The Guilt Cycle

I have done nothing this month. Somehow the entire month is gone already, and I have done nothing. (Spiritually. I’ve been busy in other areas. Very busy.) The severance ritual has been postponed to…tonight? Is the current plan. Probably a good thing, as I had a lightbulb moment about it that happened today. But on …

Fit to Worship

Trigger warning: fatphobia, ableism, mention of disordered eating, suicide So recently there was a question on TC regarding whether or not we have a religious duty to take care of our bodies. I refrained answering, and for a while even refrained reading the thread. Threads like that have a tendency to fall into fatphobia, fat-shaming, …

Innocence

There seems to be conflation with innocence and purity, and I believe that’s a Victorian idea still lingering around, wrecking the place and never paying rent. It’s wrong. I don’t really know how else to put it. We often describe kids as innocent but if you’ve spent any time around kids you know they’re anything …

‘God-Bothered’, and what I mean by that

After writing Monday’s post, a discussion with a friend made it clear to me that my definition of ‘god-bothered’ may be quite different from many other people’s definition of it. When I say being god-bothered isn’t that common, I am not saying it’s not common to have a close and personal relationship with a deity. …

Prayer, and how it’s difficult

I realized today — I don’t know how to pray. I do pray, quite often, but it’s always clumsy, and sort of haphazard, like I’m picking my way through a cluttered cabin full of spiritual knick-knacks and doodads, trying to find just the right one for my purposes. Quickly uttered “Dear Brighid, please wrap so-and-so …

30 Days of Paganism: 2. Beliefs — Cosmology

There are several definitions for the word cosmology (no, none of them are “the study of trashy magazines, marketed to women, with horrible sex advice”), but generally speaking in theology the one that’s meant is this one: “A specific theory or model of the origin and evolution of the universe.” Put in simpler terms, “What …

Orthodoxy vs. Orthopraxy

In case you need more Morag this week, I’ve also posted at Maenads of the (R)Evolution (MaRE for short), my project with partner-in-crime-and-awesomeness Daniel Grey (aka Sage or Danny). As well, Veggiewolf also did a post on Obesity for Pagan Blog Project, and it’s pretty damn good. You should read it. Now. On to the second O. (Sounds …

Landbinding

I mentioned Landbinding once, I think, in my blood sacrifice post. Since then I’ve been meaning to actually talk about what Landbinding is, or at least what sorts of nebulous ideas I’ve got about it. Danny’s post yesterday, The Morrigan, The Goddess of Blood, sort of spurred me on, and now here we are. When …

Hearing the Gods: self-deception is the enemy

How can I tell what the gods are saying? I’m in a relatively small camp of people who are ‘god-bothered’. We’ve usually been thwapped by gods and have really intimate relationships with Them, and many of us have conversations with those gods that are pretty distinct. (If you’re going to get jealous or upset because …

Blood Sacrifice

Finally doing that B post that I was missing! Trigger warning for discussion of cutting. Warning for discussion of blood and blood sacrifice. On June 23rd, at sunset, I had a Landbinding shift. This is one of the once-every-20-days shift that I’ve come up with to complement my Flamekeeping shifts with Brighid — Landbinding is …