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.
Continue readingReflections on Yule
Yule is a turning point in the year. In a way, this is true of every festival in the Pagan wheel of the year, but it is said that the word Yule means a turning point.
There are many facets of Yule. There is the anarchic element of mumming, Saturnalia, the bean king, boy bishops, the lord of misrule, the inversion of the usual order of things. This aspect seems to be inspired by the concept of turning, and of liminality: being on the threshold, being neither one thing nor the other.
Continue readingAnarchic Yule
Yule is a distinct festival, often overshadowed by its younger sibling, Christmas. If you’re a Pagan or have Pagan leanings, the chances are that everything you love about Christmas is actually because it’s a Yule thing. If you love the tree, the holly, the greenery being brought into the house, the feasting, and the reciprocity of thoughtful gift giving (as opposed to obligatory gift giving dictated by social norms), then you love Yule. Yule is not “Christmas with the serial numbers filed off”, and Christmas isn’t “Yule with added Baby Jesus”, Yule is far more exciting and wild and numinous than that.
Continue readingGrowth of Paganism in England and Wales
Census results for Paganism in Canada
The breakdown of the Canadian census results is frustrating because it does not show Heathens, Druids, or polytheists; and the Pagan category includes Wicca. So it’s hard to compare with the UK data.
Continue readingCensus results for Paganism in England and Wales
I always have a look at the census results whenever they’re published, and the articles never report the Pagan numbers properly as they only look at people who write “Pagan” or “Wicca” (they never think to include Druidry and Heathenry in the total). So I always go to the detailed spreadsheets and make my own list.
Continue readingTrans Day of Remembrance 2022
So many brief candles,
So many deaths to mourn,
So many names upon our lips,
Each year a litany of names.
Their unique and perfect beauty
Crafted once by time and circumstance
Snuffed out too soon
Calling out for justice.
Write their names among the stars
Write their names on the wind
Etch the loss into the stones
Until the world changes.
People who menstruate
“People who menstruate” includes cis women, trans men and nonbinary people who menstruate.
It also correctly excludes post-menopausal people, and trans women, neither of whom menstruate.
Continue reading
Dowsing for Divinity 