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I promised in a previous post that I would write about how I lost weight avoiding GMO wheat and corn. Here is how I did it.  I’m calling this the Goddess Diet because it was the goddess Sif who wanted me to buy no GMO wheat or corn.

The god who was with me when I was first making the small decisions that eventually became the Goddess Diet was Loki. Loki skinrode me into a grocery store. When he realized what was in there and that I intended to eat it he turned very dark and angry—not at me, fortunately. He saw that I eat poison because I’m poor by the standards of the society I live in. He was with me as I read labels and asked for products no one carried.

I lost 20 lbs. on the Goddess Diet. I've been avoiding GMO wheat and corn products because I received gnosis that the goddess Sif wants me to. I'll relate the somewhat amusing story of how I avoid them in another post. As I mentioned in the Fireverse 1 post, while I was writing my probably-unpublishable behemoth Some Say Fire, I received a scene showing that GMO wheat is fatal to Sif, the goddess of wheat. This is what I call novel-gnosis: information about the gods presented to me by them as fiction but which I think may also be applicable beyond the Fireverse.

Once my head was cracked open to hear the gods while writing, I received messages from them as well as being inspired with scenes for the book. I got a strong impression that she wanted non-GMO wheat in real life.

I said, "It would take a revolution to get that for you. An actual revolution."

Sif said, "Get on with it already. Aren't you already talking to Loki?"

It turns out, I was wrong. It didn't take a revolution. Heritage wheat still exists in the world. It might not be in the bread aisle at the grocery store, but one can grow some if one has land on which to do so. Native Seed Search (nativeseeds.org) has some. I ordered some of that wheat to plant for Sif.

When I planted the wheat, I did a ritual to have it blessed by Sif, Thor, and Loki. The what itself is Sif's sphere of influence, and rain is Thor's. The earth itself is Jord's, also known as Fjorgynn, Thor's mother; the place where I was planting already had a dedication to her on it, written on the bottle wall in runes. Clearing the ground relates to one of Loki's spheres of influence. I had to dig up the dead things that were in the planting bed. Also some live things had to be dug up and potted and moved. The ground had to be leveled. I added compost, and turned the soil over. Only then was it ready for Sif's wheat to be planted, and only after that was it ready for Thor to rain on it to make it grow.

Indigenous techniques are used to control wildfires. What does it mean now that the UK is lifting its ban on neonicotinoids? And why do scientists and the general public differ so much on the use of GMOs? It's Earthy Thursday, our weekly report on science news for the Pagan community. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

Science is a powerful instrument for change. With the help of science, humanity has the ability both to hurt the Earth... and to help it. This week for Earthy Thursday we have gathered a number of stories that we think illuminate the power of science to change our world and help us live in harmony with our planet. Read about some of the upcoming changes in green energy, the importance of chemistry, and more. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

The way that we, as a species, relate to our environments differs from place to place, culture to culture. But one thing most of us hold in common is that our relationship with our ecosystem is an important and vital one. This week for Earthy Thursday, we examine some of the different ways in which we interact with the natural world, from veneration to protection to how we go about living our daily lives. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!

Food, glorious food! After water it's easily the most vital resource we utilize (except perhaps for air). But in a world that's growing ever larger and where land fertility is under threat it can be a struggle to find new solutions to feed the hungry. Among the other stories we've gathered today, this week's Earthy Thursday talks about the different and creative ways by which people are trying to create new and plentiful food sources, from seaweed farms to insects. Continue below to learn more about these future possibilities.