At the Feet of the Divine - Laying our Burdens Down

We weren’t meant to carry such heavy burden alone;

visualize yourself laying down your burden and feel the lightness.

We all know the feeling of walking through life as if we are carrying the huge burden of our worries and stresses on our backs and shoulders, struggling to keep moving forward.

There is no real way to move freely and fluidly in such a situation, and we are all longing to lay our burdens down. Just imagining that it would be possible to do such a thing can be enough to elicit a sigh of relief and a feeling of lightness.

Ending the Cycle - Start Today

Today we can make the choice to end a cycle or way of being

that is not in alignment with our soul's desire.

One of the hardest things in life is feeling stuck in a situation that we do not like and want to change. We may have exhausted ourselves trying to figure out how to make change, and we may even have given up. However, each day offers us an opportunity to renew our resolve and to declare to the universe that we are ready for change. We may even say out loud that we have tried and struggled and have not found a way, but that we are open to help, and that we intend to keep working to create change for ourselves. Making this declaration to the universe, and to ourselves, may be just the remedy for the stagnation we are experiencing. And, it can be done today, right now.

Gathering Intelligence - Different Ways Of Knowing

No one way of knowing things is better than another way,

and they can all be useful at different points in our lives.

We human beings have many ways of knowing what we need to know in order to get through our lives. One way of knowing things is to engage in a course of study in an academic environment. Another way of knowing things is simply to go through the experiences that come our way, making a conscious effort to learn from them.

A third way in which people gain knowledge is through the vehicle of intuition, a gift some have more than others, but which can be developed in anyone.

No one way of knowing things is better than another way, and they can all be useful at different points in our lives.

Aquarius New Moon: Call and Response

by Dana Gerhardt

It’s another new moon (3 February @ 1:01pm here in Adelaide) when the magically minded make wishes and astrologers attempt to divine this cycle’s intentions. But fates are personal. Even if a new moon chart could be forced to describe them all, no single astrologer could tell that many stories. The wishes you make now may indeed be super-powered, but if you don’t have a strong relationship with the archetypes, don’t expect special favors. If you rarely visit your eccentric Aunt Ella, don’t expect her to gift you with an iPad on your next birthday.

New Moons are potent times to forge alliances with the gods. Visit the invisible world. Bow and open yourself to their touch. Make an offering. Humans have been rendezvousing with these archetypes for thousands of years. When you call out to the gods, they do respond!

Water Meditation and the element of Water

Meditating with water can be a powerful way of aligning ourselves

with an element that sustains us.

Our bodies are over 50% water, so it makes sense that human beings have always considered water to be a sacred source of life and healing. It is literally half of who we are, and well over half of the Earth’s surface is water. Water cleanses and hydrates, contains and produces nourishment, and when we enter it, holds us in an embrace that leaves no part of us untouched. Meditating with water can be a powerful way of aligning ourselves more fully with this support system that makes life both possible and pleasurable on so many levels.

Making The Decision - Saying Yes To The Universe

By acknowledging the existence of what’s not working for us,

we can begin the process of change.

The hardest thing about saying yes to the universe is that it means accepting everything life puts in front of us. Most of us have a habit of going through our days saying no to the things we do not like and yes to the things we do, and yet, everything we encounter is our life. We may be afraid that if we say yes to the things we do not like, we will be stuck with them forever, but really, it is only through acknowledging the existence of what is not working for us that we can begin the process of change. So saying yes does not mean indiscriminately accepting things that do not work for us. It means conversing with the universe, and starting the conversation with a very powerful word — yes. 

The Passing of a Celtic Amazon

On Wednesday, 12 January 2011, after many months battling cancer for the second time, the Goddess Brighid gathered Lynne Sinclair Wood to her breast, freeing her from pain and taking her to the Summerlands.

Lynne was born in New South Wales but made Adelaide her home since the 1980s.  She held a Master of Arts from the University of Adelaide, a Fine Arts degree from the University of South Australia and a Diploma of Art Education from the National Art School, Sydney.  Her painting was largely influenced by her "life long spiritual journey as a Celtic Australian woman searching for her own sacred space: here in Australia, in her ancestral lands of Scotland and Wales and within her own mind, spirit and imagination" (source: Lynne's web site). 

Repressing the Inner Voice - Giving Away Power

Giving away our power is something we have been taught

since childhood by unaware adults in our lives.

In many ways, we are taught from the time we are children to give away our power to others. When we were told to kiss and hug relatives or friends of the family when we didn't want to, for example, we were learning to override our inner sense of knowing and our right to determine for ourselves what we want to do. This repression continued, most likely, in many experiences at school and in situations at work. At this point, we may not even know how to hold on to our power, because giving it away is so automatic and ingrained.

The Creation Ground of Experience - Thoughts

By choosing how to interpret and define each moment with your thoughts,

you truly create your reality.

Our thoughts are powerful forces in the creation of our experience of life. You may be able to recall a time when frustration that was based on a misunderstanding completely evaporated when your understanding changed. This is because our interpretation defines our experience, and it can change in an instant.  Our only true reality is the present moment, so rather than merely accepting that life is happening to us, we can harness the power of our thoughts to actively create a positive reality. For example, we can choose to appreciate beauty around us rather than focusing on traffic or look for admirable qualities in the people we deal with rather than focusing on the negative. By choosing how to interpret and define each moment with your thoughts, you truly create your reality.

Fire Child: The Life and Magic of Maxine Sanders, “Witch Queen”

Fire Child: The Life and Magic of Maxine Sanders, “Witch Queen”

By Maxine Sanders (Mandrake of Oxford, 2008)

Whilst much has been written about Gerald Gardner’s creation of Wicca, little is still known about Alex Sanders’ true influence and reasoning behind his push to bring Wicca into the public arena. That is until now. “Fire Child” is the long awaited book by Maxine Sanders, wife of the late Alex Sanders. Rather than being a tell-all book simply about Alex’s antics, it traces Maxine’s own life – warts and all – before and after Alex - and what an interesting life she has led.

Maxine was only a teenager when she met and fell in love with Alex and by her 20th birthday she had been initiated “Witch Queen”. In “Fire Child”, she frankly reveals what it was like in the 1960s and 1970s when Alex’s desire was to make Wicca more accessible to the public, some of the characters they met (including Charles Manson) and of the personal sacrifices they both made. She describes what it was like giving public rituals and interviews, her reluctance and the harassment she received.