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adanaknowsbest · 7 years

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My Favorite YouTube Pagans

I don’t know about any of you, but I would much rather watch someone explain their path than read about it - that was a major allure for me with YouTube!

Here, you’ll see a list of my favorite Pagan YouTubers with a link to their channels. This is a sort of Follow Forever: YouTube Edition type of list. These are individuals who have provided useful information, inspired me, or taught me something that affected my own spiritual path. Even if you don’t subscribe, I highly suggest that you give their channels a look-through!

AthenaBeth Black - I just love her! She’s one of my favorite inspirational YT pagans right now. Everything on here is raw and relevant to her and her path - she’s very open and honest. I love it!

Avalon’s Spiritual Oddysey - if you love seing different tarot and oracle decks, you’ll love this channel! It’s not aimed to teach divination, but she does share her experiences with the cards she collects and has tons of unboxing videos. You even get to see her do a few spreads!

The Biophilic Alternative - a collaborative channel with pagans who come from varying backgrounds who post on whatever topic they feel like on that particular week. It’s much less structured than some other collaborative channels, but offers a wider range of topics (and fewer perspectives). If you’re less on the Wiccan side and more towards eclectic witchcraft or practices like Voudoun, Hoodoo, or Voodoo, this is the perfect channel for you! One of my favorite pagan YouTubers (LadyGravedancer) also contributes to this channel, so that’s always a bonus!

Cauldron Chat Series - a collaborative channel featuring two seasoned witches who answer questions and share their personal experiences. It’s a great channel to watch!

CharlieSaysGo - what doesn’t Charlie include on her channel? She’s one of the first pagan youtubers I discovered, and has TONS of information on her videos. Her path has a strong Japanese influence, since that is part of her heritage.

CharmingPixieFlora - a fantastic teaching channel! Flora has lots of how-to’s and informational types of videos that covers just about anything you can think of - meditation, sabbats, crystals, crafts, personal experiences, private practices, etc. She was one of the first channels I found. This particular channel is no longer updated, but she does regularly update her new one: Flora Sage.

Cutewitch772 - Cara is a well-versed and educated pagan who (despite how young she looks) is very experienced in her own personal practice. She covers all sorts of topics on her channel, but her most influential ones for me were those based on research. I believe she’s the founder (or at least one of them) of the Pagan Perspective collaborative channel that focuses on a collection of practitioners from varying backgrounds all answering questions on a weekly basis.

EmberHoneyRaven - EmberHoneyRaven doesn’t sugar coat ANYTHING. She tells you exactly what’s on her mind, just as it pops in there. I love her videos - she does some pagan product reviews, covers her spiritual journey as well as her weight loss and health journey, and is very open. Plus, her southern accent is adorable!

Hibiscus Moon - If you love crystals, you’re going to love Hibiscus Moon. Not only does she cover common crystals and minerals, but also those you’ve probably never heard of. You can find scientific and spiritual information on crystals here, general tips on crystals/mineral care, charging, cleansing, crystal grids, and even offers classes through her own business on working with crystals in various ways.

Joanna DeVoe - Personally, I love Joanna! She has a California hippie new age vibe to her, but I find her adorable. Joanna offers lots of information on various topics, including meditation, spiritual ruts, connecting with energies, the sabbats, tarot - she even teaches the Psycho Spiritual Wheel of the Year programs and offers several books through her website. But if you’re like me and strapped for cash, you can simply take advantage of her videos on YouTube through the above channel and Major Arcana TV (focused on tarot).

Kat Taylor - a Buddhist witch. She has recently revamped/recreated her YT channel, but still has videos going back as far as 5 years ago.

TheLadyGravedancer - aka LadyGravedancer. If you’re into more chthonic and dark magic, including cursing, hexing, working with spirits, using ouija boards, and forming your own eclectic path, this channel is perfect for you! I love Lady Gravedancer’s frank attitude; she tells it like it is, and has no problem ruffling feathers if her opinion doesn’t mesh with the mainstream - and yet, she stays out of drama. Who could ask for more?

TheLovelyLittleWitch - I had intended to list this channel because I absolutely LOVE her, but it seems the channel has been closed.

Lunar Wisdom - Sheri from Lunar Wisdom has a wonderful teaching channel that’s very informative! She offers all sorts of information on herbs, the sabbats/wheel of the year, connecting with deity, and witchcraft on a budget. She was a strong participant in the Pagan YouTube Challenge last year, and has started a series called Mystical Seeker (#mysticalseeker) that’s aimed for those still searching for their path - but I find anything she puts out there helpful to new and established pagans alike!

Mandi See - also known as theShoeWhisperer and HarmonyLove - is a wonderful pagan from the UK who offers lots of teaching videos. Every few years, she likes to reinvent herself, which I find delightful - and she puts out a ton of regular content! Mandi has just published her first book, which would probably be a wonderful addition to anyone looking to solidify a personal practice - it’s definitely on my to buy list for 2017!

MIRTHandREVERENCE - Anni is an old school traditional Wiccan who has the most soothing voice and aura about her! She has lots of informative stuff on her channel, ranging from basic Wiccan concepts, ritual, spell ideas, sabbat information, crystal divination, personal practice, altar tours, and answering any question that someone asks about her path to daily vlogs. She’s one of those people who doesn’t push her views on anyone, is highly respectful, extremely informative, and has a very pleasant attitude. Watching her brightens up my day!

OathboundSecrets - now known as the Sea Priestess, Annika has a lot of research-oriented information on Wicca and paganism in general. Her latest videos are aimed more towards her creative side and where her spiritual path is now, rather than informative or teaching.

Starting Out Solitary - a colloborative channel focused on hosts who are new to their path that answer weekly questions to gain different perspectives. This is a really useful resource for new witches or those who just want a different perspective on basic pagan concepts and practices.

TipToeChick - a YouTube pagan legend, she has some wonderful videos for those just exploring Wicca. Be warned - she can be slightly ranty and preachy sometimes.

#youtube #youtube love #pagan #witch #references #inspiration #paganism #witchcraft #wicca #wiccan #follow forever #spiritual path #spirituality

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hedydd · 7 years

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[YT Pagan Challenge] #33 What’s your favourite pagan music?

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#Hedgerow Tea Coven #YouTube Pagan Challenge

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gwendolyngallow · 8 years

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YT Pagan Challenge

So I been thinking a lot about my blog. I wanted to find a way to make it just a bit more personal than just posting random knowledge. For that I’m doing the YouTube Pagan Challenge in blog format cuz, you know, a lot of us do witching through tumblr because no no no cameras please. Doesn’t mean we have to miss out on the challenge.

1. How did you find your path? Well, ever since I was little I always wanted to be a witch. Just before my teens was when the TV show Charmed came around and introduced me to Wiccan ideas. But for a few years I believed witches weren’t real. Then we got dial up internet, lol, and I remember looking up witches which lead me to find Wicca. 2. Are you in or out of the broom closet? Both. Family has no idea, and really I don’t think I would ever tell them. Them knowing would not change anything but upset them. I don’t need to tell them just so I can feel self-righteous. Friends know. People I don’t know or just met, I would tell them if they asked. 3. Do you have an altar shining or sacred space? Yes, my bedroom/altar room. The entire room is a sacred space. As for altars, I currently have 3. A working altar, Hecate’s altar, and a prosperity altar. If it calls for it I have some space to create more. 4. Your take on the wheel of the year? I like to do the sabbats as close to traditional as possible. I’m the kind of person who likes a little bit of structure. As wonderful and free as witchcraft can be, there’s very little structure. I’m currently reading how the Vampyre subculture works with the sabbats, and so far I really like how they see the Wheel. 5. What does this time of year mean to you? Well, this question is about the 5th week after Jan 1st, and to be honest, this is a stressful time of the year for me. Don’t really want to go into detail, just know it’s not fun. 6. What are your cultural influences? ALL. It’s important to me to relate to any culture. Been doing Celtic for a while. Been studying Shaman, African, and Vodou. I noticed that a lot of themes from these cultures can be seen in how I practice now. I want to continue these cultures for a while, then I plan to look into Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian, Hispanic, Icelandic, Norse, Kabbala, etc. I have big study plans. ^^ 7. How do you view sacred texts or mythology? I believe that some of it can be taken quite literally, while most is seeped in allegory. 8. Do you have / how did you find a Matron/Patron? Yes, Hecate. When I really began to dive into the Craft, She was just everywhere; the sites I searched, the books I read, things I would see in nature, etc. It was very obvious that She wanted me to be one of Her witches. 9. Do you keep a journal or diary of your experiences? Yes, a small journal I keep separate from my Grimoire. If it’s notable, I will make an entry there. 10. What do the Moon phases mean to you? The ultimate form of femininity. It’s cycle just like that of a woman’s period, but also the perfect representation of the maiden, mother, and crone. I’m currently 24 y.o, and during a meditation, it came to me that woman constantly change in their lives just like the moon. Our Maiden stage, or at least for me, was about seeking loves, friendships, and play. Now at this age, I can feel Mother stage coming in. I put away ridiculous things, toys, ideas, and look forward to being adult. I’m not yet old enough to know how Crone stage will be, but I know that’s a time I’ll be done with bullshit. I also realized that this may be a contributing factor married people can fall apart, the feminine can change drastically. Unfortunately, this can hinder relationships. Women are the moon. 11. What does this sun mean to you? Just like my thoughts on the moon, the sun is the ultimate form of masculinity. I’m not a man, so my thoughts could be wrong, how could I truly know right? But from an outside female perspective, it seems like the sun and man can change like the moon, but they stay constant at their core. 12. What does this time of year mean to you? This question is referring to the first week of March. This is mostly a time I begin thinking about and preparing for Ostara/Easter. It is my personal belief that Hecate is Ishtar, (Easter was first all about Ishtar) so this time revolves heavy around my Goddess. 13. Do you use divination what type? Yes, I’ve gotten decent at working with the tarot. Sometimes I’ll scry in a black mirror, tea leaves, clouds, or leaves on trees to divine. 14. What does magic/k mean to you? Well, everything. When I hear someone say, ‘this isn’t really witchy’ I believe there is no such thing. Everything is of the Earth and its Mother, therefore all things are witchy and magick. 15. Do you perform spells on a regular basis? I do something witchy everyday. I perform spells and rituals when there is a call. I know some magicks are stronger at certain times, but I’m not going to wait to do my magick. The only patterns in my spells or rituals are moon rituals or sabbat rituals. 16. What city ritual practice do you do most often? Wat. 17. What does this time of year mean to you? Aprilish. time to honor the Maiden and spring. 18. What does deity/guide/divine mean to you? Well, my Goddess is Hecate, and for me, She is all things. All things are born from Her, and all things will return to Her. She gave birth to all deity, spirit, and corporeal life, and our world and others is the web of Her magick. 19. How do you feel about group work or worship? I’m down with it. Many benefits in working with a group. Stronger energies, new perspectives, and learning opportunities. 20. What does initiation mean to you? When I think of initiation, I think of becoming a part of a coven or group. Something to take all the time you need to consider, that’s an important step to me. 21. Do you have a Grimoire or Book of Shadows? Yessshh. 22. Do you create your own correspondences? Yes. 23. How important is your diet or magical use of food? So so. I sometimes practice food magick, but here in ‘Merica, it’s a little difficult to be healthy all the time. 24. How does spirituality relate to your mundane life? 25. What does this time of year mean to you? It’s FUCKING HOT. UGH. 26. Do you or how do you meditate? Learning to meditate was a struggle for me. I found that taking a bath and as I’m drifting off to sleep is the best time to meditate. I learned that in order to do it, I must be completely comfortable. These are the best times for me to receive messages, astral project, and create new magick theory. 27. Do you use chants/mantras/affirmations? Chants, yes. 28. Do you have a spirit/power/familiar animal? My animal guide is the butterfly. The butterfly tells of change, and it appeared right before some major changes happened in my life. I have a familiar, a cat named Ninja, we’re inseparable. 29. Do you use crystals? Why? How? Yesssrr. Like all things of Earth they have energy. A witch can take their energy, give them energy, feel their energy, or neutralize their energy. A real blessing for any energy user. I’ll use them for spells, energy centers, boosts, chakra balancing, grounding, anyway possible. 30. What does this time of year mean to you? IT’S STILL FUCKING HOT. 31. How important are alter “tools” to you? Not critically important, nice to have and use, but not entirely necessary. 32. What is your favorite pagan artwork? Aint got one. 33. What is your favorite pagan music? Aint got one. 34. What is your favorite place to visit? Any kind of wilderness. 35. Do you believe in ley lines, places of energy? Absolutely. 36. Do you believe in chakras/auras/etheric field? Yeps. 37. What does light/enlightenment mean to you? Finding how things relate, in the non obvious ways. 38. What does this time of year mean to you? It’s still hot, where dafuq are you Autumn? 39. What does shadow/darkness mean to you? The necessary contrast to light. One can not exist without the other. No shadow without the light, no light without the darkness. It is crucial in my path to know the darkness as much as the light, then we truly are balanced. 40. Do you believe in angels/demons/fairies? Yep, all of them. 41. Do you believe in an afterlife/reincarnation? Yes, both. 42. Do you work with ancestors/the deceased? Currently no. The reason for this is all my ancestors were Christian, and I don’t think they down with the Craft. 43. What does this time of year mean to you? Hot on Samhain? Fuck me. Even before I was a witch, Halloween was my favorite time of year. I prefer to bless and honor spirits during this time. 44. What has been most influential on your path? Finding balance in my light and my dark. 45. What are your favorite pagan/spiritual books? My Grimoire ‘tis NO.1!!! Animal Speak by Ted Andrews, my dream dictionary which I use quite often. 46. How do you talk to non-pagans about paganism? Well, I explain what it is and what I do without all the titles like, ‘witch, witchcraft, pagan, etc. When people hear these terms it’s usually a negative reaction. 47. Have you experienced spiritual doubt/hesitation? Yes, early in my path. It took great work to overcome. 48. What is most appealing/fulfilling in paganism? Having a deity I can truly love and have reverence for. Appealing to me is the psychic side of the Craft, something I always wanted to be. 49. How do you avoid stagnation/spiritual slumps? I don’t give myself unrealistic goals. If I’m not feeling witchy today, that’s fine. I strive to not go against what is natural or what my Goddess has inspired me to do, regardless if it involves the Craft. 50. What advice can you give to a new pagan? This is where true freedom begins. You may practice how ever you wish, nothing is set in stone. Take what calls to you, change or ignore what doesn’t, you don’t have to follow anyone’s idealism, beliefs, or methods. 51. What does this time of year mean to you? YAY! It’s FINALLY cold. The chill air on my skin, so cleansing and refreshing. The warmth found standing in the sunlight is welcomed. Most magickal time of year for me. 52. What have you learned this year? What are your spiritual/pagan goals for next year? Ew, can’t answer just yet.

#yt pagan challenge #witch #witch tag #witchcraft #pagan #paganism #thecraft #the craft

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thepatchworkcrow · 7 years

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A big ol’ rambly video about my ideas about how the Universe came to be, what the gods are, etc. This is all completely personal gnosis, but I’m sharing as part of prompt 9/10 for the YouTube Pagan Challenge

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWCgJoh0Cyo)

#YT Pagan CHallenge #YT Pagans #YouTube Pagan Challenge #YouTube Pagans #paganism #witchcraft #creation story #The Oran Mor #The Wylde Hunt #pagan gods #pagan creation story #song of creation #celtic #Druid #druidry #patchwork-crow #The Patchwork Crow #personal gnosis #upg

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thepatchworkcrow · 7 years

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YouTube Pagan Challenge 5: Witchy / Psychic Talents

In which I ramble a bit about some things that I’m good at.

#YT Pagans #YT Pagan Challenge #YouTube Paganes #YouTube Pagan Challenge #pagan #paganism #witchcraft #The Patchwork Crow #patch-workcrow #a little bit about me #psychic ability #tarot #scrying #bleh my hair sucked so have me in a snapback

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thepatchworkcrow · 7 years

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In order to keep up with this challenge, I've covered the following questions all in one video:

13. Outdoor rituals vs indoor rituals. 14. Do you use, would you try, Psychoactive drugs, hallucinogens, etc for spiritual purposes? 15. Do you have a code of ethics? 16. What other religions influence you or appeal to you?

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6Nq3dzuPkQ)

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thepatchworkcrow · 7 years

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Another #YTPaganChallenge post! This one is about my divination methods and features some show-and-telling with my various divination tools. <3

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD1IPLDqDLI)

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thepatchworkcrow · 7 years

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Hello all! I’ve learned, as of this post, that WordPress will no longer let you imbed YouTube videos on your posts with the free plan (or at the very least, I can’t figure out how to do it now!) At any rate, I’ve posted another video on my YouTube channel that discusses Witchy/Pagan talents. The fifth topic for the YT Pagan Challenge was: Do you have any magical talents, psychic techniques, which you consider your specialty? Like I did with my previous video, I want to keep making blog posts to accompany the new vids.

So! On to the topic of witchy talents. As I discussed in the video above (and more than likely in posts throughout this blog), I’m not someone who does a great deal of magic. Candle magic tends to be my go-to for spell-craft, and I guess I’d consider that my talent / technique as far as that goes. Beyond that, I tend to have a sort of knack for just… guessing or intuiting what something could be used for.

Picture found via lunaticgarden.pl

An example of this was one summer, while I was roaming around my back yard and the forest behind it with Mark, we came across a white bush growing amongst all of the cedar and pine trees. We’d been gathering some wildflowers and the like for making a Midsummer incense, and came across it. I’d mentioned that it gave me the vibe of being good for magic involving love, light, the sort of spirit of summer, or something that would be useful for weddings. Sure enough, once we’d researched it, we found that it was a magnolia bush- and it was indeed useful for spells involving love, fidelity, friendship, happiness, etc.

Basically, I have a very difficult time remembering things in the encyclopedic sense, and a great deal of luck in just being able to intuitively know things.

I also learned this summer that I’m good at scrying- though not in a traditional sense. I have (and you can see it in the video above) a dark brown agate mirror that I found at the local Pagan Pride Day festival. This summer, while I was on a camping trip, I cleansed and blessed the mirror in a stream and by the light of the moon at the beach we were near. I placed the mirror under my pillow, for the entirety of the trip and a number of really vivid dreams. I can’t get mirrors to work in a normal “look into the mirror to see x” sense, but I’ve found that using it in that way works quite well.

Beyond that, my real talents in my practice are mostly in making my own tools and ritual jewelry, and tarot. I sculpt my statues for my altar space and have made a number of the pieces that I actively use in ritual.

I had a lot of fun making this video and blog post, and look forward to following it up with more in the YouTube Pagan Challenge.

Blessings, Rachel

YT Pagan Challenge: My Witchy / Psychic Talents Hello all! I've learned, as of this post, that Wordpress will no longer let you imbed YouTube videos on your posts with the free plan (or at the very least, I can't figure out how to do it now!) At any rate, I've posted…

#art #camping #Michigan #pagan #paganism #PatchworkCrow #personal #psychic ability #scrying #summer #Tarot #The Patchwork Crow #witchcraft #witchy talents #writing #YouTube Pagan Challenge #YouTube Pagans #YT Pagan Challenge

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thepatchworkcrow · 7 years

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Today, I posted a YouTube video (well, I posted a couple of them, but this post is really only concerned with one) for the YouTube Pagan Challenge. The first four prompts from the challenge were centered around Books of Shadows and journal-keeping for one’s witchy practice:

1. Show and tell – your grimoires, notebooks, journals etc. What type of book do you prefer? 2. How do you protect and consecrate your book? 3. How to organise your book – a table of contents, book marks, etc. 4. How to start your book -getting over perfectionism – creative techniques.

For my own work, I keep two books that I work in at any given time. One is the big book, my Book of Shadows (or as my college witchy friends lovingly refer to it: the “Book o’ Shit”), and the other is a little hardcover sketchbook.

The smaller book is the one I carry with me wherever I’m wandering. I take it to classes, walks in the woods, just while I’m hanging out with people- literally everywhere. This book acts as sort of a scratch book. It’s a place where I’ll scribble out poetry, work on spell and ritual ideas, take tarot notes, draw or write things that inspire me, journal a bit if I’m not feeling it’s something that warrants an entire Book of Shadows entry. It is literally a day-by-day response to what things I’m experiencing and being inspired by.

I find this is a really easy way to take notes and be a little messy and free-form with things. Often work that I start in this book ends up more fully developed and expanded upon in the bigger one. The larger book tends to be a little more formal, whereas this one literally has anything and everything that needs to be jotted down and gotten out of my system.

My Book of Shadows, despite being less scratchy than the smaller notebook is still sort of just a loosely organized thing. Like the smaller book, it’s basically just organized chronologically. Rituals, journal entries, tarot readings, etc. are all sort of just put in as they happen. Because I use large sketchbooks as my books of shadows, it’s a little more difficult to plan out organized sections, so I’ve found that using them as art journals of my practice works best.

As far as blessing and consecrating my book(s) goes, I’ve sort of fallen to just using the intent I have when starting the book, and being selective with what from them I share with others. At the beginning of them, I usually have a little statement of purpose (it’s inside the little green card in the one picture above), that explains where I am on my path as I start the book, and where I’d like to be at its finish. None of this is really formally ritualized. It’s mostly just about how I treat the book as it’s being used.

However, I do (like many others) really like being able to find spells, recipes, etc. more quickly. After five books of shadows, it can be sort of a pain to remember: a) which frigging book x thing is in, and b) where specifically in the book it might be. In the last couple of years, I’ve found that Microsoft OneNote has been a really valuable tool in helping me organize things.

It works like a sort of digital binder: it allows me to make separate sections for different topic areas I’m studying, rituals, tarot spreads I find online, etc. For and personal rites I often type out documents to use as notes during the ritual; the OneNote program allows me to put printouts of the files into my pages so everything is easily accessed. It also copies links when you copy and paste things from the internet, so you can follow them through to the webpage you found them on as well; this has been really helpful in keeping track of where I found some of the things I spot on Tumblr.

Once I’ve finished a Book of Shadows, I always bookmark all the important spells, rituals, poems, etc. within it and make digital copies of them in the digital notebook. It works wonders, and can be accessed online through my Microsoft account.

My biggest advice to anyone hesitating to start a book is just do it! Not writing your experiences down can make things really difficult. I was horrible at record-keeping in the earlier years of my practice, and I find myself looking back over things and being confused as to context, wondering how certain things did/didn’t work out etc. There is always time to make prettier, cleaned-up versions of your notes and the like. While elaborately drawn, leather-bound books of shadows are aesthetically pleasing, the real reward will be in having personal references of your work to look back on in the future.

Blessings, Rachel

YT Pagan Challenge: Books of Shadows and Witchy Journaling Today, I posted a YouTube video (well, I posted a couple of them, but this post is really only concerned with one) for the YouTube Pagan Challenge.

#art #book of shadows #grimoire #journaling #OneNote #pagan #paganism #PatchworkCrow #personal #show and tell #The Patchwork Crow #witchcraft #witchy journal #writing #YouTube Pagan Challenge #YT Pagan Challenge

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thepatchworkcrow · 7 years

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In which I talk about my witchy journals and my book of shadows!

#book of shadows #YT Pagan Challenge #YouTube Pagan Challenge #pagan #paganism #witchcraft #The Patchwork Crow #grimoire #witchy journaling

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thepatchworkcrow · 7 years

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YT Pagan Challenge 24: Which Deity Should I Work With?

My video for #24 of the YouTube Pagan Challenge, all about patron deities and knowing which one is the right one to work with.

#pagan #paganism #witchcraft #pagan gods #patron deities #pagan deities #The Patchwork Crow #patch-workcrow #druid #druidry

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thepatchworkcrow · 7 years

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I had been hoping to film part of my eighth YT Pagan Challenge video outdoors in one of my on-campus sacred spaces, but it seems the weather is just not willing to agree with me. So, so I can give you all a bit of a visual, this post will be jam-packed full of pictures of the places I was talking about in the video.

First thing’s first: my on-campus sacred spaces. I am blessed to be going to a university that is filled with small garden spaces and has a sprawling expanse of wooded ravines hugging along the side of campus. In my five years here, I’ve been able to find a number of places to relax, be one with nature, and perform a few rituals and magical workings in. Three of the major places where I tend to hang out and do my workings are the arboretum, the garden behind the religious center on campus, and a grove back in the ravines behind the art building.

In each of these spaces, I’ve found little places to leave offerings, quiet spots to sit and meditate, and have even done a few rituals there.

The arboretum is full of places to explore, and I admittedly spend a lot more time there than anywhere else. There’s a stump I’ve found a short distance off of the path that I use frequently for spell work, and have left offerings at over the past few years. It happens also to overlook a ravine in a pretty straight shot to the grove I’d found in the woods as well.

In the little garden behind the religious building on campus, there’s a statue of St. Francis that seems to have a presence and an energy all its own. I’ve made a habit of leaving little offerings in the hands of the statue whenever I go there to write, drum, meditate, etc.

And then, of course, there is the grove in the ravines. It’s just off the path, and was shown to me by a good friend who graduated a couple of years ago. It’s often where I go if I’m looking to communicate with the Wylde Hunt while on campus, and has been the site for a couple of rituals. There’s a large three-trunked oak that sits in its center, and there are a few places to sit in little nooks between its roots. I like this place because it is a little further away from the main part of campus, and therefore quieter. You can’t hear the bells from the clock tower and are a lot less likely to see people wandering by. There’s also a fantastic view of the stars on clear nights.

Aside from these natural spaces, I do tend to do much of my ritual / meditation / etc. within the safety (and warmth!!!) of my dormitory bedroom, as well. My room is almost always decorated with pictures that are sacred, beautiful, inspiring, etc. to me and I try to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for myself to live/study/rest/etc. in and for my friends to visit.

My altar space is situated by the window, which overlooks a little courtyard and the woods beyond.While I’m at school, this is the most sacred space to me, and I work really hard to keep it that way while I’m here.

Of course, when I’m home for winter / spring / summer break, I have places where I go to practice as well. Due to the nature of the space situation in my parents’ home, most of those places are outdoors.

In my own backyard, I am again blessed to have a great expanse of land full of trees and a big ol’ forest beyond. In particular, there’s a small grove hidden among a bunch of pine and cedar trees where I do some more private rituals, and then there’s Treebeard, a cottonwood tree where I leave offerings, prayer ribbons, etc. and spend time enjoying the space on the shady hill just beneath him.

I’m also blessed to have other little places of beauty within my hometown such as the local state park, my local witchy shop, and my aunt’s gorgeous and wild garden. These are places that really make me feel attuned to the energies of the universe and the natural world, and where I like to perform tarot readings, have debates about different witchy/spiritual topics, etc. with my friends.

And of course, there are a number of places in Michigan that have spiritual significance to me. The biggest one is the Boyne/East Jordan/Charlevoix area up in the northern part of our lower peninsula. Over the years, it has been a place full of childhood memory as well as shared memories and explorations with one of my best friends, Mark.

Being a pagan who follows a primarily Celtic path and lives within the United States makes it a little difficult to visit holy sites associated with my practice. There are, no surprise, remarkably few here in the states. There are Native American sacred sites, but because that runs along the slippery slope of what is culturally appropriative and what is respect for the culture and traditions associated with those sites, you’ll note that none of the places I’ve shared above are tied to those places. I was fortunate enough, four years ago, to visit the United Kingdom and places like Stonehenge, Avebury, and Glastonbury. These are memories that I hold really dear to my heart, and feel very privileged to have experienced in my lifetime.

Two of my very favorite memories from my trip to the UK came from my experiences on the weekend we went visiting various sacred sites. While in Chalice Well Gardens, I’d sat down by the well head to meditate and get away from the rest of the crowd of students I was with for a while, and man and his young daughter sat down alongside of me. The little girl had to have been about 4 or 5 years old at most, and as most 4-5 year-olds are, she was a little rambunctious and was bouncing around a bit. Rather than be upset with her, or harsh, I heard her father very calmly explain this was a special place, and saw (much to my amazement and admiration really) her nod in understanding, and sit down to meditate with him.

The second vivid memory I hold dear from that trip (as far as sacred space and that goes) occurred while we were in Avebury. It was rather late, the sun was setting, and we really didn’t have much time to spend there, but I remember it being a much more tangible feeling of presence there. Perhaps it was because we could actually approach the stones; maybe it was just the liminal time of day we were there or the place itself. I couldn’t quite say.

As we wandered about the stones, we saw an older gentleman with rather wild grey curls sitting at the base of one of the smaller stones. He had candles, incense, etc. and was using dowsing rods. The rest of our group gave him sort of a wide berth, and I (as the sort of unofficial pagan authority of the crew) stood a respectable and out-of-earshot ways off, explaining to my roommate that he was probably using the dowsing rods to look for ley lines in the area. He then turned to look at us and asked: “Have you two got good imaginations on you?” We were a little surprised, but answered that yes, we supposed we did. “Do you know where the word imagination comes from?” We honestly weren’t sure. “I. Magi. Nation. A nation of magicians. Merlin is one of my guides, you know.” He then proceeded to tell us this tale about Merlin performing his first magic trick in the stone circle in which we stood: he’d turned a friend invisible and was unable to turn him back again. He also told us about how the Druids had used that place as a place for their initiations. I wasn’t at all sure on the historical accuracy of those things, but in the moment, you sort of wanted to suspend your disbelief. Awen was flowing, and you could almost see what he was describing in your mind’s eye. He then looked at us again and said: “I get Druid from both of you.” I was a little shocked because, of course, I was. I told him so, and he simply turned, and went back to his business of dowsing as though it had never happened. And for the life of me, I swear no one else seems to have seen or heard him say these things but my roommate and I. That is no doubt a mystery and a feeling I will remember for quite some time.

And finally, the last part for this prompt: circle casting. I’ll be honest, I don’t perform circle casting in my own work. For one, I’ve been studying off-and-on with a Druid organization for some time that doesn’t utilize them in their ritual formats. But, more importantly I find them to be distracting and a waste of energy and time. Circles, to my understanding, function for a few general purposes:

To contain and thereby magnify energy raised during a working until it comes time to release it at the end of the ritual.

To protect the individuals within and the magical working from the influence of any nasty / negative energy.

To create a sort of liminal and marked out place in which a ritual can occur and entities (spirits, gods, whatever) may be more easily contacted.

However, as I’ve mentioned above, I don’t generally feel a need to do this. For starters, I always cleanse a place before I use it, and if appropriate might make small offerings to any outside spirits that might be poking about to say “Hey, please let me use this space for a bit.” I don’t perform rituals in places where negative energy is hanging about, and I certainly am confident enough in my own ability to raise and manipulate my own energy to not feel a need for the circle of protection, or the circle that focuses energy in an external space. I also work with many liminal deities. I think it’s very safe to assume I don’t need liminal space for them to get messages across. When I do a particular magical working, my own personal energy field acts in the way a circle might: raising, containing, and releasing energy for my working. It eliminates the need for a physical circle- which means less time/resources marking it out, and I don’t need to cut a door in it should I forget something (which I often do!). It also helps hone in my focus on the working at hand. I often find that by the time I draw and cast a circle, call the quarters, etc. I’m quite distracted from what I was originally intending to accomplish.

Please note, I’m not bashing on anyone who uses circles. They can be quite useful to one’s practice especially when you’re just beginning! I just don’t feel a need to use them.

And, thus concludes a very long blog post. Thank you for hanging in there and reading if you’ve made it this far.

Love and blessings to you all -Rachel

YT Pagan Challenge: Sacred Spaces, Holy Sites, and Circle Casting I had been hoping to film part of my eighth YT Pagan Challenge video outdoors in one of my on-campus sacred spaces, but it seems the weather is just not willing to agree with me.

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