Tag: Christianity

Calendar of the Moon for July 23

Calendar of the Moon

23 Tinne/Hekatombaion

Day of Llew Llaw Gyffes

Color: Blue
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a sky-blue cloth lay the figure of a hawk, a chalice of milk, and a spear.
Offering: Put your trust in something risky, and accept the failure if it comes.
Daily Meal: Poultry and/or fish.

Invocation to Llew Llaw Gyffes

Llew of the Skillful Hand,
Hawk’s flight, Quick-Eyed One,
Child of Innocence,
You teach of the costs
And blessings of trust.
You turn your eyes, a trusting babe,
Onto Gwydion of the clever tongue
And many small dishonesties,
And he is struck with love and swears
That he will protect you forever,
And in loving you,
He learns to do good in the world.
Yet your trust is betrayed
By Blodeuwedd, flower maiden,
Who is constructed for your use
Without your thought, or hers.
That trust which turns even a tainted heart
To good, fails against the breast
Within which no heart beats,
And this is a hard lesson for you,
And for all of us.
What can we learn from your struggle?
What can we learn about trust,
And where to place it?
Yet better to risk than never to open at all,
And this, too, you teach us.
Help us with this lesson, Skillful Hand,
That we may always know when to open our own,
And when to close them.

(Pass the milk and pour the rest out as libation. Each shall announce what it is that they shall endeavor to trust.)

 

[Pagan Book of Hours]

July 17 – Daily Feast

July 17 – Daily Feast

There is little wrong with the earth that it cannot clean up itself. It renews constantly, trying to keep pace with so much tampering going on. It has its hot spots, its upheavals, and the recycling of elements – but the Indian has known how to live with the changes. It is the world of people that needs to clean up its act. Some think the trouble began when the atom was split – but it was more apt to be when man split with the Great Holy Spirit. We learn from the earth not to build up too much pressure or we will blow it. The river has taught us we can’t be too broadminded or we spread out in the shallows and dry up in the midday sun. When moral standards were lost in the shuffle, the world kicked over the lantern again.

~ Hear me, not for myself but for my people….that they may once more go back….and find the good road and the shielding tree. ~

BLACK ELK

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Good Saturday Morning, my dear, dear friends!

Good Morning Images, Quotes, Comments, Graphics
Good Morning to all my dear friends! I hope you are having a fantastic morning and staying cool. This little guy above is about the way I feel today. We have nine days of temperatures above 100 degrees. Not a drop of rain for a month now, just hot, hot, hot temps. After a while the heat starts to take a toll on a person. According to our weather people (half the time they don’t know what they are talking about, lol!), today is suppose to be our last day in the 100’s for a few days. I think tomorrow is suppose to be 95 and that will feel like a cold snap has come through, lol!

I shouldn’t complain, I am more fortunate than some. I think about those poor people around Washington, D. C.  No power, no A/C, they can’t even turn on a fan to beat the heat. They must be miserable. I feel so sorry for them. I pray their power will be restored soon and their lives can get back to normal.

There are so many in need in this country right now. We can’t forget those people in the West that are battling the wildfires. All the firefighters risking their lives daily. Plus all the homeowners that have lost everything. My heart truly breaks for them. I can’t imagine getting up one morning, everything perfectly normally. Then there is a knock on the door, a person telling you to grab what you can, you have to leave. You get in your car, as you look back, your house has already started going up in flames. Everything you have worked your entire life for, gone in a matter of minutes. Oh Goddess, how horrible.

With there being so much need in this country right now. Will you take a moment today to say this prayer with me and light a candle, please.

O dearest Goddess, Mother of the green

Earth, blue waters and the silver Moon,

please be with us now in our hour of

need. Stress, confusion and chaos have

take hold of our lives, and we can feel

the weight of life’s burdens suffocating

us. We are truly afraid, but we know that

You in all Your loving kindness will hear

us now, and we will feel the heavy weight

getting easier to bear.

O dearest God, Father of the dark forests

and shimmering mountains, grant us

your spiritual strength that we need so

much now, so that we may come through

this time of crisis and get back to our

normal life once again.

Blessed Be!

June 21 – Daily Feast

 

Chances are we never recall just when we made the biggest decisions in our lives – unless we can remember some of our quietest moments. We think of change coming with fanfare, but that so seldom happens. Most of the time we silently recognize the great things in our lives long before we bring them our to be known by everyone. It is hard to say just when the change began. Some of it is even ga lv quo di, sacred to us, not easily shared – nor wise to share, because it is our own that comes from somewhere deep within us. There is an inner life that makes changes easier because it prepares us to accept what we cannot change – and more importantly, to change what we can.

~ The whole world is coming. A nation is coming, a nation is coming. The Eagle has brought the message to the tribe. ~

WOVOKA

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

RHYMING CHARGE OF THE GODDESS

I am the harmonious tune of the songbirdAnd the laughter of a gleeful child. I am the bubbling sound of the running brook And the scent of the flowers wild.

 

I am the floating leaf upon the breeze And the dancing fire in the forest glade. I am the sweet smell of rains upon the soil. And the rapture of passion when love is made.

 

I am the germination of seed in the Spring And the ripening of wheat in the Sun. I am the peaceful depth of the twilight That soothes the soul when day is done.

 

I am found in the twinkling of an aged eye… And found in the birth of a newborn pup… Yes…Birth and Growth and Death, am I I am the gracious Earth, on whom you sup.

 

 

I am your sister, your mother, the wise one. I wrap you gently in the warmth of my love. That which your seek you shall find within: Not without…not below…not above! Remember always, my children, be reverent. Be gentle, loving and kind to each other And hold sacred the Earth and its creatures: For I am the Lady: Creatrix and Mother!

 

-Kalioppe-

June 7 – Daily Feast

Confession may be good for the soul, but it seldom makes the one that heard it feel good. The nee to clear the air or get something out in the open can cause a bigger rift than the reason for confessing in the first place. Words cannot be retrieved once they are spoken. They are gone and calling them back is impossible. Some weigh on people’s hearts like hi lv s gi nv ya, many stones or heavy rock. Some are flung, like di ga it s di, a spear, to wound. And most should never have been spoken. Life and death are in the use of words. If we feel the need to confess something, we should do it where the listener knows how to handle what we say. It is an unthinking person that needs to be relieved of a burden to the point of putting it on someone who may find it hard to bear.
~ He knew his words were bad; he trembled like the oak whose roots have been wasted by many rains. ~

KEOKUK
‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
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Daily OM for June 5 – Releasing Guilt

Releasing Guilt
Permission to Forgive Ourselves

by Madisyn Taylor

 

Dwelling in guilt is like living your life with an anchor tied to your ankles dragging you down.

Learning to accept the things that we perceive as wrong can be a difficult task for many of us. Often we have been brought up to accept that it is normal to feel guilty about our actions and that by doing so we will make everything seem alright within ourselves. Even though we might feel that we have a reason to make up for the choices we have made, it is much more important for us to learn how to deal with them in a healthy and positive way, such as through forgiveness and understanding.

When we can look back at our past and really assess what has happened, we begin to realize that there are many dimensions to our actions. While feeling guilty might assuage our feelings at first, it is really only a short-term solution. It is all too ironic that being hard on ourselves is the easy way out. If we truly are able to gaze upon our lives through the lens of compassion, however, we will be able to see that there is much more to what we do and have done than we realize. Perhaps we were simply trying to protect ourselves or others and did the best we could at the time, or maybe we thought we had no other recourse and chose a solution in the heat of the moment. Once we can understand that dwelling in our negative feelings will only make us feel worse, we will come to recognize that it is really only through forgiving ourselves that we can transform our feelings and truly heal any resentment we have about our past.

Giving ourselves permission to feel at peace with our past actions is one of the most positive steps we can take toward living a life free from regrets, disappointments, and guilt. The more we are able to remind ourselves that the true path to a peaceful mind and heart is through acceptance of every part of our lives and actions, the more harmony and inner joy we will experience in all aspects of our lives.

Daily OM

 

Good Tuesday To You, My Beloved Friends & Family!

Have a Good, Great Day Images, Quotes, Comments, Graphics
Good afternoon, dear friends and family! I am so sorry for running late but right now my son has moved back home. So my life is tore all to pieces. His heart is broken and I beg of you my dear friends, please include him in your prayers and thoughts. I never have known the heartache I have experienced in the past 24 hours. Keep all of us in your prayers please. I have asked the Goddess to comfort him and ease his broken heart. I have faith She will do exactly that. But please remember us, in your prayers. I would be eternally grateful.

Now let’s start this day off on a much lighter note. A Celtic blessing from me to you. Good day, my dear friends & family!

Brighid of the Mantle, encompass us,
Lady of the Lambs, protect us,
Keeper of the Hearth, kindle us.
Beneath your mantle, gather us,
And restore us to memory.

Mothers of our mother,
Foremothers strong.
Guide our hands in yours,
Remind us how
To kindle the hearth.
To keep it bright,
To preserve the flame.
Your hands upon ours,
Our hands within yours,
To kindle the light,
Both day and night.

The Mantle of Brighid about us,
The Memory of Brighid within us,
The Protection of Brighid keeping us
From harm, from ignorance, from heartlessness.
This day and night,
From dawn till dark,
From dark till dawn.

 

Celtic Blessings

Daily OM for June 4th – Prayer and Meditation

Prayer and Meditation
Asking and Receiving

by Madisyn Taylor

 

Meditation and prayer can offer us different experiences and both can be powerful tools.

Prayer and meditation are similar practices in that they both offer us a connection to the divine, but they also differ from one another in significant ways. Put simply, prayer is when we ask the universe for something, and meditation is when we listen. When we pray, we use language to express our innermost thoughts and feelings to a higher power. Sometimes, we plumb the depths within ourselves and allow whatever comes to the surface to flow out in our prayer. At other times, we pray words that were written by someone else but that express what we want to say. Prayer is reaching out to the universe with questions, pleas for help, gratitude, and praise.

Meditation, on the other hand, has a silent quality that honors the art of receptivity. When we meditate, we cease movement and allow the activity of our minds and hearts to go on without us in a sense. Eventually, we fall into a deep silence, a place that underlies all the noise and fray of daily human existence. In this place, it becomes possible for us to hear the universe as it speaks for itself, responds to our questions, or sits with us in its silent way.

Both prayer and meditation are indispensable tools for navigating our relationship with the universe and with ourselves. They are also natural complements to one another, and one makes way for the other just as the crest of a wave gives way to its hollow. If we tend to do only one or the other, prayer or meditation, we may find that we are out of balance, and we might benefit from exploring the missing form of communication. There are times when we need to reach out and express ourselves, fully exorcising our insides, and times when we are empty, ready to rest in quiet receiving. When we allow ourselves to do both, we begin to have a true conversation with the universe.

Daily OM

 

Is Wicca Dead?

Author: Helio

It seems like an odd thing to me, and I’m sure to many others, that some would claim that Wicca is dead or dying. But I have heard this from at least a few members of the Craft. Strange to think of Wicca, the fastest growing of the rapidly growing Neopagan religions, as being doomed to die in the near future. I have received different opinions for ‘why Wicca is dying’ and ‘what the fate of Wicca will be’.

More than a few Wiccan elders who have expressed this sentiment to me are just simply disheartened by what they view as a lack of progress made in and for Wicca over the past few decades. These elders, I think, believed that there would be a great unity in the Craft and that Wicca and Neopaganism would make great social progress. Many of these Wiccan elders have also seen the rise and fall of covens and friendships between witches. And so if asked the fate of Wicca, they would respond that there would be no future for Wicca. Neopaganism in general will fail as a religious movement.

I have heard from other Wiccans that Wicca is dying do to a lack of central authority. And this I have heard from Witches who are not members of any tradition! I’ve found that some of those I’ve heard this from have backgrounds in Catholicism, so perhaps they are used to the idea of the papacy as a central authority. But the whole reason why many come to the Craft is I>because of the lack of central authority. The Craft teaches self-reliance. I think some of my fellow Crafters have forgotten this.

I have also heard that Wicca has become too public. ‘No one wants to stay in the broom closet anymore like a good witch should’. Oh My! I think those who hold this sentiment may still be holding on to past life feelings of persecution. But if this is an age of religious tolerance, and Judeo-Christian beliefs are no longer supposed to operate in the secular domain, then we have no reason to hide or fear being burned at the stake. Wicca needs to be open if we are to show the world that we are not dangerous.

There are also those who see the rapid rise of solitary witchcraft and the collapse of covens as evidence of Wicca’s impending doom. I have never felt that it ‘takes a Witch to make a Witch’ but certainly there are some who could use a bit more experience before they declare themselves a Witch. I know there are plenty of solitaries who don’t really know the Craft as much as they should and that they may sometimes suffer from hubris, but it is the right of every Wiccan to explore the Craft personally and without a coven. I think covens are great, but for some people a coven just doesn’t work, and I feel there are some who use the coven structure to make themselves feel more important and powerful. We all know there is no place for tyrants in a coven structure.

Now unlike the belief that Wicca will die and cease to exist, I have found those who believe Wicca is dying but that it will develop into a new religion, or religions. I somewhat share this sentiment, but I don’t think Wiccan witchcraft will just cease to be. And if Wicca is to become something else then it is not dying, it is evolving. All religious movements evolve. There are many who would point out that modern Wicca is ‘not the Wicca of sixty years ago’, and this is because of a natural evolution in the religion.

I feel that part of the reason for this whole ‘Wicca is dead’ thing seems to be that Wicca and Neopaganism have failed in the last sixty years to supersede western society’s Judeo-Christian dominance. I know that there are many screaming at me after reading that last line. ‘The point of Wicca isn’t to supersede Christianity! All faiths lead to the same source!’ But I have not yet met the Crafter who didn’t hold some level of anti-Christian sentiment. I’ve found that much of the ‘Wicca has failed’ belief comes from those Wiccans who experienced the great social and spiritual revolutions of the late sixties and seventies. At the time it must have seemed like Neopaganism would become a powerful social force by the turn of the millennium. Its failure to become so has soured the movement for some.

It may not seem like it for many, but Wicca’s ability to suddenly go from a few dozen followers to thousands (or millions) of followers in only half a century is an amazing achievement. It is a direct parallel of early Christianity’s rise from a few dozen believers in 30 C.E. to hundreds or thousands by 150 C.E. Wicca has perhaps grown twice as fast in half the time thanks to television, the Internet, and especially, modern printing and publishing. Most new religious movements do not rise out of the underground in their first hundred years.

Is Wicca dead? Has Wicca failed in some way?

No one ever said being a Witch is easy. Some of my elders may find me youthfully naïve, but in the six years that I have been in the Craft, I have found a vast, vibrant, though mostly underground, community that is ever growing and evolving to meet the needs of its followers.

I can definitely say Wicca is very far from taking its last breaths.

Calendar of the Sun for May 31st

31 Thrimilchimonath

Day of Stella Maris

Color: Blue
Element: Water
Altar: Upon a blue cloth set a single blue candle, a silver star, and the figure of a ship.
Offerings: Guide another through a treacherous time.
Daily Meal: Seafood.

Invocation to Stella Maris

Lady of the Ocean
Star of the Sea
You who guide the lost ships
To their safe harbors,
You who guide all of us
When we think to look heavenward,
Show us the way home.
(All reply, “Show us the way home.”)
Though storms seize us
And throw us off course,
Though lightning strikes us
And salt wind bites our faces
Like the brine of tears,
Show us the way home.
(All reply, “Show us the way home.”)
Though we fear for our lives,
Though we seem forever lost,
Shine your light above us
That we may always look up
And be comforted
In the midst of all disaster.
Lady of the Ocean
Star of the Sea,
Show us the way home.
(All reply, “Show us the way home.”)

Chant:
Stella Maris
Star of the Sea
Star of the light
That beckons to me.

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for May 30th

30 Thrimilchimonath

Meinherjar: Feast of Valhalla

Color: Red
Element: Fire
Altar: Upon a red cloth lay many weapons, a horn of mead, and four red candles.
Offering: Tend the graves of the honored dead.
Daily Meal: Beef.

Meinherjar Invocation

Hail to the fallen dead!
Hail to the brave ones
Who fought to the end,
Whether the enemy was disease
Or failure of the body
Or weariness of soul
Or the hate of another.
Hail to those who fell
Guarding the helpless and weak!
Hail to those who fell
Defending the land of their ancestors!
Hail to those who fell
Righting great wrongs!
Hail to those who fell
Succumbing to the powers
Of the creeping deaths
And their dark cousins.
Show us the truth, legions of Valhalla!
The only straw death,
The only dishonorable death,
Is one where Death is met
Not as an honorable opponent
Or a welcome bridegroom
But as a fearsome master
To be groveled before.
Give us your courage, legions of Valhalla!

(The horn of mead is passed around, and each names a member of the fallen dead that they particularly respect. The rest is poured out as a libation to the dead. Each steps forward, takes a weapon from the altar, and bears it from the room in honor.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for Thursday, May 24th

24 Thrimilchimonath

Day of the Horae

Colors: Black, dark blue, and white
Element: Air
Altar: Divide the altar into three parts. The first part is covered with cloth of black, upon which is set a white candle and a scroll or book of the Principles. The second part is covered with a dark blue cloth, upon which is set a silver candle, a scale, and a blade. The third part is covered with a white cloth, upon which is set a green candle and a leafy wreath.
Offerings: Read the Principles and meditate on them.
Daily Meal: Vegan and simple.

Invocation to the Horae

Call: Hail Eunomia, Keeper of Rules!
Response: Hail Eunomia, She Who Draws Boundaries!
Call: For without boundaries, we trespass on each other.
Response: For without rules, we cannot find a path in the wilderness.
Call: Hail, Maiden who keeps the Laws of the Universe!
Response: Hail, Hora of the Upraised Hand!
Call: May your chains bring discipline to our lives!
Response: May your chains set our spirits free!
Call: Hail Dike, Giver of Justice!
Response: Hail Dike, She Who Returns All That Is Given!
Call: For without justice, all things fall into tyranny.
Response: For without return and recourse, the cycle is broken.
Call: Hail, Maiden of who balances all things in her scale!
Response: Hail, Hora of the Even Hand!
Call: May your keen blade cut fine and true through all wrongs!
Response: May your keen blade slice away our prejudices!
Call: Hail Irene, Keeper of the Peace!
Response: Hail Irene, She Who Brings Harmony!
Call: For without harmony, there is no progress.
Response: For without peace, we burn to nothingness.
Call: Hail, Maiden who walks unafraid toward the enemy!
Response: Hail, Hora of the Open Hand!
Call: May your flowering branch blossom into the fruits of serenity!
Response: May your holy name bring unity to the world!

Chant:
Narrow the Rule and just our hand,
We keep the peace and together we stand.

(Read the Principles aloud, and leave in silence.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

She Waits

Goddess Comments & Graphics

She’s Been Waiting

She’s been waiting
She’s been waiting, waiting.
She’s been waiting so long.
She’s been waiting for her children
To remember, to return.

Blessed be, and blessed are,
The lovers of the lady.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The mother, maiden, crone.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The ones who dance together.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The ones who dance alone.
She’s been waiting, waiting.
She’s been waiting so long.
She’s been waiting for her children
To remember, to return. 

Blessed be, and blessed are,
The ones who work in silence.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The ones who shout and scream.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The movers and the changes.
Blessed be, and blessed are,
The dreamers and the dream.
She’s been waiting, waiting.
She’s been waiting so long.
She’s been waiting for her children
To remember, to return.

– Paula Walowitz

~Magickal Graphics~

The Pentagram: A New Look At An Old Star

The Pentagram: A New Look At An Old Star

Author: Miles Pendry

As a High Priest and Witch of twenty-seven seasons, I have often been asked by curious individuals to explain the meaning of the pentagram I wear. I usually reply with the generally accepted explanation of how each of the five points of the star represents the five primal elements in balance and harmony in an enclosing circle.

If I am in a particularly talkative mood, I will usually expand upon the pentagram’s representation of mankind as reflected in both the microcosm and macrocosm. There is, however, a deeper and more personal definition that I am moved to share during this season. A byproduct, I imagine, of my current funk of introspection and preparation for hibernation. Or, as Ebenezer Scrooge (of Dickens’s Christmas Carol) might explain, “maybe an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato”.

As I sit contemplating my pentagram, I realize how it means much more to me than a symbol of my belief as a Witch. It is far more than a map of the elemental alignments and universal harmony. It also represents hope, and a shining light to a small child lost in the darkness of his life…of my past.

As I consider this small silver star, I am reminded that the same stars shine over my head now as they have since the moment of my birth, more or less. When I look up into the darkness of a cold, black, New Hampshire night sky, those same stars shine back, impassive, unblinking, and unchanging.

I stand many miles and many years beyond where I stood watching those stars of my youth. The seasons at my feet cycle past…Beltane to Samhain and back again. The Wheel of the Year spins faster and faster with each passing season, each turn spinning the years dizzyingly past. Yet the stars above remain indifferent. I think that is why I continue to wear my pentagram to this day. It reflects the one stable, constant, immutable element in my otherwise chaotic life.

I remember as a child, standing alone in the cornfields of the Midwest at night, looking upwards and sensing an unreachable, untouchable greatness, of a cold, distant presence that was uncaring, yet perpetual and unchanging. I think that if there was an aspect of the Gods that I most honor to this day, it would be that distant, unvarying constant and a knowing that something in my life was stable.

With parents who were both physically and emotionally abusive, who uprooted and moved me almost every year so that I could never put down roots or make friends or develop any sense of security, it was comforting to have a quiet, isolated place to run to and a star to hold onto.

The pentagram means far more to me than the five traditional elements it represents, deeper still than the circle of the microcosm/macrocosm of man. The pentagram to me will always represent those stars in that cold, unchanging night sky that I, as a child, looked up towards so many years ago and cried for a little bit of stability to steady my footing as my life sped out of control around me.

I was emotionally raw, stripped bare, unable to tolerate any degree of emotional contact. Wounded as I was, I did not need or want love or intimacy. I felt lost, powerless and unable to control my direction or destiny. The ship of my life was adrift in an ocean of fear, confusion and pain.

I wanted and needed a star to follow, a constant, unwavering light to guide me out of my darkness.

Some people call that light “Jesus” and walk a Christian path. Some people choose to meditate on the light and speak its sacred name “Ohm”. Others still may call that light “Allah” and pray to it five times a day.

As for me, it makes no difference what you name the light, or what religious text you lay before you. Religions change. Old Gods die. New gods are invented and venerated.

A thousand years go by, and it’s Jesus instead of Jupiter. A thousand more years go by, and it’s Money instead of Marduk. Our culture’s concept of God is continually deconstructed and reinvented, sometimes out of necessity, sometimes out of convenience and almost always for somebody’s profit.

But my star still shines in the night sky.

That distant star doesn’t love me. I cannot have a close personal relationship with it. For all I know or care, that star is not even aware or capable of knowing I exist… let alone give a damn about how I live my life, whether or not I give that life to it or if I try to convince others to give their lives to it. More than likely, it is (as described by They Might Be Giants) a swirling mass of incandescent gas. It just shines, nothing more.

But I look to it and honor it all the same…perhaps even more so because of its indifference. My star is there for me when I look up every night. It will be there when and if I remember to look up tomorrow. That is more than I can say about any other person, place, or material thing in my life.

Seasons change, people change, and the world as we know it moves on; but tonight I know my star will still be there in the sky above, shining, regardless of whether I am looking at it or not. (I am human, after all, and sometimes I forget to take the time to look up.)

They say that in time, even stars must die. After all, supernovas are an accepted scientific fact. That may be true. My star might eventually grow old and tired, and burn out in a final flash of glory.

But it won’t happen in my lifetime, and when it does finally happen, I don’t plan on being here to worry about it.

Shine on!

Embraced by the Goddess


Author: Elwin Shadowstrider

Originally I was planning to place this in my Book of Mirrors, as you see; I changed my mind for many reasons. Some were to let others know of a beautiful life-changing event that forever changed me. I felt that to some it may help, for others maybe just to remind them of when they first set their own two feet on their Path.

Without a short background some of this will not make any sense at all, I will not go into gory detail. Some things are very tragic, some of those things I draw a great deal of strength from. However, my childhood was beyond horrible, abuse was prevalent, both physical and mental abuse. A great deal seems to come from Stephen King’s worst nightmares.

I have been asked many times by those who know me well how I did not become badly damaged goods…I attribute that to strength of will. I refuse to give up, especially when I know there are greater things out there than what I have to experience at that moment in time then. In time, I proved myself right, as you will see.

I was forced as a child to attend church; I really had no interest in going. They never could answer my questions to my satisfaction. The usual Cain slew Abel, then where did his wife come from if there were only four people on this planet at that time? Many explained that it was more than likely his sister, which I went up in flames then. Letting them know that only last week we were told that was forbidden to lie with your sister or brother. Or was it just holier then than it is now? You get the picture; I was seven when this took place.

My parents were begged not to bring me back to Sunday school. They said that I asked questions that no normal seven year old should ask, and that I should take more on “faith” and to be still and be quiet when the teacher was talking. I felt they were legitimate questions and still do, no pastor or otherwise could ever answer what I asked.

Many referred me to so and so apologetic pastor or seminary college since I was so questioning within the “faith”. Faith, no, I wanted clear concise answers as to WHY these things I was to take on “faith” had to not be asked. Too many holes within their stories and parables, I wanted straight facts that they were not equipped to give.

My teen years were pretty much the same; I was honestly kept as a house slave or servant, I was allowed no bed of my own, any furniture, and the least expensive clothes they could find and was told that it was “good” for my soul.

That got really old really quick, I grew up in Miami, Florida, and I had no air conditioning in my room either. The rest of the household had everything; this is just to give you an idea. By now, I had finally begged and cried to this “god” for deliverance, anything, just I wanted out of this household.

I begged for many years, all I got in return was silence…no answers.

I thought at first maybe I was “imperfect”, a “sinner” and god wanted nothing to do with me; just like everyone else in my life then. My despair began to grow to stellar heights, just what was I supposed to do? I left my Dad’s house when I was sixteen; I refused to put up with it any longer.

As the years passed as years will, I occasionally begged “god” for help, by now, I have been begging for years, still, no answer. I sought “help” from pastors; I got the usual praying over, and one even suggested performing an exorcism on me to cast out any “evil spirits” that might have taken up residence within.

Being that my family is from central Ireland we were brought up to trust and believe the clergy. Mostly Catholics, a few Protestants, was what ran in my family. I never could understand just how they could take so much on faith and let it go at that.

I was the one who always read everything, but my favorites still to this day is the “Sword and Sorcery” type epics that I learned so much from. I was the cast off, the one who believed that the Elves still existed and Dragons were around the next corner; during what free time I could steal away I walked the woods, searching for something, just what I never knew then.

What I didn’t know was that our beloved Green Man was whispering to me all that time. There were days I could almost hear what He was saying, almost; but not quite getting it.

Often, I just shrugged my shoulders and continued on, learning what so many just didn’t see. To learn of beauty, to know some small peace in my life. To see animals as more of my friends than Man, to know trees, to breathe in what I needed. In these times I didn’t feel lost at all, I felt at home then.

Here I will leave the past behind, these memories are very painful in ways, but I learned how to be what many never do, Human. To know the fullness of sorrow, anger, and hatred is something I do not recommend to anyone. Better to not know the fullness of what those emotions can do to a person, the hardness in can put in place of what should be someone’s heart.

This is when I looked back on my life, and wanted to know why, just why, “god” never answered me. Why my life was, so far, was so cold inside, why can’t I be happy like so many others here in this world?

Despair grew yet again, yet despair this time was very deep. It lasted for many months instead of just a few days.

I once again went to begging “god” for answers, help, anything; just one answer is all I required, just one. It never came, that answer. Finally, I broke down, after thirty-six years of fighting I broke down.

I gave up, entirely. I had nothing else to believe in.

Yes, I do have a wife and son; I do have family of my own. I love them both very dearly. I wanted faith. I wanted faith to believe in myself, to believe that when this path here on earth is over there is something other than nothing. As I said, I broke down, I wanted nothing anymore, and I gave up.

With that, I began the soul wrenching crying that signified total defeat; “god” wasn’t there. I was truly lost, and that’s what broke my heart more than anything. I was lost.

During this time of defeat, a PRESCENSE is the only way I could begin to describe it. Something unbelievably beyond me, something that radiated Love, I really gave in then. I felt as if I should know who this was, but for some reason I didn’t.

Then in a voice that was VERY female, soft, full of understanding and infinite Love spoke to me, ” Why do you weep? Why is your heart so heavy within your breast? Where is the laughter that I love to hear from you? Where are your smiles?”

I was dumbfounded, I could only answer, “I am lost, god doesn’t answer me, I am alone here, and I want faith in the universe around me.”

She laughed, not a mocking laughter, one full of understanding, and Love. “I have known your ancestors, the Celts, I know you. Why is it you don’t know me?”

I answered, ” My lady, I don’t know you I wish I did, I am tired of not knowing anything.”

She answered, ” So you shall, you are my child, none other’s, you are my son. Love shall be yours.”

At that moment, all the years of hatred, anger, sorrow, animosity, and narrow-minded beliefs fell away, replaced by Love. I fell to crying out of sheer joy and happiness.

At that, she laughed again, full of mirth, and joy that I did remember who She was at last. As I lay there my Goddess embraced me, not in the spiritual sense, it was very physical, yet I couldn’t see Her.

Her embrace was like nothing I have ever known in my life, for just one moment here on this plane of existence, I knew what it was like to Love all, to realize that Love was all my Goddess wanted from me; that and my laughter, my happiness.

Since that day, the Wiccan Rede is indelible upon me. I will harm NONE. I became a vegetarian; I refuse to harm anything, even so much as a bug outside.

My son (Goddess Bless him) came to me not two weeks ago and asked what was making me so happy, why I laughed at nearly everything now. I want to tell him, he’s only eleven, and I won’t alter his Path in life. When he gets a little older and he asks again, then I will tell him.

Just three days later, flying in the face of tradition, I gave myself to my Goddess. It’s been only five weeks from that wonderful day. I oath bound myself to Her, and laughed with Her when she accepted me as her child.

After the turn of events in the beginning of my life I had indeed proven myself right, that there are greater things out there. You just have to look in the right place sometimes.

There may be a few others out there who may have experienced something like this. I do not know, I do not claim to know. I know what gift was given to me, and that gift will be cherished until I see my Goddess yet again.

Please understand I have no hatred for the Christian religion. I have left hatred behind, and that is no longer who I am. I have many friends who are Christians; they know that I am a Witch, a Wiccan. They also know that I will never turn away from my Goddess; they know I will lovingly tell them that I have found my Path if they begin to preach at me.

I have also lost a great deal of friends who were too judgmental and walked away from me. Some of those were indeed painful, many were very good friends. Their children played with my son quite often, now I have yet to see them again.

I am at Peace with their choice; they too have a Path they must follow. As any Pagan, I just send them my Love from time to time. Many of my relatives also have nothing to do with me now, that too I have taken in Peace.

It is somewhat difficult to convey what exactly has happened to me. My life was filled with so much negative energies that I never believed that something such as this could really happen. Life has truly begun for me, to feel Love as never before, to Love all that I see. To feel the sense of the Spirit’s whisperings in all that is around me, to know and see indescribable beauty in all that my eyes behold.

The most fun part is to finally hear the Green Man’s laughter, to hear His dancing steps, to know His Love for all things that grow. I know who He is as well, no longer just whispers that I can’t quite catch, to hear His voice is truly wonderful. To also hear God’s voice in laughter with the Goddess’ laughter as I take my first tentative steps in Life, my heart is full.

There are days I wonder if I can really Love more than the day before, the answer is yes. Goddess, YES! Tears of true joy fall these days; the Goddess has embraced me. I have just scratched the surface of what I will know before I must return to Summerland.

I also no longer fear to die, I actually look forward to the day when I can return to all that knows me, to see those whom I know. To find so many there waiting for my return. I will also state I don’t think I will return to Mother Earth, I will stay in Summerland.

I know that I may return if I wish, however; I will stay. There is work to do there as well.

In closing, yes, I am indeed VERY new to Wicca; I have learned what Wiccan Pride is truly all about. I have learned what Love really is, what Peace, true Peace really is.

I have also learned what Magick is all about. Magick in one word, WOW! I had no real idea of what can be done; it’s real, and its mind blowing of what we can do with it.

I will leave you Sisters and Brothers here, know that one more Wiccan has joined your ranks. Thanks for taking the time to read of my experience with the Goddess. Know that She Loves us all; no matter what Path we take.

Merry Meet, Merry Partings until we Merry Meet again.

Abundant and Brightest Blessings to all,

Elwin Shadowstrider ) O (

Who Is A Real Witch Anyway?

Who Is A Real Witch Anyway?

Author: Amergin Aradia

It seems that the debate about who is and who is not a “real Witch” is coming to a head. Is this sect real as opposed to that sect? Are those in covens real Witches as opposed to solitaries’. And on and on it goes. It’s beginning to sound like the fight between factions of the Christian religion or between organized religions as a whole. That’s probably the way they began too.

This silly useless debate is pulling our community apart as well. The truth is, are any of us real Witches. And how do you define a real Witch? By whose standards and rules?

As an illustration of my point I’ll tell you my story. I have always known that I was a Witch, even before I really knew what that was. When I was very young (grade school) I had certain abilities and interests that other kids didn’t. I practiced raising energy, practiced ESP (as it was called then) , I astral projected, and I cast spells. I was drawn to the night, the moon and stars, and I identified with all things “magical.”

I wasn’t trained by anyone because there was no one to train me. I had to figure it out for myself and that was in the 1950’s so you know there were very few references to rely on even if I knew where to look. As I grew up I did what everyone else did then, got a job and tried to live what was considered a “normal” life, as unsatisfying as that was.

I maintained my interests and practices over the years as best I could, if only peripherally. There may have been one or two occult bookstores in the area but you really had to search them out and I only managed to get to one every so often and then only to browse because I didn’t know what I was looking for. You didn’t just walk up to someone and tell him or her you were a Witch and wanted to join a coven. And people didn’t come out of the woodwork to invite you to join one, even if you knew where to look.

So I dabbled, training myself the best way I could using instinct as my guide. At the time I would have loved to have found someone to train me and I would have loved to have found a coven to join so that I wouldn’t feel so alone. But they didn’t exactly advertise. And there was no Internet in those days to bring us all together.

So unless you were lucky, you were on your own. Like it or not.

Now that we have all these books, magazines, and web sites to fill in the gaps I find that my instincts did very well by me. Everything that I taught myself way back then is now being touted as the way to do it by the “experts.” I have since collected an entire library of books hoping to find information that would help me advance my practice but with the exception of a few interesting bits that I’ve added here and there, I have been disappointed.

I have also attended classes, open groves, and ceremonies, and while the people that I met were very nice it just didn’t feel right for me. I’ve also become very disillusioned with the influx of the newest brick and mortar shops. They seem to have become havens of self-help, yoga, meditation, and coffee and music.

And while I practice yoga and meditation myself I don’t want to go to my local Craft shop to pick up a yoga mat, balance ball, or a book by Dr. Phil. I want to pick up the tools for my ceremonies and spell crafting and, unfortunately, the kind of shop I want seems to be few and far between (except on line.) It feels as though the craft as I remember it is being homogenized and made so “acceptable” in the eyes of the general public that it is becoming useless to serious practitioners. But I digress here.

So to sum up this article, does it mean that I am not a real Witch because I had no one to “lead the way” or no coven to adopt me and teach me “their right way”? Quite frankly I think that makes me an even better real Witch because I had to figure it out for myself. And because of that my understanding and beliefs don’t quite fit into any prescribed dogma. So that is why I stay a solitary practitioner and that is why I have stepped back from the community as a whole.

But then I don’t look at being a Witch as a religion, with all of its implied rules and regulations and dogma. I look at being a Witch in the same way that the old village Witches looked at it. I revere the earth and heavens and do my best to respect and tread lightly on her.

I try to live a spiritual life without bowing to or begging the acceptance of any one archetypal being. I look at the Goddess and Gods as a representation on this plane of the source of all energy and power. I cast spells for my own benefit, and mine alone, as I don’t believe I have the right to manipulate anyone else’s life. And I believe that Karma will out eventually.

I believe that being a Witch is as simple as that. It’s in your heart, it’s in your soul, and it’s who YOU know you really are. Not because someone gives you permission to be one simply because you read and adhere to someone else’s views as written down and published. Or because you attend meetings once a week, or once a month, or even once a quarter.

But because YOU know you are. And whether you are solitary or a member of a group, no matter what that group represents, you are really on your own. You must practice, practice, practice, and hold that knowing in your own heart…alone.

That’s what makes you a “real Witch.”

The Wicca Book of Days for May 6th – A Carved Cernnnnos?

The Wicca Book of Days for May 6th

A Carved Cernunnos?

Today’s element is Earth, and it is at this time of year that the Horned God is at his most rampant, making this a particularly apt day to familiarize yourself with one of his most impressive representations:  the Cerne Abbas Giant. Thought to represent Cernunnos, the Celtic god of fertility, the 180-foot tall outline of this club-wielding figure was carved ut of a chalky hill in the English county of Dorset nearly two thousand years ago. It has long been the custom for women hoping to conceive a child to perch themselves on the tip of the giant’s phallus.

Super Six

On this sixth day of the month, meditate on the number six. This numeral has many associations it’s the six dots on a die, it can represent victory, for instance; as the six points of Solomon’s seal, it signifies cosmic harmony, and in triplicate, as 666, it is reputed to identify Christianity’s Anti-Christ.