November 1, Samhain—the Festival of the Dead. The year is waning, venturing towards the winter solstice, the darkest night of the year. Leaves lay crisp on the ground, their burnished reds and bronzes a reminder of the fallow fields of
The first rainstorms of the season, the scent of wood smoke fills the night air, a sudden gust as a brisk wind hurls leaves off the trees in a maelstrom of color, the last rush to harvest the garden before
The waning half of the year leads us into the concept of sacrifice. During this time we begin our spiritual descent into the Underworld. Lughnasadh marks the first of the three harvests: the Grain Harvest of Lughnasadh, the Harvest of
Summer Solstice–or Litha, as we call it in the Craft–is coming. When I think of summer, I think of the beach. And I think of water and frogs and the ocean, and cleansing rituals. So here’s a summer-siren’s cleansing ritual
Note: I wrote this almost 20 years ago for a datebook and have the rights back, and it seems as pertinent today as it did then. When setting out to prepare for a magical ritual, there are several caveats best
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The new moon this week will be at 7:25 PM, April 22, on the west coast. (10:25 on the east coast). The moon will shift over to Taurus, out of Aries, nine minutes after it goes new. So your focus