AusGaia - Blog of an Australian Pagan

Pagan Blog Project - Bleeding is Sacred

2012-01-27T12:48:00.007+11:00

There are a lot of people, men and women, who feel very uncomfortable with blood. Seeing blood, smelling blood and talking about blood - and as soon as menstrual blood is mentioned it’s all over! We have been hushed about this beautiful and powerful aspect of womanhood. Our conversations are whispered or our questions go unanswered.

Now I am obviously going to talk about menstruation during this post so if you’re squeamish I’ve just given you fair warning :)

When I first began my menarche (first blood) I was told by my mother that this is the ‘curse’ of women. That every month I was going to bleed and that I absolutely had to keep it a secret because it was unclean and inconvenient. Feminine products were hidden and secreted away when groceries were brought inside lest the men see (gasp!) I basically got the idea that while bleeding was normal it certainty wasn’t to be desired, let alone be seen as a beautiful, creative, natural and powerful aspect of womanhood.

I am 27 now. I have carried and birthed three beautiful children, all boys, who each helped teach me the mysteries of my own feminine body. There is nothing like conceiving and nurturing a child in your womb to turn your thoughts to the power of your own creative force. This is not only mentioning the obvious physical forces but also the inner forces - our emotions. Emotions hold great power, anyone who has ever felt the protective force of parenthood or cast a spell while their emotions were running high can understand how powerful an aid they can be for a Witch. Our emotions are governed by the ebb and flow of our hormones, which are linked to our menstrual cycles, our physical ebb (bleeding) and flow (ovulation). This is only so for women. Men hold themselves stable after reaching maturity. Even in advanced age a man can sow his seed (so to say). Our creativity, our sacredness lies in our changes.

Life force is held in our blood, it is essential to support our bodies. Our blood supports us and has the ability to support and nurture all of humankind. We are all here due to the sacred birthing endured by a woman. The first mysteries of womanhood were centred around our cycle - Birth, Life and Death. Pre-Menstrual, Menstrual and Menopausal - and now as a Pagan woman I see in myself the metaphor of Maiden, Mother and Crone. These sacred cycles are universal experiences for us, we can relate to them.

Today our cycles are different to that of the ancient women, for many reasons - medical, our expanding locations and distance from other women. These situations have had a negative impact but they don’t have to spell the end to our mysteries. We can do what humans have always done throughout history. We can adapt. In the western world it is only our biological processes that are acknowledged with our spiritual selves an almost completely foreign language. This creates fractures in who we are as women. If we dismiss all but the physical knowledge then we shall never understand what it means to be women. We will lose our sacred connections to the Earth and when that leaves us we will be barren - a body with no soul.

How many of us take modern medicines to ‘deal’ with our menstruation? How many of us regulate our cycle or prevent pregnancy by taking the pill? (I do) When it comes to timing our menstruation how many of us have tried to alter our bleeding? Only a fraction of women bleed on a 28 day regular cycle. I am fairly certain that many who will read this post don’t have a precise cycle. While the pill is a modern marvel and has given women the freedom to enjoy sex without the consequence of an undesired conception, I don’t feel that we have to necessarily lose everything we naturally are. We have cycles of our physical senses and hormonal fluctuations. These are all natural and normal! These occur even while on medications. I have no issues with taking medications, for some women they have been very beneficial. My only concern is that we may lean to far in that direction and forget what we are. Some of us use medicines to ‘relieve our symptoms’. Pain, bloating and PMS - also known as the ‘bitch’ stage - (a term I find very degrading) Have we taken the time before hand to notice our bodies? Have we stopped to appreciate the way our bodies ready themselves for the next bleeding? Do we understand the reasons for these changes? Before our bleeding time all of our physical senses become heightened - touch, hearing, taste, smell. If we are experiencing this heightened awareness (or unawareness) and have not the time or understanding to process what we are feeling then yes we will become irritable - it’s a natural reaction to our flowing hormones and overload of our senses.

We bleed, sometimes in rhythm with the Moon, sometimes not so. We need to find that balance between medicines and within ourselves and not try to push our bodies to conform so much. Our bleeding is primordial and is our intense connection to nature. Our communion with the Moon is intensified as it pulls upon our bodies as it pulls upon the oceans. Our womb is an ocean of blood so it is not unusual for us to feel the pull of the Moon’s energies upon us physically, psychically and emotionally. Ultimately we belong to nature. If we remove our nature we are doing ourselves great harm.

It’s not only our physical senses that ebb and flow, but our psychic abilities are as well - we are a lot more than just our physical self. This sacred monthly cycle can heal, it has the ability to inspire. With our flow we hold potential within us. This experience belongs to us women. Our bleeding is our creation. I wonder how many of us lose ourselves in this sacredness. How many of us take time to explore ourselves during our menstruation. How many know what they are truly capable during this time? In the sacrificing of our blood we can be honoured with an increase of psychic ability. During these days we are able to enter easily into altered states of consciousness, have the gift of foresight, the ability to discern between illusion and truth, prophetic dreams and increased intuitive sensitivity.

Use your Moon-time to express yourself and revel in your femininity! Perform a spontaneous Moon-time rite centred around your bleeding! Take a ritual bath! Create art (yes you can use your menstrual blood if you so wish), make love, make offerings to Goddess, yourself and all that is feminine by pouring your blood upon the earth, meditate and journal. Record how you feel during certain points of your cycle - note when your intuition peaks and use this time to your advantage! Dance naked to enchanting music. Don’t worry if you think you cannot dance. Use music that evokes great emotion within you and allow it entrance you, to carry you away. The most important thing is to take time for yourself. Even 10 minutes!

Menstruation is a perfect time for rites of healing. The releasing of our blood can be a very healing experience, strip your wounds bare and use this time to rid yourself of any negative thoughts and feelings about your body and your bleeding. When we bare ourselves we are presented with an opportunity to truly heal. I experienced an extremely distressing and physically traumatic first birth that was healed by re-connecting with my body during menstrual times. The subsequent births of my younger two were extraordinary because I had taken time and learnt to trust my body, it’s rhythm and its powerful process of Birth.

When I speak of our power as menstruating women, I speak of the inner self. Power that lies within - the desire to understand ourselves and to experience the entire spectrum of womanhood. We are a symbol of life and death. I dislike the terms of light and dark. I feel that they do a deep injustice. The emotions of anger need not be consumed in darkness as the emotions of love should not be held solely in the light. All of our experiences and interactions in this world, righteous or not, are the sum of our power. Our mysteries are entangled in the web of life- as are we. These are the Divine powers of a woman.

Creating a personal connection with our soul and body - these are the Mysteries. There is no hidden knowledge scrawled in ancient tomes. The knowledge is held in the experience. The discovery of oneself and the truth that -

We ARE Sacred, We are Divine and so is our Blood.

Pagan Blog Project - B is for Belief

2012-01-20T12:37:00.004+11:00

I thought I would write a post for this week of the letter B on belief since they can be the cornerstone of spirituality. I have always thought that it is to my advantage that I have allowed my spiritual beliefs to remain fluid. I view the progression of my beliefs to be a beautiful journey, one I definitely have not finished. I have considered myself for the last 7 − 8 years to be a Panenthiest - a belief a cosmic energy exists and interpenetrates every part of nature and timelessly extends beyond it. This may change and it may not. My panenthiestic belief has the opportunity to extend towards atheism or Deism depending on my future spiritual choices.

There are reasons - valid reasons as to why I naturally lean towards atheism. I have a tendency to believe science trumps religion. Yes I am one of those ‘people’ in the science vs religion debate. But I am also a spiritual seeker. I love being able to look up at the sky and understand the information we have learnt of our tiny local and know that ultimately I have no understanding of exactly what I am viewing at the same time. That experience enhances all of the intricacies of the Universe. There is no separation between us, Earth and the Universe. We are all composed of the very same Universal elements. Spirituality comes as easily to me as my thirst for scientific knowledge.

My head tells me that while it is in the realm of possibility that creator Deity exists, it is also very probable that it does not. That we are a cosmic ‘accident’ and products of evolution. That there is no reason for our existence. That any Deity perceived is of our own creation.

My experiences tell me differently though. I certainly was not looking for Deity and when they did present themselves, I ignored them. Yes I straight up ignored them in the same way I do when I’ve had a weird dream. I stood up, shook my head and completely forgot about it. That didn’t stop them from continuing to contact me though. I was quite happy on my journey thus far. I still felt an absence of something I couldn’t place my finger on, but I was happy.

There are a lot of things I believe in such as energetic healing, reincarnation, soul ascension, cosmic energy, auras, but a belief in Deity is far more complex. This is something that is outside of myself, that operates autonomously. It is outside the scope of my knowledge yet in the realm of my experience. Once I accepted those experiences (and it took a long time, years in fact) my life began to change, and quickly.

So now I am at a place where I am trying to form my beliefs with an inclusion of Deity - a concept that I still have much difficulty wrapping my head around. Some days more than others. And I’m not going to lie. It hasn’t been an easy process for me and has led to inner turmoil and self-doubt. Why are they? Where are they? What the? But it has also given me a gift - the reason and meaning behind faith.

I wasn’t raised in religion. My parents remain without spirituality in their lives. I also was not raised in knowledge of science. I was left to explore and study under my own devices. The only other spiritual person in my family was my Grandmother. Having immigrated from Japan after World War 2 she kept her religion close. I spent the majority of my childhood with her and observing what it is to truly live your spirituality. My Nana didn’t deal in pompous rituals or nor did she speak frequently of her religion. Instead I witnessed her devotion and prayers in the light of the rising Sun every morning. Whispered so that only she and Deity would hear. It was a personal communion, sacred and beautiful. I saw her tending to her garden daily, a manifestation of devotion and energetic communion with the earth. She was an animist, as are many Japanese of Shinto belief. Deity, herself and the Earth were one in the same to her. She knew how to make that garden thrive using learnt knowledge and Divine guidance. I was never able to tell her how much she influenced the person I have come to be but I can take what she unintentionally taught me. Belief is personal and precious. Spiritual belief is something to be lived and not preached. Trust yourself and have blessed faith and you will be fine no matter what.

My beliefs are fluid and change because I change. I have evolved throughout the years and so have my beliefs. If they didn’t I would be very worried for myself. There is nothing wrong with being confused, I often find myself confused. My mind will wonder outward and I find myself thinking about the entire scope of human belief and our place in the Universe. In these times I just need to remind myself that I am so small and the Universe is so large, there is no way that I am going to be able to understand every aspect of it, and I’m not supposed to. It’s okay to feel one way one day and the opposite the next. Soon enough thoughts will merge and a new belief will be formed and later on new thoughts will eventually shift it around a little. Belief doesn’t have to be stagnant. I think too many worry that others will think of them as having no substance, I know, I’ve been there. But if beliefs don’t flow, if they don’t change then it means that I am not growing. Staying still scares me more than the conflict I am experiencing now.
In the end our beliefs are as important as we want them to be. I’m not finished becoming whoever it is that I am turning out to be.

Pagan Blog Project - A is for Australia

2012-01-17T12:05:00.008+11:00

We have a different experience of Paganism here Down Under. Not only are our natural flora and fauna noticeably different from the rest of the world but our seasons for the most part do not fit within the traditional European Pagan Wheel of the Year, though we do recognise these four seasons in the Southern Hemisphere as they were brought along with the Europeans who colonised Australia. Here they 'begin' (according to our calendars) on the first day of the month:

Summer - December - February.
Autumn - March - May.
Winter - June - August.
Spring - September - November.

Even within these stated seasons our experience of the weather patterns can be vastly different. During the Summer months the southern states of Australia experience intense heat and high levels of humidity. The Sun is bright, beaches and parks are full of people reveling in Summer delights. Fire danger levels can rapidly rise into the gauge of catastrophic while the northern states experience torrential rains and are under threat from cyclones, all the while blasting their air conditioners against the heavy humidity they are experiencing. Winter in Australia can go from the snow capped peaks of southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, to the dry, calm season of the tropics. All of this while Central Australia is in a seemingly perpetual drought.

Many native Aboriginal people had their own seasonal calendars. In the Northern Territory the Jawoyn people recognised six seasons. There is a small pocket of Australia in the region of southern Queensland, Eastern New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria where the seasons do stay within the European paradigm.

The majority of Australians are descendants of immigrants (as I am) or have immigrated here themselves. I don't know how other Australian Pagans feel about their placement in this country but I sometimes feel as though I am stepping where I ought not be and at other times I feel such a connection to this land that is as strong as a mothers love for her child. I don't know if this comes from knowing that in the history of our world that we are still very new people to this land and she is not yet accustomed to us upon her. The Aboriginal people have walked upon her for 40,000 years and our footprints are still barely visible.

I've been trying to transform my spirituality to have a strong basis in the land that I live and that I love. This is the main aspect that drew me to my previous path of Gaianism, which I still base my beliefs upon. But I still also look to my ancestry for guidance as well. My relationship with Cernunnos has morphed unconventionally into my offerings to him being of gumnuts, eucalyptus leaves, and organic bush honey.To me this seems like a perfectly natural direction, though others may disagree. Regardless he seems to enjoy them. If I leave offerings outside for any reason I make sure that they are left under a native tree. I have beloved wand of eucalyptus that I crafted myself. The energy of using tools crafted from native materials has greatly enhanced the rituals I have performed when I commune with the Earth. While I believe that all the continents of the Earth, the Seas and the Sky are intrinsically connected there is something special about creating a connection with the red land beneath my feet.

2012-01-14T14:19:00.005+11:00

I've decided to join the Pagan Blog Project to help me into a routine

of regular blogging.

Each Friday for the next year I will be blogging on a different Pagan topic.

Pagan Blog Project ~ A is for Altar

2012-01-14T12:28:00.019+11:00

I think it is no secret that I adore my altar space. It is still my sacred little corner and the one place I make sure is tended to daily.

Alongside a shift in my path there have been changes to my altar. Some new additions and some items have been removed.

My previous altars were mainly constructed for Gaia/Gaianism and my interest in the Scared Feminine. Now I find I'm decorating to represent myself, my interactions, beliefs and spiritual relationships, more so than any specific path.

I consider myself at this moment to be path free. My altars are reflecting all the internal changes I have been going through the last year. One huge difference is my growing relationships with Deity, or Deities to be exact.

This is my current set up of my main altar. I have statues now for both Danu and Cernunnos. I couldn't part with my smaller statues so they are on there until I can find a safe place for them to go. I still intend to use them in smaller altar set ups for rituals and meditations.

My new wand was a surprise Christmas gift from

my husband. To say it's absolutely beautiful would

be an understatement! The handle is a Blesbok horn I believe and it fits surprisingly well in my small hands.

I still use egg cups to hold my elemental representations. Once I've found something I like I usually don't change it, that is why my altar set ups usually look very similar to one another. I have an incense burner and oil burner (holding a soy wax melt I made) on either side of a really pretty ceramic flower candle holder. The amethyst point represents my spiritual self.

In between the egg cups is a new 'All' candle representing a great cosmic energy that pervades all of the Universe. The silver bowl to the right contains a spell at the moment and the one on the right is my cleansing bowl.

The tiny LEGO helmet is courtesy of my three year old lol.

This is my Hecate altar. I have an iron key and skull in front of her

picture.There is also a bottle of perfume there as well that I like to wear

when I commune with her. It's quite small but Danu and Hecate

prefer to be kept separate from one another.

Hecate is quite new in my life and her appearance was completely 100% unexpected. By the time of her arrival during one of my meditations I had become no more comfortable with my conflicting thoughts about the presence of Deities around me. In comes Hecate who quietly stated that my trouble with Deity is entirely my problem to deal with and that she's not going anywhere whether I believe in her or not. Her altar is the one I tend to the most.

Midsummer

2011-12-20T23:31:00.004+11:00

I just found this post sitting all forgotten in my drafts. It's a tad belated, almost a month late but better late than never I think the saying goes...

Summer is upon us. The Earth is awash with green fertility and the pungent perfume of blossoms. The heat of the afternoon Sun will burn our skin if we venture out longer than a half hour (or is that just me?)

Last year I celebrated the Summer Solstice in the northern region of Australia. The wet days and the alternating chilly and clammy nights did little to inspire me. I unfortunately have to say I almost let any celebrations slip by unnoticed. I guess I am just one of those people who need to feel an inner urge to celebrate my connection to a sabbat in order to be spiritually moved.

This year I am temporarily back in the small bush town I grew up in. This morning I walked outside my door and was greeted with brilliant sunlight, the kind of light which causes us to squeeze our eyes tightly it's so intense. It was wonderful! The day before the Solstice and I am finally able to enjoy a hot, humid and bright Summer morning. Now we are getting somewhere.

I don't know if it is just me but Summer has this effect on me where it brings up a torrent of childhood memories every year. Blistering days where I remember the searing heat of concrete driveways burning the soles of my feet as my brother and I raced towards an ice-cream truck. The smells of eucalyptus and fosters reminds me of Summer nights. For me it is all about the aroma. The smell of the gum trees is something that has the power to move me to tears, and I do not consider myself a person who is easily susceptible to great shows of emotion. But if there is one thing that can trigger such strong emotions within me it is that single scent.

I usually celebrate Sabbat's 'organically' as in no set formal celebrations or rites. I prefer to experience the seasons and my personal ways of communing with nature which includes walks and spontaneous meditations. Basically I just want to be outside, it's a calling I feel in my bones that builds as the Summer season's energy intensifies. Summer is a potent time, it's searing hot and bursting with colour. The Summer Sun pours it's energy down upon us. When I sit in the sunlight of Summer I feel immense energy coursing through not only my body but the plants, trees and animals around me. Everything is alive and vibrant in this moment.

Of Gods.....

2011-12-05T11:08:00.005+11:00

It has been too long since I have been stirred by Deity. So long in fact that I had thrown away the concept of Gods altogether and concentrated myself solely on the physical aspects of Pagan worship. While this was fulfilling and I learnt much about my own connection to the Earth and her cycles I truly, deep down felt as though something was missing. That I hadn't yet found what I was seeking. The problem is, is that I still have no idea if I am any closer now than I was all those years ago. But I will say this, it's going to be a very interesting experience........

I've always struggled with my belief in the existence of actual Gods despite my near obsession with mythology pertaining to the Gods. It a concept that greatly confuses me and I have spent many, many hours contemplating as to whether I truly am crazy for my thoughts even drifting in the direction of them being 'real'. I'm a practical person at heart so I have a tenancy to place my experiences in the crazy bin unless they have been physically proven or backed up by someone I implicitly trust. I have mentioned before that I am a Reiki practitioner and I have been asked as to how I can carry a belief in Reiki so strongly but dismiss the existence Deity out of hand. When I was first attuned to Reiki it was a brilliant physical experience. I could literally feel the energy coursing through my hands in the very same way I can feel my coffee cup in my hand right now. It was a tangible experience that has been backed up by many peoples experiences since. The concept of Gods is a little trickier to wrap my head around. In the last year I have had three separate Deities present themselves to me. All three feel as though they have distinct personalities and energies with their presence and so out the window goes my avoidance of polytheistic belief. I have spent a year in meditation with Deity, the journal that had sat unused for 4 years previously is now full to the brim of Deity experiences. I've flipped back through a few times and while I was reading through I could feel the ugly self doubt creeping back through - I'm crazy right? I'm just compensating for something and just creating 'Deity' experiences.

I've dismissed them many times and every time I have Their quiet voice within me has become a roar. If I ignore them them I find that my thoughts become consumed with thought of them. Back in August I had finally had enough so I sat down and did one of my favorite things. I closed my eyes and thought about what was troubling me and especially about how I feel when Deity is around me (which is wonderful but still entirely and frustratingly confusing) then reached out my hand and randomly pulled a book from my shelf and let it fall open in my lap. This time I had opened to page 148 of Eat, Pray, Love and my eyes immediately fell upon the words:

"That's just your ego, trying to make sure it stays in charge. This is what your ego does. It keeps you feeling separate, keeps you with a sense of duality, tries to convince you that you are flawed and broken and alone instead of whole."

That Richard is a wise man.

2011-04-28T11:42:00.005+10:00

This is the time when we recognize that the veil is thin that divides the worlds. It is the New Year in the time of the year’s death – the passing of old growth. The leaves are turning and falling, the dark continues to grow, the days are getting shorter and colder. Earth’s tilt continues to move us away from the Sun.
The story of Old tells us that on this night, between the dead and the born, between the old and the new, all is possible; that we travel in the Womb of the Mother, the Dark Shining One within, from which all pours forth, and that we are the seed of our own rebirth. The gates of life and death are opened: the dead are remembered, the Not-Yet is conceived. We meet in time out of time, everywhere and nowhere, here and there … to transform the old into the new in our own bodyminds.

Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology.

For myself, Samhain begins on April 25th with remembrance on Anzac Day and flows through until Sunrise May 2nd.

I believe ANZAC Day remembrance is well within the Samhain spirit. This day represents sacrifice, death, survival, and transformation. The men and women who have served and those still serving have an intimate understanding of the journey to the Underworld.

As a child I marched in place of my lost Grandfather, his medals hung heavily from my chest. Over the years the men and women who walked beside me were slowly replaced one by one with their own family members marching in their stead and now, all grown up with children of my own, I watch as my husband marches with his own medals upon his chest.

Samhain is a time of endings as well as a beginning. We watch as the new generation remember and pay respect to their ancestors, they walk beside them and for a brief time they merge and become one as they march. But it is the new generation that will take the next step forward, hopefully with accumulated wisdom of those that have gone before them, and they will forge a new path.

Life is a cycle. At Samhain the veil is lifted and the worlds merge, and briefly, so does time. There is no beginning and no end, there is only the sacred image of the Wheel, the cycle of the seasons and metaphor of our lives.

Physically we notice the cycle of nature around us, the turning of the Wheel through the seasons. Only now, where I currently live, the weather is beginning to dip down into winter. The nights have become chilly and the mornings frosty. Though I know that the temperatures here will not fall greatly even in the depths of the winter months, I still feel an internal shift, This is the time I allow myself to become quiet and retreat within. It is my time of introspection for what the last year has entailed and what will come forth from the new. During this time I think about what I feel I need to shed, what I am not ready to let go of and what I would like to bring into my life throughout the coming cycle. I journal, I cry, I laugh and I hug. I let go of my inner ego so that I can open myself to new experiences whether they be baneful or blessings. I know from experience that through the hard times is when I grow the most, when I appreciate the most.

Upon my altar Samhain night I will lay the foods of the last local harvest time, celebrating that the Earth is turning through her own cycle. I will place photos of lost loved ones along side one of my husband whom I will soon say goodbye to as he will be leaving for deployment not long after. I will not see him again until after next Lughnasad. Though his goodbye is not permanent it is still a form of departing.

I will allow this time to cleanse me, bathing me in the darkness of night, beneath the stars and this year a moonless sky. I will remember those that have touched my life and I will be thankful for those who are still with me. I will ask questions about my future and impatiently as always await an answer. And when all is said and done, I will watch the sun rise on a brand new day.

Samhain is not only about death. It is about transformation and acceptance of such changes that occur in our lives. It is a time of letting go. Whether that be someone we cherished, a bad year, negative emotions such as insecurity, resentment or even our own ego. It is a time to remember our pasts but more importantly it is the time to look forward into our future. We cannot change what has already been but the future is ours to transform.

First Award! Yay!

2010-03-18T17:48:00.006+11:00

Wooo! I won an award! I never win anything lol. I didn't actually think anyone read this little blog :) I want to say a Big Thankyou to Willow Silverhorse at collegewitchexperiences for honouring me with the Beautiful Blodder Award!

Here are the rules of the award:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic!
4. Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

7 Things About Myself:

1. My heritage is part Scottish, Scandinavian and Japanese
2. I'm under 5 ft tall
3. I love Wendy Rules music and can listen to her all day long
4. I'm craving sushi really badly through this pregnancy :(
5. I love scifi. Can't help myself, I'm a big nerd at heart.
6. I'm a SAHM
7. I'm a Reiki practitioner

The Ten Bloggers I Pass This Award On To:

1. Hibiscus Moon
2. dollyandtheblackdog
3. confessionsofacraftywitch
4. hedgewitchhollow
5. SquishyBumMum
6. Blog of an Obscure Pagan
7. Vethorn's Hof
8. ravingsfromateacherwitch
9. craftychickscuppacoffee
10. shadwickfamily
11. Natural Living and Parenting
12. Monster - The personal stories of a Woman and Monster
13. A Pagan Tapestry
14. Daily Meditation
And last but definatly not least
15. Woodland Witch

These are not all the fantastic blogs I have bookmarked but they are each wonderful in their own right :)

Sanctuary

2010-03-05T11:45:00.030+11:00

For me my altar space is my sanctuary, the place I feel most at home. I'm a visually orientated person and my altar has become a visual expression of my spirituality. It's the place where I meditate and perform my daily blessing and my spiritual workings, most importantly it is the place I go to honour Gaia and my connection to her. While I would prefer to have a small shrine outside under the cherry blossom tree in our backyard, the downside of living in the city is lack of privacy from our neighbours who have a direct view over the fence.

I have always tried to place my altar by a window so that I can open it and allow the breeze inside. I am lucky enough at the moment to have a window that faces east so the morning sun is able to shine upon it come dawn and the moon rises before it come nightfall.

My altar has had many incarnations. I started out with a small shoebox hidden under my bed as a teen, I've used a breakfast tray and a small set of nesting tables. After the round decorators table that I used literally fell apart after 9 years I decided it was time for an upgrade. I searched for what seemed like forever through every furniture store in town until I accidentally found a small business that handcrafted wooden furniture from reclaimed and recycled materials.

The most expensive items I have purchased for my altar was the Millennial Gaia statue by Oberon Zell and the small 6" statues I had commissioned but you don't have to spend a fortune to have a beautiful and meaningful space. Most of my altar items I buy from cafter's markets, op shops, dollar stores or eBay. I've been collecting odds and ends for years and I love finding a new purpose for items such as coffee jars that I wash and use to store herbs and incense or the egg cups that I have filled with the element representations. I absolutely encourage getting down and crafty with your altar. I've made statues from air dry clay and modified a music box before. I make and customise soy candles and incense for specific uses. If you don't feel very crafty you can always find something in nature to bring inside as well. A great source for altar cloths is sample size fabric from craft or fabric stores which sell for only a couple of dollars and if you don't have access to a sewing machine there is double sided iron on tape to hem the sides (which I should really get off my butt to do........one day)

I would love to have a Bonsai tree on my altar (my Grandmother was Japanese and had the most beautiful garden with a pond of Japanese carp and tables filled with Bonsai) but I'm like the worst Gaian ever, I have a black thumb when it comes to indoor plants and they never seem to be able to survive the week lol. So I've had to compromise and faux flowers it is for me.

Like many, my altar share's a duel space in our bedroom, which I actually prefer as it is the first thing I see in the morning. A couple of years ago we lived in a large house with 4 bedrooms so I was able to use one of them as my altar room but I found that I hardly ever went in there. It was at the back of the house and with a three year old at the time I just didn't have the energy to set time aside to spend extra time there. I've found that keeping my altar in the bedroom means that the energy of the altar has strengthened because I am able to tend to it daily, even for just a few short moments. Sharing a space has ment though that the area around the altar needs to be cleansed regularly and kept clean and clear, this means my husbands dirty socks will have to land on the opposite side of the room lol.

I love taking photos of my altars but I do wish I had taken some of my first altars, alas that was in the days before phone cameras. I like looking back and seeing a visual evolution of my practices and beliefs. I change the decore whenever I feel it needs a revamp but usually at the start of each season or before a sabbat comes round.

The most important thing about my altar is that it represents me. Every item is carefully thought about before I will place it on there. Everything has a purpose or a meaning.

I have a couple of videos on youtube of my altars as well.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Pyrivala

Witchy Mamma

2010-03-04T13:41:00.005+11:00

Like many parents I'm juggling little ones - Master 5 and Master 18mths as well as awaiting Master #3. My days are spent doing the school run and changing nappies among the seemingly never ending pile of washing that grows and mutates daily. I bathe and read to the boys before bedtime, bake them cookies and comfort them when they have a nightmare or have hurt themselves. All the normal things a mum does, the only difference is that, well, mum just happens to be a Pagan.

Now truthfully I haven't previously given much thought as to how my boys would be influenced by their mum's chosen spiritual path, most likely due to the fact they are still very young. I must admit that I now think I was being a bit naive. I hadn't really stopped to think about this topic before I was asked to write a blog post, at least not as in-depth as I have been for the last couple of weeks. I decided that the best way to see if I was pagan parenting would be to observe how I interacted and engaged with my children. To my astonishment I began to notice telling details right away. Things that are so second nature to me that I didn't even notice I was doing them, things that are now obviously inheritatly born from my personal spirituality such as attachment parenting (which I didn't realise had a label until I was so informed by SBM) expressing my views of the world from topics such as my preference for natural, non-commercial products to our weekly sage cleansing of the house or that we have various crystals hidden all over the house and buried in our yard. Master 5's seemingly inherent knowledge of candle safety and maintenance. Simpler things like the lullaby I sing to Master 18mths, picking him flowers to dissect or chatting to Master 5 about the different seasonal changes in our backyard and why they occur. He turned to me this afternoon on our way home from school and informed me the 'element air' was being very cheeky and playing with the leaves on the pathway ahead as a gust of wind picked them up.

I didn't think I had passed on anything as I don't involve them directly in my pagan ways. I strongly believe in and encourage their freedom to forge their own path in life, but I have to acknowledge that while the boys may not join me during my rituals celebrating the energy of the moon or cycle of the seasons Master 5 has (probably) inevitably taken a keen interest and has an inquisitive eye for the natural world around him, and as his mum I couldn't be more chuffed. Walk anywhere with me and you must be prepared to take your time. I'm the kind to stop and smell the roses......... and touch the trees, watch the bee's, listen to the birds...... well you get the idea. Yesterday we were home 15 mins later from school just so I could show they boys an interesting lizard I spotted. He has expressed a connection with nature that is unfortunately a rarity in my own generation let alone his and if there is one thing I want to pass on to my kids it would be the love, respect and nurturance of the Earth. Just the other day he requested a small Goddess shrine to Gaia/Mother Earth be erected on his bookshelf where he can place the two gemstones he carries with him to school daily to 'recharge'. He never fails to remind me that they must be placed in his pocket before he sets foot out the door in the mornings.

I always thought of myself as a wife & parent first and Paganism was a secluded part of my own life, but I've come to realise that there really is no separation. I self identify as pagan, my spirituality has become the basis for who I am and who I will grow to be. I have discovered more about myself and my beliefs every time my path has evolved to another level. If I try to stifle or remove my spirituality from my parenting then I am not giving all of myself to my children. They deserve to have a whole parent, one who is not secretive or afraid to express herself and share of herself. Fortunately I have been blessed with an open minded husband who sees no ill will or forcefulness from my actions or maybe we have been together so long that like me he just doesn't bat an eye at my hippie ways any more lol.

I have been on the Pagan path for over a decade now and to be honest it hasn't always been an easy road to travel. When you find yourself placed outside the 'norm' (who defines normal anyway?) you inevitably have to deal with the ignorance and bigotry of others from time to time. This is true though for anyone from homosexuals & young parents to 'alternative' religions and even those darn trekkies sometimes cop it. In all seriousness I do worry that I may be setting my boys up for some rough times. This has been on my mind a lot more since Master 5 started kindergarten this year. I'm out of the broom closet, always have been but that doesn't mean I want my boys to be subjected to whispers or bullying. This is a path I have chosen but they didn't get a choice in having a pagan parent. Personally I'm very private when it comes to my spiritual beliefs and practices. Even those closest to me will only hear about anything specific if they initiate the conversation. I have been lucky enough not to receive such treatment in a long while, the last incidence being before Master 5 was born from a neighbour who I swear bore a remarkable resemblance to Mrs Kravitz.

The real decision I have to make will be one of the hardest, it may well end up being the tale of a double edged sword. Do we live openly and authentically as who we are and expose ourselves to potentially upsetting bigotry from people such as other parents at school to Pastor Danny Nalliah (not that this man has ever had anything remotely credible to say) who is convinced that Canberra Witches' covens had cursed our federal government with blood sacrifices on Mount Ainslie. (I actually went up to take a gander at the so called 'sacrifice site' and personally my opinion on this is that if you can't tell the difference between dried red soft drink and blood you're a freakin' moron (using my nice words today)).

On the other hand if we decide to be secretive what message will this send to my boys? Is there a middle ground? At the end of the day I realise that if my husband and I have raised thoughtful, considerate children who have the confidence within themselves to acknowledge exactly who they are then we have done our job well.

x-posted to Squishybum Mum
http://squishybummum.blogspot.com/

Doin' it backwards

2010-02-22T11:22:00.008+11:00

Circle casting that is.

I started off my Pagan journey over a decade ago where the majority of new seekers do - with Wicca. While my own path has evolved away from the structure and belief system of Wicca there are still some aspects of that path that I deerly love and have carried over in my workings, one of them being the casting of sacred space for indoor rites.

Being that I obviously live in the southern hemisphere I thought I'd write a snippet about the reason everything is performed backwards or upside down here. Basic instruction of casting circle is to cast doesil, sunwise - the direction of the Sun's apparent motion in the sky and dissipate widdershins - a course opposite the apparent motion of the sun. In the Northern Hemisphere the sun moves in a east-south-west direction thus moving in a clockwise motion across the sky, in the Southern Hemisphere the sun travels in a east-north-west direction meaning 'sunwise' or doesil is in a counter clockwise motion across our sky.

On a side note, funny thing with the phases of the moon down here as well. We all recognize this symbol )O( for the waxing, full & waning phases of the moon. For us it looks more like this (O)

Science and Spirituality

2010-02-15T20:39:00.020+11:00

Pantheist ~ the view that nature/universe is god/divine.

Panentheist ~ the view that god/divine is in nature/universe.

Can one successfully blend science with spirituality? As a panentheist my view of the Earth is not purely materialistic, I'd like to think I have a nice balance between science and spirituality. It was recently said to me by a member of a forum I'm a regular on during a discussion that "Paganism is about mythology and metaphor and symbolism" and "So if you're just going to see the Earth as one more planet, why paganism?" Is this really what paganism is only about? Does that mean that because I personally have chosen to honour Nature/Earth/Gaia in a differing manner out of a cultural and mythological context that I am less of a Pagan? Or not even able to call myself a Pagan? This really got me thinking and I found the discussion which though only a few posts long got me to sit back and really evaluate my beliefs and the direction my path is heading. I believe that one should never be afraid to question themselves or others. It's only through these times of evaluation that we grow personally and spiritually and experience an evolution within. I came to the conclusion that no my views don't make me less of a Pagan, in fact I feel that the belief that was expressed seems to be a rather limiting perspective of what a personal Pagan spirituality has to offer in the form of individual practice. This was just one person's opinion of how they view Paganism. It's not wrong it just differs from my own. Paganism is many different things to many different people. That's the beauty of a free-form personal spirituality.
I may be in the minority but honestly you're more likely to catch me watching the History Channels Universe series than an ancient cultural program (though I love these too), my Book of Shadows is filled with information on the Big Bang Theory as well as other scientific theories on the formation of our planet, galaxies, the stars and beyond, all right alongside poetry and musings written for and inspired by a sentient belief in Mother Earth. (Akin to Gaia Theory - James Lovelock, formally Gaia Hypothesis)
Sometimes I may come across as if I see the world in a purely materialistic view especially when I talk about celebrating the cycles of the earth, sun and moon. I don't see a Goddess when I look to the moon I see the earth's only natural satellite, the spiritual content being that I acknowledge and celebrate the moons effects on our tides and our bodies during its monthly cycle as a intimate connection with Gaia/Mother Earth. I feel a Divine Energy current that runs through our universe and Celebrate the moon and sun's pivotal role in the creation and sustenance of life upon our fare planet. During the yearly cycle of the sun I celebrate the solstices and equinoxes on the actual days they occur because I'm not celebrating the myth and symbolism of a sabbat, I'm celebrating the literal cycle of the sun and its effects upon the earth's/Gaia's seasonal rotation.
For me personally none of the scientific aspects nullifies the spiritual quality of my personal path but rather enhances it. The more knowledge I gather the more tangible my connection to Gaia becomes, the more I understand her the more complex and magnificent she is.

I've been told before that I must not grasp what paganism is by yet another simply because I celebrate outside of a mythological and cultural context. My belief is that Paganism is a nature based spirituality,when I celebrate nature in its literal physical form I am being as true to my Pagan self as I can be. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to go freak out my neighbours again by hugging a tree.

BB

Intro Blog

2010-02-15T14:00:00.014+11:00

I'm terrible at introductions so I figured this would probably be a good icebreaker :)

What path do you follow? Panentheist Gaian path

Do you follow the rede? Nope

Do you believe in the three fold law? Yes and no. I don't believe that three times what you send out comes back to you but I have come across an interesting way of interpreting the three fold law as your actions will affect you emotionally, physically and spiritually. In this regard I can see a place for it in my path (though not an especially significant part) as a reminder that my words and action affect others as well as myself.

Which Gods/Goddesses are you particularly drawn to? Gaia/Earth Mother

Do you practice magick? Occasionally.

Do you have an altar? Whats on it? I'll definatly be doing posts on my altar updates through the seasons. I think altars are intriguing windows into others paths.

Are your rituals formal or informal? Very informal.

What element do you align with? All of them to a greater or lesser degree but mainly Earth and Air.

Which Astrological Sign are you? Gemini

Is there a season of the year that you feel more in tune with? I love them all for different reasons :)

BB