Pagan Portals - Nature Mystics


Book Description

Pagan Portals – Nature Mystics traces the lives and work of ten writers who contributed to the cultural environment that allowed Modern Paganism to develop and flourish throughout the twentieth century. John Keats, Mary Webb, Thomas Hardy, Sylvia Townsend Warner, D.H. Lawrence, Elizabeth von Arnim, W.B. Yeats, Mary Butts, J.R.R. Tolkien and E. Nesbit.




Pagan Mysticism


Book Description

As a non-dogmatic religion, paganism is a spiritualty that is variously interpreted in terms of nature worship, this-worldliness, the valuing of the physical, and multiple understandings of the sacred. Like most religions, pagan spirituality also entertains the experience of mystical ecstasy as an intense state of psycho-spiritual consciousness that radically diverges from ordinary waking awareness. This volume addresses two fundamental questions, namely: “how do the world’s religions understand the mystical and its pursuit?”, and “how and why does paganism offer something different?” Proverbially, the mystical quest is an ultimate human endeavour. The re-emergence of pagan thought in contemporary times challenges the obsolete and unlocks both innovation and available forms of transpersonal emancipation.




Pagan Portals - Temple of the Bones


Book Description

'The relationship that Jennifer Bird Teixeira has with Hekate is palpable; rich and deep, with an undercurrent of ancient mystery. Whether you've loved Hekate for many years, or seek to know her better now, you could not ask for a better guide than Bird.' Sharon Knight ~ Musician and Producer of Hexenfest; A Festival of Myth, Music and Magic The Temple of the Bones is a gathering of witches, priest/ess/xes, and pagans under the dark of the moon to honor Hekate through public ritual. This book contains information on witching herbs, daily practices, moon magic and how the Temple seeks to strengthen community through the honoring of the dead. As they are, soon we shall be and their message often is to not waste your precious time on the things that do not serve your highest purpose. The Temple of the Bones encourages you to look into your own power. What wants to be brought to the surface? Are you using your strengths, or are you feeding your weakness? How are you creating magic in your own life with the wisdom of your bones?




Pagan Portals - Blodeuwedd


Book Description

Like a gathering of flowers from hedge and field, or a cloak made of owl feathers, Blodeuwedd is a figure of great complexity. She is both Flower Maiden and Owl of Wisdom… unfaithful wife and representative of Sovereignty… fallen woman and feminist heroine… medieval cautionary tale and reclaimed divinity. Yet, for all of these seeming inconstancies, the key to understanding Blodeuwedd is being able to see her as a whole. Bringing together strands of Celtic lore, Welsh literature, British folk practice, and modern devotion, Celticist Jhenah Telyndru weaves a solid foundation from which scholars and seekers alike can come into deeper relationship with this oft-misunderstood figure. Ultimately, this journey to reclaim Blodeuwedd’s identity - a Sovereignty Goddess who ensured the cycle of the seasons by choosing, in turn, to partner with the Solar Hero of Summer and the Otherworldly Champion of Winter - reveals a transformational mythic pathway that can also guide us in the reclamation of our own sovereignty.




Pagan Portals: Planetary Magic


Book Description

At the core of modern pagan witchcraft is a knowledge system concerning traditions of nature, connection, and embodiment to the astrological planets. Throughout magical history, practitioners of magic have looked to the planets for inspiration and magical help. From the earliest beginnings of written magical texts - the Grimoires - magical systems were based on the seven planetary powers that were visible in the night sky. The Grimoires were then studied by practitioners of folk-magic - the Cunning Folk - and by influential groups from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn to practitioners of Modern witchcraft. Pagan Portals: Planetary Magic is an accessible and practical introduction to pre-modern planetary magic. It details with each of the planets, what its magical qualities are, and how to work practical magic with each.




Pagan Portals - Rhiannon


Book Description

To truly know Rhiannon, we must excavate the layers of her myth, decode the meaning of her symbols, and seek to restore the significance of her very name. Although she has a mythology around her, and has many modern-day devotees, nowhere in ancient lore has she been identified as a Goddess. We have no known cult centers or devotional altars dedicated to Rhiannon. How then do we approach this revered Lady? How can we best know her as Goddess? We need but call to her, and ask for what we need. Be it her bag of plenty, the soul-healing song of her birds, or the empowerment of the sovereignty she holds, when you call to Rhiannon, the Divine Queen of the Britons, know that she will stop… and know that she will answer your call.




Pagan Portals - Divination


Book Description

Divination is only a small part of a witch’s stock in trade, and although a basic introduction to the subject can be learned from books, proficiency will only come through vigorous practice. This proficiency comes through the discovery of certain secret matters by a great variety of means, correspondences, signs and occult techniques. Before a witch can perform any of these operations with any degree of success, we need to develop the ‘art of seeing’ and the ability to divine with rod, fingers and birds. Divination is what could be referred to as the practical element of Craft magic, and we don’t even have to be witches to be able to read the portents. But it helps! A companion volume to Pagan Portals: By Spellbook & Candle and Pagan Portals: By Wolfsbane & Mandrake Root, from popular Moon Books author Melusine Draco.




Pagan Portals - Odin


Book Description

Known by many names and with a wide array of characteristics Odin is a God who many people believe is just as active in the world today as he was a thousand years ago and more. A god of poetry he inspires us to create. A god of magic he teaches us to find our own power. A god of wisdom he challenges us to learn all we can. In this book you will find some of Odin's stories and history as well as anecdotes of what it can be like to honor him in the modern world.




Pagan Portals - The Dagda


Book Description

Get to know the Good God of Ireland through mythology, history, and modern worship. The Dagda is one of the most well-known of the Irish Gods, a king of the Tuatha De Danann and mediator between the Gods and mortals after the Gaels came to Ireland. A popular God among Irish and Celtic pagans, the Dagda is a powerful figure who reaches out to us from myth and memory. For those seeking to honor him today finding information can be difficult or confusing. Pagan Portals - the Dagda offers a place to begin untangling the complex history of this deity.




Pagan Portals - Gwyn ap Nudd


Book Description

Gwyn, the bright god of the Brythonic underworld Annwfn and Faery king of the wild Welsh spirits, the twlwyth teg, is an ancient and mysterious figure. His tales are scattered through oral folklore and across medieval Welsh literature, a depository of our ancient god-tales. Said to dwell within the legendary glass castle in Glastonbury Tor, as well as the black mountains of Wales, he is both a figure of romance and fear. A dark lover through the winter months, leader of the wild hunt, and guardian of the dead. He is the ancient companion of bards and visionaries through the initiatory journey to the depths of the Celtic Underworld, in search of the Goddess of the land herself. With a close look at traditional magic and lore as well as practical exercises, Gwyn ap Nudd is an essential guide for all those who seek wisdom from the darkness and wild communion with the sovereignty of the land.