A Grove of Ashes and Aspens

  • Paganism and Gender: A Trans Man’s Perspective

    Now Playing: The Blackest of My Hearts by Elvenking While not necessarily a “common” concept, gender is something we see come up from time to time in various pagan circles, most prominently in Wicca, where there is a heavy focus on the masculine God and feminine Goddess duality. Before going further, I feel it important…

  • Individuality in the Pagan Experience

    Now Playing: Forest of Hope – Pikmin | Jazz Cover (insaneintherainmusic) Paganism as a religion is incredibly varied. Much of the reason for this, in my opinion, is because the word “pagan” as we use it today is an umbrella term for many distinct pre-Christian European religions, as well as the modern practice of these…

  • Polytheism in TTRPGs: How Well Is It Done?

    Now Playing: The Manifesto by Elvenking Within the realm of tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) such as Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder, we consistently find examples of deities and whole pantheons. Some of these pantheons are taken from real world mythologies and cultures, and others are entirely created for a given campaign by the game master,…

  • Dumb Laws In Canada

    Now Playing: The Last Saskatchewan Pirate by The Arrogant Worms If you really take the time to think about it, there are some pretty dumb laws and by-laws in places. People are weird and sometimes stupid, what else is new? Canada, as nice as we often are in the modern day, is no exception. We…

  • A Year of Metal

    Now Playing: Son of a Wolf by Powerwolf 2023 was a solid year for power metal. New albums from Elvenking, Twilight Force, Bloodbound, and Powerwolf (as well as a live album from Freedom Call), several EPs and singles from Sabaton, Rhapsody of Fire, and DragonForce, with album announcements set for next year from several of…

  • Artistic Worship: An Intersection of Music, Studies, and Paganism

    Now Playing: Rún by SKÁLD (Intimate Version) Paganism, especially in its modern, reconstructed form, is incredibly diverse, both in terms of the number of types of paganism and the differences between different kinds of people who practice the religion. How it’s practiced and the specific beliefs will differ from person to person. (Ask ten different…

  • To The Souls Of The Fallen

    Now Playing: In Flanders Fields by Sabaton Now, I think it’s no secret that I’m a military history nerd, or that I have a partner in the military. (No, I won’t tell you what unit. Please don’t ask. This is a strict boundary.) I also don’t try to hide the fact that while I would…

  • Wicca: What Is It? A Pagan Perspective

    Now Playing: Witches Gather by Elvenking So, you’ve stumbled across Wicca, paganism, and witchcraft. You’re curious, maybe because you want to practice, maybe because you have a more academic interest in it, maybe because you’re a fundamentalist Christian and want to discredit those pesky demonic heathens who are just mad at your god. (I don’t…

  • Interests and Composition Style: Should They Overlap?

    Content warning: Mentions of death, mental health, suicide, and war. Now Playing: The Time of Your Life by Elvenking A question that composers who are just starting out sometimes ask, and one that is very worth considering, is the question of how to make music, specifically what music one should make. This is an interesting…

  • Chance Encounters: People We Remember

    Now Playing: Forest of Destiny by Twilight Force So one thing that I think is interesting is that sometimes, we meet someone by chance and we remember them for years to come, even though we’ll probably never meet them again. These people may not have been anyone of any particular note, they may not have…