Merry Meet!
On February 2 while the rest of the US celebrates Groundhog Day, the Wiccan world celebrates this day as Imbolc. It is the first of the Spring festivals and has been called Candlemass and is associated with the Feast of the Presentation in the Catholic Church.
This is one of my favorite festivals since winter in Minnesota can be terribly long and cold. Lets travel down memory lane for a bit and I will share some of my current celebrations.
Imbolc was celebrated as the goddess Bridget's day. Bridget, among her many talents, is the Irish Goddess of health, healing, and the forge. In ancient times farmers would bless their crops with offerings of milk and honey to bless it for the coming year. A corn doll would be made and blessed and also burnt as an offering for abundance. My personal favorite is that candle for use during the upcoming cycle would be made and blessed.
In many parts of the world the first signs of spring are starting to appear, Warmer season birds return, crocuses and small bulb flowers start to bloom and plans are made for what to plant and where.
Here in northern Minnesota we don't always see the tiny green slivers of bulb flowers but we do start seeing seed catalogs and basketball season starts. We can always get a good blizzard in before the state high school basketball playoffs in March.
My personal favorite way to spend the holiday is dreaming of indoor gardens and having a chili feed with sweet corn bread. We start planning the camping season ahead and the outdoor projects that will need to start happening.
Its a great time of year to breath and look with expectation for the work that is a head and the growth that will result from it.
I hope your coming season gives you much to look forward to.
Blessed Be!
Em
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Monday, January 22, 2018
Thoughts on the Taupin case and self transformation
Hello Gentle Readers:
I am eyin a contemplative mood and it is the stuff that is a little long to post on Facebook so I am choosing to write here and do a little thinking through the keyboard.
There is a case of child abuse that is receiving a lot of public attention. The name of the couple involved is the Taupin's and since they still will have their day in court I will not go over the gory details here but I will say it has struck a chord with me. A deep, personal chord that is resonating in a discordant key.
Among the speculations there is an assumption that a religious cult is somehow involved but not confirmed and that bothers me. People can be completely wacado without religion being a part of it and abusive to their children in the extreme with out religion being a part of it as well. It does not always go hand in hand.
There is a whole mess of personal psychology, ethics, morals, sex, and control that will eventually come out once this thing sees its day in court. Justice for the children will be its own thing because they will have to go through several cycles of transformation and understanding their past in order for that to happen. That bit I speak on from personal experience and that is what I want to spend the remainder of this post discussing how we view our past after transformation.
When I was much younger my parents divorced and my dad made a series of choices that negatively affected my sisters and I. While we were not physically or sexually abused, we were physically neglected and emotionally and spiritually abused by the person that had become our step mother.
There was a period that my father would not let us call our mother in the summer months when we were staying with him and would keep us late in churches and bible studies while telling our mother we were at girl scouts. We were taken on a long road trip where we weren't really told where we were going but we had stopped in Wyoming long enough to connect with our step sisters and were able to call our mother. It wasn't until I was in my 30's that my mother gave me her journals to read and she was told we were at an extended girl scouts camp and it wasn't known when we were coming back but after we made the phone call we were back in three days and picked up the day after by my mother and step father.
I also remember that my father did not want to sign the insurance paperwork to pay for a tmj operation so he took me to every tent preacher in the tri state area and even a few trips into Oklahoma to have the faith healers of the day pray for me. I was told that God wasn't fixing my jaw because at 10 I either didn't have enough faith or had unconfessed sin. So I now publicly announce that when I was 7 I cut the hair off of Kate's barbies because I thought they needed it.....
My point in bringing this up is that I have not made traditional relationship choices because of my past and the abuse involved. I choose to be polyamorous because I don't believe we were created to be monogamous. I am wiccan and currently seeking initiation into Ifa because I don't believe in the christian paradigm I was brought up with mostly because of the crappy treatment by its followers.
At the same time, while I acknowledge the scares that I have from my childhood I can still say I feel singularity blessed.
I can say without reservation that I know both my mother and father loved me and continue to do everything in their power to show me that love. Thank you.
I also had the privileged of getting to know all of my great grandparents with the exception of Great Grandpa Pete. When I do ancestral offerings I know who liked apricots, schnapps, swisher sweets, etc and that even one Great Grandmother was a spiritualist who hosted seances in her home mostly because it was the popular thing to do. These are memories I hold dear. I know which ones were the sticklers, who were the carpenters, and who collected seeds and sold them to Gurney's. It is a great privileged to have a core understanding of who I am because of their contributions and thoughts.
My contemplative part is at what point are we minimizing our experience and at what point are we amplifying it. I wish it were easy to have specific categories for every experience of who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. As much as I hated those camp meetings, they are the foundation for how I understand the physical and spiritual world around me. As much as I had to deal with the pain of the emotional and spiritual abuse I appreciate the code of ethics and morals that it instilled in me as to what lines I absolutely will not cross. However, I still have to go through periods of reevaluating what I do with the residual pain and how it effects my choices.
That is the part that I get concerned about for the Taupin children even though there is nothing I can do to prevent the process they will have to all go through. May they have the grace and courage to become the people they are ment to be.
Blessed be.
I am eyin a contemplative mood and it is the stuff that is a little long to post on Facebook so I am choosing to write here and do a little thinking through the keyboard.
There is a case of child abuse that is receiving a lot of public attention. The name of the couple involved is the Taupin's and since they still will have their day in court I will not go over the gory details here but I will say it has struck a chord with me. A deep, personal chord that is resonating in a discordant key.
Among the speculations there is an assumption that a religious cult is somehow involved but not confirmed and that bothers me. People can be completely wacado without religion being a part of it and abusive to their children in the extreme with out religion being a part of it as well. It does not always go hand in hand.
There is a whole mess of personal psychology, ethics, morals, sex, and control that will eventually come out once this thing sees its day in court. Justice for the children will be its own thing because they will have to go through several cycles of transformation and understanding their past in order for that to happen. That bit I speak on from personal experience and that is what I want to spend the remainder of this post discussing how we view our past after transformation.
When I was much younger my parents divorced and my dad made a series of choices that negatively affected my sisters and I. While we were not physically or sexually abused, we were physically neglected and emotionally and spiritually abused by the person that had become our step mother.
There was a period that my father would not let us call our mother in the summer months when we were staying with him and would keep us late in churches and bible studies while telling our mother we were at girl scouts. We were taken on a long road trip where we weren't really told where we were going but we had stopped in Wyoming long enough to connect with our step sisters and were able to call our mother. It wasn't until I was in my 30's that my mother gave me her journals to read and she was told we were at an extended girl scouts camp and it wasn't known when we were coming back but after we made the phone call we were back in three days and picked up the day after by my mother and step father.
I also remember that my father did not want to sign the insurance paperwork to pay for a tmj operation so he took me to every tent preacher in the tri state area and even a few trips into Oklahoma to have the faith healers of the day pray for me. I was told that God wasn't fixing my jaw because at 10 I either didn't have enough faith or had unconfessed sin. So I now publicly announce that when I was 7 I cut the hair off of Kate's barbies because I thought they needed it.....
My point in bringing this up is that I have not made traditional relationship choices because of my past and the abuse involved. I choose to be polyamorous because I don't believe we were created to be monogamous. I am wiccan and currently seeking initiation into Ifa because I don't believe in the christian paradigm I was brought up with mostly because of the crappy treatment by its followers.
At the same time, while I acknowledge the scares that I have from my childhood I can still say I feel singularity blessed.
I can say without reservation that I know both my mother and father loved me and continue to do everything in their power to show me that love. Thank you.
I also had the privileged of getting to know all of my great grandparents with the exception of Great Grandpa Pete. When I do ancestral offerings I know who liked apricots, schnapps, swisher sweets, etc and that even one Great Grandmother was a spiritualist who hosted seances in her home mostly because it was the popular thing to do. These are memories I hold dear. I know which ones were the sticklers, who were the carpenters, and who collected seeds and sold them to Gurney's. It is a great privileged to have a core understanding of who I am because of their contributions and thoughts.
My contemplative part is at what point are we minimizing our experience and at what point are we amplifying it. I wish it were easy to have specific categories for every experience of who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. As much as I hated those camp meetings, they are the foundation for how I understand the physical and spiritual world around me. As much as I had to deal with the pain of the emotional and spiritual abuse I appreciate the code of ethics and morals that it instilled in me as to what lines I absolutely will not cross. However, I still have to go through periods of reevaluating what I do with the residual pain and how it effects my choices.
That is the part that I get concerned about for the Taupin children even though there is nothing I can do to prevent the process they will have to all go through. May they have the grace and courage to become the people they are ment to be.
Blessed be.
Monday, January 8, 2018
Gently Switching Gears
Hello Gentle Reader:
2017 was full of a lot of different changes for me. I can look back and say honestly that the majority of them were positive.
I am announcing that I am walking away from Wicca or at best, letting it sit on the back burner for a while. I still honor and respect all of you who follow this path and have taught me on this path.
In dealing with my own healing journey I have been reintroduced to the Master Healer, Jesus. I am not claiming to be a Jesus Freak or fundamentalist. I would like to think I am a little more open minded and accepting of others than that. However, I have received the most emotional healing through going back to my christian roots. Taking part in Heart Centered Meditation and the practice of Lecto Devina or daily meditating on a particular part of the bible.
I wish all of you well on your journey. If you need teachers I will be happy to direct you and set you up with the teachers I am aware of or get you pointed in the right direction.
If you would like to know more about my journey into Christian Mysticism, I will be happy to share that as well but probably not as publicly.
May you all be blessed in your journey.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Maslow and Wicca Part 2
Happy New Year and Merry Meet!
So our last post we started talking about Abraham Maslow. He was a psychologist who spent his career talking about how humans can become Self Actualized. Being Self Actualized is much like the Great Work in magic that our destiny is becoming the best of who we can be in order to be reunited with the divine.
Maslow argued that we needed a firm physical and emotional foundation before we can work on higher aims, for lack of a better phrase. I agree with him.
The simplified version is that we need a solid physical foundation of access to regular food, shelter, clothing and physical safety. The next layer is a supportive family and community that we receive love from.Once those layers are established we then have energy to start devoting to hobbies, etc that can lead to enlightenment.
In magic, recovery, and any endeavor that we are attempting to heal our lives and become we need that solid foundation. Hence, there are a lot of do it yourself spell books on attracting money and love. There is nothing wrong with that per se but my challenge to you in 2018 and the challenge to myself is looking at what your ultimate goal is. What does being self actualized look like for you? Would it be possible to start using your talents and energy to allow the universe to help you achieve that goal?
Thank you for reading. Next week we start talking about the basics of this thing called energy work and flow. I hope your year ahead is filled with great blessing.
Blessed Be!
So our last post we started talking about Abraham Maslow. He was a psychologist who spent his career talking about how humans can become Self Actualized. Being Self Actualized is much like the Great Work in magic that our destiny is becoming the best of who we can be in order to be reunited with the divine.
Maslow argued that we needed a firm physical and emotional foundation before we can work on higher aims, for lack of a better phrase. I agree with him.
The simplified version is that we need a solid physical foundation of access to regular food, shelter, clothing and physical safety. The next layer is a supportive family and community that we receive love from.Once those layers are established we then have energy to start devoting to hobbies, etc that can lead to enlightenment.
In magic, recovery, and any endeavor that we are attempting to heal our lives and become we need that solid foundation. Hence, there are a lot of do it yourself spell books on attracting money and love. There is nothing wrong with that per se but my challenge to you in 2018 and the challenge to myself is looking at what your ultimate goal is. What does being self actualized look like for you? Would it be possible to start using your talents and energy to allow the universe to help you achieve that goal?
Thank you for reading. Next week we start talking about the basics of this thing called energy work and flow. I hope your year ahead is filled with great blessing.
Blessed Be!
Saturday, December 30, 2017
Tarot Reading for January 1 through Jan 7
Merry Meet Gentle Reader and Happy New Year!
I am still having some formatting issues so nothing fancy today but I did want to start with the reading for the first week in 2018.
Our cards are: The Hanged Man The 4 of Pentacles The 7 of Wands
Interesting amount of energy since the first full moon of the year will also be on the 2nd. Are you ready for the new lessons in this year?
Monday and Tuesday start out with us reflecting on our values. Sometimes we have a sense of sacrificing ourselfs to get where we are going but The Hanged Man is also about reviewing our world through a different set of lenses. Something that causes us to pause and challenge our world view. This brings us to our mid week card of The 4 of Pentacles.
4 of Pentacles is very much about structure and the material things we surround ourselves with. Maybe it is the physical structure of fat needed to be let go of, or our books and electronics? What are we holding onto too tightly that prevents us from learning new lessons in our lives? These are things we are being asked to reflect on midweek.
The weekend is the 7 of Wands. This card shows a person riding triumphantly on a horse with the wands standing at attention. So there is a certain amount of victory heading our way. Things working out to our advantage. Maybe even feeling a little smug but being smug every once in a while is a good thing. Gratitude for the things that have gone well and have allowed us to grow.
It looks like if we take the time to reflect on the events of our life and how we respond, we will be able to make positive changes and grow from even the more unpleasant aspects of our life.
Move with gratitude into 2018 and enjoy!
I am still having some formatting issues so nothing fancy today but I did want to start with the reading for the first week in 2018.
Our cards are: The Hanged Man The 4 of Pentacles The 7 of Wands
Interesting amount of energy since the first full moon of the year will also be on the 2nd. Are you ready for the new lessons in this year?
Monday and Tuesday start out with us reflecting on our values. Sometimes we have a sense of sacrificing ourselfs to get where we are going but The Hanged Man is also about reviewing our world through a different set of lenses. Something that causes us to pause and challenge our world view. This brings us to our mid week card of The 4 of Pentacles.
4 of Pentacles is very much about structure and the material things we surround ourselves with. Maybe it is the physical structure of fat needed to be let go of, or our books and electronics? What are we holding onto too tightly that prevents us from learning new lessons in our lives? These are things we are being asked to reflect on midweek.
The weekend is the 7 of Wands. This card shows a person riding triumphantly on a horse with the wands standing at attention. So there is a certain amount of victory heading our way. Things working out to our advantage. Maybe even feeling a little smug but being smug every once in a while is a good thing. Gratitude for the things that have gone well and have allowed us to grow.
It looks like if we take the time to reflect on the events of our life and how we respond, we will be able to make positive changes and grow from even the more unpleasant aspects of our life.
Move with gratitude into 2018 and enjoy!
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Ode to Abraham Maslow Part I
Merry Meet Gentle Reader!
Once upon a time I was an intern and then counselor at The Salvation Army Beacon Program in Minneaplis. Every second Tuesday of the month for many years I would give a lecture on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a part of our recovery classes. Little was I to know that the hierarchy of needs would become as much a part of my daily spirituality and view of the universe as the Serenity Prayer.
The will be divided into two parts. The first will be a brief introduction to Maslow and the concept of self actualization. The second part will be published next week and go over the hierarchy of needs in depth and how it relates to a spiritual practice like wicca.
Abraham Maslow was born in Brooklyn, NY on April 1, 1908 and was the eldest of seven children. He started his higher education in New York City but later transferred to the University of Wisconsin and completed his psychology degrees there. Graduating with his B.A. in 1930, M.A. in 1931, and Ph.D. in 1934. He moved back to New York and wrote his great work The Organism in 1934.
Maslow is considered the father of motivational psychology and promoted humanistic psychology. He was the first to promote this idea of self actualization.
Self Actualization is the achievement of one’s full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and grasp of the real world.
So how does this fit into Wicca if Wicca is a nature religion? I’m glad you asked that.
Wicca is an offshoot of ceremonial magick. Ceremonial magick has this idea called the Great Work. I like Aliester Crowley’s definition in Magick Without Tears that it is the,”spiritual practices leading to the mystical union of the self and the All (God)”
The hierarchy of needs is really an outline of what becomes necessary for that Great Work to happen. Next week we will go into detail about the hierarchy itself.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
12172017 Weekly Tarot Reading
Weekly Tarot Reading for December 17, 2017
Happy Sunday Gentle Reader!
We are back on track with a new moon today and a return of the weekly tarot reading. I am using the Golden Tarot by Kat Black this week. At a glance it looks like a fairly active week.
In the first position we have the Queen of Wands. Cool under pressure. She thrives in the chaos of abundant action. She is being tempered by The Hanged Man in the 2nd position. The Hanged Man reminds us that we don’t always get what we want. We do need to remember that We don’t always have the answers and need to yield to the wisdom of others. Towards the end of the week we have the Knight of Coins or Pentacles coming into play. Again the Knight is a go getter. In this case he is actively pursuing career and household finances goals being anything from creating a budget and sticking to it or perhaps taking on creative projects to bring more joy to your life.
I hope the start of the week finds you all well and continues to be joyous as we continue on with the winter celebrations this week!
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