While working from home, I have had a fleeting opportunity to establish a small work-related niche for library science and creative activities in general. In the morning, I turn on the rechargeable candles and ring the bell, and I turn them off in the evenings. The prayer is informal and quick. I would not be … Continue reading Professional Shrine and a New Image for the Muses/Mousai
Tag: modern practice
I Updated the “New to Polytheism?” Helpful Blog Post List
I have made some changes to the "New to Polytheism?" tab up at the top: I removed the sidebar and added six posts that have appeared on my blog over the past few months. My hope is that the additions further clarify things for new polytheists and provide support as you learn. As the text … Continue reading I Updated the “New to Polytheism?” Helpful Blog Post List
The Ineffable Power of Syllable and Sound
'Do not change the nomina barbara;'that is, the names handed down by the gods to each people have ineffable power in the initiation rites.Chaldean Oracles, Fragment 150, trans. Majercik, where it appears in context from Psellus Nisha Ramayya’s States of the Body Produced By Love is the best experimental poetry book I have read in a … Continue reading The Ineffable Power of Syllable and Sound
Healthy Reverence and Ancestral Traditions
In Plato and the commentators — and in people talking about them — I've often seen positive language about people observing their ancestral traditions, especially as Late Antiquity gets under way and doing so becomes dangerous to one's personal and political safety. In some places, there are remarks that so-and-so is from x place, but … Continue reading Healthy Reverence and Ancestral Traditions
Celebrating the Return of Light
The solstice candle in question, lit and veiled in darkness. Last night, I pulled my super-fragrant solstice candle out of the bubble wrap packaging it had come in. It was a purchase on November 30, 2018, from NaturalWitchRemedies (a store on Etsy that appears to be on hiatus right now) because it looked like a … Continue reading Celebrating the Return of Light
Prayer in Under 5 Minutes
The past few weeks have been a blur of activity, from academic article-writing to running an internal conference at my workplace to managing an annual meeting for the local chapter of my professional association. However busy I am, I carve out time for praying, but it wasn't always that way. Especially now, with the pandemic … Continue reading Prayer in Under 5 Minutes
Preliminary Thoughts on Intergenerational Polytheistic Revivals
When I think about American polytheism and sustainability, two big things come to mind: (1a), the cycles of festivals and ritual in honor of the Gods; (1b), the shifting sands of what it is to live in a multicultural, multi-pantheon nation, where the boundaries between the traditions are permeable and shifting from generation to generation; … Continue reading Preliminary Thoughts on Intergenerational Polytheistic Revivals
Bullet Journaling and the Gods
I started my current bullet journal on January 1, 2019. At the beginning of September, its pages will have run out. Starting a new volume excites me a lot, and I'm brainstorming the types of collections I can incorporate into my new journal and identifying others that were not effective in my last book. I … Continue reading Bullet Journaling and the Gods
How to Find a Patron God
For years now, in many communities — Reddit, private religious organization fora, Twitter, blog comments — one of the most common questions people ask is about finding a patron God. I have discussed this in other posts, and many other bloggers in NRM polytheisms have also contributed to the conversation. However, the "Just Do It" … Continue reading How to Find a Patron God
