There will be no Calendar of the Moon today. I can’t tell you why but it is just one of those things (more like shock). While I have your attention, I ran across some funny resolutions for the next year. I will posting them throughout the morning. I hope you enjoy them and get a tickle out of them.
Luv & Hugs,
Lady A
31 Yulmonath
Hogmanay
Color: Brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a brown cloth set symbols of all the projects around the house that need to be finished, as well as a bottle of wine or beer and cups.
Offerings: Cleaning and finishing projects.
Daily Meal: Leftovers.
Hogmanay Invocation
We stand at the turning of the year,
In the place predicted by the Fates.
We are here because this time, this place
Is where we were destined to be,
Though we never knew before this moment,
We could not have seen this time and place.
Yet here we are, standing together with each other,
Hand to hand, soul to soul, with open eyes.
Yet well we know that nothing lasts forever,
And things well begun should not be left half done.
So it is that we shall take up the tools
And finish those things left undone,
Tying up the strings of our existence
Before the turning of the New Year
And the coming of the Fates yet again.
Hail to the Fates! We await your day,
And the next year, to see what it may bring.
(Each goes forth and takes up the symbol of some thing that is yet undone around the House, and declares that they will do it, and what it will mean for them to complete that task. Then the wine is shared around, a toast is made to the new year, and the rest is poured out as a libation.)
This is a time to rest, reevaluate and reflect, pulling back into yourself to reconnect with inner sources of strength. Now is not a time to initiate anything new. It’s a phase suited to spending time with friends and getting in touch with the “big picture.” A window of opportunity exists for seeing your life objectively and becoming aware of what is important to you. At this point, what are your dreams and aspirations? What larger goals can you aspire to that will bring vitality and excitement into your life? This is a time for resting and gaining inner strength to prepare for a new cycle.
When winter rolls around, in some parts of the world there is an abundance of wonderful white stuff – snow! If you live in one of those areas, it makes sense to take advantage of snow’s natural properties and work those energies into your magical endeavors. Think about, for starters, some of snow’s physical characteristics. The most obvious one is that it’s cold. It’s also white. Sometimes it’s light and powdery, other times it may be heavy and wet. How can you incorporate these into your magical workings?
If you’re a fan of candles, make ice candles – they’re are a lot of fun and easy to make during the winter months. .
Build a snowman as a very large magickal poppet. Assign a snowman the magical task of being a guardian at the entrance to your property.
Got a bad habit you need to get rid of? Form that bad habit into snowballs, and throw them as far away from you as you can.
Snow quartz crystals are often associated with fulfillment of hopes and dreams. Use actual snow instead of crystals in workings related to wishes and goals.
If someone is bothering you and won’t leave you alone, try this simple bit of magic. Write their name on a slip of paper, and pack it in snow in a zip-loc bag. Place the bag in your freezer, and leave it there until the person “chills out.”
Go for a walk in the woods on a day that it’s snowing. Enjoy the silence, and the magic of the snowfall – some people report that they have experienced messages from the Divine as they walk on a snowy day. Perhaps it’s because we’re better able to hear the gods when it’s quiet!
Peppermint is a prolific plant, often spreading beyond its intended borders. In Pliny’s writings, he mentions that the Greeks and Romans decorated their feasting tables with sprigs of peppermint, and in fact flavored many of their foods with it. Dioscorides, the Greek physician, notes that it had medicinal properties, when its oil was extracted and used to treat spasms and disorders of the digestive system. Peppermint may have been cultivated by the ancient Egyptians as well. It appears in the Icelandic Pharmacopoeias around 1240 C.E., and eventually was accepted for use in western Europe around the mid-1700s.
During the Middle Ages, monks — who were known for their herbal wisdom — used peppermint leaves to polish their teeth. Around the same time, cheesemakers figured out that mint leaves sprinkled around cheese piles would keep the rats out of the storeroom.
Peppermint is a natural stimulant, and in Back to Eden, Jethro Kloss says it should be in every garden. He says Peppermint is “an excellent remedy for chills, colic, fevers, dysentery, cholera heart trouble, palpitation of the heart, influenza, la grippe and hysteria.” It also works nicely as a toning astringent, and peppermint applied to the skin provides a nice refreshing feeling (try a peppermint foot bath at the end of a long day at work!).
Peppermint, like other members of the mint family, is found often in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking. Use it to season lamb, curry, couscous, or your favorite vegetables.
Magically speaking, peppermint is often used in healing and . It can be burned or rubbed against objects to clear them of negative energies, or consumed as an elixir or tea to bring about healing. Pliny also noted that peppermint “excites the emotion of love”; add it to bring passion your way.
Other Names: Lammint, Brandy mint
Gender: Masculine
Element: Fire
Planetary Connection: Mercury
Deity Connection: Pluto
You can make a tasty peppermint tea in the same way people make sun tea: Gather up about two cups of fresh peppermint leaves, and place them in a gallon of water. Allow the tea to steep outside in the sun until fully blended. Add a bit of stevia to sweeten it for drinking, or use the mint tea as a refreshing cleanser in the bath.
In Celtic mythology, the Morrighan is known as a goddess of battle and war. However, there’s a bit more to her than this. Also referred to as Morrígu, Morríghan, or Mor-Ríoghain, she is called the “washer at the ford,” because if a warrior saw her washing his armor in the stream, it meant he was to die that day. She is the goddess who determines whether or not you walk off the field of battle, or are carried off upon your shield. In later Irish folklore, this role would be delegated to the bain sidhe, who foresaw the death of members of a specific family or clan.
The Morrighan often appears in the form of a crow or raven, or is seen accompanied by a group of them. In the stories of the Ulster cycle, she is shown as a cow and a wolf as well. The connection with these two animals suggest that in some areas, she may have been connected to fertility and land.
In some legends, the Morrighan is considered a triune, or triple goddess, but there are a lot of inconsistencies to this. She often appears as a sister to the Badb and Macha. In some Neopagan traditions, she is portrayed in her role as destroyer, representing the Crone Aspect of the Maiden/Mother/Crone cycle, but this seems to be incorrect when one looks at her original Irish history. Some scholars point out that war specifically is not a primary aspect of the Morrighan, and that her connection to cattle presents her as a goddess of sovereignty. The theory is that she can be seen as a deity who guides or protects a king.
In modern literature, there has been some linking of the Morrighan to the character of Morgan Le Fay in the Arthurian legend. It appears, though, that this is more fanciful thinking than anything else. Although Morgan le Fay appears in the Vita Merlini in the twelfth century, a narrative of the life of Merlin by Geoffrey of Monmouth, it’s unlikely that there’s a connection to the Morrighan. Scholars point out that the name “Morgan” is Welsh, and derived from root words connected to the sea. “Morrighan” is Irish, and is rooted in words that are associated with “terror” or “greatness.” In other words, the names sound similar, but the relationship ends there.
There’s an excellent page with plenty of scholarly information on the Morrighan from Reverend Gwynarion Elessacar at http://www.elessacar.com/the_morrighan.php.
Though the whole idea of doing resolutions for New Year is not a Pagan tradition at all, that doesn’t mean we don’t all try to manage few each year. So why not try some Pagan New Year’s resolutions this time?
Attend a Festival
This is a particularly important resolution if you are typically a solitary type of Pagan who doesn’t get to be social in their path very often. Do a little research and find a good Pagan festival that is taking place close enough to where you live and make plans to go. It could be a 1-day gathering or a week-long extravaganza. If you have never gone to a Pagan festival, you might want to try a shorter one to get your feet wet. Gatherings that take a few days usually mean you’ll be doing some camping. These are great for meeting new people and doing some networking in the larger community.
Make a New Altar Tool
Unless you already have an altar full of wonderful home-made goodies, you should try to make at least one new tool for yourself this year. That doesn’t mean you have to master blacksmithing so you can create a metal-worked athame or buy a kiln to craft a ceramic goblet. Use what crafty skills you have and use some basic supplies to create something new. Wands are actually quite easy, and candle-making supplies are common enough in craft stores. Decorate a notebook for a new Book of Shadows or go an extra mile to design a personalized Tarot deck. Work with what you have and make creative magick.
Explore a New Path
Now this doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with your current path or that you have to change your beliefs in any way. But it never hurts to branch out or to see things in a new way occasionally. Do a little study into a path that is different from yours and see what’s different. Read some books or websites, or even try to take part in a meeting, circle or other gathering if you can find a local group. Of course, make arrangements before you just show up so they know why you’re there. You certainly don’t have to change anything about your own practice but this branching out can help breathe some fresh air into your own beliefs.
Make some Deity Time
This may not apply to everyone, depending on your current practice and understanding of the Divine. But many people are so busy these days that quiet time with a God or Goddess can easily be overlooked. It doesn’t have to be daily (though that would be nice), but you should be able to find some time each week for some kind of spiritual pursuits. Meditation or ritual should do just fine.
Non-Pagan Ideas
Well, these are kind of Pagan and I thought they would round out my list nicely. You can make a tribute to Mother Earth by spending some time outdoors helping to pick up litter or trash, or you could find a cause that fits your Pagan ideals and do some other types of volunteering (maybe an animal shelter). It doesn’t have to be a local cause either. Get involved with some online activism to help promote ideas you are passionate about.
There are some ideas to get you started. You don’t have to do all of them, but maybe one or two will peak your interest for the upcoming year.
Ezine Articles
Author: By Terri Paajanen, About.com
You will need a helium-filled balloon for each participant, string, and a small square of paper. Each balloon chosen should be a color that reflects the individual’s desire (see the following chart below).
Red: Courage, strength, and power
Gree: Money, luck, and personal goals
Pink: Friendship and love
Orange: Attaction and action
Blue: Creativity and peace
Black: Protection and release
Yellow: Selling and communication
White: Spiritual and psychic awareness
Ten minutes before the hour of midnight, each person writes a wish on a small square of paper. Using the string, attach the paper to the balloon. At the stroke of midnight, each participant chants the following and then releases a balloon:
“Float now free, Bring to me, What I wish. So Mote It Be!”
Once the balloon has been released, it is best not to dwell on the wish but to let it go so that it will manifest.
The New Year has always been looked to with great anticipation and celebration. In the past, New Year’s festivities were supposed to ward off the barrenness of Winter and insure the fertility of Spring
The end of December ushers in the New Year, a time of anticipation and celebration. For our pre-Christian ancestors, most of the New Year’s festivities were designed to ward off the barrenness of Winter and insure the fertility of Spring. This was accomplished with the actual or symbolic killing of the king of the old year and the welcoming of a new king—a metaphor still dramatized in the popular British mumming play.
It was during the 19th century, when the hustle of the Christmas Day celebrations were over and the new year was fast approaching, that the mummers took to the streets, pubs, and private homes to act our their plays. Masked and costumed, they portrayed three different themes: the Hero-Combat of St. George, the “Sword Dance,” and the Plough or Wooing play. Of the three, the Hero-Combat was the most favored.
The central part of the play begins with the Hero fighting an opposing champion or, occasionally a whole succession of enemies—the Black Prince, the Turkish Knight, or the Bold Slasher. After a spirited battle, in most but not all cases, the villain is slain. Suddenly a doctor appears, who boast lengthily (with a great deal of buffoonery) of his skill and travels, after which the dead man suddenly regenerates. Once the mummers have been paid, they journey to their next performance.
It might not be as well know as Christmas or New Year’s Eve, but Hogmanay is still celebrated in parts of England and Scotland. Although the word Hogmanay has never been satisfactorily established, it very well may come from the Anglo-Saxon Haleg Monath (Holy Month) or from the giant Gogmagog or Hogmagog, guardians of the cities of London and Plymouth. For the most part, Hogmanay is met with massive enthusiasm. Parties are held, people ring bells, fireworks are set off, and everyone makes a conscious effort to make a clean break with the past by making New Year’s resolutions.
Scotland has always made more of Hogmanay than England and still has a variety of customs associated with the holiday. Some of these include divination, of which Bibliomancy is the most popular. The Family Bible is prayed over, and then the person Seeking his or her future will open the Bible at random. Without looking, a verse is marked with the index finger and then read. Whatever the verse discusses will be the person’s fortune for the year. Another popular custom is to open the back door of the home and then close it just before midnight to let out all of the bad luck. At the stroke of midnight, the front door is then opened to let in the good luck. Finally, Hogmanay is a favored time for predicting the weather by observing the direction of the wind with this old Scots rhyme:
“If New Year’s Eve night-wind blow south, That betokens warmths and growth. If west, much milk, and fish in the sea, If north, much cold and storms will be. If east, the trees will bear much fruit, If north-east, flee it, man and brute.”
Archangel: Samael
Candle colour: Red
Incenses: Dragon’s blood or cinnamon
Crystals: Jasper or garnet
Use Tuesdays for spells for courage, change, independence in home or business life, for overcoming seemingly impossible odds and for passion.
Where possible, work near a fire or a bonfire or with a huge red beeswax candle as a focus; alternatively work next to a flowerbed or large vase of red, orange and/or yellow flowers.
Magickal Intentions: Courage, Physical Strength, Revenge, Military Honors, Surgery and the Breaking of Negative Spells, Matrimony, War, Enemies, Prison, Vitality and Assertiveness
Incense: Dragon’s Blood, Patchouli
Planet: Mars
Sign: Aries and Scorpio
Angel: Samuel
Colors: Red and Orange
Herbs/Plants:Red Rose, Cock’s Comb, Pine, Daisy, Thyme and Pepper
Stones: Carnelian, Bloodstone, Ruby, Garnet and Pink Tourmaline
Oil: (Mars) Basil, Coriander, Ginger
Mars rules Tuesday. The energies of this day best harmonize with efforts of masculine vibration, such as conflict, physical endurance and strength, lust, hunting, sports, and all types of competition. Use them, too, for rituals involving surgical procedures or political ventures
Tuesday (Mars): Passion, sex, courage, aggression and protection.
Waning Moon
The Waning Moon is a time for study, meditation, and little magickal work (except magick designed to banish harmful energies).
Moon Sign: Sagittarius
Sagittarius: Encourages flights of imagination and confidence. This is an adventurous, philosophical, and athletic Moon sign. Favors expansion and growth.
Moon Phase: Fourth Quarter
Moon enters Capricorn 1:01 pm
Capricorn: Develops strong structure. Focus on traditions, responsibilties, and obligations. A good time to set boundaries and rules.
Incense: Ginger
Color: Ivory
My Happy New Year wish for you
Is for your best year yet, A year where life is peaceful,
And what you want, you get.
A year in which you cherish
The past year’s memories,
And live your life each new day,
Full of bright expectancies.
I wish for you a holiday
With happiness galore;
And when it’s done, I wish you
Happy New Year, and many more.
By Joanna Fuchs
‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Henry David Thoreau, whose cry was “Simplify! Simplify!” went to great measures to prove to himself, and perhaps to society, that life could be lived in the most simple manner and at the least expense. With only a few dollars he managed to provide for himself the things of absolute necessity for quite a long period of time.
Not many of us would care to exist on the absolute necessities. We have become too much accustomed to easier living. Things that were once thought of as luxuries are now considered necessities. And yet, with all of this, life is anything but simple. We seem to have the ability to complicate the best laid plans and find ourselves shadow boxing.
Like many of the trite old adages, “Life is what we make it,” is so true. By our own minds we accept or reject, by ignoring or by searching out the causes of shadows and removing the cause. It is whatever we elect to do about our individual lives that makes the difference. But we shall make great strides when we recognize the supreme excellence in all things of simplicity.
We don’t need to worry about doing without the necessary things in life – if we have a grateful heart. A grateful heart is not just remembering to write a few words to someone who has done a kindness, or saying thank you graciously and at the right moment. A grateful heart is the feeling of great blessings which precedes that thank you note and that verbal expression.
A grateful heart is one that always knows the fullness of that rich feeling of first being grateful without cause. And then, all other gratitude and its expression comes naturally.
Perhaps true gratitude is a grateful though toward heaven that I should be chosen to fill this spot, do this work, and have been given the strength to do it.
It was Romaine, the English theologian, who said, “Gratitude to God makes even a temporal blessing a taste of heaven.” We can have so much more heaven with a grateful heart.
________________________
Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.
Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones……and also for those who don’t have access to the Internet: http://www.hifler.com
Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com
Elder’s Meditation of the Day
By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org
Elder’s Meditation of the Day – December 30
“Always remember that the Great Mystery is good; evil can come only from ourselves!”
–Grandmother of Charles Eastman. SANTEE SIOUX
The Great Mystery is love, good and principle. He is a guiding Father. He doesn’t play games. He knows only how to love. Sometimes, when things go wrong, we blame Him or others. Usually, if we are honest, we can see how decisions or things done in the past put us in a position to be hurt. It comes back to us. When this happens, it is not something the Creator caused, but something we, ourselves caused. Most of our problems are of our own making. When this happens, we should correct what we’ve done, ask the Great Spirit for forgiveness and pray for guidance in the future.
My Creator, bless me with Your good.
December 30 – Daily Feast
We move now toward a new year. It gives reason to think who we are and what we are about. Do we reach eagerly toward the future or does it frighten us with its weapons and voices and anger? Think long and hard about this, for it reveals your state of existence. A person cannot go on thinking “someday” and change anything. But to say that this day is the day to make changes and to bring one’s own personal spirit into alignment, that is an accomplishment. Some feel they are not good enough to be any different. But what they don’t realize is that making the effort to change makes them good enough. A person can’t get there until he takes an action.
~ Some of our people have gone from here in order that they may have a change. ~
SPOTTED TAIL – SIOUX
‘A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II’ by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Start where you are, and do what you can. Make use of what you have, in the time available to you, and there’s much you can get done.
Don’t waste your time waiting for conditions to be perfect, for they will never be. Go ahead, with things as they are, and begin making real progress.
The place to aim is as high as you can imagine. Yet the place to start is right where you are.
Let go of any concerns about not having enough time, or money, resources or anything else. Focus instead on the great value and potential of what you do have and of what you can do right now.
See the real treasure that exists in your opportunity and ability to make good, effective use of this moment. Claim that treasure by going ahead and putting forth your very best effort.
Today is your day to achieve and to make your world a better place. Start where you are, and get yourself solidly on the way to wherever you wish to be.
— Ralph Marston
Understanding All Sides
Whenever we examine our lives, we examine them from a particular side or angle. Most of us tend to favor one side over the others. For example, we may tend to look at things from an emotional perspective rather than a financial perspective, or we may prefer to think in terms of details rather than the big picture, or vice versa. To a certain degree, this is not a problem, and these tendencies add color to our individual personalities. However, they can also make us one-sided, blind to the many other ways of looking at our situation. Even if we have decided that we are most happy when we focus on one particular side of things, it is always worth exploring the other sides. When we do, we become well rounded, more understanding of other viewpoints, and even more solid in our own.
Perhaps you are a person who tends to see your life in terms of your spiritual well-being. As a result, other concerns such as financial comfort or social standing may not be prominent in your mind as you make decisions. However, taking just a moment to consider those angles will help you in several ways. One, it will enable you to see more clearly what your priorities are and how they influence your life situation. Two, it will enhance your sense of confidence, because you will see your situation from all sides, even as you choose one. And three, it will help you communicate with others about who you are and what you are doing, because you will come from a place of understanding that your own biases and tendencies are unique as are theirs.
Most of us instinctively come at things from a particular angle, and in many cases this is the right way for us. Still, understanding the other angles only strengthens us. When we look at our lives from all sides, we shed light on the big picture, giving ourselves access to many points of view and highlighting more clearly the one we have chosen to take.
What Does It Mean To Be A Pagan In Today’s World?
Author: Brid’s Closet
What does it mean to be a Pagan in today’s world?
I was sitting by my desk, thinking about topics for classes at my store. Many topics come to mind, but nothing seemed to “jump” out at me. I brought up this subject to a good friend of mine (who is not pagan), and she brought up this topic.
What does it mean to be Pagan? A “card carrying” PAGAN?
Many people are still very quiet about their choices in life, even to how they practice their religion or their form of spirituality. Many friends of mine are still in the “closet” about being a Pagan or being Wiccan. That is their choice, but not mine. I have the wonderful opportunity to be open about whatever it is that I do because I own my own business.
My sons also have choice as far as to what they believe. My oldest was degreed by me, because that was his choice, and I am proud of him because of that. My middle son considers himself to be agnostic (like his dad), but still is always looking. My youngest is still not sure as of yet. He takes in a lot, asks a lot of questions and is processing what he receives. They are fine young men, all of whom I am fiercely protective and proud of.
Some keywords that come into my mind are “love, strength, happiness, comfort, inner confidence empowerment, and honor”. Being a Pagan has helped to see that I have the ability to make a change in my own life, whether it is on a magical level or a mundane one.
A lot of people come into my store asking very similar questions, but what I do most of the time is to explain what I am not:
I am not a Satanist (the term “Satan” doesn’t exist in the pagan world.)
I don’t work or believe in the devil.
I don’t walk around in black clothes all the time (though it is fun sometimes!)
I don’t sacrifice animals…or use them in any rituals (my dog does like to run in and out of circle sometimes!)
I don’t bash other Pagan traditions.
I am not evil, nor is my spirituality evil.
I don’t run round naked, except in the privacy of my own room (maybe!)
I don’t have sex with others in ritual.
I don’t insult or blast other religions. People have done that for far too long in history to Pagans. I won’t do that to others!
Nope…don’t do the orgy thingy either!
What I do….hmmm…
I do honor Mother Earth. I see the earth as a living and breathing organism.
I do believe that all animals have a soul, and should be treated and loved as we expect to be loved ourselves.
I do try to live as “chemical free” as possible. This means that no chemicals or bug killers are applied to my lawn. 2 of my animals eat the grass on my lawn if the weather permits. No bleached flour, raw sugar, recycled paper. A friend of mine raises organically raised chickens, so I have organic eggs!
I keep as many trees as possible on the land that I am blessed to live on. Trees block the sun and keep your home cooler!
I do honor other people’s religions and their chosen paths.
I go love the Goddess and the God, as I would honor my own parents.
I try to use cosmetic products that are cruelty free.
I do try to grow my own herbs and vegetables when possible.
I recycle my paper, bottles, plastic and cans.
I do a full moon ritual once a month and celebrate the 8 holidays in the wheel of the year.
I guess I could just go on and on!
Once, a person came in and asked me why I was insulting myself by using the words “HEATHEN”, “PAGAN”, and “WITCH” to describe myself! In his teachings, he was taught that these words were an insult. He was shocked that I was proud of these terms!
The word “PAGAN” actually means “country dweller” or “civilian” or “peasant”.
1: Definition: Refers to any of the pre-Christian, (usually) polytheistic religions, or those who practice them. Wicca is one Pagan religion, as is Asatru, Santeria, Voodoo, or Shamanism.
The term “HEATHEN” is old English for Germanic paganism.
2: Definition: Among non-Pagans, the term ‘heathen’ just means anyone who is non-Christian. But Pagans use the term to refer specifically to those who follow a Norse or Germanic path.
A WITCH was known as a “wise” person, an herbalist, a midwife or a medicine person. (I’m an Alexandrian Witch!)
3: Definition: A witch is someone who practices witchcraft (either male or female), regardless of their religious standing. Not necessarily the same thing as a Wiccan (someone who follows the religion of Wicca)
These are words that I have come to embrace and be proud of. These words open up conversation and dialog, so that others will learn, understand and appreciate. Sometimes people appreciate the information that is given, other times, they don’t.
As a Pagan, I’ve raised 3 fantastic sons, have a “metaphysical” store that I share with my best friend, counsel people, rehabilitate birds, rescued a dog, a chinchilla and a bunny (who think they own my home!), teach classes, train special needs people (personal training) and in love with the most remarkable man.
What does it mean to be a “PAGAN”?
It means being a mom, a lover, a caregiver, councilor, herbalist, a cook, storeowner, and a woman dealing with today’s modern world who practices a very old way of worship.
Bernadette Montana is a very eclectic 3rd degree Alexandrian Priestess, a pipe carrier in the Sun Bear Native American Tribe, professional Tarot reader, a mom to 3 sons, one dog, 2 parrots, a bunny and a chinchilla and owns a metaphysical store named Brid’s Closet in Orange County, New York. Bernadette@bridscloset.com
Thanks to Terri Paajanen who posted the definitions of Pagan, Heathen, and Witch on the About website!
___________________________________
Footnotes:
Terri Paajanen who posted the definitions of PAGAN, HEATHEN, and WITCH on the About website!
Witch for Sale!
Author: Hecatian Nights
Sure go ahead and laugh, but just you wait – you may have never been in MY shoes. So what puts me here trying to market myself off to the first bidder that would have me? I, Hecatian Nights, am looking for a coven to call home. That’s right – I’m searching for my very first coven.
I live in Alaska, in my opinion the most beautiful state in our marvelous country, complete with unimaginable mountain terrain, more lakes than Minnesota, just about any kind of animal you could ask for, forests galore and last but not least Santa and the North Pole. Tell me, can any other state compete with Santa? I think not!
According to Witchvox there are about eight covens here. None of which are located in my city, which just so happens to be the largest city in all of Alaska. What sense does that make? Well maybe more than I am willing to admit. After all most Pagans I’ve read of prefer to live in nature, and we sure have it up here.
I have been studying Wicca and Paganism for a little over seven years; granted that makes me quite young when I started and sure I will admit that I only seriously began studying and practicing four years ago. But the attraction between the Craft and me was instant. I fell in love with Wicca; it was something that was so different than what I had grown up with, in my church and in the Catholic school that I had attended. I threw myself into the Craft and soaked up all the knowledge that was lent to me though the books that I read.
Throughout my years I never met another serious Witch, I never talked to anyone that was a member of a “real” coven, and as the years went by I began to feel more and more alone. A feeling of loneliness and a paradoxical sense of belonging are things that I believe go hand in hand with being a Wiccan teen. You feel connected to a Pagan consciousness so alive and vibrant, but at the same time you feel utterly alone and shunned the community.
For a few years I knew a girl who also had an interest in Wicca; we practiced together and even did a ritual on the beach once. It was magical – to me anyway. We re-created a scene between the fighting Brothers, sang a song to the one that had fallen, and afterwards we ate and watched the sun set on the Sleeping Lady Mountain across the inlet. I always thought that every year we could come back on Summer Solstice and do it again. But dreams sometimes fade and old friends can change. We never went back to the beach again.
Though my friend’s interest waned and our friendship failed, my interest in the Craft only grew stronger. I was fine with being alone; I enjoyed it, and I felt special and was content. But as time went on I realized that I wasn’t as content as I once was. I found my solitary state warring on me and I began to understand that I wasn’t meant to be alone. I began to search for others out there. I even met a few people but nothing really panned out. They were either not serious enough or not serious at all.
I felt alone, alone as the only serious Pagan teen that I knew. Adult Pagans, who I don’t blame, wouldn’t meet me, talk to me or offer advice on how I could become more involved. I knew that this was my fate until I was legally an adult but as the years came closer and the time finally arrived, I still found myself detached from the rest of the Pagan world. Coven-less.
Sure there are books, wonderful ones. They opened my mind and gave me exercises and rituals to try. I spent many hours hiding in my room with a Pagan book, reading the stories of men and women and how they found the Craft. And I loved them; I bought just about every single book that would give me a sense of what it was like to be involved in a community of Pagans. Phyllis Curott’s Book of Shadows was one of my favorites, and I can happily recommend it to any person who wonders about Wicca. These books momentarily gave me a glimpse of what a connected Pagans life was like, but as soon as I was done with the book the yearning to be part of a group was back. I knew that I couldn’t ignore it forever. And that is what leads me here.
I feel ready to join a coven, if one will have me. Or at least begin to understand what one truly is. I always thought I would end up a solitary Witch by choice, but that feeling of loneliness has only grown stronger and now I feel a definite want and need to be with those who refer to me as their kindred. It’s time for me to learn, and I feel that books and solitary practicing can only take one so far.
I now believe that it is necessary for wiser Wiccans to allot their knowledge to the next generation, not only in the form of books but to also take us under their wings. Teach to us, learn with us, lead us, speak to us and learn to know us. We are your future and the next generation of Witches and Wiccans. No I don’t mean go out and search for the first 13-year-old pentacle-toting teen you see, but don’t forget the of-age Witches out there!
So, where do I sign up? I’m ready and I’m here to learn. So poke me, prod me, see if I’m ripe; but give me a chance to see if I can call your coven home.
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