As many of you know, thanks to Jason Mankey’s post on upcoming festivals, there are many amazing opportunities to attend pagan events this summer! Personally, I am teaching at a few of these festivals this year (PantheaCon and TempleFest), but one of the ones that I am most excited for is the Salem Summer Symposium. Anyone who lives in or near Salem MA knows just how crazy it can get during October, but sometimes it can be difficult for the witches in the area to get to the m

Blackthorn Hoodoo Blends is a business that mainly focuses on the creation of magical teas. It was started by Amy Blackthorn (author of Blackthorn Botanical Magic) who I had learned about by listening to her interview on Down at the Crossroads. In her interview she talked a bit about her business, her book and her teas and I was instantly interested. There are few things that I love as much as magic, but tea is one of them. I went right to her website and ordered a Panacea Po

The Ophidia Rosa Tarot is an absolutely beautiful deck created by Leila + Olivia. A relatively small and independent company, the bio on their website says the following: “Leila + Olive is an artist-run line of botanical talismans, illustrated by hand with an eye towards mysticism. Creator Nicole Rallis, a New York visual artist, cultivates each piece from her lifelong enchantment with plant magick into full-grown tools of divination.” Rallis then talks about her love of work

The redwoods sang to me the first time I saw them. I couldn’t have been more than eight or nine, looking over a book of photographs when I first saw the redwood forests. I didn’t have words for it then, but I felt my heart reach out toward them. Like something familiar that I hadn’t realized I missed until I saw them again. At that moment I knew that I would see them again someday. In 2018 we were finally reunited. Almost two decades later and I was finally able to see them i

PantheaCon 2019 ended about a week ago, and while I wanted to write this a lot sooner, it took me a little while to wrap my head around all of my experiences from this year. I’ll be honest that I was a little nervous going into PantheaCon this year. There had been a lot of public drama and hate being thrown towards those attending. However, I had an obligation to go as I was teaching a workshop this year and running the hospitality suite for the Temple of Witchcraft. I’m real

Every year around this time is when I start to go a little stir-crazy. The below zero temperatures, constant snow and slush of New England tends to turn even the most extroverted into hermits. My focus tends to waver, a begin to feel more and more lethargic, and I know that it’s time for an awakening. Earlier in the winter I tend to focus on kindling the fire within me to carry me through the winter months, which I tend to refer to as Harvesting the Sun. By around February it

What Does Magic Feel Like Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by ritual and magic. The room felt different when the incense was lit, the space was cleared and ritual began. I understood the shift in energy and what it felt like when work was being done, but I didn’t yet fully understand how to manipulate it. The first time that the feeling of magic truly clicked with me I was sitting under the bright lights of our middle school stage. We were mid orchestral concert and ap

The nights grow longer and we retreat within. Deeper and deeper we move into ourselves. Though I usually welcome the introspection of winter; I often find myself fading more and more as the days go on. In New England the sun begins to set earlier and earlier and it’s not uncommon to hear grumbling and wistful sighs over the lost time in the day. If we are living mindfully then it’s a good opportunity to take advantage of this time to look within. It is also a good time to fin