Reading about hygge, which seems very akin to Pagan ideals of comfort and pleasure, and about the Indigenous sense of humour, gives me hope that one day all of humanity will again see the Earth as sacred. I also reread some Dion Fortune.
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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 readingCosy or hyggelig?
Cosy • September Pagan Challenge # 16
The word cosy evokes blankets and cocoa, thick velvet curtains, woolly knitted jumpers, and squishy sofas. It’s slightly chintzier than hyggelig.
The word hyggelig evokes hugs, firelight, candles, warm food, cocoa, mulled wine, rambling conversations, simple rustic pleasures and interiors, and curling up in an inglenook or window seat with a book.
Continue readingAbout me
September Pagan Challenge #1: Introduction.
Continue readingBooks I read in August
I read the second and third books of Robert Sawyer’s WWW trilogy. Then I re-read his Neanderthal trilogy. Then I read a book that I picked up in Tobermory by a local Indigenous man.
Continue readingBooks I read in July
I read Crosstalk by Connie Willis and then decided to re-read The Deptford Trilogy. Then I read a book on Indigenous stories, and then a book on walking in Paris, which I bought secondhand ages ago and only just got around to reading. And then I re-read Terry Pratchett’s last book, The Shepherd’s Crown.
Continue readingMark Goddard’s book in hardback
The Book of Dreams was an unfinished typewritten manuscript by Mark Goddard. He had wanted it to be published, and gave it to his friend, Art Quester, who gave a copy to me after Mark was tragically killed in a car accident in 1988. It is now available as a hardback.
Continue reading#DefendOccultBooks
I’ve always disagreed with the view that we don’t need Pagan and occult books.
Continue readingBooks I read in May
In Satnav We Trust, by Jack Barrow
An enjoyable romp through the historic counties of England, with mad speedboat drivers, curmudgeonly campsite owners, wibbly wifi connections, a serendipitous Satnav with a mind of its own, and ruminations upon rationalism as a possible enemy of the search for meaning.
Having followed the saga of this journey via Facebook updates at the time, it was fun to read the whole thing. If it were my journey, I think I’d have done a bit more research into places of interest before I started, but there’s something to be said for serendipity. And stopping off to see friends along the way.
Open-minded rationalists, skeptical mystics, and ramblers on a shoestring budget will enjoy this book. And doubtless many others too.
Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Absolutely gripping account of what happens when Casiopeia Tun, the poor relation of the Leyva family, opens a mysterious box in her grandfather’s room. It brings to life the world of the Popol Vuh and the gods of jade and shadow, the mysterious landscape of the Yucatan peninsula, and 1920s Mexico. If you like Neil Gaiman, Ekaterina Sedia, Seanan McGuire, or Katherine Arden, you’ll love this book.
Books I read in April
I’m still reading Gerald Gardner’s The Meaning of Witchcraft and it’s taking ages (it’s my bedtime reading and I am only getting a few pages read at a time. I very much enjoyed Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern-loved Gully by Amy Hale.
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