Media Astra Ac Terra Episode 31 is now available! This episode is all about answering your questions. From which astrological sign to call your own, through avoiding toxic minerals, to when you can call yourself a witch, we take a wild ride through a number of different topics in this episode. And one lucky listener/questioner wins a prize!
The question in the Astra segment was a followup to Episode 28, which was about the effect of precession on the Zodiac, and whether your Sun sign is still really your Sun sign. 
If you haven’t listened to that one yet, it gives a lot more information than my summary here.
In the Terra segment, I promised a link to a list of potentially toxic minerals and stones that you don’t want to add to elixirs or drinking water. This article on the Witch School website is the best summary I’ve found so far – but again, better safe than sorry when it comes to things you put into your body.
Also in the Terra segment, I mentioned the Borealis Meditation podcast, with our friend Kathleen at the helm. If you can’t get enough of minerals and geology, give her show a listen!
In the main show, I mentioned a book I’ve brought up several times in the past: Freedom is a Two-Edged Sword, by John Whiteside (Jack) Parsons. It really is an awesome little book that has been very influential on my thinking.
During the break, I played promos for Pennies in the Well and Iron Powaqa Radio. And at the end of the show, I announced my new Etsy shop; again, if there is a particular astrological symbol you would like to see sooner rather than later, let me know and I’ll make sure I get to it asap. I also mentioned my planned visit to Salem in September for the Pagan Podkin Super Moot! I’m looking forward to meeting podcasters and listeners alike – let me know if you’re going to be there, too!
If you have any questions or comments about the show, you can email me, or send a message via Facebook or Twitter.
Thanks for listening!
- Oraia Sphinx
April 29, 2011 at 12:03 am
Loved the episode. Got me thinking on the mainstreaming question. One thing I find interesting, or an opinion I have is another way to put it, that Wicca has already mainstreamed within the pagan community. It is the most known, the most familiar of the pagan paths and the one most often popularized in media.
This has resulted in Wicca frequently being a stepping stone into paganism and other pagan paths. At least, this is my experience. Soemtimes i feel that the result of all of this familiarity and a side effect of being the ‘easiest’ path into paganism has been to dilute some of what Wicca is, and to possibly create a form of contempt (though that is too strong a word) born of familiarity. ‘oh, it’s just wicca, i’ve moved beyond that, etc.’
But to me, that is Wicca Lite. Going deep into Wicca and Witchcraft still has that magical, mystical, mysterious quality. It is now strangely even more hidden than it was before, curtained by assumptions of the ‘easy version’ of Wicca that I sometimes see people talk about, and presume that that is all that wicca offers. Trick and problem is, going deep takes freakin’ work and that is not for the masses, even the smaller group of pagan masses.
And that is my concern of mainstreaming (that the only way to mainstream is to rob paganism of its depths) and also my belief that mainstreaming will fail. I do feel some sadness for the difference for how wicca is perceived now compared to over twenty years ago. But its core essence is now almost hidden in plain sight, which is a different type of Mystery than years ago, but still a veil to be overcome nonetheless.
Wow, look at me all opiniony today.
April 30, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Thanks for that, Saturn – those are really great points. I do know what you mean about the “mainstreaming” of Wicca within the larger umbrella of Paganism, and about that sense of disdain it creates. Not sure I can add much to your observations just yet, but I’d like to read your comment in the next episode, and maybe I’ll have something to say about it then.
May 1, 2011 at 8:44 pm
sure, feel free