Pagan Practice-- Witch Way?: October 2007

Wednesday

Apples and Pumpkins

All-Hallowe's Eve is coming. It's a time, traditionally, when the veil between the world of the living and the dead, the body and the spirit is lifted. There are many traditional activities, but my favorites are these:

Bury apples to honor the ancestors on their journey and give lost spirits a meal.
Set an extra place at the table for any visitors on this night.
Light candles in your windows, either to guide good spirits to your door, or to keep bad spirits away-- your choice. (These are often placed in pumpkins-- an offering of peace.)

I even found a few great poems from the Book of Pagan Prayer. Some are specific to All-Hallowe's (Samhain), some to death or Fall or the year's end. In many traditions, October 31st signifies the end of the year, and the beginning. I believe the new year doesn't start until February. For me, this is the quiet contemplative time, the Crone time, the time between the years. I honor my ancestors, welcome wisdom to my home, and enjoy the season. The in between spaces are important, magickal, and transformative. But back to the prayers:

I invite the Holy Ones to my table.
Come, sit with me, eat and drink with me.
I offer you the hospitality of my home.
You are always welcome here.
----
I pray to all the gods of death,
of darkness, of sorrow.
Though I do not love you, I respect you.
Though I do not welcome you, I honor you.
Though I do not invite you into my life,
I know you are already there.
----
Eat with us, Ancestors,
on this night of the dead.
Share our meal with us
and then go on your way.
----
At the end of my life, I put my trust in the gods of my people.
Ancient Wise Woman, cover me with your cloak
as I walk the last path that leads to your land.
----
Lock up carefully, Earth's guardians,
and keep life safe until spring.
----
It is only fair to thank you, blessed ones:
You have given me so much;
I give to you from my little.
----
Enter my home, and find your own,
for the old ways are kept here
and hospitality is a law all are proud to honor.

All-Hallowe's Eve is also a great (but dangerous) time for divination, for communing with your dead loved ones, for thanking those who came before and letting go of those who travel the paths before us. Thresholds, offerings, honor and respect. Is not all life and death contained in these words? Offer what you have. If it is your concentration and thanks for a few minutes, give that. If it is a sprig of juniper or an oak branch in your hearth fire, offer that. Bread and milk are always welcome feasts, and laughter is beautiful.

Blessings Be.

Sunday

I Do It Better Myself

And while that could be a statement about segx, it's not.

I've heard this quote over and over in the past few years--
"If it is to be, it is up to me."
No idea where the quote came from, but I finally had a good long sit-down conversation with myself about what exactly that means, and how I apply it to my life. I came to a few conclusions, too.

I realized that I've been living with the Cinderella Complex (if this is a real thing, and not a name I just came up with, my apologies) for a very long time. And it is time to stop waiting for someone else to come along and make everything better. Save me from the evil whatever in my life-- everything from not completing my Masters Thesis on time to not going for health walks because no one is here to go with me to not doing the dishes.

And I realized that I am responsible for my own success. I take care of me, and I do it better than anyone else can or should. Because I know what I need and who I am better than anyone else. My success story and my happy ending are within me. I keep my own budget. I wash my own dishes. I manage my own health. I do my own work. If it is to be, it is up to me.

So then I took that one step further, and made it spiritual and personal. I formed a new picture and a new plan for living out my happy ending:

Unstop the cork and let my Spirit flow. I am an unending stream. I take my shape from the earth and the rocks in my path. I use the sun to clear my waters for action and the fires of courage to light my way and protect MY best interests. I am my own best advocate, best friend, best judge. I am my own self-- and no one else can or should direct me on the path I know to take.

The air brings new ideas and oxygen to my waters so the ideas I have planted within can grow, can bloom, can spawn. I am the tide of change, and the Moon is my Guide.

Who can rescue the water? Who can contain it, direct it or inspire it to change its course? No. I am the water, and I make my own path. Ever moving, ever changing. Ever inspiring, ever beautiful. I do it better myself.

'Tis the season to reflect on your past, your present, and who you want to be in your future. It is time to finish projects and store away lessons and resources for the winter months ahead. It is time to let go of negative self-image, negative patterns of behavior, negative emotions. It is time to decide that no one can live your life but you. It is time to join the water as it streams down our windows, puddles in our yards, rushes in torrents down the mountains and dry stream beds of the summer. It is time to quench our thirst for change. It is time to recognize that you know what you need to do-- and that only you can do it.

Saturday

Colors of the Season

Ornamental chili peppers are purple, red, orange and yellow-- all on the same branch. The leaves on the trees are doing the same thing, and the colors are beautiful. Orange and yellow and green pumpkins-- and hey, the leaves are doing that, too! Yummy squash, ornamental corn, warm soups and bonfires. It is a beautiful time of year!

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.

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