Beltane With Knobs On
Once a year I have a very different Sabbat. For seven of the festivals I will normally either mark the event alone or with a small group. The exception is generally Beltane. This year I will be sharing it with over 300 other parti.

Fatal Disease From Flavoring Raises Flags
A potentially fatal lung disease linked to chemicals used in food flavorings poses a growing health risk, according to government scientists who are questioning the food industry's willingness to protect its workers. Bronchioli.

Winter Solstice Wishing Candle
Llewellyn annuals author Ember shows how to handcraft a winter solstice candle for your Yule celebration, or to give as a gift..

Remember at Beltane, we talked of the veil between our world and the fairy realm being thing. At Samhain, it is the opposite veil that has thinned. Modern Halloween, as well as the Latin American Day of the Dead, is also celebrated around the same time of the year. Coincidence? Samhain is also the last of the harvest festivals. This is the time when the animals would be butchered to provide meat for the dark days of winter. All the produce and grains have been brought in from the fields. Perhaps the first frosts are on the ground. Meals are hearty, warm, filling affairs using up the More

I imagine that the influence Ive experienced from many Eastern traditions, along with my limited readings in Western philosophy and occultism, must have contributed in great part to my understanding of the following key terms and phrases: 2. Merry Meet and Merry Part (mm/mp) Traditional Wiccan ritual derives from a very common structure. It may be seen in many indigenous religions, is a basic formula for Vedic rites, and can be seen as a pattern for most Western social events - secul More

mythinglinks.org/Lammas.html An article focusing primarily on celtic traditions from Mike Nichols: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/72. and a similar one by Kathleen Du More

Untrained and Unruly and Unbowed
Traditional, reclaiming, reconstructionist or eclectic?Witch, Wiccan or Pagan?Animal, vegetable or mineral?All this emphasis on labels and training reminds me of why I left Judaism more than 20 years ago. There are more options no.