Sunday, November 6, 2011

And So She Prays

Ebb & Flow~ My mood changes could give you whiplash. I feel alot better today is what I am trying to say. I talked to the DH and idk it made me feel better. He is trying.

I am a witch. It is sometimes easy to forget that. Forget my spirituality. Forget what I believe and where I am coming from, what I am connected to.

The Other day was Halloween. It is a major holiday in my religion. I did nothing. It is like not celebrating Christmas seems weird. I gave myself excuses that I am not in the right frame of mind to do anything...lies. Honestly i didn't wish to face that part of myself right now. I am scared and it is really easy to just be upset instead.

Halloween is a combination of many different traditions coming together. You have the celtic Samhain that last harvest festival of the year. In a time where they would slaughter the last of the animals to stock up for the cold and barren winter to come. Nowadays we can run to the grocery store all year long so I think it is hard to imagine. Then combined with All Saints Day & The Day of the Dead to honor and celebrate those who have passed. A moment to think of death, remember those who are not here and to be thankful that we still are. It is the day when the veil between worlds is one of the thinnest.

It reminds me of the Death card in tarot. It doesn't really mean death as in you are dead, soul is gone, breathless and empty. But more it is transition. Change. Like how some people think death is not the end but just a transition between this world and the next.

In my tradition we view the wheel of the year, the cycle of changing seasons, as a story/myth of the Goddesses life. She is born on the Winter Solstice grows up through out the year. On the Autumn Equinox she is Persephone beginning her descent into the underworld and on Halloween she is at the doorway into the darkness. Ready to let go of ego and everything that has held her back and step through-(the transition and release of death) changed ready to be reborn once more like the phoenix.

Samhain comes and it belongs to the Goddess Hekate, the Crone. It is being alone in the darkness with just your thoughts and inner reflections. To turn to look withing and face all that lies there. It seems like a scary time of year but isn't the darkness always a bit scary? To face that which we can't see? To learn to trust ourselves and let go of all we hold on to? What is more scary then our own inner demons?

It is known as the Witches New Year. I love that how the end is also the beginning all in one. I think it can be hard to wrap your head around the idea of that. Like shouldn't now be the end and then the Winter Solstice where She is born be the beginning? But I think it is kindof like stepping through a doorway. The moment you are putting your foot through and making that choice to move forward you are already leaving the past behind and starting something new. Time keeps moving. Each second is gone just like that leading to the next one.

It is kindof like a really great time for all of this and I could gain some wisdom and insight here.

I found this amazing article thattalks about Samhain and learning to release:
http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usor&c=holidays&id=12853

Learning to ride with the flow of energy around us is truly internalizing the old axiom that ‘everything happens for a reason’. Often, we litter our brains with ideas of what could have been or what we should have done differently. Although it is important to self evaluate how we affect our surrounding with our behavior, it is equally important to remember that everything that happened was supposed to happen and nothing else could have happened. With each action we take, we learn and grow, so even one hour after we made a decision, we are a changed person.

We cannot impose our new learning onto our old selves and expect us to have behaved any differently. When we try to, we create havoc in our psyche and lock up our magick powers trying to move them backward. This is an important lesson of the Devil tarot card that comes out at Samhain: we need to learn to let those anxieties die away before we can fully move into the gifts of the coming year.

Anxiety is an internal reaction that occurs when things do not happen or do not respond in the way that we expect them to. When we are anxious, we dampen our ability to receive energy and guidance because we are focusing on the perceived consequences of what is going to occur. Anxiety and fear hinder our abilities to be a part of the energies around us. As egotistical little beings, it is hard to give up our anxieties over what we don’t want to happen. But, perpetually we experience times where the Divine steps in and we do not get exactly what our ego wants because it against the goals of our higher selves.

Witchcraft is just as much about accepting change as it is about creating change. In accepting change, we let our anxiety die away and experience the beautiful energy of the world. In creating change, we knowingly interact and push around those exact same energies.

Samhain, the celebration of Death, is also about accepting and celebrating the beauty of the natural energies of the Universe and ourselves. This is the time where we ritually let the anxieties, the expectations, the desires for change, and the thoughts of how things “should be” die away so that we can see and appreciate the way things are.

With our ego released, we embark upon a period of self-discovery, acceptance, and listening that will prepare us for the full appreciation of the mystery of rebirth at Yule.

The entire article is great but I loved that piece.

I think I will do alot of praying but planning a big ritual this thursday it is the full moon. A good healing ritual. Maybe I will also do a ritual with my DH. We have never done one together before, infact he has never even seen me do a ritual lol. I am fairly private about it all but it might be nice. I am not sure if he would be interested- well not so much in all the religious stuff of it but he might.

Also on another note I got a tarot book that should arrive here soon. BTW stay away from Barnes & Noble their online site is a pain and I had to go through a huge mess with their CS ugh. Anyways I am going to do a whole big tarot study thing and get a new tarot journal. I am kindof tied up because I want a cute little journal with my own thoughts on each card to carry with me but my hand writing is bleh so I partly would rather type it all. But idk how that would work either

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Altars

I am feeling kindof bleh. I had gotten my hopes up a bit when we were in the process of moving that I would finally have the space to set up my altar properly & have extra room to expand on it.

I do have lots of room in the new place the problem is I don't have the extra surface space. The nightstand table we have I was going to use was stolen by my husband for the tv in the office. Its leaving me with the same top shelf I was using before. It isn't a horrid set up. & it is high enough that the kitties leave it alone. But at the same time I just wish I had more space to set it up differently.

At the same time I wish I had more spending $$. So many things I would love to have & just can't afford any extra spending right now. It sucks lol. So totally goes with the tarot card I pulled today. 


(ignore the chair there lol)

Monday, July 25, 2011

Moon Phase Calendars

On one of my all time favorite blogs I saw she had a printable moon phase calendar which is just adorable and awesome!

http://www.allthingsaregoddess.com/2011/06/printable-moon-phase-poster.html

She even printed it on magnetic paper! I am printing one out now if my printer will cooperate lol Hang it next to my altar.

I also love Shekhinah Mountainwaters printable moon phase calendar. You could color in a picture in the center for the month or season. Then draw little symbols in each of the boxes if you wish. In her book she has like a little magickal symbol guide to use. Very neat.


Daily Tarot Reading- 8 of Swords

I read that this card represents damned if you do damned if you don't. If you stay still you will still suffer for all eternity but if you move to break free you are going to get cut.

What I love about this card is the little peek of sun hiding behind the clouds. It is far away and still mostly hidden behind the grey clouds. but it is still there...hope.

I read that: We can relate the Eights to Strength. Eights are about moving, taking action, as Strength is a card of courage and transformation.

This very card could represent me. Bound by my own fears. Trapped. Yet afraid to speak up and free myself because it is scary. I know, honestly know that I am suffering either way & that while breaking free will be difficult and hurt as well once it is over I will be free.

Except I do not really think that. Fear has a good tight grip on me & I am afraid that it won't be better. That I will jump through that glass window and be cut to pieces and the other side will be just as bad as where I am now. So whats the point?



Tragic I know. I am not ready yet but I am taking baby steps. I will find my strength and courage and glow with hope. 


But how does this card relate for today? I will take it to heart. Speak freely and openly. Try not to be afraid!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunrise ~ Sunset

Sunrise
        Sunshine


Today is the Sunday prompt to set my goals & be refreshed as the new week begins. And it couldn't come at a better time.

I feel like my energy can be a rollercoster. I can rise high with strength, hope, inspiration & then fall back down into an overwhelmed pile of emptiness. It makes me think of the sun, rising each morning with new energy but then she falls each night. But she truly isn't gone. And that is what I must remember. My energy will go up and down but it still needs to be held in balance & a more natural rhythm. I need to recognize when I go down and plan that energy in a different way.

So what happened was that before I moved I was pumped with shining bright energy and sparks of ideas. I had plans and knew what I was gonna do. Though at the same time I knew things were going to be hectic with the move. I was planning on creating a routine when my life would be upside down for a few weeks lol. Looking back I should have taken that more into consideration and not beat myself up so much when things went crazy & things were outside my control.

Yet at the same time I let the chaos be an excuse. If something wasn't perfect then I threw it all out of the window.

I have to set my routine and be specific. I know this. I just have to do it. Same with my morning rituals. I need to be more specific. I like spontaneity & the room to flow naturally. But at the same time I have to be honest with myself and the fact that without a defined plan I just do not have to focus to do what I need to do & follow through.

So that is my goal for this week - to put the final details on my routine and morning ritual and then follow through!

May the Goddess bless me with the energy, focus and courage to do so!


Monday, July 18, 2011

Thank Goddess its Monday

I am Thankful for Love. Thankful for Hope. Thankful for the rain & a soft cool breeze when it is just omg so hot. Right now I am very thankful for all the little things that seem so easily missed and forgotten but that you would miss terribly if they were not there. My cats fluffy belly, a smile, my husband playing with my hair. Little things that I can just stop and be happy for.


Right now things are a bit wobbly for me. Things are unpacked, we have internet, cable, and hot water. Now things can settle down and its time for me to start all the daily routines. And this is where I feel overwhelmed & get distracted. So right now I am just trying to pay attention to the little things and take each moment one at a time and when I begin to feel overwhelmed and crazy try to see why and find a solution. I am thankful for that!

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Earth is My Altar


I dance along the spiral path of life
Singing my praise to the Goddess
For I am the priestess of this my sacred Earth.
From the highest mountains to the shallow seas.
The cliffs which lead to nowhere
to the path which begins at my feet.
I am the keeper of the gate, and I the key.
I may part the veil as I walk between worlds.
I shall dance with fae
in moonlights full embrace,
Feel the Earth at my feet
As the Air whispers my name
Burning with Fire from within
I am nourished from the sacred Waters of life.
My prayers begin and end within a dance of ecstasy
For the Earth is my altar, all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.


by me with exception of the line:
For the Earth is my altar, all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. which is from the Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente

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