The topic of eating meat is a loaded question -- one which I am not prepared to fully address in this short discussion. I will say that, for a variety of reasons, I sometimes opt to not eat red meat. On the other hand, I also ate the majority of a very sketchy hotdog at the movies yesterday. It was supposed to be beef, but who's to say for certain?

Gratitude is one of the most potent metaphysical catalysts that we have access to. It can transform the outcome of any spell, rite, or working. It has some pretty drastic implications when it comes to our inner state of being. Oh, and it's endless -- it can never run out of stock. And yet... we don't always take full advantage of it.

Over the last few days, my lovely wife worked on hand-writing the grocery list for our upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. Here's what's on the menu: Turkey Ham Mashed Potatoes Sweet Potatoes Mac N Cheese Stuffing Collard Greens Apple Pie We traded pumpkin pie for apple pie this year. But don't worry, in order to maintain balance within the universe, we grabbed a pumpkin cheesecake from Trader Joe's.

Cool places to go and good food to eat in New York City -- a photo journal from our recent trip. Highlights include The MET Museum, St Patrick's Cathedral, the Empire State Building, Pasta Eater, Liberty Bagel, Central Park, Serendipity, and Shirokuro.

Today's prompt question asks for my favorite place in our city... and I'm just reminded of all the things that this city actually lacks. There's no music venues. There's no art. There's really no culture of any kind. And if those things did exist here, they would probably be "taxed" by setting fees so high that most people wouldn't be able to enjoy them anyway.

You died, but luckily you woke up in the afterlife with a trusty papyrus scroll rolled up next to you. The Egyptian Book of the Dead wasn't actually a book, but it was a collection of spells, prayers, and hymns that you'd need on your journey to the New World.

I can tell you one thing for certain -- I have never been as comfy as our cats. I envy them on a daily basis. Daily writing prompt What is good about having a pet? View all responses Good morning and happy Monday, friends. New Post: Paying the Piper We're in New York. So check this out -- the price of panettone has SKYROCKETED because of the tariffs.

We can trace the phrase "paying the piper" all the way back to a 13-century German legend, The Pied Piper of Hamlin, but has anyone ever figured out what kind of instrument the piper played?

When I was a kid in school, I think I pretty much had an equal distaste for most of my classes. Trying to pick a favorite is, as usual, a very difficult thing for me to do. I mean, I had a Computer Science class where we basically played games 90% of the time. Does that count? But electives aside, I can tell you one thing I…

Erich and Alannah Brown are the founders of the Temple of Limitless Light and the authors of the book Modern Hermeticism: A Beginners Guide to Ceremonial Magick. In this episode, we dive into their fascinating journey, exploring the worlds of both Hermeticism and Enochian magick, and discuss how they blend ancient practices with modern insight and witchcraft.

How many tabs do you have open right in your browser? That's a real question. I'm not being rhetorical. I'm genuinely curious. I just counted mine. I have 398 tabs open across 10 different windows of Google Chrome. That's just from one profile, though. I'm not including tabs from the other 3 email accounts I'm currently logged into (which have their own, slightly lesser numbers of tabs).

Planetary timing is a system where each of the seven classical planets is given rulership over a particular day and certain hours within each day. This can be a simple way to focus specific types of energy into your spellwork.

Although I haven't made one in quite a long while, I'm pretty good at baking cheesecakes. And cheesecake also happens to be one of my favorite desserts. My question to you today is this: if you had to pick one flavor of cheesecake to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? Personally, I'm usually happy with something fruity.

One of the classic models for Alchemy follows a map of four distinct stages: Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, and Rubedo. They're as much psychological processes as much as they are physical indicators. And yes, they have something to do with your perception.

It's hard to balance rest with productivity. Never fear, for I have a very simple solution for you! If you schedule rest, then you will have accomplished something by resting. Daily writing prompt Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive? View all responses Good morning and happy Monday, friends! New Post: Not Every Piece is a Masterpiece I know it's just in my head, but for most of this week, it…

Most artists don't have their first painting hanging in a museum. Most musicians didn't get a billboard hit with their first song. Have you ever wondered exactly how much work it takes to produce a masterpiece?

If you've ever set a New Year's resolution or any type of recurring personal goal, then you probably know that the likelihood of consistently hitting it eventually falls to zero when stretched over a long enough timeline. We're good at our goals for a few weeks, maybe for a few months, but a year? Multiple years? It starts to get harder and harder.

It's a fairly well-established film trope to have a villain who listens to classical music. The reason why this is so popular might surprise you. Let's take a look at what's really going on in these situations.

It's funny how far apart my answers are going to be here. On one hand, most of the skills that I want to develop are pre-industrial ones. I really enjoy making things with my hands. I'd like to do some woodworking on a larger project using hand tools like planes and chisels. I'd like to turn plant material into cord and then weave it into a basket.

Jessica Howard is an author and an expert on lithomancy -- a form of divination that uses stones, crystals, or other small objects to gain insight. In this episode, we discuss her background and her book, plus she gives a full sample reading!

It's interesting how the idea of fulfillment has changed throughout my life. As a kid, the motivation for hard work was usually to get something else entirely. You clean your room so you can play. You do your chores to get an allowance. That sort of thing. The fulfillment happens afterward. At some point, however, there's a change. Eventually you realize that there's some truth behind that annoying little cliche that says "a job well done is its own reward." …

Did you know that you can divine with music? Shufflemancy is a form of divination where practitioners use randomized playlists to gain insight or guidance. And it's something you can try for yourself in the next five minutes.

I will never pick a favorite album. I just can't do it. Instead, I'm going to list 5, mostly at random, that I have really enjoyed listening to throughout my life. Here you go: Muse - Absolution Radiohead - In Rainbows Elliott Smith - XO Metallica - S&M Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV There you go. Those are in no particular order.

Working with the energy of deity is one of the primary reasons why we create sacred space. If you're leaving that out of your ritual, then you're missing out on a huge potential part of your practice. Where do you start? How do you plan? Who do you call? Those are topics we're going to cover today.