Hawthorne's Blog (130)

Here we are deep into the Spring season. But, if you're anything like me, then you haven't done any Spring Cleaning yet, have ya? It's time we Hop to It! While we're clearing out our attics, let's look for Crafty Ways to Rummage and Recycle. Afterall, "Repair, Re-fashion and Recycle" should be the watch words of the modern Pagan, right?

But in the midst of all that work, we should take the time to stop and smell the flowers. So we'll talk about "Flower Essence Therapy for Magickal…

We have a Dark Moon this week on Thursday, the 9th. So, this week I have for you a Dark Moon Meditation. The Dark of the Moon can be an exceptionally powerful period. This is a time when we can look more deeply into ourselves and learn what it is that's holding us back in Life. And, hopefully, learn what we can do about that. Our meditations will be mostly done with the help of readings from a book called Dark Moon Mysteries, by Timothy Roderick

Then in the second part…

It's a nice day to start again!

This week, we celebrate Beltane! Beltane is a festival of Fertility and Love as we welcome the flowering of Nature's Return. In our mythology Beltane represents the Mating of the Goddess and the God. It's The Original White Wedding!

I'll present to you my yearly reading from Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon" - this is from Book One, "The Mistress of Magick", pages 176 - 179, which describes The Great Rite at Beltane.

Plus,…

This week on The Spiral Dance, we talk about "Creativity". Aleister Crowley famously said "Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will." That is the essence of Magick, and it's the essence of Creativity.

Creativity is Mundane Magick - making ideas take shape into reality. And it's all about how you approach challenges in your everyday life

So, we'll start with some basic definitions of Creativity, and some basic ways that we fail to…

We're moving into Full Springtime, and we're feeling the awesomeness of Nature's Magick. So, Nature is at the center of this week's theme.

It is said that whenever King Arthur's knights began their quest for the grail, they went out into the wilderness where the woods are thickest to find their inspiration. I want to share with you an article on "Wilderness Magick".

Magickal places are all over the world; maybe even in your own back yard! We'll discuss Magickal Places and look…

Our theme this week is: The Trickster and Fool. We'll take a look at the history of April Fools Day, as well as the Role that the Fool and the Trickster play in Earth-Based religious practices. Also, a quick look at some of the best known hoaxes in the history of the Western World (well, sort of, anyway)

And, hey! Good News! Dawn Hunt of Cucina Aurora is going to be here live! No more scratchy recordings! We'll talk to her at around 60-minutes into the show to discuss -…

Gypsey Elaine Teague is my guest this week. She is the creator of a new system of magickal practice, which she calls Steampunk Magic. She's written a book on the subject and she's with us to tell us all about it.

Then, have you ever wondered how Steampunkers feel about Magick? I was, if you will, "peeking around", and I've got the low-down. And afterwards - deep drama in Steampunk literature.

So get out your goggles. Gentlemen, don your best vest. Ladies, put on your tiny…

This week on The Spiral Dance we Spring to Life as we celebrate Eostara; The Spring Equinox. Astronomically, the Equinox occurs on Wednesday, March the 20th. We'll be talking about the history of Spring Equinox - the role that it has played in cultures down the ages. We'll take a look at the Norse Goddess, Eoster - in fact I have a special poem just for Eoster.



You know that ya can't talk about this time of the year without mentioning Rabbits & Eggs; and, of course, the Balance…

Every year I like to give a big welcome to the month of March! It seems to be the month everybody loves to hate! Normally, I do this during the first show of the month, so I'm a bit late.

Nonetheless, this week, March will be our topic, complete with Mad Hatters and Snake-Chasers! We'll see if I can maybe help you get a different perspective on this time of the year. We'll be talking about the folklore of the March Hare. Plus, I have an Irish Story of Magick which I'll be reading…

I'm dedicating this week's show to the Full Moon. The Full Snow Moon accured on Monday, Feb. 25th. So, for me, and the folks who listen to the show live, we were doing the show during the full moon. But for most everyone else, listening a little after the full moon is still ok. They say the full moon's power and energy is available to be used for three nights- the actual night of the full moon, plus two nights after.

I'm presenting a series of meditations for you to listen to and…

This week our theme is Lions and tigers and bears - oh my!. Well, actually, cats and birds and horses - the magick of animals.

We'll look at how we can relate to animals on the magickal level, and how that should effect our relationships with them on the physical plane as well. We'll talk about familiars; animals in myth, and animals in ritual.

And I've got some stories on tape surrounding animals and magick. And our music will all have something to do with…

This week's show is a celebration of the sabbat, Imbolc, which will be on Saturday, February 2.

It marks the 1/2-Way point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox (which is cause-enough to celebrate!).

Imbolc is a Primary Cross Quarter sabbat, Sacred to the Goddess Brigid, known by many as the Queen Mother of Ireland.

So we talk about some of the history and symbolism of Imbolc and Brigid's associations. And I'll share with you a traditional Irish myth of Brigid. This…

This week we gaze at the clear cold night sky as we honor The Stars of Winter. And we take it a step further as we honor two special "stars" of Winter; the Norse Goddess Skadi, and the Norse God, Ullr.

We start with an invocation to the Goddess of Winter, the Goddess of snow, ice and sleep.

Then we look up to find The Winter Triangle. Stars that are part of the Winter Triangle teache us that their forces can aid in the service to those of us who are spiritually…

This week as we talk about Numerology

People have been assigning specific meanings to numbers all down the ages. But, actually, the word, "Numerology" was never used until very recently. We'll talk a bit about this history and some of the meanings that people have given to numbers theorey.

Then we'll look at some specific numbers. Of course meaning can be attached to virtually any number at all, so I'm just going t go over some of the more popular ones!

We start with the…

As we walk through the doors of a New Year, let's start by paying homage to the Roman God, Janus! The God of Beginnings and Transitions, the Romans invoked Janus first, before any other god.

Then, in the second half of the show, I want to play for you a recorded guided meditation. This is presented by Salena Fox, Wiccan Elder and founder of Circle Sanctuary. We're going to listen to "The Magick Cauldron; A Vision Quest into Past, Present and Future".

I…

Happy New Year, everyoine!

Our topic this week is New Years' and the month of January. We start out with a New Year's prayer/spell, using an hour glass to meditate on changes that occur at this time of year. This was originally penned by Silver Ravenwolf. Then we'll talk about some holiday traditions, including a figure from Italian folk-tradition, known as La Bafanna, and also the Scottish New Year festival called Hogmany. And we'll also look at meaning and…

Happy Thanksgiving! It's our National Gathering of Our Tribes. This week we talk a bit about some of the earlier European traditions that the American holiday of Thanksgiving is born out of.

Plus, see how much you know about the United States, with my little 20-question quiz! Then check my website for the answers.

And we'll talk about how you can make your Thanksgiving meal a MAGICKAL meal. Plus I've some American Folk Customs and finally, I'll read for you the ORIGINAL…

The theme for this week's show is the so-called Holy Grail. What is this thing that people through time are supposed to be so enamored of? Did it ever even exist?

Follow along as we go back to the 13-th century and we'll see if we could make any real sense of it.

And, finally, just after The Spiral Dance Spell of the Week, listen for something very special!

This week on The Spiral Dance, we delve into the meaning and uses of Divination.

You know; to conduct a Divination IS to have a conversation with the Gods! So we'll talk about how Divination has played a role in history. Then we'll look at a few well-known methods of Divination.

We'll start with Divination of Stones, through Runes - what are Runes and how are they used. Then we'll look at Divination of Trees with the Celtic Ogham alphabet. And, finally - Earth Prophesy through…

We're getting into the thick of autumn, as the days become cooler and nights become longer.

In occult terms, autumn is associated with The West, and with Water. Water is associated with The Moon, the Goddess and with Emotions. So this week, we talk about Water Magick.

Part of the traditional lore of Water are Water Spirits. So we'll listen to a recorded spoken word traditional story called, "The Selkie", as presented by Mara Freeman.

And then, let's also talk about our…