Counsel of Akka

My steps are heavy, oh sister My burdened heart has fallen into my shoes,If only I could close my eyes and sleep away from this world… Oh, brother! Why do you weep?Why has Maya rattled you so? Do you not see that she rages in vain?Be not saddened by this great illusion. Sister, I beg

Book recommendation: ‘Darśan. Seeing the Divine Image in India’ by Diana L. Eck

One of the most difficult things for many westerners to understand about Hinduism is its relation to and worship of images. Because we grow up under monotheist and Abrahamic hegemony, we are often influenced – whether or not we are actually religious – by its views. And in the Abrahamic traditions, the worship of images

The soul and the soul alone

I’ve been returning a lot lately to the great well of wisdom that is Hindu scripture. It’s something I do when I’m going through rough times or just not quite feeling like myself. To return to these books is a reminder to focus once more on the true self, which is beyond all race, physical

Large scale mob violence happening against Hindus in Bangladesh

Tw: violence, murder, sexual assault, Hinduphobia If you’ve been following the news about what’s been happening in Bangladesh you’ve probably heard of the mob violence, gang rapes, murders and temple desecration that has been carried out against the Hindu minority in the country. If not, then I encourage you to read more about it in

Flow and silence: my spiritual practice

In a previous post, I wrote about the why of my spiritual practice. Today I’d like to write about the how and what I do day to day to keep my mind focused on the Goddess and on my personal role within the Wyrd. When I first started out in Paganism, I tried to have

Are the Deities all One? Well, no but also yes.

Within modern day polytheism there is quite a debate on the issue of whether the Deities are all separate individuals or aspects of one Supreme Deity. The former stance is referred to as hard polytheism while the later is called soft polytheism. Note: soft polytheism is also sometimes used to refer to psychological/archetypal paganism or

Why Her/Him/Them? Some thoughts on having a patron Deity

Getting into polytheism from a monotheistic religion can be quite confusing. Especially before you have chosen a particular polytheist tradition or if you are an eclectic Pagan, drawing inspiration from a number of different faiths. The sheer number of Deities can feel overwhelming. With so many, who are you supposed to worship and why? First

Excerpt from chapter one – Finding the self

This is an excerpt from a novella that will be published in the near future. More information about this chapter’s topic and its inspiration will come at the end of this post. “The story goes such: There once was a young woman who sought a husband. She had a list of requirements for her future

A time for peace and a time to hiss

The second-last chapter of my novella is finally finished. It took way longer than I’d planned but writer’s block strikes when it strikes. I’m just happy I got it done at last. Much of what that particular chapter is about is a difficult and perhaps controversial subject: When, if ever, is it right to use

Some reading I’ve been doing

I’ve had an unusual amount of free time lately. Normally I work in a warehouse, packaging COVID-19 tests kits. But the demand is so high, we keep running out of materials. Over the last two months I’ve had a whole month off from work and in other circumstances, that would have felt nice. But with