Say Yes to Your Heart's Desire

Having a child was my heart's desire for a long time. My desire was so strong that I left a marriage to pursue it. I thought the marriage was a strong yes for having a family, but it turned out to be a someday-maybe. We talked about having kids before we were married, and we were on the same page. Things changed…

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Ask Your Angels

Flashback to 15 years ago… I had just signed the lease on the little Edwardian storefront that was to become my magical Goddess shop. It was located near the Panhandle in San Francisco, and I was living in a small town 30 miles or so away. The time it took to get into the City in the morning was brutal, so I was looking for a room to rent…

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Memories of a Panhandle Priestess

I used to have a little Goddess shop in the upper Hayes neighborhood of San Francisco. I lived in an apartment in the building next door to the little Edwardian storefront. Just a block away was a beautiful little park called the Panhandle. A narrow strip of nature in the middle of the city, it was called the Panhandle because of the way…

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A Woman’s Spiritual Journey

I took my very first magic class over 20 years, I took my first magic class. Gosh, I guess I was 23 years old, three years out of college. My exposure to “alternative” spirituality was non-existent as a child. I was raised in a military family, was baptized Catholic, went to CCD (which I just had to Google, because I had completely forgotten...

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Medicine Book

“Mommy, put down your Medicine Book.” It’s morning and my young daughter has toddled out from our co-sleeping bedroom into my office nook where I have my legs curled up under me and I am writing in my journal. I have not taught her these words: Medicine Book. I have never used them together as a phrase. Would never have thought to...

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The W Word

When I was in my 20s, I was all about the W word. Witch, witch, witch. I had discovered my place in a magical world, and I went all in. There was not a closet that could hold my broomstick. I was out and proud. At work, on dates, everywhere. It even came up at a job interview once: How did you hear about this opportunity? I’m a witch, I cast a spell...

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Hathor's Milk

Goddess energy has been interwoven into the fabric of my life for more than twenty years. Over the years, I have called on Her by Her many names — during times of need and times of celebration, in times of gratitude and times of grief. And when I was ready to have a child, I called on Her, again. I petitioned Ostara, goddess of fertility, to aid in conception. I asked Yemaya, goddess of the ocean...

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The Power of Having a Higher Power

Once upon a time, not so long ago (ok, maybe 30 years ago), I did not believe in such a thing as a “higher power.” When I was a child, I had experienced a profound love of God and a deep connection with nature. But as I grew up, I took to heart the Marxist sentiment that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” I abandoned my early Catholic education in favor of rationalist secularity. By the time I was a young 'tween…

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Doubt… But Do

I'd like to share a story of faith and doubt. 10 years ago, I made a bold career move. Instead of fantasizing about how cool it would be to curate locally-created objets d'art and serve them up in a winsome retail environment full of magic and possibility — I decided to do something about it. I hired a coach. I wrote a business plan...

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A True Story About A Mantra

Once upon a time, I was a teenager in an economically depressed neighborhood where drugs were rampant and violence loomed on the streets. I walked to school each morning with my brother or a group of friends past grim apartment complexes and run-down houses with bars on the doors and windows. And at night, after I finished my shift at the dingy, local sandwich shop…

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