I blogged back in June about Aine and mentioned there her sister Grian; I also discussed Aine’s connection to the summer solstice. As we quickly approach the winter(…)
Category Archives: By Land Sea and Sky
The Rosc – Spoken Spells in Druidic Magic
In studying the Druids and wider Celtic folk magic one particular type of magic is commonly found – the rosc. Rosc is defined as a rhetorical composition or chant, although the electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language (eDIL) suggests that the(…)
Prayer for Sandy Hook Victims
Yesterday my state was rocked by one of the most horrific school shootings this country has ever seen. As I followed the developing news story I found myself trying to comprehend the horror that the victims and their families were dealing with.(…)
Sacred Symbols
In my experience many pagans have a sacred symbol that represents their belief, if only to them. These symbols may be somewhat mainstream, like the pentacle, or less well known, like the irminsul, but they all serve as a touchstone of the religion(…)
Reflections on Life and Legacy
I awoke this past Tuesday morning from a very strange dream, most likely rooted in seeing too many previews for the new movie the Hobbit. In the dream I was traveling with a group of dwarves and an elf – picture the ones from the movie and you’ll(…)
Thoughts on the Holidays
My first blog is up on the Hartford FAVS site. http://hartfordfavs.com/faith/doctrine-and-practice/tis-the-season It’s basically me ruminating on holiday traditions in 500 words, and my opinion on the idea that any tradition belongs to any one group (…)
Pregnancy and Birth in Norse Tradition
As with my earlier post in August on Irish pregnancy traditions there is not a lot of information to be found on traditional pregnancy(…)
The Story of my Odin Staff, or Why it’s Okay to Ask the Gods to Help
One of the physical object that I would describe as my most precious possession is an ash staff hand-carved with images relating to Odin. The staff was made by the amazing Paul Borda, of
Children’s Yule Songs, Parodies of Traditional Songs
This first one is a children’s version of a parody I did several years ago….
The 12 Days of Yule-tide for Children
On the twelfth day of yule-tide, my family gave to me
twelve holiday movies (…)
Karma, Wyrd, and Dán, oh my!
It seems that many cultures have some concept relating to a person’s purpose or destiny in life, and in American paganism and its many sub-branches these culture specific terms tend to get used interchangeably, often equated to the term “fate”.(…)