New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit Since 1901
If you're like most Americans, you know a little about the Salem witch trials and you have a theory about why they happened. For the last 332 years, people have debated how and why the people of the Massachusetts Bay Colony could have embarked on a witch hunt in the spring of 1692. Nuanced, evidence-based theories abound—but so does misinformation. Here are the 9 most common misconceptions about the Salem witch trials, so the next time someone mentions Salem, you'll be prepared! Before we start, let's set the stage. In January of 1692, two young girls in Salem Village began having inexplicable fits, crying out in strange voices and complaining of phantom pains. After about six ...
When you think of a stereotypical Sagittarius, probably the image that comes to mind is someone boisterous, loud, enthusiastic, and passionate. (Hello, it's me.) We express ourselves very strongly, even those of us who may be more introverted in nature. Sometimes, though, our off-the-cuff, uncensored expressions may be detrimental to our relationships with other humans, mainly when we don't stop to think before we open our mouths. We can be offensive, hot-headed, unnecessarily argumentative, or unhelpful drama queens. As a Sagittarius, I am certainly guilty of all of those things, and I've had to learn some techniques to rein in my over-the-top tendencies so I can keep my relationships ...
Witches all over the world have embraced the houseplant craze as a way of rewilding their homes and their practice. Houseplants are an easy way to meet Mother Nature halfway and, while no substitute for a walk in the park, can go a long way in helping us remain connected to the spirits of the wild. In my new book Houseplant HortOCCULTure, I dive into the magical characteristics of over one hundred of the most popular houseplants as I explore the unique work of developing a spiritual relationship with a living plant. I talk about everything from how to keep them alive to how we can work with the unique rhythms and cycles of living plants as a form of potent magic. In this article, I'd like ...
It seems like everyone knows that Hathor is the "goddess of love," and Isis the "goddess of magic," that Thoth is the god you pray to when you need help on your university exams and Sekhmet is our ride-or-maybe-literally-die for justice. But does every pharaonic deity (or Netjer in the ancient language) only have a single sphere of influence, or a small number of concerns that they can be appealed to with prayer or magic for help with? In ancient times as today, many people call upon various Netjeru (that is, "ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses") for the things that they need and want in life, or for help with daily concerns. Unlike today, however, in antiquity the average person might ...
