Twin Cities Pagan Pride (Minneapolis / St. Paul, MN) presents the 2026 Paganicon, an exciting convention in a nice hotel, on the Spring Equinox weekend, March 20-22. 

Featured presenters are Selena Fox, Crystal Blanton, Celia Farren, and Wendy Mata, along with a whole lot of other Pagan and Witchcraft authors, teachers, leaders, and artists.

Some of the coolest things about Paganicon are LIVE MUSIC on Friday night, and the EQUINOX BALL on Saturday. 

There are vendors, visual artists, book signings, and lots of other exciting activities. Llewellyn Worldwide is one of the sponsors, and they have dozens of authors and books on tap for workshops & signings.

My workshop on Folk Deities of the British Isles is on Sunday, March 22 at 1 pm Central Time. Learn about Madrone / the Matronae, Cernunnos / the Buca, Arawn / yr Angau, / Weyland the Smith, Bridget as Goddess and Saint, and more.

Hope to see you there!

I am sorrowful to find that as Dave and I get older, there are a few things we've had to give up. Mosh pits. Running marathons, Dancing around bonfires all night long. And, unfortunately, the effort it takes for upkeep and maintenance on our good ol' vintage trailer, Mr. Sunshine.

A 1969 Li'l Hobo by Globestar, our camper was the epitome of hippie travels. We replaced the scary propane with an icebox and electric implements, installed a composting toilet and blackwater tank, and had "Happy Camper" from Wayland repair some structural damage and rot. 

We enjoyed several fun family trips, and a few festivals, with our good old trailer. Mr. Sunshine always turned heads at state parks, and got lots of waves from children we passed on the highways.

Mr. Sunshine needs to find owners who can climb up on top to cover him in winters, who can redo the sunny yellow paint job, and who can do all the work required to travel and camp. He is $5,000, all of the modern improvements and cute accessories included. Clear Michigan title, vintage license plate, and a notebook about all of the original paperwork and the recent renovations.

Two eclipses are visible this month, one on Tuesday March Third, and one on Wednesday March 18.

Some folks advise not performing magick during an eclipse, nothing at all, not even making "moon water". 

I suggest this is a powerful time for rites to banish an undesirable condition, to bring about dramatic changes, and to reset events that need some kind of intervention. Be prepared for dynamic change.

​Here is the schedule for WitchCon Online:
 https://www.witchcon.com/schedule.php  
There are over a hundred presenters including some famous Witches, some academics, and all kinds of traditions -- Witchcraft, Wicca, Hoodoo, Voudoun, Druidry, folk magick, ceremonial magick and more.
The cool thing about this online festival is that you buy a ticket once and then you can watch ALL the classes, demonstrations, and entertainment from ALL the years, going back to 2022.
My class is at 7:00 on Sunday, Feb. 22 on Sheila-na-Gigs, Matrikas (Venus Figurines) and the Green Man.

Here is the ConVocation 2026 Schedule:
https://convocation2026.sched.com/

Convocation is held in Ann Arbor, Michigan and features no fewer than fifty presenters. There is an art room, a merchant room, party suites, a divination room, entertainment, a dance ball, and TONS of classes, demonstrations, and performances. The hotel is really nice. 

My classes are on Friday and Saturday. Kids' activities include drumming, sculpey clay, and painting rocks to hide around the hotel, or to take home. Adult classes: Saturday at 9 -- Folk Magick from the British Isles, Sunday at 11 --WitchCraft Traditions: What's really Old, and What likely Ain't

​https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cgqg0pwkq2kt   From the BBC about Lunar New Year

Lupercalia is /was a Roman holiday which was celebrated every place they colonized, including the British Isles. The day for the celebration is Feb. 15th. It's about wolves and sex, so what's not to love?



​Here's what AI has to say about it:

Lupercalia was an ancient Roman pagan festival on February 15 focused on purification and fertility, involving priests (Luperci) sacrificing goats and dogs, smearing their blood on young men's foreheads, then running naked or semi-naked around the Palatine Hill whipping women with goat-hide strips for good luck and fertility. It celebrated purification and health for the city, linked to the legendary she-wolf that nursed Rome's founders, Romulus and Remus, and its rituals included feasting, ritualistic blood, and a lively, sometimes wild, atmosphere, with some scholars linking its timing and themes to modern Valentine's Day.

Here's a link from the History Channel:

https://www.history.com/articles/lupercalia 

Bindings and Hexings, Handle With Care: (part one)

(warning, there is a political statement in this post, but it’s germane to the topic, I promise)

Witches in the 1970s – 80s were very much against using any type of hex or curse, because they wanted to distance themselves from the media’s negative image of witchcraft, as well as from the practice of diabolism. Authors and clergy were quick to proclaim “We are not Satanists!” Which is true, we’re not.

Wiccans from that era looked to “the threefold law,” which proclaims “an it harm none, do as you will.”

The first part, the Threefold Law, means that energy or intent sent out three times will come back to the sender in the same amount, or enhanced three times. For example, if a Witch curses someone with Covid, they might themselves die of the illness. This is also called rebound energy or a reversal, and in folk-magick, a bounce-back or a swing-around. Some modern folks equate it with the Hindu religious concept of Karma, which is rather different – yet it’s still used in popular lexicon. Think of John Lennon’s song about Instant Karma.

The second part, the Harm None, means that as long as no person or entity will be caused any pain, difficulty, or other harm, we can pretty much do as we please.

There are many interpretations of those tenets. It’s impossible to do NO harm – every time we breathe, we kill certain microbes. And what kind of harm? Is it okay to hurt someone in the short term, for long-term benefit? For example, getting stabbed with a needle hurts, but not getting tetanus is worth it. Breaking up someone from an abusive partner might cause them temporary angst, but it’s worth it in that they are no longer being abused.

Yet nowadays, there are all kinds of debates about the ethics of binding someone, or downright cursing them.
There’s even proscriptions against “curse-shaming,” which means chiding someone for sending baneful energies to a bona-fide enemy.

I tend to be in this camp, reason one – because I have seen that the “three-fold law” is not just a witchcraft religious tenet, but an actual LAW, like the Law of Gravity. I’ve seen some serious bounce-backs, some really immediate and painful reversals happen. Someone does something awful – cursing someone to steal their boyfriend, zapping a rival to get their job – then the person who sent the baleful magic drops dead. No, I am not exaggerating.

Reason two – because it’s not our place to cause harm, ourselves, any more than I can smash my snowplow into someone who taps my fender in traffic. That’s the job of the Gods and the courts, respectively.
We can petition the greater Law and say, “Hey, Jimmy is doing XX harmful action, please make him stop.” We can appeal to deities who represent justice, like Taranis or Hekate, and ask for the individual to be given lessons, awareness, or even punishment.

Reason three – because I personally tend to go too far in retribution, which is a character flaw that I’m working on. Just because the restaurant worker forgot my salad fork is no reason to get them fired. Or make them fall down the stairs and break a leg. Just next time, please remember that I don’t want to eat my cole slaw with my fingers, okay?

Binding means stopping someone from doing something. As with any magick, finesse and subtlety must be employed. Binding someone from, say, causing you problems at work must be expressed in such a way that the individual actually stops doing harm, but is not harmed, themselves. Not getting canned. Not having their child get sick, so they have to stay home.

Some of the bindings and hexes I’ve mentioned are actually symptoms of borderline personality disorder. Being a psychopath. Not caring how you affect others. Which is just awful. It puts the witch who sent the curse on the level with someone who shoots a gun into a crowd.

Now for the political stuff: Okay, I do not like president Trump. I think he is senile, and not a nice person to begin with. I think many of his policies are whack. Anyway. During his first term, some Witches did a mass spell, a nationwide working, to bind and /or curse Trump. Their reasoning was fairly pure – they wanted him to not be able to harm anyone. However, their execution was pretty terrible. I find it not to be a coincidence that right after these Witches did their working to hex Trump, Covid-19 happened. Businesses were shut down, and many small businesses went under. The economy tanked. Thousands of people became homeless. The government was moribund. And, well, a million people died. Yes, Trump was stopped, and didn’t get reelected. But at what cost?

Then, Trump came back, and now is even worse. Wouldn’t it have been better to do a mass working for “the good of the country and all its people”??? Maybe add that Marian Weinstein caveat, “this working is to do no harm and be for the good of all”. Yeah.

Bindings can also stick a person / situation in the same place, rather then preventing them from doing further harm. So if you want the bully to stop hurting your kid, a binding might stick him in the same classroom, doing the same behavior. You want your spells to manifest for the best possible outcome, right? So be careful how you word them.
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