I spent my first years in the Pagan musical community hiding from my fellow musicians every time they asked for folks to sing, play or otherwise contribute to something that they were working on. Why? My reasons might be different from others, but what it came down to was imposter syndrome and my belief that …
Like so many of my “born again pagan” friends, I was raised in the Christian church. Very early on, I realized that I needed a place to put my spirituality, and church was the only place I knew. I became very involved, attending on Wednesday evenings and Sundays to sing in the youth choir and …
A powerful temporal landmark within the wheel of the year, there is magic and transformation in ‘The Fall’. Of course there is, we all feel it! Samhain/Soween/Calan Gaeaf is the third and final of the three pagan harvest festivals, a time when our ancestors would have harvested and prepared a variety of foods and essentials …
The celebration of Samhain (pronounced Sáh-wen) is an ancient Celtic festival that has been practiced for centuries. It marks the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the dark half of the year and winter. It is celebrated on October 31st and is considered to be one of the eight modern Pagan Witches’ …
“She’s getting no rest, she just failed her pregnancy test. How’s she gonna care for a little child? She can barely feed herself, no food’s left on the shelf. Frustration makes her rage and scream and cry.” I wrote Nothing Holy but the Blood for The Red Album: Pagan Voices for Reproductive Rights, to add another step on …
I’ve always gotten along best with the “honestly promiscuous.” If I belong to a “tribe,” we’re all easy, and happy about it.
Frequently, musicians are confronted with the question, “What’s your process?” For a Pagan musician, that process is often tied to our spirituality. Instead of sitting down to write a song, and then work out the melody and chording, Spirit taps us on the shoulder and starts whisper-singing a new piece in our ear! It had …
I wrote Autumn’s Twilight originally on October 29, 1995. It was published on KIVA’s album Out of the Corner of the Eye in 2006. The inspiration for the song was a beautiful maple tree in my back yard when I lived in Kensington, Maryland in the 1990s. I used to sit under the maple tree …
Welcome to Mabon! Also known as Second Harvest, this time is grounded in the Fall Equinox occurring now. This is the time of the harvest; grains and fruits–so much from the Earth–and we give thanks! This is the time of Libra, of balance and seeking “relation” with our relations. Mabon begins as the Sun goes …
“The Mills of the Gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine” – Sextus Empiricus, 3rd Century AD Seasons move in a constant wheel of life. Birth of new energy, growth, production, harvest, decay, regeneration. All that happens creates all that will happen in an ongoing circle of magic. As Pagans, we get to enjoy …
