Drawing Down The Moon PBP Week 8-D

 Drawing Down The Moon

   

        This is done by invoking the Goddess directly into ones self, if solitary, if in a coven the High Priestess may go into a trance like state and speak the words of the Goddess and in others, it may be a formal monologue calling  upon the Goddess in her many forms.
        It is said that you should do this on the night of the full moon or on the nights immediately before (although I myself have done it on many occasions when the full moon has already come and gone.) Of course for this ritual it is best done out doors unless you have neighbors you don't want in your business or the weather isn't cooperating then it may be done indoors near a window or door and if that isn't possible use strong visualisation.
       Drawing Down The Moon is filling yourself with Divine Light or the Essence of the Goddess. In Gardnerian Wicca this is only done by the High Priestess but with so many of us now being Solitary any man or woman may Draw Down The Moon.
        There are many benefits of Drawing Down The Moon as an ongoing practice.... Since this is considered Divine Light and is the source of Life this practice may help with many issues.....

• Empowerment
• Healing from illness or injury and improving well-being
• Letting go of fear and accepting courage
• releasing pessimism or doubt and increasing faith
• Relieving depression and increasing Joy
• Overcoming spiritual apathy or resistance
• Transforming any negative state to a positive on--mental, physical, emotional, or spiritual
• Boosting your energy
• Increasing self-esteem

      This can be done with any of Her light but it is best done with the Full Moon unless you are seeking Energy from a specific Moon phase. Make sure you are clear with your intention to draw in the Eternal Divine Light only. Example: the Waning Moon is a time of letting go, cleansing, and releasing. If this is what you are wanting to do then make sure you invoke only this energy.
       Remember with clear intention you can invoke pure Divine Essence at any phase of the Moon as long as you set that as your main intention!   

PBP Week 7 letter D- Dreams

                                                              Dreams

   

    To many a dream is just a dream but to others it is their subconscious giving them answers or direction.

      Not all dreams are remembered but the ones that are give us clues to the questions we have been asking, or a glimpse into the future we might have. We all have the power to change that future of course! Unless that is the future we see for ourselves.

      We can meet our spirit guides/animals and our patrons/deities in our dreams as well.

       There are many types of dreams..... You have.....

• Daydreams
• False Awakening Dreams 
• Lucid Dreams
• Nightmares
• Recurring Dreams
• Healing Dreams
• Prophetic Dreams
• Signal Dreams
• Epic Dreams
• Progressive Dreams and
• Mutual Dreams

All of these are interesting in their own way and i bet most of us has had a few dreams that fall into one of these categories but didn't know exactly what it meant.

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreaminformation/dreamtypes/

      There are also  a lot of dream Interpretation books and web sights out and about but I found the best thing for me to do is take what stood out the most in my dream and figure out what it meant to me.... For example lets say I dreamed of an Oak tree. Well to me it means strong so I may come to realize that I am becoming stronger in different aspects of my life. But the Oak may mean something different to you that's why it is important to keep a dream journal so when you awake you can write down what stood out the most and jot down what each symbol means to you, then come up with an answer to your dream.

  

Week 6 letter C- Chanting

Chanting is a means of raising energy, creating sacred space and performing magic

Chanting (e.g., mantra, sacred text, the name of God/Spirit, etc.) is a commonly used spiritual practice. Like prayer, chant may be a component of either personal or group practice. Diverse spiritual traditions consider chant a route to spiritual development.

Some examples include chant in African, Hawaiiian, and Native American cultures, Gregorian chant, Vedic chant, Jewish hazzan, Qur'an reading, Baha'i chants, various Buddhist chants, variousmantras, and the chanting of psalms and prayers especially in Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches (see Anglican Chant).

Chant practices vary. Tibetan Buddhist chant involves throat singing, where multiple pitches are produced by each performer. The concept of chanting mantras is of particular significance in manyHindu traditions and other closely related Dharmic Religions. For example, the Hare Krishna movement is based especially on the chanting of Sanskrit Names of God in the Vaishnava tradition. Japanese Shigin (詩吟), or 'chanted poetry', mirrors Zen Buddhist principles and is sung from the Dan tien (or lower abdomen) — the locus of power in Eastern traditions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chant

Chanting is done in both covens and by solitary Witches alike,  we use it to raise power, in meditation and calming. Many other religions use chanting as well you have the Monks whom chant and also the Native Americans used it as well.
  I personally use it when I need to calm down I have two favorite Calming chants that I will share with the rest of you....  There are many different ways to do it I'm sure although I have not studied them all I would love to study a few of them. 




Calming:
Take three slow breaths and then chant the following three times


I am calm at last
My mind is at peace.

From this moment on I trust

That all my worries cease.

So Mote it Be!

Calming Chant:

Chant this simple rhyme whenever you feel worried or scared:

I am peaceful,

I am strong

Though dark my seem so long

For day must follow every night,

Everything is alright.

I am always safe from harm,

The goddess holds me in her arms.

I really enjoy these two chants they really seem to help when all else seems to fail.

Centering PBP week 5

Centering

 The process of moving one's consciousness to one's spiritual or psychic center, leading to a feeling of great peace, calmness, strength, clarity and stability.

  When we read this definition we all strive to fell this way at some point in the day. Weather you are a stay at home parent (like myself) or a layer or even working with people on a daily bases, things tend to get to us and we become off center.

  Even while writing this I had to stop and center myself due to everything going on around me. It doesn't matter where you are you can always center yourself and I find myself using it throughout the day.

  There is a helpful exercise you can do called bhramari breathing or if you have the the time take a walk outdoors and focus your attention on any large and massive object. Inhale and take the objects mass into yourself through your eyes and breath. (However, if it's a building, be sure to take in only it's mass and not the various human energies permeating it.) You soon will feel calm and stable.

  I know the one thing I like to do is go outside and close my eyes and take everything around me in (the sun, trees, or even moon at night) I then feel myself becoming Centered and can go about my day or night with no problem.

http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-prepare-for-spells-and-spellweaving

      

Beginning My Journey PBP week 4

I have always felt a cretin connection with the earth and animals but never really knew what it was until one day while surfing the Internet I came came across a few Wiccan/Pagan sights. Reading the lines underneath I decided to click on the link and my world really opened up I needed and wanted to know more so I continued to read, I then had my mom take me to the library to see if I could find anything else.
    I picked up a few books by Scott Cunningham and really started understanding more and more but in a way didn't know if this was the right path for me.
     The day I truly knew I was on the right path was when we took a summer vacation to Salem Mass. and went in to learn about the Salem Witch Trials, as I sat there listening I felt I had actual lived it and wanted to learn even more so when we came back from vacation that's when I truly started Beginning My Journey and haven't looked back since. As of today I am still learning about myself and my path, the one thing I have learned in recent weeks is that I may be somewhat of a Human Empath so I know this is just another road to Begin  down and for that I am thankful and know there will be many more Beginning's for me!

Beltane- week 3 letter B PBP

Celebrating the Fertility of Spring


   Held on May 1st Beltane is also known as May Day, on this day
many hold a ritual to celebrate the coming of spring and fertility. Most festivities begin the night before on the last night of April, this is a time to welcome the abundance of the fertile earth, and a day that has a long (and sometimes scandalous) history.
   There are many ways to celebrate this sabbat  and I will link them here at the end but first lets learn a little more...
    Beltane nearly always focuses  on fertility, It is the time when the earth mother opens up to the fertility god, and their union brings about healthy live stock, strong crops, and new life all around.
    There are a lot of Different Influences behind Beltane....
     You have....

• The Roman Influence
• The Fires of Tara
• A Pagan Martyr
• The Greek and Pynteria
• The Green Man Emerges
• Jack-in-the-Green

     Also you have the Symbols and Modern Rites

     Today we celebrate Beltane much like our ancestors did. The ritual usually involves lots of fertility symbols, including the obviously-phallic Maypole dance. In some Wiccan traditions it is a day which the May Queen and the Queen of Winter battle one another for. There are some who believe Beltane is a time for the faeries and for many contemporary Pagans, Beltane is a time for planting and sowing of seeds.

     Certain trees are also associated with May Day such as the Ash, Oak and Hawthorn.

      If you have been wanting to bring abundance and fertility of any sort into your life Beltane is the perfect time for magical workings related to any type of prosperity.

    Here are some Rituals and Ceremonies you may want to think about trying and remember any of them may be adapted to your needs.

• Maypole Dance
• Beltane Bonfire Ritual
• Family Abundance Rite
• Goddess Ritual- to honor the Sacred Feminine
• Planting Ritual
• Hand fasting and Weddings 
• Beltane Prayers

Some Crafts and Creations that can be done are:

• Floral Crown
• Maypole Alter Centerpiece
• Faerie Chair
• May Day Cone Basket
• Magical  W
• Weaving and Braiding
• Beltane Fire Incense

Now for the food! You can have:

• Scottish Bannocks
• Early Summer Salad
• Southern Style Peppery Green Beans
• Fertility Bread 
• Green Man Cake

And last but certainly not least here are your Fertility Deities of Beltane and their orgians

• Artemis (Greek)
• Bes (Egyptian)
• Bacchus (Roman)
• Flora (Roman)
• Hera ( Greek)
• Kokopelli (Hopi)
• Pan (Greek)
• Priapus (Greek)
• Shiela-na-Gig (Celtic)
• Xochiquetzal (Aztec)

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/beltanemayday/a/AllAboutBeltane.htm

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/beltanemayday/p/Beltane_History.htm

http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/beltanemayday/a/BeltaneDeities.htm

Amethyst

Knowing we have to stay with letter "A" again this week I decided to write about Amethyst.

Although I have not personally worked with Amethyst Crystals I decided to write about them because it is one I would like to know more about myself. As I was doing my research I found that it is and can be used for many things.

1) Spirituality and Contentment

2) Connected with deities Bacchus, Dionysus (Gods of wine and libation) Diana

3) Meditation, peace and healing

4) Psychic stone

5) Attract Love and happiness

6) Affiliated with the element of water

7) Associated with the planets Neptune and Jupiter.

Knowing all it can do now I believe I would work with it more for meditation and opening the third eye and Spirituality work it also has also been known to help people become sober and I believe that is a good thing especially for anyone who wishes to stop drinking.

As I read up on it I learned it has a lot of ability's that most do not know about.

I got most of my information from this sight here: http://www.alleghenycandles.com/

but I'm positive you can find more great information out there and that is one thing I will be looking to do.

I myself love working with crystals and will defiantly be adding this one into my work. Not only for meditation but past life regression, astral projection, and dream work!

Before I end I also want to add that it is a crystal known to have mysterious energy!

Animal familiars

When I first started reading books on Wicca/Paganism I always saw a section on Animal familiars but never thought too much about it until we got our new kitten after my beloved cat past away. I knew some had them and others did not and wondered what it would be like to have one but also thought that if I was meant to have one it would find me.

The thing about it is in an odd way I believe my first cat and now my kitten are my familiars. I think this because when I set back and think about it when ever I'm meditating or doing some type of ritual work they are/were there in the circle with me.

Now I know a lot of people don't have one and they seem to ask why but I think its because they are to find you not you find them. All animals are scared in the craft one way or another and they all have their place its just we have to let them show us what place they belong.

Do all of us need these animals no we don't but that doesn't mean anything it's just that maybe some are more drawn to certain people then others but then again we may never know since when all of this was brought up it was first believed that the devil was supposed to be the one handing familiars out to Witches and then we go into the Salem Witch Trials but there isn't much work there. Do I believe the hype that was and still is thrown at us no because we have taken the time to understand all of it and a lot of other ones haven't.

New to This

So I was looking around my e-mails and saw an interesting one for a Pagan blog post and somehow new this was and is something I need to do. I am Still learning day to day but in this path that's what happens you always lean something new.

I have been following the path since "00" and like I said I am still learning. There are a few stores here where I live and that is great I don't get to go to them often though. Cretin friends and family know my path and are fine with it I hope I get better at this as time goes on so please bear with me :)