Mood:  celebratory

Gede Parma, an Australian teenager of Irish and Balinese descent, is a teenaged author on the lookout for the welfare of the world's pagan teens as well as for the good name of his spiritual practice. His first book, Spirited: Taking Paganism Beyond the Circle, is both Gede's life story and an introduction for young people learning how to carry themselves as spiritual beings in an increasingly divided world.

If you are a pagan teenager, or if you know someone who could use a pep-talk for their journey, Parma's book is now available worldwide through Llewellyn and from Amazon.

From Parma's site:

"...I am deeply spiritual but I refuse to align myself with the lexicon of religion based on its current-day affiliations with orthodox, mainstream organisations and its etymological roots (i.e. the Latin ‘religare’ – to bind back). The most obvious indicator of corrupt religion is hidebound dogma and its institutionalisation. This has occurred throughout history, however it is most obvious in current-day monotheistic faiths (e.g. Christianity and Islam). It must be made clear however that the majority of the adherents to these faiths are in fact level-headed spiritual beings who simply seek a relationship with the Divine. [We] too seek personal relationships with the Divine, however we do not necessarily view it as transcendent and detached from the material plane, in fact we view it as wholly a part of it.

If a non-religious Witchcraft can exist (and it does) how is it reconciled with those in the Pagan community who view themselves as practising a religion? It is that the Pagan community is decentralised, autonomous and largely anarchistic – we have no authoritarian ruling body that passes edicts over us. Therefore there are no problems with diversity (and it flourishes!). If one chooses to look at history’s representation of Witchcraft and of course the truths that lie behind these perceptions, a vivid story unfolds. A story steeped in shadow and secrecy; dancing in groves, skyclad bodies shimmering under the radiance of the full moon; perfect love and perfect trust; Old Ones and spirits of place; parting the Veil and dwelling between. We are truly denizens of an otherworldly lineage; if only we all knew how otherworldly this Earth is. This is not the supernatural, merely an expansion of consciousness that reveals something beyond the mundane drudgery we live through day-to-day. There are patterns and symbols; cycles and rhythms. Witches work to attune themselves to these natural forces and tides, therefore becoming whole and at one with the Pure Will – it is here where destiny unfolds."

Mood:  celebratory

Howdy everyone, especially the Northern Hemisphere folks. Have a great Samhain/Day of the Dead/Halloween and/or All Hallows!

We've got a great big ginormous enormous party planned here that'll go all night, but first, I'm off to a dumb supper and ancestor ritual; I lost one of my grandmothers earlier in the year, and also have other deceased family and friends to remember this evening, including Regina, Paw Paw, Tex, Stevie, Fernand and my great-grandmother Willa Mae. I think of you all from time to time, and miss every one of you very much.

If you're curious about the different rituals and celebrations happening all around the world, take a look at the following to get you started:

Halloween - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Samhain - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain   and  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/29/HODV13LCBM.DTL

All Saints - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints

Feast of the Lemures - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_the_Lemures

Day of the Dead - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_dead