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Laura Perry - Author and Artist

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Deathwalking: An anthology adventure

Apr 17, 2018
2 min

Deathwalking: An anthology adventure

Over the years I've contributed to quite a few anthologies. I love being part of a community that comes together over a given subject, sharing our different experiences and perspectives. Then one day I felt compelled to head up an anthology project myself. The subject? Deathwalking. This shamanic practice is also called psychopomping. It involves helping the soul of the deceased find its way after death and move on in peace and safety. This was an essential part of the shaman

Spring Equinox, Minoan harvest, and upside-down calendars

Mar 20, 2018
1 min

Spring Equinox, Minoan harvest, and upside-down calendars

Today is the Spring Equinox where I live in the southeastern US, but it's harvest time in places like Crete, where the ancient Minoans lived. It's a confusing state of affairs, but the Mediterranean climate is an important facet of life in that region. Today on the Minoan Path blog, I'm celebrating both springtime and harvest: Spring Equinox, Minoan harvest, and upside-down calendars To join the conversation about Modern Minoan Paganism, head on over to our welcoming communit

Mysterious Minoan Floating Objects

Oct 3, 2017
1 min

Mysterious Minoan Floating Objects

The Minoan gold seal rings are fascinating little objects, all the more so because the images on them are full of strange floating objects. Find out more about these mysterious shapes on today's Minoan Path blog post: Minoan Seal Rings and their Mysterious Floating Objects To join the conversation about Modern Minoan Paganism and ancient Minoan civilization, head on over to our welcoming community at Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook. In the name of the bee, And of the butterfly, A

Starry Night: Minoan Astronomy

Aug 23, 2017
1 min

Starry Night: Minoan Astronomy

Like many ancient cultures, the Minoans spent a lot of time looking at the night sky and calculating the movements of the stars and planets. Today's Minoan Path blog post looks at some of the items they used to help make those calculations, which were important to their sacred calendar as well as blending with their mythology: Starry Night: Minoan Astronomy If you'd like to join the discussion about Modern Minoan Paganism and ancient Minoan civilization, head on over to our w

Dividing the Minoan World

May 10, 2017
1 min

Dividing the Minoan World

The world is so big, we like to divide it up into manageable segments, sections we can get our heads around and maybe understand. The Minoans were no different from anyone else in this regard. Today on the Minoan Path blog, I explore a few of the ways the Minoans appear to have divided up their world: Dividing the Minoan World To join the conversation about Modern Minoan Paganism, head on over to our welcoming community at Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook. In the name of the bee,

Musings on the Minoan Threefold Goddess

Apr 5, 2017
1 min

Musings on the Minoan Threefold Goddess

There is no Maiden-Mother-Crone triplicity among the Minoan goddesses, but that doesn't mean we can't find some meaningful threefold divisions within the pantheon. Here's my exploration of the triplicity of Land/Sea/Sky, the Great Mothers of the ancient Minoans: The Minoan Threefold Goddess: The Great Mothers To join the conversation about the ancient Minoans and Modern Minoan Paganism, head on over to our welcoming community at Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook. In the name of the

Excuse Astrology: A bit of a rant

Sep 21, 2016
2 min

Excuse Astrology: A bit of a rant

I’ve been doing astrology in one form or another for years. I first learned to draw a chart with pencil, paper, a printed ephemeris, and a calculator back in the late 1970s. Since then I’ve moved on to software of various sorts (the free charts at astro.com are a great place to start if you’re interested). And of course, my ability to interpret charts has improved a lot with practice. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed in all those years, and it drives me nuts. I call

Talent and Skill: Magic versus hard work

May 25, 2016
3 min

Talent and Skill: Magic versus hard work

I’ve always done creative stuff like drawing and writing and playing musical instruments, as far back as I can remember. By the time I was a teenager, my work was decent enough to be published in my school’s literary journal and the tiny local newspaper and showcased in special recitals. That’s about the time I started getting the comments that still drive me nuts. “Oh, you’re so talented!” “I could never do that.” Here’s the thing. When someone says, “You’re so talented,” wh

Book Review: The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens

Mar 23, 2016
3 min

Book Review: The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens

Morgan Daimler’s book about the Morrigan, that multifarious and fascinating Irish goddess, may be small but it has done great things for me. It’s one of the Pagan Portals series, short-but-deep introductions to a variety of Pagan subjects including deities. And it really has changed my relationship with this goddess – for the better, of course. First let me tell you about the book, titled The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens. It’s full of all sorts of fascinating informatio

Pagans who don't believe in magic - but use it anyway

Feb 10, 2016
3 min

Pagans who don't believe in magic - but use it anyway

This is going to be a bit of a rant, so hold onto your hats. If you're wondering about the title, I mean exactly what I'm saying here. Yes, there are Pagans (and probably people who use other descriptors as well) who use magic without believing in it. And that's a problem, but not for the reasons you might think. First of all, let me be clear: I don't care what anyone believes. I don't give a flip whether their beliefs match mine, overlap slightly with mine, or don't coincide

Book Review: Heart of Life

Jan 27, 2016
2 min

Book Review: Heart of Life

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I started reading this book. I've been a shamanic practitioner for a long time now, and I've read a wide variety of books that offer different versions of the nuts-and-bolts: how to prepare yourself, how to journey, how to make shamanic tools, how to connect with the spirits. But Heart of Life isn't like that. It has a certain amount of how-to, but it goes deeper than that. If I had to characterize it, I'd say it's a book about the phil

Are those things really horns?

Jan 20, 2016
1 min

Are those things really horns?

Sir Arthur Evans christened this ancient Minoan symbol/object the Horns of Consecration. In the century since then, people have discussed the possibility that they're not actually horns. But if this strange symbol doesn't depict a pair of horns, what is it really? I have an interesting idea to offer in today's Minoan Path Blog: Are those things really horns? To join the discussion about ancient Minoan civilization and modern Minoan Paganism, hop on over to Ariadne's Tribe. #m

Minoan Peak Sanctuaries: Way Up There

Nov 18, 2015
1 min

Minoan Peak Sanctuaries: Way Up There

Would you walk all the way up a mountain on foot just to make an offering to your gods? The ancient Minoans did. Find out more about the peak sanctuaries atop the jagged mountains of Crete in today's Minoan Path blog post: Minoan Peak Sanctuaries: Way Up There Have you ever made a pilgrimage? Would you like to? #spirituality #calendar #crete #paganism #cosmology

Long Spoons of Compassion

Aug 31, 2015
3 min

Long Spoons of Compassion

About 16 years ago, when I was organizing a 'new millennium' community ritual through the Goddess 2000 Project, I happened upon a story called the Allegory of the Long Spoons. I used it to introduce that community ritual, and in the years since then I've told it a number of times to small and large groups. It always touches people, and I think it's an important story to keep telling. The Allegory of the Long Spoons Adapted by Laura Perry This story is usually framed as a visi

A few spokes shy of a wheel?

Handling Henotheism

Jul 29, 2015
1 min

Handling Henotheism

You've probably heard of polytheism, but henotheism may be a new one for you. This week on the Minoan Path blog, I'm diving into the concept of henotheism because it's how the ancient Minoans viewed their goddesses and gods. Click on the link below to get to the post: Handling Henotheism It's amazing how many different ways people use to understand the world. What's your favorite mental organization method for divinity? #culture #spirituality #paganism #cosmology #minoan #cre

Minos the Moon God?

Jul 22, 2015
1 min

Minos the Moon God?

Today over at the Minoan Path Blog I'm sharing some thoughts about the legendary figure of Minos. Demoted to a mortal king by the later Hellenic Greeks, he started out as a full-blown god among the ancient Minoans. But what kind of god dies and descends to the underworld every 9th year? A lunar one, apparently. Check out the post here: Minos the Moon God To join the conversation about modern Minoan Paganism, find us at Ariadne's Tribe. In the name of the Bee - And of the Butt

Either-Or Thinking: A Logical Fallacy

Jul 15, 2015
4 min

Either-Or Thinking: A Logical Fallacy

These days, between the political debates and religious arguments online, I’m seeing a lot of either-or thinking. This is nothing new, of course; it’s just more visible now that we’re electronically in each other’s faces all the time. The thing is, either-or thinking is a false dilemma, a logical fallacy. It’s an inaccurate representation of a complex world. Sometimes it’s a false set of choices that are laid out on purpose so people will think there are no alternatives: If y

Toilet Snobs and other Modern Problems

Apr 22, 2015
1 min

Toilet Snobs and other Modern Problems

OK, that's not a typical title for my blog posts, but it gets to the point. We modern folks have tended to be snobs about our culture and beliefs for quite some time, and that snobbery colors our interpretation of the ancient world. In other words, it keeps us from being able to see what's really there. Click on over to the Minoan Path Blog to read the full post: Toilet Snobs and Other Modern Problems If you'd like to discuss ancient plumbing or other aspects of Minoan cultur

The Two Worlds of the Minoans

Feb 25, 2015
1 min

The Two Worlds of the Minoans

Today's post over at The Minoan Path Blog describes the cosmology of pre-Indo-European people such as the ancient Minoans. It's not the three-worlds concept we're used to from later European cultures, but a two-worlds universe. Read about it here: The Two Worlds of the Minoans For more discussion of the ancient Minoans and their world, join us in Ariadne's Tribe. #minoan #crete #cosmology #spirituality #paganism