Merry Meet

Hello, faithful readers! I just wanted to announce a few changes that will be occurring on this blog. This blog will still remain up, available, and active, but as you have noticed, I will not be posting every day. My new goal is to make a comprehensive weekly post. Among other projects, this blog is and was intended to bolster my freelance career. Now that I’m obtaining more substantial freelance projects, I am unable to update daily without sacrificing quality of content. Therefore, I’ve decided not to sacrifice quality, and to simply post less frequently.Readers of The Costumer (my other blog) will be happy to learn that the same applies to that blog as well. I also still blog weekly over at LARPers.

The second change is the use of Entrecard. I will no longer be using Entrecard after April 7th, due to guideline changes and marketing strategy.

Thanks!

~Tara, AKA The Costumer

A friend and fellow blogger over at Athiest News shared an interesting snippet of news about Catholic bishops banning the practice of Japanese reiki (original story from BBC here).

After hearing many non-Catholic Christians here in the United States bash and blame Catholicism for being archaic and even anti-Christian, I found this news about reiki particularly interesting. Many Protestants as well as non-Christians criticize Catholicism for being overly-superstitious, taking issue with Continue Reading »

According to recent survey findings reported by CNN, there are less people identifying themselves as Christian in America. The findings seem to indicate that more people are falling away from what is called ‘mainstream Christianity,’ though there is an increasing number of evangelicals.

In the article, Lou Dobbs speculates that this is due to individualist feelings stirred and promoted in the last century. While this does make sense, it seems to me as though some people are abandoning traditional Christianity Continue Reading »

I always get excited when I hear about the Ghost Hunters visiting a local haunt (pun totally intended) of mine. NBC Philadelphia is reporting that the Ghost Hunters have visited the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia.

The show will air on Wednesday, March 11. Check it out!

On March 17th, many Irish and people of Irish descent celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Like anything both religious and Irish, there’s bound to be controversy surrounding the holiday, and talk about St. Patrick’s day in pagan communities is no exception.

In my opinion, Irish heritage is rich for several reasons. Primary among those reasons is that Irish culture is a true blend of politics, religion, the arts, history, spirituality, and mythology all blended together. I believe it’s a fact that religions in Ireland have blended together, and that Irish Catholicism is very distinct. Continue Reading »

Gaia theory actually consists of a set of different theories. Essentially, Gaia believers assert that the Earth itself is a living organism. People have viewed Gaia from religious and political perspectives. Gaia includes evolutionary beliefs in its branches.

Formally proposed initially by a chemist named Lovelock, it was originally put forth as a hypothesis in the process of scientific ideas. Now, many hold it as a theory. These complex network of sub-theories actually encompass humanity’s place in the world, and even include the internet. The tendencies, in my opinion, are borderline Humanist and promising as far as how we could potentially treat our planet and new planets.

Most important from a pagan perspective is the name behind the actual theory. Gaia is a Greek face of a mother goddess/Earth goddess. She is depicted in many ways in contemporary times, but always embodies the elements of nature and seems to grow out of the ground and into the sky.

My own personal views on the Gaia theory echo many of my other spiritual views–primarily, I agree that we should treat our planet and our environment well, and that we are not the ‘owners’ of Earth, merely her Continue Reading »

Merry Meet, friends!

I’ve had a few questions come in privately about finding good sources on paganism online. With our topic in particular, there seems to be a lot of crap out there. This is specifically why I haven’t researched and reported on specific pagan paths as much as I’d like to. However, I would like to present you with a short list of useful resources:

• Topix Pagan Wiccan. This is completely user-based, so there is a lot of random stuff on here, but people also contribute excellent nuggets, like this resource page for pagan homeschooling.
• Witchvox (Witches’ Voice): This community has more than a few snippy members who will tell you you’re doing something wrong. Sometimes they leave the constructive out of constructive criticism. However, if you’re looking for a collection of personal experiences and diverse paths, this is the way to go. You can also find resources by location here. I tend to browse but not participate here.
• PaganSpace: It’s like MySpace for pagans! This Ning site is very open to new members. It’s more of a social networking site than anything else. Continue Reading »

Palmistry (also known as chiromancy) is a fortune-telling method. It has been in practice for at least 5,000 years and is present in most cultures. A palm reader can supposedly determine a bit about a person’s life or future life by analyzing the lines and bumps on that person’s palms. Various elements are represented in different parts of the hand.

For those wishing to learn about palmistry, there are resources available online. Note: If you are looking for a general overview, or to dabble in chironmancy, you should not pay for lessons, especially not online. Those studying seriously may consider formal lessons in the future.

• MorningStarPortal offers a general overview of palmistry, touching on the history of the art and where one should begin.
• For those who learn by doing, FindYourFate offers a guided reading online.

I took FindYourFate’s test and here were my selected results. Italicized font indicates predicted results (via web site) and bold represents actual (so far). I am 28 years old, and therefore have not lived out my full life, of course. Continue Reading »