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
Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Magazine

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

Yggdrasil was a small format heathen newsletter which was, for a while, my primary contact with the heathen community. Recently I re-read a few old issues from the 90s. I was struck by the mix of academic explorations of lore with fun and games like the rune puzzles, and announcements about future events. Obviously I remember that-- I even wrote some of those rune puzzles-- but from my perspective here 30 years later and deeply enmeshed in the internet it seems strange to think about the days when I would yearn for communication with other heathens and it came in the form of the letters section in the larger magazines, which each came once a quarter. I would yearn for more knowledge and it came in the mail, on random topics chosen by the magazine editors. Looking at the contents of a few copies of Yggdrasil now, it reminds me strongly of the contents of the forum I manage, the Asatru Facebook Forum, except that people in forums can just post things and don't have to go through an editor's selection process, and everything is nearly instantaneous. Someone can post a question on a topic and a dozen people will answer in the space of a few days. Thinking back to how it was before the net, it seems almost miraculous.

The net has replaced a lot of what I used to seek at heathen festivals back in the day, too. It's replaced the seminars and panels and specialty rituals with similar things held online, especially last year as people deliberately tried to hold actual gatherings over the net due to the pandemic. Blogs like this one have replaced some of the in-person classes we used to have at festivals or in bookstores. Forums meet part of the need for social interaction with other heathens that we used to get hanging out by the campfire at festivals. And of course, the festival's dealer's tables have moved to the net too. Yet, we still have festivals-- or at least we did before Covid-- and obviously, we still have magazines. So, the net must not be meeting all of everyone's needs.

Last modified on
Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Kayly
    Kayly says #
    Magazines can be read in peace, and the knowledge can be shared without anything going wrong, like loss of electricity or broken p
  • Erin Lale
    Erin Lale says #
    Hi Anthony, I'm not involved in running the back end processes on this site, you'd have to ask the site admin about the blocker is
  • Anthony Gresham
    Anthony Gresham says #
    Both AdGuard Adblocker and Malwarebytes have warned me against accessing witchesandpagans.com as a dangerous site. I don't know i
  • Kayly
    Kayly says #
    Sometimes this site flat out doesn't function for me, and it gets frustrating to try and come on.

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Cancel My Subscription!

Back in the day, I used to subscribe to a magazine called Biblical Archaeology Review.

Don't let the title put you off: it's really just a hook from which to hang all sorts of interesting articles about the ancient Middle East, with more graven images per issue than most pagan periodicals.

The Letters to the Editor were always amusing. In every issue, there would be at least one from some shrill nazz who apparently believed that any magazine with “Bible” in the title should be out to prove the Bible.

“Cancel my subscription!” they would always angrily conclude.

(One man wrote: “Many people throughout history have subscribed to a literal interpretation of the Bible, including 1) myself, 2) Jesus Christ, and 3) many other people.” “Well, that's pretty revealing,” I can remember thinking.)

After a while, BAR decided to bring out a sister publication called Archaeology Odyssey that dealt with the wider, non-Levantine world. Sounds good, I thought, and sent them a check.

The first issue was mostly about things Mycenaean, and the degree to which they were (and were not) accurately represented in Homeric epic.

Tongue firmly in cheek, I sent in my own letter to the editor:

Last modified on

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
And So, September

We've had an interesting first day of September here on the eastern plains of New Mexico. From a bright and sunny morning to a dust storm cum rainstorm to an ominous sky just now. Those are the worst as they can produce mud. I've never seen one, but I read an old newspaper story about one. Folks said it coated their windows.

I've been thinking a lot about my inconsistencies with blogging and journaling. I used to be very dedicated to both. I guess as the seasons and years have passed, I've changed. I want to get back to it so this is my attempt. 

...
Last modified on
Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Arwen Lynch
    Arwen Lynch says #
    Deborah, I hear you on the storm of negativity. Love that whirling dervish image. And here too, nothing but good so far. Some of
  • Deborah Quartz
    Deborah Quartz says #
    I have experienced the month of August as a storm of negativity from ungoing vehicle problems that seem to be a mystery to several

Additional information