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January 04 What's the point?Also known as "what's your mandate?"
See this post came about because after much observation, and watching groups implode, I thought I should share what I see as the number one cause of magickal groups, circles and covens disintegrating within the first year: They have no purpose.
Who sure they want to get together and "learn" or "worship" together, but that's just too broad. And as a result, no one really knows what's expected of them and the group begins to drift. After drifting, people will become disillusioned and annoyed since they will feel the lack of motion and progress, even if they can't put their finger on it. Eventually they will either just drift away or make a point of their being a problem, which then leads to bruised egos, hurt feelings and angry words.....and this usually results in a messy break up that could have been avoided in the first place.
For any group (not just pagans) to be successful, it needs to have a vision that is shared by all and is worked towards by the group. Without such, the strain and implosion is inevitable.
So whether you are thinking of starting a group or are already part of one, sit down and write out what you want to see accomplished by your being a member of that group. If you are in charge of running the group, then ask yourself what the purpose of the group is. You can get quite specific without being exclusive. And the tighter your mandate, the more likely you are to be able to see it through. You can always add to and change it once the goal has been accomplished. Rant TimeI am SOOOOOO sick and tired of hearing people whine because this or that pagan event or gathering does suite them. They seem to think that the universe revolves around them and that the event organizers need to drop EVERYTHING and rethink the entire thing just because one person isn't happy.
What these people don't understand is that you get as you give, literally. If they were willing to give their time and energy to organizing and running an event, then they could have a say in how it was done and what it involved.
But no. They want someone else to do ALL the leg work so that they can just show up and enjoy themselves. It just doesn't work that way.
Now I know DAMN well that people have busy lives (I'm a casual employee at the moment which means that they call me when I'm needed and I do NOT get to pick and choose my shifts) but that's CHOICE. Right now I CHOOSE to go through the roller coaster of being a causal worker to bump up my seniority and have a better chance at getting a permanent position when one becomes available. And some days I CHOOSE not toe answer my phone because I need sleep and will not be called in for overtime shifts. Just like I CHOOSE to make time to see my boyfriend, since he's an important part of my life.
So to can someone CHOOSE to rearrange they schedule and get involved with the planning of an existing event or start from scratch and spear head a new one.
So, all you whiners you there, put up or shut up. You're obnoxious and boring. December 07 Why are you asking ME?!This one just blows my mind every time it comes up.
Someone is wondering what this or that god thinks. So....They ask the PEOPLE on a message board, mailing list, or even friends over coffee.
We aren't the gods, so why do people think we can speak for them? Go directly to the source and ASK the gods your question. They are the ones you need to hear from any how. The best us humans can do is relate our own experiences and nothing says that they will be relevant to you. November 24 Curses and EthicsI'm a Germanic heathen. I see vengeance and retribution as perfectly valid things.....if you're willing to deal with the repercussions. See everything in my path, ethically speaking, comes down to personal responsibility. Now I've seen a LOT of pagan paths pay lip service to this one, but more often then not they prop it up with some kind of scare tactic; be it Karma or Harm None or that this or that god doesn't' approve of X and spiritually smack your bottom if you step out of line or the council of witches is going to get the wrong doers...
Having such threats defeats the whole point of personal responsibility. You do (or don't do something) because its RIGHT, not because of a fear of retaliation.
Take the example of curses. I've done that. I find them very effective. And I'm always willing to deal with the fall out (if there is in, a well crafted curse doesn't have blow back) should it come. And as a result I've had a lot of people decry my "witchiness" because of it, telling me what a horrible person I am for using curses.
But what really gets me is that they are judging my doings when they don't know WHY or HOW it was done. I shouldn't interfere with someones free will, they say. But it's just fine for them to condemn me. It boggles the mind.
Anyhow. I'm not the ethics Nazi. If you want to curse someone and are ready to deal with what results from you actions (and if you don't know what you're doing it probably won't be pretty) then more power to you. It's your life and magick is just one of many tools at your disposal. Use it wisely. November 05 Sacred sites...in your back yard?When people talk about sacred sites, they seem to be talking about things like Stone Henge or the Great Pyramids. You know those megaliths from ages gone by. But in doing so, they seem all to ready to discount what we have in this time.
Tomorrow I'm going to climb the local hill. It's beautifully wooded and overgrown. There are walking paths, but it's no manicured in any way. And there are lots of neat places just off the trails to explore and enjoy.
I've done more then a few rituals on that hill, and to be honest they were very powerful for me (on par with having yule at the wide whipped sea). So I think it's safe to say that Bear Hill is indeed a sacred site, even if only for me.
when was the last time you looked around and really opened yourself up the power that is in your own back yard?
As a side note, if it's not raining (AGAIN) tomorrow,I'll take my digital camera with me and get some new pictures to put up on the slide show :) October 27 A Personal Wheel of the YearThere are LOTS of books out there that cover the so called wheel of the year, which is almost always some wiccan derivative. It's a formula of times and events that you are supposed to hold holy. Some even explain the myth and history of the holidays, but precious few books actually look at something very important: how to connect with the Holy Days. People had celebrations on given days and at given times because it was significant in their lives. You celebrated the first planting because that meant you had your first opportunity after winter to sow the seeds that will comes that year's harvest. You celebrated the harvest because it meant you'd eat during the cold winter months. Then there is all the personal mythology associated with these events, which also carried a potent and personal meaning. But books can't give you that. Its something you have to establish fro yourself. And NOTHING says that what you come up with has to follow specific Wheel (unless of course you're claiming to be part of a specific religion with set holy days, but that's another rant for another time). Instead of picking up a book and observing the days it tells you, put the book down and start to REALLY think about what makes a given day special and worthy of note. Come up with your own mythology and related reasons. Make your own wheel of the year for your personal path and watch how much more significant the celebration your practice become. Holy Tides and Sacred DaysI finished reading The Charmed Life by Patrica Telesco some time ago. And am only now getting around to writing about it.
Over all I REALLY liked the book. It has oodles of exercises to help you explore who you are and get a strong sense of self, which makes a lot of things easier, not just walking your spiritual path.
The book is one with a wiccanesque bent, but I found much of it very applicable for the non-wiccan pagan. I certainly DO recommend this book with one caveat.....DO NOT READ THE LAST CHAPTER.
I almost burned the book because of it. Now it takes a LOT for me to want to do damage to a book, so let me explain what promoted the reaction. The last chapter is about celebrating holy days. And she has the audacity to say that if a given day is inconvenient, that's okay because pretty much every day on the calendar is a holy day somewhere. Which is fine....except that I have a real problem with people celebrating religious events and traditions which aren't part of their path and which they do not understand.
Part of walking one's path is having Holy Tides that are meaningful to that PATH. Yes sometimes those days fall on a Tuesday and you have to work instead of having the day off to do a long, drawn out ritual. You know what? WE have more free time now then the people of days gone by, when you worked form dawn to dusk in the fields 7 days a week.
You know what else? I'VE missed days. Ive had plans go haywire. And I've had to make do. It's really not that hard.
So what all this rambling is about is that choosing a day to celebrate on for convenience and then trying to shoe horn someone else's holiday into your working is just plain unacceptable to me. It's LAZY and disrespectful.
Meh.
June 22 The Seeker's Entitlement MythThere seem to be a popular myth among pagans these day: That we are to coddle seekers and tell them anything they want to hear. That's right, what they want to hear, not what the should know about that which they ask. Not pose questions to them so that they can find their own answers. We are supposed to hand them everything hey want on a silver plate.
The path of the seeker doesn't work that way.
You are a seeker because you are active LOOKING into things, not sitting on your ass waiting for it all the be handed over, no questions asked.
Being a seeker is NOT easy. In fact it can be a pain in the ass as you work hard to make the pieces fit only to find that the picture you THOUGHT you had is all wrong and that you need to start again. One can easily spend their life being a seeker.
But it's that search which is rewarding.
And I'm not about to hand over my knowledge and experience to whiny armchair would-be theologians because they can't be bothered to actually make an effort!
I don't care if you live in a fast food world, MacPaganism is a meaningless crock. I don't care if you come form a Christian background where the priest told you want to think, you've left that so now it's time to think for yourself.
You want to learn then make the godsdamned effort. It's going to take a lot of time, energy and effort, but if it's important to you, then it will be worth it. June 18 InitiationIt's a subject hat keeps coming up time and again, be it in person or on the Internet. And it seems to me that people make far too big a deal out of it.
So here's my take. But like everything else, it's probably not what others are going to agree with.
1. Self-initiation is a crock. You can't initiate yourself because an initiation is something that is done TO you. If you want to go ahead and dedicate yourself to some god or a given path, go for it. It's great way to affirm your intention not only to yourself but to the universe at large. But to be initiated, one of the following two options is required.
2. Human initiation is when a person initiates you int eh ways and beliefs of the group. That group can be anything from collage frat to Wicca to eastern practices. What all these things have in come is they are the product of humans. These groups are for the members to be able to make the connection with whatever is the goal of the group.
3. Divine initiation. this is when there is no humans involved, but rather spirits or gods decide it's time to induct a given person into a new way of thinking and being. Shamanic initiation is a good example of this one. And going through such an initiation won't make you part of any group because it's highly individualized, being between you and the Spirits. and tell people you've gone through such an initiation probably won't be helpful. Very few will be able to understand what it means and more will see it as bragging.
Both types of initiation are important and having one kind doesn't rule out having the other. Nor does one only have one initiation experience int heir life. There are many. And they ARE important as they will influence who you are as a person. But they are NOT that impressive to others.
Rather then throwing out your "titles," show people you know what you're talking about. Evidence of knowledge is far more impressive then claimed titles.
So in short, initiation is great and valuable, but it's not the be all and the end all. It's just the beginning. I wish people would stop using it as a status symbol. April 09 Misinformation and DisinformationWhy is it that people think it's okay to hand out questionable information? Or worse yet, to do so in the name of "fun"?
That someone is irritating you isn't a good reason to do so. That someone doesn't know in better and won't realize that it's bad information is the worst reason of all.
Yet I see it a lot on web-forums.
I'm dealing with one now that claims all pagans are pantheists. Um....no. Not even most.
But when called on it, she tried to say that it didn't matter because she was just having fun with the troll. Riiiiight. And the numerous lurkers don't deserve accurate information <rolls eyes>
As with the previous post, it's a sad example of how many are wiling to settle for the mediocre rather then actually make an effort.
Meh. February 20 Practical Heathen...that's me :)
No, not a rant this time, just an observation about my own practice and understanding.
I have to keep my alter in my room as the house is not mine and I share it with others. I also have a queen sized bed, which makes my room very crowded. Add in for bookcases, dresser and stereo and well, you get the idea: space is at a premium.
I've managed to get a little altar along my wall, but the only place it would fit was on the East wall, which is fine...until I tried to lay my tools out according to the directions they correspond too (Pent=North, Atheme=East). This resulted with my having to reach OVER top of may cast iron cauldron and beautiful blown glass chalice in order to get anything else. It was awkward to say the least. There was also a disquiet feeling in the back of my head about the lay out.
Correspondances are great, but it wasn't a practical use of my working space. So I forgot all about correspondences and instead just set things out as best suited my ends and my limited working space. So the pent went on top (east), the atheme was on the right of it (south), the wand was right inform of me (west) and the cauldron and chalice ended up to the left of the pent (north).
Does this create some amount of cognitive dissonance for me since I'm going against generally accepted principles of how an altar should be put together? Not in the least.
As I said, correspondences are great, but my tools don't stop having power or working just because they aren't place in the right way.
So now I have a comfortable working space where I'm not always worrying about knocking something over.
All the rules and pomp have their place, but sometimes, you just have to go with what's practical. February 08 Good enoughYup, I haven't updated in a while and I'm coming back with a rant. Deal with it.
I am sick and tired of people trying to do just enough to get by on their so call spiritual path. it's yet another symptom of our society of mediocrity. It's "good enough" to read a book and declare yourself Wiccan. It's "good enough" to dress in viking garb, have a booze up and call yourself Asatru. It's "good enough" to sit back and wait for the gods to present you with mind blowing cosmic revelations.
And of course if anyone disagrees, well they're are just fascist poo-poo heads.
A spiritual path is WORK, yet time and again, I see people trying to claim the the minimum effort is all you need. Bullshit. Absolute and utter bullshit. A lot of the time one's path ISN'T comfortable, lot of the time it DOES require sacrifice of time and effort. It's not a hobby, not something done in one's spare time. It's who you ARE. It's about the growth of self and growth comes with challenge and discomfort, but the rewards are many.
If you not up to it, fine, but stop trying to water down the beliefs of others to fit into your comfort zone. It's sad and pathetic. December 16 ShieldingThis is something that's come to my attention time and again, Specifically the complain that shielding takes so much energy.
First of all, if you're draining your energy reserves t o keep your shields up, something is REALLY wrong and it's time to go back to basics. A well constructed shield should be self-sustaining. Yes you'll have to do maintenance on it, but you will not have to keep throwing energy at it just to keep it up when in a crowded room.
So start with Grounding and Centering.
Grounding is fairly straightforward and easy to accomplish because it's outside of the individual: reach into the ground and find a stable stop outside of yourself and connect to it. What seems to be problematic (in my experience) is Centering. People don't know how, or they do so according to the instructions of fluffy, feel good books.
Your Center is the stable counter point to your Ground...but the center is inside you. It's utterly calm and peaceful. It has no emotion, because it has no bias. It just is. By connecting to it, you are moving out of your own emotional state and letting that stillness becomes your state of being. This sounds a lot more difficult then it is.
I've had people get up in arms about the idea of the Center lacking emotion. But then I realized that what some call Center and what I call Center are two different things. you can center your attention easily enough, and that can be very emotion ladened. This kind of center is simply a state of awareness.
In my version of Center, awareness is a side product of exercise. Basically, my version is take a mental and spiritual step back and thus allows for objectivity in what can be a very trying situation. That objectivity does certainly allow for awareness, but awareness is not the main goal.
The goal is establishing a solid base from which to work. And that solid base is what you need if you are to have effective, self sustaining shields. And that base is made up of two parts: Your Ground and your Center. If you have one but not the other, it won't work very well.
However once you've Grounded and Centered, then you'll be able to build your shields to your satisfaction and for the most part just set it and forget it.
The other thing about Shields is a) use a visualization that WORKS for you, not just something that other say is good; b) your shield is made out of energy, if you can't feel energy, you're going to have a problem in constructing it and then figuring out if it has any holes; c) your not limited to ON and OFF, think of your shield as your psychic thermostat, you can move it up and down as need requires.
For such a simple concept, this is a lot more involved then many realize. December 13 Safe? Are you NUTS?!This is rather a continuation of the last post.
Over on one of the forums, some twit was carrying on about how the gods are 'safe' and don't ever do anything 'bad'. Um....right. In what alternate universe?
The gods are no perfect love, they have their own quirks and flaws. Sometimes those flaws cause major upheaval or even devastation. This is something to keep in mind before you randomly pick some 'kewl' god to work with.
As I've said about the pagan path in previous entries, it's not easy. Working with the gods is a VERY intimate relationship. While they will love you, they will also push and test you, challenging you to become the very best you can be. And it's far from peachy to be forced out of your comfort zone. It's downright terrifying at times.
So if someone tells you that the gods are cute, cuddly celestial puppies that NEVER bite, they are either selling something, or they've never actually worked with any. In either case, smile and walk away :P December 10 It's work damnit!It's so amazingly frustrating! These young I've-read-a-book pagans that then declare themselves to be....dun dun DA!!!! a High Priest/ess. As if it's some kind of a 'kewl' title.
There's nothing 'kewl' about it. It's a lot of FUCKING work. It's getting woken up at 2am because your covener's life is falling apart and they need to talk to you about it. It's talking to new people and trying to give them good information....which probably isn't going to be 'nice' or necessarily what they want to hear. It's organizing rituals, and timing things so that the most members possible can be at an event.
It is the result of going through all the personal growth and transformation that is part of a pagan path. And news flash, it's not a fun event. It's WORK. And it doesn't end. Not till your dead. But in the mean time you're expected to shepherd others through those scary experiences and help them become the person that they joined your coven to become.
Why oh why do people think that it's all just shits and giggles to be a HP/S?
I really don't enjoy cleaning up the messes of such people when they can't handle the needs of their 'students'. December 03 Personal GnosisThis is often a tricky subject. We live in a society that makes a virtue out of distrusting ones' intuition. We second guess everything. And anything that's fantastical is considered the work of one's ego and a need to feel 'special'. In this kind of a intellectual climate, it can be very hard to look at events in a spiritual manner. After all, spiritual is BAD, just superstitious mumbo-jumbo. Worse yet is when people who should understand quickly move to denounce personal spiritual experiences. This inevitably leads to self-doubt. And self-doubt can be a killer, especially in magickal paths. It takes a strong personality to be able to shrug off the nay-saying of others, particularly when it comes form those you trust. In the end hove, it is YOUR experiences and YOUR understandings. That's all that matters. Will you be wrong? Probably, but time will tell if you are or aren't. Regardless, it will be a learning experience for you if you decide to perceive it as such. Nor do such personal experiences have to be dramatic events. I can be as simple as watching a butterfly, or listening to the breeze. No one is 'special' for having personal spiritual experiences. I don't know of anyone who hasn't had such. but is special is the individual perception and and fortitude one has to see and learn form these events. So the next time you experience a shift in your understanding, write it down and explain what brought it on. You might be surprised how many spiritual experiences, you really have had. November 27 Understanding, Not LoveWhen one first looks into new age thought and paganism, they will often find themselves bombarded with the concept of needing to love and care for everything. It's a nice idea, but not a practical one, especially since we all have unsavory people in our lives.
So often people drift away from the path as they think it has an unreal, unattainable expectation (and to avoid feeling bad about not being able to love all and sundry unconditionally). The thing is that it's perfectly attainable....if we understand what it really means.
Language is great and all for expressing ideas, but it's also limiting. This is were problems occur. People often use the word "love" when what they mean is something else entirely, since they don't' know how to express that something else.
So now, I'm going to give it a try. Love is a chosen state of being. It can be reciprocal or not. It can have many levels and be applied to many things. But every time there is a certain connotation attached. That being Adoration, Caring and a certian amount of Reverence. But if you don't' feel these things towards an object or person, it can't be love, right? Thus we have the stumbling block. After all, who in their right mind would adore a pedophile or murderer?
Let try this then. Replace "love" with "understanding". Where "love" carries a connotation of care and gentleness, "understanding" does not. It just denotes an awareness, and that awareness is neither good nor bad, it just is.
Understanding as no expectations of being nice, or of not judging. Understanding does not equal approval, or disapproval for that matter. I can understand the psychological workings of a pedophile, but that doest' mean I'm going to allow my kids around that person. Conversely, I can understand the infectious nature of AIDS and take the appropriate cautions, rather then over reacting and showing up in a bi-hazard suit.
Understating goes hand in hand with discernment. When understanding is had, one can make wise, educated choices, even if that's the choice to do nothing. It's when there is a lack of understanding (not love) that things break down badly. People operating according to their preconceived notions is just a disaster waiting to happen.
So save your feelings of "love" for those that are worthy of them, and work instead on understanding the world as a whole, as well as it's individual parts.
November 25 The mysteriesThough I do not call myself Wiccan, the Mysteries do play a part in my path. How could they not? They are simply a part of the world. There are many mysteries and they are called such because they cannot be explained, but must be experienced.
The Mysteries of Life, Death and Rebirth (the wheel of the year) is probably the most commonly thought of, but the Mysteries don't end there, they pervade every aspect of life. They are found in the smallest things, like the way the light plays on the water, or how the smoke rises from the bonfire. The Mysteries are gateways to deeper and profound understand about our world.
Experiencing the Mysteries can rock your world in more ways then one. Every time you do so will change your perception and thus, your being.
This is why it bothers me when people claim to be able to experience he mysteries by reading about them in a book, or on a website. Even if I tried to explain them, it would be a pale comparison at best.
And my experience will not be the same as yours.
Living one's path isn't a matter of ritual...it's a matter of perception. That is were the Mysteries come in. October 17 Are you a GOOD witch?No, I'm a terrible witch. None of my spells ever work out and my pet toad died last week <rolls eyes>
You know, sarcasm aside, I REALLY hate that question.
Witches are people. And as with any group, you'll get the real gems as well as the assholes.
Maybe if we stopped telling people the fairy tale about 'white witches' they'd be a be more ready to acknowledge us as just people, warts and all. But no, since there are those intent on calling themselves witches and preaching love light and lolly-pops, it really shouldn't come as any surprise when people react badly to the intrusion of reality on their preconceived notions. Or worse, watching people becomes further convinced at how 'bad' witches are because we don't live up to the billing.
Meh. Humans make things so difficult.
October 16 EgoYes, after a long drought of not posting, you get two in one day :P
Anyhow, on one of the shaman lists I read there are people making accusations of the other person have a big ego for whatever reason. I find this mildly amusing (when not annoyed at seeing an interesting topic being derailed AGAIN) since the one making the claim usually has the biggest ego of all.
And you know what? :) I HAVE an ego. Yup. I do. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed of the part my ego plays in my life. It's part of me, as much as my love of wearing amber, or my love of books. Of course as with anything, letting it take over with no checks and balances would be bad. Just as buying more amber then I can afford would be bad.
However, contrary to what some preach, killing one's ego is not a good idea. It's a very bad idea. It's part of one's individual personality make up, and it has a say in how we react to things. Now try taking that away. You're taking away a major point of reference in your life.
Also if you believe that the gods make us the way we are, then by trying to kill the ego, you're saying that the gods did a crappy job making you. Do you really want to go there?
I'm not sure where the fear of the ego comes from, but man it's getting annoying at how it's being blamed for all the evils of the spiritual realm. Basically, blaming the ego is a cop-out.
Come on people. Stop telling people how egotistical they are and deal with what they've said. It's rally not that hard or that scary. |
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