One of the most commonly recommended books I see in groups and on reading lists is the 1911 work ‘The Fairy Faith In Celtic Countries’ by W. Y. Evans-Wentz. The book is often hailed as the benchmark in fairylore and a staple of study in the field or for anyone interested in the subject. I also personally suspect its rampant popularity in modern pagan groups is due in part to it being in the…
BOOK REVIEW Sacred Histories: A Festschrift for Maire Herbert
Full Title: Sacred Histories: A Festschrift for Maire Herbert
Editors: John Carey, Kevin Murray, and Caitríona Ó Dochartaigh
Publisher: Four Courts Press
Copyright: November 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-1846825644
Pages: 460 including
Synopsis: Sacred Histories is a collection of essays that focuses on the historical subtext of narrative (in Latin and Irish) from medieval Ireland. Contributions engage with this topic across numerous genres, such as hagiography, apocrypha, ‘historical tales,’ and the literary portrayal of women. Such sustained interrogation results in numerous fresh insights and new perspectives. The volume is a festschrift in honor of Maire Herbert, and the contributors are among the foremost experts in their disciplines. [Subject: History, Irish Studies, Medieval Studies, Literary Criticism, Cultural Studies]
AGAIN – COMPETENCE TRUMPS INTENT
Blessings Darlings!
I know that I keep harping on this fact – but your ‘intent’ doesn’t mean a dang thing if you are too incompetent to formulate a working plan to pull it off. In fact, it is likely to totally backfire on you. Last night I watched another prime example on why magical or mundane ‘intent’ is always – ALWAYS – trumped by magical or mundane COMPETENCE.
It was especially entertaining since it was aimed at me. Continue reading…
New Liminal God: The Queen of Apples
Earlier this year there was some talk in a Fairy Witchcraft group on Facebook about a liminal god called the Queen of Apples. Several people felt like they were connecting to her and shared their thoughts on who she was. I was asked what my impression of her was.
It’s important to understand here that the particular type of Fairy witchcraft I practice gets very messy when it comes to Gods….
The Return of the Otherfolk and the Puritan Egregore
For several years now there has been talk among some practitioners (of various sorts) in North America suggesting both that the Otherworldly energy present here has been increasing and that the Otherfolk themselves have been pushing through into the human world more strongly. I wrote about it on my Patheos blog in a piece titled ‘Return of the Othercrowd’ and Seo Helrune and John Beckett have…
New Schedule, New Challenges.
Blessings Darlings!
Things have changed a lot at work recently. I had been in charge of a lunch contract – but the govt group this was for has been re-located onto a military base in another state. Since I have always been rather a ‘utility outfielder’ at work, doing a lot of different things when I wasn’t doing the lunches, I’m now varying between dishtank and ‘pantry’ (that’s desserts/salads/prep).
With this group… (Continue reading…)
My 2020 Organizer/Calendar
Blessings Darlings!
It’s that season again, time to buy next year’s calendars and organizers and all that. I’ve not yet found one that will do the work of organizing my life for me, and as I’ve noted before – I’m where organization goes to die. Nevertheless, I keep trying … Continue reading…
Re-taking The Hill. Again.
Blessings Darlings!
Dreams last night were frustrating but immensely informative. In them I took on every single task other folks gave me. Every . Single . One . Of . Them . I also had my repetitive dream of ‘driving a vehicle so big that I can’t see the street to steer and drive over other vehicles’. Time to re-assert … (Continue reading…)
Mercury Retrograde is Coming, and I Feel Fine.
Blessings Darlings!
People in the Pagan/Witch groups I’m in have started their regular freaking out over the upcoming Mercury Retrograde. They have started praying that it’s smooth. Have I mentioned that ‘hopes and prayers’ put my teeth on edge?
So here’s a reminder that the Merc Retro is a (Continue reading…)
Basic Guide To Identifying Spirits
I have taught a class a few times which focuses on helping people learn to differentiate between several types of spirits they may be interacting with. The point of doing this is that what a ghost can or can’t do is different from what a fairy can or can’t do which is different again from what a third type of spirit might be capable of.
This is by no means a foolproof process but was intended to…