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Tarot & Divination
There are at least three reasons to use the divinatory arts: to explore, to communicate, and to get advice. In this special issue, we explore the mysteries of Tarot, and of divination, from all three perspectives.
Articles include:
"Ask the Land: A System for Bioregional Divination." Lupa shares tips on how read your own watershed and use its gifts in divination.
"Pure Magick!" Michael Night Sky interviews Judika Illes. PLUS "5 Magical Uses for Tarot."
"A Sephirothic Odyssey: Creating the Golden Dawn Temple Tarot." Artist, tarotist, and mystic Nicola Wendrich shares her seven-year journey to create a new deck rooted in the Golden Dawn magical order.
"Reading the Leaves: A Beginner’s Guide to Tea (and Coffee) Divination." Discover the ancient art of tea leaf and coffee grounds reading with author Morwyn (What’s Your Potion?).
"Ogham for Beginners: An Introduction to Druid Divination." Let Celtic shaman and author Danu Forest (Celtic Tree Magic, The Magical Year) draw back the curtain on the art of Druidic tree divination.
"Working with the Spirits of Change: A Pagan Guide to the I Ching." Heidi Parton describes how modern Pagans can use an ancient Taoist book of wisdom to offer uniquely sage advice for complex questions.
"78 Shades of Tarot."Author and Tarotist Janet Boyer knows from experience that there’s no such thing as a “good” or “bad” card.
"My Mother’s Cards." Asa West discovers an entire missing history of American Tarot hidden in an heirloom; an old 1JJ Swiss Tarot deck.
In "Making the Everyday Witch Tarot," Deborah Blake and special guest Elisabeth Alba describe what it was like to create their new Llewellyn deck.
Diotima Mantineia ponders the meaning of divination in "What does it mean to predict the future?"
H. Byron Ballard shares her personal history in old-fashioned divination with "A knack with the cards."
Heathen author Shirl Sazynski looks at divination as a way to connect with deity in "Asking the Gods for Guidance."
Plus our regular columnists weigh in:
- Raven Grimassi on "Tarot and the Magician"
- Archer "The Power of the Tower (Card)"
- Hecate Demetersdatter, "Who are the American Spirits of Place?"
- Jamie Wood, "The many faces of Sage"
- Jason Mankey, "Where Goeth Paganism?"
88 pages, published in December 2016.
Table of contents in PDF format. Mini flash-view of this issue.
Own the digital edition, readable with any PDF reader, for just $6.95.
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Polytheism
In this special edition of Witches&Pagans, we take an in-depth look at the theology and practice of modern polytheism — one of the fastest growing movements in the modern Pagan movement.
Niki Whiting starts us off with "Rooted in the Gods: A Brief Guide to Modern Polytheisms" by outlining the theological styles of polytheism, as well as the modes of practice (devotional, reconstructionist, relational) common in these many communities.
Silence Maestas offers us a more personal look in "The Living Heart of Polytheism" which examines a key part of modern polytheisms: the relationship between a devotee and their chosen deity.
Philosophers Edward Butler and Gus DiZerega take a deeper look at what is a very thorny theological issue in modern polytheisms: the relationship (if any) between individual Gods and a Greater Divine unity. Butler looks to the Platonic philosophers for answers in "Polycentric Polytheism," while DiZerega takes inspiration from the organization of living beings and ecosystems in "Rethinking Individuality: Wicca, Polytheism, and the Biology of Emergence." We also feature an opinion piece on polytheism and devotion by Galina Krasskova, and a passionate defense of polytheism as a modern path by druid John Michael Greer.
Storyteller Gail Nyoka shines a light on the modern revival of Druidry in its native land in "The Druids Return to Anglesey: an Interview with Kristoffer Hughes."
After a massive illness changed her life forever, Virginia Carper found solace — and a new sense of purpose — by cultivating devotional relationships with the spirits of extinct species. Discover her journey in "That Which is Remembered, Lives: Establishing a Cultus for Extinct Animals."
Widespread popular attention has focused in popular culture on the culture and religion of the Northern gods. In "Heathen English," Ash Grimsbury argues that we’d be even closer to these deities if we used their native language: English.
Plus the magic of pilgrimage (Archer), spirits of place (Hecate Demetersdatter); cultural appropriation and Wicca (Deborah Blake); Drawing Down the Moon (Jason Mankey); the gods of astrology (Diotima Mantineia), the story of Aloe (Jamie Wood); Cakes for the Queen of Heaven (H Byron Ballard); and welcoming House Wights (Shirl Sazynski.) Plus Pagan poetry and a story about a Heathen priestess coming into her power "Gullveig Drowning by Jackson Eflin.
88 pages, published June 2016.
Table of contents in PDF format. Mini flash-view of this issue.
Own the digital edition, readable with any PDF reader, for just $6.95.
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Naming ourselves “Witches” paints a great big bull’s-eye on our backs. So why do we keep doing it?
Witches, like terrorists, “threaten to wipe out everything you believe in. If they could, they would overthrow your government, overturn your faith, and destroy your society,” Baker writes. The difference, of course, is that terrorists are real, while witches are not.
— Jennifer Latson (October 28, 2014) Time magazine
Why Witches on TV Spell Trouble in Real Life
It seems safe to say that the U.S. doesn’t suffer from an epidemic of magical evil-doers, but until last week, Americans were far more likely to believe in witches than to worry about contracting Ebola.
— Derek Thompson (October 20, 2014) The Atlantic
The Dangerous Myth of America's Ebola Panic
Why do they hate us so much?” This plaintive query surfaced yesterday during a discussion of the Time magazine essay I’ve quoted above. This puzzled lament came from a mature, well-spoken witch of my acquaintance.
I’ll admit, I punted. “Read my editorial in the upcoming issue,” I responded, thus drop-kicking my response downfield for a later play. Well, time is up, and here’s my response: “You claim the title of witch. Why on Earth wouldn’t you expect to be hated?”
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Nature gave us a world full of beauty and pleasure to delight and nurture us. All She asks is that we appreciate these many wonders, that we dance, sing, feast, make music, and love, all in Her honor.
Editorial Note:
I had not heard from my friend (and former PanGaia columnist) Judy Harrow in several years when she emailed me this essay, which she wanted to submit for this issue. I was so excited to hear from her that I responded by giving her a call at once. During our conversation, she expressed the hope that, since she was feeling better, she would soon be able to write and participate in the Pagan community more. I promised to publish her essay, expressed my enthusiasm for her improved health, and said good-bye.
Less than a month later, I was shocked to hear of her death in her sleep at the age of 69. Judy was one of the most unique, compassionate, and loving Pagans I have had the pleasure to know, and I wish to honor her memory by highlighting her words here.
Good journey to the Summerlands, Judy. Come back to us soon.
Anne Newkirk Niven
I eat every day. You probably do, too. The mundane routines of grocery shopping, cooking, eating, and dishwashing take hours out of each week. There’s no activity more ordinary, none more secular. And yet, these very acts directly connect my body to the body of Mother Earth. By eating, I accept Her gifts. For a tree-hugging Pagan like me, the process of feeding myself, done with care and attention, is profoundly spiritual.
Read more: We Are What We Eat: Food Choices in Earth Religion
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When the waters get rough, we might be tempted to throw in the towel on Pagan unity.
But what the fracas really means is that we are growing up enough to realize that we don't all think alike.
There's nothing like trying to be a peacemaker on the Web to give a person a first-rate migraine, and I'm just getting over a doozy. So please forgive me if I "share my pain" with all of you.
First, a bit of background: our Witches&Pagans website now hosts one of the largest Pagan blogospheres on the planet, PaganSquare.com. With over a hundred poets, mystics, pundits, prognosticators, and magicians all rubbing shoulders, there's bound to be a bit of friction.
But earlier this summer, things at PaganSquare got downright testy. It pained me, a Libra Sun Hufflepuff peacemaker, to see my friends going at it hammer-and-tongs in my own house (which is how I rather possessively saw the site). Looking back, I now realize how naive it was to assume that just because everyone on the site was fine with me that they would all get along just peachy with one another.
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The Eco-Foods Guide:
What’s Good for the Earth is Good for You!
by Cynthia Barstow
New Society, Gabriola Island, 2002
A generation ago, grocery shopping was easy. You went to the meat counter at your local market and watched the butcher grind your beef. You picked up iceberg lettuce and Red Delicious apples in the produce department, a loaf of Wonder Bread, and a jar of spaghetti sauce completed your list. You didn’t buy milk and eggs; the milkman delivered those to your front door. Mango? Radicchio? What were those?
Read more: The Eco-Foods Guide: What’s Good for the Earth is Good for You!
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North American Dandelion Preservation Society
Assorted items by Anne Jordan and Helen Marvill,
Osterville MA 2005
I have to admit when I read the label, my first thought was, “… huh?” After all, dandelions are ubiquitous. No amount of pavement, foot traffic, spraying, mowing, or blowtorching seem successful in eradicating them. They’re about as far as it’s possible to get from “endangered.” So I wondered, what could this society be about?
