Category: nature

The Thin

I’ve often pondered here on the blog my relationship with my locale. I live in an older residential area, where many of the older homes were probably built in the post-war boom. I went to a high school built as part of the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s—it has a fallout shelter and is […] … Continue reading…The Thin

Neighborly

Like for many folks, April has been the cruelest of months thus far, with a few shining moments peeking out from the weather of Mercury Retrograde and Saturn and Mars conjunct, let alone Saturn Retrograde. The problems that have cropped up have been problems that really demand Saturnine responses: tending to the home; diligence; patience; […] … Continue reading…Neighborly

Forest Mind

It’s warming up here now, and spring is around the corner—next week, in fact. And I get cooped up indoors during winter because (1) it’s cold and (2) everything goes to sleep. The trees stand tall but dormant, leafless, swaying only in stronger winds. I can look up at them casting silhouettes against the twilightening, […] … Continue reading…Forest Mind

Vision & Breath

Vision When I was younger, I took a photo in the family backyard. We had a huge yard, all things considered, with lots of trees, and our lot ran back against an undeveloped, wooded lot. When I developed and printed the photo I took—35mm color—I saw a little figure in it. I grabbed a magnifying […] … Continue reading…Vision & Breath

Materia & Spiritus

Like a lot of folks, I grew up trained to see plants as things, as food, as matter and “just” chemicals and chemical reactions. When I first got into magic, the whole herbal side of the craft was an intriguing but opaque concept to me. Relying on books, especially in an era of Nancy Reagan […] … Continue reading…Materia & Spiritus

Imagining Reflections

Seeing More, Imagining More I tried using a scrying bowl filled with spring water the first few times I tried scrying, but it wasn’t providing the experience I needed or wanted at the time. I had acquired a small obsidian mirror a while back, and I have a small, handheld (well, finger-held, usually) obsidian orb […] … Continue reading…Imagining Reflections

Stars & Bodies

I wanted astrology to make sense to me. I was always an astronomy nerd while growing up, especially for the planets. I’d do little reports on the planets and their planetary characteristic trivia when I was in elementary school. I think half the books I checked out while growing up were books on the planets. … Continue reading…Stars & Bodies

[NB: Notes on Eliade, Politics, Sacred & Profane]

Sundry notions below– I read Mircea Eliade recently—Myths, Dreams, & Mysteries and The Sacred & The Profane. I feel Eliade offers interesting notions that need grounding in political realities. Indeed, the kinds of arguments that Eliade makes about sacralization and ritual reflect what many others make, all the while folks claiming that, because their religions […] … Continue reading…[NB: Notes on Eliade, Politics, Sacred & Profane]