Laura Perry's Blog, page 15

Book Review: Throwing Stones

I've just had the pleasure of reading a lovely book by Robin Reardon. Throwing Stones is, more than anything, a coming-of-age story about a young man who, like many of us these days, finds it difficult to truly be himself in a society that judges us for everything from our sexual orientation to our belief systems. The main character, Jesse Bryce, must contend against not just a family but a whole town that finds his homosexuality baffling and repellent. I'm sure there are plenty of folks out

How do you know that's a ritual object?

Over in Ariadne's Tribe (my discussion group that focuses on modern Minoan Paganism) we often find ourselves questioning the label 'ritual object' that's applied to so many archaeological finds with such abandon. Of course, there are ways to figure out whether most artifacts are ritual items or not, but since most archaeologists aren't practicing Pagans, they might not understand how this works: How do you know that's a ritual object? So take those 'ritual object' labels with a grain of salt and

Bulldozing History

We all want success, sure, but at what cost? In difficult economic times, people tend to value short-term profit over long-term benefits. One recent incident involves the approval of a large luxury resort development in Crete, whose construction will destroy irreplaceable ancient remains: Bulldozing History Let's value the past that our ancestors built and do our best to preserve it and learn from it. To join the discussion about modern Minoan Paganism, hop on over to Ariadne's Tribe and meet

Book Review: The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens

Morgan Daimler’s book about the Morrigan, that multifarious and fascinating Irish goddess, may be small but it has done great things for me. It’s one of the Pagan Portals series, short-but-deep introductions to a variety of Pagan subjects including deities. And it really has changed my relationship with this goddess – for the better, of course. First let me tell you about the book, titled The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens. It’s full of all sorts of fascinating information about the Morrigan

Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?

The Snake Goddess is iconic of Minoan civilization and religion, but who is she really and what place does she have in modern Minoan Paganism? Read today's Minoan Path blog post to find out: Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes? To join the discussion about ancient Minoan civilization and modern Minoan Paganism, pop on over to Ariadne's Tribe. In the name of the bee And of the butterfly And of the breeze, amen!   

What does a book mean?

Back in high school, my English teacher liked to give us a form to fill out for each book we read. It listed the obvious bits – author, title, genre – but one of the blanks to fill in was labeled ‘Theme.’ That one always drove me nuts, trying to figure out what the author meant by writing the book. Now that I’m looking at it from the other side, as an author, I can see there’s way more to this subject than just filling in a blank. Ray Bradbury famously stormed out of book readings and interviews

Book Review: End of Days

More vampires! Or rather, more of the twisted tale about these vampires, in the second volume of the Night Runner trilogy. First of all, let me point out that this is Young Adult fiction and yes, I read YA fiction regularly. There's a lot of good lit out there under the YA label, and this one definitely counts as good lit. It's not dumbed-down or naive, and the story shines without resorting to steamy sex scenes or gratuitous violence. Quite refreshing, really. So yes, vampires. But not your

Minoan Ecstatic Postures: Saluting the Sacred

Many modern Pagan traditions involve sacred postures of one sort or another. This is an ancient practice, one the Minoans used to honor their gods and induce altered states of consciousness. Today on the Minoan Path Blog I'm sharing several of the less-well-known sacred postures from ancient Crete:   Minoan Ecstatic Postures: Saluting the Sacred   To join the discussion about modern Minoan Paganism, pop on over to Ariadne's Tribe.   In the name of the Bee - And of the Butterfly - And of the

How Writers Write: The Perils of Working from Home

I wrote my first novel during slow times at a deathly boring office job. It was awful - the novel, that is. I never published it or even showed it to anyone. Actually, the job was pretty awful, too, but that's beside the point.   Here's the thing: It was easy to write that novel because I was already in Work Mode, stuck at a desk, with no Internet connection and nothing else to do. When I shifted to working from home, writing wasn't so easy any more.   Now, some of the difficulties and

Grandmother Ocean: Constant Inspiration

  The ancient Minoans lived on an island surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. Those blue waters inspired their livelihood, their cuisine, and their religion. Have a look at some of their beautiful, marine-inspired art in today's Minoan Path blog post:   Grandmother Ocean: constant inspiration   To join the discussion about modern Minoan Paganism, head on over to Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook. Everyone is welcome.   In the name of the Bee - And of the Butterfly - And of the Breeze - Amen!