Early Mead Vessals from Europe during the Bell Beaker Culture

Mead is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey with water. Sometimes herbs, spices, or even hops are added but overall it’s a pretty simple drink to create. Due to the wide availability of honey across the word this was one of if not the first alcoholic beverage to be created.

In ancient times mead was consumed across Europe, Asia, and Africa. The oldest evidence we have of mead drinking comes from 7000 BCE in Northern China. In Europe mead drinking began around 2000 BCE during the time of the Bell Beaker Culture. There is also some crossover with Mead and the magical ritual beverage known as Soma that is mentioned in various religious texts such as the Rigveda. The ancient Greeks were very fond of Mead and it was the preferred drink during the age of Great philosophers. It was a little later during the Roman Empire that we get one of our first written recipes for mead:

Take rainwater kept for several years, and mix a sextarius of this water with a pound of honey. For a weaker mead, mix a sextarius of water with nine ounces of honey. The whole is exposed to the sun for 40 days, and then left on a shelf near the fire. If you have no rain water, then boil spring water.

Mead has also played a big role in Norse Paganism as it is mentioned in various stories through the prose and poetic Edda. There is one specific story that talks of a magical beverage known as the “Mead of Poetry.” This special mead was made by mixing honey with the blood of a slain man named Kvasir. Kvasir was a promethean type figure who travelled the world to give the gift of knowledge to mankind. When his blood was used to make the mead of poetry, Kvasir's vast intelligence was passed into this magical drink so that anyone who drank the mead would have the knowledge to answer any question or to solve any riddle. Anyone who drank this mead would immediately become a Skald or poet, hence the name “Mead of Poetry.”

The Mead of Poetry was under the ownership of the Giant Suttungr until the God Odin famously tricked him and took the mead for himself. When Odin came across the sacred mead he drained the whole container into his mouth and transformed into an eagle to escape from the Giant who quickly also transformed into an Eagle and chased him. The other Norse Gods met Odin with vessels for him to spit the mead into and from that point this magical beverage belonged to Odin and the Aesir. Though, it is said that Odin offers this magical mead to anyone who may be particularly gifted in Poetry.

The connection between Mead and poetry continued throughout time. Mead is mentioned as being drunk by Danish warriors in the epic poem of Beowulf. And In 550 CE the Welsh bard named Taliesin wrote a famous piece called the ‘Song of Mead’ that inspired many later poems throughout Britain and Wales. After Christianity fully took hold in Europe the monasteries continued to preserve the traditions of mead-making. Today, mead is having a bit of a resurgence in popularity. Growing up I don’t recall seeing anyone drinking mead but now you can find it at most liquor stores and even in some bars.

So, as we modern Pagans strive to resurrect ancient traditions, Mead can be a really fun thing to incorporate into your practice. It can be used in a ritual way to perhaps inspire poetry or creative expression. Or it can be used as an offering beverage, especially if you follow or work with the Norse Gods.

Personally, I just think it’s so amazing that this beverage can take us back through millenia to a more ancient time where the world seemed a bit more magical.

Have you ever used mead in your Pagan practice? Or do you have a favorite mead you’d like to suggest. Share your thoughts below in the comments.

I love thinking up fun and unique ways I can use my tarot knowledge and recently the idea of using tarot imagery to play solitaire came to mind. If you’re a beginner, it will help you familiarize yourself with a tarot deck and seasoned tarot readers will probably enjoy the psychological and intuitive aspect. And for those who just like to play Solitaire, introducing a tarot deck can definitely help break any visual monotony of using only regular cards. It’s like an in-depth activity in which you get to bond with the tarot cards and train your mind - all at the same time.

Here’s some reasons you should consider trying it out.

#1 Honing Your Tarot Skills
As hinted above, it can be immensely beneficial for those who are just getting started with tarot. You’ll of course get to know all the cards, but there’s more to it. The goal of Solitaire is to arrange the cards in the ascending order in the stacks and descending order on the board. As you progress, you can change the settings from one to four suits - and the stacks correspond to each suit. So, you can practice the chronological order of the tarot cards and learn which tarot suits mirror the black and red cards of a regular deck. In no time, you’ll have the proficiency of handling the tarot cards as you would have with your standard cards.

#2 You Will Develop Your Other Skills
Tarot goes beyond the card reading. It allows for mindfulness and self-reflection - and so does other card games like solitaire. While it’s not complex or tiring, solitaire still stimulates your brain and improves your ability to analyze and strategize. Solitaire is a game that’s played solo, meaning you’ll have time to reflect on your feelings and process them. When your brain unwinds, and you’re in a light meditative state, you focus on the cards and set your worries aside. Just like with tarot, the improvement is unconscious. But soon enough, you’ll see that you can perform quicker and quicker each time. You can try Solitaire online at first and get a feel of the game if you’re not ready to get a tarot deck yet.

#3 It’s Fun
Solitaire is a very entertaining game to play, even more so when you combine it with tarot. It’s low-risk because you’re the only player, you set the pace and learn from your mistakes, and you can undo the moves to win. Plus, when playing online, you can use hints if you’re stuck. And challenging yourself to beat your record is what healthy competitiveness is all about. It’s a way to track your success and get a better sense of what you are capable of achieving.

The Solitaire: Tarot deck consists of the following cards:
The Emperor (K)
The Empress (Q)
The Fool (J)
The Devil (10)
The Hermit (9)
The Hierophant (8)
The Chariot (7)
The Sun (6)
Strength (5)
The High Priestess (4)
The Magician (3)
The Lovers (2)
Temperance (A)

Are you considering giving it a try? There’s nothing to lose. You’ll have fun, connect with your intuition on a deeper level, and rekindle your love of Solitaire, too!

Shoulder pads, MTV, and bad haircuts...these are some things that come to mind when I think of the 80’s. But underneath the surface level of fun and bright colors, there was a darker undercurrent of social and cultural change afoot. The 80’s were a decade of transformation, subsequently prompting an existential fear in much of America despite apparent economic gains for many people. One of the ways this fear manifested was in the strange hysteria now known as the Satanic Panic. This collective freak-out would cast a heavy shadow on witches and witch communities for decades to come. Like the Salem Witch trials centuries before, or the 50’s version of this in McCarthyism, the Satanic Panic was built on false allegations and was grown to a fever pitch by a climate of fear that took hold among the populace. But what was the underlying cause of the Satanic Panic? Why did it take hold in the 80s and not the 70s or the 90s and how did this culture of fear influence the films, tv shows, and books that featured witches during this decade?

The 1980s was a time of rapid change for the American middle class. There was so much cultural anxiety around increased crime, “stranger danger,” and new frightening and misunderstood diseases that contributed to a triggering in the collective unconscious. The nuclear family was also transforming out of the need for a dual-income household. More women started entering the workforce necessitating huge numbers of young children being left in daycares for the first time. I think it’s significant that the Satanic Panic centered around false allegations of child abuse in daycare centers. It makes me wonder if this was in part a manifestation or a hallucination among many mothers who were struggling with this change in the role from child caretaker to economic provider. In previous decades some of the most popular films, such as Rosemary’s Baby, The Omen, and The Exorcist featured children being corrupted by occult influences and I wonder if the Satanic Panic grew in part out of the fear generated by these movies among mothers. But all of this fearful ‘save the children’ rhetoric really just masked the underlying prejudices and hostility to change that proliferated the 1980s.

Additionally, like a black hole, the Satanic Panic pulled many aspects of culture into its orbit. Really anything adults were resistant to began to be attributed to Satan’s growing influence among the young. Famously, Dungeons & Dragons was believed to cause young men to turn away from God and engage in demonic ritualism, with even one child’s death being falsely attributed to DD by their parents. Likewise, the Goth fashion trend and heavy metal music were all thought of as corrupting influences among the “pure” and christian youth of America. Eventually this mass hysteria reached its climax with a series of “Satanic Ritual Abuse” cases that led to dozens of wrongful homicide convictions with many imprisoned until very recently.

The Satanic Panic wasn’t the first and it won’t be the last time that the occult community is scapegoated by society and unfortunately we witches often get wrapped up in the quagmire of negative media attention. So, how did this growing fervor affect the media climate when it came to witches? Witches and witchcraft often get incorrectly intertwined with satanism in news and the media. Though when we look at the popular witchy movies of this decade, we don’t actually find that the S.P. had as much of a significant impact than one would expect.

All of the classic witchy archetypes make an appearance in movies within this decade: We have Cassandra, the seductress witch in Conan the Barbarian; Ursula, the evil spellcaster witch in the Little Mermaid. And we have Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie, representing the female empowerment witch archetype in the Witches of Eastwick. There were also a few wildcards that appeared during this decade. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark showed us that witches can be sexy, goth, and campy all at once.

On the other side of the spectrum, we see a more wholesome side of witchcraft in Kiki’s Delivery Service, where we see that witchcraft could be an avenue for self-growth, community building, and growing maturity. There were several other other witchy children's movies that came out this decade as well. One based on a series of influential books structured around a magical academy, featuring three friends, one of whom is smart and sensible, with another a practical joker. And together the three of them go through school while being plagued by their snobbish, high-born antagonistic classmate. Any of this sound familiar? The Worst Witch was based on the influential book series from the 70’s and may have impacted a future popular series about a magical academy.

You may think that the 90s were really the decade of the Teen Witch, but that emphasis began here in the 80s with the aptly titled movie Teen Witch. This movie helped pave the way for later teen witch movies and tv shows like Sabrina and The Craft. Though it wasn’t all light and fluffy witches that defined this decade. There were several 80s horror movies which featured powerfully terrifying witches, such as Inferno and Devonsville Terror. A peculiar example was Halloween 3: Season of the Witch, which famously used witches instead of featuring the franchise antagonist Michael Myers. Though, despite these few witchy horror movies, overall the 80s films showed us a wider and more nuanced perspective on the roles of the witch in society than we saw in previous decades.

Also, some of the most popular witchcraft books came out during this decade, such as Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scot Cunningham and Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft. These books are still viewed today as foundational to read for modern witches. Of course most of the books published during this decade were about Wicca and western European forms of magic. Unfortunately, you would need to fast forward a few more decades before we begin to see other non-European witchcraft and folk magic traditions being represented on the bookshelves.

Even though the books and movies of this decade tended to not be too dragged down by the Satanic Panic, witches themselves will forever have to contend with the prejudice that resulted from this media storm. Luckily, we witches tend to be strong and capable people and are pretty good at overcoming any prejudice that comes our way. So what came next for the witches of America? I recommend checking out my video Witchcraft Through the Ages - The 90s to see how witchcraft evolved and changed in the following decade.

“Into their sacred groves the initiates assembled at the hour of midnight to learn about what man once was and what he will be. They needed no artificial illumination to light up their temples, for the chaste goddess of night beamed her most silvery rays on their oak-crowned heads; and their white-robed sacred bards knew how to converse with the solitary queen of the starry vault. On the dead soil of the long by-gone past stand their sacred oaks, now dried up and stripped of their spiritual meaning by the venomous breath of materialism. But for the student of occult learning, their vegetation is still as verdant and luxuriant, and as full of deep and sacred truths, as at that hour when the arch-druid performed his magical cures, and waving the branch of mistletoe, severed with his golden sickle the green bough from its mother oak-tree.”

H. P. Blavatsky, 1877

The mysteries of the Druids hold a significant place in the history of Western magic.  The historical details of their beliefs and practices have mostly been destroyed by religious persecution and the passage of time, yet their legacy remains strong.  For centuries the Druids have inspired many great stories and Folktales.  We see the Druid archetype represented in characters such as Merlin, Radagast, and Dumbledoor.  The influence of the Druids is interwoven in our culture and the lessons they brought to the world continue to inspire people to this day.  In fact, the lessons of Druidry may be more important now than ever due to the growing need to live sustainably and in harmony with the natural world. So what can we learn from the actual Druids of history. What lessons do they have to teach us?  Were they powerful sorcerers like the movies portray?  Were they the great philosopher naturalists we like to imagine them to be?  

To understand the Druids we must start at the beginning which means we need to look at the ancient Celtic culture.  In these societies, the Druids were considered high-ranking members and were viewed as vital to the community.  While we of course know them for their role as religious leaders, they also took on the role of political advisor, where they were thought to have so much influence that they could even intervene between two armies to stop a battle before it started. The Druids also had additional roles such as legal advisor, medical professional, and lorekeeper for their community.  Fulfilling the role of political advisor and their multiple areas of speciality remind me a bit of the Maesters in the Game of Thrones series, in which each Maester spent years cultivating similar skills and were considered vitally important to their community. 

So how did the Druids cultivate their knowledge and how were they able to master so many different disciplines? Unfortunately, we have no written accounts from the druids themselves.  While it is thought that they were literate, the Druids believed that passing down knowledge through the oral tradition was a better way to preserve their wisdom than writing it down.  The knowledge of the Druids was considered sacred, and instruction took place in secret within forests.  The term Druid itself most likely derives from a proto-Celtic word meaning "oak-knower" or "oak-seer," which suggests that the forests in which they educated their pupils were viewed as integral to the Druid’s secret knowledge. But what was this sacred lore that was passed down from Druid to pupil?  We know that it consisted of large verses that were memorized and that this training could take up to 20 years.  The content of these verses is unfortunately lost to history, not one ancient verse has survived the passage of time. 

So where does the little we know about the Druids come from? The earliest detailed descriptions of the Druids come from some of our most well known Romans, such as Julius Caesar, Cicero, and Tacitus. Unlike the Druids, the Romans kept detailed written records of their conquests, including the Celts & Gauls, who were the enemies of Rome.  So when we read the Roman descriptions of the Druids, they are tinged with bias and half-truths. Unfortunately, this is the best historical source we have to work with. 

This bias is most obvious in the Roman writings about the human sacrifices the Druids supposedly performed.  Julius Cesar wrote that criminals were often sacrificed to the Gods and that even innocent people were sacrificed when no criminals were available.  You’re probably already familiar with the method of these human sacrifices - that is of course the infamous Wickerman, in which victims were burned alive in a giant wooden effigy.  But did this even happen, or were accounts of Wickerman sacrifices just a piece of Roman propaganda to discredit the Celtic culture?  We’ll most likely never know the answer to this.  

Luckily the Romans didn’t just write about these human sacrifices, they’ve also given us a glimpse into what the Druids believed and what knowledge they thought was important.   Interestingly, the Druids believed in a form of reincarnation and that the human soul was eternal and merely passed at death from one body to a new one. As for topics of interest, like many ancient cultures, the Druids studied the movements of the stars and what these movements meant in both a scientific and religious context. 

But for us modern folk, the Druids are most well known not for their scientific or religious studies, but for their magical abilities. The attested magical ability of the Druids goes way back to the Ulster Cycle of Irish Mythology where the famous Druid Cathbad uses his gift of prophecy to assist the royal court.  There are many Druids interwoven within Irish folklore and mythology and many of these Druids were female, which suggests that women may have had a very important role in ancient Celtic culture. Of course as history progressed the Druids and their culture began to decline.  First from the Roman emperor Tiberius who introduced a law that banned all druid practices and then later from the Christians who worked to further diminish the role and beliefs of the Druids in Celtic society. 

The fact that we know so little about the Druids has led to a romanticism of Druidry that persists in our culture today.  This has led to a lot of misinformation, such as the Druids being the builders of Stonehenge or that the role of the Bard was connected to earlier Druid practices.  This gives us modern Pagans a difficult challenge: if one’s desire is to take the lessons of the Druids and bring them into the modern world, how can one do that with so little historical information. And, what level of romanticization of Druidry should we incorporate? Is it enough to just try to follow what we believe are the core tenants of Druidry, like respecting and living in balance with nature.  Or, do we try to incorporate the historical role of the Druid and what that might look like in practice.  

As we know Druids also took on roles as political advisors, lawyers, and medical professionals, perhaps being a modern Druid is about growing your professional career and influence but doing so while being grounded by a philosophy and spirituality that honors the natural world. Or, perhaps it's the Druids role as educator and lorekeeper that we can bring into the modern world.  Maybe a physical academy should be opened that educates people who want to follow the Druid path--similar to an adult version of the Forest Kindergartens that are prevalent in Scandinavia, in which students are encouraged to play, explore, and learn completely outside, regardless of the weather.  When it comes to how Druidry should be practiced today I of course don’t have all the answers but I think these are interesting questions that should be asked.  Afterall, I think the world would benefit from a few more Druids, especially those in positions of leadership. 

So, I’d like to encourage you to follow this path if it resonates with you. It’s up to us to keep the ethos of the Druids alive.  But unlike our ancient counterparts, let’s make sure to keep a written record this time.

I hope you enjoyed this video and post.  If you did please click the like button and consider subscribing to my YouTube channel.  This video and blogpost, like all my content, is made possible by my Patrons.  If you like these deep dives into Paganism and would like to support my channel I have the link for my Patreon down below.   By joining you also gain access to my discord community where you can chat and share resources with fellow Pagans.  

Thanks for reading and watching!
Many Blessings,
Scarlet

To the ancient Gaelic peoples there were only two seasons, the dark cold of winter and the warmth of Summer. The bonfire festival of Beltane signified that Summer had begun and thus the times of winter hunger and darkness had come to an end.  The first mentions of Beltane come from two early medieval texts: The Sanas Cormaic and the Tochmarc Emire. They state that on May 1st Druids would make two large sacred fires and then drive the cattle between the flames while giving incantations to insure the health and safety of the herd.  

Nowadays we mostly associate Beltane with Maypoles and flower crowns, but originally this was a festival for the herders and most of our surviving Beltane traditions are associated with protecting the food sources of the community.  In the Book, The Silver Bough, Celtic Folklorist Florence McNeill shares a folk tradition that would accompany the great Beltane bonfire.  She states that a person would approach the bonfire, facing away from the flames and then toss a piece of Oatcake, called a Bannock, over their shoulder and into fire.  Then they would state a rhyme like the following: 

“Here to thee, wolf, spare my sheep; there to thee, fox, spare my lambs; here to thee, eagle, spare my goats; there to thee raven, spare my kids; here to thee, martin, spare my fowls, there to thee, harrier, spare my chickens.”

With this little folk charm the person is combining an incantation with an offering.  In this case they are throwing the Bannock into the fire as an offering for the wild animals in the forests and in return they are asking the wild animals to spare their flocks of chickens, sheep, and goats.

As a Pagan reconstructionist, I’m always asking myself how can I preserve the main intentions behind these ancient Pagan traditions but bring them into the modern world so that they are still relevant for us today.  When you break down this Beltane folk practice, it’s really about providing an offering and asking for the protection of your food source.  So, this is something you can definitely do yourself even if you don’t have farm animals of your own.  I recommend making some Bannock oatcakes on Beltane morning and then giving one or two of the oatcakes as an offering to the health of the farm animals in your country. Or, if you're a vegetarian, as an offering to the health of the produce in your region.  You can also adapt the incantation mentioned previously to better fit your specific circumstances. 

Bannock Oatcakes for Beltane

I’ve made various versions of this traditional Scottish dish over the years and if I’m honest they are not always the tastiest. So I created a new recipe that stays true to the main concept of a Bannock but with modifications to improve the taste.

Recipe
You’ll need some oatmeal. Most recipes just call for regular oatmeal but instead I recommend using 2 packets of the Maple & Brown Sugar Quaker Instant Oatmeal. It’s not necessary to use the packets but I’m telling you it’s a game changer! Put the two packets in a bowl and add a pinch of baking soda, a pinch of salt, and 1/4t of cinnamon. Add just enough hot water into the bowl till it forms a malleable mixture (about 2 tablespoons). Form it into two patties and for extra texture roll the patties in some plain rolled oats. Heat up a pan and add 1 tablespoon butter. Fry the oatcakes in the pan, about 4 minutes per side. Enjoy!

Wicca is a neo Pagan, earth-based religion.  While it is inspired by earlier European Pagan societies, it does not try to replicate those society’s beliefs.  This is probably the main difference between Wicca and Pagan Reconstructionism, which uses archeological and literary sources to attempt to piece together ancient Pagan religious beliefs and practices. 

Wicca is also unique in that it includes a heavy emphasis on Witchcraft & Western occultism.  While other Pagan branches may occasionally incorporate aspects of witchcraft, in Wicca witchcraft really takes center stage as one of the main ways wiccans practice and celebrate their religion.  It’s important to note that Wicca and witchcraft are not the same.  Witchcraft is an action whereas Wicca is an actual religion. 

So if Wicca is a new religion, where did it come from?

Wicca was developed in England and introduced to the public in 1954 by a man named Gerald Gardner.  Gerald Garner combined his interests in hermeticism, Druidry, and various esoteric secret societies to develop a core set of beliefs and practices that make up what we now call Wicca.  

The Beliefs of Wicca

There are two main deities called the Lord and the Lady or the Great Goddess and the Horned God that are at the core of Wiccan ritual and beliefs.  Some Wiccans view the Lord and Lady as a combination or representation of many different Gods and Goddesses from the various Pagan Pantheons.  Some Wiccans may also choose a specific God or Goddess, called a Patron, to help guide them on their spiritual journey. 

When it comes to morality, many but not all Wiccans follow something called the Wiccan rede, which states you are free to do as you wish as long as it harms none.  As witchcraft is usually an essential component of Wiccan practice, those that adhere to the Wiccan rede usually do not do curses or baneful magic.  This is also one of the main differences between Wicca and traditional witchcraft.

Wicca also does not have much of a focus on the afterlife, which makes it quite a bit different from many mainstream religions.  Wicca, like many Pagan traditions, instead focuses its energy on the celebration of life and the various cycles within nature. Wicca specifically celebrates the cycles of the moon and the seasons.  Many Wiccans honor each full moon in a celebration known as an Esbat and they may also incorporate the new moon and other moon phases into various ritual work and spellwork.  

Wiccans also usually celebrate 8 holidays called the sabbats which occur on the solstices, equinoxes and the 4 points in between.  These holidays make up what is known as the wheel of the year.  Each of these holidays celebrates the seasonality of that particular time of year and certain sabbats are also often associated with specific Gods and Goddesses. 

Like all religions, Wicca has evolved and changed considerably over time.  Wicca tends to be divided into a number of different secs and lineages.  These are usually referred to as traditions, and each has its own organizational structure, ritual formats, and ways of practicing the faith.  This type of decentralization is both a positive and a negative.  On the one hand, this means that there are many various Wiccan traditions, such Gardinarian, Alexandrian, or Eclectic that you can choose from.  This gives you as a seeker a lot of options to find a path and a group that you really connect with. On the other hand, because there is no central authority it becomes difficult to define what is and what is not Wiccan belief and what the qualifications are for calling yourself a Wiccan. 

The advent of the internet has sped up the evolution of Wicca so that a Wiccan witch in their 60s may have little in common in terms of belief and practice with a Wiccan witch in their 20s.  Despite this generational divide, Wicca as a whole has been expanding in popularity and each year it seems like more and more individuals are interested in learning about this religion. 

Is this pagan path is for you? 

Firstly, I think this is a great path to follow if you are looking for community or a mentor.  Wicca is probably the most popular of the pagan paths, which means you’re likely to find fellow Wiccans in your area that you can learn from and practice your religion with.  Wicca also gives you a lot of flexibility when it comes to community so if you like an organized, hierarchical structure you can join something like Gardinarian coven, or if you like to practice alone and draw from different traditions, you could become a solitary eclectic Wiccan.  

This religion is also great for anyone who has always been fascinated with spellwork and wants to deepen their connection to the more esoteric powers that may exist within the world.  Becoming Wiccan usually means developing a knowledge base of herbs, astrological correspondences, sacred symbolism, and various western Esoteric ritual practices.  So if you are fascinated by any of these topics then Wicca may be a good path for you.  And of course keep in mind that there is no one rulebook or leader to dictate what Wicca is or is not.  Like many things it’s most likely going to continue to develop as mainstream society continues to evolve and change. 

Next, let me know your thoughts.  Are you currently following this pagan path or are you interested in learning more about Wicca?  And what about this path do you find the most appealing? I’m looking forward to reading all your thoughts and questions in the comments. 

Tarot can be really overwhelming when you’re starting out.  There is so much to learn! There's the card meanings, esoteric correspondences, different tarot spreads, and then there’s the task of learning how to build your intuitive abilities. So today I thought I would share some of my favorite tarot books that have really helped me make sense of this fascinating divinatory system. 

Tarot Wisdom by Rachel Pollack
Rachel Pollack is best known for her book 78 Degrees of Wisdom, but I actually prefer this one for tarot beginners.  I love how she includes imagery of multiple versions of each card as I think it’s important to see how these archetypes have changed and evolved over time.  I also love how there's different reading exercises for each card so you can actively spend some time really getting to know the individual cards.

Tarot from the Library of Esoterica published by Taschen
This book is great for visual learners as there is a ton of gorgeous images that can help spark your intuitive understanding of the cards. I also love the intro that showcases the first decks that were created and includes a timeline which clearly lays out the evolution of this divinatory practice. 

Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen
While this book has wonderful descriptions and interpretations of the cards, what I love most about it is the detailed instructions on performing tarot spreads and how to create your own spreads. I also love all the charts she includes and how she combines both a Western and an Eastern esoteric approach to tarot.

The Esoteric Tarot: Ancient Sources Rediscovered in Hermeticism & Cabala by Ronald Decker
While you don’t need to understand the origins of tarot to become a good reader, I think it really adds an extra layer of proficiency to spend a little time researching the history.  While reading this book I had a ton of ‘lightbulb’ moments which really helped me better understand how tarot fits into the wider system of esoteric knowledge.  

36 Secrets by Susan Chang
This last book is for those that struggle with the Minor arcana and want to dig really deep into their meanings and correspondences.  This is a really unique book as it lays out the Minor arcana on a calendar system.  Every 10-days of the calendar year correspond with some of the minor arcana cards.  This allows you to go through the year focusing on building your knowledge of the minors slowly but deeply.  It also helps you better understand the astrological correspondences for the minors and how these correspondences affect the card meanings and interpretations. 

Hope you enjoyed this book list! I also have some additional tarot resources I’d like to share with you.  Firstly, I’ve started to do a weekly live Free tarot workshop on Instagram.   It’s every Tuesday at 2PM Central Time and here’s the link to my Instagram if you’d like to join the workshops.  The workshops are hosted by me and my friend Jamie. We are both the creators of The Key Tarot deck, which is a Rider-Waite style deck that we completed earlier this year. 

Lastly, if you’re interested in learning more and practicing your skills with a tarot community, I recommend checking out my new exclusive Discord server.  I have a Tarot Journal and Tarot Study Guide on the Discord you can download if you choose to join the community.  The Discord is linked to my Patreon so if you choose to support this channel on Patreon you’ll gain immediate access to the Discord along with a lot of other perks.

Let me know down in the comments what your favorite tarot book is and if there are any books you would like to recommend for tarot beginners!

If you are new to witchcraft and Paganism spending lots of time on social media could be really discouraging. It seems like there is so much “stuff” you need in order to be a Pagan or a witch. But in reality while the “stuff” can be fun, most of it is not necessary or important for developing your own spiritual practice. I personally practice a more minimalist version of paganism so I try to reduce the number of items needed and just focus on the essentials. And today, I’m going to share with you 5 low budget and free tools you can use for witchcraft and paganism.

1 - Candles
For rituals and spells you need to set the mood and create the feeling of a sacred space. Candles help by bringing in the fire element and thus help create a feeling of excitement and vibrancy for any magical act you are wanting to perform. While buying a bunch of different colored candles to correspond with your intention can be fun, it is by no means necessary. I often just use inexpensive white candles as they can be bought cheaply and can be used for any intention or magical correspondence.

2 - Music
Like with candles, music really helps set the mood for any spell or ritual you’d like to perform. Music can also be a great tool for raising energy and releasing energy into the universe. You can simply listen to a playlist or create your own music through singing or drumming.

3 - Journal
Recording your rituals, spells, and meditations is a great way to keep track of your spiritual progress and to see if you are resonating with your current path. While elaborate Grimoires and Books of Shadows can be fun, keeping a record in a simple journal or notebook is just as effective and much less expensive. If you’re confused on the difference between a Book of Shadows & Grimoire, here’s a recent video I made about this topic

4 - Nature
For me Paganism & witchcraft is largely about celebrating the Earth - and buying a bunch of junk from China isn’t a good way to do that. Instead, I choose to decorate my altar with natural items that reflect the seasons and my surroundings. By going on nature walks and collecting items I’m able to find ritual tools and altar decorations for free and as a bonus it helps me better connect with the natural environment.

5 - A Tarot Deck
While there are many different divination methods tarot decks are great because they can be used for a variety of different purposes. Of course you can use tarot for divination, though you can also use the cards to represent other things in ritual & spellwork. For example, the 4 Aces can be used to represent the elements and certain major arcana cards can represent different deities. So, you could use the Empress card to represent Venus or the Hermit card to represent Odin. This reduces the need to buy expensive statues of different deities that you may be working with.

DISCORD UPDATE!
The new discord pagan community is now live!

Here’s how it works - the discord is connected to my Patreon. So if you become one of my Patrons you’ll automatically be added to the private discord community. Once you join, you’ll see the different rooms available: we have morning-tea for casual conversation, and we have rooms designated for discussion on Paganism, Witchcraft, and divination. There will also be a new weekly discussion topic posted on the discord each Monday.

My main goals for the discord is to build a really strong community and a place where we can have lots of fun discussions about Paganism. I also want it to be a place where I can host and share free educational content for y'all. And to start us off, I added a free downloadable tarot study guide and journal, so you can check that out on the discord as well. Here’s the link where you can sign up to join my patreon and gain access to the Discord community.

The 90s - a decade where witchcraft started to become a lot less scary in the eyes of the general public and it started to become much more fun and relatable. This is a decade where the books, popular media, and the movement as a whole expanded our understanding of the witch’s role in society. While the trope of the terrifying witch in the woods didn’t fully dissipate, this decade opened the doors for a whole spectrum of different witch manifestations. From wholesome, to gothy outsider, or sexy charmer - this decade showed that witches don’t have a singular look, motivation or personality.

Witchcraft really started to explode in popularity during the 90s so there’s a lot to cover. I’m going to divide this post into 3 sections: we’ll go over the pop-culture -- so the movies and tv shows that influenced witchcraft practice. Then we’ll discuss influential books that came out during this decade. And finally, we’ll talk about the movement as a whole and how it evolved and grew.

PART 1 - THE POP-CULTURE
The 90s were epic when it came to witchy movies and I won’t be able to cover all of them, but I am going to share a few that I feel really made a mark on both the witchcraft movement as a whole and my own personal witchcraft journey.

The Craft
Where better to start then with The Craft. This movie plays upon the idea that witches are the outsiders in a community. This has usually always been the case both historically and in pop-culture but this movie really does it in a fun way. Nancy and her crew use witchcraft as a way to empower themselves in a world that so often demeans those who are different. The protagonist, Sarah, is new to the school and as such is also an outsider who through witchcraft finds a friend group, or coven, to belong to. Of course this is a kind of a horror movie so things do eventually get out of hand. As Nancy becomes more and more power hungry, the magic eventually takes over and makes her go crazy so I guess this movie can also be a warning to be careful with witchcraft because power can be difficult to control.

This movie is also interesting because they hired an actual wiccan to advise the producers. And while a lot of the witchcraft practices and terminology in this movie are not very accurate, the fact that they hired an actual witch to assist with the movie really shows that witchcraft was starting to gain more respectability and interest among the general public.

I think the main influence that this movie brings is the idea that even though witches will always be outsiders, you can embrace your outsider status and even find power in it. Also, The Craft’s famous line “we are the weirdos” fits in with the overall 90s’ grunge vibe and the decade’s love of individuality and desire to celebrate otherness. This brand of witchcraft was a natural extension from the 90s anti-establishment subculture. It presented the notion that magic could be a force to challenge the status-quo and carve out a place of your own.

Practical Magic
You know witchcraft is trending when they get stars like Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman on board. While this movie plays upon classic witchcraft tropes, like love spells and bringing people back from the dead, it does so in a really fun and engaging way. Like with the girls in The Craft, the Owens family initially struggles with their outsider status and feeling rejected by their community. But while The Craft was saying F U the establishment, embrace the weirdo, Practical magic is showing that witchcraft can be a force to come together as a community. It’s only when Sally and Gillian embrace and help their wider community in the village do they dispel the villagers' fear of witchcraft - so at the end of the film they all can come together and defeat the evil.

This movie mirrors how witchcraft in the 90s likewise became more generally accepted among others and moved away from only something to fear. This is quite a huge shift from the 80s, which was dominated by the Satanic Panic and a generalized fear around any type of witchcraft.

The Blair Witch Project
Next, let’s dive into the horror category and talk about one of the most successful movie marketing campaigns and found-footage films ever created. People seem to either love or hate this movie -- for some it scared them to death and others thought it was just silly. Though you can’t deny that what it did was unique for the time. The Blair Witch was one of the first “found footage” movies and its success led to the creation of a whole new genre of horror. Up to this point, no movie had utilized internet marketing and “found footage” so effectively, with audiences truly believing the people in the film had actually died.

What I love about this movie, is you never actually see the Blair Witch. For me, that somehow made it more terrifying. Even though movies like The Craft and Practical Magic made witchcraft seem more mainstream, on the other end of the spectrum the Blair Witch project reminded us that the archetype of the witch also represents a primal fear of the unknown and unseen.

This movie also shows us the power in lore and legends. By starting the film with the lore of the Blair witch, it serves to build anticipation and dread. It helped to kick off a reinvigoration of our love of folklore, which we’re still seeing today. Blair Witch's genius and innovation was also that it translated folklore into the new digital era. This was the precursor to 21st century digital folklore communities, such as creepy pasta, the nosleep subreddit, with characters like Slenderman. All modern manifestations of digital folklore.

There are so many other amazing Witchy TV shows and movies that came out in the 90s. There was Hocus Pocus, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Witches, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Sleepy Hollow, HalloweenTown, and so many others. I think the main takeaway from 90s pop-culture is that witchcraft not only started to become a big trend, but that it also started to become more mainstream and varied in it’s representation. There was a whole spectrum of different types of witches, from wholesome sitcoms like Sabrina to darker representations such as the Blair Witch. This decade really expanded upon who the Witch was in society, what she looked like, and what she believed in.

PART 2 - THE BOOKS
Believe it or not, witchcraft used to be something that was difficult to find books and resources on. Back in the day you usually couldn’t do it on your own and you needed to find a mentor or a coven to start learning witchcraft. This all started to change in the 90s. As the 90s witchy movies and tv shows made witchcraft more popular, witchcraft teachings as a whole started to become more accessible to the general public.

If you grew up in the 90s and wanted to learn witchcraft there were two main places you could go to find books. Firstly, you could go to a new-age shop if you were lucky enough to have one in your city. But if you were a young teen like me, that meant I had to ask my parents to drive me there, which was something I was not going to do. Instead, what I could do was ask my parents to drop me off at Barnes & Noble. Once there I would find the single bookshelf that was now dedicated to New Age books and there I would find a selection of maybe 20-30 books about witchcraft. I would sneakily buy a book, hide it in my purse, and once home I would be able to read about witchcraft without my parents knowing a thing.

As witchcraft books became easier to find and purchase in the 90s, it really opened the doors for people to explore these ideas that were once seen as extremely taboo. And as more and more people started buying books about witchcraft, it opened the doors for many new writers and new types of witchcraft books. Of course classics like Spiral Dance by Starhawk, Wicca by Scott Cunningham, and Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft become easier to find. But also new writers entered the scene and a combination of scholarly and “fluffy” witchcraft books began to hit the shelves.

This is also when the idea of the celebrity witch started to really take hold. Laurie Cabot expanded her celebrity status as the “official witch of Salem” with her release of “The Power of the Witch” in 1990. Despite the book's glaring historical inaccuracies, it really made big waves in the movement as a whole by claiming an unbroken line from the ancient witches of the stone age to modern day witches.

One of the most famous, or perhaps infamous witch writers in the 90s was Silver Ravenwolf. Her release of the book Teen Witch was one of the first witchcraft books written exclusively for teens. And I’m not afraid to admit that I totally bought that book and read it cover to cover. Silver Ravenwolf also released several other generalized witchcraft books and her growing popularity created a backlash from other witches who found her content too “fluffy” and lacking substance. And to be fair they had a point, though you cannot deny the size of the impact she had on the witchcraft community as a whole. Her books were kind of like “witchy training wheels” for people first discovering this practice. They were light and relatable enough to draw in tons of new people into the witchcraft movement and that might have not happened without her.

One other thing I should also mention is that the vast majority of books that came out during the 90s were focused around wicca and western European forms of witchcraft. Witchcraft traditions from other cultures around the world unfortunately did not get to experience the same amount of publicity. So even though in the 90s the archetype of the witch was expanding in both pop-culture and literature, it still was mostly restricted to white women and a western European version of witchcraft.

PART 3 - THE MOVEMENT
In looking back at the 90s, how would you define it as a decade? In general I think of the 90s as a time of relative peace and prosperity. The decades-long Cold War came to an end and the rise of the dotcom companies and the Internet created a new era of optimism and possibility. So is this likewise true for the witchcraft movement as a whole during this decade? In a lot of ways I think so, being a witch in the 90s definitely seemed much more widely accepted and fashionable than in previous decades. Witchcraft stopped being something to fear and instead became an avenue for empowerment, especially among young women.

The 90s as a whole was also really dominated by teen culture, so naturally witchcraft was dominated by teen culture as well. The popular witchcraft movies and tv shows often featured teens and for the first time new witchcraft books were written specifically designed for teens. This did create some animosity between the new teen witches and the older generations who felt that the teen-centric content was making witchcraft less serious and more “fluffy.” This division between generations of witches is still very much felt today where you now have young witches learning and communicating entirely digitally compared to previous generations of witches who learned from books and met other witches in secret.

Though overall, I am eternally grateful for the witchcraft movement of the 90s. It’s because witchcraft became so much more accessible during this decade that I was first able to learn what it was and what it was about. And because witchcraft started to become much less taboo during this decade I was able to eventually build up the confidence to share my beliefs with others and ultimately that’s how I ended up starting this YouTube channel.

So next I’d love to hear from you. How would you define witchcraft in the 90s? What were the books and media from this decade that influenced your practice? And how does 90s witchcraft compare to today?