Yuletide in Review | Maggie Beaumont

Dec28

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The first snow in November tempted us to think about snow for Christmas, but this week temperatures have been 10 to 20 degrees above normal. Two days of rain last week and again this week that felt like April, but here it is half-past December. Just when I think I know what to expect, once again I’m not wearing the right coat. A truly odd season.

The lobby of my apartment building sprouted Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving with evergreens draped across a fictitious mantelpiece, pointsettias lining the hallway. Day by day since, they blossomed into candy canes, tiny lights on strings surrounding mirrors and picture frames, sleighbells on doors. Last week they added a Christmas tree and today there are packages beneath it. In the elevator yesterday there was talk of putting a toy train there, if they can figure out how to keep it safe from toddlers.

Meanwhile the strip mall nearby has three vacant stores where a year ago were thriving businesses. I don’t think they all moved away, but I don’t know what changed for them. Did an owner retire? Did the landlord raise the rent a little too much? Have their customers migrated to on-line shopping sites?

Read more: Yuletide in Review | Maggie Beaumont

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The Authentic & Actual Community Experience | Laura Tempest Zakroff

Nov27

SO MANY BEAUTIFUL BEINGS! I smile every time I see these faces. Ivo Dominguez, Jr & Herne’s Hollow Folks at the Alombrados OTO in New Orleans.

There are some really great folks out there.  Not just some, a LOT.  Really. If your main exposure to “community” in terms of Witchcraft/Paganism is only through the Internet, you’re probably going to have less than an optimistic view of what it’s like in physical space.  I don’t like to say “in real life” because the Internet can be amazing for fostering relationships. But there’s a disconnect that happens when people forget they’re still communicating with other human beings on the other side of their screens, which leads to some rather crappy behavior. And while the online world is an equalizer in some ways, it’s also very easy to form echo-chambers and provide amplified platforms for personalities – for better or worse.

Read more: The Authentic & Actual Community Experience | Laura Tempest Zakroff

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Review of Besom, Stang & Sword | Strategic Sorcery

Nov26

From this moment on, when someone in North America asks me for a book on Traditional Witchcraft, I will be recommending Besom, Stang & Sword from Christopher Orapello and Tara-Love Maguire. Why? Because this book takes what I feel is the most essential truth of any real Witchcraft and places it front and center: Witchcraft is Local.

Read more: Review of Besom, Stang & Sword | Strategic Sorcery

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2018 Parade of Spirits – December 15

Nov17

We gather at Liberty Lands around 4:00 and step off somewhere around 4:15 — the parade is 5-6 blocks and doesn’t take long, so don’t be late! Bonfire, snacks, and admiration of costumes follow on our return to the park. Come in costume or borrow a mask or noisemaker from our share box. This is a family-friendly event.

Source: 2018 Parade of Spirits

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Five Prayers for Ancestors Most People Don’t Think About at Samhain | Melissa Hill

Oct31

Samhain is the time for mourning. Here are some prayers to help you mourn the deaths of some of the more difficult categories of ancestors, as well as a guide to building your own prayer for the heroic dead.

Read more: Five Prayers for Ancestors Most People Don’t Think About at Samhain | Melissa Hill

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The New Aradia: A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance – Revelore Press

Oct19

The New Aradia A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance edited by Laura Tempest Zakroff 106 pages / September 2018 / 9781947544161   The New Aradia is a handbook is designed to serve as a collection of ideas to teach, share, inspire, empower, protect, and guide. Within its pages are sigils, spells, recipes, essays, invocations, rituals, and more, all gathered from experienced magical practitioners. At your fingertips is an arsenal of tools to aid you on your path.

With contributions by: Aidan Wachter, Amanda Bell, Annalun, Annwyn Avalon, Aradia the Rose, H. Byron Ballard, Casandra Johns, Christopher Penczak, Deborah Castellano, Devin Hunter, Gwendolyn Reece, Irina Xara, Irisanya Moon, Ivo Dominguez Jr., Jay Logan, Jenn Zahrt, Kelden, Laura Tempest Zakroff, Lisa Bland, Lyssa Heartsong, Mat Auryn, Misha Magdalene, Patti Wigington, Phoenix LeFae, Raye Schwarz, Stephen Pocock & Storm Faerywolf.

With every purchase of this book direct from the publisher, $1 will go to the Southern Poverty Law Center and $1 to Emily’s List.*

Order at: The New Aradia: A Witch’s Handbook to Magical Resistance – Revelore Press

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Learning to Read Tarot

Oct18

Just as the decks we use are diverse, so are the ways in which we look at the cards. Examine the cards and ways to interpret them, be it through color, symbolism or sheer instinct. Learn the differences between the major and minor arcana as well as how to interpret simple tarot spreads. Please bring a tarot deck to class (preferably Coleman/Waite a.k.a Rider-Waite) or a deck that you have been using for a while. Fee: $49.00 Hours: 8.00 MALT Office, 6601 Greene St. Located at the corner of Greene & Hortter Streets. Please enter through the Hortter Street door. SEPTA bus route H stops one block away at Lincoln Drive at Greene Street and Lincoln Drive at Hortter Street. Chestnut Hill West rail station at Upsal is also about one block away.

Register: Learning to Read Tarot – 18FMB34

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Fundraiser by Ivo Dominguez Jr. : Freedom For Dolores

Oct17

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki  has been a light and an inspiration to thousands of students of the Western Mysteries, Qabala, and the Craft. She served as the Director of Studies of the Servants of the Light from 1976 to 2018 .  She has given her life to the work, and had thought that her life was in order for retirement.

She is 90 now and is in the middle of a painful divorce. She needs her freedom from her hopefully soon to be ex-husband, but every visit to the lawyer costs her as much as a month’s pension. He is trying to leave her without anything. She is on the Channel Island of Jersey where everything is expensive, especially the lawyers.

Please help us raise money to cover her legal fees. The quality of her life and her years ahead are at risk.

Source: Fundraiser by Ivo Dominguez Jr. : Freedom For Dolores

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Samhain – Grail of the Birch Moon and Tenders of the Earth Temple

Oct9

Please join Grail of the Birch Moon and Tenders of the Earth Temple for an Open Samhain ritual.

In this rite, we ask the Great Ones to help us rid ourselves of any unnecessary baggage we carry around so that we step more lightly into the coming turns of the Great Wheel and, thus, more freely accomplish that which we set out to do.

Please bring a snack to share for post-ritual fellowship. Ritual wear encouraged but not required. This is a free event.Parking behind the building in unreserved spots only. Entrance at the back of the building & up the steps. Please use this Facebook event for all RSVP’s.

If you RSVP’d and find that your plans have changed, please update the event so we can plan accordingly for those who will be joining us.

Source: Samhain – Grail of the Birch Moon and Tenders of the Earth Temple

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Helena Domenic Solo Exhibition: Other Realms

Aug29

Please join us at Cheyney University for a fun evening with views of this and other realms through the eyes of artist Helena Domenic. Refreshments will be served!

Source: Helena Domenic Solo Exhibition: Other Realms

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