Articles — opinion

Responding to dumb-ass Pagan news stories

Posted by Michelle Gruben on

Responding to dumb-ass Pagan news stories

Local news media never know quite how to cover Pagan events, and the unease is mutual. Decades of being ignored (except during Halloween season) and misrepresented have left plenty of Pagans shy around the press. After all, no one wants to be baited, be ridiculed, or show up on the evening news with “area cult member” under their name. When a reporter interviews local Pagans and snaps a few photos, the resulting news story will typically contain one of the following: A blandly well-meaning overview of Pagan beliefs, complete with some quotes from “totally normal” Pagans. Or, a thinly veiled...

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Cheap Pagan jewelry costs more than you think. Six reasons to buy the good stuff

Posted by Michelle Gruben on

Cheap Pagan jewelry costs more than you think. Six reasons to buy the good stuff

If you shop for Pagan and spiritual jewelry online, your browser is most likely bursting with ads for cheap imported baubles. But there are plenty of good reasons why you shouldn’t bite. Supporting these merchants hurts Pagan artisans (and possibly yourself). Based overseas, companies like “Wicca Movement,” “Enchantory” and “Wicca Store USA” use aggressive marketing tactics to reach customers in the United States. They offer pendants, bracelets, and other trinkets at tempting prices—sometimes only a dollar or two including shipping. Even formerly craft-friendly sites like Etsy are now flooded with galaxies of cheaply-made pentacles and crescent moons. Some of this...

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A village of Witches: Witchcraft’s supply and demand problem

Posted by Michelle Gruben on

A village of Witches: Witchcraft’s supply and demand problem

The fable of the “village witch” is immensely appealing to many Witches and Pagans. Whether it’s historically accurate or not, we relish the idea of the lone magick worker whose gifts are supported by their local community. Yet the popularity of alternative spirituality has led to a classic supply-and-demand problem, in which spiritual services are oversupplied and undervalued. It’s time to drag the village witch out of her cottage, and introduce her to the modern marketplace. The myth of the village witch The story goes something like this: In the distant (or not-so-distant) past, each village had its witch. (Or...

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Back to Nature? Not likely. Thoughts on a sensible modern Paganism

Posted by Michelle Gruben on

Back to Nature? Not likely. Thoughts on a sensible modern Paganism

What does an Earth-based religion look like in the 21st century? If you ask my Pinterest feed, a certain brand of rustic fantasy emerges. There is a lot of bark. There is a lot of artfully arrayed moss. There are corsets and loincloths and tools of antler and clay. You can only deduce that Paganism is something one does outdoors, away from modern conveniences, and preferably while looking fabulously disheveled. Campfires, misty groves, stones and bones--these images speak to us and inspire us. A yearning for natural surroundings (and for the distant past) is one of the common threads that...

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Tarot myths debunked! Nine "rules" of Tarot you can (mostly) ignore

Posted by Michelle Gruben on

Tarot myths debunked! Nine "rules"  of Tarot you can (mostly) ignore

As soon as you delve into the world of Tarot, you encounter a bunch of do-this, don't-do-that warnings and prescriptions about how to use the cards. (Why, it's almost as if we were dealing with something magical, not just 78 pictures on cardstock!) Some of these superstitions undoubtedly have a grain of truth in them, while others are just baloney dipped in snake oil. Now, for your amusement and your edification, Madame Michelle will feed each “should” and “shouldn’t” into the Truth-O-Matic Machine (i.e., her brain!) and declare a verdict. You shouldn't read Tarot for yourself.  Mary Greer put a...

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