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Let me tell you something else about witches: we don't hold with self-pity.

Feeling sorry for yourself (and poisoning the lives of those around you with your whining) concedes powerlessness, and that's something else we don't hold with.

Witches don't whine. We do something.

What we do, of course, varies from situation to situation. We specialize in indirection. Witches don't usually go for frontal assault. Instead, we look for a way around. Or under. Or over. Or between.

When you hear that sing-song “poor me” whine start to come into your voice, strangle it at birth.

Monotheism is better than polytheism because...

...it's easier. With monotheism, you never have to waste time wondering “Which god?” You'll already know.

...it's cheaper. Gods are like children: the more you have, the more it costs to keep them all happy. Think of what you could do with all that extra time and money.

...it's more unifying. Having different gods is just one more thing for people to fight about. Imagine how much more peaceful and conflict-free the world will be when everyone, everywhere, worships the same god!

...it's simpler. Think how much simpler life will be when humans are the only beings that have rights. In polytheism, you always have to be worrying about the rights of animals, trees, stones, rivers, mountains. In a monotheist world, you can forget about all that. They don't have any.

...it's more psychologically healthy. In a polytheist world, you always have to be thinking about relationships. In monotheism, on the other hand, you only have to look out for Number One.

I have been wanted to do a 2018-year reflection post. There was a lot to reflect on. I'm going to keep this to the personal rather than the political. Otherwise, we'd be here all day.

I've had some ups and downs this year. More ups really, so that's good. Since I am a professional Joy Seeker, I will focus on the ups. 

The biggest thing is moving into my role as the owner of

A Modest Proposal

Face it, folks: there's strength in numbers. We need a term that includes us all.

Once “pagan” was our prime term of art, but since (like fractious adolescents) we tend to define ourselves by rebelling against what we're not, that simply doesn't work anymore.

So here's my suggestion.

I think that we need to take a page from the GLBTQI+ playbook.

(Interestingly, both “gay” and “queer,” originally intended as terms of inclusion, have since come to be used exclusively instead. Hai mai, it's nice to know that you're not alone in the world.)

We need to come up with a long, unwieldy, mysterious string of capital letters that's constantly bloating into a longer, more unwieldy, and ever more mysterious string of capital letters that never quite manages to resolve into a pronounceable acronym.

Of course, since—for all our egocentricity—we tend to have fragile egos, we need to be as inclusive as possible when we do this.

Let's see: Witch-Warlock-Wiccan-Pagan-Heathen-Druid-Reconstructionist-Polytheist....

Home blessing spell 

Before you start the blessing for your home it is advisable to clean your house.  Sorry…I know housework is boring but it makes sense to clean your home from top to bottom first.  Once you are done if you have a besom (broom) it also adds a bit of magic cleansing to sweep the house symbolically.  Sweep from the back of the house to the front, sweeping all the negative energy out of the door.   

On first Mother Night, we tapped the box of red.

It was a nice wine for winter: chewy, hearty, a little leathery.

Next day, there was still wine left.

On second Mother Night, we drank more from the box of red.

Next day, there was still wine left.

Tonight, Thirteenth Night, we'll keep on drinking.

As for tomorrow, we'll see.

I'm beginning to wonder if what we've got on our hands here may not be that legendary box of wine that, no matter how many rituals you take it to, never runs dry.

Just before Yule, the statue of Lleu Llaw Gyffes arrived at White Mountain Druid Sanctuary.  The plinth had already been put in place. Here is Kirk standing with the statue in place.