Contemporary conspiracy theories and older witchcraft beliefs have a lot in common. Both are networks of ideas, mostly unconnected with each other, but linked by tenuous theories. This comparison has been explored by a team of researchers at UCLA and Berkeley using AI and folklore to map the key people, things, and relationships in thousands of social media posts.
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My books
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 readingCandles
The candle. September Pagan Challenge # 15.
Candles must be the most versatile magical thing there is.
Waxing and waning Moon
September Pagan Challenge # 11 is about the waning Moon, but it’s actually waxing Moon right now, so let’s talk about both.
Continue readingIncense
Incense — September Pagan Challenge #4. One of my favourite incenses is Night Queen, which turns out to be made from a night-blooming jasmine known as Queen of the Night.
Continue readingThe Moon
September Pagan Challenge day 2: Full Moon.
Continue readingCeltic festival names
Some time back I posted a video about cultural appropriation and Lora O’Brien pointed out that the modern Wiccan and Pagan usage of Sabbat names is appropriated from Irish culture and language.
Gerald Gardner and other early Wiccans did not use the Irish names for these festivals — that happened later. Wicca is not a Celtic religion.
It does seem wrong to lift these festivals out of context. There are other old names for these festivals in England and Wales (the Scots Gaelic has similar names to the Irish Gaelic, but pronounced differently).
Continue readingHow I discovered the Craft
Writing a ritual
A step by step guide to creating a ritual.
Continue readingThe Wiccan Rede
The concept of the Wiccan Rede is frequently and widely misunderstood and misquoted. The full version is “An it harm none, do what thou wilt”. (If it harms no one, do what you want / do your True Will.) I have written about this before but haven’t devoted an entire blogpost to it.
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