Guest Post: Hail Columbia! A Ritual To Call Upon America’s Overlooked Goddess
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Guest Post: Hail Columbia! A Ritual To Call Upon America’s Overlooked Goddess

The government is filled with corrupt officials who have actively betrayed their oaths of office in pursuit of power, bringing active harm to my communities and many others. Suffice to say, my magical political activism needed to up it’s game, and I was trying to determine who to call in for aid. Calling upon the Founding Fathers is just a little too patriarchal for my taste. Calling upon the Spirit of America kept summoning images of the Old West, which was not what I was going for. Maybe Lady Liberty? That was closer, but it felt like something was missing. Then the name Columbia came up. You know of Columbia, right? The Goddess of America? Or, more accurately, the Forgotten Goddess of America. Lady Liberty, who is more familiar to most of us these days, is Her daughter.

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Remembering Pulse
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Remembering Pulse

On June 12, 2016 I woke up to news that something happened at Pulse. As more information came out the magnitude of what happened really hit. I spent the day checking in on friends who I knew liked to go there, making sure everyone was okay.

I’m from Florida originally and before I moved to the mid-Atlantic I attended college in Orlando and lived there for about six years. Orlando is where I came out, where I began more fully exploring my spiritual path, and where I started the long process of figuring out who I wanted to be. While I may have been physically born in South Florida, the person who I am today started in Orlando. In that way I see that city see as my home.

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Ritual: Maintaining Boundaries For Work/Life Balance
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Ritual: Maintaining Boundaries For Work/Life Balance

I’ve been working from home for a little over a month now. During this time I’ve seen any semblance of work/life balance I may have established come crashing down. It was easy to excuse this at the beginning - we were all scrambling to transition our processes and support services online. We had a short window to get it done and it was imperative we make as few mistakes as possible. I could justify working around the clock and through the weekend.

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Ritual: Protection And Prosperity For Hourly Wage Earners
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Ritual: Protection And Prosperity For Hourly Wage Earners

It is a very scary time right now in many places around the world. I live in the United States where our elected leaders are currently debating how and if to support those severely impacted by the economic impact of coronavirus. I’ve been thinking about how I can do my part to support those vulnerable to financial uncertainty (and I don’t mean the billionaires and corporations currently lobbying for yet another bailout). In addition to purchasing curb-side or take-out as long as its safe to do so, supporting organizations such as United Way, and helping connect those in my community to resources to ensure they have access to food I also wanted to find ways to use my craft to bolster these actions.

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Learning From Our Queer Ancestors In Times Of Panic
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Learning From Our Queer Ancestors In Times Of Panic

I’m sitting on my couch after a week of mandated telework for my day job. My husband is next to me on his phone, similarly in a mandatory telework capacity. We had a bit of a scare last weekend when we he received word he would not be able to go to work for the rest of March but there was still no word if hourly workers would be paid. Luckily, come Monday, senior leadership in his organization approved pay and telework for part-time and hourly workers. We are very aware of how blessed we are in that regard as many folks across the country are being thrown into financial chaos as the the coronavirus outbreak continues.

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Growing up Catholic: How The Church And Superstition Helped Shape My Craft
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Growing up Catholic: How The Church And Superstition Helped Shape My Craft

I was raised in a Roman Catholic home, even if our adherence wasn’t terribly strict. I also grew up much closer to my mom’s side of the family which meant my relationship to our religion was intertwined with Cuban culture and heritage. As I was coming to terms with my sexuality in my teens, around the same time I discovered Wicca, I all but ran from the church. For years I told myself I had left everything about it behind except the “Catholic Guilt” but its only in recent years that I’ve really begun to realize just how much of my craft is influenced by my Catholic upbringing as well as the uniquely Hispanic faith-based superstitions surrounding it.

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Connecting With Land Spirits Through Urban Farming
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Connecting With Land Spirits Through Urban Farming

My husband and I spent the day working in the yard. We recently received some trees and berry bushes we ordered, and it was the first warm and sunny day to get them in the ground. It was the first time in many, many months that I’ve been able to get outside and get my hands dirty and I was immediately reminded how much doing so energizes and sustains me.

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