Tag: Patheos

The Balancing Path (prose) Witchcraft

Accountability Culture, Personal Responsibility, and Our Communities

I am a very strong proponent of Accountability Culture. Accountability is key to personal and community growth, healing and reconciliation, and achieving peaceful intersectional inclusion. Accountability Culture is to Cancel Culture, what Call-In Culture is to Call-Out Culture, in that it holds people responsible for their words and actions, while also providing the opportunity for growth, change, and reconciliation before bringing down the hammer of ultimate judgement and banishment on those who refuse to be accountable.

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Tarot & Divination The Balancing Path (prose) Witchcraft

What Exactly Is the Point of Divination Anyway?

One very common practice in witchcraft, paganism, and most pagan-tangential traditions is divination. It is found worldwide, in every culture, in some form or another, throughout history, and is one of the few fundamentally human activities found anywhere and anywhen. Even when divination is vilified and outlawed, it is still present, practiced in the shadows. Just about anything can be used as a vehicle for divination, but tarot is fabulously popular currently, even in mundane circles. But why do we do it? What exactly do we get out of it?

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The Balancing Path (prose) Witchcraft

The Trap of Waiting for Perfection Before Acting

It is easy to fall into the thought trap of needing everything to be perfect before acting, whether that action is magical or mundane. It is certainly true that some things must happen before other things can happen, or it may be best practice to wait for certain circumstances. However, you can never be absolutely certain that everything will go perfectly, so if you wait until perfection is assured, this can easily result in never acting at all.

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The Balancing Path (prose) Witchcraft

Practicing Loving Honesty Instead of Brutal Honesty

I have mentioned repeatedly in various articles that it is important to be completely honest with yourself, especially when engaging with shadow work. I also usually include a few words about how critical it is to be compassionate and non-judgmental in your honesty, but what exactly does that mean? How do you avoid being hyper-critical or beating yourself up when you are honest with yourself about things you do not like? It is far easier said than done, but I believe that process works best with loving honesty instead of brutal honesty.

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The Balancing Path (prose) Witchcraft

The Paradox of Estrangement in the Time of COVID-19

As cases of COVID-19 are surging throughout the United States, I cannot help but wonder about my birth family, how they are faring, and if they are safe. It is a strange thing to have no idea, to be aware that I may never know, to be glad for the estrangement which prevents that knowledge, and yet to wonder and hope that they are well. It creates a paradox of conflicting emotions, a cognitive dissonance, to be so concerned, and yet know that it is far and away in my best interest to retain the distance of estrangement I created.

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