Vestalia was a Roman festival that honored Vesta, the goddess of hearth and home. Her name comes from a Sanskrit root that means “shining one.” Because landlords and mortgage companies have zero interest in shining goddesses, the sacred element of our home is usually missing until we create it ourselves. At noon today, stand before your home altar with a candle of your favorite color. As you light the candle, invoke Vesta: Gentle Goddess, Shining One—Bless my home and ...
Is there a Pagan who does not have a garden, whether on a table by the window or outside in a sunny spot? If you’ve planted seeds and transplanted plants from friends or the local nursery, the end of May is high time to give your garden some extra attention: watering, weeding, trimming. While you’re doing your gardening, recite old nursery rhymes to the plants. Here are two. Find more online and encourage your garden to grow and bloom. Mistress Mary, quite contrary,How does your ...
In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye sings, “L’chaim!” which means, “To life!” The circumstances of his life aren’t good—he’s a Jew living in anti-Semitic Russia around the turn of the last century—but he manages to find little things to celebrate. Let us emulate Tevye. What little things in your life can you celebrate? Alone or with your coven or circle, set up an altar filled with growing plants and symbols of happiness, such as musical ...
Summer seems so far off, but it really is just a tick in time away. Gather your calendar and a pen and do a manifesting spell. Cast a circle for protection. Call in the directions: East, bring the winds of inspiration.South, fan the fire of dreams.West, fill me with watery creation.North, make real what I need. On your calendar, mark out times to take vacations: a half day spirited away from work, a weekend escape, or a weeklong absence from your work, home, town, and chores. Say this out ...