The Invisible Art of Play

Originally posted at Pagan Families, 5/27/15.  Has creating spells and making magic helped you hone your parenting skills? I haven’t seen any experts list spellcrafting or analogical thinking as an important parenting ability, but maybe they should. Let me tell you a story. One time this rainbow snake toy saved me from the minor embarrassment …

Of Children, Paint, and Unplanned Sabbats

Originally posted to Pagan Families, 9/22/14. When Beltane came, we’d planned to dance a May Pole at my older daughter’s preschool.  Not exactly pagan, but I don’t know many pagan families locally, and the school May Pole was as close to traditional as we were going to get.  Well, my daughter lost all interest in …

To The Gates Of Dreaming: Using Guided Meditation to Help Children Sleep

Originally posted on Pagan Families, 7/16/14.  I’ve spent countless hours helping my daughters fall asleep, nursing and bouncing, massaging and singing and praying, lying absolutely quiet or else reciting Mother Goose.  By the time my eldest was preschool age, I turned to magic.  I began using guided meditations with my daughter around the time she …

What Color is Your Pain? Magic for Pregnant Aches

Originally posted on Pagan Families, 7/5/11. Midway through the second trimester, my ribs started hurting around the bra line, like something was cutting into them.  It wasn’t my bra’s fault, though, because taking it off didn’t help, and changing bras didn’t help.  It messed with my ability to exercise and cook dinner, and after a …

Self-Excavation Tour 2007: The Elephant in the Room

Originally posted 8/29/07. Three years ago, I couldn’t talk about my religious life. I mean, literally, I couldn’t. I’d try to open my mouth, and a lot of times I wouldn’t even be able to get words out. We didn’t really talk about religion in the first person when I was a kid. What I …