G is for God

Many of the witches that I have talked to over the years first came to wicca or witchcraft and totally ignored the God aspect of Deity in favor of the Goddess. She had been missing in their lives for so long that these seekers total focus was on learning more about Her.

Many stayed on a primarily Goddess path but for me, that path was imbalanced as well. And though I still aspect the Goddess far more than the God, I find the balance of God/dess in ritual is hard to beat. Herne, Lugh, Curnnunos, are the primary Gods that I have used in ritual. But there are many, many more.

 What aspects of the God do you use?

Blessings, MoD

Fehu

Paraphrased slightly from Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn.

The first of the Runes. Fehu appears as a stylized F. The traditional meaning is Cattle/wealth. More specifically to me, moveable wealth. Back in the day, when we were tribes and clans, the Chiefs wealth was measured in the amount of cattle he had. In Rune divination, Fehu is regarded as a persons ability to make or maintain wealth.

I highly recommend the above mentioned book for anyone that is interested in Runes. Freya Aswynn has spent a good part of her life learning and living with Runes and has thus become a (the) leading expert in all aspects of the runes, lore, magick, divination, you name it! (My opinion anyway).

Blessings, MoD

Ostara

Me and the grandbabe had a swell time with a little seat of our pants Ostara ritual today. We created sacred space together with her repeating the words after me. It was quite fun considering she will only be three at the end of this month. We thanked the Goddess Bried for a beautiful spring day and then we grounded with a chocolate crisp bunny and strawberry milk, or strawberries as Princess Evil calls it. If you are wandering if that was a miss-spelling, no, it was not. That little label was given to her, funnily enough, by the USPS. A friend sent a package to us when she was born, care of me of course, but addressed to Princess Evie. When the USPS transferred the info to the label, they addressed it to Princess Evil. She ofter lives up to her name, all in good fun of course. But what do you expect? She is the number one granddaughter of the Mother of Darkness...

Fun

I have found that, in my experience, wicca has been the first religion that did not turn a snobby nose up at having FUN! Of course, not every ritual or working is about fun. Some are truly serious and occasionally heart renching. But having a joyful experience is a big part of the spring and summer celebrations. For me, it balances me out. It allows our playful sides to come out. Weaving a mayday pole. Playing games, singing and making merry in the midst of celebrating the God and Goddess is a great way to connect to spirit. It is one of things that drew me to witchcraft as a child (yes, I have been on this path in one form or another all of this incarnation.) I love the serious side of the craft too, but after the coldness of winter, the joy of spring lets us give free reign to our inner child. Brightest Spring Blessings and Happy Ostara to you all!  MoD

Energy Part Deux

If you have been an art lover like me, or at the very least read any of Dan Browns books, you have probably looked up a few of the paintings that he has mentioned in his books. Of course, these paintings are all Christian in nature, so maybe not. Personally I love the art of the Renaissance. Michelangaelo, DaVinci, they saw something that most people nowadays do not. Auras.

Auras are the energy bodies that surround stuff. Organic stuff and inorganic stuff. Everything has an aura. When I was learning to see auras, I started with holding my hand up in front of a light off white colored wall. I had to focus on what I wanted to do; see auras, THEN I had to let my eyes de-focus. The easiest auric body to see is the one closest to the body and to me it looks like (and may very well be) heat rising. Similar to the heat mirages that you see coming off a hot summer road. It's clear and wavery. Easiest to see on organic objects.

With a whole lot of practice, I learned how to expand what I was seeing to colors. Reds, blues, and greens are the easiest for me to see. I am still learning and practicing when I think about it. It's easiest for me to see these when someone is standing or sitting perfectly still.

Have any of you had any experience with seeing auras? Any great techniques you would care to share?

Blessings, MoD

Energy

One of the greatest things that I ever learned, IMHO, is how to feel, see, and manipulate energy. Everything is made up of energy. The air we breath, our bodies, the table we sit at, the grass that grows, the force that makes it grow, EVERYTHING! I learned, early on, how to create energy balls and send them. It's been part of several different trainings that I have participated in. In my Massage Therapy class we did a weekend intensive on Reiki. Part of that training was concerned with feeling energy. During the weekend we spent some time making and throwing energy balls around. Someone was snapping pictures and in those pictures you can actually see the balls of energy in the room with us. AMAZING!

In the beginning, we were taught to rub our hands together. Feel the tingling sensation? It's created by heat and friction and it very much feels like the energy you manifest when creating energy balls.

Next, Hold your hands in a prayer position about and inch apart. Visualize a small white ball forming between your hands. Feel the energy. Be open to it. Practice this until it comes to you easily.

The next step involves creating the energy ball and then pulling your hands apart, visualize the ball getting larger and smaller. Feel the resistance of your hands pulling apart. Stretch the energy. When you are done, visualize dropping the energy into the ground and it being absorbed by Mother Earth.

When you are comfortable with that, move the energy away from you. Send it into a plant or a tree. Send it into yourself if you feel like you need a boost. Play with it and let me know your results. Have fun with it!

Blessings, MoD

Change

A little pearl of wisdom from the Wiccan clan that I am a part of with a heavy dose of paraphrasing "Everything she touches changes".

We change to grow and when we grow we change. In our group is it encouraged and expected for those that don't grow cannot facilitate growth in their future students. In order to grow you have to pull out all those shadows that are within yourself, examine them, learn from them, and then let them go. But don't think for a second that is a once and done job. Some of those shadows have been stuck in our personal closets for years. They have grown roots and have shaped the people that we have become. THOSE shadows may need to be peeled back, layer by layer, and it can often feel as if you are peeling back your own skin.

If you have those shadows (and believe me, I have never found anyone that didn't; in some form) you may need to seek counceling, either from your spiritual advisor or a professional licensed counselor.

Thats the toughest part of growth, and its a lifelong job. My facilitator calls those shadows Rats. And she was right. Those hidden rats will eat away at you, they will undermine you and they have to be dug out and exposed to the light. Once exposed, you will recognize them and eventually it will become easier to find them and you will become stronger for it.

I didn't start this to make growth sound like a scary prospect, occasionally it can be, but its worth it in the end.

Blessings, MoD

Being Human

A Spirit that wants to be seen and heard.
A Vampire that want to lead a normal life and atone for what he has done in the past.
A Werewolf that wants what he won't let himself have, a family.

They are drawn together by one commonality. All three want to Be Human. I quite like this show. Both the British and the American versions but I have to admit; the American version has much sexier actors and is easier on the eyes than the British. What does that make me? Human?

And what of their differences? The things that make them most human are their emotions. Something you rarely see in other species.

I have seen Spirits and I have sent my spirit body outside of myself on journeys. I know there are Vampires out there, self-proclaimed, psychic, et cetra. And I wouldn't be surprised to find a werewolf or two in my husbands family tree, if not a Vampire, they were from the old country.  And I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that people who are adept can send totem animals, wether mystical, mythical, or real as messengers in the ether. And that includes werewolves.

So does any of these things make me or anyone else something other than human? hmmm. maybe. But not really. Does it make someone who is adept special? Occasionally. The thing is, the characters in the show are human, they are human plus. They were made different, not by choice, but by circumstance, and that is the difference.

We have a choice to study and practice and to work HARD to become something more than 'just human'. We can discover the spiritual nature of ourselves and our world. And we have the ability (with practice) to control and direct our emotional energy to get the positive results we want, and not leave a bloody mess behind. And THAT my friends, is what Being Human is all about. 
Blessings, MoD

Affirmations

I learned how to write affirmations early on my path. Affirmations are an easy way to state an intent. Written as if the intent has already come to pass. They can work for anyone regardless of religious affiliation, race, gender or anything else! 

So what is an affirmation? A positive statement written or spoken as truth. Examples? I thought you would never ask.

Affirmation number one: I post topics weekly to my blog. hehe. Kinda lame I know but writing this as if it has already happened sets the intent that it will happen. 

Some of my earliest attempts focused on hearth and home such as; I am a great housekeeper. (I didn't put alot of heart in that one, my house is a disaster zone) but it is an ongoing process. I have attempted for the last three years to do the Release programs that Silver Ravenwolf posts on her blog. I usually start strong and give up half way through. I apparently don't mind living in a hoard.

Another, I am a wonderful patient mother. (I have 5 kids) This is an affirmation that I would repeat, occasionally hourly, more often every several minutes when the kids were young. 

The only way to really make an affirmation work for you is to repeat it often, write it on a post it note and put it where you will see it frequently. Meditate on it. And make it obtainable. Do not set your intentions so high right away so that you give up on it when it doesn't happen right away. It would be silly for me to affirm that I have won a million dollars in the lottery, especially if I can't afford to buy a ticket. It would be more reasonable for me to state that I have saved a thousand dollars this year THEN set about making sure that it happens and repeating that affirmation. And it would be even MORE reasonable for me to state, I put fifty dollars in savings every payday. In my mind a thousand dollars seems like alot of money, fifty dollars (although still alot of money) is a much more realistic sum for me to work with. And at the end of the year, when I have saved that fifty a payday, I will have more than a thousand dollars in the bank. 1200 dollars to be exact. 

Tips for affirmations. If your affirmation has to do with saving money, write it on a post it and affix it to your checkbook, put it where you carry your money, or wrap it around your debit/credit card. That will make you think of the affirmation every time you whip open that wallet to buy something. Eventually you will start thinking, do I really need a four dollar cup of coffee? 

Start small. Start with things that are easy to obtain, things that are easy to commit too and then work your way up from there. 

Write and perform a ritual or spell around your affirmation and it's intent. 

Create vision boards for things that you want to obtain. 

Finally have fun with them, keep then positive, and reap the rewards! 

For me? This week my affirmation is; I find the beauty in my hoard.

Blessings to you! MoD

Pagan Blogging

Will be blogging here weekly with a new Pagan Blogger project. Join me!