Angela Raincatcher | Nine Ravens Studio

with a strong and open heart

Death: the great adventure! No refunds

I woke up from a dream this morning in which I was visited by a young woman and her family to talk about the death of her husband and to plan a memorial service for him. The woman primarily needed someone to listen to her as she worked through her emotions surrounding his death and [...]

The Sea

I belong here and nowhere and everywhere
I am the sea that rises up and takes back
Sides are being taken and lines are being drawn
I wash over opposing armies indiscrimately
I am the sea that rises up and takes back
Hate and love, right and wrong, life and death
These mean nothing to me
I am the sea that rises [...]

Prayer to Hanuman

Om Shri Hanumate Namah
Greetings to you, Lord Hanuman!
You are the Remover of Distress.
You are the Lord of the Senses.
You are an ardent listener, always so keen to listen.
You are a Great Warrior, capable of supporting all.
You are the sentry at the door of the Divine Abode.
Swift as thought and powerful as the wind are you, [...]

Divine Nature/Nature of the Divine

Thoughts spurred by a a tsunami and cyber-citizens across the globe
On December 28, 2004, the Guardian, a British newspaper, ran an essay by Martin Kettle asking how can a religious people explain the deaths of thousands caused by a natural disaster. In his article Kettle mused on the difference between the explanations given by [...]

Homage to the River Anahnanah

The river for herself
The river as herself
without human reference
without outward justification
her purpose known to herself
her path known to many
The river is a boundary impossible to cross without sacrifice.
The river is a fount of bounty for those who ask.
The river is a road to the underworld.
The river is a goddess of birth and death.
The river [...]

Death is a healing

Death is a healing
torn and tired
spirit stretched impossibly
over worn, fragile
flesh
tears shed and wounds
scarcely healed
white scars; red eyes
smells that live forever
scents no one else notices
pungent in the pinched room
electronic bleeps keep
time with the labored heart
a torturous tarantella
a ghost fist loosens its grip
death is a healing
not a failure

When Ethics Collide

The first thing you learn in the Pagan community is that nothing is ever straightforward or, gods forbid, easy. After learning the maxims “Question everything” and “Create your own reality,” you begin to wonder where this creating and questioning will eventually lead.
Take the subject of ethics. Many folks, especially those within Wiccan traditions, will likely [...]

Macha’s Curse

Weary of the screams that filled her ears,
Tired of cleaning the blood from her fingernails,
Her acorns turning to ash in her pointed beak,
Macha turns away from the battle
And her sisters
In search for the normal life of home and family.
Loving his children was easy.
Tending the farm a joy.
Laying with him in the night,
She almost felt safe.
Macha [...]

Another Drowning Man

Another drowning man
finds his way upon my shore.
Another wounded soul
kicked in the teeth by the gods,
bad luck and some Siren…
I taste the bile of knowing
my recurring role in the story,
the suspicious beginning,
the sweet middle, and
oh yes, the bitter end…
I am not doing this again.
My compassion has run out.
My heart is a seeping patchwork,
the work of [...]

Review of Pagan Theology

Dr. Michael York. Pagan Theology: Paganism as World Religion. New York: New York University Press, 2003.
Up front I should say that I have a love-hate relationship with academia.
I love the exciting ideas that can come from a thoughtful, rigorous analysis and synthesis of a subject. I abhor the laborious, arid writing style that obfuscates even [...]

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