January 2011 "Resolution"

Opening the Door Intentions & Goals Kenny Klein Orchids Janus Heating Bags Pagan Every Day PE is One Year Old Shedding One’s Skin

“Resolution” January 2011 Volume II • Issue 1 ™• January 2011 • Volume II

Pirates, Pancakes, Mermaids & Magic

By Blessed Be Adventures, Pagan Vacations

www.BlessedBeAdventures.com Fla. Seller of Travel No. ST37797

Spend 9 Days exploring Magical Florida including: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure The Gasparilla, Tampa’s annual pirate festival The famous mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs

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™• January 2011 • Volume II

PUBLISHER EXECUTIVE EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS

LAYOUT WEBSITE ADVERTISING

Eberhardt, Personal Visions jess*ca mae Tootie Marie Dawn Sherwood Faelin Wolf Mya Om Michelle Crowskin Bond V.L. Wendy Beth LJ Rose Ankolie Donovan Refraction Design & Creative Services Personal Visions 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 these 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 www.paganedge.com

™• January 2011 • Volume II

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Connecting Alternative-Faith Writers and Readers

EDUCATE INSPIRE PROMOTE http://paganwriters.com/ Join our Fan Page on Facebook PaganWriters on Twitter

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™• January 2011 • Volume II

contents 6 Dream Weaving Year In Review 8 Urban Shaman Shedding One’s Skin 10 Janus God of Doorways, Gates, and Time

12 Keeping the Edge Opening the Door 13 101 Resolutions On The Cover: model: Michael photographer: EWVanderBerg effects: jess*ca mae

14 HandeCraft Heating Bags 16 Elders Corner Intentions & Goals 18 Note This Music Review on Kenny Klein

19 PE Book Review Pagan Every Day 20 Plant Vibes Orchids 22 Advice Our Lady’s Counsel

VOLUME II • ISSUE 1 • JANUARY 2011 “RESOLUTION” PAGAN EDGE™ IS PUBLISHED MONTHLY

BY PERSONAL VISIONS ADMIN@PAGANEDGE.COM ™• January 2011 • Volume II

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Dream Weaving Year In Review...

Wow, our first year has passed.

Honestly, I would not know more than a couple of days had passed if the calendar did not insist on linear time. I have some doubt to the calendar’s ability to be truthful with me but that is a whole other battle. Pagan Edge is one-yearold! The baby of two people’s dream, with a wonderfully helpful and supportive family, has finally found its balance, stood up, and walked about. It is amazing what a group of old and new friends can do when we set out to make something greater than the sum of its parts. We were not sure when we started if a monthly lifestyle magazine had room in the pagan community or if we could find enough to say about living our lives in keeping with our beliefs. It has been a challenge, don’t get me wrong, but we have grown as a team and our quality and content has grown impressively in the 12 issues that have been produced for 2010. It is exciting to know we have a whole new year planned for you all!

publisher speaks

Our little magazine is now being read in over 70 countries (again WOW) and by thousands of people a month through electronic publishing online and in hard copy print. We have added original writers, artists, models, and distribution methods all with a volunteer staff. We have hundreds of fans on each of our big three social networks and plenty more visiting us via our smaller associations and networking. For 2011 we have more innovations planned. We hope to bring you fresh new takes on cooking, living with the four elements, Deities of the Home, and sensuality and relationships, as well as continuing columns and articles you have told us you love. We are also dreaming about a lower cost print issue (cross your fingers) as well as possible editions for your e-readers.

Most of all, I personally want to thank everyone supporting our efforts by becoming a reader and a fan. Our staff feels passionately about bringing you fresh and useful content.

We hope you will like our offerings in the months to come!

Blessed Be! Eberhardt

Pagan Edge Magazine Born: January 1st, 2010 Published: Monthly via hardcopy & web Creators: Eberhardt & jess*ca mae Issues to Date: 13 (including this one) Number of Contributors in the last 12 months: 41 ds Our Go oring • Hon Grimes • Peter of Tyr • Music s Roles • Men’ Closet om The Bro

ds” day Go “Every

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0 June 201 6 ue I 1• •Iss e2010 Volume Vol™um • June

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Website: www.paganedge.com FaceBook: facebook.com/group.php?gid=171943069882 MySpace: myspace.com/paganedgemagazine Twitter: twitter.com/paganedge

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Illustration by Ankolie 8

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Shedding One’s Skin

the Urban Shaman

by Michelle “Crowskin” Bond

Lessons from the Serpent

Snakes have been honored and worshiped in many cultures. From the ancient Egyptians who revered the snakes for their ability to heal as well as harm; to the Hindu religions where they were honored for strength and renewal.

Although there has always been some inner fear of these slithering creatures that seems ingrained in our general instincts, there is also a duality of honor, respect, awe, and praise as well.

Almost all the cultures who have worshiped the serpent, strongly associated it with properties which include the ability to renew, regenerate, and resurrect oneself from one aspect of life into another.

Often these attributes are given to animals through observing how the creature acts and behaves. When a snake sheds its skin it leaves the old remnant of itself behind in order to leave clean and new. This often fascinates observers who watch an older, dull creature transform into a new-looking, fresh, and often times brighter one.

To learn from Snake’s medicine

is also to learn to shed previous hurts and old ideas of self that are no longer relevant to who you are now. It is a way of embracing and accepting the transformation of self.

the time to celebrate the transition from where we have been to where we are. It is not only important to celebrate such times in our lives – but it should be encouraged in our children and friends as well.

Just as serpents go through these continued aspects of change, growth, and regeneration we go through our own cycles of new growth and changing as well.

We adapt and change on a near constant basis but we don’t always follow the lessons from the serpent totem that teaches us about letting go of our old selves as well.

We sometimes forget to cast off the past hurt, betrayals and guilts which build up on our outer “skin”.

In order to do so properly we must also learn how to let go of negativity and start embracing the good changes we can make in our lives.

While our ancestors used to have celebrations of these rites and passages of self, we in modern society often lack perception of these significant and important transitions. We don’t have very many rituals and rites of passage and sometimes that makes these important transitions slip by almost unnoticed.

Like the snake we should take the opportunity to better ourselves with each new incarnation, and take

The modern celebration of the New Year is very similar to snake medicine. We reinvent ourselves for the new year and try hard to both change and adapt new things into our lives. We make lists of wants and desires, or make lists of things we plan on doing different. A lot of these lists tend to be associated with negative traits and aspects.

Often divulging into a list of rules for ourselves that do little for helping our self esteem.

This year, I suggest taking a lesson from Snake Medicine instead.

Switch from making a list of things you want to change, do, accomplish, or get rid of, and turn it into something more positive.

Serpent continued on page XX 23 ™• January 2011 • Volume II

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Janus God of Doorways, Gates, and Time

by Eberhardt

This is the first in a four part series looking at some of the ways we can bring ourselves in tune with Gods and Goddesses who can play significant roles in the way we live our daily lives. Of course we can do this with any Deity that speaks to us, but we have chosen four — revered for their places in the home and family life.

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It is not a coincidence that to start our second year of Pagan Edge we picked Janus, for whom January is named as our first Deity. Janus was recognized by the Romans from their earliest of days as the God who watched over the thresholds to their cities and homes. Because of kindness shown to Saturn, Janus was also given the grace to see both the past and the future at the same time. This ability makes him more important today than perhaps at any other time because he is the God of beginnings and transitions.

In the information age it can seem like our entire day is full of transition and this can leave us feeling un-anchored against the hard winds of time.

Changes — like the progression of past to future (the now), of one state to another (happy to sad), or of one vision to another — fill our daily lives. All of these things can be made meaningful and provide anchor points by tuning your perception to be aligned with Janus. Start by picking an archway, hall, or prominent doorway in your home to dedicate to Janus.

These passages can be used to bring special meaning to a birthday, anniversary, puberty, a school degree etc. This is done by making each transition not only a mental act but a physical one. By asking for divine supervision or guidance from Janus these transitions also become sacred events and tie them to our souls.

How do we learn the lessons Janus has to teach us in a culture far removed from Ancient Rome? The first lesson brought forward is the sacred nature of the act of transition.

Western culture and especially American culture has lost many of its opportunities to enrich life because we do not acknowledge change. Janus can help us move through the choices in life which cannot be reversed.

If you have a family member or other loved one that is in military service choose a special doorway within your home (ideally one that is normally closed) and leave it open when they are not at home. This is similar to what the Romans did in time of war for entire armies but is more personal and immediate.

Decorate the door frame with pictures and postcards or any other mementos so each time Janus continued on page 24

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mypersonalvisions.net ™• January 2011 • Volume II

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Keeping the Edge

by Mya Om

Opening the Door

I see New Year’s Resolutions as a knock on the door of the mystical – like prayer these resolutions are a societally accepted method of spell work. Even the most devout Non-Pagan does so with no idea or real understanding of the significance of what he or she is doing. It is this lack of understanding the magickal underpinnings of setting a resolution that contributes to the high degree of failure of those same resolutions. Yet the custom persists, and as with most customs, this creates an energy that can be tapped into for a time to power a working.

Each year those hopeful of 12

™• January 2011 • Volume II

making a meaningful change resolve to abandon bad habits, and/or embrace good habits – they say “next year I will ____ ______.” They try intuitively to use the energy associated with the turning of the wheel, and with a natural new beginning to adopt changes. We see this every year – gym memberships soar and sales of health food, exercise equipment, etc... sky rocket. But, by mid-February the energy of the resolution season runs its course and all but the most stalwart falter – even those of us who have an understanding of magick often abandon our resolutions within a few short weeks. I have done it myself.

Why?

It comes down to one thing – a lack of follow through. It is easy when you are riding the energy-high of the custom to stick with what you are doing. After all, the energy is acting on YOU, pushing you to follow through with your stated intent. Unfortunately that energy does not last once the season is over, and when it runs out the energy of the resolution itself runs out – this is a natural cycle and it is the reason many resolutions fail.

Look at it this way – if you don’t fill your car up with gas every now and then, it eventually Opening continued on page 25

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Heating Bag

With cold weather comes aches and pains. Heating pads can be dangerous and it is not recommended to fall asleep while using one. This is a safe way to warm up your winter slumber.

Slips and falls can be a part of winter as well. The next time you slip on the ice and twist your ankle, reach for this instead of ice or a chemical filled cooling pack. Ice can be damaging to the skin. It also

melts and makes a mess. As for the chemical filled cooling pack, well, they are chemical filled. It frightens me to even think what those things are made of, let alone what it would do to my skin if the chemicals leaked out.

This project is very easy and can be completed in less than a half hour. The tube sock version takes less than ten minutes.

Supplies: (Inside) • Filling Material Rice, Bird Seed, or Flax Seed • Herbs • Essential Oil • Plastic Bag or Covered Container • Empty Toilet Paper Role or Large Mouthed Funnel (Covering) • Tube Sock or Cotton Fabric (i.e. muslin, quilting fabric, an old towel, wash cloth, or flannel skirt that has seen better days) • Needle and Thread, or Sewing Machine and Thread • Scissors • Iron (Optional)

Prepare Insides: If essential oils are being used, combine your choice of filling material with about 3 to 10 drops of essential oil. Mix well and store in a covered container or plastic bag for 1 to 2 days.

Prepare Covering: If a tube sock is being used, skip to ‘Filling.’ Any cotton fabric can be used. If desired, a bag can be made from plain muslin and a case made from more eye pleasing fabric. A case can be easily removed and washed. I find that by the time the bag needs laundering, it is also time for new filling 14

™• January 2011 • Volume II

Handecraft

A Warm Solution to a Cold Day material.

There are many wonderful prints available in the quilting section of your local fabric store. Do not use fabrics with any metallic threads or finishes as they may damage the microwave. The size and shape of the bag is up to you. I have purchased a flax seed bag that is the length of my spine with wider area at the top and bottom to alleviate shoulder and hip issues. For the rice bags I make, I use 1/4 of a yard of 45” fabric. These are the perfect size to wrap around the back of the neck. Two can be used for along the length of the spine and another can be placed across the shoulders.

Filling: This is the hard part. I use an empty toilet paper role to aid in filling. A large mouthed funnel may also be helpful.

Using whatever method works

a how-to by Wendy Beth

best with what is on hand, fill the bag or tube sock about 2/3rds full. If herbs are being added, add them periodically during filling to ensure good Heating continued on page 27

After the fabric has been cut to the desired dimensions, fold it in half with right sides or printed sides together. Iron if desired. Sew two of the open sides by hand or machine. Clip the two corners opposite the remaining opening to allow for easy turning. Turn the bag right side out. For the size I make it is too small to reach my hand into and turn the corners out, so I gather the bag up like I am putting on a sock or stocking. Then I can poke the corners with my finger tips. Once the bag is turned, it is ready to be filled. ™• January 2011 • Volume II

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ntentions I Goals

&

From the Elders Corner

by Lucille M Rose

Bettering Ourselves In Our Communities Setting Goals and Intentions...

Every late December the commentators for the evening News Entertainment report in their breathless, anxious voices:

“People are making their resolutions.”

My first question: WHO are these “people”? My second question: how have these commentators obtained this private information? Are they interviewing “people”, are they calling people on their phones, or are they gifted and just know this information? Rather than taking the time to seek the answers to these questions, I, along with almost everyone else will make resolutions and on January 1st run blindly “to the land of broken resolutions”.

Yet again I will play the game

and lose. However,

I for one am tired of losing at this resolution game.

This year I am going to do something different. This year I am not going to be a participant in the game. This year I am going to live on the edge of danger!

This past summer, one of my friends decided to quit smoking. She did not wait for January 1st to make a resolution to be broken one day or one week later. That would have been the easy and safest way to not accomplish such a goal. No, not her, she is gutsy; she set an intention between her and her Goddess!

How does one set an intention between oneself and their

deity and not honor it? I have done some crazy things in my life but not something like this.

Then again, I know if I want to really succeed, this would be the way to accomplish the goal.

This year I am going to give some serious thought about my goals/intentions and “discuss” them with my Deities. I can hardly wait to hear my Deities making such comments as

“She wants to do that and that and that?

Really!” ...finding much amusement with my goals/intentions.

However, I know they will be more than helpful. They will provide opportunities and be supportive.

Intentions continued on page 26

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Upcoming Themes & Deadlines

February 2011, theme: Earth Element Deadline: January 5th, 2011 March 2011, theme: Magick Deadline: January 5th, 2011 April 2011, theme: Environment Deadline: March 5th, 2011 ™• January 2011 • Volume II

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Country Gypsy: Music Review

by V.L.

Fiddles are amazing. Fiddlers, however, are something else magical. For every fiddler that dances their bow across the strings of their fiddle, a heart is dancing. We all know dancing hearts are happy hearts. That is why Kenny Klein has had such successes over the years. Unlike the fiddler on the roof, he didn’t start out on top.

In the 70’s and 80’s, Kenny was studying violin in New York, then in Europe; little did he know what he was going to embark on. After getting married, he began his musical career with his wife. In 1985, they released their first album. Shortly thereafter, they began touring the country. The two played at Pagan festivals, Renaissance Fairs, and Folk music venues. The marriage, however, didn’t survive. From the ashes of this unfortunate event rose a phoenix: Klein’s solo career.

Klein began recording solo with Blackthorn Records; and in 1994 released his first solo album. From there, he continued touring the country and playing similar venues to his previous tours. He also participated in what some musicians would like to call a show down; specifically, multiple fiddle championships. From the U.S. to Belgium and back, Klein has spread his music without much of a hitch to stop him. In 2000, he even started working with Odd’s Bodkin (featuring Anna Klein and Stephanie) to make matters more interesting. The trio puts on entertaining performances at Renaissance fairs, a highlight tune being Sometimes I Speak Like A Pirate; an ode to Ren fair employees.

Klein’s music is very enjoyable. The rhythms and melodies can cause a person to jump and start doing a jig or sit and reflect their life. His work on the fiddle ranges from the touch of a Gypsy, to jazz, to bluegrass. Whether he’s playing a romping jig or a legato ballad, Klein shows expertise on his primary instrument. His singing shouldn’t be any less recognized. His voice carries a raw honesty within it when he sings his lyrics. Those words that make

up his songs, whether funny or serious, reflect a reality that Pagans everywhere live. Most importantly, it’s clear that he’s feeling the same emotion as his audience. It doesn’t matter whether the listener is crying from sadness or joy, Klein will reflect that same emotion on and off the stage.

Since 1994, Klein has released six solo albums and one self titled album with Odd’s Bodkin. The most recent album, Meet Me In The Shade Of The Maple Tree can be considered the world’s first Pagan Gospel album. The bluegrass church feel is mixed with a gypsy taste and Pagan faith.

Klein is also a literary writer. In 1993, The Flowering Rod was published. It has been edited and republished by Immanion Press. More recently, Klein had a second work published. Through the Faerie Glass was made available through Llewellyn Press in February, 2010.

Kenny Klein is a very talented fellow indeed; and the Pagan music community is more than glad to have him.

To find out more about him or Odd’s Bodkin, visit www. kennyklein.net. Both Klein and his band can also be found on MySpace. Odd’s Bodkin has a page on Facebook with more contact information and just waiting for you guys to hit the “Like” button. What are you waiting for?

Go; release your inner gypsy and dance to Kenny Klein’s awesome fiddle.

Our monthly featured artists can be heard on: www.myspace.com/paganedgemagazine 18

™• January 2011 • Volume II

The Pagan Edge

Book Review

by Faelin Wolf

Pagan Every Day: Finding the Extraordinary in Our Ordinary Lives

by Barbara Ardinger, 2006 ISBN: 157863332X

This is not exactly a review, but more of an invitation and a challenge. I discovered this book while browsing Amazon.com, one of my favorite activities and one of the many ways I find books to review for this column!

My first thought was “I am pagan every day!

Maybe I should read this book.” So I bought it.

Ardinger’s book reminds me of those Christian daily devotional books that offer a page of inspirational text to read every day for a year.

But Pagan Every Day isn’t full of prayers or Bible quotes—it’s full of information about a wide range of topics, all of them pagan, as Ardinger sees them. Daily entries focus not just on gods and goddesses or festivals and holidays, but on nature, animals, organizations, historical figures, astrology, and even Barbie and other

pop culture references! Ardinger says in her introduction that “every day of the year…is ordinary and luminous” and Pagan Every Day is a “remindery” book to help us remember this.

I invite and challenge you, readers, to read Pagan Every Day with me this year. Let’s start January first (or maybe a little after, since you will have to get the book for yourself—but it will be easy to catch up!) and read a page a day. Ardinger encourages us to use this book interactively and to have conversations not only with the material in the book, but with each other about what we are learning or remembering or discovering. So, let’s start having conversations about the book! Send me an email, talk to your friends, talk to yourself (through a journal, maybe?). Then we can gather our thoughts at the end of the year and share what we’ve been discussing. Are you up for the challenge? Let’s go! Happy reading!

Join Faelin Wolf’s challenge and email your thoughts on Pagan Every Day to advice@paganedge.com author, Barbara Ardinger

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Plant Vibes

ORCHIDS

by Dawn Sherwood

Lustfully Beautiful… Beautifully Easy

Blooming Lust In dreams of you, I am an Orchid, inviting the moth’s caress.

A voluptuously superfluous expression of sensuality and seduction.

An exclamation of touch me, take me, drink-me-in... bold, brazen beauty.

Slipper Orchid (Paphiopedilum)

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Orchids are one of the floral kingdom’s most magnificent physical manifestations of Goddess energy. Many plant lovers find Orchids to be beautiful and exotic, but assume them to be too difficult to grow. In the past this was true, but much research into their native growing conditions and advances in propagation in the last few decades has changed that. High quality Orchids, from several of the easier to grow genera, are now available at many mass merchandisers. Their bountiful blooms send out a Siren’s call as you wheel past with your shopping cart. This does not, however, mean you should just grab and go - blinded by an abundance of blooms!

That multitude of blooms can signal a healthy Orchid or one that is distressed. The most important thing to check is that the plant is very solid in the pot, with its roots tightly (yes, tightly) packed in bark and perhaps a bit of sphagnum moss. About 90% of Orchids cling to tree bark in their native habitat. The genera being offered for retail are in this very broad group and should NOT be growing in soil. You may see roots peeking out, as they

Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis)

seek a bit of air, which is fine if they look plump and healthy. Do give a once over for insect pests as well before heading to the register with your adoptee.

Light, water, and a bit of fertilizing will be the keys to helping your Orchid thrive in your home.

Orchids being offered in general retail are fairly light-adaptable.

Those in the low to medium light category do well with filtered or indirect light of medium intensity, avoiding windows of southern exposure. These include; Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis) and Slipper Orchid (Paphiopedilum).

Those in the medium to high light categories will do well with indirect light from a southern or western exposure: Butterfly Orchid (Encyclia), Christmas Orchid (Cattleya), and Dancing Doll/Girls/Ladies Orchid (Oncidium) are among these.

Overwatering (in frequency) is the most common cause of demise for Orchids. Allow the Orchid’s bark mix to completely dry between watering sessions.

Water, approximately every 7 to 10 days, thoroughly drenching the bark. I prefer placing the pot, sans saucer, in a sink to gently flush water through the

Dancing Ladies Orchid (Oncidium)

bark for a minute or two. This is best followed by a drenching of ¼ strength liquid fertilizer.

I then leave the pot sitting in water for about 20 minutes to be sure the bark has pulled in, via the submerged drainage holes, all it can hold. Once the pot is returned to its saucer, give it a double check in about 10 minutes and remove any excess water that has collected. Do not use softened water.

Repotting should be done yearly.

Even if the root system has not increased enough to need a larger pot, the bark will certainly have deteriorated. You may see a need to replace the bark sooner if it had already been supporting the plant for a good length of time before you acquired it.

Repotting is easy enough, just different from soil-bound plants.

If you “get the pot right and pack the bark tight” you will have a very happy plant.

Orchids like their roots fairly snug to the pot edge, so if you do chose to go with a larger pot only go up one size. Clear plastic or ceramic Orchid pots, with vent holes in the side, are preferred as this allows the roots increased air exposure. The next best choice is

Butterfly Orchid (Encyclia)

unglazed terra cotta. Do not use glazed ceramic or plastic pots with solid walls. Both Orchid pots and bags of ‘Orchid Bark’ can generally be found anywhere selling Orchids.

Remove your Orchid from the old bark, tapping the pot if needed. This old bark makes a nice donation to the compost pile, as do any dead or dried up roots you may snip off. Create a mound of fresh bark, in the center of your chosen pot, to drape the Orchid’s roots over. Make it right up to the top, as you will be compressing things quite a bit by the end. Gently hold onto the foliage portion and drape the roots evenly over the bark.

Add more bark, a little at a time; tightly packing each addition into the pot, under and around the roots. The tight packing of the bark is aiming to mimic those fairly solid, stable tree crevices in the Orchid’s native domain. We do not want the bark to be loose and floating away, like landscape mulch in a flood, whenever you water.

Be sure to thoroughly soak the new bark after repotting, then sit back and soak up another year of Goddess gifted beauty! ™• January 2011 • Volume II

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Our Lady’s Counsel Advice from Lady Fae’s Wisdom Circle

I hope this year is off to a joyous and prosperous start!

I don’t know about you, but people have already been asking me about my New Year’s resolutions. Personally, I find creating resolutions really frustrating. I hear people adopting these huge goals for the New Year, like exercising daily or eating healthier or losing 10 pounds. Then, I hear that they gave their resolutions up within a week, a month, or even a day!

I think I know why they give up so easily. The goal is too big!

Too big and too overwhelming so that they aren’t even sure where to start, which seems to me to be a sure way to fail.

I think similarly of long daily To-Do lists. How can anyone ever accomplish all those 20 tasks in one day? And when you don’t, you feel awful, not good or efficient enough, and sort of like a slacker (when, actually, you probably did a lot!).

I think we should all set ourselves up to succeed! Yes, I do employ this strategy when I’m counseling others. The way to be sure that we succeed in our tasks is to make them manageable and start small. Baby steps, as I always say.

Let’s say, in the new year, I want to do yoga every day. Instead of just trying to jump in and do it every single day and getting frustrated and quitting, what if I thought of smaller weekly goals I could try. I might first decide to research different types of yoga and find what would work best for me for my first week. The second week, I could check out some yoga videos from the library and give it a try at home. In the third week, I might research places in my town where I could take classes or do yoga for free.

For my fourth week, I might try to go to a class and see how I liked it. I could continue on like this until I reach my goal of doing yoga every day. And as I completed each small step, I could be proud of myself and celebrate my accomplishment.

This is how I think we should approach our resolutions or life goals.

I also like the idea of setting small daily goals or accomplishments and feeling good about meeting them. For example, today, my goal was to finish this column.

And as I do, I can feel good about doing it. I feel better than if I had created a long To-Do list that included completing this as well as doing research for a

paper I’m writing, completing a scholarship application, writing out my holiday cards, and working on a newsletter for an organization I’m a part of.

Doesn’t that sound exhausting?

I know I won’t get to it all! Instead, I can complete my one task, feel good, and move on to another task that feels manageable and easily accomplished for today. I can stop for the day when I feel I don’t have any more energy or attention left.

And what about fun daily or weekly goals? How about finding something each day to make us laugh? Or spending 10 minutes outside in the sun? Or watching a good movie with a friend this week? I like these goals too. It’s important to have fun and relax.

Just some New Year’s thoughts for you. Good luck with whatever goals, accomplishments, ToDo lists, or even resolutions you create for yourself this year! I know that whatever you undertake, you will complete and do well. Many blessings to you all! Happy New Year!

References: Emmons, R.A. & McCullough, M.E. (2003). Counting blessings versus burdens: An experimental investigation of gratitude and subjective well-being in daily life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (2), 377-389.

Wiseman, R. (2009). 59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot. New York, NY: Knopf Publishing.

Need some counsel from Lady Fae’s Wisdom Circle? email your questions to advice@paganedge.com 22

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Serpent continued from page 9

Stop and take a few moments of your time to think about all you’ve already done. Breathe, settle and let go of any old pieces of guilt and shame you may be dragging along with you from things that are already in your past. Shed your skin, feel refreshed, and take a good long look at where you are. Stop to remember that every day can start anew. Embrace that you are constantly changing and growing.

Make a list of positive changes you wish to make in your life, but do not give yourself rules of things you hate about yourself.

Instead use the transformation

of the new year to better yourself, your family, and your loved ones as a whole.

New Year is a celebration of just that. A whole new year to start over. You are a new person; the world around you is awakened to a new year. It is a magickal and fitting time to shed your own skin, flash your new scales and be better than you were before.

The world is waiting for you.

Snake Medicine Serpent eyes and magick spoken Circles made and left unbroken.

I feel the energy surrounding me; Rock my spirit, rock me deep.

Bring me visions, bring me change.

Give me fire and give me rain.

All of it now comes to me – Bring me back and make me breathe.

Serpent skin and liquid soul – Spilling out from chalice hold, Open up and come to me; Take of my spirit and drink it deep.

Bring me answers, bring me peace, Give me earth and wind’s release.

All of it now comes to me Serpent tongue for you I speak.

Shed my skin and make me new, Serpent medicine I call to you.

™• January 2011 • Volume II

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Janus continued from page 10

Profile Name – Janus Culture – Roman Worship/Ritual – No surviving examples Associations – New Year, January, Financial Related Deities – Friend to Saturn God of: gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, endings and time.

His most prominent remnant in modern culture is his namesake, the month of January, which begins the New Year.

Most often he is depicted as having two heads, facing opposite directions; one head looks back at the last year while the other looks forward to the new, simultaneously into the future and the past.

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™• January 2011 • Volume II

you pass through you are sharing a moment of energy and connection with your special someone.

Janus stands at the midpoint between the cities we live in and rural places guiding the connection between those who produce and those who consume. When shopping for groceries think of the connection between you and the farmer and the remote places food comes from. It is good to understand how a product reaches the family table and how many transitions the food we consume has gone through. For the good of the world, Janus can help us acknowledge sometimes fewer changes are better. Sometimes purchasing locally, organically, and with care helps prevent disease, habitat destruction and exploitation. If we look into the past and see how our food was grown and look into the future at the same time to see how it can be done more sustainably, we keep the continuity of knowledge that has been lost in this time of the corporate food chain.

Janus also stands as a guide for our maturity as a culture and

as individuals by providing a barrier to uncivil acts of crime, intolerance and stubbornness.

Think of the people locked away behind the hard cold thresholds of prisons. Some of them are our brothers and sisters by blood or by belief: all are in need of better attention and care to reform them, learn the life skills they may lack, and be able to truly pay back our communities by providing useful service as mindful citizens. If we are to mature together we cannot let the chance to transform anyone in a more difficult life to one that is more stable. Whether it is a disadvantaged youth acting out or a “hardened” criminal, Janus shows us that there is always a chance for a new beginning.

From marriage, to having children, to the threshold that is death; Janus stands with us at each of those moments of changes both large and small.

Once we open the doorway to thinking about “God of Gates” it becomes much clearer why his likeness was found over the thresholds of Rome. He is a force that is ever present and one that in many ways defines what it means to be human.

Opening continued from page 12

Push the door open and step through it” stops running. This is because, most of us, when making a resolution, think in terms of a life time or at least in terms of the next year or so. It takes a great deal of energy to power that kind of life changing working, and the energy of the resolution season when tapped into is not enough to carry the working over every hurdle.

To put it simply, you aren’t refilling the energy you are using to power your working.

Once it uses up the energy it has, there isn’t anything left to power the spell. In the past I have referred to this type of working as a perpetual spell.

A perpetual spell is one that the witch uses and reinforces over a long period of time.

A good example of this type of spell is the standard protection spell that one casts over his/her home or self.

These spells are recharged on a cycle – I reinforce mine at each dark moon. What I mean by reinforce is simply raising energy and resetting the intent of my original working.

The great thing about this type of working is that you do not have to restart from scratch each time. You already have the template in place and all you are doing is adding to the

working - i.e. cleaning it up, dusting it off, and shining it, before you put it back on the mantel. This action ensures that the working doesn’t rust, collect dust, and become home to a nest of spiders. It is refilling the car so to speak.

It is the same with the resolution – you have to take time to feed it energy, to dust it off, shine it, and anchor it, so it does not dissolve or diminish at the end of the energy high period. It is not enough to say on New Year’s Eve “I resolve to _________.” This is the knock, the setting of intent – here what you are doing is saying to the universe “I plan to do X.” Because there is enough of a custom associated with people resolving to accomplish their own X’s at this time, the energy of the universe is predisposed to take notice and give you a bit of help. But it isn’t going to do all the work for you – a successful working requires more than that. It requires an action on your part to push the door open and step through it. You do that by adding your own will, focus, and energy to the working through the act of reinforcing the goal (the resolution). Included is an example of what you can do.

The New Year’s Resolution On New Year’s Eve You will need Pen & Paper Take a few moments and think about your goal, what it is EXACTLY that you are resolving to accomplish. Be as specific as possible. Write it down.

“I resolve to _____________” Sit cross legged in a comfortable position and raise some energy. Use the energy you have raised to charge the paper you have written on with the goal you have resolved to reach.

Put the paper where you can see it - i.e. you can put it on your altar or even tape it to the bathroom mirror.

When you feel the effects to the working start to fade, take the paper from where you have placed it and use the same energy raising technique to recharge the paper with the same goal you have resolved to reach. ™• January 2011 • Volume II

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Intentions continued from page 16

How we better ourselves: spiritually, physically, and mentally, in our communities...

My friend ShadowDragon once wrote, “there are two kinds of people. Those who learn from the mistakes of others and those who have to make the mistakes themselves”. His wife Sapphire’s comment was “I’d love to be able to prevent people from making the same mistakes we have, but unfortunately most people are the having to learn the hard way types”. I know I fall into the group; one who learns things the hard way and needs to make the mistake myself.

I am fortunate in the fact that I receive birthday and holiday gift certificates from family members and friends to online bookstores. This means I usually have funds in which to purchase books. Other than books written by favorite authors, such as Janet and Stewart Farrar, Gavin Bone, the current Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, Rhonda Britton, Thich Nhat Hanh and many many others, I usually purchase a book if it has been mentioned in three different conversations. This usually means that there is something in that book I need to know or I can benefit from knowing.

When the book The Seven Steps to Conflict Resolution came up in a third discussion, I decided to purchase the book. We all 26

™• January 2011 • Volume II

have drama and conflict in our lives so I felt this book would help me to better serve not only myself but also others in our community. Little did I realize how silly I was in thinking I could actually make a difference.

I could not change others; I could only change myself so after several failed attempts at solving conflicts, I decided that the people in this book were not real! The examples of conflicts in the book might have been based on real conflict; however the behavior was not based on real people’s reactions. People will not sit down face to face and listen to each other. Real people scream, rant and rave, even yell, “I am getting restraining orders!”

They are still locked into the I-am-right-and-you-are-wrong mode. I needed to disconnect from the drama and conflict. It was at this point,

I decided I should take a much-needed sabbatical from a community that I was apparently not serving.

Since I am retired, I decided to finally do some of the things I have been putting off for another day. In April I visited cousins who moved ten years

ago from Pennsylvania to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

They seemed thrilled that I would finally accept their invitation to spend time with them. This past summer my husband and I remodeled the living room and computer room. In October I flew to Boston with friends and celebrated Samhain in Salem.

I have been corresponding with a young man in prison who has been studying Wicca and reading books from the “to be read pile” next to my bed (hopefully the pile is now small enough so it will not topple over again). I have been completing unfinished projects and just for fun I have been watching movies. Being one of those people who learn things the hard way, I have finally come to the conclusion drama and conflict are energy draining to one’s mental, physical and spiritual health.

They need to stay outside our house. Talk about a threefold concept!

I have not left the community nor my coven. I have not changed my telephone number nor my email address. I have simply moved my comfy chair to the sidelines.

Brownies and homemade wine anyone?

Heating continued from page 15

herb distribution. Over-filling the bag will decrease its flexibility.

Finishing: If using a tube sock, simply tie the end in a knot. For cotton bags, fold in the raw edge about a half inch. Iron if desired. Machine sew or hand

sew using a blind hem stitch.

Blind Hem: Thread a needle with coordinating thread.

Double thread over matching up the two ends and tie a knot.

Hold the fabric closed with the index finger and thumb of your non-dominant hand.

To start sewing, hold the needle perpendicular to the

fabric edge and prick a small amount of fabric of the lower edge only from top to bottom.

Next, holding the needle perpendicular to the fabric edge prick a small amount of fabric from both edges from top to bottom in one stitch.

Continue stitching across the length of the raw edge with stitches about 1/16” apart. Tie a knot at the last stitch. Now your bag is ready for heating or cooling.

Heating Instructions: Place bag in a clean microwave.

Mist bag with a little water or place a small container with a little bit of water in the microwave with the bag.

Repeated heating will cause the bag filling to dry out. This will prevent the bag filling from wearing out quickly and smoldering. I have a misting bottle with a few drops of lavender essential oil added to the water that I use for these bags as well as my cotton yoga mat. Heat for 1 to 3 minutes depending on the size of the bag. For the size I typically make, do not heat longer than 2 minutes at a time. Despite good care and spritzing, the filling will eventually wear out after repeated use. If the bag starts to smell burnt or stale, replace the filling.

Cooling Instructions: Place your heating bag in a plastic bag or sealed container and place in the refrigerator or freezer. ™• January 2011 • Volume II

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™• January 2011 • Volume II