Tears of a Witch

Tears of a Witch

Author: Crick

As I wander through the beloved woods, ever so grounded and connected to Spirit, I begin to think of the fear of witchcraft. Such a fear was started by a religious belief system seeking power and control over others. And through the last two centuries this baseless fear has resonated like a war drum through generations of folks. Folks who dared to walk a path that began with the dawn of humankind have lost their homes, their belongings and in many a case, their very lives.

And so I pause beside a woodland stream, as I wonder why.

Are we not all seekers of the light? Do we not all seek the answers to the Great Mysteries within our own beliefs? Are not all beliefs systems, whether religious and/or spiritual simply a possibility to achieving one’s afterlife goals?

For no religion and/or spiritual path has a definitive answer to what our chosen Deity has in mind as far as the Grand scheme of things. As I watch the rivulets of water wash over this streambed strewn with multi-colored pebbles, I think of how generations of folks have come and gone, much like how each rivulet passes down stream. And yet such misguided beliefs have remained in place like the pebbles cascaded across the bed of this secluded stream. Unmoved though a new generation of water sweeps over them.

And then I begin to think that if we do not have the answers, why one would want to be locked into a strict dogma that filters out any new and fresh ideas about spiritual ascension. Seeking answers to such a grand mystery is an on going process. Choosing to be stagnant in one’s spiritual progression leads me to think that perhaps such a belief system it’s not about spiritual growth to begin with.

And so why the hate mongering and the overwhelming fear?

If one is secure within their beliefs, shouldn’t there be a tendency to at least listen to others even if one chooses not to accept what one hears from others. This is known as communication. But when there is no such open communication, it leads me to wonder from where the insecurities that have spanned so many decades are originating.

For as a witch, I offer no harm to anyone unless it is in self-defense. I seek not to convince others of my beliefs; for such beliefs are a mark of my individuality and are constantly undergoing changes as new revelations becomes available.

Does such institutional fear come from the knowledge that a witch connects with Mother Earth as a way of life? I would ask why those who carry such fear in their hearts do not themselves utilize such a rich resource of knowledge. For such knowledge is there for all.

Witches are chastised and have even been put to death for connecting with the spirit realm, and I wonder why. Do we not all have a spirit within us and will we not all revert to spirit when our time in this realm comes to a close? What is there to fear?

Witches are disavowed for drawing upon the energy that is all about us and manifesting this energy into a tangible result. Do not all religions and/or spiritual beliefs follow similar patterns though they may use different words and actions to initiate such workings? Is not such a divine gift available openly and freely to all who seek such inherent abilities? Does Deity select but one belief system and cater to just those thoughts? Or does Deity transcend such narrow parameters and in fact respond to all who seek regardless of which path they follow?

So why manifest such lies and unfounded hatred?

As this stream in the middle of the woods flows over the bed of pebbles, does it really care if some pebbles are red, or brown, or black? Or does it just want to be free to follow its destiny without a barrier created by humans. Are humans any less worthy of such a freedom within their beliefs?

As I think these thoughts, tears run down my cheeks. As a witch I seek to stay connected with the old ways. Ways that have served humankind for so long. Ways that open doors to those places that are now shrouded in the mists of ignorance. Ways that allow me to utilize introspection in an effort to see my own faults and thus gives me the strength to address them in a positive manner. Are such practices so terrible that they deserve the scorn of so many who do not attempt to try and understand?

As a witch, I too walk about in a state of fear. A fear based upon the realities of our society. There is the fear that I may lose my means of employment, if my spiritual path comes to light. This is an established fear that has come to pass at one point in my life. There is the fear that bodily harm could come to me and my loved ones by those who blindly wallow in ignorance, simply because I choose to believe as an individual. This is yet another bitter experience that has raised its ugly head at one point in my life. And once again, I have to ask why.

Why can we not all accept the fact that we are seekers on the path of life? And as it is with such travelers, no one person has all of the answers.

As I stand here on this cold autumn morning and watch this small stream flow by, I know within my heart that in time this stream will wear down the pebbles that it flows over. And that in time new pebbles will take their place.

As a witch and as a human, I can only hope that such a transition will take place in the river of life and that the fear and the ignorance will in time be worn down as well. I desire that which I wish for others, the right to follow my path without obstructions being placed before me by other humans.

I seek to not judge others nor do I seek to be judged.

Morality and Spell-craft

Morality and Spell-craft

Author: Solonius

As adult thinking human beings, we all follow a certain set of moral guidelines that we have learned from our ancestors, or which were indoctrinated into us throughout our upbringing. We call this idea of what we would, or would not do, our conscience. Our angel and devil are sitting there on our shoulders, arguing over the idea of selflessness and selfishness. This argument leads us into a personal conflict. We have to come to a justification of why we wish to do a thing. When that thing contradicts what we know to be right, or what society tells us is right, we become morally conflicted.

So the question is where do our basest levels of morality lie? There is a base level of what we would or would not do; from there our higher morals are built in increasing complexity. To find out where we stand, think on the following topics: At a base level, there is my life (or the lives of my loved ones) first, and everyone else’s second. If the choice was between my or my loved ones lives against any other’s life, I choose mine and my loved ones. I’m sure everyone else would view that choice in the same way.

If you have spent your life building up a home, property and future prosperity, then others come along who haven’t done those things and just want to take what you have built, for themselves, you’d fight and kill to keep what you had made for yourself. What right does anyone else have to come and take what you have made away from you? So is it morally right to fight to keep what you have made, or to fight for you and your loved ones lives? One group of people is very prosperous through their own efforts, and another group is not. Is it morally right for those less prosperous to demand a portion of the wealth of the more prosperous? Is it morally right for one group to force their concepts upon others? Where do we draw the line of right verses wrong?

My right might be your wrong. I don’t wish to force another to follow my concept of right; however others wish to force me to follow their concept of right. Who is morally correct? You are given a choice: One child can live or be put to death, but that death will result in a cure for AIDS. Would you sacrifice that one child for the greater good? If not, then possibly millions will suffer and die as opposed to one. If you chose the child to live, then you believe that individual good is more important than group good. If you choose the child to die, then you view the society as more important than the individual. So therefore it is morally okay for someone to come and take away what you have through your own efforts, and give your abundance to those who do not contribute.

These morality questions are all the same. There is no moral difference between any of these situations. On one hand, there is individual good, and on the other, there is group good (with the group being viewed as an individual entity) . These morality questions can also be viewed as situational. Or we rationalize that a moral good is universal to all, when in fact, we are just rationalizing that good for all from the aspect that ‘our group’ is the ‘all’ that matters.

In order to be at peace with ourselves, our internal moral compasses should all be aligned in the same direction. We need to honestly look at our own morality and decide where it lies and in which direction it points. That is who we are on our basest level. From there we can move upward morally, consistently, because you shouldn’t believe one thing this way and another thing contradictorily that way.

So what does this all have to do with the Pagan etc. community? The Rede instructs: “And it harm none, do what you will.” That ‘will’ should have a healthy dose of morality applied to it before devoting any energy to ‘doing what you will’. [As a side note, I feel that many confuse the word ‘will’ with ‘what you want’. Will, in this instance, is using the force of your gathered and focused WILL (purposeful directed energy) to implement your desires.] All the above leads down to this: When you spell-craft, are you doing so from a morally correct position?

It is often said what you put out comes back to you three-fold. This is to give you caution, to pause, and to really think about what you are trying to accomplish for yourself or others. As adult thinking human beings, we must acknowledge our culpability in the actions we take, to admit to ourselves our true purpose. Only then, without inner conflict, can we fully enact our desires. Conflicted morality leads to conflicted emotions, which lead to conflicted energies.

How can you effectively enact your WILL if you think you are doing something against your moral fiber? If your thoughts are scattered how can you direct your distracted energy? And this is just with our OWN desires, what of the desires of others who wish us to enact something on their behalf? You can see how difficult this becomes without a moral underpinning?

Prior to performing any spell work, you should do an honest self-assessment. Will what I wish to put into action cause harm to others? If harm is possible, is it justified? As an example: if you help out a friend by performing a spell that they get a promotion at work, is the person who is currently holding that position ineffectual, and therefore not as deserving of the position as well as your hard working friend? That person could be fired, that is harmful to them personally, financially, and their family’s well-being could be in jeopardy because of them getting fired. You were doing something good for your friend, but your actions could cause harm to more than you think. See how morally sticky this can get without thoroughly thinking something through before beginning?

Why not do the same thing, but more expansively? Perform your spell that the Boss gets promoted, and in the vacuum of the vacant position your friend is chosen to fill it. Who loses there? Not a lot of moral conflict to overcome in the second situation, you can therefore direct the energy to accomplish your desire with more focus and positive emotion.

Above I asked, ‘is it justified?’ Justice is the means of society to enforce the laws or moral standards of that society. Your friends car gets bashed by a hit and run driver. You perform a spell that the culprit is discovered and gets thrown in jail for reckless driving. Not a lot of conflict there because of the ‘wrong’ done. However, you should not go wishing for more harm to befall the hit and run driver. That driver was rushing an injured family member to the ER (hey, you don’t know) . While the hit and run was unfortunate, and they couldn’t take the time to get your friends license plate number, they definitely had more urgent worries. It would be morally wrong to wish more harm to someone who intended none. Why not wish that the culprit be discovered, and that JUSTICE be served. Simply leave the details for the universe to work out. As you can see this requires LESS detail, and leaves you morally un-conflicted as well.

We could play these scenarios out all day, but at the heart of the matter is using your morality to keep yourself out of conflict when preparing for spell work. In order to lessen undesired consequences, practice honesty with yourself and admit your true reasons for doing what you WILL.

Conception of God

Conception of God

Author: Katie Koumatos

“How do you envision God?”
“As a witch, do you believe in God? In Jesus?”
“How can you have multiple Gods?”

When I talk to non-pagans about my spiritual beliefs, I get these questions a lot. I imagine this will only increase as I begin my time as a seminary student. While the community at Pacific School of Religion is open minded and welcoming to pagans, I imagine that there is still a lot of ignorance about pagan practices. Even within our community, there are a lot of discussions about how to approach the conceptualization of the divine. So let me share with you my own approach. After many years of searching, I found a beautiful metaphor that describes it perfectly.

Consider the ocean. For any of you who are lucky to have lived in a coastal town, it isn’t easy to imagine that we know the ocean. Growing up in San Diego, I spent many childhood days playing at the foot of the Great Pacific Ocean. As I learned how to spell and do long division, I also learned how to negotiate the fickle nature of the ocean, survive the rising tides and avoid the hidden dangers.

So it is easy to say I know the ocean. But what I actually know is one small piece. I have come to know the Pacific Ocean through half a dozen spots where it comes into contact with the land up and down the California Coast. I know the ocean at its boundaries, its borders. And even then, I only know THIS ocean and I only know it at THESE boundaries.

Every time I go to the ocean, even if I go to the very same beach, it is always a different ocean. Each wave falls differently along the sand, making small but powerful changes in the shape of the land. For me growing up in San Diego, the ocean was blue and relatively warm, playing along long flat beaches filled with sun worshiping beach-goers. The ocean of my adulthood is a colder ocean, breaking against the picturesque rocks of the Northern California coast. Up here the ocean is a grey and windy creature, with swirling and powerful tides. Up here I sit far above the ocean’s break, enjoying the view and the spray but rarely submerging myself in the water.

After many years, I have finally realized that God is like this.

The ocean is truly unknowable. We can list facts and send boats out to gather bits and return. But no human being will ever fully know the ocean. It is simply too vast, constantly changing, and so very deep. However, while the full ocean is unknowable, human beings from the beginning of time have had complex and important relationships with the ocean. We know her in our own spaces, at the boundaries of where she meets the land upon which we live.

Each human being who reaches out into the void seeking the divine cannot ever expect to understand the wholeness of God / Goddess / Universe / Great Spirit / the All. But in our little space, at the boundary between our short, incarnate existence and the vast eternity of divine energy, we find our face of God. Like the ocean, it changes over time, waves shifting the shape of our lives as we adjust and grow in our relationship. And while many people may gather at the same beach, but have different experiences of the ocean, so too may many people gather together in fellowship and yet remain separated by the different faces they see in God.

People can shape God as well, just as humans can shift the land where the ocean meets them. We shape the stories and the perceptions, the expectations and visual imagery. Over time this shaping can become powerful and deeply ingrained. But they are still open to interpretation.

We need these interpretations. The immensity of the divine energy is just too big to engage and feel the comfort and solace that religion offers. Having a personal relationship with God is only possible when God is squeezed down a bit, into a form that we can conceptualize having a personal relationship with. So we humanize the divine energy. Some religions are monotheistic, and give one face of God their full attention. While others simply spread out the realms of symbolic control, creating multiple faces and personalities for us to engage.

Whether your face of the divine is a multi-armed Hindu deity, the kami of the stream near your home, the Virgin of Guadalupe, or your own higher spirit, we are all just seeking a personified form to engage with. As we are made by divine energy, the worship and energy of human beings creates a real and tangible presence for the forms and faces that we have created for the divine. These faces of God are not stagnant, but they can and do exist separately and distinctly from our own personal experience because they are and have been conceived of by other human beings. With each ritual calling, we are making and remaking our Gods just as they are making and remaking us.

In the end, I believe that divine energy is the sum of all of us, along with all the animals and the plants and the whole wide universe. It is the spark of distant stars and the reproduction of the smallest bacteria. It is life and death and the shifting movement of existence here and everywhere, in this moment and in all moments before and after it. I believe that this whole is greater than the sum of these little parts and that collectively, we are conscious. I believe in a pattern, a tapestry of life in which we all play our part. We can make choices in this, but we have a part to play and there are pieces in our lives that guide us. And in all of this, different Gods are just convenient faces, ways to engage an unknowable energy.

The way I see it, God doesn’t care or even acknowledge the differences in our practices. Only human beings, with our limited sight and infinite distractions, could come up with a way to make such a small difference into a reason for centuries of war, dominance, and animosity.

The Power of Spirit

The Power of Spirit

Author: Crick

As a witch I firmly believe in the rebirth of the spirit that we call reincarnation. Having said that I have had moments where I have wondered about the development of spirit, as it goes through such stages.

For instance I have mused on whether all of our spirits have started from the same level of experience and need as far as our individual growth. Or are some spirits inherently wiser from the get go and thus advance more rapidly then others?

If one is to believe that the final goal of the spirit is to become as one with one’s chosen Deity. Then another thought would be as these spirits reach their goal, are they in turn replaced by new spirits?

Or are new spirits added according to a divine plan of which we have no knowledge of while in earthly form?

What is the source for the terms “Old souls” in relation to certain folks? Could this be those spirits who have gone through a number of lifetimes?

Or is it the spirits who have gone through a number of lifetimes who have actually obtained knowledge of the lessons that are assigned to each life?

Once a spirit has completed a life are the lessons connected with that life now behind spirit or do they keep shifting from one life to another until spirit finally “gets it”?

Or are these lessons lost and spirit simply moves on to the next set of challenges?

For living a life is no guarantee that such life lessons have been learned at all. It is no secret that some folks wile away their lives through the use of alcohol, drugs, extended moods of anger which only results in negative energy, arrogance which is where one is simply spinning their wheels rather then learning and so forth.

It seems that as far as the human psyche goes, it is easier to engage in negative behavior then it is to actually take hold of ones life and to draw closer to deity.

Taking this thought a step further, once spirit reaches its final goal, are all spirits equal in knowledge and experience or are there various levels of accomplishment that spirit can attain at the end of its journey?

I personally use the analogy of spirit being the flower encased within the human body or seed if you will. As we go through this life we make the conscious or in some cases unconscious choice of either nurturing this flower or not.

When the seed/human body falls away then the flower/spirit is allowed to sprout. It is how we have nurtured this flower/spirit, which will determine whether it becomes a beautiful flower or a weed if you will. This further determines whether spirit needs to repeat the process or whether it can then be free to evolve even further along the spiritual path.

I may be a cynic, but as I look around this world I see more weeds then beautiful flowers.

It seems as if so many folks these days are becoming more and more near-sighted. Being far more concerned about their immediate human desires which are mistakenly perceived as needs rather then the broader picture which is the nourishment of our spiritual needs.

If spirit can feel emotional pain, it must be writhing with anxiety.

As pagans we are aware of the many subtle intricacies of our spirit.
For instance our spirit consists of a soul, which serves as our inner voice. We are aware that there are orbs of energy called chakras that in turn are associated with our major organs.

There is the aura which ebbs and flows in accordance with our emotional and physical states. And some will say that there is an etheric layer of energy that resides as a buffer between the energy of the aura and the actual soul.

At any rate these are the things that we know about the spirit as humans. Could there be so much more that we don’t know about the spirit?

Could the Great Mysteries of life be the discovery of knowledge that we lack in regards to our spirit?

Sometimes I wonder if the spirit sheds the soul when the physical body dies, much like a tree that sheds its leaves when going into a dormant state.

I personally believe that each soul is unique to each physical body. And that spirit chooses which soul to inhabit in order to garner the experiences that are inherent to that particular soul.

I also wonder what we actually mean by the expression, “free spirit”.

Could this be an archaic reference to a spirit that is unfettered? Can a spirit be enslaved or contained in some way by another spirit or perhaps an entity that we are unaware of. Can a lack of knowledge through lessons ignored or not learned lead to such a state of enslavement?

Could it be that all of the horrendous acts of violence, emotional, physical and mental that human’s do to each other be a result of such spirits who have become so enslaved?

These thoughts are not that far fetched really.

In ancient times the Egyptians believed that when a body had reached its final days the spirit would come before an intermediary for judgment. The soul of that spirit which was represented by the heart of the deceased was weighed on the scales of Fate against a feather.

If the soul turned out to be lighter then the feather then the spirit/soul was allowed to pass into an idyllic environment, a resting home for spirits if you will. But if the heart/soul outweighed the feather then the soul/spirit was immediately destroyed by a waiting demon.

I am not sure if this meant that the Egyptians believed that a spirit could be terminated or if this was an analogy for the death of that persons experience up to that point. In which case, the spirit would have to begin all over again. Which leads me to my final thought, is there a set agenda or curriculum if you will that the spirit has to attain to reach the end of one’s goal?

I realize of course that any answers one may have to these musings are pure speculation. But in all reality, isn’t life but a series of speculations?

Footnotes:
From the thoughts of an old man…

Religion: From A Witch’s Perspective

Religion: From A Witch’s Perspective

Author: Crick

Have you ever wondered why humans are so scared to face life and the spiritual lessons that are in waiting for each of us? I ask this because since the dawning of humankind we have created religions. Religion in all reality is a subterfuge and a distraction from the individual pursuit of spirituality.

A state of spirituality is a journey of the individual. It does not require the presence of the many such as is found within a religion. This applies whether a religion is one of the so-called organized religions, pagan, or one of the myriad other religions created by humans.

A religion comes into existence by the hand of a human, generally a man or group of men. A concept of Deity and the mysteries of life are created and then transformed into a specific dogma or set of beliefs. The only problem with this approach is that it is predicated upon the narrow precepts of one or even a few select humans.

This is fine, if such beliefs were confined to the originators of such beliefs. For each individual is entitled to the beliefs that define their personal existence in regards to Deity and the mysteries that comprise this existence of life.

But when such personal opinions are then extended to the masses, the concept of individualism becomes mired in the tentacles of censorship that goes by the label of dogma. When this occurs, the concept of individuality is lost.

Another concern with such an approach is that those opinions that form the basis for religions are based upon select human perspectives and are not the direct offering of Deity. Of course there will be those humans who will insist that their perception of Deity was the driving force that has inspired the particular religion that they themselves subscribe to.

However with literally thousands of divergent concepts of deity that has been proffered since the beginning of humankind, who is actually right and just as importantly, who is wrong? Is there such delineation when it comes to spirituality and/or religion? Does one person have to be right in order for all others to be wrong?

As individuals, each seeking their own definition and thus understanding of deity, this self-imposed quandary goes away. For as individuals, the belief in deity and the search for a comprehensive understanding of the mysteries of life become a personal pursuit and as such, do not require the approval of any other human being on earth.

Paganism was at one time a path that actually encouraged individual seeking and thus a personal sense of understanding. And in many ways it still is to this very day. However the specter of religion and the pressure of peer acceptance as defined by the few have stretched its tentacles into paganism as well. This modern attempt at conversion is commonly referred to as neo paganism. In essence, there is an attempt by some of these modern converts to turn paganism, which once defined individual spirituality, into a religion which follows the same parameters as the so called organized religions.

Why is this being attempted when it is blatantly obvious that organized religions and paganism are diametrically opposed in their approach to the concepts of deity and the mysteries of life?

The most obvious reason for this forced perception of dogma is the entrance of the many who formerly subscribed to an established religious pattern of acceptance in regards to their spiritual journey. However there may be a deeper reason for such an imposition of foreign values when discussing the parameters of paganism.

For instance why does humankind even need the anonymity of a concept known as religion where one can comfortably become a faceless member of a pre-conceived set of beliefs (dogma) ? And as already noted, said set of beliefs, which in every man-made religion on earth is defined by a select few.

Could it be because there is a segment of society who is apathetic about their spiritual beliefs? Could such folks be personally insecure of what they may encounter if they were to actually seek out their own answers to spirituality? Does this observation offend you?

If so, perhaps there is a gem of truth here that you may want to explore within your Inner self. When a select person or group of persons places the concept of deity and the mysteries of life into an imposition such as religious dogma, there is in effect a barricade to any real spiritual growth. The individual loses the gift of self-identity because they are pressured into a specific set of beliefs (dogma) , which limits any further exploration of the many possibilities that are inherent in un-fettered spirituality.

Many man-made religions have mechanisms in place that are designed to ensure that their members do not stray outside of the accepted parameters of belief has dictated by the few. Where is the freedom of the individual in such a setting? And where within the tenets of paganism do such man-made impositions apply?

These same man-made religions also have mechanisms in place to cast out those who dare to seek out the truths of life as they apply to their personal seeking and yet are outside of the accepted dogma of the particular religion that one is subscribing to.

In my personal opinion such an approach has absolutely nothing to do with any real concept of paganism. And so the push to “convert” paganism into the parameters of organized religion is somewhat troubling and may border on hypocrisy.

There is a common saying that “trying to get pagans to come together is like herding cats”. I personally hope that such an analogy retains some iota of truth as paganism wends its way into the consciousness of modern practitioners. Once those who follow the path of paganism lose the inherent right to live as individuals and once members of paganism lose the drive to seek out Inner truths, which are not restrained by the masses that blindly follow the lead of the few, then it is no longer a true spiritual path. Rather it becomes nothing more than an extension of the mind numbing control of religion.

And those who describe themselves as pagans, in all reality become nothing more than faceless minions of yet another man-made religion.

The Path of Wisdom

The Path of Wisdom

Author: Crick

As I walk along an unexplored trail through the forest, I take notice that there are no obstructions in my way. There are no brambles waiting to snag me with their thorns. There are no fallen trees to stumble over. There is no wayward stream forcing me to forage across. There is only the solitude of the woods and the associated sounds of woodland life.

Above me in the branches of an old Elm tree are a couple of birds that are singing a morning duet. It is a song about joy and the happiness of life. Could this be a romantic tryst? Up ahead of me a King snake goes slithering quietly across the path. He emanates an indifference to his surroundings as he ponders solitary thoughts. Alas, a creature of stealth and mystery that one is.

In the creek that runs parallel to the path, are shiny black salamanders, gleefully enjoying the gentle currents of cool water. It glides over them, while they undulate like strands of dark grass beneath the surface of the shallow stream. Their thoughts may be minute but their existence is in tune with their surroundings.

As I pass an old Oak tree, I can see the tracks of a raccoon leading to a well-used hole situated in the base of the tree. Without a doubt, this young denizen is nestled deep within the trunk of this abiding oak, lost in a deep slumber. For a moment I wonder what it may be that she is dreaming of.

Suddenly I hear the splash of a small fish as it propels itself out of its natural environment into a momentary altered state of experience. Much like a human who has astral projected for the first time. I wonder if there is a change in its sense of reality as it briefly goes from one element to another. Or is it a fleeting experience that passes by un-noticed?

These thoughts lead me to think of my spiritual path which unlike this forest trail is fraught with obstacles placed by fellow humans. For unlike the many denizens of this quiet forest, humans do not adapt well to the environment in which they live. For as long as I can remember I have walked my personal path as an individual and yet many have been the obstacles placed before me by others who have stumbled across my path. The light glows before them but their eyes remain tightly closed.

Spiritual growth is the unique experience of each who walks such a trail and yet many are those who would insist otherwise. The mysteries of life are an experience that is related to the lessons each individual person requires to move forth. And yet there are many who will posture and claim to know the answers that are hidden from them within the mists. Fear of such unknowns spawns a false sense of arrogance and thus limits the ability to truly experience and thus find the understanding that is there for us all.

A spiritual path requires the freedom of mind and heart and the willpower and desire to achieve it. Empty words cast forth from a mass of humanity, is akin to a lonely sigh on a secluded mountaintop. No one truly hears it for there is none about to listen. For those who speak little but listen much, indeed, they will hear the whisper of wisdom as it goes quietly by like a soft springtime breeze. And yet there are many who would gladly lend their voices to the maddening din of transparent experiences, egos rising like a flock of geese, thus offering naught but another obstacle to one’s spiritual path.

We are each as different as the blades of grass that make up a vast field. Perhaps the sage approach is to listen as we each have a unique tale to tell. Though we may each walk a spiritual path our footfalls will not be exactly identical, each step along the path an experience within itself. But rather then live in synchronicity with each other, each of us striving to attain an awareness and understanding of our purpose in life, we would rather place obstacles one before the other.

And woe, are our bitter fruits, given to us by those who would choose to take shortcuts along the path of life. Such folks as these are the loudest of all who seek to place obstacles before others. And little do they care to be listening as the lessons of life present themselves to each of us whom walk this path. For such folks are spiritually apathetic and as such they continually seek the shortest route.

But as I walk along this unexplored path through the forest, I realize the parallels inherent between this woodland trail and my spiritual path. Knowing not where the shortcuts may lead, would I not prefer to follow the trail in its entirety and thus have the opportunity to absorb the experience of life as a whole?

Would I personally want to chance on missing out on important lessons that may advance my understanding of life and thus my spiritual growth by taking shortcuts? And would I choose to hide my lack of such knowledge gained through such an experience by being loud and boastful and eager to set obstacles before others who may be walking beside me? Or would I choose to be silent and let the sounds of this forest and in essence of life, make their presence known to me?

Alas, if I am to be true to the tenets of being an individual who is walking the path of life, then I can only answer for myself. I cannot pretend to be able to answer for others, for though their life experiences may be similar, they are still unique to that traveler. And the only way for me to learn from the experiences of others is to be silent and willing to listen.

Balancing one’s ego is a difficult task, but then the ego is attached to the earthbound soul and once freed from the path of humanity, it is left behind as the spirit sheds such obstacles and flies freely back home. And so as we travel our spiritual path, each individual must decide which is more important, the short-lived desires of the mundane human existence or the long-term goal of spiritual growth.

And so as I walk the last remaining yards of this forest path free of any obstacles, I know that within my heart I will continue to bypass and overcome the obstacles that my fellow humans will surely present me on the path of humanity.

Will you?

On Becoming a Crone

On Becoming a Crone

Author: Belladonna SilverRayne

Why is it so hard to admit we’re growing older? Why do we fight it tooth and nail? Society and the media as a whole, wants to show aging as something to be fought against, to be put off as long as possible. Why? Look at any sit-com, news broadcast, music video…. it’s all about being young and “beautiful”. Youth is made out to be the epitome of what we all want to be. Who wants to get old, right? Wrong!

I will be 45 on my next birthday. A fact that, when said out loud at first, made me mentally cringe. “Me? 45?? That means only 5 more years till I’m 50!!” After I said it aloud several times, and really thought about it, I could say it with confidence. Yes. Me. 45 going onto 50.

And I love it! I am moving into the Crone stage of my life, and enjoying every minute of it!

I loved the Maiden stage, when I was young, supple, carefree, and self-indulgent. Who among us didn’t? Life seemed so simple, so easy to handle. And it was. My biggest worry was what outfit I’d wear out to the club to dance and make merry with friends.

I sowed my oats, looked out for number one (me, of course) and just basically did my own thing. I moved at the speed of light, never really stopping to appreciate the things around me, never really taking anything in. Just “doing”. As I got a little older, I met the person that would become my husband and the father of my kids and we began our life together.

And I grew.

Then came Mother-hood. My body showed great evidence of the birthing of my children, as did my energy levels, emotional (in) stability, and newfound patience. I now had three other human beings, put on this Earth by me, all looking TO me to provide, nourish, teach, and love. Wow! As they grew, learned, made mistakes, and matured, I did as well. I managed to learn along the way to slow down a bit, to really notice things as they happened around me. I watched and listened a little more carefully now. I loved every moment, good and not so good, watching these amazing people who were once actual, living parts of my own body, turn into individuals, all truly unique within themselves, seeing them overcome hurdle after hurdle. Such a reward in life I will never receive again. Or will I?

I divorced my husband, and watched my kids growing older, going out on their own, and beginning their lives as young adults.

And I grew.

When I first began my Pagan path, I was still in what is considered the Mother stage, my kids were still relatively young and “needed” me in a mommy way. I was still very fertile, and the idea of having another baby sometime was not out of the question. Time passed and that idea faded, along with my monthly menses. (Can’t say I miss them much!)

It took me quite awhile to realize that I was no longer in that stage once the Croning period began. I wanted to fight it, to deny it, all for vain reasons, I’m sorry to say. I wanted to cling to that youth, or at least the image of it. Or so I thought. Now, after having met, gotten to know, and come to love, many admirable women, all in the Crone cycle of life, I am fully aware that I too am at that stage. And come to find out, it’s not so bad after all!

As I move into my Croning time, I don’t look at it as an ending, but a beginning, very akin to giving birth (only this time, I don’t think I’ll need all the medications!) . I will be giving birth to my Self. I can allow my Self to now grow, learn, and experience life, as I once allowed my children to do these things.

I am eager to gain more wisdom as time goes by, as the Great Wheel turns, and as season drifts into season.

I am learning to cherish the lines on my face, as each one stands for some lesson learned, some path walked down, perhaps a hardship suffered and come through stronger because of it.

I have begun to admire my stretch marks as battle scars, won not on the field of some war, but fighting to bring life into this world, one wonderful child at a time.

I now embrace the fullness of my softened body, knowing that even though it may not bring life into this world any longer, or be as taut and supple as it was two decades ago, it can still allow for pleasures, for physical support, and for living life in a healthy, Goddess-filled way!

I am now allowing my mature mind to expand and create in ways that it could not in the past.

I enjoy the younger ones coming to me, asking for my opinion, needing a particular sort of comfort that only someone my age can offer.

I am now ready to walk towards the end of my path in this particular life, knowing that even though it comes towards me quicker than ever, there is still much to gather, much to pass on, but still much MORE to learn and take in.

In Pagan societies (as well as many others) Elders are looked to for advice, comfort, wisdom, and as examples. Who better to follow than a grand Crone or Sage, not past their prime, but fully embracing it, fully aware of themselves as human beings? I so hope to be such an example, to my children, my Pagan brothers and sisters, and non-Pagan friends, alike. I want to show what it is to age gracefully, to accept that life is a never-ending cycle of birth, growth, death, and re-birth, in so many ways. I want everyone to see that while youth has it’s merits and perks, so does growing older and wiser.

Whatever stage of life you may be in as a woman. Maiden, Mother, or Crone, realize the absolute beauty of the moment, embrace it for all it is worth, and live each cycle to the fullest. Know that you have earned all that you are made up of, inside and out. And fear not, for Crone is not the end of the line, it is the goal we, as women, all strive to attain.

Dragons of Darkness

The dragons of darkness, or dark of the Spirit, rule negative power currents. Their color is sometimes black; a female energy, they are considered moist and cold. Positive association of darkness are: all forms of night, the Moon and stars, the pentacle disk, the dragon pentacle, the black altar candle, the staff, the salt dish, rest, dreams, psychic guidance, balancing karma, seeking the truth, helpful dark magick. The negative association are: deep anger, hate, fear, unjustified revenge, working against karmic patterns, mentally distorting psychic messages so that you hear what you want to hear, harmful dark magick.

In Sanskrit, the dragons of darkness and chaos, or unformed matter, were given the title of tad ekam (That One). These dragons exist in a place where time has no authority, where physical light and darkness are actually not yet separated, where Primordial Matter waits to be formed into physical manifestations. As with the dragons of light, dragons of darkness hold within their jaws a precious stone of fulfillment. Dragons of darkness rest with their tails in their mouths, as do those of light. However, when they release the tail, they break down forms of energy; we would call this destroying. This dismantling of energy is necessary so that the dragons of light can re-create it in a new form.

Guardian Dragons

Personal guardian dragons come in various shapes and sizes, and usually (but not always) are quite small, at least much smaller than other dragons. They come in all colors. Often the little guardians are colored in pastel or lighter shades with belly scales of a myriad of hues. This smallness and color variety seem to point to the possibility that these dragons are more or less serving an apprenticeship, that they are younger dragons. The older adult dragons range in dimensions from tiger-size to absolutely huge; their scales are more pronounced and harder, while the little ones have softer scales, sometimes barely discernable.

Dragons age very slowly; therefore the juvenile stage could well last a hundred or more years, a relatively short period of time for long-lived dragons.

Guardian dragons would appear to be serving a type of apprenticeship by working with humans. This is their time of “schooling” of learning about humans, and of strengthening their individual powers. And as with all schools, the little guardian dragons are supervised by one or more adult dragons; you may or may not see these teachers. This supervision is for the safety of the little ones, as well as your protection. Little guardian dragons can get quit exuberant at times.

Although the powers of guardian dragons are not as strong or focused as those of larger dragons, they can help with protection; friendship; love; divination, such as tarot, runes or crystal reading; the development of psychic abilities; dancing; singing; and general rituals.

Having a guardian or guardians from the dragon kingdom has distinct advantages. They become quite protective if you are friends with them. These little dragons are more or less astral watchdogs of both your property and your person. In this period of history with crime rates soaring, a magician, indeed any person, is foolish not to take advantage of any offered help in protection of self, family, and property. With guardian dragons, there is no cleanup; one feeds them on love and created energy. They are invisible and quiet, at least to the senses of most people. However, they can and do make disturbing noises, uncomfortable vibrational feelings and sometimes actual appearances to those they feel might cause their friends distress or harm in any way.

Most of these little guardian dragons are quite playful. They frolic with and often tease household pets. One of our little guardians take delight in startling Finnigan, one of our cats, but he treats the other cat, Callisto, with respect. All of our little guardians love young children, following them about with great interest. In describing dragons, one can use the pronouns he or she interchangeably, since it is difficult to know the sex of dragons unless they tell you.
Nip and Tuck are our knee-high dragons. They are quite heavy through the body and have stubs of wings; I have never seen them fly, but they run at top speed up and down the stairs. They are colored in metallic earth hues with flashes of gold and deep forest green on their scales. I have never been able to tell which one is Nip and which is Tuck; they seem to think this is a great joke. More than one time I have found myself stepping over one of them, only to have a nonbelieving visitor give me a strange look. My dragons are as real to me as my cats, who also have a bad habit of lying down right beside me.
Tinsel, the tiniest of the dragons, is only the length of my hand. She is a shade or spring green, soft as silk,

with transparent wings almost as long as she is. Her belly scales are colored with electric blue, deep rose, gold and silver, like a gem-studded best. Nip and Tuck are likely to be anywhere in the house, while Tinsel can be found nestled in my hair, droped over one of my ears like an exotic ornament, or snoozing on top of the bookcases. After working lone hours in front of a computer, I often need my neck adjusted because of tension. Fortunately, my husband does this for me. One night while doing this, he started to laugh and said, “Listen to Tinsel.” Tinsel was sitting on the dresser watching, while commenting with a constant stream of talk. “I don’t need my neck adjusted. Ouch! Does that hurt? Don’t hurt her now.”

A dragon-loving friend has a guardian named Quicksilver who is black except for silver on his wings, yellow-gold eyes, and a fiery red mouth. Like most guardian dragons, Quicksilver has a delicious sense of humor and a delightful laugh.

Guardian dragons generally love to participate in rituals. Sometimes, instead of primarily defending a house, they will attach themselves to a person. Therefore, it is entirely possible to have several guardian dragons to a family and even several to a person.

Guardian dragons are the most friendly of their species and the most fun-loving. They enjoy simple impromptu rituals that include dancing, singing, and general fun. Simple, very relaxed rituals such as these are an excellent way to introduce children into the field of ritual and getting acquainted with dragons. It is also a very good way for adults to unwind and release stress.

These dragons are attracted to ginger and sweet-smelling and spicy incenses. They are greatly interested in divination and have a tendency to hang over your should while you are reading cards or practicing crystal gazing, for instance. They are interested in stories, especially if the dragon is portrayed as powerful, wily and not defeated by puny mortals.

A friend’s six-year-old daughter was having difficulty seeing her dragons and was quite upset about it. Her father finally gave her a rock crystal and told her to put it against her forehead. Immediately, she saw her dragons. Now it is common for her to keep a piece of crystal handy so she can enjoy this enw way of “seeing” her dragon friends.

If you are having trouble visualizing your dragons, try using a piece of rock crystal. It does not have to be flawless, nor does it have to points. It would appear that this type of crystal acts as a kind of magnifying glass to the psychic through the third eye in the middle of the forehead. When you have mastered the technique with rock crystal, experiment with other kinds of translucent rocks. Remember, dragons have individual tastes in things, just as humans do.

Chant:

Little dragons, rainbow bright,

Good friends of this family,

Send good wishes to us all.

Join our rituals merrily.

Protect us through each day and night,

While awake or while asleep.

Though your love and vigilance

Do this family safely keep.

Dancing With Dragons

D. J. Conway

What If You Have Attracted A Dragon or Dragons Who Make You Feel Uncomfortable?

What if you have attracted a dragon or dragons who make you feel uncomfortable? I have known this to occur with other spiritual guides, so I suppose it can also happen with dragons, although I have not personally experienced this. If a dragon make you uncomfortable, it is very likely that you are not ready yet to work with its energies. First, become clear in your own mind why you feel this discomfort. Perhaps the actual root of the discomfort is a bit of programming struggling to make itself felt and keep control over your activities. Perhaps the dragon’s coloring has triggered old conditionings. A black dragon produces this feeling in people who have been taught that dragons, and particularly black dragons, are evil. The further into the subconscious you dig, the more you are amazed at what is it there, controlling your thoughts and actions when you least expect it.

If you still feel uncomfortable, set aside a time for a brief meditation and mental conversation with the dragon. Explain carefully and politely that you are attempting to remedy the situation, but at this time you just do not feel that the two of you can work positively together. Project as much good will as you can. The dragon will understand. I have never known a dragon to stay where it is not welcome.

The first dragons I saw were the huge elemental ones who appeared one night about a week before we discovered that some bikers up the road were operating a meth lab. By the time the ATF forces, FBI, and local law enforcement descended upon the area, the dragons had put up very strong defenses around our property. At no time did we have any problems with the bikers. And, although some of their members shot it out with officials in another location, the arrests near us were quiet. After that, all colors and sizes of dragons made appearances, join in rituals and generally hanging around the house. They are still with us.

As your journey begins in dragon magick, go prepared for a fantastic voyage on which you can make new friends and magick-working partners, and you will be pleasantly surprised at the knowledge you will learn. Dance with the dragons in their endless round of energy, and feel all areas of what you want from the astral plane, and you may well (and very likely will) have an unprofitable journey filled with unpleasant experiences. Would-be conquering invaders have never been met with friendship, whatever plane of existence they were on. Exploring traders who were willing to listen and bargain a bit always had the most successful, profitable voyages of discovery. Travel into dragon country with caution, an open mind, and friendship in your heart. The journey will be well worth it.

“Dancing with Dragons”

D. J. Conway

So How Does One Go About Finding Dragons?

So How Does One Go About Finding Dragons?

So how does one go about finding dragons? You begin by learning as much about dragons and their magickal habits as possible. Then you look at your reasons for wishing to practice dragon magick with an objective and critical eye. When you feel comfortable with these steps, and only then, you begin building an atmosphere that will attract dragons. You perform certain actions that arouse their curiosity and will draw them to your vicinity. You beam a mental welcome, setting aside time and place to communicate with them on the astral level through mental visualization and speech. And you have to believe they exist, even if you cannot see them with your physical eyes or prove their existence to someone else.

You have to cast aside social taboos on “seeing” things and know with your heart that dragons do exist, if you wish to attract dragons. Mentally invite the dragons to make their presence known by thought or deed. Be sensitive and extra aware of what is occurring around you. Most dragons tend to be subtle in their first contacts with humans. They may choose to make an appearance in dreams or as flashes of movement seen in the peripheral vision. They may even forego these types of appearance to simply touch your psychic “feelings.”

Guardian dragons, the easiest to contact, often appear as little voices or faces and forms in the mind. Dragons may show up unannounced at any time, but especially during meditation or magickal rituals, either singly or several at a time. They love the power flow of ritual and will make an appearance just to bathe in the energy. They may well have been there all the time; you just did not notice them. Since dragons are masters of concealment that is not surprising.

These smaller dragons delight in sharing the vibrations of tarot and rune readings and other psychic practices. One of our guardian dragons likes to play with my crystal pendulum. He either pats it with a claw or mentally sends it spinning in nonsense directions. The only solution to using the pendulum is to let him tire of his game before attempting to get a reliable answer. He and his companions like to peer over my shoulder during tarot readings muttering their own interpretations all the while. One just has to be patient with them, as one would with a small, curious child.

You have to be willing to practice a great deal of patience, self-control, and self-discipline, learning to work with a specific set of magickal laws in order to consistently attract and elicit the help of dragons. As with all magickal procedures, nothing is cast in concrete but there are certain aspects of these procedures which cannot be eliminated or changed to any great extent without disturbing th flow of magickal power.

Not all dragons are of positive magick. I dislike using the words “good” or “evil,” because negative power is just as important to the existence of life as is positive power. Negative energies have nothing to do with evil, unless you have evil thoughts and intentions within yourself. And the Goddess knows that evil thoughts and intentions exist within those who are totally against magick! It is easy for people to understand what positive energy is and does. But negative energy has received a lot of bad press. Both positive and negative aspects of many things besides energy are needed to create, indeed for the universe to stay in existence.

What most people mean by using negative energy is the deliberate use of this type of power against another human. The magician realizes that sometimes, and after great deliberation of possible consequences and the true reasons behind her/his decision to use this type of energy, calling upon and sending forth negative energy can be justified. The best examples I can give of this are in the areas of rapists, child abusers, spouse beaters, drug dealers, dangerous fanatics, and serial killers. Allowing such evil to continue to exit unrestrained is potentially harmful to everyone. Working magick to get these offenders caught and punished is helpful to society as a whole in the final analysis. Even for these reasons, the magician must end the ritual with detached, unemotional involvement, an extremely difficult state of mind to reach.

Casting aside the magickal laws for working with dragon power is certain to get you into trouble. Even the most positive dragon is a wily beast who, like many humans, tend to look out for him/herself first. Dragons likely developed this attitude after trying to work with humans thousands of years ago and finding that puny mortals were unreliable, often treacherous, allies.

Your attitude toward the existence of dragons must be the first big step in preparation for meeting them. The power of dragons is a tremendous force, amplifying a magician’s ability to new heights.

“Dancing with Dragons”

D. J. Conway

Good Tuesday Afternoon, my dear friends!

Good afternoon, dear friends! How is your Tuesday going so far? I have a sinus infection and my head is fuzzy, fuzzy, fuzzy! Then I take a sinus pill and I get down right sleepy. So I am trying to figure out which one is worse, fuzzy or so sleepy I fall asleep on the keyboard, lol! The weather around here is to blame. We have been having 60 and 70 degree days around here. The weather hasn’t been cold enough, long enough to kill out all those nasty bugs. I have to admit this has been on strange weather. I know you didn’t stop by to discuss the weather. So let’s get on with what’s important!

Have a good day and most of all stay healthy!

Lady A

A SPELL FOR BREAKING KARMIC CONTRACTS WITH PEOPLE

Ingredients

(so they don’t continue to play the same detrimental roles in your further incarnations.)
On parchment or some other nice quality paper, write in red ink
(dragon’s blood ink, bat’s blood would be great too):
(Name) I declare our contract broken.
You no longer have power over me.
Never again will I be your servant, in this life or any other.
(you can use your own words, go into detail about how you feel you’ve been wronged
manipulated, whatever.)
Sign your name, burn it with a black candle. Get rid of the ashes.

I’m Right, You’re Wrong: The Fight to be Different

I’m Right, You’re Wrong: The Fight to be Different

Author: Sarrestia

I was thinking about writing all the examples and instances up front, and then lay out the bottom-line, but then I decided, what the heck:

Ladies and Gentlemen, there is not a damn thing you can do to be anything like the person next to you. No matter what you do, no matter how you live, no matter what you think, you will always, from before birth to after death, be different. This is not an opinion, this is not an ‘in-a-perfect-world’ statement, and this is fact, genetically to psychologically to metaphysically.

Every single person is built on two things: their genetics and their environment, not one or the other, but simultaneously.

Your genes are the product of half of two people’s genetics: your mother and father. Though you have their genes, you do not have all of them; you have a combination of genetics that they can never have. You are different! Even if you suddenly start looking ‘like’ your parents, or acting ‘like’ your parents, you are still not your parents. It is a genetic, biological impossibility.

Your experiences are the product of your environment, your genetics, and most especially, the thoughts and emotions you keep within your mind of those experiences. From the moment of birth, you begin to the act of experiencing the world around you, and within you. You are different!

Even identical twins, with the same exact genetic combinations, due to their experiences, will never, can never, be the same; they will be different. Though many studies of identical twins have shown that separated twins will display similar likes and dislikes, similar activities in their lives, but they are vastly different because of the families and environment they were raised. In addition, identical twins that were not separated, but were raised together have shown, repeatedly, that despite the same environment, they develop different personalities.

So, the very core of every single human being — in the genetics and experiences and behavior — will never be the same as another; we will always be different.

If this is so, then why do people demand that they be different? Why do children develop the intense, rebellious nature to become different from their parents, when they are and always have been? Why do people fight and kill to be different?

As to the title: I’m Right, You’re Wrong, it is this very thing of proving to another that they are different, in their personalities, their ideologies, etc that causes so many issues when it isn’t even about who is right or wrong. The point of any of this is that we are both right and we are both wrong. We are right in ourselves, to ourselves, but we are wrong to everyone else.

I would love to say that this problem is only the vice of the major religions, but alas, no. From the major religions to atheists, everyone thinks they are right and everyone else is wrong.

I will take this moment, before I continue, that this species of ours is blessed with the few individuals who have pulled themselves away from this trap to understand that it doesn’t matter what you believe in, they are happy with what they believe in and who they are; your beliefs, though nice to know, are irrelevant to their happiness. Sounds harsh, yes, but honestly it is the only way one can be happy, is to not allow everyone else’s opinions about one’s beliefs or their beliefs to be of any concern.

Unfortunately, this right vs. wrong attitude is deeply impeded in the pagan community. From the ceremonialists and traditionalists looking down at eclectics and solitaires to pagan women vs. pagan men to Wiccans vs. Witchcraft vs. New Agers vs. Fluff Bunnies… I can go on, of course. For a spirituality that is so ambiguous that the beliefs and actions of an individual is based on what feels right to him/her, and a spirituality that is far more accommodating to a person’s choice of lifestyle in any manner, it seems ridiculous that we would carry this issue with us. Of course, it may just be the result of the majority of pagans carrying this right and wrong issue from their previous religions, but I’m going to be optimistic (or pessimistic) and say it is just human nature.

By stating that I’m Right and You’re Wrong is human nature, it may be a lost cause and we, except for individuals, may never overcome this issue. However, at this point, I will be optimistic and say that the people who are formulating one of the greatest spiritual movements this world has seen in such a long time have the ability, if not the necessity, to overcome this pitfall and rise to a higher form of thinking with regards to anyone who is in the least bit different from you. Because guess what, they are, and will never see the same thing you see or feel or think or smell, and NEVER have the same spiritual experience as you.

Let the main religions continue their never-ending fight to be right and destroy, even if not physically they are still trying mentally and emotionally, those they feel are wrong. Let atheists struggle in their fight to convince people to shrug off millions of years of myth-based philosophies. Understand that you are different and will always be different and embrace that; embrace your weirdness, your difference, while at the same time acknowledging what we all share.

Which brings me to another point: despite all of our differences, we are still all members of the human species (unless there is someone that is reading this that does not currently carry human DNA within them…beg my pardon, no offense) . Every single person feels the same emotions. Whether they are expressed differently or triggered differently, a happy person in Iraq will look and act the same as a happy person in Nebraska (I know, I’ve seen happy Iraqis but I’ll have to debate the extent of a happy Nebraskan) .

We are different and we are the same, we are all right and we are all wrong. We are all individuals within one species on one planet, with DNA that is at its most basic the same with every single living creature on this planet.

Pagans, we are a fractious bunch from the very start because we choose to follow what is right within our hearts and souls, not because of what someone else says is right. So why do I constantly see people writing and commenting on their opinions of another person’s spiritual choice? Does their decision to join a coven, take the best from all the rest, or follow the creeds of people with less than credible sources change your beliefs, affect your beliefs, make you doubt your own? If so, then your heart and soul are telling you that the path you are currently on isn’t the one for you.

Faith: A Measure of Courage

Faith: A Measure of Courage

Author: Phoenix Forestsong

Trials of faith are perhaps one of the most difficult and seemingly impossible to beat, truths of life. Do you believe because you want to? Do you believe because you need to? Do you believe because you’re afraid not to? Do you believe firmly, and with utter conviction from the fiery furnace that is your soul, simply because you do?

Being the over-analytical and opportunistically studious Witch that I am, combined with the convenient timing of a test of faith (I’m an optimist) , I began to wonder exactly what Faith was. Exciting stuff I know, in fact, it is so exciting that from the earliest days of mankind, we nearly instinctually segregated ourselves based on the unquantifiable attribute of Faith. Man has been gleefully and gloriously engaging his fellow men to kill, rape, hunt, sacrifice, maim, torture, enslave, debase, dehumanize, corrupt, ostracize, ignore, discriminate, and in every other way demean anyone whose beliefs differ in any way.

Faith. It led an entire nation of people who valued their beliefs above all else, their core ideals all based on the same essential beliefs, into the very example of Devotion. From the very earliest of times it was faith that led these people from a nomadic and pastoral way of life, into a Mecca of civilization and legend. From freedom to power to bondage, into one hell of a bad road trip and back into a great nation again, it was Faith, Devotion to their God that has held them together throughout time.

This group of people, their common beliefs uniting them, marched straight into battle for the very land of their new nation. Not only have these brave and noble souls won and lost their land, their nation, their very lives have been hunted in genocide. Even during those times, when the sky looked the darkest, when it looked like the curtains were just about to close and nothing mattered anymore; it was Faith that made the difference. Faith, with its immeasurable and intangible set of life altering philosophies and values, brought them back from the terrifying depths of extinction into the glory of nationhood once again…and again…and again…

Faith – A Test of Time

It is said that Time is the ultimate destroyer, that nothing and no one can ever defeat the ravaging and eroding effects of Time. I beg to differ. Read the following excerpt from an AP article that I found on space.com.

“Current estimates for the construction of the pyramids, based on surviving lists of the pharaohs, are believed to be accurate to within about 100 years.

But Cambridge University Egyptologist Kate Spence said that by analyzing the relative position of Earth and two stars, she has dated the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza — one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World — to within five years of 2478 B.C.
That means the Great Pyramid is 4, 478 years old — or 75 years older than one commonly accepted estimate.”
-Stars tell the age of the pyramids, researcher says:
Alex Dominguez – Associated Press Writer posted: 11:18 am ET 17 November 2000

Scientifically, I get it. If you read the full article it states that the Pyramids were built with their north and south sides facing precisely north and south. By mapping the orbits of stars and calculating it backwards, two stars in the little and big dipper were always facing north and south. Thus, if you date it backwards and find where, thus when, those stars would have been aligned with North and South, you find the year! Ingenious!

It’s all Math! The universe, life, all of it and everything can, at some level, be quantified in an equation or counted in an audit. Everything except the spiritual…or can it be? I’ll leave the answer to that question to paranormal scientists, who I do believe are doing some good scientific work in expanding the science of the paranormal, to measure and prove. Until then, I’ll use my senses to detect Spirit, to feel faith, and to live in Devotion.

Faith – The Mouth of the Cave

Upon having our eyes opened with, oh…I don’t know, mankind’s rapid advancement in technology for example. There was once a time where men and women would willingly wait inside a forest for lightening to strike a tree in order to borrow fire. Mankind at this very moment now has the amazing ability to incinerate selected nations, or the entire world with the push of a button. How stupid are we?

Primitive humans understood at a feral level the patterns of the natural world. In fact, these primitive people thrived by living in harmony with their world. If I were a primitive human, I would like to think that I would have enough common sense to stay away from things that obviously attract lightening!

“Enlightened Man” has left the comfortable embrace of the Mother and ventured out into the wilderness to visit her gorgeous daughter. Man has traveled into space, landed on the Moon, split the Atom, and discovered infinite possibilities and solutions to problems and ideas not yet encountered. Humanity, in only the past hundred years, has learned to fly without wings. He has decoded the message of DNA and broadcast a message of peace to anyone who is listening in the rest of Universe via intelligent machines that he built.

Our “Golden Age of Humanity” who has created new worlds via Computers and the Internet, who will shortly fill that world with a new form of life, has discovered many secrets and realized many dreams. Yet still, as we discover incredible Life-Giving techniques and technologies, we for some reason still stand in the forest amidst one hell of a lightening storm.

Personally I don’t seem to recall, but at what point did we decide that actually building many something’s that could potentially have the ability to blow up the planet was a good idea? Yet one wave of humanity passes over the horizon and realizes “Gee, that probably wasn’t such a great idea huh?” another wave is right behind assembling their weapons as they run to catch up. As a species, we haven’t really advanced all that much have we?

Humankind has traversed uncounted miles and topped many horizons, each time discovering and dreaming just a little bit further and further ahead. In the days when life consisted of finding the nearest cave for shelter and the weakest deer for food, minds did not stray from survival. Thinkers were born who were a little brighter than the rest of the herd. Eventually new ways, safer ways, better ways were discovered, dreamt up, imagined and manifested into reality, and were learned by the whole of society. Thus, mankind has advance one step at a time from the cave and onto the shores of other worlds.

Yet still, even with the realization that the bounds of knowledge and discovery are limitless, mankind refuses to believe in what he cannot measure. The allegory of the cave is an example of this, for once you have left the cave, wouldn’t you want to see what else exists? For time and time again has history displayed the arrogance and folly of those who refuse to dream. I can quantify a tomato because I can see it, touch it, taste it, smell it, and perform numerous measurements on it. It is real because I can see it. Photons are light particles, a strange hybrid mixture of substance and energy that moves like a wave and a particle. The great inventor, Leonardo da Vinci, dreamt of some of our modern technology. Would the Photon, immeasurable in his day, be thought of as fantasy and magick? When I raise power, when my mother prays for one of her clergy, when I experience the divine, is that too not real?

Jules Verne, the great author, wrote works of fantasy and fiction. In his day his books were the stuff of dreams, a demented mind with too much time on his hands. It’s funny the way it is, how just a short time ago the works of fantasy are the stuff of our history. There are very few people who still live today who were never born into a world without flight. It’s commonplace. Hell, we have frequent flier miles!

If you were to go back in time and speak to the greatest minds of their day, a lot like two surfers’ excellent adventure, and tell them of our world and our dreams, how would that go over? Explain the mathematics involved behind thermonuclear fission to Socrates and then explain the very same thing to Thomas Jefferson. Which one will have the greater understanding? The more we advance, the further we see, and greater our dreams, which urge us onward over the next horizon…and the next….and the next… Why then, does our scientific community, people who were executed for their beliefs in provable science, and thus the “official world” still refuse to at least consider that which has not yet been quantified?

Our most brilliant minds have been able to prove, to the world of science, the existence of Black Holes. Black holes have no mass, thus no “weight”, their gravitational pull is so great that they eat stars and not even the light escapes. The only problem is this; no one has actually seen a black hole with his or her own two eyes. We have detected them based upon mathematics and theory, yet they are not really a physical object, rather a paradox of logic of and existence. Yet it is a scientifically proven and accepted fact that, yes indeed, black holes do exist.

I stand in a circle of power and I can feel my own energy. Seven nodes of light are mine, my chakras. I balance these energy centers and grow roots to ground. I feel the power, center my energy, and begin to raise power, attuning into the mighty torrent of Divine energy, spiritual energy. I focus my will into this power, this mighty and ever increasingly growing ball of energy, programming it with my intent. The time is right and my focus changes, I now direct this energy onto situation I am trying to better. I feel exhausted and must rest, but the wisdom gained from the brief communion with My Gods and the knowledge that the situation will be changed make a joy rather than a burden. I rest and I wait. Within weeks the situation begins to change, shaping itself to outcome, if not the imagined manifestation, of my will.

Everyone has this ability. Faith or faithless, it does not matter, for energy is energy, and energy is that which can be neither created nor destroyed. It is our Faith in our spiritual connection, whether it be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Wiccan, Pagan, or even in the all-mighty spirit of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers; it doesn’t matter. What matters is that everyone can experience it, we can’t see it but we can feel it and its effects. X-Rays were accidentally discovered in 1895, but in 1894, or 4 for that matter, If a person were to be exposed to high doses of X-Ray radiation, that person would be just as dead whether X-Rays were “real” or not.

We Are Spirits In A Material World and Other Law Enforcement Sayings

I really like the name of that song, because we are Spirits in a Material world. Science is the study of the world of the physical and learning the secrets of how things work in order to make newer and better things. Magick is the study of the world of Spirit, of energy, and learning the secrets of how to manipulate the physical world through the spiritual. It is impossible to find a person who has not had a spiritual experience, for a spiritual experience is not the same religious experience. The brief moment of peace and feeling of oneness with the local park during your morning jog is a spiritual experience. The feeling of love and acceptance from a parent while you were very young, all these are spiritual experiences as well.

Even the most devout science-loving atheist, who believes in nothing but the physical, has had the same or similar experiences. Some people are afraid of the spiritual while others disregard it. Regardless, Atheists, Christians, and Wiccans choose their own paths and personal beliefs based upon whatever makes that spiritual connection for them. So, if it can’t be quantified and personal experience is not scientifically acceptable, where can the materialist look to find some proof of Spirit? Something that is real will leave an impact on the physical world, the world of measurement, while something that is unreal, will leave no mark for it does not exist.

There is a way in which to see firsthand the mark that Faith has had upon the world. Look to Egypt, the great Pharaohs and their great tombs, built so long ago that their civilization has passed beneath the sands of time into myth. Their monuments remain, those great tombs, standing tall and proud amidst the stinging erosion of flying desert sand. We look to these monuments of our ancient brethren with awe and wonder, amazed by the incredible precision and craftsmanship involved in an age of bronze, stone, leather, and rope.

Look now to the people of Israel, the people of God, a group whose faith, whose belief in their spirituality runs so deep, that it predates the pyramids. For over two thousand years of recorded history the Jewish people have been repeating the tale of their enslavement in Egypt, where they were used to build pyramids. The official judgment is mixed, because there were some Hebrew names that were involved in the pyramids, but in any case just remember that at the time of the pyramids, the people of Israel were plentiful.

Today, the pyramids have cracked, crumbled, fallen, and deteriorated from the time of their construction. Some of these great tombs have vanished below the sands of time, leaving no mark of their existence. Israel is a nation once again, for its history is turbulent but infinite. While the Pyramids are aging and falling, and time is taking its cruel toll on them moment by moment, the Jewish faith is still alive, well, and having babies! Their culture is still largely intact and their faith still runs as deep as ever before. From slavery to power to genocide to being scattered, the people of this faith are what keep the faith strong.

Mass and Energy – Science and Spirit

Which is stronger, Material or Faith? Stone and steel are the tools of the material world, which are those things that can be created and destroyed. Energy, Thought, and Will are the tools of the spiritual world, which are those things that cannot be created or destroyed; however, they can still manipulate the material world. Which is stronger, the stone or the soul? Which of the two choices takes more courage; to grow and transform into something better or to be that which simply is and always will be until it is ground into dust?

As a race, we have evolved from the feral animals of our forefathers, to a deeply spiritual people rooted in nature. We then moved from the realm of spirit to the realm of science, where human understanding blossomed. Spirituality and science are not mutually exclusive, so as one blossoms, the other withers. It is time for humanity to take the blinders off and see the many beautiful vistas that await us. Leonardo da Vinci knew his helicopter would fly, just as his submarine would work along with his tank and his glider. He didn’t have to even build them but I’m sure that Leo knew that one day his ideas of fantasy would be manifested into reality.

Blessed Be,

-Phoenix Forestsong

Footnotes:
-Stars tell the age of the pyramids, researcher says:
Alex Dominguez – Associated Press Writer posted: 11:18 am ET 17 November 2000

Earth Witch Lore – Mountains and Mounds

Legendary mountains and mounds fall within the domain of the Earth Witch. While mountains are natural formations, mounds are human-made. Both are considered sacred space. The prevailing argument as to the purpose of the mounds is that they are sacred burial grounds.

The Navajos have an old legend that describes the creation of the six sacred mountains. The First Man and First Woman formed the mountains from a bag of dirt that they carried with them from the third world (spirit realm). They sent Turquoise Boy to one mountain. Abalone Shell Boy to another, Jet Boy to another, and White Bead Boy to another. The mountains were not satisfied with that arrangement and would rumble loudly with displeasure. Only two of the six mountains were happy. First Man and First Woman sent the beautiful Mixed Stones Boy and Girl to those mountains. They then sent the rest of the holy ones, including Grasshopper Girl and Yellow Corn Girl, into the mountains.

First Man and First Woman then fastened the mountains to the land with lightning bolts, stone knives and sunbeams. They decorated them with shells, eggs, mists and rain. They then blessed the mountains with chants and prayers. They believe that keeping the land beautiful pleases the ancestors, and pleasing the ancestors, make for a happy tribe.

The Earth Witch agrees with this philosophy. She makes regular use of eco-magic and often gets involved with environmental issues. She understand the true beauty and blessing of the Earth and does not take them for granted. She considers keeping the land clean a sacred responsibility.

Today’s Tarot Card for Jan. 6th is The Hierophant

The Hierophant

This Tarot Deck: Esoterico

General Meaning: Traditionally known as the Hierophant, this card refers to a Master and the learning of practical lessons from the study of Natural Law. This energy of this card points to some agent or resource that can reveal the secrets of life, the cycles of the moon and tides, the links between human beings and the heavens.

Because monasteries were the only places a person could learn to read and write in the middle ages, a Hierophant was one to whom a student would petition for entry. He was the one to set the curriculum for the neophyte’s course of study.

Often pictured with the right hand raised in blessing, the Hierophant is linked with the ancient lineage of Melchezidek, initiator of the Hebrew priestly tradition, the one who passes on the teachings. All shamans of any tradition draw upon this archetype.

Tears of a Witch

Tears of a Witch

Author: Crick

And so I pause beside a woodland stream, as I wonder why.

And so why the hate mongering and the overwhelming fear?

So why manifest such lies and unfounded hatred?

Why can we not all accept the fact that we are seekers on the path of life? And as it is with such travelers, no one person has all of the answers.

I seek to not judge others nor do I seek to be judged.

Your Daily Number for December 29th: 5

You may find your interests expanding today, and you’re probably going to be feeling more liberated than you have in a long time. New people, social gatherings, and possibly romance may broaden your horizon. Be careful not to over-indulge or become careless in the midst of so much activity.

Fast Facts

About the Number 5

Theme: Resourceful, Adventure, Speculation, Travel

Astro Association: Taurus

Tarot Association: Hierophant

The Language of the Stars

The Language of the Stars

Author: Radko Vacek

Having listened to the language of the stars closely, I do think it is spiritual, and in accord with the properties of – our own minds! To realize that their language, in all its heavenly grandeur, shares our own mental properties helps us feel better about ourselves. To think that we, in spite of all our flaws, are in the image of the heavenly and the Divine gives us the confidence and the hope to resume reaching for the unreachable star!

I do think that astrologers have been right all along! The language of the heavenly bodies does seem to reflect the events of our daily lives, which highlight that spiritual, divine aspect of life so easily overlooked. This makes the language of the stars, astrology, spiritual! I agree with you: astrology communicates mostly nonsense, but that is if we equate astrology with sun sign and newspaper horoscopes. But if we learn the language as it is meant to be understood, it becomes truly spiritual. How great this is, because as a spiritual language, it is very relevant to us as human beings concerned about our welfare.

To speak of spirituality to one another can have a great impact on our well-being, even turn our whole lives around. In the Introduction to his 2007 book, Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy, Dr. Kenneth Pargament began by describing his work doing psychotherapy with a client named Alice. She struggled for decades with manic depression. He described Alice’s turning point towards recovery, when she was describing how, when she was first hospitalized, she felt terrified while lying on her bed. She went on to share how then she felt something warm in the center of her chest, how the feeling spread through the rest of her body. She said that through this feeling, she knew God was with her, telling her He always would be with her.

Why was she depressed? Maybe she hated herself. Do you sometimes hate yourself too? Each of us can feel better about ourselves and be empowered, by experiencing Divinity in our lives and sharing that experience with each other, as people receptive to spirituality being a very important aspect of life. Knowing that the relationships of the very heavenly bodies, in all their awesome grandeur, are reflected in the events of our lives, which seem so short and trivial in comparison, why would we not be open to spirituality? Knowing that, no longer does it seem hard to believe that a power so great, underlying the whole of this vast universe, could be felt by us on our lowly level as this personal Deity. In this sense, spirituality becomes a value to embrace as a very important aspect of our daily lives. So, the language of the stars is spiritual in the sense of giving us this vital message about our spiritual nature.

I do think that the language of the stars also is a human language, in accord with the properties and the powers of our minds. You might not want to embrace this idea, preferring to think of theirs as like a tongue of angels, or whatever celestial beings you believe in. Take consolation in this: things could be worse. The stellar language could be computer like!

What exactly are the properties shared by our languages and, more generally, the properties of our minds? Considering that we are around people much of the time, and cannot help but live with ourselves all the time, you would think these are easy questions. Actually, they have been the topics of much debate for thousands of years! On the one hand were those who thought of human language as being atomistic, in the sense of being reducible to the words from which sentences are composed. On the other hand were those who thought of it as being holistic, in the sense of being functional and implying sentences from the very beginning. That is, if a toddler says, “wawa”, the whole sentence, ‘I want a drink of water’, is implied, according to this school of thought. In fact, rarely does a toddler, according to them, say a word just for the sense of mastery in saying it; rather, they thought that language usually is inherently functional.

Whatever theory a person had about the nature of human language usually went hand in hand with a theory of the nature of the human mind in general. Those who had an atomistic model of language tended to think of the mind as more like a blank slate. They argued that the environment is more influential, with people acquiring language and other complex behaviors in bits, put together through learning in step-by-step approximations. Those who had a holistic model of language tended to think of the person as being born with a mind already prepared to organize bits into some type of whole, and therefore from the very beginning responding to roughly holistic perceptions in roughly holistic ways.

The verdict finally is in and, based on the evidence, the vote of the scientific community favors the holistic model of human language and its acquisition, as well as a holistic model of how the human mind, from birth, tends to perceive the environment and respond. Linguistic ability definitely appears to be stored in the human brain as a set of unconscious patterns of mental grammar, which is inborn. Of course, nothing is the result of nature alone. The environment always affects the unfolding of the natural potentials of any organism. In the case of children, they learn the specifics of their particular language through interactions with other people, but always, that learning occurs in the contexts of a genetically encoded “Universal Grammar” which provides the framework for all human languages. In fact, many other human abilities appear to be made possible through such inborn, mental organization. (See Ray Jackendoff, 1994, Patterns in the Mind.) It does appear, from the evidence that the mechanisms of human language serve as an effective model for understanding the way we are.

This has crucial implications for astrology as a helping profession and a body of knowledge. This is great news for those who worry about science disproving astrology. Astrology is most fundamentally a theory for understanding the way we are. It is not quite a science yet, for the lack of scientifically rigorous research confirming so many of its beliefs, but still, I do think it is a metaphysics, based on the pondering, from personal experiences, of many intelligent people over thousands of years. Definitely, it is more about understanding the way we are, than about what we are in the process of becoming. Like psycholinguists, astrologers recognize how the environment always affects the unfolding of the natural potentials of people, but always, like psycholinguists, astrologers emphasize the eternal influence, in the background, of a framework for empowering learning, with which people are born. Psycholinguists speak of “Universal Grammar”; astrologers speak of the natal chart with equal enthusiasm. Both, addressing natal factors, propose ways of understanding the way we are.

Given that astrologers and psycholinguists have all this in common, it behooves astrologers to teach and to practice their art more in accord with psycholinguistic findings. They teach the art in an atomistic way, in introducing the planets first, like words, then putting them in the contexts of signs and houses, but still in a way isolated from the rest of the planets and the natal configuration as a whole. Finally, the aspects between these planets, like sentences, are introduced. It is believed that this approach makes learning astrology easier, but does it? There is much evidence in the brain sciences, that people naturally perceive and interpret new stimuli in holistic ways, which perhaps also applies to the natal chart.

Astrologers want to get away from a fortunetelling model, in which events are fated by the stars, in favor of a counseling model of helping clients make informed decisions. This is understandable, in that the latter seems to be a more promising way of helping people. In doing so, however, many astrologers perhaps lose sight of the foundations of their art, definitely most fundamentally a means to understand the way we are, and secondarily, although importantly, to understand what we are in the process of becoming. No interpretation of transits or progressions can be made without the contexts set by the natal chart, as a reflection of the way the person is. Surely progressions and transits can reflect the changes a person undergoes, but the nature and the extent of change is always in astrology put in terms of the constraints set by the way the person naturally is, as reflected by the natal chart.

For instance, a person may be born when Mars is in Libra. Mars traditionally is said to represent the vital drive, which can manifest in either a good or a bad way. The good way is through assertiveness, and the bad through aggression. Libra traditionally is said to represent the quest of the person to unite with one’s other half, in marriage or some intense relationship. Some astrologers suggest that, if the person chooses not to gratify this Martian desire, the Martian aspect of the person becomes bad in discharging its drive through aggression. As much as the exercise of your freedom of choice is to be encouraged, I think that this interpretation of Mars is inconsistent with astrology as a nativist theory and unrealistic in its optimism about the extent of human free will. A sounder interpretation of Mars is to interpret it in contexts of the distance it is from other heavenly bodies and aspects it makes to them in the natal chart. Depending on these factors, Mars may tend to be either a predominantly aggressive or an assertive influence throughout the person’s life.

It sounds tragic; it surely can be a very dark cloud. Yet, I think it does have a silver lining, two in fact! One, Mars may reflect a force with which you must grapple for the rest of your life, but there is as well a chance of other, friendly forces accompanying you throughout your life. Two, grappling is not necessarily such a hostile activity! When I was a child, I did judo, of which grappling, much like wrestling, was a part. It was a mock adversity, because really it was friendly; we were strengthening each other through the struggle. Judo is respected by most people, but boxing? I have heard some call it barbaric. This is, however, a matter of the attitude you choose to take, as is the status of Mars in what is considered to reflect a predominantly aggressive force in your life. If you develop into a skilled boxer, then, in spite of the suffering you and others may face, you have allowed that something, which is a part of your nature no less than everything else, to manifest. Without doing so, you would not have been all that can be. In a similar way, regardless of what others say, letting that predominantly aggressive, Martian force have expression could let you be all that you can be. The choice still is yours, whether or not you want to pay the price of the suffering you and others may face.

The message of astrology is that, although we are constrained by our natal charts from becoming whatever we would like, nevertheless we can choose whether or not the way we are is an actualization of all that we can be. We do have some freedom after all! If you choose that path, then you might find your starlink.

Oh no! Is it real? It is the morning after!
What happened to all the causes for the laughter?
The Hell is in the living
With the unbelievable things which I have done!
The humanness is in the grieving
For all that I have lost, the beautiful now gone!
The enchantment is in the believing
In the resurrection, the reincarnation,
The cause that makes life go on.
The hope is in the reaching
For the unreachable star.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28

	Rev. Lady Carla Belt… on I Need a Day Off
	quicklycomputera2439… on I Need a Day Off
	Rev. Lady Carla Belt… on February 5, 2026 Current South…
	fadingfully58e4f7102… on February 5, 2026 Current South…
	Rev. Lady Carla Belt… on I’m Back
	alanleealan on I’m Back
	Rev. Lady Carla Belt… on I’m Back