Sharing space with animals

They've become such good friends

We have two dogs sharing our home, as well as two guinea pigs and three gerbils. Lots of traditional and pagan belief systems talk about animals as guides and companions, and I definitely think that letting animals into your home has enormous benefits, although I don't really incorporate them into my spiritual practices in any way. Unless, of course, you count letting the dogs sniff and otherwise interfere with my tarot spreads (they are really quite interested in the cards).

Interestingly, I remember being told by a psychic at a fair once that there was a spirit dog circling my legs and keeping me safe from negative energies. The dog she described was my childhood pet, who was a mongrel so it wasn't an easy guess...

The smaller animals really belong to the kids, and they are largely responsible for their care. Looking after a dependent creature is a valuable lesson for them, and a responsibility that they have really stepped up to (well at least our older daughter has - she has had gerbils since the age of ten and has been really good at caring for them; our younger daughter - 9 at the moment - has had less opportunity for full responsibility so far). In the picture, two of the gerbils have rushed down the ladder to investigate a treat made for them by the girls.

The first dog we got, a Patterdale Terrier cross (bought as a rescue from Dogs Trust three years ago) is the family dog. She immediately enriched our lives enormously. Suddenly, getting the kids to go on a walk was not as tough as it had been :) She's also very sensitive and brilliant at comforting you by snuggling up on the sofa just when you need it. She also loves to play in water, as you may be able to see here. In the picture, she's waiting for someone to come in after her and play (it hasn't happened yet, but hope springs eternal).

The second dog, also purchased from Dogs Trust, was bought for our older daughter. He is a lurcher and we've had him almost 18 months now. He's also loving, but mostly what he brought into our lives was fun. Watching him run for the sheer joy of it is a genuine pleasure that can't fail but brighten your day. Here, he's enjoying the sun on a Cornish beach, having captured the Evil Frisbee Ring of Doom and wrestled it to the ground.

I feel that having pets - the dogs in particular - has massively improved our lives. Our fitness levels have increased, due to the need to walk daily and that regular exercise, as well as the pleasure we get from the dogs themselves has definitely been good for us emotionally and mentally.

Do you share your space with animals?

When Life Gets in the Way

It happens to us all: we just get busy, or something specific comes along to take up all our energy. At times like these, it's easy to neglect the very things that nourish us, those things that would help us to keep going and to weather the storm.

Unfortunately, this can so easily set up a vicious circle in which we can't get everything done (or can't concentrate enough to get anything done thanks to the current crisis), and our lack of self-care makes this worse while at the same time we feel we can't afford the time for self-care - as though it's some kind of luxury that we only deserve when everything's perfect. Sound familiar? I think it's true of many of us, and can certainly recognise these tendencies in myself.

Spiritual practices such as meditation and rituals can be - should be - part of this self-care and shouldn't be neglected, no matter how desperately we feel the time should be spent on something 'important'. The truth is, if we're neglecting ourselves, everything else will not be, cannot be done satisfactorily. I'm not saying that we should all spend hours a day in meditation or visualisation - that level of practice definitely sounds like a luxury! But actually, once you've established the habit, a few minutes can lift you out of your hamster wheel enough to give you a recharge.

My Top Three Tarot Decks and What I Use Them For

I have quite a few decks by now, but still there are a few firm favourites that I use most regularly. Some other time, I'll share some of my more unusual decks with you, but for today, I thought I'd introduce the decks I use most often. Decks do tend to have a character, so they are suited to different kinds of readings, much as different friends will give you advice with a different tone or flavour.

Deck Number 3: The Gilded Tarot

This is my favourite Rider-Waite based deck. It's beautiful and luminous with jewel-like colours. In terms of readings, this is a good one for straight talking. I always know if someone chooses this one (I usually give querents a choice of decks), then they need some straight-up advice. It's also quite easy to read, as the images are pretty clear and representative, so it's good for face-to-face readings as the querent can see I'm not just making it up or going from hunches.

Deck Number 2: The Druidcraft Tarot

This deck, fusing druidry and wicca, is gorgeous in a more gentle, less showy, way than the Gilded. I find it works well for both practical and spiritual questions. I particularly like the re-presentation of The Lady and The Lord for the Empress and Emperor, and found that the pagan sensitivities in this deck have added to my general understanding of the cards. Querents generally respond well to the gentle images on these cards, although they are huge and difficult for most people to shuffle (I turn them 90 degrees and shuffle them lengthwise).

Deck Number 1: Songs For the Journey Home

I love this unusual round deck. I find it beautiful and also incredibly gentle and supportive in its readings. It's good for any topic but works particularly well with emotional and psychological issues . This is a really special deck to me; I was fortunate enough to meet and have a reading with its illustrator. It's a non-traditional deck in many ways - the suits and court positions are renamed, as are many of the Majors, often revealing a slightly different slant on more 'standard' decks. Those who choose it often are in need of its warmth and non-judgmental approach to their concerns. I also find for personal readings it's great for pointing out the things I'm ignoring. Finally, it's a very woman-centred deck (as are many of the round decks - rejecting the black/white opposition of upright/reversed seems to be a feminist approach, interestingly).

So there you have it - the straight-talking Gilded, the pagan-themed Druidcraft and the warm and supportive Songs - my top three decks for reading.

Affirmations: the chakras and the elements

Here are two sets of affirmations that I use regularly. I wrote them quite specifically to help me, so some of the ideas may need tweaking for your circumstances.

This first one I recite while focusing on each chakra in turn:

• I am grounded: a child of the earth.  Energy flows through me into her warm darkness.
• I am vital: a creature of impulse.  I am free to express my sexuality without fear.
• I am comfortable: a being of value.  My existence enriches the world.
• I am loved: a woman of warmth.  I have the power to reach out to others.
• I am vocal: a person of confidence.  My truth is worthwhile for the world to hear.
• I am open: a soul of clarity.  My wisdom is welcomed by others.
• I am connected: a spirit of light.  Energy flows through me from her bright openness.

If you're new to working with chakras, this is a good introduction.

This second one I use with my four elements prayer beads bracelet, as a kind of gratitude prayer, helping me to focus on the blessings I receive through each element:

I earn the means to live comfortably in the world.
I share my knowledge with others.
I experience a connection with the divine through all things.
I feel the love of those around and before me.

These four lines run through Earth, Air, Fire, Water. I conclude on the pentacle with a reminder that "I am blessed".

I hope these help somebody. I certainly find them useful in setting my thoughts to 'positive' :)

Reading: revisiting an abandoned project

As a writer, I have various bits and pieces of ideas and half-completed things lying around and there's this children's project which I've been poking at for a while now. I had a complete first draft, then really shifted things around (added two new main characters, changed the perspective, constructed a new setting - no small thing) but failed to finish that rewrite. So, here I am with an okay-but-not-outstanding first draft and a half-completed rewrite. Do I return to that rewrite? Start fresh using some of the same ideas? Draw a line under it altogether? This seemed a good question to ask the beautiful Druidcraft deck.

It presented me with the following three cards:
What is the best course of action to take? Six of Pentacles
What is the likely outcome of this course of action? Rebirth
What have I been overlooking? Seven of Wands

The Six of Pentacles is about generosity and giving. As a Pentacle, it's also about work and there is no hint of a new start or going back to the beginning - and of course, as a Six, it's a good distance along the path of the minors, reminding me perhaps that I have already gone quite some way with this project.

The card of Rebirth is more traditionally Judgement, but the representation here is much more clearly about entering a new phase, rather than the ending which is quite clearly connoted in the traditional, Christian-influenced presentation of the day of Judgement. Maybe completing a new version of this story would help me shift up a gear in my (fiction) writing?

My final card, the Seven of Wands, is a rather familiar card - I've been getting this one quite a bit recently. This is always a card about determination and persistence. If I'm honest (and why not be here, right?), I struggle to keep focused on the writing I want to do. I've been quite successful of late in getting writing work in terms of educational materials and teaching resources, but it's very easy to neglect the fictional stuff which I want to write but which (at the moment) no-one is paying me to do. Maybe this card is here to remind me to stand my ground and defend my fiction writing against the other pressures on my time that threaten to push it out. Otherwise, I can't keep claiming that it is what I really want, right?

A-Z Reflections post

Well, I did it: one post for each letter of the alphabet, all posted within April. Yes, there was a 'Grr' moment in the middle due to what they may call 'technical difficulties', but as far as I'm concerned, I did complete the challenge of 26 themed posts in April.

So what did I gain? I found several cool new blogs to read, and I had some nice visitors here, and I also learned that I can blog every day, but would probably not choose to do so normally :). I also discovered that my overall blog theme - my personal experiences of paganism in my daily life - works and provides me with plenty of scope for posts, so I'll definitely be continuing.

At the moment, I've said I'll post here weekly, but that may yet increase as time allows. I've really used this challenge as a way to test out blogging, having only had a couple of posts before the challenge. I wanted the challenge to kick-start my blog, making sure I'd have a good few posts up on a range of topics, and I also wanted to test the waters and see whether I had things to say. I *think* I've established that I do!

Thank you for visiting and for making the challenge fun!

Y: Yule

What else could Y be on a pagan blog? There are plenty of places online to learn about Yule in general terms: what it means et cetera, so I thought I'd simply explain how we celebrate Yule and Christmas in tandem.

As I've discussed elsewhere, I'm the only pagan in the house really (no-one else has a faith as such), so I don't impose too much on everyone else. Also, my extended family is really quite Christian and I have no desire to upset or offend anyone (or cause them to weep for my poor hellbound soul). One of the benefits to us in the way Christianity simply co-opted existing celebrations is that there is very little I could do to celebrate Yule that would look out of place to any of our relatives.

So, these are the dual purpose things that we do in December:

• The tree - always a real one (love the smell)
• Candles and fairy lights
• Other greenery - mistletoe when we can get it, holly wreath etc
• Spicy baking, lots of cinnamon and clove
• Mulled wine (or, more often, red grape juice - tasty and good for the driving or teetotal visitors)
• Thankfulness and looking backwards and forwards for New Year

Obviously, my celebrations should be earlier than everyone else's, but it's just easier if we keep to Christmas day for the feast and the gifts. It's all symbolic anyway.

W: World Tree Spread using Wildwood Tarot

I'd like to occasionally feature actual readings on this blog, so I thought I'd try out this spread from the Wildwood Tarot book, as I haven't used it before and it looks like an interesting one. My work life is somewhat complex at the moment, so I've focused on that for this spread which the book describes as idea for situations that require a broad and comprehensive overview.

Position 1: Roots - The Knight of Bows, Fox (Knight of Wands)
Position 2: Branches - 7 of Vessels, Mourning (7 of Cups)
Position 3: East - The Knight of Arrows, Hawk (Knight of Swords)
Position 4: West - 11 The Woodward (Strength)
Position 5: South - 7 The Archer (The Chariot)
Position 6: North - The Queen of Bows, Hare (Queen of Wands)
Position 7: The Way Through the Woods - 2 of Vessels, Attraction (2 of Cups)
Position 8: The Wisdom of the World Tree - drawn only after reading the other cards

The first thing I notice about this spread is the patterns within it: 2 Bows court cards, 2 Vessels minor cards, 2 Knights, 2 majors, no Stones (Pentacles). In a spread about work matters, you could reasonably expect to see earth element cards like Stones or Pentacles. I think the fact that there aren't any here tells me that although I'm asking about work, this is not a mundane work-related question, but it's about what work represents for me in terms of my very essence and identity (the Bows), how I feel about work (the Vessels) and my stage in terms of life's journey (the majors and the Knights both suggest - in broad terms - being on the brink of something, being young in experience).

Taking the cards one by one more systematically now, I see that the Roots position answers "What is the root of the issue" and the Fox is, unsurprisingly, about cunning and being a good hunter. The book says "Determination leads you to success but sometimes at personal cost. Your life may change or enter a different path at any moment." I feel that this is about the struggles I'm having with finding the time and energy to solicit new work. I embarked on a freelance career almost a year ago, and have not branched out enugh in terms of finding new sources of work. This, I think, is the Fox's message to me: hunt more widely; work does not just come to you.

The Branches position has the question "What are the possibilities of the issue?" and I am somewhat dismayed to see the 7 of Vessels here, with its keyword of "Mourning". But then, reading the book's description of the card, it is not about loss (as I feared), but about mourning in the proper, most appropriate way. In some ways, I am damaged by my working past (the last situation which I left was not a positive experience), so perhaps the message here is that my new (and yes, although it's been almost a year, it is still very much new!) situation will be healing for me, and help me to mourn what I feel I lost.

The East position's question is "What do you take with you?" and the Hawk's answer is clearly about quick thinking and good ideas, which was certainly a reason for going freelance where I could work with my own ideas instead of toeing the line of others' ideas that I increasingly frequently didn't agree with. The book emphasises swiftness and subtlety and, as an Arrows (Swords) cards, this is related to the intellect, so I am happy to see that I can continue to create opportunities for myself that offer mental stimulation and challenge.

The West's position asks "What do you leave behind you?" and although on the surface, leaving The Woodward (traditionally Strength) behind may seem like a bad thing, I'm seeing this as leaving behind the need for so much strength, patience and dogged perseverance. In other words, this is a reassurance to me that I have taken the right step in leaving steady and secure employment that was literally driving me crazy.

The question in the South is "What do you hope for", and The Archer (or Chariot) in this position is perfect. The Archer rules her own destiny. Accompanied by her hunting dogs, she makes her own way in the world and is reliant on no-one else for her food or her wellbeing. Quite. The imagery of the bow (allied with wands  - fire - in this deck) and arrow (associated here with swords - air) perfectly sums up the nature of my work, which requires creativity and intellect above all else.

The North addresses the issue of "What you fear", and the Hare seems a little odd here, as the Queen of Wands often represents business success and strong interpersonal links. Am I afraid of success? Ouch. I have been fighting many low-level health issues lately that have reduced my energies and made it very difficult to get on with what I need to, and I have felt at times like I'm almost sabotaging myself by being unable to work as much as I should. Hmmm. I am aware that procrastination can be about fear of really trying in case it's not good enough. Maybe there is an element of that in there. The cards are pretty good at drawing out what you don't always want to acknowledge...

The Way Through the Woods, answering "What enables you to engage with the issue?" also seems strange to be the 2 of Vessels (or Cups), so often a card of new love. Two things sprung quickly to mind: I need to love what I'm doing (so that is perhaps a way to help me carve out projects that I'll want to work on), and my husband can help me. I'm certainly already aware of how much his belief in me and support of me enables me to do mad things like leap into freelancing, even though that has meant risking our family's financial security (I'm the main earner here). Looking at the book meanings for this card, this deck seems to emphasise that spark of attraction as being instinctive, intuitive and natural, so maybe this is a message to use my intuition more in figuring out my workload and finding work.

And finally, The Wisdom of the World Tree - the hidden wisdom of the issue - is revealed to be the Ten of Stones, Home (10 of Pentacles). So much for no stones/earth/pentacles - and what a lovely conclusion to have to this reading! If I had any remaining doubts about the sanity of my choices (and I do; I'm not always sure how we'll meet the bills each month, but so far we always have...), this is the card to allay them. Tens always represent a kind of conclusion to the suit's journey, so the 10 of Stones is about a place of security, safety and love - whether that's a literal place or a figurative, mental place. The card reminds me that security is what most concerns me, but it also reassures me with its lovely calming depiction of home. And home for me has only positive connotations, I am fortunate enough to be able to say. We may not have all the latest material crap, but we are rich in terms of our relationships.

The Wildwood tarot is gorgeous, by the way, and highly recommended, especially if you are a pagan. It uses animals and birds for court cards (as you've seen!) and woodland archetypes for the Majors, and is beautifully painted by Will Worthington.

Note for the curious: until the end of August 2012, I worked full time as a middle manager in a college for 16-19 yr olds. When a restructure due to funding cuts arrived, I opted for redundancy to build on my writing career, having published a textbook and several teachers' resources, and contributions to various teaching websites. I now teach part time on a supply basis and am working on various educational writing projects, as well as some writing projects which are more about personal satisfaction but may one day lead to more pubishing (such as this blog: I'd love to write on tarot and spirituality; I also have various children's stories languishing on my hard drive which I hope could one day become books). My struggle is balancing the work that I know will pay (teaching, writing teaching resources) with the work I want to break into but doesn't yet have as clear a market. I do enjoy the educational writing, and the teaching, but don't want that to be all of me, if that makes any sense at all.

I'd welcome any further insights or comments on my reading :)

U: Universe

The Universe seems to have become a contemporary, New Age version of or replacement for God. Have you noticed this? People talk of 'asking the Universe' for help, inspiration or even material goods, in the same way they would once have prayed for them.

I wonder if this is related to a modern tendency to see religious faith as outdated? (Note: I'm only able to speak of the UK's attitude to religion here; I'm aware that this is not the same around the world). It's interesting that if you think of the word "credulous", the word "fool" fairly naturally follows it - maybe this newly negative association for a word that once simply described a person who believed something implies a new impatience with faith.

So perhaps in an age when people seem to equate religion with backwardness, reference to the Universe as an all-powerful force feels more modern. Personally, I feel it's all just labels, and we all use whatever makes sense to us. One God, many Gods, something that isn't anthropomorphic like 'The Universe' or 'The Divine': I think it's all essentially the same and we just perceive it in our own individual (and imperfect, being human) way.

R: Rhythm

The pagan year has a clear rhythm, with a solar festival roughly every six weeks, and of course the thirteen moon cycles of the year.

Although I recognise that these are not truly ancient festivals (the Wheel of the Year as we now know it was conceptualised in the 1950s when Wicca was constructed), this is not a particular concern for me. My paganism is not about trying to recreate ancient practice exactly as it was centuries (or millenia) ago; it's about celebrating and connecting to the universe in a way that makes sense to me.

I appreciate the festivals, both solar and lunar, because they remind us of the natural cycles around us, which it's all too easy to be disconnected from these days, living as distantly from nature as we do. This, for me, is a key reason that paganism enriches my life. It enables me to feel connected and part of the universe, in a way that I never had previously. It's particularly interesting to me as a woman to see how my own natural hormonal cycles relate to those in nature, and I don't think that this is something I would have been aware of otherwise.

How rhythmic is your life?

Q: Quiet

Peace is a rare commodity in our modern lives, and of course this makes it all the more valuable. Time for quiet thought and meditation, whether it's with a spiritual focus or not, is precious and highly beneficial.

We all know this, but finding that time for oneself can sometimes feel selfish. It's easy to feel that we're 'stealing' time from others or from our responsibilities, when of course the truth is that a few minutes in quiet contemplation can make us more effective and efficient in our many roles.

For me, the best time to grab those few minutes to myself is in the early morning. I'm used now to getting up before everyone else, before I really 'need' to for work, to give myself that bit of space that will start my day off right. The odd times I don't manage it, or I foolishly fill that time with other things, I really notice the difference to my mood and my attitude, and I'm far less able to cope with things. I'm an anxious type, and have had difficulties dealing with stress in my everyday life, so I know that it's important to do this for me, to give me every chance to function the best that I can. At the same time, those very tendencies - and my busy work life (teaching, writing textbooks and teacher resources and trying to write children's fiction too) - can mean I squeeze out my quiet time to get more words done, more marking done etc and start the day frazzled.

The importance of those few quiet minutes - and really, just a few minutes can do the job - cannot be overstated.

M: Moonstone

Moonstone is one of my favourite crystals. Interestingly, I've always been drawn to images of the moon (yes, I had that crescent moon and stars stuff all over my room as a teen), and I've always appreciated moonstone jewellery.

Due to associations between womanhood and the moon, moonstone has always been seen as a good stone for women, particularly for hormonal imbalances or fertility issues.

I've always found moonstone attractive - in all its forms: rainbow with the spectacular blue sheen or the versions in creamy and milky whites with browns. I usually have a piece on the altar and I often reach for it when I have anxiety or depression recurrences.

J: Journeying

Now this is something I have not done enough of. I fall too easily into the trap of being too busy and don't often enough give myself the time for mediation and visualisation. Plus, of course, I find it difficult, and it's always easier to put off something that doesn't come easily, right?

Siberian shaman, drawn by Dutch explorer Witsen in the 17th century

Journeying (sometimes described as 'shamanic journeying'), in its simplest form, is a kind of visualisation where you take a journey. This can be guided, or free form, but usually there is some kind of musical accompaniment, often drumming. It can be specifically linked to kinds of wisdom - for example, you can journey into a Tarot card, or to get to know Gods from a particular pantheon - or you can let your Higher Self, Inner Self or subconscious (or whatever you choose to name it) lead you where you need to go. On such freestyle journeys, it can help to have a natural location in mind to visualise as your starting point. I usually use a forest, since that feels comfortable to me. What makes it a journey, rather than just a meditation, is the idea of movement, however pre-planned or left to chance that may be.

My problem is a visual one. I really struggle to visualise and to actually see anything. I can talk myself through any kind of meditation or visualisation, and I can imagine things, but in the literal sense of visualisation, which clearly links to sight, I fail. I wonder if it's because I am not, as the kids at school would say, a 'visual learner'. It's funny, because I can respond to visual stimuli - reading the Tarot would be a bit difficult otherwise! - but even when reading I don't 'see' things. I know or sense things, having learnt to trust my intuition, but there's no sense of getting visions or any degree of clairvoyance.

C: Chamomile - my favourite herb

Chamomile (Roman) is easily my favourite healing herb. Not only is it a soothing brew as a tea, but it is put to several other regular uses in my household.

I use the essential oil in a blend for tension headaches, and also neat and diluted in warm water for foot blisters and general soreness. We also use the tea (cooled of course) on cotton wool for eye problems such as styes and conjuncitivitis. (Note: do not put essential oils anywhere near your eyes.)

Did you know that the essential oil has antibacterial properties? (a lot of EOs do). It really is my go-to oil for lots of things, in the way that I know lavender is for many people. I personally intensely dislike lavender, and despite it being recommended to treat hayfever, I find it gives me a rash and makes me sneeze! As well as chamomile, I find that citrus oils end up in quite a few of my blends as I really like them. I'm not really a 'floral' person, but chamomile has quite an appley scent with a woody sort of undertone that appeals to me.

For me, using natural home remedies where possible is an important part of being pagan. It reminds me of the bounty that surrounds us, and helps us to avoid unnecessary chemicals and synthetic remedies.

Please note that I am not inherently opposed to modern medicine but I will use complementary treatments for simple everyday things and to (as the name suggests) complement allopathic treatments for more complex issues (such as my ongoing difficulties with anxiety and depression, which I do try to deal with without getting to the point where I need the GP's help, but I'll take the pills when I really need to).

Tarot and Me

My first real exposure to paganism came through the tarot. A friend of mine had a deck and, as these things go, having had a few readings, I became interested in reading for myself. I prided myself on my pragmatism and good sense even then, and didn't really get some of the superstitions around things like buying a deck ('they' are said to say you shouldn't buy your own) and how you store it (again, the ubiquitous 'they' will only consider black silk). So, naturally, I purchased a deck for myself.

Since this was back in the early 1990s and I didn't have a computer (I *know*!), I visited a few New Age type shops and chose from what was physically there. The Tarot of the Old Path was what I found waiting for me. I fell for its beautiful representation of the High Priestess: mysterious, strongly associated with the animals and - get this - silver accented.

I would go on to love its gorgeous imagery of the Empress, with her full round belly and suckling infant, and its phenomenal presentation of Death, renamed 'The Close' and featuring another happy infant as well as the traditional reaper figure and natural symbols of death and rebirth such as the snake, butterfly and owl.

Several of the things I particularly appreciated about the Old Path deck (including its gentle sense of death as part of nature) I was to find out came from its specifically wiccan belief base. Those cards lead me into discovering much more about this take on the world, although I was never meant to be wiccan as such.

I have many decks now, and also the odd oracle pack - although I always feel more confident reading with a tarot pack. I will always love the tarot for what it has taught me about our journey through life in the broadest sense, as well as the specific wisdom I've gleaned from it.

What do you mean, a pragmatic pagan?

Welcome to my new blog, on this equinox, one of the traditional markers of the coming of Spring.

I thought it might be a good idea to start this blog off with a bit of background info: a kind of mission statement, if you will.

I've called this place "A Pragmatic Pagan" because I think that sums up my practical and eclectic approach to my pagan practice. At the same time, I hope it doesn't smack of too much 'what's-in-it-for-me-ism'. I'm not a proponent of all take and no give, but I also feel that paganism compares favourably with, say Christianity (I was raised in a very Protestant home) in terms of not insisting that greater misery = greater faith.

My pagan journey is, I believe, something I've been on all my life. I just didn't always know it. I define myself as pagan rather than a more specific path, because I am eclectic in my practice. There have been times that I've felt the label of 'witch' applies, and at other times, I've felt drawn to Druidry or to paths which try to follow ancient Anglo-Saxon belief.

Divination is central to my practice, mostly because it was the first thing I regularly did that was concretely part of this path. I've been working with the Tarot since the first half of the 1990s, and the cards remain my staple divinatory technique. I'll be using this space to experiment with different spreads and reviewing different decks and approaches to divination.

I also feel that my commitment to complementary health and folk medicine, along with a cynical approach to modern medicine, is an essential part of my pagan identity and belief. Natural substances, such as essential oils, herbs and crystals are available to us and are often at least as effective as more 'scientific' approaches. I'll also be sharing some home remedy tips from time to time.

Finally, spellwork, ritual and meditation are of course part of my practice, although for me these are more private aspects of my paganism. I have sometimes shared rituals with the family (I am married with two daughters currently aged 14 and 9), and I do have an altar in the living room, but most of this work is quiet and internal. Again, I may share some ideas and practices here from time to time.

So, this is me - or at least, my practice. I'm planning to post here weekly, on Saturdays, but to really get this blog established, I'll be doing the A-Z Challenge, with a pagan theme. My A-Z will feature aspects of my pragmatic practice, embedding my beliefs into my busy daily life, as this will be my blog's general theme.