Holy shit, friends, this has been a year. I feel like I haven't kept up with anything, and it's all just gotten away from me. When that happens, I have to resort to lists: I started my PhD in August, and am going to school full time, working as a TA, and continuing to work …
If witchcraft is a craft (in addition to being a religion, as it is for many of us), then what exactly is the “craft”? And how often do we have to be engaging in that craft in order to really be witches? For a lot of people–both witches and non-witches–we immediately think of spells. Witches …
Continue reading When I Do Spells: Thoughts on Working Magic and the “Craft” of Witchcraft
Wouldn't it be great to just make a living as an author and blogger? Or maybe be a witchy influencer, because that's a thing now.
The collection of tarot cards is not my ability to divine. The books are not the knowledge I’ve accumulated. The journals are not the experiences I’ve had. The sword is not my power as a covenleader. The trinkets and greeting cards are not my friends and family. The altar is not my power as a witch.
I believe in True Will. I think I know what mine is. But is it possible to get there without overriding my own cycles? Or are our personal cycles in place to help us enact that purpose?
There’s this thing I do that I’m trying to get a handle on. It’s like it’s some inherent part of my personality that I just can’t shake, and it gets me in trouble: I take the things I’m passionate about and I turn them into work. There’s this maxim that’s been floating around forever that …
Continue reading An Ode to My Mindless Job, or I’m Glad I’m Not a Professional Witch
I’ve been pretty quiet on the Internet lately. I haven’t blogged, haven’t posted to Facebook, and have just generally been keeping to myself these days. The Internet is pretty amazing a lot of the time, but I think sometimes we use it as a replacement for actually getting out and doing things. I find that …
It’s the start of a new school year and I’m back in my classroom getting my space ready for students. I’m also bracing myself emotionally. Last year was really, really hard, and I had a rough summer punctuated by some astoundingly alienating professional development seminars that made me seriously question whether I wouldn’t be better …
It occurred to me in the middle of ritual, hitting me during libations: I’m angry with the gods. It’s not reasonable, and I shouldn’t be, and it’s depression and blah blah blah, but I’m pissed. Fuck. I thought I was just sad again. Wicca doesn’t really have the same kinds of moral codes and rules …
The school year is finally coming to an end. A few more days with students, a week of exams, then a week of teacher workdays for closeout procedures and grading (some of which I'm taking off for Free Spirit Gathering because priorities). I'm having to go back to basics. A lot of my writing lately …
Thorn Mooney 