Category: Commentary

Informative and thoughtful articles authored by select contributors

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The Un-Authorized Lexicon: An Unofficial Guide to Pagan Parlance

By Katrina Rasbold

In the early days of Neopaganism, we learned a vital lesson: if you can’t laugh at your own ritual bloopers, the Gods certainly will. Over the last several decades, the Pagan movement developed a vocabulary so dense it could sink a Viking longship. In today’s Green Egg Blog, I step out of the circle and share the Inner Court, Super Secret Squirrel definitions of some of the most common magical terms.

Welcome to the Alternate Lexicon of Magical Practice. Here is what those fancy terms actually mean when the mead starts flowing and the incense gets a bit too thick. But before we get into that, I want to tell you a story. Continue reading The Un-Authorized Lexicon: An Unofficial Guide to Pagan Parlance

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The Empty Throne: Why We Need the Goddess NOW

By Katrina Rasbold

Look at the world outside your window. No, look deeper—past the blooming daffodils of the equinox and into the marrow of the collective American psyche. Can you feel the grinding? It is the sound of a massive, ancient machine—the Patriarchal Engine—running out of oil and beginning to strip its own gears. Smell that acrid “burning clutch” scent that is part metallic and part desperation.

For two thousand years, the West has been a house with only one parent. We have been raised in a spiritual and social architecture built entirely on the concept of the Singular Father: the judge, the law-giver, the punisher, and the distant king. We were told this was the “natural order.” We were told that strength is found in hierarchy, that security is found in walls, and that divinity is strictly masculine.

But the walls are cracking. The gears are screaming. And as the patriarchal structure in America today enters its most desperate, explosive phase, we are finally realizing that we aren’t just tired—we are motherless. Continue reading The Empty Throne: Why We Need the Goddess NOW

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The Great Balancing Act: Welcoming the Spring Equinox

By Katrina Rasbold

As the wheel turns to the Vernal Equinox, the world pauses for a singular, breathtaking moment of perfect equilibrium. Day and night stand as equals, holding hands across the threshold of the seasons. Here at Green Egg, we’ve always seen the Equinox not just as a date on a calendar, but as the “hatching” of a new reality.

If your winter felt like a long hibernation of the soul, you aren’t alone. But look closely: Gaia is breathing again.

Continue reading The Great Balancing Act: Welcoming the Spring Equinox

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Many Paths to the Center: Navigating Pagan Theologies

By Katrina Rasbold

In the grand, colorful tapestry of modern Paganism, there is no single “right” way to view the Divine. For decades, Green Egg has served as a forum where these diverse perspectives—often called the “many paths to the same center”—can be explored, debated, and celebrated. Whether we see the Gods as distinct individuals, facets of a single source, or expressions of the Earth herself, our theology is as varied as the ecosystems of Gaia.

To better understand our community, let’s look at how we conceptualize the Divine, from the ancient roots of polytheism to the modern shift toward gender-expansive spirituality.

Continue reading Many Paths to the Center: Navigating Pagan Theologies

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The Liturgy of the Soil: A Permaculture Rite for the Spring Equinox

By Katrina Rasbold

The Spring Equinox is often treated as a celebration of outward growth—the first green shoots, the return of the sun, and the frantic burst of planting energy. But for the modern Pagan, the Equinox is also a moment of perfect equilibrium: the exact threshold where light and dark hold hands before the sun begins its steady climb.

This year, as you prepare your garden beds, consider moving beyond viewing your land as a resource to be managed. Instead, view it as a site of theological engagement. Permaculture—with its foundational ethics of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share—is not just a design system; it is a profound, living liturgy. Continue reading The Liturgy of the Soil: A Permaculture Rite for the Spring Equinox

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The New Vanguard: 10 Pagan Voices Shaping Our Future

By Katrina Rasbold

As we stand at the crossroads of a shifting spiritual landscape, the torch of modern Paganism is being passed to a new generation of visionaries. While we will always honor the foundational texts of our elders, the voices rising today address the complexities of the 21st century—blending ancient wisdom with social justice, digital connectivity, and deep ecological urgency.

Unlike times in the past when we had a handful of authors defining who we are in the world as contemporary Pagans, we are now flooded with names and books to the point that it can be difficult to know who to read. Those of us who have been around for a while feel compelled to wonder who our new Janet Farrar, Laurie Cabot, Oberon Zell, Starhawk, and Raymond Buckland will be. As we begin to lose the vital icons, who steps up to continue what they began? Continue reading The New Vanguard: 10 Pagan Voices Shaping Our Future

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From Polarity to Pluralism: The Evolution of Inclusive Paganism

By Katrina Rasbold

The landscape of modern Paganism has shifted dramatically over the last fifty years. What began in the mid-20th century as a movement deeply rooted in the divine gender binary has blossomed into a diverse, decentralized spiritual umbrella that increasingly prioritizes radical inclusivity.

Continue reading From Polarity to Pluralism: The Evolution of Inclusive Paganism

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The Crossroads of Coin and Craft: Why Modern Souls are Returning to the Pagan Path

By Katrina Rasbold

In the shadow of a volatile economy and a fracturing social landscape, a quiet but profound migration is taking place. While traditional pews sit increasingly empty, the forest paths, digital altars, and moonlit circles are seeing a surge of new footprints. As we stand at the crossroads of 2026, the rise of Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States isn’t just a trend—it’s a spiritual homecoming for those whom the modern world has left behind.

Continue reading The Crossroads of Coin and Craft: Why Modern Souls are Returning to the Pagan Path

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The Great Quickening: Mapping the Pendulum Swing of the Craft (1986–2026)

By Katrina Rasbold

40 Years – Gone in the blink of an eye.

To flip through the yellowed, newsprint pages of a 1980s Green Egg is to touch a different dimension. In those days, the ink came off on your fingers, and the ideas—bold, radical, and often dangerously counter-cultural—felt like they could set the paper on fire. We were a tribe of correspondences, P.O. Boxes, and wilderness gatherings where the drums beat against a silence that the modern world has all but forgotten.

Of course, Green Egg Magazine goes back to the 1960, so tack on an additional two decades. I threw a dart into the 1980s because that is when I came to the Craft and subsequently, to Green Egg Magazine.

Today, the “Old Religion” has entered the “New Information Age.” As we stand in 2026, the contrast between the Paganism of forty years ago and the Paganism of today is not just a shift in fashion; it is a fundamental evolution of how the human spirit interfaces with the Divine. Continue reading The Great Quickening: Mapping the Pendulum Swing of the Craft (1986–2026)

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10 Reasons Why Being a Pagan is Actually Pretty Cool

By Katrina Rasbold

Welcome back to the Witch At The Crossroads blog! Whether you’ve been walking the Path for decades or you’re just starting to notice that you feel a strange pull toward the moon, you’ve probably realized that Paganism isn’t exactly “mainstream.”

While the rest of the world is busy staring at screens, we’re out here talking to trees and celebrating the solstice. But beyond the mystery and the incense, there are some genuinely practical—and occasionally eclectic and quirky—reasons why being a Pagan is a fantastic way to live.

Here are ten reasons why being a Pagan is undeniably cool.

Continue reading 10 Reasons Why Being a Pagan is Actually Pretty Cool

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The Great Quickening: Forging the Healing Flame

By Katrina Rasbold

The crossroads is not merely a place of meeting, learning, and magic. It is also a place of decisive power.

For too long, the magical community has been told to “keep the peace” or retreat into private practice while the world outside bleeds. We have been sold a diluted version of spirituality that is, in truth, toxic positivity, that asks us to simply “vibrate higher” while the soil is poisoned and the collective psyche is fractured by calculated cruelty.

Enough of that. We are not here to bypass the darkness; we are here to transmute it. We are the darkness and we rule those shadows.

Continue reading The Great Quickening: Forging the Healing Flame

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A Witch’s New Year Ritual: Releasing the Old and Weaving the New

By Katrina Rasbold

As the final days of the year dwindle, a hush falls over the world and we feel a moment of potent stillness before the whirlwind of a new beginning. For those of us who walk a path less trodden, who feel the hum of ancient energies beneath the modern world, this isn’t just a time for champagne toasts and fleeting resolutions. It’s a liminal space, a powerful threshold brimming with magical potential.

This New Year’s Eve, let’s cast aside the fleeting promises and instead, weave intentions into being with the wisdom of the Craft. Continue reading A Witch’s New Year Ritual: Releasing the Old and Weaving the New

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THE FIVE FACULTIES OF THE MIND

By Cat Gina Cole

In the study of psychism, we often take mundane things and use them as tools in our psychic practices. The five faculties of the mind are the fundamental functions of psychism. We use them a thousand times a day without a second thought. But when we draw them out and hone them, they become powerful tools that lead to mastery of our psychic skills and spiritual self. As I work through the definitions of each, you will begin to see how they play a role in our spiritual, magical, and psychic work.

The five skills I speak of are reason, will, intellect, perception, and discrimination. Let’s explore what they really mean and how they apply to psychic skills, magic, and spirituality. Continue reading THE FIVE FACULTIES OF THE MIND

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It’s Witch O’Clock Somewhere

By Katrina Rasbold

Witches have a different relationship with time than most people. We feel the tug of moons and seasons, yes — but also the strange elasticity of hours that stretch and contract depending on the work we’re doing. Time is not a straight line to us but a soft, breathing thing. It bends. It listens. It waits until we’re paying attention.

Magic teaches us that time is never just one thing. Continue reading It’s Witch O’Clock Somewhere

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Where We Stand When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

By Katrina Rasbold

There is a quiet place in the life of a Witch that the outside world rarely witnesses. It isn’t dramatic. It isn’t cinematic. It doesn’t look like a movie scene where the moon hangs low over a forgotten road and bones rattle in the branches.

No, the real crossroads lives in far more ordinary places. Continue reading Where We Stand When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

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10 Favorite Witchy Movies

By Katrina Rasbold

Last week, I posted my “10 Favorite Witchy TV Shows & Mini Series” and I thought I would follow up with a list of my 10 Favorite Witchy Movies. Are they predictable? Absolutely. They are at once predictable and cliche. There are no doubt glaring omissions that will cause readers to say, “But what about…?” and “YOU LEFT OUT…!” This is not a list of ALL Witchy movies or the BEST Witchy movies, but my own favorite Witchy movies. Because it would be like choosing my favorite children, these are listed in no particular order but are the top ten favorites from a wonderful line of magical films I have enjoyed in my life. Continue reading 10 Favorite Witchy Movies

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My Top 10 Witchy TV Shows & Mini Series

By Katrina Rasbold
Recently in the Crossroads Occult Newsletter, I listed my favorite Witchy TV shows and mini-series and I thought I would share them with you here. These are my favorites and I do not expect them to agree with anyone else’s. If you think of some you feel I overlooked or didn’t list, it is likely I didn’t see the show or it was not one of my favorites.

Continue reading My Top 10 Witchy TV Shows & Mini Series

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Elder or Oldster? Thoughts on the Wise One

by Tatiara

It began with a simple conversation in a pagan Facebook group. Someone posed a question about what constitutes an “Elder”. As the responses came, I felt something within me stir. I kept returning to that post, rereading the comments. Some were funny, others profound. A few spoke of favorite stories, or teachers they’d once known. But beneath it all, I sensed a deeper longing: a yearning for true eldership. Not just knowledge, not just age—but wisdom. The kind that holds space without needing to explain. The kind that has walked through fire and come back holding sacred embers for others. Continue reading Elder or Oldster? Thoughts on the Wise One

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The Strength to Adapt

By Lady Saoirse

Bright Blessings,

I just had a conversation with a new friend and it struck me. She was talking about how much her life has changed over the years. She faced the risk of blindness last month but it was averted with a quick surgery. She used to work out at the gym 2 to 3 hours a day but she can’t do that anymore because of autoimmune issues. She used to have a lot of energy to go and do things but she can’t do that anymore because of the fatigue that she endures. She used to work an office job full-time, driving herself to and from work. Now she conserves her energy by working from home and her job only requires her to come into the office once a week. She also traveled extensively in her younger years but she can’t do that anymore because her energy is fleeting and due to chronic pain, she has to sleep in her own bed.

Continue reading The Strength to Adapt

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Wicca – Not THAT Old

By Lady Saoirse

Bright Blessings,

I’m watching yet another program- this one from the 1990’s that insists the Witchcraft Trials were all about persecuting the pre–Christian Pagan faiths. I’m not naming this one. There are countless places this is claimed but nowhere is it claimed more than by mainstream modern magical practitioners. Sayings like “We are the granddaughters of the witches you could not burn” are shared by people whose family does not worship Pagan gods and many of whom condemn our neo faiths as demonic. Continue reading Wicca – Not THAT Old