Back in April, I suffered mental burnout that almost resulted in a breakdown at work. To recover, I purchased a copy of Assassin’s Creed: Origins and played it all evening. Three months and 47 hours later, I’m glad I did. Not only are the plot, characters, and gameplay enjoyable, but the game has reached into me […]
My Midsummer celebration earlier this year was fantastic: Friends gathered, the kitchen filled with dishes for our feast, and libations of blood-wine seeped into fertile soil. I left the party feeling joyful, pleased with our rituals, and looking forward to the next holiday. But as Alfarblót approached, I felt less and less inclined to plan […]
I stand facing the center of the circle, facing the skull mounted on a large, forked tree branch — our ritual stang. Faces blur together around me. When I speak, my voice cuts through the late afternoon calm. I teach my audience the song, and when their voices join mine, we cut through the veil. My mind […]
Thanks to my recent reading of Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s memoir, Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye: A Journey, I have been thinking back on my time in Japan. I stayed for only four months while I studied at Nanzan University in Nagoya. Regardless, it is a time I treasure dearly as one of […]
For most people, the words “pagan” and “witch” conjure images of men and women who connect on a spiritual level to nature, to the untamed wilderness. I have many friends who feel this way. I do not. So when my friend Kaye suggested I go with her to this year’s Witches Sabbat in the forests of Ontario, Canada, I surprised quite […]
On Friday, I had the pleasure of attending my first large pagan event, Sacred Space Conference. It was conveniently held in a hotel only 30 minutes from my office, so in the morning, I packed my bag for work and for the event. For the first time in my life, I found myself asking questions like, “Should […]