Happy New Moon.
My husband and I have just prepared our first ritual together: A ritual for the New Moon. Here is our plan.
We will set up the table with a sky blue cloth. With our equipment ready, we will have an opening prayer. Next, we will call the directions. To the East we light incense, and ask the Air to purify us. To the South we light a candle, and ask Fire to awaken the spirit of innocence and play. To the West, we dip fingers in a chalice of water, and ask that it heal old wounds. To the North we have a pot of Earth, and ask that it centers and grounds us.
Next we will sit, calm, and center ourselves. Now we create a ball of light starting from our centers and growing until each of our individual balls join into one. Then we ground our energy with roots to the earth.
After our circle is strong, we will write out our intention on a piece of paper, along with some drawings of icons to remind us of each intention. Because we are in an air moon, we decided to make paper airplanes out of our list, to keep in a place we will see them daily. We will include here Words Of Power: (from Marion Weinstien)
There is One Power which is Goddess and God
And which is perfect fulfillment
And we are a perfect manifestation of this Power
Therefore; perfect fulfillment is here and now
For the good of all
According to the Free will of all
And so it must be
Next we will will give a prayer of thanks. Closing the circle, and thanking each element.
Blow out the candle and ground with a little food and drink.
I will let you know how it goes. In the meantime, Happy New Moon and Blessed Be.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Coming of Age
The other day, I got out my tarot cards. My brother had gotten them for me years ago, and it has been a long while since I've taken them out. I have a couple of options for employment for the upcoming Fall and so I thought I would consult the cards. I enjoyed my reading very much, but what I enjoyed more was when my son saw what I was doing, he wanted a reading as well.
My cards follow many Greek myths, which happens to be of particular interest to my son. He asked the cards about how the rest of his school year would go. It was amazing to see how the spread laid out before him. So much spoke to the fear and longing of growing up. My husband and I have noticed how he seems to want to hold on to childhood. I have worried that perhaps we should have held him back a year at the beginning of his school career. He is so advanced academically, yet a tad behind socially and emotionally. He approaches a cusp as he is about to turn 12 at the end of May, and the cards could not have agreed more.
The most interesting aspect of the reading; however, was my son's reaction. It seemed to suddenly come clear to him; all of the things he's been worrying about or struggling with. Suddenly, able to recognize and name his fears, they seemed valid, and at the same time, something completely within his capacity to deal with. It was like seeing another step toward maturity taken right before my eyes. What a difficult and wonderful age.
My cards follow many Greek myths, which happens to be of particular interest to my son. He asked the cards about how the rest of his school year would go. It was amazing to see how the spread laid out before him. So much spoke to the fear and longing of growing up. My husband and I have noticed how he seems to want to hold on to childhood. I have worried that perhaps we should have held him back a year at the beginning of his school career. He is so advanced academically, yet a tad behind socially and emotionally. He approaches a cusp as he is about to turn 12 at the end of May, and the cards could not have agreed more.
The most interesting aspect of the reading; however, was my son's reaction. It seemed to suddenly come clear to him; all of the things he's been worrying about or struggling with. Suddenly, able to recognize and name his fears, they seemed valid, and at the same time, something completely within his capacity to deal with. It was like seeing another step toward maturity taken right before my eyes. What a difficult and wonderful age.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Meditation - Raising the Magick
Here is an exercise that I found, and I really liked it.
1. Find a room you can make dark.
2. Find a candle you feel represents you - a favorite color, or one that feels good when you hold it. I chose white because I felt that it was like a blank page that I could write on.
3. Take the candle and sit comfortable on the floor.
- Clear your mind, relax your breathing
4. When you are relaxed, think about your past and your present. Who you are as a person. How you feel, how you think, what problems you have. What you truly love. Think these things into the candle.
I pictured an electrical current running from me into the candle I held in my hands. You could also picture a jet air stream flowing from you into the candle. Whatever works for you.
5. When you feel you've put enough of your energy into the candle, place it in a holder on an altar. Light the candle.
6. Now turn off the lights, close curtains, make the room dark.
The dark room represents the clarity of emptiness - the candle represents all that you are.
7. Sit on the ground in front of your altar and the burning flame.
Visualize the Magick energy in the candle (the essence of you) being released into the emptiness and darkness all around you.
8. Close your eyes and feel your energy filling the room - starting from the floor, up the walls, to the ceiling. Feel the warmth building in the room.
9. In your thoughts, bring an idea of complete belief in yourself and the energy building up in the room. Put aside any bad things that have happened to you in the past - if they pop up, quietly acknowledge them and cast them aside.
Grab hold of everything good in your life - everything that is possible with the powers you were born with. Believe in everything your heart tells you.
10. Continue to focus on this belief in yourself and your magick. Build up the belief until you forget you ever had a doubt. Admit you ARE special and filled with Magick... just as much as any other person on earth.
11. Open your eyes. look around, take 3 deep breaths in, and snuff out the candle.
I loved doing this meditation. I visualized putting my energy into the candle. As the candle burned, and the room filled with magick, I could feel my entire body tingle. I have felt this tingling before during meditations, especially in my hands, but this was everywhere and very strong. It was like feeling each beat of my heart in every pore of my skin. A pulsing energy. When I opened my eyes, I pictured myself breathing in the magick that filled the room and sent any excess energy back to the earth and sky. I left feeling very upbeat and relaxed, all at the same time.
1. Find a room you can make dark.
2. Find a candle you feel represents you - a favorite color, or one that feels good when you hold it. I chose white because I felt that it was like a blank page that I could write on.
3. Take the candle and sit comfortable on the floor.
- Clear your mind, relax your breathing
4. When you are relaxed, think about your past and your present. Who you are as a person. How you feel, how you think, what problems you have. What you truly love. Think these things into the candle.
I pictured an electrical current running from me into the candle I held in my hands. You could also picture a jet air stream flowing from you into the candle. Whatever works for you.
5. When you feel you've put enough of your energy into the candle, place it in a holder on an altar. Light the candle.
6. Now turn off the lights, close curtains, make the room dark.
The dark room represents the clarity of emptiness - the candle represents all that you are.
7. Sit on the ground in front of your altar and the burning flame.
Visualize the Magick energy in the candle (the essence of you) being released into the emptiness and darkness all around you.
8. Close your eyes and feel your energy filling the room - starting from the floor, up the walls, to the ceiling. Feel the warmth building in the room.
9. In your thoughts, bring an idea of complete belief in yourself and the energy building up in the room. Put aside any bad things that have happened to you in the past - if they pop up, quietly acknowledge them and cast them aside.
Grab hold of everything good in your life - everything that is possible with the powers you were born with. Believe in everything your heart tells you.
10. Continue to focus on this belief in yourself and your magick. Build up the belief until you forget you ever had a doubt. Admit you ARE special and filled with Magick... just as much as any other person on earth.
11. Open your eyes. look around, take 3 deep breaths in, and snuff out the candle.
I loved doing this meditation. I visualized putting my energy into the candle. As the candle burned, and the room filled with magick, I could feel my entire body tingle. I have felt this tingling before during meditations, especially in my hands, but this was everywhere and very strong. It was like feeling each beat of my heart in every pore of my skin. A pulsing energy. When I opened my eyes, I pictured myself breathing in the magick that filled the room and sent any excess energy back to the earth and sky. I left feeling very upbeat and relaxed, all at the same time.
Ostara Home Blessing
Spring is upon us and it has been glorious. Friday we went to enjoy the Cherry Blossoms, and for the past two days we have been beautifying our own yard. About a week ago, I came across an Ostara Home Blessing, and I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. Here is the blessing:
Take four raw eggs; bury them at the four corners of your property (you can use more, if you need to). While burying the eggs say something like this:
Bring thee seeds of new life
Ease all pain, and end all strife
Ancient Symbol of Fertility
Bring to us great harmony
Love for all upon the ground
For here is where the light abounds
Joy, happiness, life, and love
Surround us from below and from above
Seeing as we were just about to turn up the ground for new planting, I thought it was the perfect time to perform this blessing. Both my husband and my son, were totally into it, so we each took turns burying an egg while another quoted a verse.
Here is the interesting thing: I mentioned to the kids that I wanted to do this blessing earlier this week, and my daughter says "well, I'm not Wicca just yet." I told her, "that's okay, you don't ever have to be Wicca if you don't want to be, I just thought this would be fun. Does this bother you?" She said, "I don't know, it just doesn't feel right."
My husband and I have been trying to puzzle this one out. It is sometimes hard to lead small ones on a spiritual path, when you are still searching for one yourself. I think one of the most important things that kids can learn; however, is that you are on one. We still go to church on a regular basis, and I want the kids to have some spiritual nurturing, but this is where my hubby and I start to part ways.
I love my current church family. They are the reason that I continue to go to church. But if those people were to leave, I'm not sure that this is where I would continue to find my faith. Obviously, I am already finding it in other places. But how much of this journey do I share with my family? Part of my own trouble with my Christian upbringing is the worshipping of the story of Christ, rather than the words that Christ spoke. To be totally honest, I'm just not sure how much of the story I believe. Let me be clear, I don't think it matters if I believe it or not, it seems to me that the important parts are in the lessons that Christ teaches, but how are my kids hearing this? And I still can't figure out what about the above blessing may have offended my 9 year old daughter. Hubby is not comfortable with them being in on all of our Wicca rituals, which I agree with, especially since I don't really know what I am doing yet, but I also don't feel like I can just turn them over to the church and say, teach them what you will. Let's face it, that's how I grew up, and I sometimes feel a bit betrayed by the whole thing. Certainly, this is not the same path that I want for my kids. Truth be told, I want them to find their own way, and I'm sure they will, but not right now. Right now, I am their guide along with my husband. It is not a job I take lightly. My hope is that they learn love, forgiveness, and joy in their lives. Right now, I think it is all I can offer.
In the meantime, we have most of our herb garden and shade garden planted. A new bush by the back gate should help keep the neighborhood dogs from trying to barge in for a visit with our very popular pooch.
I am off to meditate and give thanks for this glorious day.
Happy Spring, and Blessed Be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)