.

Here are two posts from Yvonne Aburrow: the first a recent post on fire within Paganism and history and the second an older post (from 2013) about what sacraments look like in various Pagan traditions.

The post I enjoyed reading most recently was this one by Kaye; it touched on a lot of points that have been rolling around my brain recently, as well as topics that I’ve seen brought up in other polytheist spaces.

Joe on Caffeine-Fueled Magick has a post about fear that reminds me of some of the best rituals I’ve conducted or participated in.

Lorna Smithers wrote an interesting and engaging post on the term ‘awenyddion’ and the nuances of cultural appropriation.

I can remember so many times when I’ve word vomited at people to explain to them why I am in a place, or why I am in another place, or why, why, why, why, why, as if I’m spinning a prayer wheel to the Gods asking for some definitive answer(s) about where and with whom I belong and how I find a path and how I find this, that, or another community, or when you know that you’re in or out.

Kaye, ‘The “Why” Is Not and, and Cannot Be, Uniform’

Tommy Elf has a post on the how and why of his self-described unconventional spiritual practices. I think it’s worth a read if you’re thinking of innovating yourself or if you find yourself resistant to changes to established ritual or magical practice.

You may have complications that you can’t overcome. Maybe your family situation doesn’t leave enough time to devote the necessary hours to practice and service. Maybe your health restricts what you can do.

The fact that some people can seemingly do it all doesn’t mean you can… and you never know how closely their circumstances match yours.

John Beckett, ‘You Will Never Be Ready – Do It Anyway‘ on Patheos Pagan

Lastly, here is a post about Navrarti, a 9 day festival in the Hindu tradition. I’ve been participating in Navaratri online with a group of polytheist friends and acquaintances, as part of my goal to participate in more non-Otherfaith polytheist and Pagan activities.

In the past year I’ve been working on an alternate ritual structure based on my experience in Wicca, Druidry, and Heathenry.  In particular I have been studying modern psychological research and attempting to incorporate some best practices to improve the flow and meaningfulness of ritual.

Melissa Hill, ‘A New ritual Structure for Neo-Pagans and Earth Spiritualists‘ on Patheos

Though a bit different than how I approach meditation, this post by Astrea gives some ideas on how to get started with meditating.

Phoenix LeFae has a short post on community and why we continue returning to it.

Mat Auryn has a great post on using (simple) oracle cards in combination with Tarot to help clarify readings.

…I can tell you why I consider [the month] holy.
This is the time in which the earth gives to us. We receive such great bounty, such immeasurable gifts; it seems impossible that anything I give back will be suitable. At the same time as we are receiving these amazing gifts of life, the life around me is either dying or preparing to go dormant as the cold winds and drifting snows loom. This is sacrifice – so much death so that I might continue to live.

Molly Khan, ‘The Holy Month is Coming‘ on Patheos

Here’s a post on ideas for cheap/no-cost offerings.

The Wild Hunt has an opinion piece on community, Pagan Pride, and the pressures of being Pagan.

Lastly, two posts by Kaye on KALLISTI, one of my favorite blogs (likely obvious from how much I link to it): a prayer to Mnemosyne and a post on re-usable tea light containers.

Whether we can say with certainty that they were intrinsic to Anglo-Saxon religion, modern practitioners of Fyrnsidu seem to have gravitated toward certain things that our Norse counterparts are usually less enthusiastic about. The aforementioned interest in herbalism, leechcraft and plantlore has certainly found a prominent place among 21st century Anglo-Saxon Heathens and it’s something that I think should be included in any curriculum designed for the budding Fyrnsidere. If we’re going to continue to distinguish ourselves as a standalone entity, then we need to celebrate and expand on those small things that modern practitioners have gravitated towards. 

Wodgar Inguing, ‘ A Retrospective in Anglo-Saxon Heathendom‘ on Sundorwic

Priestess of Aphrodite has a useful elemental cleansing ritual. I’ve begun taking better notes for rituals as I’ve found myself doing more public (and private) ritualizing, and keeping track of where I got what ideas is important.

But, most importantly, it’s also left me with questions about where my witchcraft lives. I mean, we’re always saying it’s-not-about-tools and the-gods-are-within-us and nature-is-my-church and whatever, but just look at all the stuff we produce and consume. We call it art and we talk about things being imbued with spirits and we find ways to justify having, but it ends up being weight on the moving truck just like everything else.

Thorn Mooney, ‘Moving, Materialism, and Finding My Feet Again‘ on Patheos

Keen has a post on miasma and fallow times that reminds me of some other pieces I’ve read about miasma recently. Treating miasma with less moral implications radically reframes how we approach it, I think. I especially liked the point about the creative process is ‘inherently polluting’, as I’ve found that potent art-making often has a distinct flavor to it.