Honouring the Feminine at the Doll Festival

How is the Japanese Doll Festival linked to the Goddess and witchcraft? Click here to read more!

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Reflections on “Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, The Skeleton Saint,” R. Andrew Chesnut

Why did I choose to read this book?

Ever since reading various internet articles about Santa Muerte, Mexico’s “Skeleton Saint,” I have been absolutely fascinated by this deity and her fast-growing cult. A personification of Death venerated by people who identify as Catholic, yet whose worship is condemned by the Catholic church? A saint who devotees routinely included the last people we would usually think of as “spiritual,” including drug barons, prostitutes and the police who incarcerate them alike? As a Goth, Pagan, ex-Catholic and someone who has a broad interest in folk religion in general, I was intrigued and wanted to know more.[Read more]

April 2015 Full Moon Esbat (Easter Saturday)

My April 2015 Esbat altar, decorated in colours associated with Spring in Japan (pink, green and white)

Last night was rather cloudy, so it was difficult to see when the Full Moon rose. But while I was waiting, I saw two foxes outside our house – a very powerful sign of Inari Okami. I took it as a signal that Inari-sama was calling me to hold the Esbat ritual.

It was warm and dry enough to hold the ritual outside, so I did the Full Moon ritual outside for the first time this year. Sure enough, when I went outside and looked at the sky, I could finally see the Moon through the clouds.

After making prayers and offerings to Inari-sama, I held the ritual. Unusually for me, I didn’t call on a specific deity, but rather the all-encompassing Goddess as I see Ostara/Easter as Her time. I intoned the names of a number of Goddesses (especially those associated with fertility, which seems suitable for Easter) and thanked Her for her blessings. I then held another healing spell (I know a lot of people in need of healing at the moment!), asking the Goddess in her incarnations of the healing deities to help me.

Towards the end of the ritual, I heard the foxes calling. I’m so glad that now the warm weather is here, I get to see and hear more of the foxes. I always feel like they’re a part of my rituals!

Reflections on “The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess,” Starhawk (20th Anniversary Edition)

Why did I choose to read this book?

It’s not only considered by many to be “essential reading” for new Pagans (especially Wiccans), but I also had many personal recommendations to read it. So I figured I should!

In a nutshell, what it is it about?

First published in 1979, this is one of the most important books that helped define and construct the ideas behind modern Witchcraft – and especially Wicca as a Goddess-based religion. Although similar in many ways to other introductory books on Wicca, in that it includes a bit of history, explanations of the deities,  and introductions to rituals, festivals and techniques of Witchcraft, The Spiral Dance is special in that it was one of the first books to explicitly connect Wicca with feminism, which reflects the social and political climate in which it was written.

What did I particularly like about it?

Firstly, I was delighted to find that The Spiral Dance wasn’t what I had expected from some of its reviews. I had heard criticisms that it pushes its feminist agenda too far, and that Starhawk’s tone is even misandrist in places. I was therefore expecting something a bit preachy and hot-headed, which is what put me off reading The Spiral Dance for a long time.

Having finally read it, I think those criticisms are rather unfair.  Yes, there is a feminist agenda, but Starhawk is careful always to relate feminism back to the ideas of Goddess-worship rather than focussing primarily on the political and social aspects of the movement. She sees the re-emergence of Goddess-worship as a way for women to love and value themselves as women, despite what society might say about them otherwise. To love and honour one’s self is to love and honour the Goddess, and vice versa. And I thought Starhawk was quite careful to avoid any kind of man-bashing; she talks about the more radical form of Dianic Wicca but does not advocate it and she makes sure the Great God has plenty of attention even though the main subject of the book is the Goddess. Indeed, on paths that exclude a Male force, she states, “A female-only model of the universe would prove to be as constricting and oppressive to women as well as men, as the patriarchal model has been.” Moreover, she stresses that feminism is not about creating a society that merely benefits women more, but men too – her view is that men suffer just as much under a society that overemphasises competition, dominance and other aggressive qualities that are considered good “masculine” virtues (I’ve always thought that it’s a shame feminism is called “feminism,” and not something like “equalitism” or “genderism” because its ideals apply to all genders).

Another thing that I was expecting was for the book to be very much essay-based and philosophical in tone. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find that there’s a lot of practical material in here. It’s packed full of exercises in magic and meditation, chants and invocations, specific spells and herbal charms, which are all conveniently indexed at the front. This makes The Spiral Dance readily usable for the practising Witch. Some of the rituals for group work really appealed to me; I loved the idea of the “Word Association Trance” and saw how many of the other role-play type rituals would be quite therapeutic.

Finally, I liked Starhawk’s style of writing. It’s highly readable, friendly and positive, filled with sincere passion and warmth throughout. It’s poetic without being pretentious, instructive without being dense, deep without being impenetrable. It’s a pleasure to read.

Was there anything I didn’t like about it?

Several of the things I wasn’t so keen about in The Spiral Dance can be applied to lots of other books I’ve read on Paganism. Firstly, despite not been mentioned in the title, Wicca/Witchcraft (and not general Paganism) is the focus of this book. There is therefore a heavy focus on magic and coven work. If the title has lead to you expect a more general work on Goddess-worship with a broader focus than Witchcraft, you may find yourself a little disappointed (although I still found plenty here for non-Wiccan Pagans as well).

Secondly, I wasn’t keen on her presentation of her interpretation of Witchcraft history as fact – something I’ve criticised about other Pagan books previously. Much of the history of Paganism and Wicca is incredibly sketchy indeed, and I think it’s much better to present it as conjecture rather than absolute fact. Although, to Starhawk’s credit, she does mention this problem in the anniversary introduction, and what’s more, she stresses that witchcraft is a “religion of poetry, not theology,” and that all teachings (including historical) should not be considered absolute.

Finally, it’s a minor niggle, but I thought that the use of in-text asterisks together with footnotes at the end of each chapter was a little distracting and perhaps unnecessary. I’m sure there may have been a more elegant way of highlighting revisions from previous editions or including notes.

How has it helped my spiritual development?

More than anything, it’s helped me understand and appreciate the history of modern Goddess-worship and its socio-political significance. I also found it very affirming; Starhawk views Witchcraft as joyous, free and poetic, something I’ve always felt too. It also gave me plenty of ideas for future rituals.

Would I recommend this book to others?

Yes – although perhaps only to beginners, and then, only those with a specific interest in Goddess worship/Witchcraft as this is the main focus. This book is very much a primer on Witchcraft, so experienced Pagans might not find so much new material here, but for those new to the Craft, it’s a very good resource.

Bright Moon Ritual

Last night was May’s full moon, variously known as Bright Moon, Hare Moon, Flower Moon etc, and I performed my second Full Moon ritual.

Recently I’ve felt very drawn to the Goddess Hecate, and seeing as she is considered a moon goddess, it seemed appropriate to dedicate tonight’s ritual to her.

As with my previous Full Moon ritual, I performed the rite outside.  I started by giving some fresh offerings to Inari Okamisama, and making a prayer to her (I always try to include Inari in all my rituals, as my patron deity). I then called upon the elements and made my prayers to Hecate, asking her to bless particular people in my life who I know are going through difficult times. I made offerings of wine and garlic, which are both considered appropriate for Hecate.

I followed this with an attempt at Fire Scrying. As May is the Beltane month, associated with fire, and as Hecate is also considered a fire Goddess, it seemed a fitting occasion! I surrounded the altar candles with reflective crystals and gazed at the flickering light to see what messages might appear there, all while intoning the “Goddess Chant” (Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Innana) in order to get into a more meditative state. All I could see were leering, grinning faces reflected in the crystal; no other imagery seemed clear.

However, throughout the ritual, I heard the foxes nearby calling to each other, which I always take to be a positive sign!

Finally, as Hecate is the Goddess of Crossroads, I decided to place my offerings of wine and garlic at the crossroad near my house.

While I did find the ritual fulfilling and calming, it wasn’t perfect. As mentioned in a previous post, although I think rituals should take place outdoors where possible, I always feel paranoid about the neighbours seeing what I’m up to. If they see me whispering strange incantations before an altar of candles, an athame and pentacles, they might get the wrong idea about what I’m doing! This meant I cut the Fire Scrying short because I kept getting disturbed by the neighbours turning on and off lights in their rooms, and thought they might spot me through the window. What’s more, I couldn’t actually see the Full Moon from ground level, which was a shame.

But after I finished the ritual and came back indoors, I could actually see the moon from my living room window. And as I gazed upon it, a fox suddenly appeared in the street, looked in my direction, looked up as if looking at the moon, and walked off! For a follower of Inari, this was quite a wonderful end to the Full Moon rite.