Tag: Paganism

Making Room for all Genders in Paganism

Making Room for all Genders in Paganism

Author: Maggi Setti

In this age of women’s liberation, we still find a deep wound surrounding gender differences in our culture. How is gender expressed differently in the pagan community? Is there still a use for gender specific ritual spaces? Many of these questions are ongoing with many answers, but it is high time that we see these issues with new eyes as we approach a second generation of Pagan feminists, both male, female, and spectrum of gender identification in between.

At a public class I taught a couple weeks ago on developing energetic and psychic skills, I was surprised that that there was an equal number of male and female attendants. For Wicca, this is a rarity, as you will find the vast majority of Wiccans are women. The easy explanation for this is that women are more hurt by the patriarchal approach of mainstream religions and need the feminine divine more acutely than men.

In a personal conversation, a male Wiccan offered the idea that there are more women than men interested and involved in spirituality and religion in general. He used the example that most church functions, other than the priesthood itself, are run by women and often women are dragging their husbands to church rather than the men being self-motivated in attending. I think that if this premise is true, that women as a group are more spiritually focused than men in mainstream religions as well as Pagan denominations. We can infer that this phenomenon comes from at least two influences as follows.

1. Men are discouraged from being in touch with their soft emotions. It’s hard to be in touch with the greater picture and how one fits in to that greater whole, and at the same time, this suppresses much of one’s internal reality as well.
2. Much of adherence to the Christian religion, as it is currently expressed, depends on guilt and fear. There is more room for men to assert themselves, their ideas, opinions and what they want on other people in their lives. While this may be lopsided, it also allows for a greater development on one’s power and ego especially for men as a group more so than women. Women are more likely to struggle with fear and guilt, and feeling powerless, are therefore more susceptible to the disempowerment and subversion of the religions tenants.

Both of my points above would support that it is not the nature of women or men that make women more spiritually focused, but another example of how our culture is unhealthy and imbalanced. Unfortunately how the pagan community during the past 40 years has approached this is by creating overblown false egos for women and small-scale fiefdoms that breed infighting, confusion, and mistrust. I saw this in Sunday school as a kid, in the choir in high school, and still see it.

Women’s empowerment and healing the gap between the genders is not about the segregation of the sexes anymore though. It’s about building healthy egos, empowerment, self-esteem and ending the war of the sexes. Women’s only spaces were intended to be safe havens in which women felt supported rather than competing with other women. These spaces were meant as healing spaces to use ritual as a forum to connect with the feminine divine within each woman there, as well as the feminine divine of the group, the culture, and the Great Goddess Herself. Therefore these spaces are not about reliving the pain and hurt of what has been wrong with the system, but to encourage alchemical change within individuals so that they can build new paradigms of how they approach and express gender, but power, sexuality, self-expression, and self-worth.

All of this is about self-love and acceptance. Not acceptance that makes excuses for maladaptive behavior that is permissive our faults, but rather an acceptance to be gentle with ourselves so that we can motivate change, growth, and healing. “I love my body as uniquely my own. I am not flawed. I am as I should be.” Affirmations such as these help to let go of the cultural myth of the perfect feminine, youthful woman that does not exist.

Please note that I am referencing cultural expectations. Our culture oversimplifies definitions of qualities into white and black categories. If you can’t label someone, force him or her to go into a category until you are comfortable that you have him or her pegged. Much of the path of the witch embraces the grays of twilight and dawn and the myriad of shades of gray within continuum of many things. Where we fall on the continuum for many things including how we express gender, sexuality, our relationships, our connection to the Gods, will be different for all of us.

As Pagans we embrace our differences and still are able to work together, to manifest a new humanity. We need to be very cognizant of embracing each individual’s true expression of himself or herself: whether it be the gender labels they use for themselves in this case, or other expressions of self.

We can’t just look at women though. Women are not the only ones that have suffered from the imbalance of this “war of the sexes.” At Fall Frolic in Milford PA, I’ll be teaching a women’s empowerment class and leading a women’s only ritual. I’ve suggested to the organizers of Fall Frolic that we also run a men’s ritual at the same time. In fact, these rituals can do real magick upon the higher planes to interact in a spiritually fertilizing and polarizing way in order to heal the gender schism of the group mind of humanity. In my opinion, this magickal healing is the next step for building bridges for healthy intragender relationships.

How do we interest men in a way that retains their sense of strength, self-worth, respect, and power? How do we incorporate men into a religion that includes sparkly purple fairy glitter and witch Barbie? (Not my personal taste, but still an active stereotype) . How do we rebuild the archetype of the warrior for both men and women, working, fighting for a cause, and protecting their tribe?

I hope that there are Pagan men interested and willing to forge the way for answering these questions. We need all genders working together and creating new ways of relating to one another so that we can create a balanced future for our religion, our children, and our culture.

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Paganism

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Paganism

Author: Crick

As folks begin to re-discover their interest in paganism, there are certain fallacies that are being put forth that do not contribute in a meaningful way to the true nature of paganism. We, as a community that is based upon many divergent beliefs, would be wise to avoid these pitfalls as we move forward. Please keep in mind that we are all individuals and as such we are entitled to our personal opinions even if it does not agree with others’ opinions.

Fallacy: The pentagram is the symbol of one particular group of pagans.

The truth is that the pentagram has been in use by various groups, both pagan and Christian, since Uruk IV circa 3500 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia where the general interpretation appeared to be “heavenly body.” By the cuneiform period circa 2600 BCE the pentagram or symbol “UB” came to mean “region, ” “heavenly quarter” or “direction”.

Venus is equated with the Sumerian Goddess, Ishtar (Inanna) whose symbol is an eight or sixteen point star.

In association with the Hebrews, the five-point symbol was ascribed to Truth and to the five books of the Pentateuch.

In Ancient Greece, it was called the Pentalpha.

Pythagorians considered it an emblem of perfection or the symbol of the human being. The Pythagoreans used it as a sign of recognition and they called the Pentagram “Hugieia” which is usually translated “Health, ” but can also translate as “Soundness or Wholeness”, and in a more general way, any “Divine Blessing”. Hugieia (Hygeia) is the Greek Goddess of Health, who is called Salus by the ancient Romans.

The pentagram was also associated with the golden ratio (which it includes) , and the dodecahedron, the fifth Platonic solid, which has twelve pentagonal faces and was considered by Plato to be a symbol of the heavens.

The Pentagram has been found everywhere from Egyptian statues to Gaulish coins. In fact, the Greeks, Aryans, and Etruscans (circa 400 BCE) shared a coin bearing a pentagram and the characters “PENSU” (Etruscan for five) .

It is noted that the texts of Solomon from the Mediaeval period gave great importance to the pentagram, under the name “Solomon’s Seal.”

It is documented that the first English mention of a pentagram appears in the legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Stanzas 27-28 (1380 CE) . Gawain, who is traditionally the Celtic sun-hero, carries a shield “shining gules, With the Pentagle in pure gold depicted thereon”.

“It is a symbol which Solomon conceived once
To betoken holy truth, by its intrinsic right,
For it is a figure which has five points,
And each line overlaps and is locked with another;
And it is endless everywhere, and the English call it,
In all the land, I hear, the Endless Knot.”

And yet with the exception of Eliphas Levi who was associated with Catholicism, the Pentagram has never had any established definition or translation in regards to evil or any other negative connotation.

It was Eliphas Lévi who made the claim, with no justification or established historical precedent, that the pentagram with one point upward represents the good principle and one downward, the principals of evil. Eliphas Levi had trained for the Roman Catholic priesthood and was a prolific writer on Freemasonry magical associations. And as such his motives are somewhat questionable.

In fact, the five-pointed star is also defined as a symbol of Christ, “the bright and morning star”: and, inverted with one point down, it represents the descent of Christ, which represents his Incarnation. Lo and behold, there is a huge inverted five-pointed star on the steeple of the “Marktkirche”, or Market Church in fourteenth century Hanover, Germany and there are the numerous inverted stars that surround a statue of Mary and the Christ Child in Chartres Cathedral circa 1150 C.E.

The early Christians attributed the pentagram to the Five Stigmata of Christ and/or the doctrine of the Trinity plus that of the two natures of Christ.

It can also be seen on gravestones in the Claustro da Lavagem in the Convento at Tomar, Portugal, the monastery of Ravna, Bulgaria and the Church of All Saints at Kilham, Humberside, Yorkshire, England, which incorporates the symbol on the columns which support the Norman doorway. It is indented on the gateposts of the churchyard of S. Peter’s, Walworth, England, built in 1824 CE.

And yet in spite of thousands of years of the Pentagram being seen as a symbol of health and many other positive aspects, the Pentagram is now held forth by a few so called organized religions as being a symbol of a dark foreboding and evil.

However the pentagram is not the exclusive domain of any one pagan group and should not be presented as such as it now often is. Paganism is far too diverse to be represented by anyone group.

It is one thing to establish a religion/spiritual path that is often a mishmash of beliefs from other religious belief systems. But for such religions who were formed after the fact to engage in such blatant distortions doesn’t do much to contribute to the understanding and acceptance that these same religions claim as tenets of their own beliefs.

Until the members of such religions find the will and inner strength to empower the truth, there will always be such institutional hypocrisies. And as such these misnomers will continue to belie and disrupt any real effort at understanding and good will towards others.

Fallacy: The mystical arts are primarily a religion.

To my mind, when one takes the mystical arts which to my mind is constantly evolving and is limitless in its definition and understanding and places it within the parameters of religious dogma, then one is in effect limiting their personal spiritual growth and ability to develop within the concept of true mystical arts.

I understand that such limitations work well for some folks and that is what it is. However such a concept does not work for those who are solitaire, follow the path of shamanism, Voudon, Asatru, Nordic, Witchcraft or what have you. Such folks follow a spiritual path and not a religion. And so there needs to be more of an acceptance of such a reality.

Far too often there are attempts by those who desire to turn the mystical arts into a religion to downplay the beliefs of others or to elevate themselves above all others. Such behavior is detrimental to any attempts at creating a true pagan community and thus is a pitfall to be avoided.

Fallacy: Everyone who follows a pagan path is in effect a Neo Pagan and attempting to re-construct an ancient pagan belief.

This is simply not true and does nothing more than to play into the hands of those who would like to be seen as the pagan standard and whom often falsely claim to represent all pagans.

This misnomer may apply to those primarily of European descent who now desire to follow a pagan path from ancient Europe. But the reality is that there are in fact folks from such descent who have always been pagan. Though the organized religions did their utmost best to eradicate pagan beliefs, there were some families who did not succumb to such attempts.

To paint everyone who follows a European based pagan belief with such a broad brush is self-serving and in fact stereotyping. There are also many folks around the world who have always been pagan such as the Eskimos, Australian Bushman, Siberian Shamans, the many indigenous tribes located all around the world and so forth.

To deny the pagan heritage of such folks is arrogant and elitist to say the least. It also deprives us of a rich and valuable source of experiences that far exceed many of the modern day pagan paths. Do we really want to establish a pagan community based on such deceptive behavior?

And so as we move forward, we should keep in mind that it is human nature to put forth fallacies that are self-serving to one’s particular group. But if we are in fact going to avoid the missteps of prior belief systems, then we should be aware of the pitfalls that are waiting for the unwary.

Paganism is not about any one particular group. We are far too diverse for such a self-serving fallacy. And so moving forward, we should show common respect for all of our divergent beliefs… for we are Pagans…

Coming Out Of The “Broom Closet”

Coming Out Of The “Broom Closet”

Author: Lea

I am lucky to have two parents that fully accept the fact I am a Pagan. In fact, after I converted, my mother followed; the jury is still out on my father…he would be willing to join in for ceremonies or feasts, but he still goes to church some Sundays and doesn’t really know anything about religion in general. The rest of my family was technically raised Presbyterian, they don’t go to church and we just say grace before big family meals, mostly because of my grandmother.

I doubt my family would have major issues with the fact I am a Pagan, they would probably brush it off and think it was “just a phase”, or ask me questions about what Paganism really is, but they wouldn’t disown me.

Yet, I still have found myself unable to come out of the “Broom Closet”. So, I kind of want to talk about why, or why not, to come out of the broom closet.

All of my information is taken from personal experiences of friends and of myself, and from the website Lady of the Earth, which is credited at the bottom of this essay.

Picture if you will, you’ve been studying Paganism for a while, and maybe you’ve managed to cast a couple of circles, built up a rather nice collection of oils, incense and candles, and really proud of what you’ve learned. So, now what? Are you ready to tell your friends and family?
Wait, we’ll have to consider some things first:

“In Africa today, someone may be brutally murdered because they were accused of Witchcraft. Whether or not they are or aren’t doesn’t matter. Just an accusation.

Closer to home, in America today, someone may lose his or her children because a social worker was misinformed. Children have been taken from their parents because a ‘child welfare’ worker believed they would be sacrificed at Samhain.

Very close to my home, in Canada today, someone may be forced into a mental institution for practicing Wicca. Some institutions believe that practicing modern Witchcraft is a sign of mental distress or social maladjustment.

In the world today, someone is losing a job for being Pagan; someone is losing a friend.

Someone is polishing a gun and muttering about the ‘baby killers’. Someone is holding community action meetings to deal with the ‘Wiccan threat’.”—Lady of the Earth

These may be old numbers, as many areas have repealed “anti-witch” laws, but we must always remember that people are misinformed about Pagans, and they get all their information from Hollywood or outdated sources.

When I first came out of the broom closet, my father had some misconceptions about Paganism, even though he is an educated man with a university degree in accounting, from when he was a child being raised in a very Catholic small town. In fact, when my mother and I stopped going to church because we converted, he got very defensive.

With common misconceptions dispelled, however, he now understands why we converted, and why we weren’t very happy with the Christian church. It made the relationship a bit tense at first, and he would often leave Sunday mornings to church and not tell us—we assumed he went to the office to do some filing or make some calls without bothering us—and he almost seemed ashamed to admit he was going to church. I sometimes wonder if he thought the big scary Pagan women were going to curse him!

You must always remember, coming out of the broom closet will change everything, usually for the good, but you must realize that sometimes it will be for the worst.

If any of you reading this are gay and have come out of the closet, I’m sure you’ll know how difficult it can be. I think that is why Pagans use the analogy of “coming out of the closet” to describe telling people of their religious views, and by making it a “broom closet”, Pagans give it their own twist.

This is not intended as a how-to come out, but more of an essay on what you can do to come out, and some things to consider. Everyone’s coming-out will be different and unique to the person and situation. Also, keep in mind there are different forms of being “out”. If we want to be technical, I’m very much out in the open, but at the same time I am very much in the closet.

I am out with my friends, but for my cousins wedding that happened on August 1st, I was more half in the closet. I am more out with my mother than my father. Ordering books online is more anonymous than going to your local bookstore. Do what feels comfortable for YOU. This is your life.

Paganism is about trust in yourself and the world around you. You have to trust in what you do in rituals for it to work, for example. Therefore, the basis for coming out of the broom closet is trust. So, if you want your family to trust in you after or during your coming out, you have to make sure you’re doing trustworthy things.

Don’t hide the fact you collect oils or incense; tell your family you are looking into aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is used in spas, so it is less suspicious than hiding about it, or arguing, or straight out lying. Saying you’re using aromatherapy is, at least, somewhat truthful. Though you could argue it is lying by omitting, it’s still a lot less risky. Think of it along the same lines as the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell”.

Safety is the next consideration. Is it safe for you to come out? If you think it is unsafe, then don’t come out, at least not yet. Safety includes protection from physical abuse, but can also include having somewhere to live, or the emotional worry of having people harass you or even attempt to convert you.

I have a friend who was unable to come out in her hometown because of an abusive situation. I doubt I could come out to some of my extended family just because they think anything outside the “norm” (in that area, Christianity) is wrong, and they already think I’m weird because of my personality.

The next step is then to try to predict how the people you are coming out to will react. Start with one group, like your parents. Will they understand? Curious? Supportive? Angry? I do suggest starting with people you live with, because you can predict their behavior best. Make note of how they act talking about religion in general. This stage might take only a few days to have a general idea of how they will react. It might take several weeks. Be patient, and keep your eyes and ears open.

I did this myself just recently, when coming out with my mother’s sister, who comes over to our house pretty much every Sunday for a visit and dinner. She is not exactly open-minded, but she’s not close-minded either: she’s more in-between. I had wanted to come out to her for quite some time, but was unsure how to mention it.

She had seen my collection of candles, incense, and admired my collection of Egyptian statues. She was there when I picked up some of my tarot decks and Pagan books, and was with me when I purchased some Aztec prints. She reacted pretty positively to the items, always commenting how much I had loved this stuff when I was younger.

Finally, just a few weeks ago, she was watching me while I was putting a few finishing touches on an entry into my Book of Shadows, and asked if the spell book I was copying from was “made up” like in Harry Potter. My mom and I gave a jumbled reply saying they were from old grimoires and such, and my aunt took it all quite well. She said it was interesting, flipped through it a bit, and then went back to what she was doing.

You may be lucky, just like I was. Your family may not need your choice explained to them, and they will support you no matter what. But, if I have learned anything, it’s that never trust luck. Always have an explanation. Make a list of what you like about paganism. Write a little paragraph or two explaining why you converted or are not impressed with more mainstream religions.

Also, be sure to plan to explain some of the common misconceptions about paganism. This can be really helpful if you would rather write a letter or e-mail to your family to come out and let them come to you.

The biggest trick will be to remain calm. Are you prone to anger very quickly? You’ll have to work on that before even considering coming out. Calmness is key. If you speak calmly and explain your points in a level voice, they will be more prone to listening. To help remain calm, you can really benefit from preparing beforehand.

Plan for EVERYTHING you can think of, because it can give you something to refer to, and it will help you keep your thoughts in order. You can even make cue-cards to refer to during your actual coming out. It may seem like over-planning, but if you are forgetful or easily frustrated, the more planning you have, the less likely you’ll lose you cool, because you probably have something written down.

Another good reason for this is, if your parents learn better by reading, you can physically give them something to read with all your points on it. My mother is like this, so when I came out, she ordered herself a book on Wicca to educate herself on my religion.

In many cases, what is known about paganism by the general public (people who haven’t studied it) are the misconceptions and rumors spread by Hollywood and religious bigots. Remember, your parents and friends love you, and want what’s best for you and want to keep you from getting hurt. Reassure them that paganism is not a cult, and that you are educating yourself on all aspects of the religion.

Please be patient with them; it may take them some time and some research of their own to fully accept your actions. Also, use common sense. If they are in a bad mood, don’t bring this up; you can wait until they are in a good and talkative mood.

It is more than likely, if you’ve explained your position well, that your family and friends will be supportive, even if they don’t agree with you. The teachers at my high school were very open-minded and prided the small pagan community we had; my friends may not agree with my beliefs, but they happily accept that it is what I believe and support me.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll really pique someone’s interest and aid him or her on his or her own spiritual journey.

Footnotes:
http://www.ladyoftheearth.com/lessons/how-to-tell-family-friends.txt

http://www.ladyoftheearth.com/lessons/10-beginner-mistakes.txt

Tuesday’s Prayer – Prayer for Pagan Children

Prayer for Pagan Children

O God, O Goddess, you have created all

people, all races, all traditions, and all

faiths. You have taught us to worship you

each in our own way. This can be very

confusing at times, and to a small child,

often traumatic.

Mankind has created much discontent,

and prejudice is everywhere.

My prayer is for all children, but espe-

cially the Pagan children. Give them and

their families the strength and endurance

needed to survive these times. help them

to grow and understand that ignorance

and greed is the cause of all suffering, so

that one day we can be united as one

 family again.

So Mote It Be.

Pagan Studies : Honoring the Green Man Ritual

Pagan Studies : Honoring the Green Man Ritual

 
The spirit of the forest green is celebrated today in Cornwall, England. He is known by many names—Lord of the Greenwood, Robin Hood, and today as the Green Man. Whatever his name, his spirit embodies the push of new vegetation, the rising sap and coming lushness. He is the life force returning; honor him today by taking time to walk in the woods or city park. Revel in the new growth, and bring along a picnic supper for two. A fresh salad of spring greens, garlicky olives, soft goat cheese, sliced cooked eggs with a loaf of crusty bread, and a bottle of fruity aromatic wine is perfect. Eat with your fingers!
 
By: Karri Allrich
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GrannyMoon’s Coventry of Healing Arts and Pagan Studies 

 

The Hedge Witch’s Home (Or A Guide to Practical Paganism)

The Hedge Witch’s Home (Or A Guide to Practical Paganism)

Author: Aethelbera

For most of us Pagans, the altar can be seen as a spiritual or peaceful refuge in our own special corner away from the mundane and away from the rest of the world. For others of us, we may prefer to meditate and still others would like nothing more than a peaceful walk in a forest. But our homes can be places of spiritual refuge as well, from the front door to the bedroom at the furthest end of the house. In fact, the home should be a refuge, a Pagan one. It goes without saying that most of us want to feel Pagan and live Pagan but for some of us this can be difficult.

Some of us live in must urban settings or very small dwellings with little room. Maybe you’re renting an apartment with strict rules such as no holes in the walls. But it’s anything but hopeless. We can “Pagan” up our houses in the simplest of ways. It is possible even if we live in tiny, cramped apartments or dorm rooms where lighting candles and incense isn’t practical and is prohibited by post-secondary institutions.

Kitchen Witches make much use of their kitchens. Their altars are their counters and their ritual tools are the big wooden spoons and saucepans by the stove. Green Witches have their gardens and hedge witches have the tinted jars of sundry herbs lined upon the shelves.

There are a few simple steps a Pagan can take to make their home really their home. Setting up a modest altar in a preferred room is one way, perhaps with a smudge stick or perhaps with images of ancestors lining the edges. This is really very simple, a nicely framed picture of Grandma and Grandpa on a side table will most surely do! My altar has a calendar set up neatly on the left side. You can decorate your altar according to your path’s holidays and decorate your house with seasonal sprigs or seasonal emblems.

One can also make use of many readily available herbs to feel close to nature such as creating sachets, herbal rinses, soaps, incenses, teas or any variety of delicious culinary dishes. I have only a few words of advice and those are: DO NOT OVERPICK. And be sure to pick ethically as many plants are endangered or becoming endangered just as animals do. And do not pick anything out in the wild without thoroughly making sure you know what it is and use it to the best of its abilities If you can’t be sure, leave it or consult someone who knows. That being said, the practical Pagan may want to get rosehips from the roses in his garden and they appear when the blooms die for any number of practical purposes from teas to desserts.

These and many other herbs can also be found at a local loose-leaf teashop, or if you’re lucky enough, your local herb shop or Pagan shop. There are many practical ways to utilize these small charms as well. A kitchen Witch might go to the supermarket and buy some thyme or ginger to cook with and saturate it with his or her witchy knack for cooking. If you live in the city, and want to feel more “naturey”, set up a windowsill spice garden and be sure to get a few potted plants.

When friends come over, the hedge Witch can brew a mean tea from those same rosehips, which are high in vitamin C and thus helpful with colds. If you’re looking for a sleeping potion and warm milk just isn’t doing the trick, try some chamomile. As a mild sedative, it does wonders to help you, or your active children get to sleep.

To make your home feel like being home and feel more Pagan, you could tie an herb sachet by the bathtub and the scent will be released with the steam. You could collect your favorite Pagan authors and place them on a bookshelf in the living room. You could keep a diary, dream journal or recipe book by your bed stand.

For the more spiritual, you could buy a nice broom and decorate it to your tastes and use cleaning the home as a ritual or if you’re Heathen, place a blót horn or ancestor image on the mantel. Mine is only big enough for a single shot so if you’re space is cramped you can still aim small. You do not have to feel like you are trapped in a cramped, mundane and utterly unPagan apartment.

You can imbue almost anything with a spiritual significance. Even if you are a teenager in a strict nonPagan home you can try your hand at cooking or placing a broom in your room to clean with and of course you can buy little figurines for your bedroom that have special significance to you.

Last but not least, you could try your creative hand and add a very personal element. If you can write, write a prayer for your bedroom wall. If you can paint, paint an image of your patron God. If you can carve, carve an image of your totem. If you can work with wood, well, you get the idea.

It is very easy to be the Practical Pagan without cheapening the experience or overdoing it dramatically. After all, no one really need a big witch hat and a cast iron cauldron sitting dead centre in the front foyer for all to see to have a Pagan home and neither do you need to set up a mini Stonehenge in the backyard (a small altar by a tree or birdfeeder may do just fine) .

If space is an issue, aim small. If disapproving eyes are an issue, aim for subtle and above all, aim for modest and something which will complement your personality!

Make your home really feel like yours and let it be inspired by your Pagan path.

Happy (Pagan) interior decorating!


Footnotes:
N/A

Life is Love: The Power of Happiness

Life is Love: The Power of Happiness

Author: Winterfox

I  am faced, every day, with an interesting prospect. Whether or not it’s right or wrong to even have the thought, I awake every morning to the idea that I am not going to die today. And every day, there is a little more certainty to my voice when I say it out loud.

It isn’t a medical condition that forces me to think positively, it’s just the ghosts of things passed. Ages ago, I would have called it “depression.” Now, though, I call it “achievement.” I am still facing my demons, I am still terrified of certain situations, and I am still battling to reach some level of normal human behavior. But through it all I’m still fighting, and I’m still winning. And, right at the heart of it all, there’s a little star with a circle around it.

Years ago when I was still a different person, a lot of things happened that forced me into a near catatonic state. I was completely mute, and so shy that looking at a person’s eyes made me shake. And it was around this time that I was introduced to Paganism. How wonderful it was to retreat into meditation, or watch incense smoke for hours; I wasn’t really ‘into’ it, but the practice of it made me peaceful. I started to enjoy the company of other people, holding circles in small groups and learning to trust what we called our “mini coven.” I was coming out of my shell, slowly.

It wasn’t until later that the full force of what Paganism meant to me practically hit me in the face. I was sitting on a public bus, coming home from school, when some impish need to giggle came over me. And I started to laugh, first into my hand, then into my fist, and then I didn’t bother to smuggle it anymore.

I was laughing, hard, tears streaming down my face. Because here I was, sitting on a bus, and for no particular reason I had just realized that I was absolutely, undeniably, contentedly happy. I had no more reason to worry. Everything I was afraid of was over; I was meeting people, I was doing well, I was still alive. I had conquered something.

So here I was, I thought, sitting on a bus, and I could feel my life force crackling merrily like fire in a chimney. All the energy, all that essence we’d been trying to put into our magick, it existed. And here it was, bubbling out of me, overflowing me, and filling me with something wonderful.

By the next year, I had formally decided to become Wiccan. Although I couldn’t really practice anything with my parents around, I decided I could at least honor the principals. I started to absorb the wisdom of the Lord and Lady, as well as be mindful to everyone and everything around me.

Now, I’m on my own for the first time, living in a tiny dorm room in the middle of an unfamiliar big city. I am, for the most part, your typical university student. I get good grades, do my laundry, and have the occasional childish snowball fight with a group of friends that I cherish more dearly than they can imagine.

My room reflects that, for the most part; there’s doodles taped to my wall, big name tags stuck to my door, fluttering pages of homework littering my desk, and walls of textbooks along every shelf. Yet, in the corner and clearly visible to anyone who comes in, there is a white cloth that proudly supports a silver and gold candle, a bowl of water, a dish of salt, and a small cauldron. Next to the textbooks on the shelves is a binder I use as my Book of Shadows.

My room is my sanctuary, filled with little bits of me; here there is an altar, sitting right next to a Starbucks mocha frappuccino. While other students go to church, I practice my faith right in this room, every night.

These students sometimes ask me why. Why am I a Wiccan? They aren’t offensive in any way, they just want to know. My answer is always the same: because I owe it to myself. I spent so many years as a frightened person, terrified of my own voice.

My involvement with Wicca helped me get my voice back; in the end, the biggest thing I learned from practicing Wicca was that the only thing that could save me from myself was myself. It gave me power; not magickal power, but pure life force, something raw and untamable that felt like a physical fire in me. My soul was set aflame, and as a phoenix is reborn from the ashes, so I came to be an entirely new person.

I am a joker now. I wear my inner child on my sleeve. I am cynical and sarcastic, but also full of joy. And that is the key: Wicca taught me boundless joy, that even the darker side of life must be celebrated, because without shadows then light has no context. I’ve finally realized that life is beautiful. I don’t need to hold elaborate rituals to see that.

Spring to summer, autumn to winter. The changing of seasons is a huge concept; so much mythology and meaning behind it. And all of it is contained in the life and death of a single leaf.

The Lord and Lady. The basic grounds on which Wicca is based. Their entire dance re-enacted every night by the simple rise and set of the sun and moon.

Untamable love, burning passions and innocence lost. It happens every day between two squirrels in the tree outside my window.

Everything is simple. The biggest of ideas can be reflected in the smallest drop of water. And that’s what amazes me, that’s why I’m so in love with Wicca. It can go both ways; perhaps the smallest drop of water teaches some amazing concept, or perhaps the droplet itself is too complex for me to ever understand.

In any case, here I am. This is me. And for the first time, I’m in love with this Earth. So when I have my daily ritual of waking up, splashing myself with water and reminding myself that I’m whole and wonderful and full of life, I’m determined. I want other people to see me, want them to know what it feels like for someone so sad to become someone so happy. It’s been a long journey from point A to point B. I’m still travelling. But if I put a hand to my chest and close my eyes, I can hear how far I’ve come, because I feel the proof that I am still fully alive.

My entire journey thus far repeats itself in song with every beat of my heart.

 

“Who is the Wiccan Goddess?” Just saying those words brings on a lot of feelings. A goddess is a female version of a deity, and the Horned God being the male version

“Who is the Wiccan Goddess?” Just saying those words brings on a lot of feelings. A goddess is a female version of a deity, and the Horned God being the male version of a deity. But let us step back for a moment and define just what a deity is, or if it is, and how one should go about dealing with one if its existence pans out to be real.

What is real is what is held in the mind of the individual, but that is questionable. After all, what is real to me may be imaginary to someone else. To an atheist, even talking about the potential existence of deities is absurd. I cannot please other people. I have to please myself and do what I feel is right, and what feels right to me is being able to make decisions on my own and experience the consequences of those decisions. I want a level playing field, not to live in a world where my actions are restricted or my thoughts expressed lead to a retribution of sorts or to authoritative action being brought against my person simply because I had a thought and spoke it aloud.

We humans do not speak haphazardly under normal circumstances and given that we follow some sort of mental etiquette; therefore, an organized mental system is implied, one that allows individuals to live as freely as possible, to be afforded as many freedoms as possible within reason, to have freedom of movement of the body in most every sense of the word. Our collective interpretations of “evil, ” always return back to one experience: the fact that some other person or persons acted on the person of another without their permission, leading to a loss of control over their physical body and entailing a gross loss of respect. Without this act or event becoming part of physical reality, we do not call an event “evil.” It may be characterized in a multitude of ways but with the term “evil” seldom so.

So what does this lead me to conclude? It leads me to logically conclude that if we could eliminate the possibility of another person or persons being able to affect another person in such a way that their permission was not granted or that respect for them was lost, or they were not required to subjugate control of their physical body to others, then I could negate all undesirable experiences and erase them from this world.

But to do that would require tampering with the entire energetic system we all live in, which is not feasible or practical or even probable, but could be conceivable were it done genetically. Nonetheless, none of these options being open to me, I am then puzzled as to why this is so, why the human condition lends itself to such tragedy and why we would choose to be so vulnerable?

Does this not give the atheist or agnostic the prime motive for doubting that deities ever existed in the first place? And if on graduation into the afterlife, as we Pagans call it, Summerland, why would a personality want to advance to the status of deity, only to see its subjects demoralize one another, physically slaughter each other, downplay the integrity and rights of others, ad infinitum?

These are valid questions and strike at the heart of most logical and simple thinkers throughout all eras of history. I feel free enough to write these words in the year 2010, without fear of being burned alive, or rebuked by my elders or societal influences, because I live in the United States of America, which is a republic based on a democratic form of governance.

Given that I live in America, I also am free to practice my religion, Wicca. This Pagan religion is based on two deities: The Wiccan Goddess and the Horned God, and can conceivably contain many other gods and goddesses depending on which pantheon is ascribed to, what peculiar beliefs any one individual may feel inclined to entertain.

Wicca has given me a nature-based love of life and myself that I did not find in other faiths, whether those be Eastern based or Judeo-Christian. My love for the Earth and for Nature itself and the Sacredness of all Life, lead me into a deep study of myself and my dream life and the interior universe that illuminates my thoughts, occupies my days and fills my nights with song and revelry, or quiet nights alone reading sitting in silence, listening to the purr of electronic gadgets in my home, or the refrigerator, or watching my cat nestled on the futon deeply enmeshed in her own dream universe.

And how is the dream of my cat any more real than my own dream? How is my cat’s dream any more real than the Wiccan Goddess? Subjective realities exist and always will exist, the domain of the mind is a fertile domain that has no ground or dirt or trees. The trees that grow in the mind are of a different variety, but you can rest assured they are as real, if not more real, than the trees in your own yard.

When we leave physical reality and rejoin the whole personality that exists in the dimension inside of yourself, then we will see the reality of our efforts in life. Quite often, I have majestic and wonderful thoughts during the workday, sprites of thought that bubble up and colorfully wisp across my mind and I feel satisfied, though only until the feeling subsides and again I’m back in the ego dungeon world, of my own accord. It’s only a dungeon inasmuch as it cuts out other data and can be restricting and even destructive if allowed to dry up and separate itself too much from the other parts of your whole personality. Nothing is more dangerous than allowing yourself to be ruled by the ego portion of your personality alone, with no input or influx from other portions of your sacred whole person who exists as surely as the birds singing outside, as surely as the ocean surf, as surely as trees.

Bounty and aliveness filled my being when I did my initiation ritual and filled the psychic air of my ritual room, the space of which also doubled as a workspace and a home gym. Raising energy in your ritual room is a good idea, and exercising in it all the better. But what good is it to raise energy or accumulate it, if you don’t know the outcome of the events of your life, or you don’t know if the Wiccan Goddess is real or not, and if you don’t know what tomorrow will yield? To this end, much speculation has happened, much writing and intellectual effort been penned out, and much exasperation and depression and anxiety been wrought, all in the name of certainty and of the unknown.

The one certainty is life is the unknown, and on it you can rely as a counterpoint to your questions, a foundation to base your knowledge on, a place to go to unleash yourself. Creativity and love and wonder come from the unknown like springs of water, their roots hidden, but feeding all the tributaries and valleys and ripples that go out and expand and make up a personality.

So we are still left with the question: who is the Wiccan Goddess? Where did she come from? The latter question is basically meaningless, as she came from the same place I did, and every reader of this text did, the unknown place inside ourselves that can be known in dark times, or even in solitude or quiet moments of reflection. She is alive in every cell of your body, and reminds you of the showers of nostalgia you have every day entertained in your mind and heart, ever seeking and yearning to evolve into more than it was.

The Wiccan Goddess is not a deity who is hanging out somewhere, in a state of readiness or beyond evolving. She is what you make her, and she lives in your heart and in the oscillations of your molecules and in the corridors of your mind. Meet her there, and you can evolve together and make a new pioneering world without the constraints of constant egoism, corporate tyranny or dependence on others who may or may not have your best interests in mind.

Focus on the positive, stay centered and aim for your highest dreams, because dreams really do become your world.

Pagans Need to Stop Caring About What Other People Think

Pagans Need to Stop Caring About What Other People Think

Author: Clever Brian
It is sound advice in every aspect of a healthy adult’s life: you’ll never be happy, satisfied, or even comfortable if you spend your whole life trying to please others. The only mind you can know, let alone change is your own. Life is short and the only way you can really make the best of it is under your own rules for your own reasons.

I think that a lot of people explore religious alternatives for that very reason. If you are of a character that needs to believe in the Divine in some form or another, but you don’t like to be told what to do or how to think, it’s only natural that you start looking for a set of beliefs that conform to your values and experiences. Paganism offers people a very loose framework where they are free to choose the images and practices that suit them, and have those choices respected in their religious community.

But for all the independence that is innate in choosing a Pagan spiritual path, there is something about the Pagan religious community that engenders a fear of what the religious mainstream thinks about it. Rituals have been bowdlerized, books made obscure, mysteries lost, and compromises made in order to appear “legitimate” in the eyes of the larger religious community.

The unease with the word “witch”, the endless vacillating over skyclad (nude) rituals, the disappearance of the fivefold kiss, the mass publication of “great rites” that are vapid symbolic plays without any context, horror at suggestions of using pain or self-flagellation in rites, the glossing over of the use of drugs in magic… they are all symptoms of the same impulse: The need to make Paganism and Wicca seem friendly and harmless to the mainstream culture.

It isn’t doing us any favours, nor should it. The message it really seems to send is that Pagans are happy to compromise on their beliefs, or that they aren’t truthful with outsiders about them.

Certainly there have been plenty of “Satanic Panic” conspiracy theorists that are happy to point out the inconsistencies from text-to-text and group-to-group to suggest that there are some secret inner teachings, and the public face Pagans present is a pack of lies that are there to suck in the unwary. Consider Steve Russo’s What’s the Deal with Wicca? as a prime example.

Another consequence comes from the bowdlerization of Paganism in the name of maintaining a friendly public face: the watering down of the Pagan religious experience. Many Pagans of my generation learned their practices from the books available at major bookstores. The watered-down rituals, noncommittal attitudes, and dancing around several major issues leads to a watered-down religious experience. For every practising Pagan I know who enjoys a rich religious and spiritual life, I know two who gave it up, because it seemed hollow and meaningless. In my conversations with the latter group I often discover that they were turned off by what they saw as a lack of relevance and meaning to it, or the endless political positioning that happens within the Paganism they learned from the bookshelves of Coles.

Let’s face the bare-bones facts: Wicca started as a sex-cult among a group of wild young actresses and society ladies in Britain. It was a modern mish-mash of Hinduism, Platonic philosophy, Celtic/Nordic folk traditions, magical spells borrowed from medieval manuscripts, and a very modern form of worship of old gods. Gardner then interpolated touches of the Sexual Rebellion ethic and “Babalon” workings from Crowley’s Thelema.

It was a wild, exclusive party that was thick with occultism and dripping with earthy sexuality. There are compelling arguments to suggest that either it grew because of a fluke burst of interest, or as a part of a scheme to provide a massive recruiting ground for the O.T.O., while pushing their sexual liberation agenda ahead.

It included naked worship, sex rituals, self-flagellation, and heavy use of alcohol, suggestions of partner-swapping, and openness to experimentation with drugs. There was no ethic against black magic, just the warning that what you do becomes who you are hidden in cryptic and theatrical language. Their were also tiers of initiation into mysteries borrowed heavily from Rosicrucian/Masonic/Golden Dawn – type sources, that were intentionally not offered to beginners, because some things simply have to be learned with experience, not told.

These are evident; they are our roots, and there is absolutely no use in sweeping them under the carpet.

These things probably don’t appeal to every Pagan, and they are perfectly welcome to take what they want and leave the rest. But should we care that Christians will have none of it? Should we worry if the mainstream media paints us as kooks, or a pack of lusty black-clad teenagers?

Truthfully, I can’t see why we would. Especially not given the damage we are doing to ourselves in the process.

The nature of the human thought is such hat we can never be persuaded of something unless we want to be. You have to choose to have an open mind going into a debate before you can possibly change it. If a person is absolutely set in their beliefs, and those beliefs include either A) that you are evil/insane/damned or B) that you are misguided and need correction, you will never get them to think well of you no matter what you do.

We can scream about not believing about Satan until we are blue in the face, but an Evangelical who is convinced that we are devil-worshippers simply will not be dissuaded from that belief without some immensely grand gesture. And unless that person is a loved one, why would you want to bother?

If a person is dead-set on accusing us of eating babies, do we really even want to give them the time of day or the attention they are so desperate for? And do we want to deal with the idiots who would believe such an absurd claim, either?

Moreover, this crusade for legitimacy has often put pagans at odds with others’ right to religious freedom. Pagan voices have strongly supported attacks on religious monuments in government buildings, openly attacked other people’s belief systems, and the right to practice them. I have personally witnessed Pagans put excessive amounts of energy into berating or limiting the freedom of groups like The First Church of Satan, who in many ways Pagans have more in common with than they ever will with mainstream religion.

It is a fact that we live in societies that remain overwhelmingly Christian. Christian iconography, language, and morals pervade our everyday speech our attitudes, our behaviour and our expectations. The voices of Christians will remain dominant for some time. Religious Chauvinism, the assumption that everyone else is Christian, or that people who aren’t Christian are ignorant and deluded is an inevitable byproduct of our society. Our own apologetics and attempts to make ourselves acceptable to Christians in many ways only prolong this chauvinism in our society.

I propose that we have to learn to simply ignore it, as many varieties feminists have learned to ignore male chauvinists; by assuming they are not worth your time so long as they aren’t interfering with you or others around you. Why bother with people who have such deep-entrenched ideas, what is there to gain out of it?

Of course, this does not mean we should not call “Bullsh*t!” when a person does interfere with a Pagan’s right to practice his or her religion. It is one thing to lightly bandy about the idea that America, Canada, and Britain are “Christian” countries. It is even true, interpreted in a few different ways. It is another to use that as the basis for passing laws that ban certain practices or give special economic advantages to Christian groups. It is one thing to ignore the ignorance; it is another to ignore ignorant action.

In these cases, though, it is better to stop worrying about what the legislator, basher, or bigot has in mind. Reading minds is hard, and inexact work, and changing minds nearly impossible. There is no gain to be made in educating these people. The only place that such actions can be countered is where you are in the same playing fields. Cite your constitutional rights, take people to court, use words to denounce the action (not argue with its author) , and in the case of brutality, answer it with appropriate measures of self-defence.

So long as we insist on holding to our principles as a society, the Constitutions and Human Rights movement will continue to put us in the right. And when those no longer can avail us, look around, because there will be a revolution in the streets you’ll be able to join.

In the end, the continued push to care about what others think will only make use self-censor waffle, and waver further. It will push away people who come looking for a meaningful religious experience, and it will cost us our identity as a religion and as a people… and it will do so without giving us any gains in the cultural arena.

It is far better to maintain a frank openness and honesty to anyone who is willing to take the time and research, or to find a Pagan and simply ask a few direct questions, than to try to persuade the whole world. And for the people who don’t like what they see when they explore Paganism, there are plenty of other faiths, they will find one they like eventually, that is not our affair.

This press for acceptance is also, on another level, incongruous to the position of total freedom that Paganism offers. We cannot really follow the injunction to ‘Do what thou wilt, ” if we are always looking for signs of disapproval in others. That would be bending our ‘doing’ to someone else’s ‘willing.’

“You Lied!” Some Thoughts on Honesty and Pagan Practice

“You Lied!” Some Thoughts on Honesty and Pagan Practice

Author: Bronwen Forbes

When I first began to formally study Paganism, it was drilled into my head over and over: “A witch is only as good as his or her word.” In other words, there is a direct relationship between the quality and effectiveness of your magick and how good you are at telling the truth and keeping promises.

Which makes sense, when you think bout it, because say, for example, you are doing a working to find a new job and you promise Hestia that if you get a job you will volunteer so many hours a week a the local soup kitchen in Her name. Then suppose you promise your friend that you will meet her for lunch and something better comes up and you break your promise to your friend. Why, then, if you don’t keep your word to your friend should Hestia have any reason to believe you’ll keep your promise to her? Odds are you won’t get that new job if Hestia has anything to do with it.

This is partly a matter of will. If magick is, as some say, “change in accordance with will, ” this implies t hat a person’s will is pretty important. And a major component of will is the strength to do what you say you will do – no matter how hard that may become. If your word is good, chances are your will and your magick will be pretty strong.

I was also taught that it’s okay to lie if it’s a matter of life and death. I would say: evaluate the situation very carefully before choosing to lie “for the greater good.” Let me give an example. About eight years ago I was a very busy volunteer with a local no-kill animal rescue organization. I was also – and still am – totally, utterly and completely smitten with beagles.

So when I saw a miserable shy little beagle on our town’s high-kill Humane Society’s web page, I leapt into action. I tried to adopt Joe the Shy Beagle, stating openly that I was a volunteer with the no-kill rescue group. The folks at the Humane Society wouldn’t let me have him, stating that they were afraid I’d just turn around and adopt him out to someone else. We went back and forth on this issue for a few days while Joe cowered in the back of his cage. Meanwhile, the clock ticked down to the day that Joe was scheduled to be euthanized. And since no one wants to adopt a dog that’s literally paralyzed with fear (except me, apparently) , I was running out of time if I wanted to save Joe’s life.

So I lied.

I told the staff at the Humane Society that my husband had completely fallen in love with Joe and we now wanted to keep him. And a day later I brought Joe home. Within a month I’d sent him to live with my mother after he freaked out because the neighborhood kids had gone a little overboard with Fourth of July fireworks. He’s been with my mother ever since.

Did I do the right thing? On the surface, yes I did. I deliberately lied – and made my husband lie – in order to save an animal’s life; an animal, I should add, that my mother loves very much. For years I used this example to teach my students to think about their actions and the ethics of those actions. I was actually proud of the fact that I’d saved Joe’s life and cited the whole incident as an example of “harm none; all life is sacred.”

Except there’s more to the story. My family currently lives with my mother, which means we live with Joe. Beagles are, in general, cheerful, outgoing, friendly, cuddly, happy little dogs. Eight years after I pulled him out of the back of his cage at the Humane Society, Joe is still none of these things. He cowers, snarls at the other dogs, and (most disturbingly) if startled by motion four or five feet away, snaps at my five-year-old daughter (who was raised with dogs and knows how to behave around them) . It’s only a matter of time before he bites her. Joe is also slowly dying of stress-related health issues.

Had I not lied to the Humane Society staff all those years ago, Joe would have lived a few more days and been humanely euthanized by a painless overdose of barbiturates. But I did, and now I get to watch a desperately unhappy dog take years to die by inches – and possibly do serious damage to my child before he goes.

Did I ultimately do Joe any favor? In my opinion, no. Have I done him harm? Absolutely. And that, gentle readers, is bad magick.

There are also less painful, more practical spiritual reasons to keep your word and live as truthful a life as possible. For example, if you aspire to join a British Traditional or a British Traditional-based coven, you’re going to be expected to swear at least a few oaths. And these groups take these oaths pretty seriously. In other words, if you’ve developed a reputation in the community for being flaky about commitments or gossiping (breaking your word) spreading wild stories or inventing training/lineage credentials (lying) or you’re just generally an all-around unreliable person, you’re not going to be invited to join an oath-taking group. Of course, even if you’re not interested in joining a traditionally-minded group, it would still be nice not to have a bad reputation in the community, wouldn’t it?

On the other hand, and completely tongue-in-cheek here, the “white lie” rules that apply outside the Pagan community apply here, too. In other words, if anyone of any gender asks you, “Does this robe make me look fat?” your best option is, of course, to say no!

But in all seriousness, being as truthful as possible can only make you a better practitioner, a better covener, a better community member, and an all-around better person. We need more of those. I think Joe the Beagle would agree.