Nine Noble Virtues: Perseverance
I started welding classes this week. Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I turned up the pressure on oxygen and acetylene tanks, cracked the acetylene on the torch, and lit it with a striker. For me, sticking my hand that close to an instrument that was about to shoot a 6000 degree Fahrenheit...
A Disciplined Goddess
**My apologies for the late post! I’ve been having some technical difficulties. The irony that I’m late with a post about discipline is not lost on me…** It might be hard to tell from my spotty posting in April, but in my on-blog life, I’ve been pretty disciplined! I’ve submitted a book, gotten my taxes...
Exaggeration of Religious Behavior on Surveys
I heard a great story on NPR this morning about how people over report their religious behavior when they respond to surveys. Over reporting a behavior means a person says they do something more than they really do it. This is not unusual when the behavior being asked about is something viewed positively by society...
Native Americans and Two-Spirit People
I recently read an article about Darren Black Bear and Jason Pickel of Oklahoma City. Darren and Jason are a couple and they wanted to get married. But they live in a state where their marriage is illegal. They say that love will find a way. And their love did. Cheyenne Arapahoe Tribal law (for...
Jump-starting Religion
I haven’t been a very good Pagan lately. Not like I’ve been doing anti-Pagan things, I just haven’t felt the spirit. I haven’t been thinking about Pagan issues. I haven’t been celebrating seasons or spending time with my ancestors. I’m certain this is tied into my grief over the crappy year TheScott and I have...
Understanding the Ingredients on a Soap Label
If you haven’t read last week’s distinction between soap and detergent, you might want to do that first  as this will make more sense! Before I get started explaining the ingredients, here are three important but not related things. I’m not a chemist or a doctor. I’m a romance novelist who runs a Pagan blog...
Soap Labels: The Good, the Bad and the Dirty
Before soap labels can make sense, the distinction between soap and detergent must be made. Soap and detergent are the two main category of cleaners we use, both in home cleaning products and on our bodies. I have a natural “soap good, detergent bad!†prejudice when it comes to my skin. I decided to do...
Introduction to Label Reading on Cosmetics and Food
One of the things I’ve had to learn how to do over the past few years is read ingredients labels, and I started with packaged food. For people with sensitive systems (like me) it’s important to monitor what we consume. I’ve also had to accept that the things I put onto my body, like lotion,...
Valentine’s Day and the Feast of Váli
Last week I wrote about the overlap and differences between the Wicca (and all-around “generally Paganâ€) Wheel of the Year and Heathen holidays. In the course of writing that article, I learned a bit about Heathen holidays myself – as is often (and happily) the case when we write articles for the Realm. I learned...
The Naming of Norse Folk
The naming of kids is a difficult matter. It isn’t just one of your holiday games… ~ T.S. Eliot’s A Practical Book of Cats (sort of) I’m so excited! Our illustrious webmistress and esteemed friend had a baby this weekend! Pass the Topo Chico! Mom and son are in perfect health and everything is looking...
A Heathen to Wicca Holiday Crosswalk
I try to be a good Heathen, but as a Wiccan convert I am sometimes confused about when I should observe my faith according to Heathen holy days (henceforth “holidaysâ€). When I first chose Heathenry over Wicca, just because it is a better fit for me, I figured the Wheel of the Year was a...
Homeopathy: What Is It and Where Does It Come From?
Last week I mentioned that stress caused my skin to go crazy. Not fun! I was itching SO BADLY that I spent an entire day surfing the net for potential remedies. I found several sites on homeopathy and how apis (bee poison) and urens urtica (stinging nettle) can be used to cure it, so when...
