PaganSquare


PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.

  • Home
    Home This is where you can find all the blog posts throughout the site.
  • Tags
    Tags Displays a list of tags that have been used in the blog.
  • Bloggers
    Bloggers Search for your favorite blogger from this site.
  • Login
    Login Login form
Recent blog posts

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Therasia's Labor: Midwinter Solar Rebirth

The days and weeks leading up to the height of the winter holidays are both exciting and sacred to people from many different spiritual traditions. Christians have Advent, for example; Norse Pagans have Sunwait. Liturgical seasons leading up to a sacred day are far older than either of these traditions, and they have an important function: encouraging us to focus not just on the upcoming "special day" but on the way the year hinges around it.

And the Winter Solstice appears to have been the "central peg" on which the sacred calendar turned across much of early Eurasia, with the Sun Goddess as the driving force behind the year. Check out Patricia Monaghan's excellent book O Mother Sun! for some great research about this subject.

...
Last modified on
For Wealth and Abundance: Giving Gratitude to Lord Jove

You should not be surprised to find another Thursday prosperity spell in this chapter, as this is the perfect day for invoking wealth and success! On any Thursday, or optimally, one occurring on a new moon, light your altar candle at midnight and burn frankincense and myrrh incense. Make an offering of a golden fruit such as apples or peaches to Jupiter, and anoint your third eye with a corresponding essential oil, such as myrrh, frankincense, apple, or peach.

Pray aloud:

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Create Your Own Lucky Talisman

If you are presenting your paintings to a curator or pitching your book to a publisher, you can wear a talisman of your own making to ensure a positive outcome. Many performers, athletes, and musicians have lucky pieces of clothing or some token that gives them the courage to put themselves forth in the best possible manner. I have lucky scarves that I have woven with golden thread and scented with my personally auspicious aroma of vamber.

To maximize the power of the talisman, consider the following suggestions, which I have used to great success. Keep in mind that this will work even better if you place the item on your altar to imbue it with the right energy. On a new moon night, or at least seven days before you perform or present your work, place your lucky scarf, glove, sock, or kerchief on your altar. Now, here is where a bit of candle magic comes in. Light a green, red, or blue candle, depending on your intention. Green is for abundance, red is for fame, and blue is for creative vision. Burn the candle for one hour every evening. When the big day comes, you will be ready.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

Sometimes we are influenced by writers without even reading them. I recently found out about early influences on me from writers my family knew. As I discussed in Writing and Writers part 1, with the story of the carob being an influence on Snorri's version of the Baldur tale, second hand or third hand influence can have a big impact. 

After I blogged about Honoring the Bear, I posted a link with some commentary on the Official Animal Spirit Beings Thread in my discussion group, the Asatru Facebook Forum. In my blog post, I mentioned that when I studied the martial art Shaolin Sho Shu Kung Fu Way of the Beast as a teenager I had learned an exercise to connect to the seven beasts of martial arts and had once seen myself in the mirror as a giant mantis, which had frightened me at the time. I had also connected with other beasts, including cat and bear.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Prosperous Possibility Enchantment

Cinnamon, which you probably have a plentitude of in your kitchen cabinet, is a major source of prosperity and can even bring it about in a hurry. Here is a Jupiterian Thursday spell that will bring excellent opportunities your way. Gather some cinnamon, both sticks and the powdered kind, and place it all on your altar. On a Thursday, light incense (preferably cinnamon) and walk through your house, wafting the delightfully sweet smoke into every room. Light two altar candles, one brown and one green. Gather yellow flowers such as daisies and adorn your altar with them. Stand in front of your earthen altar and consider the wonderful, full life you are going to enjoy. Pour the cinnamon spice and sticks into a bowl and pray aloud:

This humble spice I offer to the gods who provide all.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

Tolkien once wrote in a letter to his son that he was "a Hwiccian (of Wychwood) on both sides."*

Curious words, are they not? My mind generated an entire alternate universe in which Tolkien was the granddaddy of Fam-Trad Witches, and all the things in our culture that would be different if it were so.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Gather to you
what is most precious.
Open your hands
and let the rest go.
A threshold time approaches,
but there is no deadline truly here.
There is only a cycle
of unfurling,
a cycle of descent and renewal,
of deepening and discovering,
of contemplation and transformation.
May you settle inward.
May you deepen into trust.
May you pause often
and may you laugh often.
May you reach out in connection
and may you sink into solitude.
May you savor and celebrate
the rich and warm texture
of your own life.
May you come back home to center.
May you trust yourself to choose
with wisdom and with love.
 

As we approach a new year, I've been evaluating and considering what I want to carry with me across the threshold into the new year. This can be both challenging and liberating! I've decided to close my classrooms in 2024 and also to retire my podcast. And, I've decided
to "retire" from making posts on this blog. I've enjoyed my time writing here, contributing 245 posts since I started in 2013.
 
Here is where you can find me:
 
If the site becomes more active again, I might return, but for now, this is Happy New Year and goodbye! Thank you for your time and presence over the last ten years.
Last modified on

Additional information