Follow the Moon: Astrology of intention and mindfulness

by Teri Parsley Starnes

Teri’s interest with astrology lies with helping people see how following a practice of intention and self-awareness leads to a fuller relationship with Mystery. Astrology is a wonderful tool for this. Her weekly column orients readers to the seasonal energy of
each month’s Sun sign in order to set magical/mindful intention for the lunar month beginning at the New Moon.

Each week Teri will write about the unfolding energies that support and challenge our intentions. The ebb and flow of the lunar cycle resides deep in our souls. Through following the phases of the Moon, we remember the natural cycles that guide us.

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Pagan Living TV Gains Mainstream Attention

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screenshot of Pioneer Press story from 2/1/13

screenshot of Pioneer Press story from 2/1/13

Freshman venture Pagan Living TV captured attention from mainstream press in its first month on air. The Pioneer Press article noted that the show’s appeal reaches beyond Pagan audiences, reporting,”Todd Berntson’s 58-minute television show has been picked up by a handful of cable access stations around the country, from the St. Paul Neighborhood Network to stations in Spokane, Wash., and East Hampton, Mass.”

The first episode aired on January 4th of this year.

Comments Bernston about the new publicity, “It was nicely done. When I was first contacted by the reporter he wasn’t really sure that there was even a story there. But after I started talking about what we were ding and what this represented he actually started getting very interested.”

Bernston also says that Pagan Living TV sees no cash from stations picking up the program. “We are completely funded through our viewers. We don’t get paid for distribution like we would on a commercial channel.”

PaganLivingTV also launched a campaign to raise funds to upgrade their studio. The organization also has plans to expand distribution. “We have had some interest by a couple satellite stations so hopefully by March or April we will be on satellite dish and on Direct TV as well.”

Am I a Pagan? – Editorial

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Photo: kitchenwiccan.com

Quite a few people anguish over their personal answer to this question.   We should all know what to say, but usually stammer around a little and say something vague.  There is a discussion among Pagan intellectuals about whether your beliefs and practices can safely fall under the broad definition this term offers.  The modern definition of Pagan arose with a pretty Wicca-centric focus, so the further your practices and beliefs get from that, the less safe this umbrella term may feel.  Can we agree to a term or definition that works better in the future?   I don’t know.  Nearly everyone has a different answer, when asked, “So what is a Pagan?”   I see the value for those who embrace the word in finding a good definition for the term we can all use.  A definition that is accurate and inclusive, and doesn’t offend anyone.  I will leave that to others to technically work out, it doesn’t interest me that much.  I just like the term Pagan.

I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s when the word “Hippie” was kind of similar.  For some it conjured up dirty, disheveled, long-haired lazy people, self-absorbed in mind expanding drugs and having loose moral standards. I never minded when someone called me one as hate speech.  I knew they meant one thing, but it meant something else to me.  I embraced the label for its vision.  I saw it as representing a new way of looking at life, as re-assessing of what was important, and letting go of the expectations of others and our society.  I liked the “Peace and Love” platform.  I soon learned in personal application it often meant “my” peace, and “my” love, as  interpreted at any moment. The Hippie movement quickly degenerated, maybe because it didn’t have a clearly articulated definition that guided and sustained people who claimed the term.

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Crossed Quarters – Guest Editorial by Lisa Spiral

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Photo: http://www.pagangrove.com

Most Pagans are aware that the eight sabbats of Wicca are an artificial construction. They combine festivals of hunter/gatherer peoples with festivals of agriculture and animal husbandry. When you add to that an international following and crazy modern scheduling you have a practice of worship that is truly Neo-Pagan.

Our quarter celebrations, the solstices and equinoxes, come to us from people’s who understood astronomy. These are real and measurable events in time and space. The tools and precision of measuring when these sabbats occur have changed over time. The events that they celebrate are fixed.

The cross quarters, however, are seasonal celebrations. They mark events of weather and harvest that happen when they happen in the local area. We know from the names we call them by: Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasad, and Samhein that these are sabbats from more northern climates. These are celebrations of a people who were dependent on an unpredictable weather.

They may have marked migration cycles. They may have marked the end of a harvest season. They may have marked blooming plants. They may have marked fertility of farm animals. But these kind of events occur at different times in different places in different years.

Our calendars come to us from the Romans and the Roman Catholic Church. When these local festivals were assigned patron saints and attributed to saints days on the calendar they became more fixed in time. Of course the church calendar has changed once or twice over the last several thousand years and saints come and go. Continue reading →