Had a funny experience yesterday. I've been working to key in on my intuitive voice lately, as you know, and yesterday I realized I'm actually making progress! See, my parents were delayed in meeting me for lunch yesterday (by a flat tire, no less!). They planned to call me when they were on their way again. The chatter in my head claimed that "oh, great, it'll probably be an hour or more!" But that was just chatter, so I didn't pay much attention.
Called a good friend on the phone to pass the time. Spoke with my friend for about 25 minutes, then told her-- "Well, I'd better get off the phone now so my parents can call." I hadn't really been thinking about the time passing. And since I have call-waiting on that phone, I was also not worried about missing their call... but suddenly it was time for them to call, and I knew it. We said goodbye, and hung up. Two minutes later, my parents called.
I had to laugh at the timing. And feel good that I'm doing better at listening to that little voice that KNOWS things. And ignoring the chatter that seems to always be there in the background. You know about the chatter. It's the voice that nags at you when you are late, that makes you feel foolish if your hair flops over your eyes, that always predicts dire consequences or tries to inflate your ego with stories about how cool you'll look if you take this stupid risk.
The intuitive voice is friendly, calm, quiet. It's easy not to hear when you are stressed, rushed, or preoccupied. It makes suggestions-- ones that may not even make sense logically... but that is the basis of intuition. It helps us prepare for eventualities in our lives-- or other peoples' lives-- that we don't even know are going to happen. Another example of this-- I am learning herbal healing. I know a little bit about a few things. It's how everyone starts to learn.
My parents are not so into herbal healing, though they aren't against it either. But for some reason, I felt it would be a good idea to bring one of my books on herbs and their uses to our lunch yesterday. And I'd no clue why. But I thought-- this is intuition speaking-- so I did. Turns out, my dad has a case of poison oak, and they wanted to know if a healing salve I'd used on mom's open sore (small surgery left a hole in her arm smaller than a dime) would help his sores dry up, too. But the worst thing you can do for poison oak (sumac, ivy, etc) is use an OIL-BASED healing agent.
Luckily, my book verified that another healing mix I had with me, called Kloss after the man who made it long ago, was perfect for the job. We tried it, and it helped dry up the sores and make his skin less red and angry. Until the poison oak went systemic. Then he needed an MD's help, and not an apprentice herbalist's.
Anyway, the points I'm making are these: I feel good that I'm finally starting to identify which voice is my intuition and which is just chatter; and that herbal healing is great for a lot of illnesses, but so is scientific medicine.
Oh, and the book? An excellent resource, recommended to me by an excellent herbalist.
Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar.
This is a personal journey, describing the books I've read, how I find them, what resonates for me, my directions, what I've realized. Good stories, good people, good energy. Great Goddess, what is it NOT?
Energy
Coming here recharges me. Where do you go to heal? As long as you know, I don't need to. Go there. Set aside time for YOUR HEALTH.
Likely Links
Corrections:
...And by the way, if you are a practicing Pagan or Wiccan, and I got something terribly wrong, or you want to share another version or another vision of something I wrote-- PLEASE let me know which it is, and give me the info in a comment on the related blog entry! I'll post it as quickly as possible. After all-- until I gain a free-flowing connection with Universal Knowledge, I have only my own to draw from.
Witch Word Was It?
- Yuletide/Winter Solstice: Dec 20-23; Holy night of rebirth and turning toward the light-- the longest night of the year is when we may first welcome the return of the light. Very much a Christmas Celebration.
- Widdershins: Counterclockwise. Also means "to go backwards." Used to disconnect, banish, reverse, etc.
- Wiccan: of or pertaining to the practice of Wicca-- the modern inerpretation of Witchcraft (which also exists as a seperate practice); The Good Witches
- Tripple Goddess: Most Wiccans/Witches view the Goddess as the Moon, and celebrate her three aspects: Full Moon (Mother), Waxing-- getting bigger--Moon (Maiden), Waning-- getting smaller and the darkness of no moon-- Moon (Crone).
- Tools: Well, with Christian religions, many people wear a cross on a necklace, or hang a likeness of Jesus on the cross on their wall. They might finger rosary beads or light a candle to add power to a prayer or blessing. Well, in Wicca, we have tools and symbols, too. Ours are just anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 years older than theirs. We have our altars to help us focus on the Great One they represent, and our sacred stones to finger while we meditate or conteplate the Goddess. We light candles to add power to our spells or blessings. We hang brooms and dried herbs on our walls to signify our connection with the Earth or to help us meditate on our own personal version of Abundant Living. We have sacred cups to drink holy water from, and we ritually cleanse and consecrate our sacred tools, too. But it is a totally different energy and purpose we invoke. It is not about some far off GOD, it is about ourselves and our Will and our Goddess.
- Spring Equinox/Eostara: March 20-23; Time of balance, when the light and dark visit in equal measure and the Earth swells with new life. Symbols (prior to the invention of easter) are Egg and Hare-- fertility and new life-- as the world is reborn.
- Skyclad: Means Naked. Some of the more "traditional" forms of Pagan worship require you to go naked. But only some.
- Sacred Circle: it is the temple in which a wiccan worships-- but it is a temple of Energy and Spirit, and we create it and dismantle it each time we go to worship or meditate. It is to help us focus our energy and our magick, and to provide a safe space in which to be and do.
- Sabbat: Wiccan/Pagan holyday, of which there are eight each year.
- Ritual: any activity you plan in advance, or do in a Sacred Circle, to aid connection with Spirit. In Pagan and Wiccan belief systems, this usually includes dancing, singing, lighting candles, and calling on the four or five elements. No sacrificing a cat at midnight. We hold life to be sacred-- as a part of the inevitable cycle of birth, growth, death, decay, and regeneration.
- Pentacle: the five-point star, point-up, inside a circle. This is the traditional witch's symbol, a symbol of power and protection, and representative of the five elements and the sacred circle (and sometimes the Moon).
- Pagan: Usually an Earth-Centered Religion, the word once refered to people living on the outskirts of villages-- people who lived on the land, so to speak.
- Night of the Witches/Beltane: May 1; as is the Mayday tradition, this is a festival of passion, complete with winding round the maypole, frolicking in fields and forest... the night of the Great Rite, and one of the most important Wiccan Holydays.
- NeoPagan: The modern interpretation and recreation of ancient Pagan religions; the label we often use to encompass Wicca, Witchcraft, Fairie, COG, Native American Spiritualities, Native Alaskan, Native etc, Shamanic, Druidic, etc
- Midsummer/Summer Solstice/Litha: June 20-23; the longest day of the year, and thus the day the year begins to wane (to grow shorter and darker). A festival of growth, high magick, and change.
- Lammastide/Lughnasadh: August 1st; First of the three harvest festivals. This marks the end of summer and the first harvest of the grain. We give thanks for the bounty of the harvest, and begin preparations for winter.
- Esbat: monthly coven meetings.
- Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. These have many representations, and I've seen three different versions of which direction is which element. Because the books I most respect to date all agree, I work with North as Earth, East as Air, South as Fire, and West as Water.
- Deosil: Clockwise-- often used to describe the direction of walking to cast a Circle, calling on the Elements (N-E-S-W-N), or stirring a concoction. It is the direction of connection and embodyment, of manifesting that which you are meditating upon.
- Coven: a group of Witches or Wiccans who practice their Spiritual Celebrations and rituals together. A group of really close friends who share their spiritual journey.
- Candlemass/Imbolic: Feb 2; Feast of Lights. This marks the return of Spring. It is a time of cleansing, purification, and preparation for the abundance to come in the new year.
- Autumnal Equinox/Mabon/Harvest Home: Sept. 20-23; Night and day are again equally balanced. Rest, feast, rejoice and give thanks for the second harvest festival of the year.
- Aspects: While most of us believe there is only one Goddess, we use her many names to describe an aspect of the Goddess that we most want to connect with or draw energy from. One aspect might be Hestia-- the Greek Goddess of Hearth and Home. One might be Kali, the forceful protectrice from India. One might be Brigid-- the tripple Goddess from Irish Celtic lore. And so on.
- All Hallow's Eve/Samain: October 31; The third harvest festival, and the last day of the Witche's year. A time to honor departed ones and play host to Spirits. In this aspect of the year, the Goddess is the Crone, and the veil between worlds is thin. It is our oldest and most sacred Sabbat, as it honors death and life, the present and the past. Restore your soul and await rebirth at Yule.
No comments:
Post a Comment