“Paganism” does not refer to a single religion, but to a collection of earth-centric polytheistic philosophies that harken back to belief structures that pre-date Christianity.Pagans of all types believe that there are many paths to reach a harmonious relationship with deity. No single one is more valid than another. Since pagans do not see the world as locked in a cosmic struggle between good and evil, they do not recognize the Christian concept of Satan nor do they worship him.The notion of “pagan” as “heretic” is only valid when seen through the lens of Christianity. In her latest book, author Riley Starr offers a gentle introduction to the world of earth religions aimed at the beginner.Using Wicca, Druidry, and Odinism as exemplars, Starr explains what it means to function both as a pagan within a group and as a sole practitioner. With suggestions for starting a ritualistic life and for adopting the use of protective symbols, Starr opens the door for new followers of paganism to take the first steps in their own journey and encourages them to embrace a lifelong study of the deities and symbols that speak exclusively to them.Pagan holidays, beliefs, gods and goddesses, symbols, rituals, practices, and much more!

    There are clear instructions for working a wide variety of simple and powerful spells: clearing and cleaning, increasing harmony, healing, love, lust, beauty, luck money, protection, and honing psychic abilities. Discover how to whip up magical brews, powders, and oils using inexpensive items that can be conveniently purchased at your local grocery store.

    In Witch in the Kitchen: Magical Cooking for All Seasons, practicing witch Cait Johnson celebrates the sacred in each season with more than 80 soul-satisfying and appetizing recipes. In engaging and inviting prose, the author provides rituals, spells, and meditations for the eight pagan holidays, inspirations for creating a kitchen altar, and ways to prepare for each season. She offers ideas for decorating your kitchen with objects of power and magic--eggs symbolizing fertility in spring, dried orange slices as reminders of the sun in mid-winter--to align our bodies, spirits, and senses to the pace and mood of the Earth's changes. Above all are the recipes for delicious, sensuous salads, soups, main dishes, and desserts made from ingredients in tune with the Earth's seasonal gifts. Serve Stuffed Acorn Squash and Fig-Apple Crumble at a Samhain gathering; celebrate Winter Solstice with Pomander Salad and Savory Yuletide Pie; welcome Imbolc with Sprouted Spring Salad and Magic Isle Pasties; or share the harvest at Lughnasad with Spicy Stir-Fried Greens and Sunny Peach Pie. With its recipes, rituals, and reminders of our ancient connections to the seasons, Witch in the Kitchen invites you to honor yourself and the Earth and delight in the magic that comes from sharing good food with good company.

    But magic - the idea that we have a connection with the universe - has developed a bad reputation.It has been with us for millennia - from the curses and charms of ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish magic, to the shamanistic traditions of Eurasia, indigenous America and Africa, and even quantum physics today. Even today seventy-five per cent of the Western world holds some belief in magic, whether snapping wishbones, buying lottery tickets or giving names to inanimate objects.Drawing on his decades of research, with incredible breadth and authority, Professor Chris Gosden provides a timely history of human thought and the role it has played in shaping civilization, and how we might use magic to rethink our understanding of the world.

    Now, with a new introduction and full-color artwork, this passionate and important text shows even more clearly that the religion of the Goddess—which is tied to the cycles of women’s bodies, the seasons, the phases of the moon, and the fertility of the earth—was the original religion of all humanity.

    We have grown socially accustomed to looking for a magic pill to mask it, and all other symptoms of deeper unrest. Yet becoming intimate with pain, but not possessed by it, enables us to feel, sense, and hear the wise teachings held within it. Emotional, physical, mental, sexual, and psychic pain, as well as collective pain carried for Earth during this time of great transition, contains valuable wisdom.Shadow is a term for the discarded within ourselves that informs our lives. It offers the potential to reveal what we previously thought was unsuitable, so unsuitable that we imprisoned it and forgot it. The aim is to know the shadow well, appreciate it, seek to integrate it—not leave it neglected to rot in a cell beneath the surface, where it is inevitably clanging its tin cup against the bars asking for acknowledgement and honoring—to make a place for it as part of your life story, but not let it be the operating manual.In this book, we'll explore:The keys to working with your shadowsHow to engage your shadow to heal generational patternsThe acts of liberation for individuals and all members of society and cultureWhat it would look like to break the repetitive loop of sufferingLanguage prompts to help navigate the shadowsShadow work is one of many keys to breaking the cycles of suffering. It prioritizes healing and offers empathy for one another.

    Clear introductions on trending topics, like herbal tonics and astrological charts, are paired with home remedies, hands-on instructions, and suggested rituals in a chic, stylish format that will capture the imaginations of good witches of all ages.

    The author assumes no previous knowledge, only a willingness to explore what magick offers, yet its apparent to anyone with a background in the subject that Alan Chapman is drawing on a wide range of experience, from classical Crowleyean Magick, to eastern metaphysics, and back again to Discordianism and Chaos Magick. Chapmans writing-style is humorous, direct, seductively logical, and his enthusiasm for the benefits of magick is both tangible and infectious. The novice magician will indeed find themselves equipped to commence all sorts of magickal operations: trance work, enchantment, divination, and even some of the higher forms of spiritual development. To experienced magicians, Chapman offers a subtler challenge: he revitalises magick by cutting it free from the extreme relativism Chaos Magick bequeathed, provocatively redefining it as: the art, science and culture of experiencing truth.

    Through it you can change your circumstances, live according to a developing sense of personal responsibility, effect change around you, and stop living as a helpless cog in some clockwork universe. All acts of personal/collective liberation are magical acts. Magic leads us into exhilaration and ecstasy; into insight and understanding; into changing ourselves and the world in which we participate. Through magic we may come to explore the possibilities of freedom.

    Using his own travels and teachings along with Celtic stories and myths, he explores how to find a personal spirituality that also works for the greater good.

    A Book of Pagan Prayer provides the pagan community a comprehensive and thoughtful selection of prayers - and shows readers how they too can create their own. After an introduction on why to pray, author Ceisiwr Serith explores how to pray through words, posture, dance, and music. He explains how to prepare for and compose prayers, how to address and honor the deities, and how to conclude a prayer. Serith also answers important questions, such as: Why should pagans pray? Should prayers be spontaneous? What are offerings about? Is all this just trying to buy the gods off? Gathered from many traditions - including Celtic, Germanic, Egyptian, Greek, and Zoroastrian - this guide includes nearly 500 sample prayers organized by purpose: for the family and household; times of the day, month, and year; life passages; thanksgiving, grace, and petition; as well as litanies and mantras. Whether offering a blessing, celebrating new life, safeguarding travel, or honoring the seasons, readers will discover timeless pagan prayers for worship, spiritual connection, and personal relationship with the gods.

    This book presents these principles through translations of three core classics of T'ai Chi that are often considered the "T'ai Chi Bible," accompanied by the author's insightful commentary. Master Liao demonstrates how to increase the body's inner energy (ch'i) and transform it into power, health, and well-being.

    During our early years, we are imprinted by the emotional condition of those responsible for us. Their emotional state overlays the essence of who we are, so that we learn to behave like them instead of growing up to be ourselves.In "Alchemy of the Heart," we are asked to become conscious of the ways we were imprinted and how these imprints drive our behavior. Our guide in achieving this is the heart and the language of felt-perception. Through this language, the heart enables us to re-parent ourselves and frees us to love unconditionally.This journey is about allowing ourselves to feel life--to be present and awake in each moment, so that we really experience everything. It is the chance to participate actively, responsibly, and creatively in our lives.

    But what about a wheel of the year for the rest of us pagans and witches? As a witch living in sunny South Florida, longtime hereditary witch Temperance Alden has often felt at odds gearing up to celebrate Yule, for example, when it is 76 degrees and sunny outside.Year of the Witch will help readers create their own intuitive practices in harmony with the climate, culture, and local spirits where they live. It’s of interest to witches coming off the Wiccan path and looking for a more personal approach to celebrating the rhythms of nature. Year of the Witch covers all aspects of this new, seasonal practice: The origins of the neo-pagan wheel of the year and why it is still so relevant today Culture, historical facts, and traditions associated with the major ceremonies Basic principles of land-based magick How to intuitively connect to the nature below your feet and the local gods Being a custodian to the land and its impact on our spiritual practice

    This book explores the fundamental beliefs and symbology of Witchcraft, presenting the time-honored texts of its rituals and invocations.