Needless to say then, we don’t celebrate the harvest festivals because of our harvest, though there is plenty of that around. I don’t do it, but the roadside stands offering pumpkins and squash, corn and funny-shaped gourds polkadot the main streets of my city. I have yet to purchase a nearly obligatory something, but we just had our Mabon celebration in my local community, and it was beautiful, making me want to go get one. Maybe two.

Maybe it’s my darker liking of the different Sabbats, but I find the story of the wounded and dying god much more realistic and beautiful than some of the more fluffy messages that creep out of Ostara and Imbolc. Granted, I’ll probably change my tune around February when I’m ready for warm weather again, but I’ll burn that bridge when I get there.

Happy Equinox, happy Mabon, whatever you celebrate this week, make it happy!

Don’t be a stranger. Tell your friends: Pagan Quill is gonna take another stab at it.

We apologize for the absence, but it seems now might be a good a time as any to start things back up. So, we’re putting up a prompt to offer a little inspiration to those who might still be interested in our little project here.

Topic: Winter

With the commerical holiday season over, its time to really focus on the core lessons of the season. All things in turn, no? What does winter bring out of you? How do you react to it? What do you like best? What sorts of things crawl into your brain when you curl up next to a warm fire? These are the sorts of things we want to know about.

Be it poem or story, photo or drawing, you can send it in. However, if you want to promote yourself, give yourself a shameless plug, feel free to just post a link to your work in the comments with a sample of the piece. We’ll keep them open for about a week or two, then give another prompt.

In a way, we’re back! Tell your friends, send in your stuff: paganquill@gmail.com, or just link it in the comments. Either way, we just want to get those frozen creative juices flowing again!

This week, we start with poetry. Laurie Woodward gives us another poem from the Pagan mind. Laurie is one of a handful that joined the facebook group early on, and we’re glad to have her here. If you haven’t joined the group yet, please do. Just search for PaganQuill. If you are in the group, thanks for your support, and we hope you’ll drop by and leave a comment here or give us feedback on the site.

Next, the Silent K lets us into her mind, wherein struggles a woman so like many of us. It’s not easy in this world, but I’ll let her tell you more. Silent K has a number of blogs, included one on yoga. She’s a great writer, photographer, and knitter. Leave her a juicy comment when you drop by.

Finally, this week, we’ve got a short piece of fiction from Shaughnessy Brooks. Personally, I felt this work touched on the myths of times gone, one that is held quite dear in some circles. Ms. Brooks also has a book, Bards and Ravens, which should be a pretty good read. Give it a look.

It’s quickly becoming fall. Mabon is right around the corner, harvest season is coming quick upon us. I love this time of year. For me, its means getting back to school and starting up marching band. It also means the dog days of summer are right on top of me, but I’ve only mere weeks before the cooler September winds start to roll over me. I can’t wait! Many of you probably have children. Some of you may even be taking a college class or two. Either way, or if you’re none of these, find something to learn. The fall is the time of year where my brain is in overdrive, like many other people, and it’s exhilarating. Take advantage of this educational season.

Send that piece you’re still scrapping the final flecks to paganquill@gmail.com. Send us your photographs and other personal creations. We want to start reaping the creativity that’s been growing all summer, so let us be the place you hang your fruits up to dry. Until next week…

So, for this week, we’re taking a break. I’m starting a new job, Cassie is trying to get ready for the new semester, and life is kicking us both in the ass. Enough excuses: Next week, we’ll get some reading material up. Blessings, everyone!

It’s mostly fitting then, in light of all the traveling, that we start off this week with Laurie Woodward’s poem contribution called “Flying“:

Rather wrap me in whirlwinds’ chaos
That play with my garments and tease at my hair
Flowing over, around and through me like a river

S.Nicole wraps up her series which discussed Pagan Misconceptions with a post titled “Pagan Religions are cults“. She counters the misconception in part by saying, “Followers of Pagan religions encourage others to think their beliefs through and then putting those beliefs into practice, either by themselves or within a group setting.”

Bernulf also continues on with about The Nine Noble Virtues; this week – “Discipline“:

In my opinion, this is one of the most difficult virtues to consistently apply in one’s life because it requires self-mastery.

Lastly, we here at PQ were invited to add some content up at MetaPagan, a site which goes about gathering a variation of different things from around the Pagan Internet ether. If any of our readers have any ideas on what should be covered or having an tips on sites that should be hightlighted, please leave us a comment! See you next week!

The conclusion of John Michael Greer’s article on the Druidry and the Future ruminates on the possible courses of actions for the future. From “Steps Toward a Livable Future“:

“Human life depends on the surrounding natural world, to an extent that industrial civilization has forgotten but the deindustrial civilizations of the future will have to remember.”

Bernulf also continues with the in depth analysis of the Nine Noble Truths, from “Honor“:

In my own mind (and I suspect in the minds of most other contemporary Heathens), those Heathens of old, who stood in defiance of their kings when ordered to abandon our gods and convert to Christianity, are honorable heroes … but would they have thoughts of themselves the same way?

Cat Chapin-Bishop, in “The W Word“, talks about the dualism of a minority religion – on one hand, standing by who you are and on the other, the feeling of relief from not needing to fight for what you believe on a day-to-day basis. She says, “I have so _loved_ feeling that I have a truthful answer to the question of what my religion is that does not automatically earn me hatred and condemnation.”

Christopher Stone, from CunningFolk.com, delves into the wording associated with witchcraft and magic, “Folk who use cunning in the practice of the magical arts; which means that another word for “magic” might be “cunning”.”

Given the continuing Harry Potter fervor, S. Nicole has a well-timed note on her Pagan Misconceptions – “Pagans are trying to lure minors to paganism through popular books such as Harry Potter”. She notes, “To me it seems that if parents didn’t think that these books (or any other books) were inappropriate for their kids they would not let read these.”

Both editors at PQ are going to scramble to be up on the literature, but we don’t want to spend the whole weekend crying like Hogwarts First Years. (Oh, I went there!) Take care and see you all here next week!

Starting us off this week is T. Thorn Coyle, who talks about the effort needed to manifest our desires, in “Zzzzz. I mean, on practice” she states, “Picasso could not have painted Guernica without practicing life drawing. The manifest world and its objects and practices are as necessary as the silent wish. “

Patrick Kelley discusses his learnings of Stregheria with both the classical discriptions of the Goddess Aradia and the possible Christian connotations. He says, “Before long, the goddess Aradia became equated, at least at first glance, with the New Testament villainess Herodias.”

On to our syndicated posts, we begin with John Michael Greer, continuing on with his discussion of Druidry and The Future in the next called, “The Role of Druidry“. He says, “The approaching transformation requires people, groups, and communities to be ready to preserve legacies for the future…”

Back with Bernulf at A Heathen’s Blog, he expands again upon the specifics of the Nine Noble Truths. This week, “Fidelity“:

Think about those to whom you consider yourself loyal: to what ends would you go, to stand by these people? How much of your self would you be willing to give? When looked at from that perspective, faithfulness really doesn’t get more personal than that; which is why it’s vital to be careful to whom one professes loyalty.

S.Nicole is now on Pagan Misconception number 4, “All Pagan rituals are full of sex rites and orgies.” Some people out there are probably humorously bemoaning the lack or truth therein and in the next breath murmering how this is another stereotype Pagans have to fight against, but she says, “While Pagans do not consider sex as a sinful act, I would not say that it is always included or common to include sex within a ritual situation, either, as people would be inclined to believe.”

Lastly, Jason at Wildhunt this week talks about to what Pagans should be involved in the hubbub surrounding the Harry Potter fever, he mentions this, “But the larger question is, should we be intentionally mixing with Harry Potter? Isn’t using the books and films as a recruitment tool for a Pagan-run organization exactly what intolerant Christians blast J.K. Rowling for all the time?”

And speaking of stereotypes, now get going to that showing of Harry Potter like we know you’re going to anyway! See you back here next week and have fun!

New content! Cat from Quaker Pagan Reflections explores surrender in faith and pathworking. “The whole motif of surrender and obedience is not one calculated to appeal to most Pagans.” Hanged Man, anyone?

We continue with John Michael Greer’s letter to American Druids. This week, he confronts the roadblocks to environmental stewardship, both political and economic. “Consider a cup of coffee….In order to drink coffee by the cup, we use oil by the barrel.”

Truth takes its turn in the spotlight this week as we continue with Bernulf’s ongoing exploration of the Nine Nobel Virtues. “In commiting to the seeking of truth, it’s important to keep this in mind because people will experience and perceive things differently from one another….” Wise advice to all.

Peruse the Wildhunt archives and you’ll find “Nevada now joins the U.S. House of Representatives who had a Hindu chaplain open their session in 2000.” In recent years, polytheistic and non-Abrahamic religions have taken a larger role on the world stage. Want to know more? Check out Wildhunt.

Finally, Nichole of A Pagan Sojourn provides us with another piece on the common misinformation about Wicca and Paganism. Turns out, Paganism’s bad wrap isn’t just from bad press and incident, but from “saying that you can ignore the parts of the religion that you don’t like.”

Keep sending in those articles. Submission guidelines are above. Email is paganquill@gmail.com. Blessings!

We’re all about “Web 2.0″ here, so we’re bringing you some more wonderful explorations into the lives of pagans today. If you’re a returning reader, welcome again. If you’re new, make yourself at home! Glad you could come by, have some tea.

First off, more from The Archdruid Report’s John Michael Greer. Check out his continued examination of the state of the world and his call to action. Take heed, my friends. Did you know other fuel industries are “subsidized” by oil?

The equipment that mines, ships, and processes coal, for example, is powered by oil, not coal; converting it to burn coal would entail high costs and cut drastically into coal’s net energy, since coal has only a third the energy per volume as oil.

Next, Laurie Woodward digs her fingers into magic, feeling her way through her intense drive for magic, “The magic speaks to me in a language to which I respond in a way that is spiritual, emotional, and, yes, physical. My whole being craves Mystery, begs the world to let me in on it.”

From Bernulf at A Heathen Blog, get a further grip on Courage, one of the leading principles behind Heathen practice. “In all three of these kinds of courage, I use the phrase, ‘in spite of fear.’ This is deliberate, as I do not view courage as a lacking of fear….”

We’ll be including his articles on each of the Nine Noble Virtues over time, so keep your eyes peeled.

Nichole from A Pagan Sojourn regails us with further debunking. This week, we discover that, underneath all the robes, incense and candlelight, “Witches are, in fact, regular people.” Who knew?!

Wildhunt’s daily news updates are about as good as they get. We’ve got another one for you. This last week, many of us celebrated and observed Summer Solstice. Jason Pitzl-Waters records some quotes about the day that, to some, “represents the highest ascendency of masculine divinity.”

Cassie and Derek wish all of you a Happy Belated Solstice! Blessings everyone!