We went to Salem, Ma this past weekend and had a lot of fun despite--well, in my case, because of--the dreary weather.  Salem in October is a little like the bar scene in Star Wars--every kind of person and creature is there.  This little send up should give you an idea of the spirit of Salem in October.

Movies while Arting

Normally, I would say something silly like In my real life I blah blah blah and fill it in with whatever job I was holding.  However, I haven't had a real life since the end of March so now I spend my days living my pretend life or my fantasy life as an artist.  It's great fun because I am a papier mache artist and that is by and large a messy calling.

Our house has a lot of good-sized rooms and long ago--before I even knew my husband existed--I claimed one of the biggest rooms as my "craft room."  These days we call it my studio, and I spend the better part of my week in there up to my elbows in flour-and-water paste and newspaper.  While I am creating these works of wonder, I like to watch movies or tv shows or listen to various podcasts and the like.  I stream a lot from Netflix.

Last month I asked for some ideas of shows and movies to stream and someone suggested Medium, which I went through at quite an alarming rate.  I also watched the first season of Glee which I highly recommend.  Lately I have been watching Psych which is a comedic police procedural centering around a guy who has everyone thinking he is psychic.  It's hilarious.

I also love to find witchy or supernatural movies like, well, like The Good Witch which I spoke about in the last post.  But what I really love to find are the schlocky movies.  The ones that are so bad they are good.  I love that stuff.

Here are some of the doozies I have watched since last we met:

The White Zombie

This is the whole movie--a little over an hour--and it is a zombie movie in the old sense.  The zombies are not gruesome creatures come alive hankering for brains.  The main one is a beautiful young woman, in fact.  These are dead bodies that have been given life but no soul or free will so are in essence slaves to the witch doctor that raised them up.

Another great one I watched and really enjoyed is Burn Witch Burn,  also known as Night of the Eagle.  In this one a college professor on the rise finds out that his wife has been practicing witchcraft allowing him to rise up  quickly at the university.  He makes her get rid of her "protections" as she calls them and as a result things get ugly for them, and fast.  Turns out, there is another witchy woman at the university who has it out for him.  It's Great Stuff.

Burn Witch Burn

Again, this is the whole thing.  It's pretty good.

Well, friends,  that is all for now.  Next time, and soon, I will talk about a couple of other interesting, more modern movies.

Movie Buff

So here is a new semi-regular feature here at This Pagan Place.  And by semi-regular, I mean when I feel like featuring it.  Movie reviews!  And maybe some tv talk.

The reason I bring this up is that I just watched the movie The Good Witch with Catherine Bell for the second time in as many months.  It's a horrible movie--formulaic and utterly lacking in depth--and I enjoyed every frame of it.  I love the witchiness of the titular (what a great word) character's house and shop.  And broom!

Catherine Bell plays Cassandra Nightengale, an unusual woman who moves to a small town when she inherits the big, spooky, haunted house called Grey House.  She opens an occult shop in the downtown, makes a few friends, and raises the ire of a few notable biddies of the community.  Namely Martha, the mayor's wife and head of the Citizen's League.

They try to run her out of town, she falls in love with the police chief and it all comes to a head on Hallowe-en.  Of course.

I love the little shop that is depicted.  It's tiny as a shoebox but it shows the glass containers of herbs and various colored candles.  There are beautiful masks on the walls, and she sells oils and potions to a few customers.  I wish it were my own shop!

Here is a clip from the movie showing the inside of her shop.

Cute, hunh?  

It's a Hallmark movie and there are two, maybe even three, sequels.  I haven't seen any of the sequels but I'm sure they are just as horrible and delightful as the first.  As soon as Netflix has them streaming I will watch them.

Dear friends, that's all for today.  Enjoy.

Learning from the Tarot

This will be a relatively short post because I am so smart that I forgot to take any pictures of my first festival gig.  I put on a beautiful green silk skirt and rigged up a red striped canopy.  It's not as Christmasy as it sounds, I promise.

The event is called The Ramble.  I live in a, well, underprivileged part of town.  There is a lot of poverty as well as a lot of art and sub culture here.  Every year for the last eight years a kind of arts festival happens in this area with artists and businesses participating.  It is very colorful and eccentric.

I decided to set up a canopy and a table and read tarot cards at this equally colorful and eccentric bike shop called the Old Spokes Home.  I was there from, oh, ten-ish to about 3:30, and earned a little over twenty bucks.  I also had a real lot of fun and learned a whole lot of stuff--maybe 3 or 4 things:

1.  Wear sunscreen
2.  Make a bigger canopy
3.  Put some colorful flanges or flags on that bigger canopy
4. Be closer to the sidewalk somehow and be generally more colorful

So one more thing--be sure to check out my updated, clarified, and cheaper fee structure on the Frankly Tarot page, and contact me for a reading.

This is a little tidbit from last year's Ramble.  There is an Epic Bike Ride at the end of the day which I miss every year.

Queer Pride Day in Vermont

No rain on this Parade!

I love the Gay Pride Parade. It's so colorful and so joyful. Like a real life Four of Wands.

If someone would design a Four of Wands draped with the bright rainbow flags, and some drag queens dancing towards them, I would buy that deck just for that.

 I haven't been to the Vermont Gay Pride for a couple of years but the Oaf and I caught it this year.  We watched from inside our about-to-close local Borders where there are nice big windows and air conditioning.

As we were watching, a beautiful red-haired woman started to jump and wave at us.  It was a good friend of mine marching with her Congregational church.  Just ahead of her was another friend of mine, Mary.  Preacher Mary, as she is sometimes called because she is the minister of the Congregational church in the next town.

There were something like five Christian churches marching in the Gay Pride Parade.  Five.  Maybe four, but I saw the Quakers, two Congregational congregations, and the Episcopalians. Plus the Unitarians usually have a crew marching.  Petty amazing.  It further convinces me that the World is getting better, not worse.

There is a spirit of revelry at Pride that is very Pagan.  It's the way people come out to celebrate their sexuality and with such a show of color. Everyone dons their beautiful and shining rainment and dances in the street.  It's like Beltaine or something!

I was not on the ball enough to have a live battery in my camera, so I did not get any shots of the actual parade.  But I hurried home to get the good battery and then went to the festival for a nice sunburn.

The Sisters LeMay, Vermont's premier drag queens, hosted the after-parade festival.  One or two of them lives right up the street from me--or used to anyway.  I think they moved.

Every year they have an ASL interpreter at the event (American Sign Language) and I sometimes thing the ASL interpreter is the most interesting part of the whole thing.

Ever see some hard-rockin lesbian band be interpreted?  It's pretty cool.

This is the band L. Dora rockin out on the stage.

And the ASL interpreter rockin out as well.  She looked like she was having a great time.

Apparently our governor was at the festival, so he has my vote next time no matter how many vacations he takes.  As was our Congressman.  That's how amazing Vermont is becoming.

Here are some random shots from the festival.  It was a hot and hazy day as you can tell.  The thermometer at the bank said 94 degrees.  I'm not sure it was as hot as that.

Bears' motorcycles all deck out

Bread and Puppet Theater

Lucy Belle LeMay

Marguerite LeMay

True Colors

Here is a special little surprise for those who looked at all the pictures and scrolled through the whole post--Drag Queen Racing!

A Very Hot Day

                                                                        Listen to internet radio with Dax Tarot Today on Blog Talk Radio

Am I famous now?


This is the radio show I was on earlier this week.  On Monday afternoon to be exact.  It was a lot of fun!  We gave three or four readings to callers--mostly about love.  Maybe one or two on job searches.  It was great to talk to people I normally know only over internet forums.  I would definately do it again.


And I'm sure I am famous now--at least in certain circles.


On the tv series front;  I found a new show!  I am watching it right now on Netflix as I write.  Sorta. Kinda.


It's on one browser tab and my blog updater is on another.  Another wonder of technology. Oh, and what show is this that I am currently consumed by? Well, it was suggested by commenter (and fellow Tarot Guild member) Shannon Rae.

Yes, Medium!  I started the 3rd season today and I just started watching it Monday or Tuesday.  Of course, the Oaf worked very late two nights this week so I stayed up late watching episode after episode of Medium, and waiting.


I do love me a good crime drama.  Of course, I could use more crime drama and less family drama on these shows, but it's still compelling.  What really bugs me is that the show takes place in Phoenix--a very hot place.  The main character and her husband are happily married, but despite these two things they sleep in so many nightclothes as to be fully dressed, with covers fit for New England winter's night.  Maybe it gets cold at night there, what do I know.

Phoenix, AZ.  Sure looks hot.

It's hot here in the real New England.  I am in what is sometimes called Northern New England, or, to be poetic, The North Country, just like the song.  It has been in the 90's the last couple of days.  I ain't complaining--I lived in North Carolina and Virginia so I know what hot is and it's not this.  After all, it will break in a couple of days whereas in the South it will break in a couple of months, or three or more.

This is Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan singing "Girl from the North Country." But you have to watch it on YouTube.  It's worth it.

I wonder if I got a tiny touch of Heatstroke today.  I don't actually know it when I see it, but I did get on the wrong bus this afternoon.  Not only was it the wrong bus, but it was the bus I had already taken to get to my destination and I got on it again to go home.  Jeez.  Now I am sitting in the air conditioned room for the evening.


That's all for now, dear friends.  I thought I had more to write about.  If it comes to me, I'll let you know.

I'm gonna be famous!

On Monday July 18th I am going to be the guest co-host on the Rowdy Readers Tarot Today show.  I am very excited about it.

It's a Blogtalk Radio show and it comes on three times a week--Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I try to catch the Monday and Wednesday shows.  There is also a show on Sundays, usually devoted to interviews while the other days listeners can call in and get short readings.  On Monday I will be on there helping out with the call-in readings.  I think it'll be a great experience.

So be sure to tune in on Monday afternoon;  1pm Pacific Time and 4pm here on the East Coast.  9pm in London in case anyone is listening from there.  Take a listen to this episode from last week.

Listen to internet radio with Dax Tarot Today on Blog Talk Radio

What else is interesting?  I have been reading "Understanding the Tarot Court" by Mary K Greet and Tom Little.  It's packed full of information and I've been enjoying it pretty well.  But the strangest thing is that my readings have been full of courts lately!

I've done one or two of the exercises in the book and one of them required me to separate the deck into  Majors, Aces, pips and courts. (I guess pip refers strictly to unillustrated number cards, but I like the word.)  So my deck was ordered, and at first--meaning last week--I figured the deck wasn't shuffled properly, but since then I have shuffled and thrown and read, and shuffled and cut and shuffled again.  I think my deck is shuffled now!

Yesterday I did two 3-card readings to find out what I might need to know about a good friend of mine I hadn't seen for well over a month.  The first time I figured I needed to shuffle more.  I shuffled and threw again--more court cards.

Later I did a celtic cross reading for myself--four court cards!  Three of them were cups with only the page missing.  Ca-razy.

On other fronts, I got a new deck a week or so ago; the Sharman-Caselli deck. 

 I like it pretty well.  I wanted to have an alternative to my usual Universal Waite.

Well, friends, that's all for now.  I will leave you with this song.  It has nothing to do with Tarot or this post, but it is one of my favorite songs.

Je t'adore, Rob Brezsney!

Even if I can't spell your name.

Rob Brezsney is the creator of Free Will Astrology, which in my mind is still called Real Astrology as it used to be called because it has had a real effect on my life.  The Horoscope is irreverent, tongue-in-cheek, and outrageously positive.  He also pushes a philosophy known as Pronoia, which I can't really spell either.  The idea is that basically the Universe is trying to shower you--and me and all of us--with blessings.  That things are getting better, not worse.  It's a rebellious thinking and I think that this philosophy could very well save the world.

But, he does not seem to like Libras very much!  I am a Libra.  I am a Libra's Libra.  Not only is the Sun in Libra on my chart, but so is Libra's ruler, Venus.  Plus a couple of other interesting things that make me an uber-Libra.  So for many years I would sigh whenever his Horoscope came out, and be unhappy with what he wrote for Libras.  I don't take it personally--or much of anything else either--but the Libra 'scopes have been getting better.

The Oaf is a Libra too, but not really.  He was born in the last two hours of the sun being in Libra that year, and he is really more Scorpio than anything.  So I read the Libra for myself and the Scorpio for him.  And this week they are GREAT!  Just listen to this:

"He got a big ego, such a huge ego," sings Beyonce in her song "Ego." "It's too big, it's too wide / It's too strong, it won't fit / It's too much, it's too tough / He talk like this 'cause he can back it up." I would love to be able to address that same message to you in the coming days, Libra. I'm serious. I'd love to admire and marvel at your big, strong ego. This is one of those rare times when the cosmic powers-that-be are giving you clearance to display your beautiful, glorious self in its full radiance. Extra bragging is most definitely allowed, especially if it's done with humor and wit. A bit of preening, mugging, and swaggering is permissible as well. 


Hot, right?  Well, heck, I'll start on this right now.


I am a really great Tarot Reader!  And a cook!  My words are lyrical and trip from my pen like the running of a wild river!  Of course the best and most wonderful clients and students come to me for I am an amazing person.

Hunh.  That felt pretty good, actually.  I think I'll go cook something.  Or read something. Or write something.  No, really, I'm gonna start on some supper for me and the Oaf.  We're gonna be hungry.

Still not so charmed. Sigh.

So I jumped ahead in the Charmed adventure to the season that begins with Prue's funeral (I did sorta tear up a little.  The thought of burying my siblings has that kind of effect on me) and where Paige comes into the picture et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

I was sorely disappointed by it.  I thought Rose McGowan would really add a bit of spark to it, and she did.  But the other two are so irritating that it doesn't matter.  And the White Lighters--don't get me started.  Aren't angels sexless?  How are they screwing around and having kids?  I suppose I should watch more of the earlier seasons before I get any more snarky about it.

The long and the short of it is that I won't be watching Charmed as I industriously create stuff in my studio.  I will have to find some other nice, long tv series to watch.  Suggestions on this are most welcome.  I have already watched the X-Files three times through in case anyone was wondering.

In other Pagan news, I have launched Frankly Tarot.

The name is not my idea, but was generously suggested by Patti Phare-Camp at the Tarot Guild.  Another idea was Cranky Frankie Tarot.  But that sounds rather less inviting I think.

For more details, and to order a really wonderful, and frank reading, go to the Frankly Tarot page.  There you will see my lovely mug smiling out at you as well.  I also have a couple of workshops and classes in my repertoire which I will be posting about soon.  Until then, and as always, contact me for more details.

Charmed, I'm sure.....not

When it comes to tv, it's been a long time.  I have never paid for cable and years ago I got rid of my antenna.  I don't even know how to get tv nowadays.  Until recently I had never even paid money for a television, but also until recently I'd never been married and husbands and televisions seem to go hand-in-hand. I do pay for Netflix though.

So I had never seen the tv show "Charmed."  I've been wanting to see it, but I don't want to put the discs in my Netflix cue because we only get two at a time and it seemed like a waste.  I have been waiting and waiting for Netflix to stream it and now it does!

I was so excited when I saw that one evening and couldn't wait until the next day when I had the house to myself to watch some of it.  After my husband left for work I went into the studio to do some work and watch me some Charmed.  Finally.

It was stupid.

I was so disappointed in how formulaic and stupid I found the show. I didn't even think the actresses were very attractive or stylish.  I'd been looking forward to what? eight seasons of shows about witches.  Strong female lead witches at that.

That is the one thing about the one show I watched;  those girls got out of their predicament on their own--no male rescuers.

My husband tells me that Season One is the least stupid season of that show, but then he reminded me that Rose McGowan joined the cast a few seasons down the road so maybe I will give it another show sometime.

The Great Thing about The Wild Hunt and Christopher Walken

This is one of the reasons I read and love The Wild Hunt blog.  I learn the best stuff from that blog, like Christopher Walken is going to play Zeus in a movie adaptation of the book "Gods Behaving Badly" by Marie Phillips.

I don't know how this book never made it onto my radar let alone onto my bookshelf.  But y'know, I think that I will wait for the movie and read the book after.  At least, I am going to try to wait until after the movie.  It really looks like my exact cup o'tea, with lots of honey in it.

Here is a cute video of an interview with the author of the book.  She does name some actors she thinks would fit the bill for a movie version, but she doesn't mention Christopher Walken.



Here is another awesome clip.  This is from the movie The Prophecy where Christopher Walken plays the archangel Gabriel, the bad guy.  He's really great in this movie which I recommend if you can handle a bit of deep dark humor in a movie.

Interesting reading outcome

In my last post I talked a little bit about the spread I read for my New Pagan Group Meeting.  My interpretation turned out to be pretty much on, I think.

To recap, I got a bunch of aces and twos and a couplea majors.  It was very low key and passive.  I figured only one person besides myself would show up.  I had one confirmation so I knew she would come, but I didn't know if others would show up or not, and the spread indicated that only that one person would show up.

And, indeed, one person showed up.  She was very down to earth and had a lot of ideas and feelings about paganism that I have, so we had much in common.  There were also a couple of important diverging opinions and ideas.

She also had an interesting background and experiences that I had not considered about where she is from and where she was on her journey.

A very interesting exercise, indeed.  I like this spread, but I think I am going to change the spread a little to look like this:

1. Past
2. Present
3. Possible Future
4. Self
(these are all the same as the original as you can probably tell)
5. Situation
6. Challenge
7. Next Action

Seven Sisters Spread for Organizational Meeting

What a dull post title!  Oh well, it was still an exciting thing to me at least.  I have been attempting to organize a pagan group here in my hometown.  Attitudes are open and liberal here in lovely downtown Vermont, but it's difficult to find people to be paganesque with.  I have been part of various pagan or witchy groups and classes, of different longevity but for the last year plus, I have been solitary.

So I put a listing up on Witchvox and Facebook and e-mailed back and forth with a few people and finally got something set up for Thursday evening.  I had no idea how many or who would show up or anything, and I was very nervous.  So I threw a tarot spread before I left.  I used the Seven Sisters Spread, which is a good, basic spread, but if I use it again I may tweak the positions a little bit.

The issue at hand:  What to expect from Pagan Meeting.

I think I like to read ina  more overall manner than card by card, at least at the outset of a reading.

I have  3 Aces--beginning on many levels but not very much groundedness (not the Ace of Pents).  But we have the World for that.

At either end I have cards of stasis; the 2 of Swords and the Devil. Not moving forwards.  In fact, there is very little movement in these cards except for the World.

I guess I like the Ace of Swords in the Self spot.  I am spearheading this whole thing; I am the on "on fire with it."

The only thing that bothers me is all the passivity here.

More later, as they say!

Don't test my Powers!

I was tooling around on the web this hot n' humid afternoon, scanning the tarot and witchy blogs that are hanging around and found a great post by Ginny Hunt at 78 Notes to Self.  She lays out everything tarot readers wish they could tell their querents but probably never do.  I am just going to hit the high points below.  She goes into a lot more detail on her blog.

1.  I don't know whether the reading I will give you will be helpful or not.  

2.  I don't always get psychic information. 

3.  I am not a mind reader.

4.  I want you to ask questions about your reading. 

5.  You can't do what I do. 

6.  I hate when people ask for free readings. 

7.  Unless I advertise other services, don't assume I provide them. 

8.  I sometimes miss things. 

9.  I'm not going to snoop on your friends. 

10.  Don't lean on me, I'm not your crutch.  

Anyway, this post inspired me to form a new motto and it goes like this:  "Don't test my Powers; I don't have any."

Daily Draw, June 8, 2011

Today I used the Jonathan Dee deck. It's not well known, but it is colorful and energetic.  The pips are non-scenic and I have been using it lately because I have one or two face-to-face readings lined up and I find that many seekers have some familiarity with the cards, specifically the Rider Waite deck.  Just enough knowledge to be dangerous, and often a seeker will put a simplistic meaning on a card that has a much more complex meaning in the context.  So I dug out this nice little deck and I am practicing with it so that I can get the pips meanings down without the visual clues that other decks offer.

Today's draw is a little unusual.  I dropped the cards as I was shuffling and once I got it together, I had two jumpers.  So I used those two and pulled the third one.

The High Priest (5);  King of Wands;  Justice (11)

Be honest and weigh carefully any lessons or advice received from men.

The first two were the jumpers and I pulled Justice.  Very interesting!

I often go with my first thoughts when looking at a few cards like this.  Often, this comes out a little tongue in cheek, a little smart-ass sounding.  On a closer inspection here, the King of Wands is in the middle so it is the central card.  The main man--person, really--in my life is my husband.  He is even more central to my daily life these days because I am unemployed so I don't see others on a regular basis.

So the central card is the King of Wands and in this case, it represents the Oaf.  He has a strong personality, and a healthy sexual appetite.  We love to discuss various ideas and issues and go back and forth on stuff.  Sometimes he can be a bit like the High Priest--more often called the Hierophant--and I do a lot of listening.  I read the Justice card to indicate someone who is, or needs to be, fair and absolutely honest with herself, and others.  

If I were reading this spread for someone else, I would advise them to listen to advice and lessons carefully, weigh everything and be honest about what makes sense, what could work, and what might not.  To be objective.

Tarot Reader to the Stars!

I wanted to sit down and read with the cards yesterday afternoon.  It was so sunny and beautiful outside--scarcely above 70 degrees--but nonetheless, I was in a cranky, stressful mood.  It's a bad habit (in my not so humble opinion) to throw the cards for oneself on a particularly bad day because it's difficult to be objective.

Listening to the Tarot-to-Go podcast (I am making my way through its back episodes) someone talked about doing spreads for people in the news or in fiction.  That sounds like fun.  So I trolled Google News and what do you think I learned?  Scarlett Johansson and Sean Penn Split!  I didn’t even know they were together!

Cruising around the internet a little more I found a nice little 5-card spread on the Angel Paths website.  I call it the Five Squared spread because it is laid out in an even-armed cross.  If I ever use it again, and I'm sure I shall, I'll probably re-name the positions a little bit to suit my reading style.

1. Present or General Theme:    5 of Wands

2.  Past Influences:                     3 of Wands

3.  Future:                                  8 of Pents

4.  Reason:                                 9 of Pents

5.  Potential outcome:                The Devil (15)

I'm gonna say that this relationship was full of petty bickering and contention.  Not big blowouts, just lots of silly arguments. 

In the past she would always deal with stuff by taking stock of her options, surveying what she had.  This time she is going to throw herself in her work, perhjaps by churning out a bunch of formulaic movies and projects that are little more than vehicles for her or other stars.  Why?  She needs, or thinks she needs, the money.  

She should be careful how she spends her energy however, or she could find herself stuck in some unfavorable deals and contracts that  take advantage of her vulnerabilities and that she can’t easily get out of.

Well, that was fun!  Not to mention, easy as pie.  And who's to say it's wrong?  Of course, if Scarlett Johansson wants me to read her cards for real entertainment-purposes-only I would certainly oblige.

That's all for now.  More stuff later!

 

Tarot Tarot Tarot

I adore Tarot.  I say Tarot as if it were a sort of universe unto itself and it kinda is.  You have your regular ole RWS deck (Rider Waite Smith for those in the know) with attendant books and interpretations, as well as  your good ole tarot card readers--like moi--who read for themselves or friends and strangers for money or gifts.  That is the base of the Tarot universe but there is much more than that of course.

There are the decks!  Oh, the tarot card decks that are out there nowadays.  RWS clones, Thoth clones, Marseilles styles, and so on and so on and so on.  Cat Tarots, Vampire Tarots, tarot decks around historical eras, mythical cycles, favorite novels and sports.  Whatever your interest or fetish there is a magazine and a tarot deck out there.  It's great!

Then there are the podcasts, the books, the websites, the conferences.  And this is just the stuff I myself am into.  There are any number of other accoutrements--bags, boxes, and I know not what.  Not to mention all the different attitudes and approaches to the thing.

Now, I don't love all things tarot.  I keep most of my decks tied up in cotton string except for the one I actually read with (the Universal Waite which is part of a special little corner of the Tarot Universe; RWS re-colored cards) which I keep in a plain black woolen pouch.  So I don't have a lot of decorated bags and boxes for them.  I don't love oracle cards or decks that are too far off the traditional designations.  I just never cottened to them I guess.

People who love Tarot often have many many many decks.  Some are for reading, some are for studying, and some are just for looking at.  I think I have nine or maybe 10 decks.  I read with the Universal Waite deck which is just a regular RWS with softer coloring.

Let me leave you with this lovely tidbit that I originally found on Mary Greer's blog.

Beltane Episode is up

Episode 3 is up!  Just in time for some Beltane rambling.  At this Pagan Place, Beltane means love spells and I talk about a few in the podcast.  Where does that leave Valentine's Day around here?  Bah, humbug!

Click on the player below to listen to Episode 3.  The one on the right seems to take a little while to update.

See you dancing around the Maypole!

THIS PAGAN PLACE PODCAST

Show Notes Episode 3

Five of Pentacles

Music:  Marc Gunn “Titania Wake my Sweet Queen”

Book Review: Chicken Qabala by Lon Milo Duquette

Promo:  Eat my Pagan Ass

Tarot Draw:  Five of Pentacles

Music:  Libana, ”In May, that Lusty Season”

Bibble-babble:  Beltane

Music:  Gaia Consort, “Beltane Fires”

Bibliography: 

Dixie Deerman & Steven Rasmussen, The Goodly Spellbook: Olde Spells For Modern Problems

Judika Illies, Earth Mother Magic

        

Lon Milo Duquette, The Chicken Qabalah of Rabbi Lamed Ben Clifford: Dilettante's Guide to What You Do and Do Not Need to Know to Become a Qabalist

Links:

         http://thispaganplace.blogspot.com

         www.libana.com

         www.gaiaconsort.com

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Shownotes for Episode 2--Who forgets this stuff!

I completely forgot to post the shownotes for Episode 2! How do I forget stuff like this? Well, anyway, here they are. A little late, scarcely preceding Episode 3. Aren't these kicky titles by the way?

THIS PAGAN PLACE PODCAST
Show Notes Episode 2
Page of Cups


Book Review: Heart of Wicca by Ellen Cannon-Reed
Music: Omnia, “Wytches Brew”
Tarot Draw: Page of Cups
Music: Libana, “Earth, Air, Fire Water”
Bibble-babble: The Elements and Elementals
Music: Gaia Consort, “The Scythe”

Bibliography:
Ellen Cannon-Reed, The Heart of Wicca, pp 111-115

Links:
www.worldofomnia.com
www.libana.com
www.gaiaconsort.com

Episode 2 up

Episode 2 is up.  As with any creative endeavor, the actual making of it is the least time consuming and complex.  Recording the podcast is the simplest and easiest part.  The work is in the research, the preparation and finding and learning the software.  I am enjoying the process though.

These two episodes are about a week apart, but I won't call this a weekly podcast.  From what I have learned making them, and certainly by listening to other Pagan podcasts, weekly doesn't seem realistic. Let's call it a-couple-times-a-month kind of podcast.

It's on Podbean and you can have a listen in the player below, but I think that the automatic player to the right and the feed in iTunes is an overnight process or something, since it is automatic and all.  So have a listen and leave a comment!

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This Pagan Place Podcast Shownotes for Episode 1

THIS PAGAN PLACE PODCAST

Show Notes Episode 1

Knight of Pentacles

Introduction:  Who I am and where I am coming from

Music:  Nhanda Devi  “Entering the Temple”

Rant:  Harm None

Music:  Inkkubus Sukkubus  “Wytches Chant”

Another Rant:  Pantheacon

Music:  Libana  “Young Rider”

Tarot:  Knight of Pentacles

Music:  Inkkubus Sukkubus  “Wytches”

Bibliography: 

Ellen Cannon-Reed, The Heart of Wicca, pp 111-115

Links:

         http://wildhunt.org/blog/

         http://www.pantheacon.com/

         http://www.garden.org/

The Knight watches pentacles dry.

What I'm reading

We are great readers here at This Pagan Place. The books are piled up in every corner imaginable, touching on a myriad of subjects and going into to depth on others. There are cookbooks, knitting books, fiction books both classic and contemporary, some much-loved children's books; plays, pulp, and...a Secret Library.

The Secret Library is where the pagan and occult books are kept at This Pagan Place and one of the newest acquisitions is "The Chicken Qabalah" by Lon Milo Duquette and so far, I highly recommend it. Until almost a year ago I was with a Wiccan coven and one of the things we studied was the the kabbalah. Someday I am going to go into the difference between Earth Magic and High Magic and Ceremonial Magic (that will probably be a short post because the differences are not as numerous as the similarities) but for now let us just say that if you have cabala in your magic then you've got Ceremonials on your hands, and leave it at that.

For myself, I could not really get my head or heart around the study of the kabbalah although I could see the value of it. So the other day while perusing our local metaphysical shop on the prowl for a yoga video I cam across the above tome. It posits that the study of the qabalah can be funny and entertaining and I was relieved to see that. If I ever take on students myself, I may use this book--that is, if I am foolish enough to teach them such a subject that I myself do not fully endorse--or at least books like it. I mean, the Hermetic tradition takes its name from Hermes, a trickster god after all.

And as for Tricksters....well, let's leave that for another post.

Before we close, the first episode of the This Pagan Place podcast is up.  Have a listen, leave a comment.  Cheers.

Episode One of This Pagan Place Podcast

Magic

Friends, magic works.  It doesn't work all the time, but neither does bread baking.  The most experienced baker will have failures from time to time, and so will the best witch or magician.  So when you practice your magic just remember to learn from any mistakes or failures and have yet another go. 

Welcome to this new Pagan Witchy blog.  One more pagan blog to add to the cacophony, and as if that weren't bad enough,  there is a podcast in the works and another freaking pagan book.  I think it'll be a pretty good one because I am writing it myself.  They say that if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Witchcraft is a complex and rich subject in and of itself.  Add in the diversity of practitioners and opinions, and the subject is a goldmine for people like myself.  And by people like myself I mean opinionated writers who seem to have nothing better to do than bombard the internet with more stuff about paganism and magic.  


I do, in fact, have better stuff to do,  I am just not doing it.  Not this afternoon anyway.  Maybe later when the actual breadwinner of this family gets home and we are sitting quietly together on the sofa, each enraptured by their own laptop.


Let me leave you with this gem from Terry Pratchett for now.  There is one I like better, but I have to find it.