During my first year as a Pagan I hit each stop on the Wheel hard, with the zeal of a new convert. This year, not so much. I did do Bealtine huge this year – went all the way to Ireland for the traditional fire on the Hill of Uisneach […]
My Pagan Path
In the southwest of Ireland, midway between Galway and Limerick, a mother and father are worriedly tending their sick daughter. Tenant farmers in the time of Famine, most of the family was starving. They’d likely be evicted when the rent next came due. But none of that was as urgent […]
Biddy Early: Healing Comes With a Cost
This week, previously unknown monuments have been discovered near Newgrange. The discovery was made by Anthony Murphy of Mythical Ireland – the same Anthony Murphy who was kind enough to be my tour guide to the monuments of the Boyne Valley during my trip to Ireland. Which made me realize […]
Newgrange: Old Magic and New Discoveries
The day I landed in Ireland I was exhausted, aching, and completely overwhelmed. After getting the rental car I was supposed to stop at this town called Swords that had a large shopping center. The idea was a cheap coffeemaker, grinder, and flat iron for the bestie as none of […]
Tara: Seat of Kings, and one Great Queen
Just outside of Tulsk, as part of the Rathcroghan royal complex, sits the holy well of Ogulla. This place has been a sacred site well back into pagan times, and so of course has been coopted by the Catholic church. This, however, did nothing to diminish the powerful experience I […]
Ogulla Holy Well: A Microcosm of Irish Spiritual History
“I’m gonna blog EVERY DAY!!” Said the naive American, confident in her blanket cell phone service and wall-to-wall wifi. Then, she landed in an airport in Dublin, which is supposedly a European capital city, yet has an airport strangely reminiscent of a dilapidated Social Services building. She was immediately confronted […]
Lessons Learned in Ireland
I’m sitting in the airport in Raleigh, North Carolina. In just 2 more hours I will be on my way to Ireland. The past weeks have been difficult. Some unfortunate contact with my mother has had me full of anxiety. And of course she’s heard about my trip and tried […]
A Healing Pilgrimage To Ireland
Yesterday, all the Pagans I’m friends with were in an uproar on Facebook. And they had good reason. I have some things to say about the issues, but I’m going to try and be as diplomatic as possible. In a nutshell, one Pagan leader said she didn’t trust the scholarship of […]
Wading Into Pagan TERF Wars
1 So it was a rough weekend. My last post mentioned how I was in Western NC for a memorial service, and how anxious I was about seeing my dad again. The day came. He decided to skip the memorial and only show up at the cemetery, “so he wouldn’t make […]
The Healing Waters of Creeks and Streams
I’m currently in Western North Carolina for a memorial service for a dear cousin. This will be the first time I’ve seen my dad since I stopped talking to both my parents. After a lifetime of emotional abuse, the final straw was their reaction to learning of a sexual assault […]
I Will Not Be Quiet About My Trauma
It started in January when I went to the Women’s March in Washington, and was especially strong during my trip to the beach where I met Manannan Mac Lir. I dedicated both trips to The Morrigan, and both times saw an inordinate amount of soaring birds I assumed to be […]
Vultures And The Morrigan
With a nod to Mr. Frost… Dappled light through leaves mostly green Pioneers in death Just beginning to fall One by one Spiraling, floating to the forest floor. Who’s Forest this is I know It’s spirit is it’s own This spirit knows me and this spirit I know A […]