Online Sales Taxes Are Coming to a Pagan Shop Near You

Supreme Court Building

In a 5 to 4 ruling, the US Supreme Court has ruled that states can require online retailers to collect sales tax, even if they are not located in that state. At this point, what happens next is anyone’s guess. Until now, online businesses have been protected under a law that benefited mail-order catalog companies, … Read moreOnline Sales Taxes Are Coming to a Pagan Shop Near You

Broken

We are imperfect, emotional, and broken.   A puzzle with many pieces and many corners.  A roller coaster with never ending ends. We are perfect and imperfect.   Scattered pieces of our future and the past. We are broken but whole.   A perfect imperfection with many pieces to behold.

Raven

There’s a whisper in the night.   But is not the wind.   There’s a shadow on the ground but is not my own.   A pair of piercing eyes watching every move I make. The whisper through the night is calming and company is about.   I try to call but it just stays … Read moreRaven

Summer Time: A Time of Light, Dark and Shadow

I didn’t realize that when I started writing that I was going to be doing a series on healing our relationship to darkness and shadow. It had started before I started to write for the public and then I started sharing my thoughts on social media. I wasn’t completely understanding exactly what was driving me … Read moreSummer Time: A Time of Light, Dark and Shadow

Pagan Clergy: Tips and Tricks for the Newly Ordained

Handfastings, Priesthood, Clergy, and Ordination, Oh My!

The Story!

A while back I was ordained, legally, to be recognized by the state. It’s an interesting thing, being ordained. According to most Pagan faiths, particularly in initiatory traditions, you become a Priest or Priestess in your own right.

The state, however, does not recognize this as a legally binding ordination unless the group by which you were initiated has a church standing filed under a 501(c)3 non-profit organization status, or you are ordained and vouched for by another legally ordained clergy member whom legal authorities may call for verification purposes. So, unless legally ordained, a Pagan Priest or Priestess may perform handfasting rites but may not sign a legally binding certificate of marriage.

Read morePagan Clergy: Tips and Tricks for the Newly Ordained

Supreme Court rules against organized workers’ right to sue

 

Today, the United States Supreme Court ruled against the right of employees to file class action suits if they signed arbitration agreements conditional to employment. The decision now limits the pursuit of legal remedy, in these cases, to  single worker arbitration. This brings a course change that sets the pendulum back toward the employer advantage in cases of workplace violations. This reflects the new shift in philosophy towards a more conservative approach to labor issues.

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Celebrating Beltane Dragon Hills Style

 

When you spend a long time among the various businesses within the Pagan community as I have, you tend to get asked quite often whether or not you know of any events at which the business owners could vend. I am often approached by various members within the Pagan community who are simply looking for events to attend where they can congregate with peoples of like-mind. Within the North Georgia community, we used to have quite a few of these events without having to travel very far; these days we’re far more hard-pressed to find any local Pagan or Pagan-friendly events that are less than an hour’s drive away from the Metro Atlanta area.

Read moreCelebrating Beltane Dragon Hills Style

PBN Blues Series: ” Vampire Women” by Spark Plug Smith

Welcome back to another installment of our PBN Blues Series. Today we examine the dilemma of the husband enslaved by a wife’s greed, and the wife disappointed in her husband. As a worker, you will find situations that come to your door that are very startling. Detachment is vital, and so are your ethics. You may find that you are the only worker in the area, and thus could face a similar situation. Here is an interesting case.

All that glitters

Doretha P. and Horace. P are loyal customers at your small botanica. Not a month goes by without products for their home being replenished from your shelves. Blessing products, cleansers, and prosperity candles are on continuous renewal orders. All seems right with the world.

Read morePBN Blues Series: ” Vampire Women” by Spark Plug Smith

Scorpions Get A Bad Rap – Time For a Makeover: A Brief Look Into the Scorpion Medicine Totem

A little after Beltane Bash hosted by North Georgia Solitaries in May of 2012, I wrote the following article and submitted it to The Pagan Household for which I was a writer. The article was inspired by a scorpion which had stowed away in my clothing after the camping weekend at Beltane Bash, and came home with me only to sting me at night as I slept.

It has been several years since The Pagan Household was dissolved, and with it all of the submitted articles. With the loss of my computer from back then, I had thought I’d lost my earlier published articles for good. Luckily for me, I happened to find them posted to an old social media account, stored way, way in the back of the archives.

Read moreScorpions Get A Bad Rap – Time For a Makeover: A Brief Look Into the Scorpion Medicine Totem

Pollen Woe

Oh Pollen, how I hate thee!
Let me count the ways…

Gazillion spores clogging my nostrils.
Countless hours of waiting room misery.

Oh Pollen, how I loathe thee!

Read morePollen Woe

Metro Detroit Pagan Community Statement of Concern 2018 – G.L.W.C of Michigan

The G.L.W.C. of Michigan just issued this press release. Full disclosure, I am on that council board.

 

Metro Detroit Pagan Community Statement of Concern

2018

 

METRO DETROIT, APRIL 12, 2018 — Actions and circumstances have necessitated, in the view of this body, an official statement regarding our position on several matters. Over the last year, the rise of “witch hunts”, “witch wars”, and what appears on its face to be a power imbalance are of concern to us.

Read moreMetro Detroit Pagan Community Statement of Concern 2018 – G.L.W.C of Michigan

PBN Blues Series: “The Ballad of Stagger Lee” by Mississippi John Hurt

It is time for another installment in our PBN Blues Series. I hope you are having as much fun reading it as I am writing it. It is also my hope that you are enjoying the music that accompanies each piece. So without further delay, let us get down to it.

There are big dogs, and small dogs, and dogs in between these sizes. But everyone accepts that at any given time, there is always going to be a dog that all the other dogs know that it is a bad move to engage or start any “mess”. It is a sort of survival instinct.

The same sort of survival instinct exists among humans, as well. However, we tend to not listen to our intuition as much as we should. Those of us who are in the magical and spiritual business world are notorious for ignoring that neck chilling instinct that says “time to go on home and sit back down”. The over inflated ego can buy so much trouble that an entire bank could not cash you out of debt.

Read morePBN Blues Series: “The Ballad of Stagger Lee” by Mississippi John Hurt

The Alchemy of Shadow Work and What Spring and Autumn Can Teach Us About This Important Work

Bet that title has you scratching your head, wondering what can Spring and Autumn teach us about shadow work. Maybe you have scoffed at the regurgitated old analogies of what shadow work is about. Maybe you’re just beginning your learning. Whatever your thoughts, questions and such, I hope you have some curiosity as to what Nature through any of its seasons can teach us about the important work of Shadow Alchemy.

Read moreThe Alchemy of Shadow Work and What Spring and Autumn Can Teach Us About This Important Work

Working with the Land

This morning I  sat my desk and looked out side to see it snowing on the second day of spring.  As the snow falls I see at least 6″ of snow all over the ground from a blizzard that occurred last week.  This is how it is every year where I live.  Lots and lots of snow that never seems to go away.

Yet when you walk into a retail store you will see seeds for sale and signs of spring every where.  people longing for the time where the days are warm and gentle and that they can be outside with out harsh heat and those pesky bugs (we have a lot of bugs in my area).  Spring time in Maine can be a wonderful time of year when it finally gets here.

Read moreWorking with the Land