Yvonne Aburrow's Blog, page 45
August 31, 2020
Books I read in August
I finally got around to reading Malafrena by Ursula Le Guin. I reread March by Geraldine Brooks. And I very much enjoyed Seanan McGuire’s ghost novel.
Malafrena by Ursula Le Guin
In an Eastern European country that never was, a young man tries to be a revolutionary in the face of the crushing might of the Austrian Empire. Wistful and elegiac in tone; interesting to read a non-SF book by Ursula Le Guin.
March by Geraldine Brooks
Amazing book about what happens to Mr March from Little Women while...
August 21, 2020
Pagan Leadership Course
I will be delivering a course on Pagan leadership with the Raven Academy of Mystical Arts.
You can sign up for it on their website via the ordination track (which is aimed at allowing people to conduct rites of passage).
You can sign up from anywhere in the world, as the sessions are not live; they’re all pre-recorded.
The course will cover diversity and inclusion, psychological aspects of leadership, active listening, consensus process, nonviolent communication, models of leadership, consent c...
August 14, 2020
Pronouns
Pronouns are a peculiar linguistic phenomenon. They tend to change and shift over time. Pronouns have been messed up in English by some peculiar things.
Consider the full range of pronouns available in English.
I am
Thou art (intimate form)
He is
She is
It is
One might be
They are (singular or plural)
You are (singular or plural or formal)
We are
The only gendered pronouns in the above list are he and she. I have omitted “y’all” and “youse” from the list, as although they’re excellent coi...
August 9, 2020
Exercises and Endnotes
I can’t be the only person who starts reading a Pagan book, gets to an exercise in the middle of the chapter, thinks that I don’t have time to do the exercise right now, and either puts the book down, planning to come back later (and never do), or skips the exercise and reads on.
There’s a certain very famous and well regarded Pagan book that I own a copy of but have never finished because of this exercises problem (it’s mostly exercises so it’s just never going to get finished).
Exercises at t...
August 5, 2020
Interview about the new book
An interview with me about the reissue of Dark Mirror and The Night Journey is up at the Centre for Pagan Studies blog.
You can pre-order the book from the Doreen Valiente Foundation online shop.
August 3, 2020
Books I read in July
The absolutely outstanding Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender, about a trans teenager in New York.
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
This is such a great book. It’s beautifully written and warm and funny and heart-wrenching. There’s also a significant element of suspense over several aspects of the plot and I was kept guessing for most of the book. I also guessed wrong.
The bits about being trans and falling in love and finding your true self, and who your real friends are, and making art, a...
August 2, 2020
Haloes, East and West
We just started watching the series Warrior Nun on Netflix. It’s rather enjoyable so far. However I couldn’t help noticing that it is wrong about haloes.
In Eastern Orthodox art, a halo is correctly depicted as a glow completely encircling the head of the saint. Here is Saint Seraphim of Sarov talking to a bear.
Clearly the halo is the illuminated aura of the saint. Their enlightened and saintly aura shines golden.
Greek and Roman Pagan art also depicted their Pagan deities with auric haloes. ...
August 1, 2020
New edition of Dark Mirror
Pre-order the book from the Doreen Valiente Foundation Shop
Later this year they will also be publishing a new edition of my follow-up book, The Night Journey: Witchcraft as Transformation.
About the book
This is a book about how to relate your witchcraft practice to everyday concerns; living comfortably in your body; how to be at peace with yourself so you can help others. It is about the inner work of ritual: what happens on an inner level while the outer forms of ritual (gesture, movement, and speech) are going on. It enables you to develop more effective rituals by thinking about how ritual works. That is why it starts from the beginning, thinking about why we set up sacred space in a specific way, why we celebrate the Pagan festivals, and how that relates to Pagan ethics and theology. Witchcraft is a system of practice with specific goals, and this book inquires into what those goals are and how our practice can help us to achieve them, creating meaning in our lives. The book is aimed at people who want to ground their magical practice in a Pagan worldview and lived values, and practice embodied spirituality.
The inner work is what happens in the mind and body during ritual, and is intimately connected with embodied spirituality, which celebrates being alive and embodied. Only by connecting the inner and the outer can we create positive change in the world.
Pre-order the book from the Doreen Valiente Foundation Shop
New edition of Dark Mirror
I am delighted to announce that The Centre For Pagan Studies and the Doreen Valiente Foundation are publishing the revised and expanded edition of Dark Mirror: the Inner Work of Witchcraft by me, Yvonne Aburrow.
Pre-order the paperback from the Doreen Valiente Foundation Shop
Pre-order the hardback from the Doreen Valiente Foundation Shop
Later this year they will also be publishing a new edition of my follow-up book, The Night Journey: Witchcraft as Transformation.
This is a boo...
July 27, 2020
Artemis of Ephesus
The news that Hagia Sophia possibly contains eight green marble columns from the temple of Artemis at Ephesus reminded me of this poem I wrote in 2008.
Artemis of the Ephesians
Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!
Her many breasts, the Anatolian hills
giving forth the sweetness of fragrant spices.
Her many names resounding in the streets
and temples of Ephesus where women
call to Her, calling Her name to the night.
Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!
The milk from Her breasts abundantly fills
the ...
