Wednesday 23 April 2014

Easter/Mabon

Merry meet!!

First of all I would like to wish those of you living in the Northern Hemisphere a belated "Joyous Ostara"!

And for those living in the Southern Hemisphere Happy Mabon!!!!

My Dad (who has started to gain an interest in Wicca and all things Pagan since I came out of the proverbial Wiccan closet to him a Mom a few months back) sent me this awesome picture on facebook which I thought I would share.. :) Everybody needs a little cuteness especially with how much negativity there has been in the media lately... 



Because my partner and his family (he has two nieces and two nephews at between the ages of 8 and 13) and also my parents celebrate the traditional Judaeo-Christian/Catholic Easter I still get into it but not as much as I used to. For the PEST's though (the nickname give to the kids because their initials spell it!) I get all excited for the Easter egg hunt! It's my second favorite thing about Easter! The first is watching their faces as they hunt around for the eggs!

For Mabon I was fairly laid back in terms of rituals or ceremonies. I chose a white candle and and focused on the meaning of light and dark and how I can try and change to be a better person and wiccan working always for the light. 

I also stumbled across this truly excellent blog post by this lady whose articles are informative, witty and make me smile! So please give her blog a read and the link to do so is below.

http://www.rebellesociety.com/2014/01/17/13-signs-youre-a-witch/

With that I will end this post here with a chirpy Merry Part!!!



Thursday 9 January 2014

Family Christmas

Merry meet,

This Christmas (I celebrate Christmas with my non pagan family and friends and have a private Litha celebration by myself being a Solitary in the Southern Hemisphere) I was really excited to be able to spend it with some of my family. My partner and I had slept over with the rest of his family on Christmas Eve and so we spent Christmas morning with his mom, his nieces and nephews and their parents which was really cool but so noisy. And the place we all stayed over was the home of his more Martha Stewart sister so of course the house was artfully decorated, the tree was perfectly matching with symmetrical amounts of baubles on and the food was perfect as well. But the part I loved best was taking Nic to have Christmas dinner with my mom and dad! The house was a little bit of a mess which just made reminded me of home. They had delicious food and dad did his wonderful pork crackling while mom made trifle and Christmas puddings based on the recipe given to her by Dad's mom. We ate, we talked and exchanged pressies and it was really nice to just be able to hang out with them. It was a really split up Christmas this year with my eldest cousin having exiled himself to NSW because of a stalker ex and her mom while the rest of our family (his mom and brother, our nan and gran) all still live in Tasmania.

Mom gave me a $50 voucher for the local book store which is awesome because I always love getting new books but also I bought my first Tarot set as one of those basic sets in which the cards are based on the original french cards. Nic was really surprised when my aunt and parents got him a present each... :) I had even told him that they both probably would but he hadn't believed me which was funny. Daddy really loved his presents as I had found his favorite childhood book on ebay and a book of Australian war stories while Nic had got him a panda lego set. (Dad LOVES Panda's! They're his favorite animal) For mom I got a few seasons on Minuscule and a book on dragons while Nic got her a lady bug lego set as they are mom's favorite! From the both of us to the both of them we got them one of the really beautiful and incredibly expensive wooden carved chess sets that they were always looking at but never bought because of the previously mentioned expense. So they were really happy and kept saying how spoilt they felt... :)

Nan and my step pop sent me one of the pretty little pink lady necklaces from the Breast Cancer foundation while my Gran sent me this gorgeous little carved silver chest with this beautiful russet red and antique gold rose brooch. Both also sent me letters which made it feel like they that little bit closer even just for a few moments and made the gifts truly special.

Nic got me a gossip girl card game version of "I never" knowing how much I like watching Gossip Girl.(However the game hasn't been touched and I haven't watched any of the show since New Years- it hits too close to home) He also gave me a beautiful silver bracelet with tiny dangling heart charms hanging off it, with a heart pendant that it black in one side and white on the other, (his last name is White and I always say how my favorite colour is black so it represents us both) and a Nickleback cd. We also went and saw "The Desolation of Smaug" in the Gold Lounge of the cinemas and had a lovely dinner.

So in all it was a lovely, crowded Christmas!
I hope everyone else's was as nice! :)

Merry part!

Monday 6 January 2014

Sickness and health

Merry meet,

After a very long hiatus of not blogging I'm back. I have been really unwell on and off the last month.

A lot of this has been due to stress related illness with work and my best friend turning into Bridezilla with her wedding preparations.

But work is finished for the year and I found out today that my friend doesn't seem to wish to have me as her Maid of Honor anyway so that's two less stresses off my shoulders.

Now if my other best friend would just stop sulking and blaming me for her past in-digressions (when I didn't even know her) and her communication problems with her boyfriend that would be yet another huge stress off my mind... My New Years kicked off with a bombshell worthy of an episode of Gossip Girl and that issue with best friend 2 just keeps getting worse and morphing into a different and worse beast... I just want to make things right with her but I can't right now when she is trying to blame me for all her problems.

Goddess give me the wisdom to speak clearly and wisely without hurt.
God give me the strength to weather her storms of anger aimed in my direction and learn to forgive.

Mios dios!

Merry part!

Monday 2 December 2013

Sickness

Merry meet,

So much for this being a daily blog of my journey... In the last week and a half I have been very sick to the point of only dragging myself out of bed for work (as there is no-one who can cover for me) only to drag myself back in once I'm done.

So based on this theme of sickness I thought of health and decided I would dedicate a post to the Greek Goddess Hygeia.

Hygeia was the goddess of good health while her sisters names translate to Panakeia ("all cure") and Iaso  ("remedy").

http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/AsklepiasHygeia.html


The below blog has some really great information the particular post the link takes you too is one written about Hygeia.
http://loveofthegoddess.blogspot.com.au/2012/01/hygeia-greek-goddess-of-good-health.html

The following link is pretty cool because the author of the post has written the article as if it's a profile of the goddess that she has written herself.
http://www.shmoop.com/hygeia/

Merry part.

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Chasing dreams

Merry meet, 

Anyone chasing a dream knows that there is no smooth road, and it’s the journey along the way that builds the person at the end.”


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RRyniZG0Jo- “Tell me something I don’t know” by Selena Gomez.

I thought this was pretty apt as I have been telling everyone I know lately not to give up on their dreams an to keep chasing them and yet I haven't been making time to chase mine.... Not cool me. It is something I need to remember to do each day. 

Merry part!

Monday 25 November 2013

Technical difficulties and beginner reading lists

Merry meet,

The last two days have been chaotic for me and in that chaos I forgot to post on one day. On the other I couldn't because Blogger was having "technical difficulties". So as a result I will put up this post now and another in  few hours when I finish work for the morning.

I have found a couple of reading lists from the following websites that have really well written and informative books and wanted to share them with the web. Some of the information may be out of date but if you read them with an open mind and absorb the parts that can help you building your path and discard what you don’t need that these will all be very helpful.
Gerald Garner’s Witchcraft Today is incredibly fascinating with quite a lot of great information and an apparent disagreement for the work of Montague Summers.

Thirteen Books Every Wiccan Should Read


Now that you've decided you want to learn about contemporary Wicca or another modern Pagan path, what should you read? After all, there are literally thousands of books on the subject -- some good, others not so much. This list features the thirteen books that every Pagan should have on their shelves. A few are historical, a few more focus on modern Wiccan practice, but they're all worth reading more than once. Bear in mind that while some books may purport to be about Wicca, they are often focused on NeoWicca, and do not contain the oathbound material found in traditional Wiccan practice.

If you want to learn about birds, you get a field guide about birds. If you want to learn about mushrooms, you get a field guide to mushrooms. Drawing Down the Moon is a field guide to Pagans. Rather than offering up a book of spells and recipes, Margot Adler presents an academic work that evaluates modern Pagan religions - including Wicca - and the people who practice them. The work is based on a survey the author took over two decades ago, but the information within is still a worthy read. Drawing Down the Moon makes no apologies for the fact that not all Wiccans are full of white light and fluff, but instead tells it like it is. Adler's style is entertaining and informative, and it's a bit like reading a really well-done thesis paper.

Raymond Buckland is one of Wicca's most prolific writers, and his work Complete Book of Witchcraft continues to remain popular two decades after it was first published - and for good reason. Although this book represents a more eclectic flavor of Wicca rather than a particular tradition, it's presented in a workbook-like format that allows new seekers to work through the exercises at their own pace, learning as they go. For more seasoned readers, there's a lot of useful information as far as rituals, tools, and magic itself. This book is a classic, and well worth picking up.

The late Scott Cunningham wrote a number of books before his untimely death, but Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner remains one of the best known and most useful. Although the tradition of witchcraft in this book is more Cunningham's eclectic path than any other tradition, it's full of information on how to get started in your practice of Wicca and magic. He goes into depth about tools, how and why they are used, ethics, and the concept of god and goddess. If you're interested in learning and practicing as an individual, and not necessarily jumping into a coven right off the bat, this book is a valuable resource.

Phyllis Curott is one of those people who makes me glad to be Pagan -- because she's really normal. An attorney who has spent her life working on First Amendment issues, Curott has managed to put together a really useful book. Witch Crafting is not a collection of spells, rituals or prayers. It's a hard and fast look at magical ethics, the polarity of male and female in the divine, finding the god and goddess in your everyday life, and the pros and cons of coven life vs. solitary paths. Curott also offers up a very interesting take on the Rule of Three. Whether you're a new student of Wicca, or a veteran, Witch Crafting is worth reading more than once.

Dana D. Eilers spent many years facilitating an event called Conversations With Pagans, and from that she wrote a book entitled The Practical Pagan. She then drew on her experience as an attorney to write Pagans and the Law: Understand Your Rights. This book goes into depth about precedents in religious discrimination lawsuits, how to protect yourself if you may be a victim of workplace harassment, and how to document everything if your spirituality is leading someone to treat you unfairly. Eilers is an outspoken woman who has a lot of great advice worth listening to.

[p]The first section of this book is Eight Sabbats for Witches. It goes into depth on Sabbat rites, and the meanings behind the holidays are expanded on. While the ceremonies in The Witches' Bible are the Farrars' own, there's a heavy influence of the Gardnerian tradition, as well as Celtic folklore and some other European history. The second half of the book is in fact another book, The Witches Way, which looks at the beliefs, ethics, and practice of modern witchcraft. Despite the fact that the authors are a bit conservative by today's standards, this book is an excellent look at the transitioning concept of what exactly it is that makes someone a witch.

Gerald Gardner is the founder of modern Wicca as we know it, and of course of the Gardnerian tradition. His book Witchcraft Today is a worthy read, however, for seekers on any Pagan path. He discusses paganism in Europe, as well as the so-called "witch cult", and goes on to demonstrate how many of history's notable names are connected, one way or another, to what we know today as witchcraft. Although some of the statements in Witchcraft Today should be taken with a grain of salt -- after all, Gardner was a folklorist and that shines through in his writing -- it's still one of the foundations that contemporary Wicca is based on. For its historical value, few things beat this book.

Triumph of the Moon is a book about Pagans by a non-Pagan, and Hutton, a highly respected professor, does an excellent job. This book looks at the emergence of contemporary Pagan religions, and how they not only evolved from the Pagan societies of the past, but also owe heavily to 19th-century poets and scholars. In fact, Hutton points out that a good deal of what we consider "ancient" Pagan practice can be attributed to the novelists and romantics of the late Edwardian and early Victorian era. Despite his status as a scholar, Hutton's breezy wit makes this a refreshing read, and you'll learn far more than you ever expected to about today's Pagan religions.

Dorothy Morrison is one of those writers who doesn't hold back, and while her book The Craft is aimed at beginners, she manages to create a work that can be useful for anyone. Morrison includes exercises and rituals which are not only practical, but teaching tools as well. Despite its focus on the lighter side of witchcraft, it's a good starting point for anyone trying to learn about Wicca, and how to create your own rituals and workings. Morrison also has written a number of other books, including a companion work to this one.

Historian Jeffrey Russell presents an analysis of witchcraft in an historical context, from the early days of Medieval Europe, through the witch craze of the Renaissance, and up into modern times. Russell doesn't bother trying to fluff up the history to make it more palatable to today's Wiccans, and takes a look at three different kinds of witchcraft -- sorcery, diabolical witchcraft, and modern witchcraft. A noted religious historian, Russell manages to make an entertaining yet informative read, as well as accepting that witchcraft in and of itself can in fact be a religion.

There is nothing else on the market like Ceisiwr Serith's A Book of Pagan Prayer. Despite the fact that some view prayer as a Christian concept, many Pagans do pray. This unique book features hundreds of prayers written to meet the needs of Pagans from a wide range of traditions. There are prayers for life events, such as handfastings, births, and deaths; for times of the year such as the harvest and midsummer, as well as petitions and litanies offered to different gods. Serith also covers the theories behind prayer -- how and why we do it, as well as tips on creating your own, personal prayers. Chances are that once you've started using this book, it will stay near your altar for years to come.

While The Spiral Dance is one of the best-known books on Wicca, it's also one of the most spiritually profound. Written by noted activist Starhawk, The Spiral Dance leads us on a journey through the spirituality of feminine consciousness. Sections on raising the cone of power, trance magic, and magical symbolism make it worth reading. Bear in mind that the original edition of this book was published twenty years ago, and Starhawk herself has said she's reconsidered some of the things she said the first time around -- particularly in reference to the polarity of the male/female. Despite some of the eco-feminist complaints about Starhawk, this book is powerful because it's one of the first of its kind, portraying Woman as Goddess.

If Gerald Gardner is the great-grandfather of modern Wicca, Doreen Valiente is the wise granny who offers wisdom and counsel. A contemporary of Gardner's, she is credited with the beautiful, evocative Charge of the Goddess, and may well have been responsible for much of Gardner's original Book of Shadows. Valiente spends a good amount of the book discussing the historical contexts of a number of rituals and practices in use today, but also takes care to acknowledge that practices and beliefs change even if the intent remains constant, and she points out ancient sources that may or may not be the root of contemporary ideals. Though it helps to have some knowledge of British Traditional Wicca beforehand, this book is a must-read for anyone.


Two other sites with great lists are the below links. I like how the first list was put together by someone who mentions how hard it is for solitaries (especially beginners) to sift out the good from the bad in terms of books on Wicca and Paganism. Also a couple of the same books keep cropping up on the lists which would be the first ones I would buy.
I quite like this list despite the double up of a couple of the same books as on the other two, already mentioned lists, it also has some new and interesting ones such as The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews by Scott Cunningham and Sabbats: A Witch’s Approach to Living the Old Ways by Edain McCoy.


Merry part.

Friday 22 November 2013

Lazy Saturdays

Merry meet,

In trying to upload a picture on my phone all as I have achieved is frustration and an app that doesn't appear to be doing anything... So no pictures of Goddess. I shall have to upload them tomorrow.

I have been playing dress up dolly this afternoon for my mom for a costuming event she is taking part in for a couple of weeks time... Was great fun except for getting stuck in the marvellously fitted dresses that mom creates. It'll be brilliant however as she will fix up one of her previous creations to fit me for the event. :)

I haven't studying in the last three days because I've just been so tired with the heat.... It's been making me more tired than usual. :/

Merry part.