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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in mysticism
Songs for Ophelia by Theodora Goss: a Review

     I have been given an opportunity to read and review author Theodora Goss' newest book, Songs for Ophelia, due in stores soon. This is an exquisite volume of poetry, mystical, mythical, fantastical, even spiritual, a must-read, and I thought I would share my review here, so others might have the opportunity to read this volume themselves.

 

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  • Sarah Avery
    Sarah Avery says #
    I love Goss's work! When I start tutoring a new student, my favorite first assignment is Goss's "The Wings of Meister Wilhelm." Th

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Space Witch

Thumping beats, crashing drums, melodic instruments, ecstatic signing, rhythmic pulsing, sweat pouring from your skin, a crowd surging together as one, shouting, screaming, chanting, touching, pounding heartbeats, flashing lights, the scent of alcohol and bodies, drops of sweat and water and saliva spraying over everyone and then you go home with your ears ringing, lying in bed thinking in the darkness “what in the heavens just happened?”

Not every concert I go to is an ecstatic experience, but there have been a few times when I’ve known deep down in my heart of hearts that the people I was watching on stage weren’t just making music, but they were putting on a show. Deliberate or not, they were channeling something different, something special, and the crowd was totally sharing in that experience with them. These moments can be rare and meaningful, and in some cases, completely cathartic and cleansing.

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  • Lee Pike
    Lee Pike says #
    Fantastic post. It is great to see a witch write about the modern ecstatic and magical experience found embedded in music concerts
  • Amanda Morris
    Amanda Morris says #
    I've been trying to reply, Lee, but sometimes I get errors so I'm sorry for the delay! I just wanted to thank you for reading my p

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

This Samhain season, I've been reflecting back to this past Candlemas and to the changes that season brought me. For sometime immediately around Imbolc is when I was first contacted by Freyja.

b2ap3_thumbnail_Freyja.jpg

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  • Lana
    Lana says #
    What a beautiful, sacred encounter! Thank you for sharing your story. Kalyca.
  • Frank Barcenas
    Frank Barcenas says #
    I was born with a sixth sense and it wasn't until I was around 24-25 that I learned there was a Divine/Unconditional Love/ Source
  • Emily Mills
    Emily Mills says #
    Oh, I do have these two entries from my blog from 2012 though, if you are interested. http://wyrdanglosaxonpriestess.wordpress.co
  • Kalyca Schultz
    Kalyca Schultz says #
    Interesting-- I haven't done art in a long time, except for photography, although I write and sing a lot. Perhaps that may come fo
  • Emily Mills
    Emily Mills says #
    Her youtube is awesome! http://www.youtube.com/user/lauraredwitch/videos Unfortunately, Mrs. B no longer blogs. It was up on Path

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream—
Lingering in the golden gleam—
Life, what is it but a dream?
—from “A Boat, Beneath a Sunny Sky” by Lewis Carroll

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  • Kalyca Schultz
    Kalyca Schultz says #
    Thank you, Lizann! I just saw that I missed your post ostensibly about feet (?)! As a typical Pisces, I will ramble on over now to
  • Lizann Bassham
    Lizann Bassham says #
    Lovely - thank you. I was lucky growing up as a mystic child to have folk around who affirmed, rather than disparaged, my reality
  • Kalyca Schultz
    Kalyca Schultz says #
    Francesca, merry meet! And thank you! I would love it if anything I share here helps someone to know they are not alone, they are
  • Francesca De Grandis
    Francesca De Grandis says #
    Rock on!
  • Francesca De Grandis
    Francesca De Grandis says #
    Kalyca, Interesting. Over the years, many (many!) pagans have told me their personal story as a pagan mystic—e.g., they saw Faerie
Questions on Pagan Monasticism

I'm writing today about Pagan monasticism, for a couple of reasons, one being that a colleague in my study group asked about how you can tell whether you’re called to clergy as a monastic, particularly as opposed to being a priest or priestess. The other reason I'm writing about it is because many Pagans are not aware that monasticism is a vocation in our faith, and certainly even fewer people outside Paganism.

“While in common usage the terms "nun" and "Sister" are often used interchangeably (the same title of "Sister" for the individual member of both forms), they are considered different ways of life, with a "nun" being a religious woman who lives a contemplative and cloistered life of meditation and prayer for the salvation of others, while a "Religious Sister", in religious institutes like Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, lives an active vocation of both prayer and service, often to the needy, sick, poor, and uneducated.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nun

I can’t find the same sort of reference for the difference between “priest” and “monk,” although I suspect it’s somewhat similar. It’s been a long time since I formally studied Catholic doctrine. However, I’d also say that in Paganism, the lines are a bit fuzzier in terms of monasticism. If we were using the strict Catholic definitions, I’m somewhere between a nun and a Sister – I have a large amount of most of my days dedicated to contemplative study, prayer, and meditation, but I also do a lot of community work online and in person. This is why I have “free-range nun” listed as my occupation. It’s sort of tongue-in-cheek, but it’s accurate.

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