PaganPath.com

Cryptomnesia

As you travel your path you may discover a wonderful revelation, a grand idea, a connection of ideas you never made before. . . but then you discover that you aren't the first person to have this wonderful revelation. Perhaps it is due to cryptomnesia.

Cryptomnesia: inadvertent plagiarism or memory bias, whereby a person falsely recalls generating a thought, idea, song or joke when the thought was actually generated by someone else. . . the person is not deliberately engaging in plagiarism, but is rather experiencing a memory as if it were a new inspiration. See the Wikipedia entry for Cryptomnesia here.

But wait! What if you are feeling so connected with an author while you are reading that you feel as if their thoughts are your own. What if you have only read part of a book and your mind connects the ideas presented to reach the same conclusions as the author even though you haven't read the entire work? What if you are connected to the collective unconsciousness (see Wiki) and are, in a way, channeling the ideas from the greater whole? What if you are what Ken Keyes, Jr. would call the hundredth monkey? (see Wiki)

What do you think? Whenever you are on a great spiritual quest you will often encounter cryptomnesia. Add your thoughts on this subject to the PaganPath Forum!

Brewing Cosmetics With Alcohols?

Are you brewing up cosmetics at home? You don't have to avoid all the alcohols that are often given a bad rap. Many alcohols are not drying but are actually moisturizing for skin and hair. These are referred to as "fatty alcohols" because they are derived from natural fats and oils and are closely related to fatty acids such as Omega 3s. These fatty alcohols are actually emulsifying waxes.

You may notice fatty alcohols listed in the ingredients of some of your favorite moisturizers. Their amphipathic nature (they like both water and oil), along with their emollient action makes them ideally suited for making creams, lotions and conditioners.

One of the most commonly scapegoated fatty alcohols is cetyl alcohol, produced from vegetable oils such as coconut or palm (palmityl). This ingredient is a valuable component in many moisturizers. Other non-drying fatty alcohols are: palmityl, cetyl, oleyl, lauryl, cetearyl and stearyl.

Neopaganism Introduction

Part One: Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by pre-Christian pagan beliefs of Europe.

Neo-Pagan religious movements are extremely diverse, with beliefs that range widely from polytheism to animism, to pantheism and other paradigms. Many Neopagans practise a spirituality that is entirely modern in origin, while others attempt to accurately reconstruct or revive indigenous, ethnic religions as found in historical and folkloric sources.

The largest Neopagan movement is Wicca, though other significantly sized Neopagan faiths include Neo-druidism, Germanic Neopaganism, and Slavic Neopaganism.

Healthy Candles

You read and hear these comments all the time: Light a candle for me... Light a candle for this spell... Light a candle at each of the circle corners... But what does all this candle consumption do to us? What does it do to our environment? We have asked ourselves these questions many times over the years, and here are the research results.

Fire rituals are as old as fire, and candle burning is a beautiful continuation of this tradition. Most Pagans have no desire to quit burning candles, but at the same time many of us are concerned with the environmental and health impact of candle burning. Although most people are not that concerned about a few candles burned on special occasions, the average Pagan burns large numbers of candles on a regular basis.

Garden Harvest Bean Soup

Garden Harvest Bean Soup Do you have a lot of tomatos and peppers in the garden? Celebrate your harvest with this hearty soup that will warm your bones on chilly autumn evenings! I like to serve this in the small black dishes used in Mexican restaurants for salsa. They look like cauldrons and they help keep the serving sizes modest. This quick, easy recipe can be prepared in about 15 or 20 minutes.