Culturally Speaking

ISSN 2159-9939

What Does it Mean?

Umbrella Whole Wheat Pita Just Who Do you Think you Are? The Call by Ankolie Ojo De Dios Book Reviews Designers Edge!

“Culturally Speaking?”

September 2012 Volume 3 • Issue 91

Publisher and editor Contributors

staFF PhotoGraPher

layout Website adVertisinG

eberhardt, Personal Visions ankolie eberhardt Faelin Wolf jess*ca mae Maeve Gregory s. J. drew Zedral Z nina Pak, http://www.ninapak.com eberhardt eberhardt Personal Visions Consulting/Photography eberhardt

Our goal at Pagan Edge is to provide readers a high quality, timely magazine with content relevant to modern pagans’ lifestyle and passions.

Our publication is a lifestyle magazine so while we may publish spells, rituals, and some magick how-to; we aim to focus on ways that pagans, wiccans, earth-based-spiritualists, and those of like mind can incorporate their values and beliefs into their everyday living.

Pagan Edge Magazine & paganedge.com exist solely to offer information to our readers. The publisher, editor, and the entire personnel of Pagan Edge, Pagan Edge Magazine, Personal Visions, Refraction Design and paganedge.com cannot be held responsible for misuse of any information provided. The views expressed in the articles and ads are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Pagan Edge Magazine.

Product descriptions, recipes & any how-to information: While we, and our affiliates, attempt to provide accurate information in the magazine and on the site, we do not warrant that the content on this site will be accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free. It is your sole responsibility for the use of the content of this Magazine or web site. For additional details please see http://www.paganedge.com

™•

September 2012 • Volume 3

3

N ow o N l i N e !

S.J. Drew’s Newest Title

Available through: Smashwords, Sony, Barnes & Noble, Kobe, Apple, and Diesel

4

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

contents 7 Feature What’s Does it Mean?

8 Life’s Wit Umbrella 9 Foood of Gods Whole Wheat Pita 10 Feature Just Who do You Think You Are? 12 Finding the Edge Back to School On The Cover

13 Craft Corner Ojo De Dios

Pagan Edge “Cultural Diversity”

14 The Call by Ankolie 19 PE Book Review The Dog Who Heal a Family 20 Feature A Universal Lesson 24 Feature Design Edge - April Peters VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 9 • SEPTEMBER 2012 “CULTURALLY SPEAKING?” PAGAN EDGE™ IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY

BY PERSONAL VISIONS ADMIN@PAGANEDGE.COM

™•

September 2012 • Volume 3

5

use a fOOd thermOmeter tO maKe sure yOu COOK raw meat and pOultry tO a baCteria-Killing temperature.

Keep yOur family safer frOm fOOd pOisOning Check your steps at foodsafety.gov

dO yOu want that safe Or mediumsafe?

COOK

ºF

ºF

ºF

6

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

What Does It Mean... to be Culturally Pagan? by jess*ca mae

Photos © Pagan Edge 2012

Clan leaders bring their people together in the field. A man kneels next to his kill, giving thanks to the great spirits; an elder re-tells stories of the ancients to explain to the people their heritage; a woman sprinkles the blood among the crop of grain to give it strength and fertility; the children lead songs of celebration. Perhaps an athame is used to carve the beast, a piece distributed to each family group gathered. Perhaps a silver cup is filled with libation, reflecting the full moon, and passed member to member. High spirits are shared by all.

The above description is similar to what we may envision when thinking about life in a society culturally Pagan. Where are you in this picture? Are you drumming in celebration?

Twirling or singing with your friends? Teaching the hunters processing skills? Sharing the lore of the ancients?

Or do you find yourself outside this circle? Observing but not participating, struggling to connect? Sitting in your city apartment, wondering what the heck these people are doing and how on the goddess’ asphalt earth it applies to you? Looking around your living space, you search for your Pagan identity: a small altar in the corner and a

handful of books on the shelf.

There’s your online Pagan group and the local eclectic coven who meets on the sabbats. But in your every day life... what makes your urbanite being truly Pagan?

Pagan is more than just a label one gives to self. To be culturally Pagan, it is a way of life, a lifestyle.

What do you see when you look out your window? The local mission with neon crosses glowing?

Church steeples among the factory smokestacks? A politician’s billboard screaming about “family” values?

Common to many communities, these landmarks do not reflect an individual’s Pagan identity nor bring comfort to one’s search for it. As our counterparts in the

workplace wear their Christian crosses or Jewish stars-of-David with ease, we are often wearing our pentacles, ankhs, goddess pendants and other symbols hidden under our clothes or tucked in our pocket. Even if we live in an area rich in parks, green space, and agriculture, it is difficult to connect with magic and nature in the concrete jungle.

The Traveler The traveler takes her city life in stride but deep down there is another side to her aching to get out of the city and into the wilderness. Her weekends are spent out of town hill walking, camping, or at the beach. When she clocks out of work, she ™•

September 2012 • Volume 3

7

m U

a l l e r b Life’s Wit

by S.J. Drew

“Mom, Dad, remember, tomorrow is the Pagan Culture Festival,” Amy said at dinner.

“Oh, right, we’ll be there,” George said. “It should be fun.

We’ll get our fortunes told.”

“Oh, yes, and I would like to look at all the Celtic knot jewelry.”

“This is a pagan culture festival, not a Ren Faire,” Amy sighed. She loved her parents dearly, but sometimes they were so frustratingly narrowminded.

“Well, those are very pagan-

8

themed, aren’t they? There are people dressed like fairies and talking about the Goddess, right?” George asked.

“Ok, see, that’s not religious to begin with, and even if it was, fairies aren’t part of my religion,” she replied, trying not to snap.

“I thought that’s what paganism was. Fairies and Halloween, I mean, Beltane,” Alice said.

“How can they be so clueless?”

Amy thought. “Sure, just like Christian culture is all the

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

same thing. So, when are you guys going to celebrate your saint’s day?”

“Saint’s day? Honey, we’re Methodist. Saint’s days are orthodoxy,” George answered.

“It’s all the same, right? If all pagans are the same, then all Christians are the same. So, are you going to stop drinking alcohol and caffiene and talking in tongues?”

“Ok, honey, you’ve made your point. We’ll go and maybe learn something,” Alice said.

Food of

By Zedral Z

A (Literal)Taste of Paganism “Pagan” is kind of a blanket term. It covers a wide range of spiritual beliefs. The term used to be used to describe any nonChristian, so a lot of people from many different cultures were covered under this blanket for a long time. Nowadays, there are still people from all over the world who identify as Pagan.

These people come from many different countries and cultures.

They speak different languages and yes, they also have different definitions of the term “Pagan”.

A Pagan can be one of many

Gods

Wiccan traditions, or Asatru, or Indo-Pagan, or any other number of paths. Even those who identify with one path over another may still admit to being somewhat eclectic. Many people prefer to think of themselves as eclectic, borrowing from various cultures and traditions to form their own paths.

What does this mean in terms of Pagan culture? Is there such a thing as one big Pagan culture?

Well, I’d have to say no, there isn’t.

We are a very diverse, eclectic group of people, with different pantheons, practices, and beliefs, not to mention the fact

that we’re spread out all over the world. Pagans from Switzerland will have some different customs from a group of Pagans from Italy, for example.

What, then, can be done to unite people from so many diverse paths?

Well, if you’ve ever been to a gathering of any size, you’ve probably seen that most people do tend to get along with each other, no matter if they’re Santeria or Asatru. They can still relate on some level.

I’ve certainly seen it happen. So, getting along and not starting cultural wars over whose god is more powerful isn’t a problem.

But what else can we do to bring people together?

Food, of course! What else brings people together faster and better than a meal? Potlucks are always popular, either after a ritual or as part of a gathering of any size.

What I try to do, and what I recommend to anyone is this: research, research, research.

Research your pantheon. Where do your gods and goddesses

Continued on Page 22 ™•

September 2012 • Volume 3

9

Making the Divine Mind, Mine

by Sister Nariel, Fiach Dair Contemplative Order of Anam Cara

Just Who Do You Think You Are?

10

They used to be fighting words: “Just who do you think you are?”

“Just who do you think you are?”

Uttered generally as an admonition and a warning, these few choice words could stop people in their tracks and make them carefully (but quickly) assess their position. In many cases they were a death knell to further word or action. Apparently, and on second thought— who we thought we were wasn’t worthy of continuing forward. Self-assessment can be a real pain in the backside sometimes.

Being a Pagan was right on in the 70’s, punk in the 80’s and downright chic in the 90’s. It meant you were unique, cut from a different cloth and thought outside the box. It was cool to have a Buddha statue in your patchouli scented studio apartment.

Living green, sporting a 12” in diameter pentacle on your chest and feeling free enough to have more than one lover was the penultimate lifestyle!

Today however, many Pagan folk are feeling the squeeze

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

Indeed.

of a culture attempting to “find itself” again, amidst social upheaval and a return en masse to a conservative Judeo-Christian ideology that is waging its own brand of holy war. Women’s rights and privileges in America are the front line of political rhetoric and actions that threaten to subvert all of the gains of our foremothers worked for.

Civil and basic human rights of minorities are at risk. Gay and lesbian citizens still struggle for marital recognition. The planet is ravaged by epic storms, heat waves and droughts that are part of a global climate change

that is decried as a figment of scientific imagination. Many of the things that we as Pagans value and strive towards, are setting us firmly in the cross hairs of those that would see a return to a life and society circa 1900.

“Just who do you think you are?”

Being a Pagan in the 21st century is an experience unlike the decades that preceded it.

It’s not a game, or a free-forall-anything-goes alternative lifestyle choice. Identifying as a Pagan is a stand we make with our eyes wide open, our hands outstretched and our feet firmly planted on terra firma that demands we be good stewards of the gift we’ve been given. When we speak, we speak with authority that is based in clear logic and spiritual certainty that emerges from fearless selfinventory and acceptance of our karmic role in the modern world.

We are organizers of peaceful demonstration, we are advocates of a just system of society, we are creative and inventive recyclers, we are the hands that give to the needy and we are the voice

of minority populations. We are rich, we are poor, we are everywhere in between and we refuse to be pigeon-holed by those who haven’t a clue of what we believe and why. We are teachers, police officers, authors and artists. We are soldiers and we are ministers.

We are urban and we are rural.

We are everywhere. We are the face of unbiased, openminded acceptance of the diversity in the world around us and we choose to embrace the differences, rather than demand that all others cowtow to our way of thinking and being. We proudly stand beside our husband(s), wife(ves) and lover(s) without apology for our values and the expression of them.

“Just who do you think you are?”

We are pagan and we are proud—aren’t we?

As we survey the world and situations surrounding us, we must seek out the pattern of The Weave of which we are a part. We must be fully persuaded and wholly committed to the causes that we believe in. These causes, could impact our generation and world in such a manner

that we become the heroes of stories that will be told long after we are gone. If the world is to remember us, it will do so only after we have left decidedly firm footprints in the sand. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Be the change...

“Just who do you think you are?”

When you can answer that question and not back down due to unmanageable fear and faulty self-deprecating estimations, then these words are no longer the death knell. These words become the preamble to your own Declaration of Independence, heralding a future that our children—our open minded, politically active, socially conscious children—can be proud of.

I think that I am a proud Pagan woman with a voice that is worthy of being heard and remembered. I have value and I will be counted as a hero in days yet to come.

So, just who do you think YOU are?

✪

™•

September 2012 • Volume 3 11

Finding The Edge Pagan Pride

NYC Messenger Bag http://www.bambeco.com $47.00

Hamsa HamsaHand HandofofProtection Protection- Carved CarvedNatural NaturalSlate SlateStone Stone http://www.etsy.com $8.00

Banana Paper 2-Subject College Rule Notebooks

http://www.theultimategreenstore.com

$5.95

6 Point Hudson Bay Blankets http://www.hanksclothing.com $318.50 7” Recycled Newspaper Pencils http://treesmart.com $5.95 12

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

Craft Corner Ojo de Dios

A

God’s Eye or Ojo de Dios is a yarn and stick weaving originating with the Huichol peoples of western Mexico, in the Sierra Madres. A spiritual object that can be understated or complex in construction, the God’s Eye is symbolic of the power of seeing and understanding that which is unknown and unknowable. The four points formed by the sticks represent the elements earth, fire, air, and water.

O

ther Native American groups are known to make God’s Eyes. Some of the complex examples resemble mandalas with numerous colors and arrangements of sticks. A basic God’s Eye is easy to make utilizing common materials. It can be made as a craft on a raining day or as an object of meditation with the methodical wrapping of the yarn and building up of pattern.

Materials: •

Sticks (Dowels, Popsicle sticks, twigs, small branches, pencils, etc.)

•

Yarn (wire, string, jute, raffia, etc. in a variety of textures and colors)

•

Glue or tape (optional)

1. Hold the sticks together in the shape of a cross while you start winding the yarn. Glue or tape can be used to hold them together for more stability when starting.

2. Wrap the yarn in an X pattern where the sticks come together to cover the center and to stabilize the sticks.

Continued on 16

™•

September 2012 • Volume 3 13

Continued from 13

3. Bring the yarn down and wrap it around one of the arms. As the yarn passes over the top of the arm, move to the next. Work your way around each of the four arms.

4. Make color changes at the back of the God’s Eye, behind one of the arms. Changing yarns behind the same arm will help to keep the size of the rows consistent.

5. When done with wrapping, tie off the yarn and make a loop for hanging before cutting.

6. The ends of the sticks can be decorated with tassels or smaller God’s Eyes can be made with another stick placed across the end of one of the original sticks and more yarn.

✪

16

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

...take this pagan lifestyle and make it your own.

drives in the opposite direction of home, up the highway to the coast or up the mountainside to overlook the city, escape its noise and busyness. With approaching sabbats, she takes great care to plan a trip out of town to spend her holiday. Her favorite forest or lake serves her need to worship the gods in the perfect setting. This businesswoman-turned-nature-lover lets her hair down, literally. Trades her pumps for sneakers, her suit for a sweater and jeans, throws in a splash of color she wouldn’t dare wear to the office and clasps on an artisan-made pentacle she bought at the downtown new age shop as she explores her favorite nature park.

The Re-Creationist The re-creationist prefers the privacy of her flat: it’s closeat-hand, has everything she needs, and she can control the environment. She doesn’t get to festivals often but has

found some great ritual-worthy clothing and accessories at the second-hand store. Some of these pieces she even wears to her workplace, hoping to catch the interest of observant co-workers and perhaps invite them to the next ritual. In her living space, she sets the mood with scarves draped over lamps, oversized pillows strewn on the floor, and some meditation CDs. She covers the television screen with a table cloth and converts it into an altar space with incense and candles. Her hard work and attention to detail create a safe and sacred space for close friends and new acquaintances to come together and worship.

is difficult or her shift at her job prevents her from participating.

She needs something more, something different, and she finds it on the internet. Through various discussion groups and social sites, she is engaged, learning, sharing, and fulfilled.

She has discovered the beauty of online rituals, where one can wear - or not wear - whatever she wants. She can light virtual candles online, and/or next to her computer, or not at all. If the discussion or ritual leads in a direction she’s not interested in, she can simple ignore it. Her needs are met on her schedule, at her convenience, and the resources are boundless.

The Digi-Pag Perhaps the digital pagan has visited her local meet-up groups, checked out the public rituals, and tried to find a community in her community for her but could not find satisfaction. Perhaps she is homebound and getting out

However you do it, whoever you are, it is important for you to take this pagan lifestyle and make it your own. Make it something you can own. Experiment with your options and find the path that speaks to your being and allows you to fulfill your identity of culturally pagan.

™•

September 2012 • Volume 3 17

T: 7 in

Make sure your family has a plan in case of an emergency.

Fill out these cards, and give one to each member of your family to make sure they know who to call and where to meet in case of an emergency.

For more information on how to make a family emergency plan, go to ready.gov

✁

✁ Family Emergency Plan

Family Emergency Plan

EMERGENCY CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

EMERGENCY CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

OUT-OF-TOWN CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

OUT-OF-TOWN CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING PLACE: TELEPHONE:

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING PLACE: TELEPHONE:

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

DIAL 911 FOR EMERGENCIES

DIAL 911 FOR EMERGENCIES

Family Emergency Plan

Family Emergency Plan

EMERGENCY CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

EMERGENCY CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

OUT-OF-TOWN CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

OUT-OF-TOWN CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING PLACE: TELEPHONE:

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING PLACE: TELEPHONE:

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

DIAL 911 FOR EMERGENCIES

DIAL 911 FOR EMERGENCIES

✁

✁

18

Family Emergency Plan

Family Emergency Plan

EMERGENCY CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

EMERGENCY CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

OUT-OF-TOWN CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

OUT-OF-TOWN CONTACT NAME: TELEPHONE:

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING PLACE: TELEPHONE:

NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING PLACE: TELEPHONE:

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

DIAL 911 FOR EMERGENCIES

DIAL 911 FOR EMERGENCIES

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

T: 10 in

✁

✁

The Pagan Edge

Book Review

by Faelin Wolf

by Jo Coudert, 2010, ISBN: 0373892306

I delved into the animals stories this month for you!

I found The Dog Who Healed a Family by Jo Coudert.

Coudert tells the stories of many different animals and demonstrates the impact, love, and healing these animals have had on their owners, adopters, and rescuers. You’ll read the story of a lost fawn that is adopted by the staff and residents of a mental institution. A man brings his wife a pot-bellied pig that helps her conquer her agoraphobia. A family fights to keep the javelina that they had raised since it was found hurt in the road. Three children adopted into a family start to heal because of the new family dog—and that dog helps forge connections between the adopted children and the biological children.

These are just a few of the stories in this very sweet book.

I don’t know if you have noticed, but there seem to be a lot of books coming out about extraordinary animals that have touched people’s lives and/or changed them for the better. It started, at least in my memory, with Marley, the dog and then Dewey, the library cat. Now there are so many books, mostly, it seems, about dogs like Oogy, Katie, and Huck, but even some about other animals, like an owl named Wesley.

I loved reading about the many different animals that were touching people’s lives, but I will warn you— expect some tears while reading these stories! Many are bittersweet. But what I liked the most, though, about these stories is that they demonstrated the importance of animals in our lives and highlighted how they can help people heal , find a purpose, or feel loved. That bond, our bond with our animals, is magical.

The Dog Who Healed a Family: And Other True Animal Stories

that Warm the Heart & Touch the Soul

™•

September 2012 • Volume 3 19

Th eM

kal Mouse c i ag

re fl e c tions b y jes s * c a mae

As a new parent, I struggle with raising my daughter in the Pagan culture. My Circle, with which my partner and I meet for ritual, is like family to us — and we connect in many ways we are unable to with our biological family. I wish for my daughter to also consider this group of people family, mentors, and friends she can trust as she grows up in this world.

Before she was even born, she was gifted with a pair of moccassins for her naming ceremony. She also acquired an earth girl onesie painted with a world-tree design. Circle aunties and uncles continue to pick up funky, hippyish, ritual clothes for her at second-hand sales.

Before she was two-weeksold, she had attended her first Goddess Party; by four-weeks a Handfasting. Ritual planners are incorporating “baby-friendly” elements into our upcoming Mabon celebration and soon we will have a Baby Blessing starring

20

A Universal Lesson

her as the center of attention. It’s obvious I’m not the only one gaga for this little one.

The question in my mind, with all of the love and support surrounding her from my Pagan community... is their any other option for her than to be Pagan?

I worry about “pushing” my practices and beliefs on her. I think I speak for many parents when I say: “I want her to choose her own path and interests, although I do hope that they are the same as mine.”

Raised Catholic myself, I know life would be easier for her if she were not Pagan. At the age when young ones start sharing their religious upbringing with schoolmates, I fear for my daughter’s well being when declaring “I am Pagan”. Perhaps things have changed since I myself was a schoolgirl, but I do not recall much kindness shown to the one “witch-girl” at my primary school.

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

I hope to find ways to encourage my child to develop and define her own path. Hope to give her tools to articulate her own beliefs to peers and her society. Perhaps she will learn to tell her friends, “My mum and da are Pagan, but I don’t know what I am yet.”

Whatever labels she determines to assume or leave behind, I plan to teach her respect for the earth mother, respect for herself, and respect for others. There are some lessons universal nomatter what one chooses to claim their culture.

✪

“I can only hope,” Amy thought, annoyed.

It was a bright, sunny Saturday for the festival.

Several people were dressed up in ritual garb. There were, of course, several booths with merchandise, but there were also several booths set up just for information. Amy took up a station at the Hellenic Reconstruction booth and waited for her well-meaning parents to embarrass her.

At first George and Alice felt very out of place among so many college students. But they saw older people whom they assumed were parents and relatives. Although lifelong Christians, and although generally supportive of Amy’s paganism, they hadn’t really learned too much about her religion or pagan culture.

They walked into the festival still thinking paganism had something do with Celtic jewelry, fairies, and celebrating Christmas and Easter but calling those holidays something else.

They passed booths for Wicca, but also for Kemeticism, Astaru, and many others, including Amy’s booth.

They listened to the helpful information and left with very different ideas.

religions, instead of just one and I know when I started looking into, that didn’t make much sense to me,” Amy said.

“That’s why I volunteered for the festival. I wanted to help people make sense of it.”

“Well, it certainly helped us,” George said.

Amy smiled.

“We owe you an apology,” George said at dinner that night.

“We thought we knew what paganism was, and we didn’t bother to find out if we were right or not,” Alice said.

“We’re sorry, honey.

I think we’ve been dismissive of your religion instead of supportive of it.”

“We found out paganism isn’t this monolithic religion,” George said, “Any more than Christianity is.

Again, we’re sorry we were so close-minded.”

“That’s ok. You know now, and I’m really glad you came. Paganism is like an umbrella of

™•

September 2012 • Volume 3 21

Continued from Page 9

come from? What is that culture like?

Learn about that culture and learn about its FOOD. What better offering to give to a god or goddess than a food with which s/ he is familiar? And, what a great way to share this culture with others who may be curious about it .

Being rather eclectic, like many others, I don’t have one specific pantheon. Hestia is my hearth goddess, so I dedicate a lot of my work to her, especially bread making. She is a Greek goddess, so I figure Greek food is perfectly appropriate. Now, some people do not wish to give meat as offerings for various reasons, and that is fine. You can prepare a dish, or you can do something as simple as an offering of grain or produce.

However, if you do prepare a special meal, it is always a good gesture to offer some to the gods.

I offer the following to Hestia.

Whole Wheat Pita • • • • • • • •

1 package dry yeast ½ cup warm water 1 tablespoon honey 2 ¼-2 ½ cups all-purpose flour ¾ cup whole wheat flour 2 teaspoons salt 1 – 1 ¼ cup warm water

Dissolve the yeast and honey in the warm water. Allow to stand 10 minutes.

Mix together the flour and salt.

Make a well in the center. Add the 22

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

yeast mixture and stir.

Slowly add the rest of the warm water, stirring to form a sticky dough.

Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead, adding extra flour where needed, for 20 minutes. Dough will be smooth and elastic.

Coat a bowl with a few drops of oil. Turn the ball of dough to coat it and leave to rise for 2 ½ -3 hours.

Take the dough and roll into a log.

Divide into 10-12 pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and let them rest for 5 minutes.

Heat the oven and a baking pan to 500 F. Take each ball of dough and flatten into a 5-6” round. Place the rounds on the hot pan 3-4 at a time. Bake for 4 minutes on one side. Turn over and bake another 2 minutes. Remove with a spatula and flatten slightly. Repeat until you have 10-12 pitas. Store in an airtight bag if not using immediately.

Finding the Edge

Manhattan Storage Benches http://www.theultimategreenstore.com

$69.00

Prang Soybean Blend Biodegradable Crayons, Tuck Box - 24 Count http://www.theultimategreenstore.com

$2.45

™•

September 2012 • Volume 3 23

DESIGN Edge

here is a magical little shop in T Vancouver British Columbia, on Fourth Avenue, inside is a beautiful

seamstress surrounded by objects manifesting potent creative energy.

If you meet the designer April Peters of the House Gallery Boutique she might tell you she is a small town girl who just loves to sew, she is one of the most humble souls I have ever known. She is genuinely kind hearted as well. If you were able to “see” into the magical realms of spirits, you would find that her little shop is absolutely filled with angels and guides all vying for an opportunity to whisper in her ear.

The remarkable thing is that she listens.

24

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

A

lso, available on-line at www.housegalleryboutique.com (new website is in progress).

There is a large selection of ready-to-wear in a variety of sizes and styles for women, men and children. If you want something in particular that you don’t find on her website, or in her shop, (if you are so lucky to be in Vancouver on a visit) she does custom orders, individualized, custom fit, one-of-a-kind. These are not “costumes” they are skillfully sewn, quality garments.

April also sells and creates clothing for the film industry.

For the modern Pagan this is your go-to source for magical wear.

2865 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6K 1R3 CANADA phone / fax 604 732 8647

™•

September 2012 • Volume 3 25

Pagan Edge Books for Wisdom

26

The Triumph of the Moon:

by Ronald Hutton $16.49

Pagan Polyamory: Becoming a Tribe of Hearts

by Raven Kaldera $17.43

Essential Asatru: Walking the Path of Norse...

by Diana L. Paxson $10.36

The Pagan Clergy's Guide for Counseling, Cr...

by Kevin Gardner $15.59

Exploring the Northern Tradition:

by Galina Krasskova $10.19

The Study of Witchcraft:

by Deborah Lipp $11.01

Growing Up Pagan:

by Raine Hill $13.58

Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic

by Edred Thorsson $11.53

Pagan Spain

by Richard Wright $20.00

Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves:

by Sarah M. Pike $28.95

™•September 2012 • Volume 3

New Age and Neopagan Religions in America

by Sarah M. Pike $28.00

Passages Handfasting:

by Rev. Dr. Kendra Vaughan Hovey $10.07

Lead paint poisoning affects over one million children today.

Learning disabilities, hearing loss, speech delays, violent behavior and, in rare cases, seizures and even death: these are just some of the effects lead paint poisoning has on young children. If your home was built before 1978, lead paint on your walls, doors, windows and sills may be dangerous. And it’s not just large paint chips that can cause damage. In fact, three granules of lead dust are enough to poison your child. Let’s make all kids lead-free kids. To learn more about the simple steps you can take to safeguard your family, log on to LEADFREEKIDS.org or call 800-424-LEAD.

Moving is the best medicine. Keeping active and losing weight are just two of the ways that you can fight osteoarthritis pain. In fact, for every pound you lose, that’s four pounds less pressure on each knee.

For information on managing pain, go to fightarthritispain.org.