All Blog Posts (1,100)

They say that February was made the shortest month because everybody wants it to be OVER WITH!

But February is one of the most primordial months. It's all about extremes. And, like the sabbat Imbolc, it's just as much about Fire as it is about Ice.

In the Norse Tradition, Fire and Ice are the Primordial elements that formed to create our world. So this is a good time to think a bit about the Nordic Tradition; just what is and what it means.

The…

We're at the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Perfectly natural to want to jump up and down and start acting like Spring is Here! Folly, pure folly! Watch out if the weather is fine on Imbolc - you might find yourself shoveling the driveway on Eostara!

But before that, let's take some time to honor the Goddess Brigid, the Triple Goddess of Poetry, Healing and Smithcrafting.

And we'll enjoy some Tres Leches cake…

Are you among the Shiny Happy People? Or does the thought make you fear that you could be labled a fuzzy bunny Wiccan? Perhaps you are genuinely happy with your Dark Magicks!

Happiness is amorphous. It's hard to define, and sometimes it's hard to know if we really have it. But when we DO have happiness in our lives it truly is a Shiny thing.

So this week we're going to look at just what is meant by "happines", and we'll look at it from different perspectives -…

All Along the Watchtowers

We've all done it; we've created Sacred Space by calling the Spirits of the Four Directions. We stand at each direction and draw the appropriate pentagram and we Invoke the Spirits that have the appropriate character.

But where does all that mumbo jumbo come from? Some say Gerald Gardner, which is correct to a point. Others say that Witches have been doing that on their own and in secret, like, forever - which is really not at…

JUST WONDERING HOW MANY MEMBERS ARE ACTIVE, I WANT TO MAKE A GROUP FOR THEMES/LAYOUTS FOR MEMBERS TO USE ON THERE GROUPS AND PROFILE, BUT IF THIS SITE IS NOT THAT ACTIVE I DONT WANT TO WASTE  MY TIME, SO IF YOU READ THIS PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE A GROUP FOR THEMES/LAYOUTS AND YOU WOULD USE THEM, I ALSO DO REQUESTS FOR THEMES AND IF YOU HAVE AN IMAGE BIG ENOUGH YOU WANT IN A THEME ILL SEE WHAT I CAN COME UP WITH FOR YOU, BLESSINGS TO ALL, SNOW WOLF AKA LISA

Just what IS the Philosopher's Stone? Where does it come from? Is it even a Stone?

This question has been bothering people for generations. Some people just give up and say it's just a lot of poetic rhetoric. Others say, "No, look! I've done it! I've got it right here!"

Some say it's all Devilry, others say it's all God stuff. Well, you can choose as we try to sort it all out.

Some of the music you'll hear on this weeks show include…

Let's gaze at the clear cold night sky as we honor The Stars of Winter. We'll look up to find The Winter Triangle. Stars that are part of the Winter Triangle teach us that their forces can aid in the service to those of us who are spiritually attuned.

And we take it a step further as we honor two special "stars" of Winter; the Norse Goddess Skadi, and the Norse God, Ullr.

Now, did you know that Scandinavia may have been named after the Goddess Skadi. Some…

Christmas, a humbug?!

Personally, I wouldn't mind spending Christmas on Christmas Island or anywhere far, far away!

Are you tired of hearing about the miracles of Christ by now? Well, I sure am.

It's a humbug, I say, and a humbug still!

So this week, let's take a good close look at how Their Savior, Jesus Christ, Their Lord never actually existed. Let's compare his story to the hundreds?, thousands? of Pagan Savior Gods who bear remarkable similarities to…

So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive,

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you…

The mystery of darkness and divine light belongs to each of us and to the world. We are the world waiting in the darkness and we are the light waiting to be born.

Winter is the time for telling stories in many traditions. Because the days were very short and the nights were very long, it was a good time to tell stories. And you would need a good story to get you through those long nights.

So from modern Norway we have the story of Saint Lucy, and from Iceland…

Let's give the Dark of the Year a true Welcoming.

We all know it's rediculous to be afraid of the Dark, but cultural associations with Darkness remain strong, and it seems almost natural to be uncomfortable with this time of the year..

So, we'll talk about the gifts that this time of the year bring us - such as much needed rest! And much needed introspection as well.

And we'll take a look at the Dark Side of Your Moon. You know when the Dark of…

Reincarnation. Some believe, some don't. Some say that know if for a fact, that they've experienced their past lives.

I don't make such claims myself, although I've experienced things that have given me pause for thought.

So I've got a poem on Reincarnation from the pen of Aleister Crowley. And I've got some info on how why and where the concept of Reincarnation developed.

We think of Reincarnation as an Eastern philosophy. But it can be…

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving is in a way a time when our various Tribes gather together. We travel from where ever we're living to where ever our larger family is - it may be over hundreds of miles, or just across town. But it's a time for us to renew our relationships with those who have been in our lives from the very beginning.

So, what is a "Tribe"? Anthropologists don't really have answers, but they have alot of theories, and of course, lots of papers written…

This week, let's take a look at Pagan Ethics. I promise, we'll HARM NONE!.

A good place to start is to examine just what do we mean by Ethics in the first place. When did we start thinking about Ethics? What does it mean for us personally, or as a society, or, really, what does it mean for us a satient beings? Is the consideration Ethics soley a condition of being human?

The acedemic study of Ethics and its connected philosophies, has divided Ethics up into…

This week we talk about what in the scientific community is known as Cognitive Flexibility. Try to wrap your mind around that!

With a flexible mind you could do f things, like increase your creativity, get yourself unstuck from Pain and generally be happier and more productive in your life.

So, here's to all the things the mind can do for you if you only just let it!.

Be well. Do good. Enjoy the show!

Some of…

This week we celebrate the sabbat of Samhain, when the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the whole year.

Samhain is the end of the harvest season and the new solar year.

A festival of darkness and we live softly by candle light. We light special bonfires that have protective and cleansing powers.

We celebrate the lives of our Beloved Dead.

"Now is the Night of November Eve, as the Samhain rites…

This week we look at the so-called Holy Grail.

What is this thing that people are so enamoured of? Did it even exist? People have been searching for it for hundreds of years, and it seems whenever they decide they can't find it, they create stories about it.

So, let's travel back the the 12th century, where the myth of the Holy Grail seems to have it's beginnings. And we'll take a look at some of the embellishments that have been attached to it over…

We continue our celebration of Autumn as we look at some of the season's important associations.

Water is one of the elements in ancient Greek philosophy, and in Occult circles it's associated with the Western Quarter of the Circle, and with the season of Autumn. So we'll look at how and why Water got associated with the Autumn as we tie in some of their similar Magickal Properties.

Then we'll take a walk into an Autumn Garden with Ellen Dugan, well known herbalist and…

Let's create Magick through Masking!

If you're going a Halloween party, what will you GO AS? We all wear masks, although the extent to which we layer ourselves or are aware of them varies greatly.

Masks are a familiar and vivid element in many folk and traditional pageants, ceremonies, rituals and festivals, and are often of an ancient origin.

One reason for wearing a mask is to pretend to be someone or something else. The mask can be a kind of…

This week here on The Spiral Dance, let's look skyward and see what's up there.

Every season brings different views of the Heavens, and Autumn is no different. And, the Stars of Autumn bring their own stories and myths. So to start this week, I have a poem written back in 1819 by the English Romantic poet, John Keats. In his poem, "To Autumn" he captures the feeling and spirit of this season.

Then we'll talk a bit about Astronomy itself, and one view of how…