Episode 14 - No Fools LIke Yule Fools. No Fooling!

The Magical Earth Episode 14


Greetings, Fellow Travelers, and welcome to the Magical Earth, recorded Dec 17th, 2009.

A Quick Check in - after we discuss the snowball effect of life in the fourth quarter of the year and how the cultural cues and clues are both more and less predictable.

How much of the Christmas culture do many Pagans participate in? Do Pagans have Christmas Trees (yes, they were ours first). Do you exchange Christmas gifts with other Pagans? How do you, as a Pagan celebrate - mark - participate in Dec 25th? There are no right or wrong answers - just explorations of your personal practice.

(We talk about our Christmas Eve Orphan tradition of movie going on Christmas Eve - this year - Avatar! Followed by Sherlock Holmes.)

Cliff references his current Question of the Week on The Modern Pagan - Bombarded on All Sides. We also talk about our personal "wish lists" - everything from a knitting swift and / or a wool ball winder for Alex. Susan has already received her holiday gifts (a new laptop and a new TV) - so that leaves her with a wish for a new knitting needle set - but would settle for a Boler trailer. Jacinthe wants 10 hours in a recording studio for Musique Magique and a digital camera, more Le Creuset, and Cliff wants to be a published author by a real publisher so he can be a published author and hold a copy of his own book in his hot little hands.

Cliff references this great writing blog - Writing Excuses. Susan suggests two books by Judy Harrow - Spiritual Mentoring and Wicca Covens.

We acknowledge that we have "wants" - not needs - and that we are all grateful for what we do have. It helps to put our relationship with abundance into perspective by seeing how "desire driven" our wants are, and how far removed they are from being "needs". This is a time of year to acknowledge the blessings in our life that have sustained us through the dark time, now that the Light is returning. We chat about how our Circadian rhythms are completely "off" and we blame climate change.

We recap our knitting projects, for no particular reason except that's what we do. :) Cliff still isn't knitting.

International Calendar Change Day is approaching, and we each have our own resolutions or anti-resolutions to challenge our resolve. Health - Frugal Living - Lifestyle Changes - we shall see how we go.

Closing thoughts, and holy-day blessings from each of us - to all of you.

Susan closes with two pieces of sacred poetry - again from Galen Gilotte's Goddess Book of Hours, and the God Book of Hours.

Until next time, walk softly.

PS:
Have you purchased your Walking the Hedge calendar yet?

Lucky Episode 13 - We Got Guests!

Click here for Episode 13


Greetings Fellow Travelers, and welcome to the Magical Earth - recorded at The Little Pink House Studio (for a change of pace from our usual recording place).

We got guests - Brendan Meyers and Juniper from the Hedge and Crash the Dog.

A quick check in:
Cliff is recovering from larangitis and is immersed in NanoWriMo (he won, by the way)
Alex is pursuing NanoKnitSwiMo - knitting 50,000 stitches in the month of November
Susan is mourning the death of her trusty laptop and is anticipating the arrival of something new and shiny
Jacinthe is enjoying her finally completed Tattoo - done by Jodie from Rock Road Tattoo (pictures coming soon) and is being creative.

Juniper talks about her preparation for moving from the Okanagan Valley to the Ottawa Valley, and Brendan has been preparing for Juniper's arrival in Ottawa and looking for a job and working on another book.

Then follows some free range discussion - enjoy! It was a great conversation that discusses Paganism from a uniquely Canadian point of view. Lots of ideas - push - pull - agree - disagree - Good Stuff! Entertaining and Informative - but don't take our word for it - listen up!!!

Some things that we reference in it are:

• The Canadian National Pagan Conference - Gaia Gathering
• Spirits of the West Druid Gathering
• Melange Magique / The Magical Blend store in Montreal
• The North West Passage (Brendan's blog)
• Hamilton Pagan Weekly Rituals
• HammerTown Pagan Pub Moot
• Ottawa Pagan contacts
• Kaleidescope
• Raven's Knoll
• PanFest
• Circle Sanctuary
• Alex talks about making Bannock
• Musique Magique

We talk about how to build community and maintain community. It is a heartfelt exploration of what makes a community cleave (in both meanings of the word).

Our guests do a bit of greatly encouraged self promotion, including a list of Brendan's books (buy a book - order online or through your local metaphysical bookstore or big box book barn)

• The Other Side of Virtue
• A Pagan Testament
• Mysteries of Druidry

And Brendan's on Wikipedia!

and Brendan ends with Jacinthe's favourite song from his repertoire.

AND - buy your Walking the Hedge Calendar for 2010 TODAY! Support your local calendar making hedge-witch!

Until next time - walk softly....

Episode 12 - Dark Days - Dark Season

Episode 12


Greetings, Fellow Travellers, and welcome to the Magical Earth - recorded about 10 days before Samhain 2009.


Our check in reveals that:

• Cliff is now the secretary of his union at work (yay), is getting ready for Nanowrimo (please friend Randilin)
• Alex is also competing in Nano, immersed in work and knitting Yule gifts,
• Susan is going to visiting Savannah GA in November (any listeners from the Deep South?), is also trying to compete in Nano (please friend me - SuHurrell - too!) and has been in a blur of catching up to losing most of September.
• Jacinthe is NOT nano-ing, but is planning to compete next year. Lots of outdoor gardening ..... and family matters.

We read an email from Drake Atlas on magical names. His podcast ``Get Out of the Broom Closet`` is highly recommended.


Jacinthe shares some thoughts on an article she is reading in What is Enlightenment Magazine that leads us into our deep dish discussion this episode about death and dying, Pagan Style.


Some information on Eco- Burials, Natural Burials, and Pagan Options


Challenge of the Show - to write down your wishes for your funeral - your memorial service - your burial - your estate - and think about what you need to have in place - a Living Will - a DNR order - your insurance documents - whatever .... to make it as easy as possible for your family of origin and family of faith to midwife your death and celebrate your life after your transition to the Summerland.


We`d love to hear from you - comments - suggestions - opinions - stories about what is going on in your corner of the Magical Earth - email us at themagicalearth@gmail.com and join us on our Facebook Page - and friend any of us when you find us out there in social networking land.


As always, we end with some sacred poetry, once again drawn from The Goddess Book of Hours and the God Book of Hours by Galen Gilotte. The Samhain theme runs through these beautiful words as well. We hope you enjoy.




Until next time, walk softly.

episode 11 - Happy 1st Birthday To Us!

Click here for Episode 11

Greetings, fellow Travelers, and welcome to the Magical Earth Quadcast. We are so happy to have you with us to celebrate our first full trip around the sun. We couldn't have done it without you - our listeners. We appreciate the time you spend with us.

Its great to have Jacinthe back in the circle - now that the lawn is torn up and the heirloom eggplants have been turned into spicy pickled goodness. We do our usual check up and check in to share what's been happening in our lives over the past month or so.

WE GOT MAIL - thank you so much to those of you who took time to send us such wonderful emails - many of them were mini essays on some of the points we were discussing - we greatly enjoyed reading and discussing them, and bring some of the highlights to our discussion . If you want to add your thoughts to the mix - please comment on the blog or email us at themagicalearth@gmail.com.

If anyone is still interested in doing a distance ritual for energy around jobs - promotions - employment - job satisfaction - let us know - this is a carryover from Episode 10's idea - and we're always game for a good ritual.

Our topic this show - a reader suggestion - and its a hot topic - "Magical Names" - where we start out safe and then veer sharply into political incorrectness. You've been warned. :) Our quesiton of the show is about the "who / how / what /why / when" of your magical name. How did it come to you - what does it mean to you - what impact has it had on your magical and regular life?

We are all very excited (squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) about the impending opening of "Where the Wild Things Are" - as well as a handful of other movies. But really - "WTWTA" is what it's all about - such a great book for kids of all ages and the adults who love them. LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!

Time for our closing thoughts - Here's a question for you - "why do all the pagan calendars start on Jan 1/secular calendar change day - why not Samhain?" (we know that there are a few that do - but not many)

This episode's Sacred Poetry come from a pair of books called The Book of Hours (one for the Goddess and one for the God) by Galen Gillotte.

It has been a pleasure to walk this episode with you! Have a blessed Samhain if you celebrate it - and may the Ancestors give you wisdom and peace.

Until next time - walk softly.

The Magical Earth - Episode 10

Click here to download Episode 10 of the Magical Earth Quadcast

Show notes will follow in the next week.

Episode 9 - Summer Time and the Witchin is Easy...

Episode 9

Sorry for the problems with getting this episode up and online. There were some difficulties with our hosting service that had to be overcame.


Welcome to another trip on the Magical Earth! The photos are from last year's Summer Solstice Open Circle at Pagan Park - the sun coming up over the trees by the river ... glorious.

Thanks so much for giving us a listen. We know you're out there, the download numbers tell us so. To those of you who have found us for the first time - a special welcome, and if you like what you hear, please check out the earlier episodes. For those of you who walk with us regularly - thank you for tuning in again and again. We'd love to hear from you - whoever "you" are - to let us know what's going on in YOUR corner of the Circle. Email us at themagicalearth@gmail.com

So - we recorded this just before Summer Solstice. We do our check in - Cliff & Alex welcome a new-to-them car, Susan & Jacinthe say farewell to a friend, Alex's voice gets potentially recognized on a work related call, and Jacinthe celebrates her daughter's choice to "work the program" and make her current stay in a rehab facility a success - and then there's the garden...
digging - planting - plant trading - and potential photos either on this blog or on Cliff's blog.

Sacred Poetry - once again from Her Words by Burleigh Mullen, an anthology of poetry about the Great Mother.

• The Goddesses by Jeanine Canan
• The Power of the Soul by Sheila Glover
  

We say farewell to The Pagan Activist - a wonderful site that educated, entertained, informed and delighted a world wide pagan audience - we honor the work of the Publisher (Edain Duguay and her publishing venture, Wyrdwood and all the contributors of the wonderful columns. Sad to see it go - and acknowledging that all things have the season. It was a magnificent collection of diverse voices - and it will be missed.

We talk about the state of Pagan Periodicals - real time and online - and Pagan online gathering places like The Witches Voice - PaganSpace - all the various groups on Facebook - the pagan themed groups on other special interest groups like Ravelry (for Knitters) and Etsy (for crafters) - the yahoo groups - the google groups - the Ning groups.

One question about these various community gathering places - so many people "opt out" of wanting to receive invitations - so how do people get together if no one wants to be invited to anything? How do you find out about what is going on in your community - how do you connect to other pagans and pagan events. How many lists are you on? Do you have a store in your community that is the hub of the wheel?

Who and what is your community? Does it have young families - young singles - families with near adult children - seniors - who is filling up the open circles?

Are you curious about what is going on elsewhere in Canada or the greater Pagan world - to learn from what other community groups are doing?

People - we're serious about wanting some feedback here. We have good questions - we just need some rally good answers. :) help us understand! We're so confused!

Come Plurk with us - Cliff and Susan and Alex are all on Plurk - Susan also Twitters as well as Plurk - Cliff is a Plurker, as is Alex. Join the Facebook Page and "friend us" if you'd like - send us an email - we want to know what you think.

Book Review: Alex talks about the classic The Spiral Dance by Starhawk. We also mention her 2004 release "The Earth Path - we consider both books "must reads".

Also we mourn the loss of The Crooked Path - Peter Paddon has closed down his site as well and is now focusing his efforts on Pendraig Publishing. We all found his site extraordinarily special - and part of the spell was woven through the magick of Peter's voice - made for broadcasting - we thank you Peter Paddon for all you have given to us on the Crooked Path. You leave a gap in the Pagn Podcasting community that will not likely be filled.

On that note, we wrap up - Jacinthe is looking forward to the Winnipeg Folk Festival - "where our light show is the sun" - Sunday night's closing concert is Loreena McKennitt. Cliff has agreed to camp - real tent camping. Alex is looking forward to Fringe Festival as well as Folk Fest and all the cultural events that happen here over the summer months - we get a huge cultural infusion from June to September. Alex celebrates her birthday at Midsummer. Susan wants to sing along with Summer is a Comin In by Paul Newman that she heard on Episode 14 of Druidcast - thanks to Damh the Bard for sharing such wonderful music- not to mention the general oaky goodness of Druidcast.

Hope you had a joyous and Blessed Solstice - and that there was a man with a rack of antlers on his head dancing in your garden at sunrise. Hope you sent him into the sunset well fed, well loved and full of the Goddess's blessing!

Until next time,

Walk softly....

April Showers, May Flowers, darned near Summer Fools

The Magical Earth Episode 8


Greetings Travelers, and welcome to the Magical Earth.

A seasonal episode, a little later than anticipated due to

Thanks to our elder Podkin, our Wigglian brother and sister, Mojo & Sparrow, for helping us with our little April Fools "podcast exchange".

We take a few minutes to get caught up on the rising floodwaters, and talk about local initiatives to reduce our civic environmental footprint.

• garbage day is not "recycling day" to increase awareness of recycling as an option, shifting the focus of public consciousness. (ah, magick)
• exploring the recycling of the sand used over the winter to give our streets more traction. Winnipeg as a city does a poor job of "being green".

Alex talks about her class field trip to the Costume Museum of Manitoba and how fashion used to be far more reusable than it is today.

Susan and Jacinthe are excited about some recycled fibre that they have ordered that uses waste fibre from the sari industry to create lucious yarn for knitters.

Susan's workplace implemented a hazardous waste disposal program, including safe battery disposal, through one of our clients business initiatives.

Jacinthe talks about how Spring Cleaning is a form of "honoring the ancestors" - and a time of remembering.

How do we celebrate the holidays when the seasons are changing - thank you Climate Change. While the Solstices and the Equinoxes remain constant, the "agricultural connection" is not so strong depending on where you are in the world. We reference Wiccan author and friend Kevin Saunders and his books , where he talks about using the "first full moon" in the astrological sign for the non-solar holidays. We've decided as a working group to go back to observing the holidays based on the lunar/solar cycles.

Spring Cleaning is occurring in both households - Jacinthe starts hers in the first full moon in Aries - and in each room she starts at the east-most doorway and goes counterclockwise around the room. Cliff and Alex make a plan, and then "execute!". YMMV

We talk about setting books free after our time with them is done - and talk about the most recent edition of Pangaia magazine and their article on Influential Pagans. Congratulations to the fine folk at the Pagan Centered Podcast and Mojo and Sparrow at the Wigglian Way for getting mentioned.

Cliff now Plurks and has abandoned Twitter.. Susan also plurks, and still tweets. Alex laughs at the geekyness of it all, and Jacinthe sticks to her knitting . We declare a Pagan Plurk Revolution. We Plurk. Join us plurking. Cliff is Randilin, Susan is SuHu - Alex is Tamile. Come Plurk with us.

Pagan Poetry ensues - two very different approaches to the body of the Great Mother. Speaking of great mothers as found in nature - check out this Youtube video.

This episdoe, we select the GeekWitch Podcast with its lovely host with a nerdy twist - Tallea Moonwater for our Pick a Pack of Pickled Pagan Podcasts.

Our episode has been brought to you by the World Card - this is Susan's least favourite card in the deck - (she is more of a Tower fan). May we embrace every new experience as a near-naked androgene holding a pair of pointy sticks, being cheered on from peanut gallery of the four corners of the globe by scary monsters.

Jacinthe talks about the power of creation at a molecular level - she explores her own spiritual growth and her soul's evolution through her ability to create through food -through her knitting and upcoming spinning - very nicely said by our usually quiet little French one.

We wind it up and look forward to the next episode. Until then...

Walk softly.