My books are about inclusive Wicca and witchcraft; how to include LGBTQIA people, disabled people, and BIPOC people in ritual and witchcraft; embodied spirituality; and the inner work of ritual.
Continue readingWassailing
It’s the time of year for Wassailing in the apple-growing regions of England (Herefordshire, Somerset, Worcestershire, etc), and places where the weather is warm enough that fruit trees can blossom. (In Ontario, Canada, we wait until February to do the Wassailing.)
Continue readingBooks I read in 2022
Queer Pagan Reading List 2023
New titles this year: Mat Auryn’s Mastering Magick, books by Jack Chanek, The Pagan Heart of the West by Randy P Conner, The Witches of Thistle Grove series by Lana Harper, books by T Thorn Coyle, Chaos Monk by Steve Dee, two new books by Casey Giovinco, Traversing Gender by Lee Harrington, Sacred Gender by Ariana Serpentine.
Continue readingThe Kalends of January
Happy New Year and Kalends of January. The Kalends of January are associated with three deities in Roman lore:
Continue readingContext is everything
I know that some people use “there’s only one race, the human race” to erase the existence of racism. However, race is a socially constructed category based on the idea that there is more difference between ethnic groups than within them. The fact that race is a socially constructed category doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have real effects. Racialized people are treated differently and it affects their health, employment, housing, access to education, justice, and life chances generally. Racism is real and does real harm. Continue reading
The holly and the ivy
Pagan version by Yvonne Aburrow, 2022
The holly and the ivy
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown
Chorus: O, the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The bright fire on the hilltop
At the turning of the year.
Romjul and intercalation
The business of calculating years and dates is complicated, since calendars need to reconcile solar and lunar cycles. Different calendrical systems use different methods of reconciling the two cycles, inserting a day (February 29th in the Gregorian calendar), a week, or even a month in some calendars. This practice is called intercalation. It has also been suggested that the time between Yule and New Year is an intercalation.
Continue readingNew Year Customs
There are many different New Year’s traditions from around the world, which can be categorized as taking the omens for the following year; seeking to ensure that you will have luck for the year; sending the spirit of the old year away, and welcoming in the new.
Continue readingBridge of Light
A rainbow of candles, each one representing an aspect of consciousness, kindled in the liminal time between the end of the one year and the beginning of the next. A space for the celebration of queer spirituality, queer lives, and queer joy. That is the celebration known as Bridge of Light.
Continue readingMōdraniht
This year, for the second year running, we will celebrate Mōdraniht, the Night of the Mothers.
This is a quieter and simpler practice than Yule, which is all about feasting and the drama of the light’s returning and liminality.
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