Laura Perry's Blog, page 4

Rebooting The Wiccan Wellness Book

I've had a lot of projects going this year but one of the biggest has been revising and updating The Wiccan Wellness Book. This was the second book I published, way back in 2003, and a lot has happened in the meantime.Last year's big "reboot project" was the second edition of Ancient Spellcraft, which was quite an adventure. Now I'm working on a second second edition! LOLI've spent several months researching and updating the health and wellness information in the book so you get the very latest, up-to-date information for your wellbeing. I've also spiffed up several of the rituals with some new ideas I got while performing them. And I've drawn new chapter illustrations (honestly, I was shocked to realize how much my artistic skills have improved in the 15 years since the book's first edition).The book will have a new cover that kinda-sorta looks like the old one. And it will still be a great resource for your physical and spiritual health and wellbeing, keeping in mind the presence of the divine within and around us. I can hardly wait for September 28!Thou art god. Thou art goddess.Blessed be.

Posidaeja: The Minoans' Grandmother Ocean

If you live on an island, the ocean is a pretty important part of life. So it's no surprise that the Minoans had an ocean goddess. Today on the Minoan Path blog, I'm sharing a few interesting tidbits about her:Posidaeja: The Minoans' Grandmother OceanTo join the conversation about Modern Minoan Paganism and ancient Minoan civilization, head on over to our welcoming community at Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook.In the name of the bee,And of the butterfly,And of the breeze, amen!

A Modern Minoan Pagan Author: Why I do what I do

One of the most common questions people ask me is what inspired me to write the Minoan books, create the Minoan Tarot, and so on. The simple answer is necessity. The more complicated answer is here:A Modern Minoan Pagan Author: Why I do what I doIn the name of the bee,And of the butterfly,And of the breeze, amen.

Are you and I friends?

On social media, I mean. Though I will say, many of my social media friendships have blossomed into real-life friendships, something that I really adore about the Internet's ability to bring people together.You can find me online in all these different places:FacebookTwitterInstagramPinterestYoutubeLinkedInI also publish a monthly e-mail newsletter, Threads of Magic, with news about what I'm up to as well as a Q&A section where I answer questions readers have asked. A lot of folks like the newsletter because it avoids the way some social media platforms keep you from seeing everything you want to (you know, those !@#$% algorithms). You can sign up for my newsletter here.You can also get in touch with me via e-mail or through the contact page of my website.Whatever your preferred method happens to be, I hope you'll keep in touch. The world is a big place. We can make it a little smaller, a little more connected, by reaching out to each other.In the name of the bee,And of the butterfly,And of the breeze, amen.

Is Modern Minoan Paganism true for its time?

Joseph Campbell said that all religions are true for their time. How can we aim toward having Modern Minoan Paganism be true for its time? I explore that question in today's Minoan Path blog post:Is Modern Minoan Paganism true for its time?To join the conversation about Modern Minoan Paganism and ancient Minoan civilization, join our welcoming community at Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook.In the name of the bee,And of the butterfly,And of the breeze, amen!

Summer Solstice in Modern Minoan Paganism

The Minoan pantheon offers us a collection of different deities and myths to focus on as Summer Solstice approaches here in the northern hemisphere. How will you celebrate?Summer Solstice: Celebrating Modern Minoan PaganismIf you'd like to join the conversation about Modern Minoan Paganism and ancient Minoan civilization, head on over to our welcoming community at Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook.In the name of the bee,And of the butterfly,And of the breeze, amen.

The Minoan Goddess: Double? Triple?

You've probably heard of the Maiden/Mother/Crone triplicity of goddesses. But did you know it's a modern invention, created by British author Robert Graves? If that trio didn't exist in the ancient world, what did? There's more than one possibility for Minoan goddesses; I delve into the details in this Minoan Path blogpost:The Minoan Goddess: Double? Triple?To join the conversation about Modern Minoan Paganism and ancient Minoan civilization, head on over to our welcoming community at Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook.

Book Review: Weapons of Math Destruction

I don't often start book reviews this way, but here goes: You should read this book. Yes, you, whoever you are, because it's a sure bet your personal data is part of the algorithms Cathy O'Neil talks about in Weapons of Math Destruction. You've probably heard the old adage, "Lies, damn lies, and statistics." In Weapons of Math Destruction, O'Neil takes the reader on a fairly dystopian journey to discover exactly what corporate and government entities are doing with statistics these days - statistics that often include our very personal information.From Wall Street's "make money regardless of the consequences" attitude that brought the economy to its knees a decade ago, to the uses and misuses of police surveillance and medical information, to the ways algorithms are muddying the waters of education and failing to improve our schools, it's a scary story. The people who use this data, these computerized algorithms, often aren't aware of the biases that have been programmed into the systems (and even if they are, they frequently don't care). After all, computers are totally unbiased, right? Except they're not, because they're programmed to sort data based on instructions people give them. And often, those instructions create misleading or purely incorrect answers, but it's almost impossible to fight against them because the systems that churn the data are usually hidden and proprietary.I've looked at the reviews of this book online and they appear to fall into two categories: People with heavy-duty math backgrounds who complain that the book didn't go into enough detail about the algorithms themselves, and ordinary people like me who found it enlightening and also chilling. I don't think you need to know how each algorithm works to understand that the whole industry is a major threat to accuracy, fairness, and privacy on many levels.Like O'Neil, I'm not sure what the ultimate solution is to this situation. These systems are pervasive in business, education, justice, medicine - virtually every aspect of life these days. But the first step to finding a solution is to identify the problem and make as many people as possible aware of it. This book does exactly that, in language that mere mortals can understand.

Music among the Minoans

Like other ancient cultures, the Minoans played music. I think music is probably a human universal that goes back as far as there have been people. Today on the Minoan Path blog I'm sharing the musical instruments that show up in Minoan art and talking about the times and places where the Minoans celebrated with music:Music among the MinoansTo join the conversation about ancient Minoan civilization and Modern Minoan Paganism, head on over to our welcoming community at Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook.In the name of the bee,And of the butterfly,And of the breeze, amen.

You have questions? I have answers!

I regularly get e-mails and Facebook messages asking about everything from Modern Minoan Paganism to shamanism to art and writing. I usually answer these questions privately because that's how they were posed to me.But sometimes I think there are other people out there who would love to know the answers to those questions. So I've decided to add a Q & A section to my monthly newsletter. If you have a question about anything I do, from spiritual practices to writing methods and everything in between, send it to me via the Contact page on my website or message me on Facebook. And yes, you're welcome to ask about gardening, herbalism, and winemaking, too.I'll collect up the questions as they come in and answer them in the newsletter. If you're not already subscribed to the newsletter, you can find the signup link right here. And remember, the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask. ;-)In the name of the bee,And of the butterfly,And of the breeze, amen.