Living

Column: Traditions and Holiday Magic

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As many people work to figure out how to move forward after one of the most explosive and unnerving presidential elections in recent history, time marches forward into the holiday season. Despite the current complexity of politics in the United States and around the world, this time of the year is most commonly associated with memories and traditions of family, worship, and celebration. I have always believed that the magic of any season has the ability to transition us toward healing and wellness, and the magic of traditions helps to frame our varied experiences. With this current political client, this idea could become essential in helping us move forward during a time when life feels so uncertain to many. “Tradition is one of the most beautiful ideologies we have created and experience as living and loving humans.

Paganism

Column: Sonatorrek

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In a matter of weeks, I will be getting on a plane to England. It is a part of my good fortune that I occasionally get to go searching for my ghosts; in this case, I will be looking for the ashes of one of my dead forbears, Deryck Alldriht, who founded what would become my coven and then promptly disappeared from the lives of everyone who knew him in America. I don’t know what I will find once I start digging.[1] I hope to learn something more of who Deryck was – what led him into the Craft, to America, to his grave – but I could just as easily find myself staring at an anonymous graveyard in a few weeks as ignorant as before. This is a problem with quests, and questions: we never really know where they end. As I prepare for this new spectral investigation, I think back to Iceland, two years ago now, the last time I went hunting for the dead who have shaped my faith: in that case, Egill Skallagrimsson, a far older shade than Deryck Alldriht.

Perspectives

Column: The Rich Diversity of Pagan Voting Values

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The term “values voters” has long described a specific portion of the American electorate. These voters are understood to express values that stem from their religious views, which are overwhelmingly Christian and socially conservative. In 2006, the movement made itself official by holding its first Value Voters Summit, an annual convention with the mission to “help inform and mobilize the bedrock values of traditional marriage, religious liberty, sanctity of life, and limited government that make America strong.” American media has followed suit, and it consistently refers to voters who hold these priorities by their preferred moniker “value voters.”

The term, however, is inaccurate and dishonest. To begin with, it assumes that only those who vote for the conservative Christian issues, such as eliminating legal abortion, opposing marriage equality for the LGBTQ community, and the rather peculiar definition of “religious liberty” expressed in the recent spate of religious freedom restoration acts, are voting based on their values.

Paganism

Column: This Thing all Things Devours

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[We are in the final ten hours of our campaign. Consider donating to The Wild Hunt. You make it possible for us to continue to provide a platform for our communities’ important news. What better way to celebrate the October season: Donate to a news organization that supports your spiritual community. Donate to The Wild Hunt today.]

I live in a place unchallenged by winter. We move between cycles of wet and dry with occasional mild cool weather that flickers through in just a few days. Those of us raised in the tropics understand the trial of winter, but rarely the daily onslaught of cloudy and relentlessly cold days that become shorter through the nearly the end of the calendar year.

Perspectives

Column: Political Magick and the Spiritual Duty of Citizenship

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[With only one week away from the final election day in the U.S., we invited Dr. Gwendolyn Reece, a Washington D.C. Witch and Priestess, to share her thoughts on the interplay between politics and magic. Through our guest writers, The Wild Hunt is able to offer perspectives and viewpoints beyond that of its regular columnists. If you enjoy this column and the diversity of voices visiting The Wild Hunt, consider donating to the 2016 Fall Fund Drive. We are now at 62% of the goal with 3 days left. Donate today to support Pagan and Heathen journalism.]

As a Hellenic Pagan and a priestess of Athena and Apollon, I consider my duties as a citizen to be sacred.