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Ice Runes are most commonly used for questions about struggle, conflict, and achievement. Ken is the rune of light and knowledge, driving away darkness and ignorance and revealing hidden truth. This rune also brings forth images of friendship and comfort. Ken is the light of inspiration, the light of imagination, and a beacon in the darkest hours. |
Ritual to become Santa’s Deputy
By Nessa CrescentMoon, Hps, OWM
Each year, almost since the birth of our first child, we’ve read aloud L. Frank Baum’s The Life and Adventures of Santa Clause. Near the end of the book, Santa deputized a handful of his friends, ones who believed in his calling that work in his place. This gave me great inspiration one year to create a ritual in which we would ‘officially’ become Deputies of Santa You too can read this wonderful book online at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/520
It is in full text from ProjectGutenbug.org
Gather needed Items:
1 red candle for Santa
1 white candle for each parent present
Cookies and milk (enough for parents)
Directions:
Place items on altar
Light red candle and say”
“I the Parent
Do joyfully swear
To select and choose
With the greatest of care
Gifts of Love
Gifts to please
I am forthwith
One of Santa’s Deputies.”
Light white candle
Imbue milk and cookies with your newly deputized energy
Eat, drink and be merry
Homer used “rosy-fingered dawn” to describe the rising of the sun, and here in the mountains of western North Carolina the dull gray of morning twilight gives way to a fresh bright pink. If the weather holds, this is the sight that will greet Pagans as we celebrate our next holy day on the Winter Solstice.
My daughter and I will rise in the darkness, put the kettle on the stove and bundle up to stand in the back yard with warm drinks in gloved hands. When the gray smoothes to pink, we will sing some songs and welcome the sun’s “return.”
Though our simple celebration is colored with the trappings of modern life we are following an ancient impetus and performing a ritual of thanksgiving that harkens back to the earliest human times. How often do we think about the life-giving properties of our nearest star? We wear sunscreen and dark glasses to protect us from the power of its rays and the gardeners among us may squirm uncomfortably when the rainy days of early spring delay planting.
But our ancestors knew the rhythms of the seasons because they lived close to the land. They waited for the strengthening sun to warm and dry the soil in the spring. They watched tender shoots grow thick in the heat of summer and observed the daylight lessen day by day after the celebrations of Midsummer. Harvests and animals were brought in and preserved against the dark and cold of winter. And after an enforced time of rest and conservation, the lengthening daylight following the midwinter holy days was a welcome sign of nature’s continuous nurturing cycle.
The burst of light at the Winter Solstice is reflected in so many religious observances at this holy time that we can easily recognize how our ancestors felt about the sun’s return. In the contemporary Pagan community, the celebration of the Winter Solstice is less intense than Samhain, less flashy than Beltane. It is generally an intimate holiday that features good food and song and bright hearth-fire. We honor our biological and intentional families and share tales of times past and plan the months to come.
In Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge is confronted by the same three spirits that challenge each of us at this time of the rolling year: the dreamlike past, the delicious present and the unknown yet-to-come. The Winter Solstice is a hinge in the year when we may, like the Roman Janus, look both forward and back. In the dark and long nights of winter, let us find some time to rest and reflect, to share a story and a song. The sun’s returning will bring the warmth of May and the glare of August but for now, it is the promise of the coming harvest that motivates us as we rise in the dark, wait through the twilight with our fragrant steaming mugs and sing a lullaby to the young sun.
Joyous Solstice!
General Meaning: A seasoned traveler knows that a special kind of decorum is called for when one ventures far from home. He or she must develop a yielding nature outwardly, so that the ‘local contact’ or host can open doors and prevent unseemly errors. But inwardly, the wanderer knows that it is sometimes impossible to discern the true intentions of strangers — are they hostile, friendly or merely opportunistic?
The twin houses of mystery and discovery rule any journey. Each new day is launched on a fresh landscape, one that reaches out to grab our full attention. Though new adventures are a great teacher — and often a great equalizer — there is an art to living lightly in a strange land. Mindfulness and discernment become the keys not only to success, but also to survival.
If you are entering a new environment of any sort attempt to be sincere, flexible and undemanding, rather than obstinate. Let go of old attitudes and habits that could encumber you, or make you overly conspicuous. The onset of a great journey is not a favorable time to enter into binding agreements, or to start new enterprises.
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Stone Runes are most commonly used for questions about the natural world and things beyond human control. Ansuz refers to a god or the spoken word of God. It is the voice of reason, law, prophecy and truth. It is the truth heard in the wind. This rune represents wisdom obtained or knowledge delivered. It is the rune of absolute good advice and true council – the message we all must strive to hear. |
It is simple and easy to be happy. The hard part is convincing yourself, and getting past your own resistance to happiness.
You might assume that just because things are one way or another, there is no possibility of happiness. Yet that assumption is entirely mistaken.
You know precisely how to be happy, how to create the feeling of happiness within yourself and how to express it within any context. You’ve done it many times in a whole lot of different situations.
Your happiness does not come from the moment, or the surroundings, or even from the people around you. It comes from you, and from your decision to feel its positive power.
Go ahead and skip right over all those reasons why you can’t be happy. Instead, think of the times when you have been happy and recall the strategy you’ve always used to bring that happiness to life.
Activate that very same strategy right now. And bring the positive power of your own happiness to this very moment.
— Ralph Marston
General Meaning: Have temporary obstacles been blocking your way? In the course of trying to reach a goal or to fulfill a personal ambition, obstructions inevitably present themselves. This is not always a bad thing. Obstacles, difficulties and even setbacks that are eventually overcome often turn into assets. Without irritating grains of sand, oysters would never make pearls.
The obstacles pointed to here are not permanent, yet they are in the way. As when a large boulder falls in the road, the best course of action is usually to go around it, rather than to try to move it out of the way. Temporary obstacles must be seen for what they are — temporary — and should not be allowed to take on too much significance.
A positive aspect of even the most difficult obstacle is that it may cause a person to turn inward, and gain greater depth and character. While the ignorant bemoan their fate and seek to blame their problems on others, the wise seek the cause of the problem within themselves. Through this type of introspection, obstacles become a means for personal growth and self-discovery.
Without air resistance, no plane would ever fly.
If you are facing temporary obstacles, try not to be overly concerned. Obstacles are a part of achieving every goal and furthering every undertaking. Setbacks and reverses can affect morale, but keeping up your self-confidence in the face of challenges is part of a successful solution to many of life’s problems. Obstacles of short duration are best handled with a yielding attitude. Go around the rock, don’t put your shoulder to it.
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Jade Runes are most commonly used for questions about love, friendship, and relationships. Eoh refers to the Yew tree. The Yew does not go dormant and therefore represents endurance. Even the wood of the tree is strong, resilient, and pliable – the Yew bends, but does not break. The evergreen nature of the Yew is present even in the rune itself, as it cannot be changed even by reversal. This rune is historically symbolic of death, but, as in the Tarot and as suggested by the nature of the Yew tree itself, death is seen only as a transmutation of something eternal and unchanging – the spirit. |
Thought for the Day
“Everything has been figured out,
except how to live.”
~ Jean-Paul Sartre
(1905-1980)
General Meaning: A state of standstill is a state of decline. Confusion and disorder prevail. Inferior elements are on the rise, while the powers of clarity and creativity are waning. In such times, the wise take shelter in their own integrity and quietly remain faithful to their highest selves. Retreat from public activities and common exchanges until the time once again favors assertive action.
During periods of stagnation, inferior elements can rise to power. When the inmates are overrunning the asylum, summon up your fortitude, hide your worth and withdraw. Concentrate on your personal affairs with a quiet dignity, even if that means giving up short-term rewards.
Desiring to change a situation too quickly often creates extra conflict. By accepting hardship, while striving to maintain integrity, you are preparing for future growth. A seed of prosperity is often hidden inside the husk of misfortune.
SPELL TO LET GO OF ANOTHER
Take a photo of you and your ex-lover depicting a time or event in the past when
the relationship was still good for the both of you. Then cut out the ex-lover’s image.
Cast a circle and burn the image while envisioning a hopeful, joyful life without this person.
Do not blame yourself or your ex-lover, nor hold any thoughts of recrimination or revenge while engaged in this meditation. Continue the projection of your future life for a few minutes.
Bury the ashes in an appropriate place.
One way to develop a physiology that embodies the qualities of the unified field is to have direct experience of it.
Meditation allows the mind to experience more and more abstract levels of the thinking process and, ultimately, to transcend to that most abstract level of awareness, transcendental consciousness, which is the unified field itself. This is the state of pure awareness, pure consciousness.
Meditation has been part of the spiritual tradition of almost every culture. There are a number of scientific studies that show the beneficial effects of mediation. Blood pressure comes down. Stress is alleviated. Basal metabolic rate goes down. Insomnia, anxiety, and a number of psychosomatic disorders are relieved and disappear. Moreover, there is increased brain wave coherence, which also improves attention span, creativity, learning ability, and memory retrieval.
Also, the effects of mediation last into our daily activity, and soon our activity becomes saturated and influenced by the qualities of the unified field. This is because by experientially knowing something we become it. Once we become it, we begin to embody all its properties.
Therefore, transcending becomes a very practical procedure–to not only experientially know and understand the qualities of the unified field, but to have their values expressed in our daily life, in all our daily activities.
Adapted from Creating Affluence, by Deepak Chopra (New World Library, 1993).
The true self contains the light that no darkness can attack. Daily affirmations are steps out of pain toward a higher reality. We can become living memorials to tragedy by restoring the power of life. You are that life, you are that power. Let us see if we can find the spark that will make the spiritual flame spring up.
Meditation is the practice of going inward to access awareness that is deeper than thought. Meditation isn’t just a time for peace and quiet, although both are needed. You are returning to your source. Make it your habit to find time alone, preferably once in the morning and once in the evening, in which you can close your eyes and go inside.
There are many forms of meditation. A simple but effective one is meditation on the heart. Sit quietly for a moment, placing your attention on your heart, at the center of your chest under the breastbone. When you are settled, repeat the word “peace” silently, and see its influence radiating out from your body in all directions. Do this three times, and then say the word “happiness” the same way. Repeat three times, then go on to “harmony,” “laughter” and “love.”
For longer meditations, you can use these words for as long as you like. Start with five minutes a session and work up to half an hour. Sit quietly for a few minutes after each session with eyes closed and simply appreciate the simplicity of quiet awareness.
Adapted from The Deeper Wound: Recovering the Soul from Fear and Suffering by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2001).
Make this today’s promise to yourself, to look inside for guidance. Everyone needs support, and generally we look outside ourselves–to family, friends, coworkers, and like-minded people–for validation. This kind of support makes you feel that you are right. The ego gets assurance that you are not alone.
But spirit wants to develop uniquely. It sends support to the inner person. Instead of making you feel that you are right, spiritual support adds to your sense of being free, at peace, loving, and aware. Be open to those feelings, because openness is the first step to transformation.
When you feel moments of being uncertain and alone, tell yourself that you have the same worth as your soul. In situations where you feel the urge to assert, disagree, or resist, don’t follow that impulse. Find your own peace; accept the situation, and then watch.
Do you see signs that what you want out of the situation can happen without resistance or assertiveness? When you value the support spirit is giving, the grip of ego is loosened immediately. You are capable of seeing any situation as spirit sees it, not just as ego does. If you value that capacity, it will grow.
Go about your routine, keeping faith with what you honor. By honoring stillness, you are touching one piece of the soul’s treasure.
Adapted from The Deeper Wound: Recovering the Soul from Fear and Suffering, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2001).
General Meaning: The power of gathering together is represented by a rally, where each individual’s strength is magnified by the power of their community. History has shown that mass movements can bring about stable, ordered and durable conditions for the better. This hexagram may be pointing to an auspicious time for large undertakings. But the guiding force of your shared vision is essential to hold the forces of unity together, and keep them advancing toward a common goals and values.
Another image for this situation is that of a lake filling with water. Just as the fullness of the lake can bring good fortune to all in its sphere, it can also overflow, leading to calamity. Thus in a time of gathering together it is essential that precautions against excesses be considered along with efforts to advance along a clearly-charted course. Much of human misfortune comes from unexpected events for which we are ill prepared; when gathered together with others, we are both more powerful and, in some ways, also more vulnerable.
Any time of unified coming together is a time of great potential. But the potential can be both positive and negative. Everything is magnified when people unite around a central shared purpose. When many people unite behind a single goal or strong vision, it is wise to take personal precautions to protect your own reasonable self-interests, because these can easily be lost in the crowd.
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Spirit Runes are most commonly used for questions about mysticism, spirituality, and religion. Othila is the homeland. Land was the purest form of immovable wealth in Norse civilization, distinct from the movable wealth represented by Fehu. This rune speaks of stability and safety stemming from inheritance, both material and genetic. With respect to the question asked, consider the background of the people and families involved… |
General Meaning: The general situation is one of easy, natural progress. That which had been weak is now steadily rising up, and by gaining a prominent position, becomes a stronger force. The image is the light of the rising sun, which at first appears dimly through the mists. But this relatively weak light later radiates with powerful clarity once the sun has reached a high position in the sky.
Progress is made when those in subordinate positions create harmony with those above, and in so doing create a natural means for their collective talents and abilities to blossom. It is by recognizing and riding with the natural course of events — by hitching our wagon to the rising sun, as it were — that we advance our position and earn respect.
Goodness in human nature is like the dim but beautiful early morning light. It can easily be obscured — by greed, hatred and other forms of self-absorption — just as the morning light can be swallowed by fog. Be reminded that progress is achieved most effortlessly when right action is taken without concern for immediate reward, and when the path of the weaker elements aligns with the strong.
Why Do You Want To Be A Druid?
Author: Sencha the Druid
When I stepped into the Sacred Circle thirty years ago and dedicated myself to a lifetime of the study of Druidry, one of the first questions I was asked was, “Why do you want to be a Druid?”
Every year since that day, I have asked myself the same question. It has been interesting to watch how those answers have changed over the years.
Back then, I didn’t feel quite at home with my Christian upbringing. I was more comfortable with nature than I was with church. I grew up on a farm in rural South Carolina, and nature surrounded me. Most of my playmates were animals, not humans. I saw then that everything was connected, and that everything depends on everything else for survival. So my answer then was that I wanted to learn more about nature, and how to reconnect myself with it.
I still feel that way, but I would add more to it if I were asked the same question today. I would add what I have learned after fifty years of journeying on this planet.
What I have learned is that a lot of us have disconnected from nature. We go to work in shiny metal boxes, and sit in shiny metal cubicles without windows, and punch buttons on other shiny metal boxes. We eat our chemically-processed lunches from more shiny metal boxes, and eventually, if we live long enough, we go off to spend our last days in a box called a ‘Retirement Home.’ Then at the end of our lives, we get stuck in a shiny metal box and put in the ground to wait for eternity.
We take vacations and spend one or two weeks visiting places in shiny metal tubes. Some of us go to amusement parks where we spend our days riding in shiny metal boxes for recreation. Some of us might actually go out into the woods on camping or hiking trips during vacations, but our lives are still dictated by a tiny shiny metal box called a ‘clock.’ We have to be home on schedule, after all.
To me, Druidry is an escape from shiny metal things.
It’s easy to see that we have so far removed ourselves from nature that we forget that it is the source of all life. We forget that we didn’t create the web of life…we’re just strands in it. What we do to nature, we do to ourselves. When we take ourselves out of nature, we remove ourselves from the source that gave us birth.
That isolation from nature has become ingrained in our culture. Material goods have become the things that matter in life. We have gotten to the place now that we define ourselves more by what we own than by who we are. Our mainstream religious institutions seem to support those who are hell-bent on destroying the planet, as do our governments and our corporate culture. In other words, even our mainstream religious institutions serve to disconnect us from Mother Earth, our source, our spirit and our home.
So how do we solve this problem?
Many would say that the way to solve it would be to enact legislation that protects the environment. I believe that there may be a place for such legislation, but I have rarely seen change come willingly from a top-down mandate. I believe instead that the most effective way to foster change is for it to take place in a grassroots sense, from the bottom up.
Lao Tsu suggested that if you really want to change a society, you start with the family unit, and not with the Emperor. This is especially true in a democracy, where the will of the people rules…or should, anyway, in theory. If enough of the people become interested in taking care of the planet, then governments, corporations and religious institutions will have no choice but to accommodate us…especially if they hope to be re-elected under a majority-rules democracy.
I live in suburban South Carolina, a very conservative place. In my career as a Marriage and Family Therapist, I work a lot with teens and their families.
I have discovered that even here in the Bible Belt, the coming generation realizes that many of our institutions have lost their way. These youth are hungering for something more meaningful. The traditional “me first” conservative values of the present American way of life are not their values. Many of them have an intense interest in Pagan belief systems and Earth-centered spiritualities. They are also intensely interested in environmental activism and in equal justice for all. I think this is a good sign for the future…in spite of the fact that many of them ask me not to tell their fundamentalist Christian parents about their beliefs.
There’s an old story about the Goose who laid the Golden Egg. In this fairy tale, the goose gives a farmer one golden egg per day. But one day the farmer, in his greed, decides that he wants all the golden eggs at once. So the farmer kills the goose and cuts it open in order to get to all the eggs. But when he cuts open the goose, he finds nothing. So not only does he not have a huge pile of golden eggs, he has also killed the source of what golden eggs he could have gotten if he had been more patient and less greedy.
In our constant hunger for more and more material possessions, are we, in fact, killing the goose? How much longer can our planet provide for us if we continue to fail to live in a sustainable way?
That is why I want to be a Druid. That is why I continue to choose Druidry as my path and as my way of being in the world. Druidry teaches us that we are not separate from nature; that what we do to nature, we do to ourselves as well. As our traditional mainstream religious paths become increasingly anti-nature, followers of these religions will continue to fall away. I believe that deep down, at an almost instinctual level, we realize what we’re doing to our planet.
Many of the followers of mainstream religions will be seeking a spiritual path that allows them to honor both nature and the natural world. I believe that Druidry is one of those spiritual paths. I believe that Earth-friendly spiritual paths are the way of the future, if we are to have a future at all.
General Meaning: Enormous creative energy is unleashed by enthusiasm. This energy is like powerful music that inspires people, loosening old constraints and generating new opportunities. Indeed, the power of enthusiasm is best symbolized by music and dance, for it is guided more by the heart than the head. Thus, great good fortune can follow someone who is able to guide this positive force toward victory and a joyous celebration.
Enthusiasm within a group generates a special kind of electricity. When a crowd is ‘charged’, the singer scales new heights, and life becomes its own reward. For who is not in awe of thunder? And who would fail to fill his or her lungs in the aftermath of a cleansing rain?
Arouse the passionate support of others, while adjusting your ideas and plans to suit their needs. In this way you can fill your sails with the mighty winds of shared enthusiasm.
To arouse others, re-double your own dedication and dare to create an environment that is free of tension. Take joy in your projects. Harness the power of song and dance.
Witches Of The Craft® 
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