And now, having mentioned the things I don’t do, let’s talk about the things I do.
Mostly because they enhance my life in some way.
embodied spirituality
Books I read in October
Three adventures of very different sorts this month: Yiddish for Pirates, Walking to Mercury, and The Fifth Sacred Thing.
Don’t tell me to relax
Does anyone else get that thing where someone tells you to relax and it just makes you feel incredibly tense? Because usually they’re telling you to relax when you’re justifiably tense about something. It’s tantamount to sweeping your fear or frustration or anger under the carpet.
Magical fires
I remember watching driftwood burning in my grandparents’ fireplace as a kid — there would be all sorts of colours in the flames from the salt. Green and blue and turquoise flames.
Instinctive Witchcraft
Many years ago, Steve Wilson gave a talk entitled Archaic Witchcraft. One of the things he said was to remember how you imagined witchcraft would be when you were a kid. What thrilled you about the idea? What did you imagine that witches did? And then he suggested creating a Witchcraft to fulfill those childhood dreams. He proposed calling it Archaic Witchcraft. I suppose it could also be called Instinctive Witchcraft.
Being nonbinary
Many people seem to assume that nonbinary means that someone looks androgynous or even slightly masculine-presenting. It’s a bit more complicated than that. Then there’s the people who think it’s all nonsense, which is pretty depressing.
Notable and Quotable 11
A roundup of inspiring posts.
On building in wood
Building dwellings out of wood is a great thing to do. We currently live in a house whose core is an old log cabin, and it is pretty darn snug in the winter. My previous house was built out of stone, with walls a foot thick, and it could be quite cold and damp. So why do cultures that build their dwellings out of wood get dismissed and belittled for it?
Notable and quotable 9
An absolute Beltane belter from Julian Vayne, and an enticing invitation to meditate differently from Nimue Brown.
Notable and quotable 8
Some wonderful articles that I’ve spotted this week:
- Magic: what is it, where does it come from? By Ryan Cronin
- The Goddess Kālī swallows Jordan Peterson whole. By Josh Schrei
- My Grandmother’s Tree by Sīv Watson
- Shattered vessels and scattered sparks by Lorna Smithers
