Finding Pagan-related Stories in Mainstream News
I’ve thinking lately about how Paganism is treated in mainstream media. We’ve written a lot of articles about Paganism and Pagans in the news — too many to cite here. There are great resources if you are interested in Pagan news by and for the Pagan community, like The Wild Hunt, Pagan News, and Pagan...
Acxiom Corporation Knows You. Do you Know Them?
A good friend who’s a choir director introduced me to Vienna Teng’s “The Hymn of Acxiom†because it’s creepy, artistic, and amazing. Read the lyrics while you listen, and see if you don’t get chills and possibly a tick or two when the electronic chords morph into dissonance as the lyrics subtly change. Teng named...
Jax’s Detox Home Challenge
I’ve decided to try phasing out new-fangled (20th Century and later) chemicals in my house by replacing my cleaners and personal care items with homemade equivalents. I want to do this both as an environmental and health measure, but as a cost saving measure as well. For quite a while now we’ve been exchanging hard-core...
Texas “Merry Christmas” Law: Let’s Hope It Spreads Cheer, Not Fear
I first heard about the Texas “Merry Christmas†law when it was a bill last summer. My knee-jerk reaction was to roll my eyes. “What a waste of legislative time and effort,†I thought. But in the interest of keeping an open mind, I tried to step back and think about what the law was...
Pope Francis–A New Catholic Crusade (that I like!)
“I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” ~Pope Francis As regular readers know, this princess married into a Catholic family. The Pope matters to me not just...
Shelving Pagans (in a Bookstore)
Paganism is a religion? Who knew? Apparently bookstores have finally figured it out. A fantastic article by Elysia over at Llewellyn details the new shift in the Book Industry Standards and Communication (BISAC) coding, which typically dictates where a book is shelved in a bookstore. Pagan books, which have traditionally been shelved with “Body, Mind...
Astronomical Events in 2013
Astronomical 1: of or relating to astronomy <astronomical observations> 2: enormously or inconceivably large or great <astronomical numbers> Earlier this week, several of my friends shared a poster via the Grand Overseer that lists skyward observation events for 2013. Depending on where you are in the world and how close the Earth the event is...
Remembered in Sorrow and Glory: Tributes to the Fallen at Sandy Hook
There’s an internet post circulating about the Sandy Hook shootings that is articulate and powerful. Many sites claim the post  was written by Morgan Freeman but it was actually posted to Facebook by a man named Mark from Vancouver. Here is the post: You want to know why. This may sound cynical, but here’s why....
Creating Sacred Spaces in Public Places
At least once a month, I try to catch up on news in the Pagan community by reading through the Wild Hunt. When I was reading through TWH this week, I came across a terrific set of two articles by Teo Bishop, a Neopagan Druid in Colorado. Teo is a staff writer on TWH as...
Politics: Go Local
Last week GG wrote on finding your political compass when deciding on who to vote for in the Big Race. Since she stated that she’s probably voting Lib, I suppose I’ll state that I’ve decided to stick with the Big O (can I be that irreverent about the president? Oh well. I am). However, I’m...
The Giant Big Ben Overlooking Mecca (Makkah)
Has everyone seen this? Yes, that’s Mecca. Overlooked by a giant hotel complex in the shape of Big Ben, properly known as the Abraj al Bait Towers, which opened for business this year. Here’s another picture: It is the world’s second largest building, and the world’s largest hotel–complete with a spa and four story shopping mall...
According to some people, I am an accidental serial killer. Or, why I don’t believe a fertilized egg is a person.
I’m not here to start a general debate on abortion. I’m pretty darn far to the left on this issue (hey, my Norse ancestors didn’t consider a person human until nine days after they were born. Comparatively I’m downright conservative), but I can at least understand why somebody would have a more strict viewpoint than...
