Pagan Blog Project - D is for Divination

Divination. This practice seems to be almost as attached to the word 'witchcraft' as 'witchcraft' is attached to the word 'Wicca'. You know what I mean. They say that most witches practice divination, but not all diviners are witches...just like most Wiccans practice witchcraft, but not all witches are Wiccan....and vice versa....but really, who are 'they' anyway?

The point is this...when one thinks of divination, the occult automatically comes to mind. Many of us were drawn into this realm as preteens by the beckoning of an ouija board planchette at a slumber party or the sultry temptation of the Lovers card in our older sister's secret tarot deck. The potential of unlocking some of life's mysteries has always been a fascination of mankind and a staple in the pagan world for centuries. I still have my very first Ryder-Waite deck from when I was probably 12 or 13yrs old and now at 42, I'm excited to be currently breaking in the newest addition to my collection...The Erotic Tarot by Manara....YUM!! Surprisingly enough, after 24yrs together, my husband has taken a sudden interest in tarot now, too.  LOL ;D

Pagan Blog Project - C is for Curiosity

Author Richard Dawkins, who wrote The God Delusion. Photo: Reuters

Paganism can be an awesome launching pad, especially for children and teens, from which to explore what religion, faith and spirituality really means to the average person. There is little restrictive dogma resulting in confined thought processes when it comes to general paganism, unless one eventually feels called to follow one of the more structured traditions that fall under this same umbrella. Even then, new practitioners are rarely, if ever, bullied into believing what their mentors believe in or 'suffer eternal damnation'. Pagans encourage curiosity in everyone which is a wonderful thing since it nurtures free thinking in all and wards off conformity & control.

Pagan Blog Project: B is for Balance

**Ok, so I see keeping up with this project is already proving to be a challenge for me. LOL I think I'll just do one post every 2wks on each letter instead of the 2 posts on each letter...and hope for the best! ;D**

Of all the things I've learned following this path, the most important would have to be recognizing the need for balance in all things. Whether we're talking about life and death, light and shadow, positive and negative, masculine and feminine, or even in working with the pH levels in our garden soil to grow our herbs, fruits and vegetables...balance is always the key to success.

The conceptual polarity of the divine itself is what drew me to a pagan path to begin with. The rest of the world seemed completely out of balance without the feminine divine! 

Pagan Blog Project: A is for Apothecary

"Apothecary (pron.: /əˈpɒθɨkəri/) is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist (or a chemist or dispensing chemist) and some caregivers. In addition to pharmacy responsibilities, the apothecary offered general medical advice and a range of services that are now performed solely by other specialist practitioners, such as surgery and midwifery. Apothecaries often operated through a retail shop."

Today, I see many witches as apothecaries, especially those who operate small businesses like...

The Green Eyed Owl http://www.thegreeneyedowl.org/ 

or The Mother Moon Pagan Monasteries. http://www.themoonmother.net/The_Moon_Mother/A_Space_of_Love.html

Nothing says pagan to me more than freshly cultivated herbs, lovingly measured and mixed by the talented hands of an herbalist...a natural healer. 

Pagan Blog Project: A is for Avalon

**A late start to the project...but it looks like a lot of fun, so I'm playing catch up to join in!**

Avalon....
Is there any other word as magical as Avalon? Not in my world. I can't even say it without whispering....Avalon...*sigh*

A beautiful, mysterious island featured in Arthurian legend, Avalon is truly a magical place that naturally bears an abundance of vegetable, fruit and grain without cultivation and where people can easily live to be 100 years or more. Paradise on earth, or so the legends go, inhabited by nine sisters... including the powerful sorceress, Morgan Le Fay.

Keeping an Open Mind...

It's funny how the universe listens, isn't it? When your mind is open to any possibility, it's absolutely amazing how the universe will reward it with more information...and more possibilities. My last blog post was a reflection of how I had finally given up on trying to understand the Starseed concept supposedly behind this shift in consciousness that we are experiencing. In all honesty, I never really understood it and it all seemed far too unrealistic for me to even take seriously. So, I admitted that out loud by publishing the post and moved on in my spiritual quest.

As I was watching another great video by one of my favorite Youtubers...Miss Annika from OathBoundSecrets...a video name on the side bar caught my eye. The channel it lead me to is called Spirit Science. I've been exploring this channel for the last two days now and I am truly fascinated with it's content. It delivers this entire concept in lesson form and speaks to me with such a voice that I'm captivated by it and yearning to learn more!

Now, I'm definitely not admitting that I believe in any of it, but the links that this young man offers between history, science and spirituality are undeniably profound. He provides endless pdf files and other links to corroborate this information he renders in his videos. What I find especially impressive is that he repeatedly tells the viewer not to believe what he says as fact, but to research the truth for themselves before they come to any conclusions about the material....a similar approach to enlightenment shared by one of the philosophies I've admired since my early adult years, Buddhism. 

So, in the spirit of keeping an open mind, I will continue to learn. My quest to find the truth keeps moving me forward and strengthens my purpose in life...to spread love and understanding to help all those in my world know tolerance. Without knowledge tolerance, won't exist and only through tolerance will we ever know peace.

Shifting Into Madness

Stories are circulating all over the internet among New Age circles about how this 2012 Shift has affected people. Forums and social media users are reporting everything from drastic spiritual upheaval and sudden poverty to full out 'body buzzing' and discovering soul origins. People are changing their names and their religions completely out of the blue. I can't help but wonder, are we experiencing nothing more than some sort of mass hysteria?

We have to admit that there sure was a lot of hype and build up for so long about December 21, 2012...The Shift. I wonder how many of these people who are claiming to have had these 'shifts' are actually just pretending they did (or trying to convince themselves that they did) because they don't want to look crazy like Harold Camping, that preacher we all know and love who falsely predicted The Rapture a number of times. We'll never know how many are truly experiencing this predicted phenomena....I'm sure no one would  ever willingly admit they made it up.

I tried...I really did. I watched a couple hours worth of Youtube videos while sewing this afternoon in the attempt to grasp this whole Soul Origin concept and the Starseed awakening that apparently happened last month. I'd get 5 minutes in and have to turn it off because it just seemed so utterly ridiculous to me. Then I'd say to myself, "Rhonda, you need to approach this with an open mind if you want to understand....you don't have to agree with it" and I would finish the video with a less judgmental attitude.

An open mind has always served me well, but my perception of this entire concept just made me sad. All I see are people who are not happy with themselves...their lives...trying to make their existences special and meaningful in some small way.  Every soul is special and unique, and just by existing and carrying on with your life, you are making a meaningful impact on the evolution of our society. Being from Pleiades doesn't make you special, YOU make you special! :-)