Category: Members Posts

The longer nights around Winter Solstice give our Moon greater prominence – a perfect reminder of the Artemis missions! For many of us, this is a big Sabbat, which takes a more preparation (and if you are buying gifts, the Naturalistic Pagan Gift List here might help).  

It’s really not a complicated ritual. There’s a a simple but powerful gesture–passing the flame–and a recitation of poem that resonates deeply with me and gestures to something bigger than I can easily explain. And there’s a little deliberate structuring to give it shape. And that’s it.

In the last post, I wrote about the when of doing a winter ritual, and now I want to talk about the how. Now that you’ve decided to mark some special event–whether it’s the solstice or the first snow or…

To live a pagan life, we need practices, rituals and observances which saturate everyday life. They don’t need to be demanding, but the frequency is important. We need daily practices, but we also need more than eight special days.

Hey, everyone, it’s the holiday giving season. So I’m asking: please consider making a tax-deductible gift to The Atheopagan Society (TAPS) this year. The nonprofit Society is our community’s religious organization. TAPS produces even…

This year, a lot of people are having to cut back on their present-buying for the festive season due to the cost of living crisis. There’s also the sustainability issue of excess packagaing on many items sold as gifts. With those things in mind, I wrote this poem:

An Offering of Treasure

I offer you this treasure,
In a box.
Wrapped in paper.

Unpeel it.
Open it.
Fold back the tissue.

Is it what you wanted?
Nestled inside the packaging.
Promising so much.

Remember that feeling
When you see the reality.

Will you thank me
With honest eyes?

Tell me, truthfully
What you saw
In that empty box.

The poem is about how overpackaged gift sets sold in high street shops are often disappointing inside and not worth the money paid for them. In previous years I’ve blogged with posts suggesting Yule gift ideas. 

This year I’m not going to be doing that because it puts unecessary pressure on people to buy things they might not be able to afford. Remember that most friends and family will completely understand if you tell them you won’t be offering them presents this season.

Previous poetry posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/08/poetry-of-witchcraft-spell-for.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/11/the-poetry-of-tarot-four-of-swords.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/08/the-poetry-of-witchcraft-crone.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/07/poetry-of-witchcraft-goddess-who-lights.html

The concept behind THE WONDER—named, of course, for the awe and reverence we feel as we contemplate the magnificent Universe—is that it will be an ongoing resource for non-theist Pagans to inform and inspire our practices and stimulate our thinking.

I was six. We lived on the West Coast, so we had to get up early to see it. Grainy, on a small-screen, huge-bodied black and white television full of vacuum tubes, the mighty rocket standing, and the countdown… “…4…3…2&#82…

Every now and then, I am reminded of how incredible it is to live now.  So many things would not just be amazing to nearly all of our Ancestors, but often would be literally indescribable.  After too long away from our sacred Moon, the Artemis program successfully launched, bringing this goddess to her rightful place alongside her brother Apollo!

The Songs of Solstice book is a great way to keep singing in your holiday.  Singing is a powerful and fulfilling human ability, and this book allows us to recover it from the Christian dominated culture.