Picky Pagan Store Review: Dragon Marsh

A while ago I was searching for a candle and herb shop in the Inland Empire. I came across Dragon Marsh's website on Google. Located in downtown Riverside, it is pretty easily accessible. I was not sure of what to expect when I first pulled up and parked outside. It is on the corner of a large building with a Mexican restaurant right next to it. It looks somewhat small from the outside, but do not let the appearance fool you. They have a relatively small selection of books for sale, but everything thing else witchy is in abundance. The most impressive part of this store is their selection of herbs, oils and perfumes. There is a professional herbalist on staff that is very knowledgeable about various medical and spiritual uses of everything available. They have an entire room devoted to this subject with hundreds of herbs and oils available, most of which are made by the proprietors themselves. They also have a large supply of any tools you might need for your rituals. Another cool aspect of this shop is that they have many fabrics and items that any ren-faire attendee would be happy to stumble upon. The few times that I have been inside, the staff has been extremely helpful and friendly. You will not encounter any pushy sales tactics or items offered that have nothing to do with what you are looking for. Overall I think this probably the best candle and herb shop that I have been to in southern California. I highly recommend stopping by here if you are looking for something or just want to browse for fun.

Rating: 4.5 broomsticks out of 5

Dian Cecht

Pronounced "Dye-in-ket", he is a Celtic god of healers and physicians. Dian Cecht was known to have been at several famous battles, presiding over the Tuatha De Danann. His approaches were surgical in nature. One story tells of him fitting a prosthetic silver arm for the King Nuada (his brother) after having had it chopped off in battle. He has several children, one of which was Miach, who was also a healer but focused more on herbs and direct-touch healing. Miach was in rivalry with Dian Cecht. After Dian Cecht had attached the silver arm, Miach used herbs to restore Nuada real hand. Legend has it that Dian Cecht stuck Miach on the head with his sword three times, and each time Miach was able to heal himself. On the fourth strike Dian Cecht cleaved Miach's head in two and killed him. I find this story particularly interesting as a possible metaphor for modern time's struggle between allopathic medicine and naturopathic medicine. Dian Cecht is a god of healing, medicine, regeneration, magic and silver-working. 

Danu - Celtic Mother Godess

Danu is the mother of the tribe of beings known as Tuatha De Nanann, that reside in the realm of Tir Na nOg. Danu's Consort was Bile (the god of death), and their child was Dagda, who became the Chief of the Tuatha De Nanann. There are many different names and pronunciations of Danu depending on which part of the British Isles you refer to and Irish mythology knows Danu as Anu and Bilé as Belenos. Danu is revered as a Gaia-type figure and is often associated with water. The Danube river is reported to be named for her. Being the mother-goddess figure of the Celtic people, she is worshiped by them as a protector, fertility figure, and provider of abundance, wind and wisdom.