Spell For Needed Change

Thought I already had this posted here somewhere, but couldn’t find it so posting again, since I need to reference it for someone. Sorry I haven’t posted anything else in a while… I’m going through a weird phase. Will be more than happy when I snap out of it!! XD

Anyways…

Spell For Making a Much Needed Change

Purpose:

The purpose of this spell is to strengthen resolve and bring about much needed change. It was originally written to be used in conjunction with a New Year’s Resolution, but is great for whenever you have a specific change or goal you are trying to reach. It can be done as a group ritual or solitary ritual. If being done as a group each person would need their own materials.

Items Needed:

• Gold Candle (small ones are fine): to represent each person  (Gold helps to increase understanding and knowledge, for harmonizing wills and emotions, for hope, healing, strength and success).

• Incense (chose one of the following, or if you have one you prefer that is fine as well): Frankincense (raising power), Sandalwood (grounding/centering)

• Oil (for anointing the candle…if you have it): peppermint (for encouraging change) You only need a  small amount of the oil for each candle, if you want you can add something personal to the oil mixture that will help strengthen the bond to the person the candle represents – (such as a small drop of spit, blood, sweat, etc… )

• Small bowl (if mixing anything with your oil)

When to do the spell:

This spell was originally written to be done during the Waxing Moon, so that it would help to increase ones resolve to make a much needed change. So that would be the best time to do it.

What to do:

• Cast a circle, call the Guardians, Elements, Corners, etc… and Invoke the God/ess – however you would normally do before a ritual.

• Take a few moments to ground and center. Meditate if you want on your goals and the changes you are looking to make in your life.

• At this point formally state your “resolution”…what your specific goal/change is. Say it aloud, clearly and firmly. If you are trying to quit smoking, lose weight, get a new job, etc… My goal is to …

• On your candle inscribe the goal you are trying to reach, or the change that you are trying to make. While you are doing this clearly see yourself reaching that goal/making that change, keep that visualization fixed in your mind as you inscribe the candle.

• Take a moment with your oil (or oil mix), hold the bowl in your hand and visualize all the things that you will need to do/change in order to achieve your goal. Fix the images clearly in your mind, then pour all those visualizations into the oil. Peppermint oil is great for encouraging change, so we want to charge it up with everything we can think of to help us over the coming months, as we work toward successfully reaching our goal.

• Anoint the candle with the oil. Continue to see yourself doing the things that you were visualizing in the previous step. When you are done, place the candles on the North side of your altar, so that you are starting from a strong foundation.

• Take a moment to think about the “resolution” you are making, know that when you make it you will keep it, and you will be successful in reaching your goals. Take a deep cleansing breath and say the following:

A resolution
Made on this night
A needed change
Our goal’s in sight
 
An extra boost
Is all we need
To find success
Our goals achieved
 
So added strength
Is what we ask
Lend us power
To stay the task
 
Successful change
Is what I see
So as I will
So mote it be

• Allow the candle(s) to burn out on their own, as they burn your intentions are released into the universe so that they may manifest and allow you to be successful in keeping the resolution that you have made.

If you have any other things to do in your ritual circle, you can do them now, otherwise you can end your ritual. Be sure to thank the God/ess for their assistance (if necessary), release the Guardians/elements, and banish the circle.

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Mercury Retrograde

*cries*

Like I wasn’t already having motivation issues – in terms of communication, now this… ugghhh!!

I will get my ass in gear soon, I swear, but it’s been a bit crazy. Between working like 7 days a week, and having to go out of town on a family emergency, it’s not left me much time to have coherent thoughts of my own. Which of course makes it hard to write anything, or do anything that requires a bit of calm or focus.

I tend to celebrate on the actual astronomical dates rather than “generally accepted”, which this go around makes for an interesting combination, as it turns out Mercury is going into Retrograde starting today as well. So anyways, hope everyone has been having/had a wonderful holiday – whatever you celebrate around this time.

Hopefully soon, I will get back to our regularly scheduled program!! XD

P.S…

If you live in the USA – GO VOTE!!!!!!

 

 

 

(S) Sabbat: Fall Equinox

While I don’t have a whole lot that I do on a regular basis, the Sabbats are something that I do make a point of acknowledging, even if it’s only briefly. Being Eclectic I do tend to sort of do my own thing – and while I do honor my God and Goddess, there are other aspects of the Sabbats that I honor as well.

I’m clearly a child of Fall, I relish in the crisp weather, the bright oranges and yellows as the leaves start to turn – that smoky smell in the air, of wood stoves or fireplaces that have been lit… and everything else that comes along with it. Spring runs a close second, but my true love is Fall. For quite a while I never quite knew what to do with myself on Mabon, and in truth I rarely call it that – preferring simply the Fall Equinox. At first glance it’s a sort of in between day – you’ve already celebrated one harvest, and if you really need to, there’s another one coming up… but that is the sort of beauty of it, when one takes a closer look (or at least there is for me).

Both Lughnasadh and Samhain have other components to them, that often overshadow their “harvest festival” aspect. So much so that I’ve really come to appreciate this particular day, as my actual day to celebrate the “harvests” of the year, and leave the other days to their other aspects. I rarely cook – it’s not something that I enjoy all that much and hubby is so much better at it than I am. He has that special gift of being able to throw things in a pot and no matter what it is, it almost always comes out amazing. A gift that I sorely lack. However on the Equinox, I usually will put forth the effort, and make it a true “thanksgiving” feast for the family.

This year, celebrations will be slightly tempered though – while I am thankful for a lot (and some things are a lot better than they were the last couple of years, so I am thankful), it’s been a pretty bad month so far. Even though it’s been almost 15 years, events earlier in the month brought the reality of my mother’s death crashing back down on me. Then – while I was still dealing with that, got a call from my dad that he likely has skin cancer, and (in his words) “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst”. He’s not the type to be overly melodramatic, so needless to say, I’m a bit worried. All of which is bad enough, but then came the worst part (yes… something worse than cancer), confirmation that one of my son’s teacher assistants was more than likely physically and verbally abusing him off and on last year. He’s autistic and completely non-verbal, so had no way to tell us what was going on, and we had absolutely no idea. This was someone we thought of as a friend, and needless to say we are devastated.

So… clearly not really in a festive, or thankful mood at the moment, but it’s still important for me to mark the turning of the Wheel. So I’m looking forward to cooking a bit of something good later on, and hopefully regaining some of the inner-balance that this day is good for.

Hope you and yours have a wonderful Sabbat!!

P.S… if anyone is in need of a good balancing ritual this is one I wrote several years back, feel free to use/modify as needed (please credit me though if you are posting it elsewhere). 🙂

Pagan Pride 2012

Action, Action:  Despite my usual issues with PPD, I almost always go, as I do feel that it is important to support my local Pagan community. Thought we were going to get rained out, but it dried up just long enough for us to take a run out to the Fair Grounds for the Central NC Pagan Pride festival.

There wasn’t really any workshops that I was interested in this year, but hubby and the kids tagged along and we picked up some nice Elderberry Syrup from Swanfire Farms, and got some info on Starrlight Mead. Which while they weren’t allowed to sell at PPD, are just a bit down the way in Pittsboro. So definitely going to have to take a little road trip and pick some up! There was a nice bit of drumming going on when we got there though, so thought I’d share a pic and music to keep the mood going.

Post a Pic:

One Tribe

Musical Musings: Not from this year, or even a PPD, but this is the group that was leading the drumming. Well worth a listen!!

Blue Moon…

In Your Own Words:

So… lazy Pagan that I am, I really didn’t have any plans for last night.  Not only did I not get off work until about 10p, but I knew that I was going to have to get back up at about 3:45a to start my next shift, so really sleep was all I was really thinking of doing. However it seems that the universe had other plans for me.

I’ve been feeling “called” to make a specific necklace for the last couple months, and I was finally able to order the materials that I needed the other day, and it was just my luck that they came in yesterday afternoon. As most people know I’m not a very crafty sort of person, I mean I’m good with ideas, but generally suck on the execution – but this has been bugging at me for a while, so I felt that it was something that I needed to really get done.

Action, Action:

When I got off work, I sat down on my bed and was just going to look at the materials, sort them out, do a bit of organizing. Which is why I was still there 3 hours later, fingers and various other body parts cramping in pain from non-stop working. Did get it done though, and it turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself).

While I normally associate ravens with Odinn, for whatever reason I was specifically nudged in the direction of his wolves in the making of this, and it is for Him that it was made. I’m not entirely sure what that means, especially considering that I didn’t really get much of an indication that he was particularly interested in me, when we had our little chat earlier in the year. It’s true though, that he is often on my mind, though that’s probably because we have a lot of crows in our area – which while obviously not the same as a raven, yet still seem to always remind me of him none the less. Guess we’ll just have to see where it all leads…

Post a Pic:

Not the best picture in the world, since I am still more or less camera-less, but as I was despairing of even being able to post a pic, I remembered that I do have a webcam (crappy quality… but beggars can’t be choosers).  It was made with black obsidian, two different shades of labradorite, brass beads and a pewter and brass wolf pendent. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some better pics up one day.

Quick Catch-Up Post

Being that the kiddos have been home for a couple  months, I’ve been counting the days until they finally go back to school (which thankfully was this past Monday). As is fairly typical when they’ve been home for weeks on end, my brain is generally fried at this point from the constant chaos, so needless to say haven’t been much for accomplishing much these last couple weeks. The good news is that I am spending this first week of “freedom” enjoying the peace and quiet, then hopefully I can get back to actually posting on a regular basis.

Don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but we have awesome squirrels that hang out in our yard. I know a lot of people think of them as pests, but I totally adore ours (even when they used to eat the bird seed). Plus they are super cool and like to tease the cats, which is always fun to watch. Anyways today, I found a baby squirrel in the yard – just curled up in the grass sleeping. As much as I hated to move it, I had to, otherwise said cats would have eventually gone after it.

Have called the wildlife rescue center, though hubby won’t be home for a few more hours, so there is still hope that mommy or daddy squirrel will come back and get baby. It’s the cutest little thing though, furry, but no fluffy tail yet, so it looks like an odd little chipmunk or something. We’ve got him in a box that is currently attached to a tree, so that the other squirrels can reach him, but the cats can’t.

Not an actual pic of the one we found (my camera is still totally non-functioning), but he looks almost the same. I just want to cuddle him… but I’m being good and haven’t. XD

 

Edit…

Ok coolest thing EVER!!! About 5 minutes before hubby got home – mommy squirrel came and got her baby. I was so happy!! It was funny because I was sitting on the porch waiting for my youngest to get home, and finally saw one of the older squirrels running through the yard, so I’m all talking to it like… “please go get your baby, I don’t want to have to take it away”, and darned if it didn’t meander around the yard for a couple minutes searching for the baby, then go to where we had the box, grab the little one by it’s tail and scamper up the tree back to the nest.

Just goes to show patience really is a virtue – as most rescue sites said to call after more than a couple hours or so, and in this case we’d had the baby for over 8 hours. I’d even called off work – which by the way I HAVE THE BEST BOSS AND CO-WORKERS IN THE WORLD!!! Just really glad it all worked out in the end.

 

 

(P) Pagan Pride

This post is primarily based on an experience that occurred in 2008, though in all fairness it’s pretty common at almost any PPD, that I’ve been to in recent memory. As we are fast approaching PPD season, seemed like a good time to bring it up.

So…my family and I go to our local Pagan Pride Day almost every year, and though some years it’s better than others, I am often left wondering if my standards and/or expectations of other Pagans are a bit too high.

I realize too, that there are a whole group of people who categorize themselves as Pagans, who are simply “wannabes”. These are the ones who are doing this too piss off their parents, or because they saw “The Craft” once and thought it looked cool, or any number of other less than “noble” reasons.  What gets me though, is it seems to be these particular people who often show up in droves to the PPD events. Maybe they think that since it is a gathering of other Pagans, that it is ok to let loose,  not that they really have any sort of understanding of Paganism, outside of stereotypes anyways. However, I still have to question…why? Why break out the fairy wings and renaissance wear – the Harry Potter gear, and extreme Goth wear?

In this case I don’t mean people who may normally dress that way on a regular basis, but the ones – and you can tell the difference – who are dressed up like PPD is one giant Halloween party. I also understand completely the concept of ritual wear, though again (and maybe this is just a personal quirk, but I know others that feel the same way) ritual wear is generally reserved for ritual purposes only. Wearing ritual gear out into the mundane world allows it to absorb those energies, which generally leaves them kind of icky (‘cuz you know people have all sorts of crazy energetic baggage – and especially when you are around a large group of people, you never know what you are going to pick up). Then you then have to go through the effort of cleansing them, and it’s usually just better to keep them away from that sort of thing.

So we shout Pagan Pride and expect others to take us seriously, and yet if this is the public “face” that we are putting on… can we really expect for anyone to take us seriously and give us the respect we deserve? I can understand that we don’t necessarily want to exclude anyone, but part of bringing Paganism to the mainstream (or at least raising tolerance levels) is letting people know that “hey… we are just like you”. That we should be able to dress however we want (be one Pagan or otherwise) is an issue as well, but until we live in that world, it’s still seems that one should be dressing some what appropriately (not particularly fond of that word, but it will have to do). At the very least, we should not be going out of our way to dress/act in a way that perpetuates the negative stereotypes we are trying so very hard to break away from.

There are many people who have chosen a Paganism because they are seriously seeking a religion or a spiritual path that they have not been able to find elsewhere. As one of those people, I find that I resent the “intrusion” of these “wannabes”. I am sick of wading through endless amounts of fluff, to find one small shred of valid truth. Just once, I’d like to go to a Pagan gathering and come away feeling like I learned something valuable, not like I’ve been violated. If I wanted to go to the a carnival or Ren Faire, then that is where I would go. As I said in the beginning, maybe my standards are too high – but if we are ever to be taken seriously, then maybe it is time that others raised their standards as well.

Lughnasadh

In  Your Own Words: This time of year is always a bit hard on me, being that it’s near to the anniversary of my mother’s death. One of the reasons why Lughnasadh has always been one of my favorite (well… not quite the right word, but it serves in this case) Sabbats, is that it the time that Lugh bade us celebrate in honor his foster mother Tailtiu, and as such it’s somewhat of a “mother’s day” celebration for me as well. It’s made even more poignantly appropriate by the fact that my mother-in-law and my mother’s best friend (who was like a second mother to me growing up), both also died during the month of August.

So tonight I will raise a glass in honor, tell a few stories, and try not to make it a total cry-fest, because that sort of defeats the purpose of celebrating a life well lived and loved. However even after all these years, it’s sometimes difficult not to break down completely at the thought of just how much the world has been lessened by the loss of these three amazing women. You are remembered, and loved – for now and forever!

On a bit of a lighter note – I did not bake any bread, however I did make pizza… does that count?

Musical Musings:

Wow… Is It That Time Already?

Seriously, I have no idea where the time went this month. I had a few things to post, and then just somehow never got around to it – Mercury reverse throttling into retrograde on the 14th didn’t really help matters either. So after a bit, I think I just gave up making any sort of coherent posts for most of the rest of the month. Thankfully we are nearing the end of that mess, and with any luck my brain will commence functioning again.

In the meantime, just wanted to let you all know that I was still around. Will post something relevant soon, I promise!!!

❤ ❤

 

(O) Being Open-Minded

Don’t be so open-minded that your brains fall out!

A friend used to be rather fond of the above quote, and as we used to find ourselves frequently in discussion with those who were often accusing us of being “close-minded“, it really became a mantra of sorts. A rallying cry for fighting the good fight. It’s a variation of one that many often attribute to Richard Dawkins, however a closer look shows that the original author is unknown.

It’s one thing to accept that almost anything is possible, but it’s quite another to blindly believe every single thing that you read, or hear someone say. While there is a lot of UPG, and “doing your own thing” when it comes to many Pagan paths, there are still many things which can be verified, or that have historical facts/evidence associated with them. It’s also good to remember that “traditions” are not called such just for the fun of it.  Most importantly, we need to keep in mind that it is not “close-minded” to challenge those who attempt to claim otherwise, in fact it really comes down to a matter of common sense.

If someone asks you why you believe in something, or why you hold a certain view point to be true – you should be able to rationally discuss (even if you don’t give out personal details) at least some of the reasons which led you to feel the way you do. If you can’t, then maybe you need to take a bit of time and really think about it. This isn’t just important as a means to satisfy someone else’s curiosity, but a serious means of gaining a deeper understanding of your own beliefs and practices.

If someone points you to sources or information that contradict something that you thought you knew – don’t dismiss it out of hand. No one likes to be wrong, but a large part of life is growing and learning new things – take the opportunity that is being given to find out if you might have missed something. At the very least you’ll come out with stronger convictions, because you are able to support your own beliefs, but on that slight possibility that you are wrong, here is your chance to learn something new.  In either case you come out better for it in the end.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t believe in whatever you want to believe in, but using critical thinking skills in these situations goes a long way to ensuring that one’s practices, and beliefs are built on a solid foundation, rather than something a bit more tenuous.