The Real Witch Project

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Sarah

Are you a dabbler? Are you a seeker? Do you want to know what it would be like to move beyond these phases and dive into practicing witchcraft? If you’ve ever been curious whether magic really works or not or if it can be beneficial to our normal mundane lives as well as spiritual, this four part documentary series will give you a sneak peek into the lives of ordinary non-pagan women who were asked to live and practice as witches for one lunar cycle, one month… you will see witchcraft through the eyes of women with differing backgrounds, beliefs and levels of skepticism. Over the course of the month, these women discover not just the practice of witchcraft, but the power and strength within themselves. Each video is about ten minutes long. Who is that man in the first video? Why it’s pagan author and historian Ronald Hutton! Watch and enjoy!




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Firethorn

Posted on May 24, 2009 by Sarah

Firethorn by Sarah MicklemFirethorn by Sarah Micklem
Scribner, 2004
400 pages

I picked up Firethorn at my local public library on a whim while looking for some good fiction. It was the review quote by one of my favourite authors Robin McKinley that sealed the deal. I took it home and once I opened the pages of this novel I couldn’t stop reading it. Sarah Micklem’s world is engrossing and absorbing, it felt as real as my own. Firethorn is the first of three in a series. The second book Wildfire is due to be released July 2009. It will be very hard to wait for the third book!

Firethorn follows the story of Luck, a young orphaned servant girl who’s mistress has just passed away and now she fears for her fate as her new master, Sir Pava,  is cruel  and rapes her. She runs into the Kingswood to escape, living off her knowledge of wild foods and herbal medicines. She lives in the forest for over a year, hiding from humanity. In the winter in a delirious state brought on by hunger, she eats the poisonous berries of the firethorn tree, but does not die and is instead forged anew by Ardor, the god of smithing and fire. When she awakens alive, she takes the new name of Firethorn and returns to the world of humans, the village she grew up in, and integrates herself back into their daily lives, staying far away from her former master. War is coming and warriors have come to the village to collect Sir Pava for the battles ahead. It is Carnal Night, when people are free to act on their desires. One of the warriors finds Firethorn in the farmers’ fields and once the two lock eyes, both of the lovers’ fates are changed forever.

Firethorn is the story of a witch, a canny woman, a greenwoman. She heals with plants and her touch, she tells fortunes with the finger bones of dead loved ones, she follows the God Ardor and the other Gods relating to him. But overall this is a story of love between a man and woman and the power plays that happen with such a relationship. Both Firethorn and her warrior are of firey natures making their relationship troublesome and yet both cannot live without the other. The magic and the pagan religion within the pages of the story are brilliantly wrought and richly imagined. From a love binding spell using a “womandrake” to the uses of hairs and nail clippings, to Firethorn’s use of entheogens to heal and travel to the otherworld and outside her body – this tale is full of magic and witchcraft – enough to sate any witch reading Firethorn’s story. This is a dirty, gritty, horrific, sensual,  beautiful, and emotional tale. ♥

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News from the Pagan Bookworm…

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Sarah

Phew! I’ve been busy, but things are slowing down now. Beltane has come and gone, rituals and magic done, botanica’s run and shamelessly promoted… Tonight’s news feature’s a common theme — pagan literature. I’ll start off with the end of Pan Gaia magazine and it’s new incarnation as a part of newWitch magazine, and then move on to the wonderful Pomegranate journal and how it relates to the latest interviewee on The Wigglian Way Pagan Podcast. And lastly, some sad news from the occult publishing world.

Pan Gaia Merges with NewWitch Magazine

Pan Gaia MagazineThe last issue of Pan Gaia magazine has been published. After the current issue, the authors and columns of Pan Gaia will now be merged into NewWitch magazine – both magazines are published by BBI Media who also publish Sagewoman and Crone magazines. Issue 50 will be the last, featuring an interview with Carl Llewellyn Weske, yes of Llewellyn books; an article by the lovely Jason Pitzl-Waters from over at The Wild Hunt blog titled “Today’s Most Influential Pagans”, which of course lists the Wigglian Way as one of the ‘new media mavericks’ (you made Mojo & Sparrow squeal Jason!); and this issue also features articles on the Otherkin and Satanism (in my head I’m saying *no furry jokes, no furry jokes*). It is sad that now that Mojo and I have just discovered this cool Neopagan magazine that it will no longer exist, but I find comfort in the fact that there are so many great pagan magazines being published right now. Farewell Pan Gaia, we just met, but I was starting to like you (*phew mad it with no furry jokes*).

Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies

The PomegranateThe Pomegranate was the first academic peer-reviewed journal on Pagan studies ever published. It is the brainchild of author Chas S. Clifton and Fritz Muntean who was also one of the founders of the NROOGD tradition along with old guard Aidan Kelly in California. Mojo and Sparrow interview Fritz and his high priestess Louise,  in Episode 49 of The Wigglian Way. Fritz tells tales of the good old days, the founding of the group that spawned NROOGD, the creation and legacy of the Pomegranate Journal, and of course his life experiences along the Wiccan path and how he fell into teaching Paganism at University.  If you’ve ever just wanted to sit down in front of an elder and have them share their own journey, advice, stories, teachings, knowledge, laughter, jokes,  and more with you… then reading the Pomegranate is a taste of that and listening to Fritz talk in an interview is like being there.

Author Hanz Holzer Dies

Hans HolzerSome sad news, famous author Hanz Holzer died on April 26th at age 89. He was well known for his writings on the supernatural and is known by many as a ghost hunter. He wrote many works on ghosts and hauntings, but also many books on witchcraft and the beginnings of Wicca in America. His books are now pieces of witchcraft history. He met and interviewed big name pagans before their names were known and many people have one or two of his books on their shelf without realizing the author’s long history in the occult. If you happen to come across a second hand gem like The New Pagans: An Inside Report on Mystery Cults Today, snatch it up!

New Book Release

I’ll end with some happier news. I recieved Owen Davies’ Grimoires: A History of Magic Books in the mail today from the lovely people over at Oxford University Press. Owen Davies is a historian and author I’ve had my eye on for a long time now, but have never had the opportunity to read or review one of his books. Right now Mojo and I are peeking through it’s pages…

Grimoires by Owen Davies

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Pagan Heart in Maine

Posted on April 15, 2009 by Sarah

Pagan Heart in Maine is a Pagan podcast hosted by Greywolf Moonsong from Saco, Maine. In his gentle soothing  voice full of subtle humour, Greywolf shares anecdotes from his life and relates spiritual lessons he’s learned from these events. His anecdotes are usually very funny and also very deep showing great heart and a grasp of human emotion. He also interviews Pagan authors, practitioners of magical professions, as well as members of local and national Pagan groups. Although Pagan Heart in Maine features a lot of local people, events and groups from Maine, the podcast is still very pertinent to Pagans anywhere else in the world. One of the great things about Greywolf is that he’s one of the few Pagan podcasts out there which features Pagan music on a regular basis – great artists ranging in styles, from American favourites like  S.J. Tucker, Gaia Consort and Emerald Rose, to amazing international artists like Wendy Rule, Spiral Dance, and Omnia.

Pagan Heart in Maine is one of my all time favourite podcasts. If it were food it would be comfort food as Greywolf’s voice and the environment he’s created for the podcast are so soothing and comfortable that he always has me coming back for more. What really makes this show is its host, Greywolf, with his spiritual wisdom, emotional depth, a great sense of humour, and of course good taste in music. I confidently recommend Pagan Heart in Maine to any witch or pagan with an affinity for podcasts. You won’t be disappointed and you’ll probably get an strong urge to invite Greywolf over for coffee… ♥

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Shaman’s Drum Journal

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Sarah

Shaman’s Drum: A Journal of Experiential Shamanism & Spiritual Healing

Shaman's Drum JournalShaman’s Drum is a quarterly journal published by the Cross-Cultural Shamanism Network based in Williams, Oregon. The Network is a non-profit educational organization who started this journal 20 years ago as a means to encourage the study of shamanism and the practice of experiential shamanism. The journal’s mission is to cast aside all the misconceptions, misinformation and unsympathetic studies of shamanism that have come before our current time of religious freedom. In the past centuries shamanic practitioners were persecuted, publicly humiliated, and killed for their practices. Today this is no longer a danger and shamanic practitioners are sprouting like weeds – many with a need for guidance and information on their wider community – which is where Shamans’ Drum comes in to provide a connection between practitioners.

I have only just discovered this journal while browsing the magazine racks at Banyen Books in Vancouver. The new issue focusing on the shamanic uses of Salvia Divinorum caught my eye as Salvia is currently a hot issue in the United States due to its misuse by minors and subsequent criminalization in many states. Now this sacred herb is illegal in most of North America thanks to panicking parents and a government who believes in criminalizing every mind-altering substance.

So I purchased the issue and took it home to see if Shaman’s Drum is a good magazine for shamanistic practitioners to subscribe to – the answer is yes! The articles are very in-depth showing a complex and sincere understanding of spirituality and shamanistic concepts by the authors. Many of the authors are academics and authorities on shamanism making each article a worthwhile read as well as good to use for reference material. The articles contained in this journal range from coverage of small indigenous shamanic cultures; their practices, beliefs, traditions, and use of entheogens; articles on neoshamanism and experiential shamanism (minus any fluff); and there are also book reviews, letters to the editor, a resource directory, as well as beautiful featured artwork by shamanic artists. The Salvia isssue (no.79) features the artwork of Timothy White and Marc Henson.

Back Issues Available

Overall this black and white journal comes off as academic with the content being 80% lengthy focused articles.  The only downside of Shaman’s Drum, which was also mentioned in a letter to the editor, is all of the advertising. While all of the ads relate to shamanism, the majority of them are for neoshamanism services & groups, overpriced workshops & tours, as well as online stores that need a slap for culture theft. Other than the awful ads, the contents of this journal are legitimate studies on shamanism – both traditional and new, and both with merit. If you are a shamanic practitioner, are interested in shamanism, or are a witch with a shamanistic or animistic bent, you will thoroughly enjoy the Shaman’s Drum Journal.

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