I grew up in Upstate New York, where the very first signs that spring was on the horizon were the daffodils that poked intrepid little heads up through the snows that wouldn’t yet melt for a few weeks (or more). For the longest time, daffodils were my favorite flowers because of that, and they still
I don’t know about you, but this entire year has been ten years long and filled with awfulness, from people proving that we’ve become a selfish, greedy nation that doesn’t care about the less fortunate to the government abdicating its duty to take care of its people to the actual pandemic that has killed nearly
I am, admittedly, a lazy sort of Pagan. I keep an altar and I light candles and burn incense on the holidays and sometimes at other times, but I don’t go all out like I used to when I was newly arrived in pagandom. My daily meditation practice is pretty lax in the best of
This time of year, as the air begins to cool enough for mornings to need socks and the darkness seems to deepen so that the nights are black and still, a sense of peace starts to settle over me. As I shuffle tarot cards for folks who seek guidance and wisdom or light candles on
There are two times of the year when the veil that separates this plane from the next grows thin, making communication with the dead easier, among other things. At Samhain we often invite our dead to sup with us, preparing their favorite foods and drink and setting them out on our tables. Our rituals tend
Hey there, Readers! I hope this Easter Sunday finds you well and in good spirits. I haven’t celebrated Easter in over 20 years, but I have many friends and family who still do. I have a complicated relationship with Easter, to be honest. Living alone, as I do, and not having kids around has done
It is that time of year again, as the veil thins and the spirits of the dead move through the land and the world remembers that witches exist. Sure, we’re around all the time, but mostly people forget until Samhain approaches, and then suddenly we’re meant to perform our witchness for them. Okay, so witchness
I’ve been thinking a lot about community and what that looks like for someone like me who seldom feels at home in groups of people. For a time in my life, I found community in various fandoms, but as time progressed, they became contentious and clicky and I backed away. For a time, I found
Today is the first day of May. May Day. Beltane. It is a holy day of promise for the future, a day of planting seeds for the harvest to come. This is a day that celebrates spring, when the youngest flowers bloom and the air is filled with the light fragrance that whispers of the
It’s another rainy, rainy day here in San Francisco. Just walking from BART to the office has my legs soaked from the knees down. Don’t get me wrong, I love the rain, and gods know we needed it, but after a solid month of the stuff, I find myself craving the sun. My cats are
