The Power of Language

At this time of the year, I find it interesting how many people who confess that they are Pagans throughout the year start becoming "Christianised" and celebrate Christmas.  The reasoning behind this personally escapes me as being a Pagan, the only festival I acknowledge is the upcoming Solstice, and being in the Southern Hemisphere, this is the Summer Solstice, unlike my northern counterparts who will soon be celebrating the Winter Solstice, or Yule.

Waves of Healing - Ocean Meditation

There is much we can learn from the ocean

as we have a similar inner landscape within us as well.

Delaware Beach, South Australia

Like us, the sea is ever-changing. And, like us, the earth’s vast oceans appear at a distance to be stable and homogenous. But beneath the mask of solidity that both we and the sea wear, there lies unpredictability, sensitivity, and power. There is much we can learn from the ocean, representative as it is of our inner landscapes.

The rough sounds of the sea’s waves are spiritually soothing, and its salt can purify our physical selves. Yet not everyone has the luxury of living by the shore or even visiting the coastlines where water and land meet. The ocean, however, exists in our conscious minds, put there by images we have seen and descriptions we have read. Wherever we are, we can access that mental image and use it as the starting point from which we can help to heal our emotions by meditating on the sea.

Keeping our Minds Supple - Questioning Everything

Being open-minded means that we are willing to question everything,

including those things we take for granted.

A lot of people feel threatened if they feel they are being asked to question their cherished beliefs or their perception of reality. Yet questioning is what keeps our minds supple and strong. Simply settling on one way of seeing things and refusing to be open to other possibilities makes the mind rigid and generally creates a restrictive and uncomfortable atmosphere. We all know someone who refuses to budge on one or more issues, and we may have our own sacred cows that could use a little prodding.

Being open-minded means that we are willing to question everything, including those things we take for granted.

Understanding the Concept of Perfect Love and Perfect Trust

One of the central phrases used within Wicca is the axiom of "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust".  The origins of this phase is believed to have come from the Rede of the Wiccae allegedly penned by Lady Gwen Thomson and published in 1975.  In the poem, we find the lines:

"Bide the Wiccan Laws ye must, in perfect love and perfect trust ..."

The Mystical Phoenix

I thought I would share an article that I wrote for Insight magazine back in October 2005 about  the phoenix ...

"Like a phoenix from the flame, I will rise again …" so yelled Irish songstress Sinead O'Connor in the song "Troy" from her first album "The Lion and the Cobra".

The phoenix, a mystical bird most commonly believed to be of Arabic descent, is often described as being the size of an eagle, with a brilliant scarlet and golden plumage.  A popular medieval legend, which has been passed down to us today, states that after living for several centuries, the phoenix builds its own funeral pyre, and throws itself upon the flames to be burnt up.  Then, after a number of days, the phoenix emerges from the ashes (or flames, depending on the source of the legend).

Prayer of Awaking

Feeling a bit stressed out? Something just isn't quite right but you can't seem to put your finger on it? Well, Imbolc has passed and we are now moving towards the Spring Equinox.  As we do so, the energies shift around again, it is little wonder that things are feel out of sorts.

As I am finding myself waking earlier (along with the sun and the birds nesting outside my bedroom window), in the early mornings hours while the world still seems very much asleep, I like to spend this time atuning with Deity.

Nine Ways to Help Awaken Consciousness

By simply being yourself, you can help the people in your life see a living example of consciousness.

1. Living by your values allows you to become a positive source of inspiration for others. Don’t hide – express yourself and embrace life without reservation. By simply being yourself, you can help the people in your life see how one person can make a difference by being a living example of consciousness.

A key to personal development

One book that I have enjoyed reading in recent times is Abrahadabra: Understanding Aleister’s Thelemic Magick by Rodney Orpheus (which is probably obvious considering this is my second posting about this book).  Within this book, I came across a passage that I have adapted for a more Wiccan focus, however regardless of what spiritual path one is following, I believe it gives much thought ...

"One of the keys to Wicca is personal development. This means you have to do the work yourself. Simply reading books and/or web sites is not good enough. While this may increase your theoretical knowledge (or then again may totally confuse you further), unless you do it, you are wasting your time. Knowledge is not the same thing as understanding."

It is only through personal experience that you yourself can access what are termed as the "Mysteries" contained within Wicca - no teacher, regardless of how wonderful they may be, can experience these Mysteries for you ... nor can their interpretation be 100% relevant for you.

Creating Our Own Reality

I came across the following article by Robin Wood (http://www.robinwood.com/index.html) who is the creator of the first deck of tarot cards (the Robin Wood tarot) that I purchased myself.


Creating Our Own Reality
© Robin Wood 2005

It’s completely true that we create our own reality.

Not because we get to choose what happens to us; few of us are that lucky.

Casting the Circle

A circle is the boundary within which the Wytch works. The four positions on the rim of the circle represent the cardinal direction and their corresponding elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Thus, a circle contains within itself a square, as well as a point above and a point below, for the “circle” is, in fact, visualised as a sphere. This is the moveable temple of a Wytch, one which can be set up anywhere simply by “casting the circle”.

At the end of the ritual the temple is as easily dissembled as it was assembled, and the area it occupied ceased to be a sacred space. The important point about creating a sacred circle is that it is created with the mind, using visualisation.

The Truth as to what our personality really is all about

The following is another excerpt I wish to share from Rodney Orpheus's book, "Abrahadabra: Understanding Aleister’s Thelemic Magick", which I have found to be of interest ...

We are accustomed to think of our personalities as being ourselves. This is totally false. The word “personality” comes from the Latin “persona” meaning a mask. In ancient drama the characters were differentiated only by the masks they wore. Your personality is only the clothing you wear over your soul. We must explore our “true nature” that lies below the level of the personality. We do this by first understanding what a fragile artificial thing our personality is."

The Myth of the Easter Bunny

In the Northern Hemisphere of course Easter and the Spring Equinox occur around the same time - unlike here in the Southern Hemisphere, however as much of the symbolism used in the Christian festival actually stem from this older Pagan festival, this rather lengthy article investigates the origins of such rather fully.

 

The Myth of the Easter Bunny

by Joan Katherine Webster

Rabbits dont lay eggs. Particularly male rabbits, the traditional gender of the Easter Bunny. Yet every Easter we buy bunnies with eggs. We send children to find hidden eggs laid by the Easter Bunny. Why?

Apathy

The following is taken from Zsuzsanna Budapest's wonderful book Grandmother Moon that is now back in print.

Apathy

The death of the soul is apathy. When you have been beaten so long and so much that you can no longer fight back, "they" have got you. "They" in this case are whoever would benefit from your lack of participation in real life.

Pattern of the Trestleboard

The "Pattern on the Trestleboard" is said to be a most startling set of positive statements relating to the ten Divine Emanations of the Qabalistic Tree. The following comes from the Builders of the Adytum (B.O.T.A.):


The Pattern on the Trestleboard

This is Truth about the Self

Invaluable Sense Awareness Techniques

When you are just setting out on your spiritual/magickal path, there are a few "basic" exercises that whilst may seem pointless at first to learn, later on down your path, their true benefit often becomes clear. They are referred to as "basic" not because of their simplicity - but because they form part of a solid foundation or building block upon which you can base your work.

Even for a more seasoned practitioner, it is always recommended to return to these exericses every now and then .. this is because often shortcuts are taken and sometimes well, bad habits do tend to creep into one's practice if you are not disciplined enough .. and I know I'm certainly not disciplined all the time.

The Importance of Protection - part III

Following on from recent postings about psychic protection, I thought I would focus this section on what is a psychic attack.  I also include magickal attacks in here as well as often the effects are relatively similar.

The first point I would like to make clear is that such attacks are actually rarer that what most people believe they are. Any bit of bad luck or misfortune is not necessary an "attack" - it may simply be the way things are. However, in saying this, I do not mean to imply that attacks (regardless of whether they are psychic, magickal or otherwise) do not happen .. because they do. It is important, especially for the novice, to ascertain what exactly is happening, and in particular where the energy is coming from .. the source of the latter may actually result in a surprise.

The Importance of Protection - part II

Following on from my previous posting about psychic protection, this article is about the effects on the aura that psychic attacks may have ...

Aura parameters such as colours, size, shape, evenness, and uniformity change dynamically over time in response to the total environment. It is affected by such factors as daily stress, psychological bombardment, other people's intentions and desires toward us, jealousy, induced fear, threats, hatred, and noise which can cause the aura to shrink or create wear and tear on the aura.

There are many exercises for developing energy, retaining energy, refining energy, and transmuting energy from lower to higher levels. Our concern here is protecting our energy by strengthening the auric field.

Actively Participating - Showing up for Life

Showing up for your life means actively participating in our own life

rather than hiding and going through the motions.

The way we walk into a room says a lot about the way we live our lives. When we walk into a room curious about what is happening, willing to engage, and perceiving ourselves as an active participant with something to offer, then we have really shown up to the party.

When we walk into a room with our eyes down, or nervously smiling, we are holding ourselves back for one reason or another. We may be hurting inside and in need of healing, or we may lack the confidence required to really be present in the room.

Still, just noticing that we are not really showing up, and having a vision of what it will look and feel like when we do, can give us the inspiration we need to recover ourselves.

The Importance of Protection

When starting out on a spiritual or magickal path, it is believed that you automatically send a beacon of light up into the astral. As astral beings, both malevolent and benign, could be attracted to this light, it is important, therefore, to perform some form of psychic protection. Another reason why this form of protection is important is as your own psychic sensibilities start to become more developed, making you more susceptible to picking up negative energies, which are around us all the time.

Breaking Family Ties That Bind

Sometimes our fear does not stem from us,

but rather is a fear that has been handed down from our parents.

When we really examine our fears about something, we sometimes notice that the fear we have is not based on our own experience. Often, if we trace our fear back to its source, we find that one of our parents may have handed it down to us. For example, your mother or father may have had an intense fear of lack of money, stemming from their own life experiences.

If that fear was not resolved by the time you came into the picture, chances are you inherited it. Meanwhile, you may have no actual experience of lacking money, so being fearful does not make sense, and it may even block you from doing certain things you want to do.