So this has absolutely nothing to do with the current trend of my blog, but I just needed somewhere to rant about this, and this is convenient place to do so.
I've had two people on my Facebook friends list posting about food-related things in the past week. The first was a video from a vegetarian. She shared a video of a small child refusing to eat the octopus his mom had made for dinner because he doesn't think that we should eat things because it means they have to die. That's cool, but his mom just says "ok, we won't eat meat anymore" instead of explaining to her son about food chains and the circle of life and all that jazz. It was a cute video, and I think it was intended to get people to lean towards the feelings of mom, but it had the opposite effect on me.
Then just tonight I saw a status update that made me want to comment, but I held my tongue in favour of coming on here.
Apparently a local pub was spit-roasting a pig outside this afternoon, and someone was grossed out by that (I'm sure it was more than just one person).
Our society has become so disassociated with the food we eat it's disgusting. Especially when it comes to meat.
Maybe the fact that the animal still looked like an animal and wasn't cut up in to small convenient pieces is what did it, but how do people not know that the pork chop they've got in their fridge was just a small part of that roasting pig? Is it because it's still got its face attached? Probably.
I'm sorry people, but if you're eating a steak, or a lamb burger, or a pork chop, that meat was once a walking, breathing animal with a "cute" face. It's a fact of life. In order for us to live, something has to die, whether it be a plant or an animal, or a freaking berry. Maybe it's because I'm pagan, but I have a deep-seeded respect for the food I eat because I'm acutely aware of this. In order for my life to be sustained, something had to die for me whether it was slaughtered or forcibly removed from the ground or a plant. I am very grateful every single day for the food I eat because of this.
Also, how is roasting a turkey or whole chicken any different than seeing a pig roast? There's no face on a chicken or turkey when you pop it in the oven. Why does the presence of a face automatically make something untouchable? What about fish?
I have no answer to this, but I wholeheartedly believe that if that pig had its legs and head removed before being put on that spit, that people would have been just fine seeing it.
Sunday 7 December 2014
Sunday 23 November 2014
I Open at the Close
A little note on my spiritual progression (so far) after IDGAF...
I'm not sure if you've gotten this impression from me in the things I've posted thus far or not, but on the whole I'm a really sceptical person with just about everything until I can verify it. Spiritual matters are no exception. For example, I always thought Reki was a load of hooey until I saw someone instantly cured of a day-long nose bleed (literally, it had been happening off and on all day). I'm talking, had a nose bleed and got two Reki masters to Reki their face. By the time they were done the nose bleed was gone. To my knowledge this person hasn't actually had one since. That's the kind of confirmation I need. That, or witnessing two people having the same experiences or impressions of something that neither one of them have had or seen before. As an example, say two people are doing a healing and never worked together before. They both see the exact same thing that's plaguing the "sick" person and all three people have the same experiences when getting whatever it is to "release".
Even better that any of that would be actually experiencing or seeing something for myself. That is the tricky part, however. I'm nervous of things, especially when it involves something I've not dealt with before, or something that's "bigger than me". For me, that's pretty much everything, lol! So what I'm trying to get out of these meditations is more self-awareness. I want to know myself - what I'm good at doing, what I should work on, who my guides are and how I can work with them, and what my focus should be. I've been getting some cryptic messages in all of this, but I think it's kind of fun to decipher them. I also need to be less nervous of everything, and I'm hoping that by the time I've gotten some questions answered I won't always turn hide and run if I hear or see something out of the ordinary.
I know I've mentioned I've started to make myself a staff in my previous post, but I just have to gush about it for a minute. I love it so far and all I've done is sand it down! I'm pretty pumped to work on it and finish it, and I love that I'm so excited about it. It's like I've found something to get me through the dreary winter. I would love to have it finished tomorrow but I need to get a few things for it and money is tight at the moment. I'm not expecting it will be completely finished before the spring but I could be wrong.
I've also started reading To Walk a Pagan Path by Alaric Albertsson. I'm only a few chapters in, and I already think it needs to be added to the IDGAF reading list. It would be really helpful for someone whose trying to create a more spiritual daily experience. He's created a seven-step system, and gives tips and such that make a lot of sense. So, two thumbs up for that book!
I open at the close. A cryptic message intended for Harry Potter to decipher, but it's not unlike some of the messages I've been receiving lately. Just a silly little something to title my post.
Friday 14 November 2014
The Dying of the Light
It's officially that time of year again - when everything slows down, the chill in the air turns into an icy nip, and the fleeting daylight becomes a beacon with witch to guide our way through the blanketed darkness enshrouding our lives. Autumn is slowly winding its way towards the cold, stark beauty of winter, and as much as I hate to admit it, I kind of enjoy it.
This year at Samhain, my coven ran a pretty heavy ritual. There were about 10 of us in attendance - the 4 of us, plus 6 of our closest witchy friends. It was an awesome ritual put together by my wife, and executed by the 4 of us. I played a ghostly spectre, the guardian of the crossroads between the living and the dead. To get by me you had to prove your willingness to let go and except your fate - death. We were burying the parts of ourselves that we no longer needed - physically burying them by imbuing our personalized poppets with those things that no longer served. At Samhain, it's time to let go and start anew, which is what we did. Once we sang ourselves our last rights and burial dirge, our bodies were ready for entombment. The grave we marked with a headstone. Once we let ourselves go, we came back to a lively wake - snacks and finger foods to share amongst friends. All in all, it was a really great ritual. Although I didn't get as much out of it as I was hoping, focusing a lot of my efforts on the part I had to play, I still walked away lighter.
I tend to get a lot of ideas around this time of year, since it's a more introspective time, and I've decided to make myself a staff. On Tuesday I found the perfect fallen tree branch near the spot we use in the marsh and brought it home with me. So far I've stripped the bark off, and I just need to sand it down a bit. I'm excited about this little project - something that hasn't happened to me in a while.
I also recently cleaned up my altar a bit; it was in desperate need of a bit of a re-vamp. Here's some before and after pictures:
My coven has also recently taken to doing a weekly guided medication, which I'm loving. It's something I'd been wanting to do for a while, so I'm glad we've kind-of sort-of maybe made it a bit of a thing during our weekly meetings. I'm admittedly way rustier than I'd like to be.
So here we are, on the winding, darkening path towards winter, and Yule. I love the stillness of the winter. The fresh feeling after a snowfall, when everything is silent and crisp, the smell, and when the contrast from the colour of barren trees and the near-blinding white of the snow is high. It's cold and it's jarring, and I both love and hate it at the same time. I hate bing cold. I hate being overburdened with outer winter wear, being icy cold one minute, and too hot the next. But I also love it (the season). It brings people closer together, and makes us appreciate the daylight more, the summer more. Sometimes there's nothing more you want to do on a cold, blustery, wintery night, than to curl up with a fluffy blanket, a good book, and a warm beverage of your choice. And maybe a cat and a loved one too. Can't forget the most important parts!
I also wanted to take a moment to talk about Remembrance Day, especially in the wake of recent Canadian events. On November 11th our Country takes some time out to mark the ending of the war, and to reflect on those who died during wartime so that we can have the freedoms we do today. It's always been an important holiday to me, because my grandfather and my great uncle both fought in World War 2 (with the Navy). They were the lucky ones. They made it home. So many people didn't, or if they did, parts of them were missing either physically or mentally. This is what Remembrance Day means to me. Taking a moment to be thankful for the world we live in, because even with its shortcomings, it wouldn't be the way it is today without the sacrifices of so many. Taking a moment to remember that for every person that came home from the war, countless others didn't. It truly is the ultimate sacrifice. It's kind of fitting that it happens so close to Samhain, isn't it?
This year at Samhain, my coven ran a pretty heavy ritual. There were about 10 of us in attendance - the 4 of us, plus 6 of our closest witchy friends. It was an awesome ritual put together by my wife, and executed by the 4 of us. I played a ghostly spectre, the guardian of the crossroads between the living and the dead. To get by me you had to prove your willingness to let go and except your fate - death. We were burying the parts of ourselves that we no longer needed - physically burying them by imbuing our personalized poppets with those things that no longer served. At Samhain, it's time to let go and start anew, which is what we did. Once we sang ourselves our last rights and burial dirge, our bodies were ready for entombment. The grave we marked with a headstone. Once we let ourselves go, we came back to a lively wake - snacks and finger foods to share amongst friends. All in all, it was a really great ritual. Although I didn't get as much out of it as I was hoping, focusing a lot of my efforts on the part I had to play, I still walked away lighter.
I tend to get a lot of ideas around this time of year, since it's a more introspective time, and I've decided to make myself a staff. On Tuesday I found the perfect fallen tree branch near the spot we use in the marsh and brought it home with me. So far I've stripped the bark off, and I just need to sand it down a bit. I'm excited about this little project - something that hasn't happened to me in a while.
I also recently cleaned up my altar a bit; it was in desperate need of a bit of a re-vamp. Here's some before and after pictures:
So as you can see it had gotten a little stagnant, in the middle in particular, and because of that it lost a bit of its focus.
Now it's all reworked to be a little more suited to my needs. I left the tiers the same, by and large, but what I've done given them a bit more of a purpose. The top is a place where I'll put whatever it is I want to charge up or cleanse during a moon phase or something. The middle layer is more worldly things that are sort of physical representations of the elements. I also have my athame on this level to signify this is the level at which we operate on. The third and bottom layer has the most going on, because it's at eye level when I'm sitting in front of it. This is where I'll put any offerings (the empty wooden bowl), or any tarot cards I pull for focus or anything like that. It's also where I put my sugar skulls and the like, so that I've still got an upper, middle, lower worlds thing going on a bit.
My coven has also recently taken to doing a weekly guided medication, which I'm loving. It's something I'd been wanting to do for a while, so I'm glad we've kind-of sort-of maybe made it a bit of a thing during our weekly meetings. I'm admittedly way rustier than I'd like to be.
So here we are, on the winding, darkening path towards winter, and Yule. I love the stillness of the winter. The fresh feeling after a snowfall, when everything is silent and crisp, the smell, and when the contrast from the colour of barren trees and the near-blinding white of the snow is high. It's cold and it's jarring, and I both love and hate it at the same time. I hate bing cold. I hate being overburdened with outer winter wear, being icy cold one minute, and too hot the next. But I also love it (the season). It brings people closer together, and makes us appreciate the daylight more, the summer more. Sometimes there's nothing more you want to do on a cold, blustery, wintery night, than to curl up with a fluffy blanket, a good book, and a warm beverage of your choice. And maybe a cat and a loved one too. Can't forget the most important parts!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I also wanted to take a moment to talk about Remembrance Day, especially in the wake of recent Canadian events. On November 11th our Country takes some time out to mark the ending of the war, and to reflect on those who died during wartime so that we can have the freedoms we do today. It's always been an important holiday to me, because my grandfather and my great uncle both fought in World War 2 (with the Navy). They were the lucky ones. They made it home. So many people didn't, or if they did, parts of them were missing either physically or mentally. This is what Remembrance Day means to me. Taking a moment to be thankful for the world we live in, because even with its shortcomings, it wouldn't be the way it is today without the sacrifices of so many. Taking a moment to remember that for every person that came home from the war, countless others didn't. It truly is the ultimate sacrifice. It's kind of fitting that it happens so close to Samhain, isn't it?
Tuesday 21 October 2014
IDGAFian Reflections
Hi guys! I hope your weekend went well, whatever you did with it. Mine was pretty relaxed, all in all, and the weather was nice too - so much so that it really doesn't feel like the middle/end of October. I think I'm finally ready for that nip in the air and frosty nights that signal Samhain is drawing near. (Just as an aside, I wrote that part last night, and when I woke up this morning it was really cold - only 4 degrees Celsius. It only got up to 8 degrees today, and I just couldn't get warm at work no matter what I did...I'm sorry to all the locals that might be reading this, I may have jinxed us)
Now that I'm done going through the IDGAF initiatory process, I just wanted to blog about it a little.
Looking back on where I was before I started this whole process, I have to say, I've come a long way - but, I can also fairly say that I've still got a ways to go. I know what I need to work on now, which is a step in the right direction, and I have all the tools available to me. I kind of feel like I'm the Magician in the Tarot Cards at the moment - everything is laid out in front of me, now I just need to sort out how to use them and get to work.
IDGAF gave me the push I needed to get back in to the swing of things, and I'm really happy it got me reading again. All of the books I read, with the exception of the last one, I'd been wanting to read for some time and this was the perfect motivating force to get me to read. My list was pretty eclectic but that suits me perfectly. Of all the books I read, I think that The Way of Four (Lipp) gave me the most ideas to try and incorporate into my practice, but I think that my first book, The Wisdom of No Escape: And The Path of Loving Kindness (Chodron) left the most impression on me. I'm not saying that the other books weren't enjoyable or that I didn't get anything out of reading them, but those were the two that stuck with me a little more than the rest.
I'm also really glad I have a sacred space again, since before IDGAF I hadn't had an altar set up since I moved of my parent's house. It's nice to have a space to go to again, even if that sometimes means just standing in front of it and thinking about how I could tweak it here and there. I'll freely admit that I've let it build up a small layer of dust, but it's nothing an old make-up brush can't fix. I've also enjoyed being more connected to the outside space around us, and maintaining the bird feeders we put up.
I feel recharged again.
Now that I'm done going through the IDGAF initiatory process, I just wanted to blog about it a little.
Looking back on where I was before I started this whole process, I have to say, I've come a long way - but, I can also fairly say that I've still got a ways to go. I know what I need to work on now, which is a step in the right direction, and I have all the tools available to me. I kind of feel like I'm the Magician in the Tarot Cards at the moment - everything is laid out in front of me, now I just need to sort out how to use them and get to work.
IDGAF gave me the push I needed to get back in to the swing of things, and I'm really happy it got me reading again. All of the books I read, with the exception of the last one, I'd been wanting to read for some time and this was the perfect motivating force to get me to read. My list was pretty eclectic but that suits me perfectly. Of all the books I read, I think that The Way of Four (Lipp) gave me the most ideas to try and incorporate into my practice, but I think that my first book, The Wisdom of No Escape: And The Path of Loving Kindness (Chodron) left the most impression on me. I'm not saying that the other books weren't enjoyable or that I didn't get anything out of reading them, but those were the two that stuck with me a little more than the rest.
I'm also really glad I have a sacred space again, since before IDGAF I hadn't had an altar set up since I moved of my parent's house. It's nice to have a space to go to again, even if that sometimes means just standing in front of it and thinking about how I could tweak it here and there. I'll freely admit that I've let it build up a small layer of dust, but it's nothing an old make-up brush can't fix. I've also enjoyed being more connected to the outside space around us, and maintaining the bird feeders we put up.
I feel recharged again.
Monday 13 October 2014
A Mini Update to Placate the Masses
So it would seem as though I've been away for a while again, and I once again, apologize for my absence. While I have great intentions of coming on here and updating, shit just happens. So while I have a spare 20 minutes, here is my attempt at an update.
Three of us are now initiated members of the IDGAF tradition, which is pretty cool. It was a long process with a few bumps along the way, but we made it! It feels awesome to be able to look back on it and say, "Yeah, I did that!". Our fourth soon-to-be fully-fledged IDGAFian will be joining our ranks a little later on in the month, which is also awesome. I am so glad she's gotten just as much out of this process as the rest of us seem to have.
I'd like to blog more about that later when I have more time than I do now, but I'm not sure when that will be.
Speaking of time and a lack there of, ever since Heather and I have gotten back from our cruise we've had stuff on the go every night but a few, which means that those few nights were spent doing laundry, going to appointments, and just generally enjoying being at home - hence the no updates.
Things have kind of been that way with me for a bit now though - on-the-go that is. That's why you haven't seen me on here much, because instead of blogging like I've needed to, I was checking my Facebook and looking at travel-related stuff, along with personal shit.
My knee has been acting up, and according to my doctor I have bursitis. I went in for an x-ray on Friday and he's got me on some strong anti-anflamitories at the moment, he also wants me to go to Physio but I haven't made an appointment for that yet. Hopefully that will all get sorted out soon, but I'm just thankful that my knee/leg isn't twice it's size any more!
I can't believe it's mid-way through October already...time keeps going way too quickly for my liking. Speaking of which, today is Thanksgiving here in Canada, so to anyone reading this from Canada, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for so much I would be here for a week if I listed it all, so I'll just sum it up in saying that I'm thankful for my life as it is right now, with all the people and stuff in it!
Sadly, that's all the time I have for now. I know every time I 'sign off' I say "hopefully I'll be back again for an update soon", so instead of that, I'll just say...until next time!
Three of us are now initiated members of the IDGAF tradition, which is pretty cool. It was a long process with a few bumps along the way, but we made it! It feels awesome to be able to look back on it and say, "Yeah, I did that!". Our fourth soon-to-be fully-fledged IDGAFian will be joining our ranks a little later on in the month, which is also awesome. I am so glad she's gotten just as much out of this process as the rest of us seem to have.
I'd like to blog more about that later when I have more time than I do now, but I'm not sure when that will be.
Speaking of time and a lack there of, ever since Heather and I have gotten back from our cruise we've had stuff on the go every night but a few, which means that those few nights were spent doing laundry, going to appointments, and just generally enjoying being at home - hence the no updates.
Things have kind of been that way with me for a bit now though - on-the-go that is. That's why you haven't seen me on here much, because instead of blogging like I've needed to, I was checking my Facebook and looking at travel-related stuff, along with personal shit.
My knee has been acting up, and according to my doctor I have bursitis. I went in for an x-ray on Friday and he's got me on some strong anti-anflamitories at the moment, he also wants me to go to Physio but I haven't made an appointment for that yet. Hopefully that will all get sorted out soon, but I'm just thankful that my knee/leg isn't twice it's size any more!
I can't believe it's mid-way through October already...time keeps going way too quickly for my liking. Speaking of which, today is Thanksgiving here in Canada, so to anyone reading this from Canada, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for so much I would be here for a week if I listed it all, so I'll just sum it up in saying that I'm thankful for my life as it is right now, with all the people and stuff in it!
Sadly, that's all the time I have for now. I know every time I 'sign off' I say "hopefully I'll be back again for an update soon", so instead of that, I'll just say...until next time!
Saturday 2 August 2014
To Everything There Is A Season
I hope everyone had a happy Lammas/Imbolc!
Firstly, I have to say how sad I was to learn of Margot Adler's passing last week. I had no idea she had been ill, and I just found it really ironic that I chose her book to be my last IDGAF book. I was not expecting to enjoy it as I have been, and I think that by the time I'm done it, I will be amongst the people feeling the loss of this influential and highly respected lady.
I also have to mention that the book store I used to work at is closing at the end of this month, or when the stock sells out. I've been going back occasionally for the past year or so when they've been in a bit of a pickle for staff. I knew it was coming, or rather, had an inkling it was coming, and yet I still find myself shaking my head in disbelief every now and then. Nothing can last forever, I know this, and I also realize that everything really does have its season, but I just can't help being sad about it sometimes. I practically grew up at this store - it was my first ever job, and I have a lot of emotional ties to it. Heck, it was in this book store that I met my wife. It means a lot to me, and to see it close...well, it just sucks! I understand why it's closing, and I have to say that I am very happy for the owners to be moving on to things that they've been wanting to do for a while, but it is very bittersweet in the end. It's also a huge loss to the local community, as this is pretty much the only local store that sells pagan-related goods. There are two other stores, which is fantastic, but they just don't have the selection and atmosphere that this store does. I also don't think that the local community realizes just how much they will miss this place when its gone, and the huge gaping void that will be left in its wake. Maybe it's just my emotions talking though. Maybe, just maybe, something will rise up in its place though...the universe works in strange ways sometimes.
I also can't believe we're now in to our last month of IDGAF initiatory studies, and that we're just starting to get the first bits of veggies from our little deck garden. In fact, tonight we had the first few green beans from one of our plants. It's crazy how quickly time seems to be passing.
Firstly, I have to say how sad I was to learn of Margot Adler's passing last week. I had no idea she had been ill, and I just found it really ironic that I chose her book to be my last IDGAF book. I was not expecting to enjoy it as I have been, and I think that by the time I'm done it, I will be amongst the people feeling the loss of this influential and highly respected lady.
I also have to mention that the book store I used to work at is closing at the end of this month, or when the stock sells out. I've been going back occasionally for the past year or so when they've been in a bit of a pickle for staff. I knew it was coming, or rather, had an inkling it was coming, and yet I still find myself shaking my head in disbelief every now and then. Nothing can last forever, I know this, and I also realize that everything really does have its season, but I just can't help being sad about it sometimes. I practically grew up at this store - it was my first ever job, and I have a lot of emotional ties to it. Heck, it was in this book store that I met my wife. It means a lot to me, and to see it close...well, it just sucks! I understand why it's closing, and I have to say that I am very happy for the owners to be moving on to things that they've been wanting to do for a while, but it is very bittersweet in the end. It's also a huge loss to the local community, as this is pretty much the only local store that sells pagan-related goods. There are two other stores, which is fantastic, but they just don't have the selection and atmosphere that this store does. I also don't think that the local community realizes just how much they will miss this place when its gone, and the huge gaping void that will be left in its wake. Maybe it's just my emotions talking though. Maybe, just maybe, something will rise up in its place though...the universe works in strange ways sometimes.
I also can't believe we're now in to our last month of IDGAF initiatory studies, and that we're just starting to get the first bits of veggies from our little deck garden. In fact, tonight we had the first few green beans from one of our plants. It's crazy how quickly time seems to be passing.
Sunday 20 July 2014
Super Moon
Hi guys!
Sorry I'm posting this a little bit late, but better late than never, I guess.
Anyway, last weekend was the full moon, which also happened to be a super moon. This time it was Drew's turn to plan a rit. I don't have any photos for you, but it was dark by the time we got out and nothing would have turned out, so I didn't bother to take any.
It was just a simple ritual to charge and consecrate whatever we happened to have that need a little refreshing, since it's a good time to do that on a full moon. I thought my tarot cards could use a bit of a refresher, so that's what I brought, though it took me a minute to come up with something to bring.
We were originally going to go to our spot in the marsh, but because there was only 3 of us, we didn't want to go all the way back. We ended up stopping about half way in. Drew was setting everything up when we heard twigs snapping behind us, and maybe a hint of voices, so we decided it wasn't the best place to do stuff and packed it up in favour of going to a more private spot - our balcony.
It was just a quick and simple rit, so there's really not much for me to say. It was a bit frustrating to have to move, but once we got back here and re-focused it went well.
I have to say, I really enjoyed watching the moon that night. It was absolutely gorgeous!
Anyway, we only have one more ritual left to do for our IDGAF initiation, which will be a collaborative effort if I'm not mistaken.
That's all from me for now!
Sorry I'm posting this a little bit late, but better late than never, I guess.
Anyway, last weekend was the full moon, which also happened to be a super moon. This time it was Drew's turn to plan a rit. I don't have any photos for you, but it was dark by the time we got out and nothing would have turned out, so I didn't bother to take any.
It was just a simple ritual to charge and consecrate whatever we happened to have that need a little refreshing, since it's a good time to do that on a full moon. I thought my tarot cards could use a bit of a refresher, so that's what I brought, though it took me a minute to come up with something to bring.
We were originally going to go to our spot in the marsh, but because there was only 3 of us, we didn't want to go all the way back. We ended up stopping about half way in. Drew was setting everything up when we heard twigs snapping behind us, and maybe a hint of voices, so we decided it wasn't the best place to do stuff and packed it up in favour of going to a more private spot - our balcony.
It was just a quick and simple rit, so there's really not much for me to say. It was a bit frustrating to have to move, but once we got back here and re-focused it went well.
I have to say, I really enjoyed watching the moon that night. It was absolutely gorgeous!
Anyway, we only have one more ritual left to do for our IDGAF initiation, which will be a collaborative effort if I'm not mistaken.
That's all from me for now!
Sunday 6 July 2014
Late blog prompt and IDGAF
Hi guys!
I tried to do this blog post in a vlog format 3 times now, and I just can't do it. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't stumble over my words, ramble on, and have long awkward pauses, but every time I went to shoot this video so far, that's happened. Maybe one of these days I'll be less terrible at it and one of my videos will actually make it on here. For now though, you get to read all about it instead of listen all about it.
July marks month 4 of our IDGAF initiatory process, and I have to say, I'm really happy to have made it this far. Despite my setbacks here and there, I seem to be back on track for the most part and chugging along again. I enjoy reading the books I've been reading, I enjoy my altar, and I enjoy being overall more spiritual. The rituals we've done so far have all been meaningful and enjoyable. I've been finding doing this IDGAF stuff has made me a lot more mindful of my spirituality in general and has reminded me of how neglectful I'd been prior to doing this.
I'm also really happy for my "student" in Australia! (I said that in quotation marks because she hasn't really needed me a whole lot so she doesn't quite feel like a student in the sense that I don't really feel like her teacher, lol) She seems be to be coming along well and getting a lot out of the experience too, and I'm really glad that we've been able to give her an outlet to reconnect.
It's hard to believe we've only got 2 months left of this initiation process! I'm excited to see where the rest of the process takes me, as well as the other dedicants. I'm also enjoying my book a lot, and might actually try and finish it sooner rather than later just because the book I have picked out next is really "meaty" and kind of dry (from what I hear), so I'm not exactly looking forward to reading it and because of that I want to give myself a little extra time to read it.
So I'm chiming in a bit late on the blog prompt, but it was essentially about charging people for magickal services, and what we thought about that. Personally, I think it's completely acceptable to ask for payment for a class, workshop, reading, treatment, or service of some kind. You're putting your time and effort into doing something for someone so I think it's totally justifiable to ask for compensation. If you're running a class and give out handouts or tokens or something, and are renting a space I think it's totally fair to charge for that class - even if you're not giving anything out, I still think it's fair because you've had to prepare for that class and you put your time and energy into it. Now, do I think it's fair to charge $250 for a one-hour class? Not really. It would have to be one heck of a big deal for me to pay that kind of money. I also think that bartering or trading is completely acceptable as well. If you can't pay with money, why not with baked goods or a service you can provide or skill you have?
There we have it...4 months of IDGAF and a blog prompt. No video though...maybe one day...maybe one day.
Enjoy the rest of yours though! Until next time!
I tried to do this blog post in a vlog format 3 times now, and I just can't do it. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't stumble over my words, ramble on, and have long awkward pauses, but every time I went to shoot this video so far, that's happened. Maybe one of these days I'll be less terrible at it and one of my videos will actually make it on here. For now though, you get to read all about it instead of listen all about it.
July marks month 4 of our IDGAF initiatory process, and I have to say, I'm really happy to have made it this far. Despite my setbacks here and there, I seem to be back on track for the most part and chugging along again. I enjoy reading the books I've been reading, I enjoy my altar, and I enjoy being overall more spiritual. The rituals we've done so far have all been meaningful and enjoyable. I've been finding doing this IDGAF stuff has made me a lot more mindful of my spirituality in general and has reminded me of how neglectful I'd been prior to doing this.
I'm also really happy for my "student" in Australia! (I said that in quotation marks because she hasn't really needed me a whole lot so she doesn't quite feel like a student in the sense that I don't really feel like her teacher, lol) She seems be to be coming along well and getting a lot out of the experience too, and I'm really glad that we've been able to give her an outlet to reconnect.
It's hard to believe we've only got 2 months left of this initiation process! I'm excited to see where the rest of the process takes me, as well as the other dedicants. I'm also enjoying my book a lot, and might actually try and finish it sooner rather than later just because the book I have picked out next is really "meaty" and kind of dry (from what I hear), so I'm not exactly looking forward to reading it and because of that I want to give myself a little extra time to read it.
So I'm chiming in a bit late on the blog prompt, but it was essentially about charging people for magickal services, and what we thought about that. Personally, I think it's completely acceptable to ask for payment for a class, workshop, reading, treatment, or service of some kind. You're putting your time and effort into doing something for someone so I think it's totally justifiable to ask for compensation. If you're running a class and give out handouts or tokens or something, and are renting a space I think it's totally fair to charge for that class - even if you're not giving anything out, I still think it's fair because you've had to prepare for that class and you put your time and energy into it. Now, do I think it's fair to charge $250 for a one-hour class? Not really. It would have to be one heck of a big deal for me to pay that kind of money. I also think that bartering or trading is completely acceptable as well. If you can't pay with money, why not with baked goods or a service you can provide or skill you have?
There we have it...4 months of IDGAF and a blog prompt. No video though...maybe one day...maybe one day.
Enjoy the rest of yours though! Until next time!
Sunday 22 June 2014
Midsummer
Happy Summer everyone (or Winter to our friends in the Southern Hemisphere)!!!
I hope you all had a great day yesterday, even if the weather may not have been overly summery (or wintery). I know it was much cooler than I would have liked in my part of the world, but at least we got to see the sun for a bit.
Midsummer was the ritual I planned for our IDGAF stuff, so I thought I would share what went down last night, and my thought process behind the whole thing.
So quite a while back I did a bit of looking into traditional celebrations and customs for the summer solstice and found lots of really neat stuff. I'm the kind of person that would try to incorporate a bit of everything into a "holiday" ritual if I could (Hello Gemini), so I really hope it didn't seem too all-over-the place. The things that stuck out in my mind the most were the customs around bonfires and just fire in general. While it would have been awesome to have a huge bonfires and usher our beloved pets through them (not actually through the fire...between two separate ones...I'm not that crazy), I knew that couldn't happen. I also really wanted to do a ritual that would have been in parts...so that we would have been able to see the sun come up and go down yesterday, but that just wasn't practical for obvious reasons. I also really wanted to just do a high tea or light-hearted BBQ, but I scrapped that idea because I wanted to do something...not just mix and mingle, so to speak. So then I came up with the idea of making a sun charm. I figured the sun is at it's highest point, so the solar energy would also be at its highest, which would be great for energizing and uplifting - hence, sun charm.
I also wanted to incorporate some kind of healing spell into the ritual, because I'd come across a lot of stuff that said it was a great day for that kind of work. I'd also come across a custom to send paper boats down a waterway of some kind, lit on fire. What's better than sailing boats down a stream...sending boats down a stream that are on fire! So I ended up combining the two ideas. I also wanted to keep it a bit light-hearted and fun. The end result was this:
We each had our lanterns from Beltane, and as soon as we got to a certain point in the marsh, we lit them and walked in, sort of single-file, to our ritual spot. After getting things situated on the altar, I took a piece of bread that I soaked in a bit of milk and drizzled with a bit of honey and placed it a bit away from where we were. That way any wondering faeries would be drawn to that instead of us (essentially, I was trying placate the faeries, since was is kind of their night).
Then I went back and started to set up the solar wheel. I took a picture of everything looked like before we went out so that you could see it in the light, since there was pretty low light outside at the time (dusk, and very cloudy).
(yes, that is the bottom of a springform pan :P)
So now that everything was all set up, we cast a circle and called the elements and whatever deities we wanted, and then I lit the wheel and we did our charm bags, energized the boats, and talked a little bit about the dark and light halves of the year, and that was that! Except that on our way back, we let our little boats go down one of the offshoots of the stream in the marsh. We tried to light them, but because they're made from folded computer paper (thick), and it was damp, they didn't really want to stay lit. Here are a few more photos I was able to quickly snap during the ritual, but the light was fading so I couldn't really take any more than these.
We cast the circle with sparklers!
I thought it would be kind of fun
The solar wheel all lit up - yes, those candles in the middle have coloured flames.
So all in all, I think it went well. It was my first time single-handedly planning and running a ritual involving other people, which was kind of neat. I've collaborated and co-run stuff before, just not by myself. I just hope everyone else took something meaningful from it and also had a good time.
I'll also note that when we were leaving the marsh, we noticed tons of fireflies, which we've never really seen there before. I thought it was really cool not only to see them, but that the first time we've ever seen them there was on the solstice. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not? Regardless of the appearance of the fireflies though, there was most definitely something enjoying the energy of the night in the marsh - we could all feel it.
So that pretty much sums it up. I hope everyone had a great weekend, and blessed solstice, whichever one you were celebrating!
Sunday 15 June 2014
Another Life Update
For anyone that's interested, here's a brief life update...
I know I mentioned a little while back that it felt like I was in some kind of a weird time warp and I was loosing months, maybe because the weather had been so shitty...well, I'm happy to report that the weather here has been much better lately! We've finally had a few great warm sunny days, now we just need a few more and we'll be all set!
A few weeks back I was doggy sitting for my parents, which was great in some ways, but overall it was a very trying week. I also got food poisoning the day after I got the dog, so that was terrible timing, and then once I got over that, I had a migraine. All in all, that week was pretty shitty.
I think I mentioned earlier that I was a bit stressed about work-related stuff. While I can't say too much here in case someone from my work happens to stumble upon this, that's gotten better as well.
So on the whole, things are looking up!
Something that's really exciting for me is that I've got 2 upcoming vacations booked - both in the month of September. The first one I booked was going to be the only vacation for me this year, which I was totally fine with and very happy about, but then I had a really great opportunity open up and I couldn't let it pass me by. I originally booked a cruise for my wife and I, because she's never been one one before and my brother and his partner were booked on it already. I think they're a great way to see a few places in a relatively short amount of time, and since my wife hasn't done a lot of traveling outside of Canada, I thought it would be a great for us. I'm really excited about this one...it's at the end of September and into October (well, I suppose it's more in October, but still). The second one I booked is a trip to Disney World in FL. I'm a HUGE Disney World freak anyway, having been there a few times before, so when my parents said they had booked a trip I was a bit envious, to be honest. I was over at their place one night when my mom had to call them to update something, so just for fun, she asked how much it would be to add another person on to their reservation. To our surprise it was actually very little, so they told me that if I wanted to come with them I would just have to pay the extra money for them having the extra person on the reservation! So I'm essentially paying half price for a week in Disney World. I wish my wife was coming too, but because of our original vacation, I don't think she could get the time off, which does suck. This one is the last day in August into the first week of September.
My IDGAF stuff has taken a bit of a back-seat to my travel planning - which is kind of what happens whenever I book a trip...I usually focus on that as opposed to what I'd been doing prior to. I know it's not good, but like I mentioned in my previous posts, I've not completely abandoned IDGAF. I'm planning a Solstice ritual for next Saturday, so hopefully that goes well. At the moment I don't have a clear-cut vision for the 'meat' of the ritual, which is kind of troublesome seeing as how it's in less than a week. I did some research though, on what's traditional for celebrations at that time of year, so hopefully I can come up with something fun yet meaningful. I also need to get back in to the swing of reading, something I'm hopeful I can do this week.
I think that's all from me for now though. I'm really sorry I haven't been around much lately, but I'm hopeful I can change that now that I've gotten up-to-date on the blog prompts and am more in the mindset for doing stuff. Until next time!
A Backlog of Blog Prompts
Hi guys! I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend so far! Sorry this didn't get posted yesterday, but it was my birthday so I wasn't around on the computer as much as I thought I would be...
Anyway...Blog prompts!
Here are the ones that I've missed:
"For those who perform rituals, do you give offerings? If so, what kind? What is the meaning/purpose of offerings?"
For me, it depends on what I'm doing as to whether or not I give an offering during a ritual. If I'm just doing something quick and simple, like making a charm bag or doing a simple candle spell, I usually don't do a formal kind of offering. I already think that burning incense is a kind of offering anyway, especially when the intent is there, but even if you're just burning it for the hell of it, or to give your ritual more atmosphere, or to represent an element, I still think that counts as a kind of offering.
Typically if I'm doing something a bit more elaborate, say, a ritual for Samhain or Mabon or something, we'll usually leave an offering of some kind. This could be in the form of food we've prepared for after the ritual, or it could be a little bit of the ashes from the fire. It kind of depends on the ritual.
To me, offerings are a way of saying thank-you. Making an offering is a way of showing the divine that you acknowledge their presence and are saying "Thanks for being with us and for all that you do, here, share in some of our energy". I know that in some cases offerings are made to placate deity, and I think that in some cases, that's certainly valid, but I don't think that's necessary all the time. If you work with a certain deity that enjoys cigars and alcohol, for example, then giving them a little bit of their favourite things will ensure that they're happy and therefore might be more willing to lend you a helping hand. Or, conversely, if you'd rather them stay out of your way, you can leave an offering for them away from where you're preforming your ritual so they will be drawn to that and stay out of your space. Either way though, I think that offerings are an important part of ritual, even if you don't leave one all the time.
"Do you practice in a group or solitary? Which do you prefer? If you choose one over the other, why do you feel that way? If you are a coven member, would you ever go back to being solitary? If you practice alone, would you ever join a group?"
I sort of do a little bit of both at the moment. I do some stuff on my own, but I also get together with a few people for stuff too - mostly on the holidays, but sometimes if we all have a common goal we're working towards, we'll tend to do something together for that.
I honestly enjoy both equally, however, I think that for me, practicing in a group is essential to my practice because being around other like-minded people helps to motivate me into doing stuff. I think that it's important to develop your own practice though, so that you can get an idea of what works for you and what doesn't, and so that you can get an idea of how your own energy works before you mix that into a group. I say this, but I don't necessarily think that you need to practice on your own for a year or any set amount of time before you get involved in a group - just that I think it's important that you do stuff on your own as well as in whatever group you belong to.
I suppose I'm a coven member, though it feels weird to say it, hahaha! I'm also still doing stuff on my own though, so I guess that I would certainly go back to being solitary because it would mean that I'm still practicing, but I prefer being a part of a group as well. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would go back to being strictly solitary if it came down to it, but I much prefer belonging to a group if I find one that works for me.
"In the busy world we live, how do you find time for your spiritual self? How do you maintain your spiritual growth and nurture your inner connection to deity in between meetings, phone calls, traffic jams, family, friends, and everything else you do?"
This is actually a great question for me to be answering right now, hahaha! I actually find it really hard to balance everything sometimes. Right now, I'm kind of struggling to find a way to keep my spiritual self fulfilled while at the same time living my everyday life. I think that IDGAF is really helping me with this, but lately I've been finding that my attention has been taken away from spiritual matters, and so I've been struggling to keep myself in line and forcing myself to do stuff.
I think that the biggest way I can reconnect is to get outside. Obviously this is different for everyone, but when I'm feeling particularly stagnant, it helps a lot to get out and be in nature. I love going for walks and light hikes, so I'll do that whenever I can. I just find that being outside helps to ground me a bit, and helps me to think. Hearing the birds singing, feeling the wind on my face and hearing running streams ocean surf helps to remind me of a lot of things - my place in the world, how fleeting nature is becoming and how vitally important it is to life...those kinds of things.
So I think that if you can find something that helps you to connect with the divine, no matter how small it is, you need to hold on to that so that when things get crazy, so you'll be able to have that one thing that keeps you grounded in your spirituality.
"Have you ever had a spiritual experience that was so amazing it changed you? What happened? How did you feel? How did you change or grow from it?"
Unfortunately, I've yet to have a spiritual experience that was so incredible that it changed me in some way. I have however, had the opportunity to go inside the tomb at Newgrange in Ireland. It was a truly incredible experience, but I didn't have any epiphanies or experience any profound spiritual enlightenment while I was in there.
At the end of last summer I was able to sleep in a hemlock grove in nothing but a sleeping bag, which was really cool. Again, I didn't have any earth-shattering spiritual experiences, but just to be able to sleep outside like that was really awesome, and it's something I would do again in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity.
So yeah, I'm hopeful that one day that will happen, but for now I'm perfectly happy having had the experiences I've had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So there you have it, many blog prompts all in one post! Sorry it's so long, but it was a long time coming. Up next: a post about everything else!
Here are the ones that I've missed:
"For those who perform rituals, do you give offerings? If so, what kind? What is the meaning/purpose of offerings?"
For me, it depends on what I'm doing as to whether or not I give an offering during a ritual. If I'm just doing something quick and simple, like making a charm bag or doing a simple candle spell, I usually don't do a formal kind of offering. I already think that burning incense is a kind of offering anyway, especially when the intent is there, but even if you're just burning it for the hell of it, or to give your ritual more atmosphere, or to represent an element, I still think that counts as a kind of offering.
Typically if I'm doing something a bit more elaborate, say, a ritual for Samhain or Mabon or something, we'll usually leave an offering of some kind. This could be in the form of food we've prepared for after the ritual, or it could be a little bit of the ashes from the fire. It kind of depends on the ritual.
To me, offerings are a way of saying thank-you. Making an offering is a way of showing the divine that you acknowledge their presence and are saying "Thanks for being with us and for all that you do, here, share in some of our energy". I know that in some cases offerings are made to placate deity, and I think that in some cases, that's certainly valid, but I don't think that's necessary all the time. If you work with a certain deity that enjoys cigars and alcohol, for example, then giving them a little bit of their favourite things will ensure that they're happy and therefore might be more willing to lend you a helping hand. Or, conversely, if you'd rather them stay out of your way, you can leave an offering for them away from where you're preforming your ritual so they will be drawn to that and stay out of your space. Either way though, I think that offerings are an important part of ritual, even if you don't leave one all the time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do you practice in a group or solitary? Which do you prefer? If you choose one over the other, why do you feel that way? If you are a coven member, would you ever go back to being solitary? If you practice alone, would you ever join a group?"
I sort of do a little bit of both at the moment. I do some stuff on my own, but I also get together with a few people for stuff too - mostly on the holidays, but sometimes if we all have a common goal we're working towards, we'll tend to do something together for that.
I honestly enjoy both equally, however, I think that for me, practicing in a group is essential to my practice because being around other like-minded people helps to motivate me into doing stuff. I think that it's important to develop your own practice though, so that you can get an idea of what works for you and what doesn't, and so that you can get an idea of how your own energy works before you mix that into a group. I say this, but I don't necessarily think that you need to practice on your own for a year or any set amount of time before you get involved in a group - just that I think it's important that you do stuff on your own as well as in whatever group you belong to.
I suppose I'm a coven member, though it feels weird to say it, hahaha! I'm also still doing stuff on my own though, so I guess that I would certainly go back to being solitary because it would mean that I'm still practicing, but I prefer being a part of a group as well. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I would go back to being strictly solitary if it came down to it, but I much prefer belonging to a group if I find one that works for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In the busy world we live, how do you find time for your spiritual self? How do you maintain your spiritual growth and nurture your inner connection to deity in between meetings, phone calls, traffic jams, family, friends, and everything else you do?"
This is actually a great question for me to be answering right now, hahaha! I actually find it really hard to balance everything sometimes. Right now, I'm kind of struggling to find a way to keep my spiritual self fulfilled while at the same time living my everyday life. I think that IDGAF is really helping me with this, but lately I've been finding that my attention has been taken away from spiritual matters, and so I've been struggling to keep myself in line and forcing myself to do stuff.
I think that the biggest way I can reconnect is to get outside. Obviously this is different for everyone, but when I'm feeling particularly stagnant, it helps a lot to get out and be in nature. I love going for walks and light hikes, so I'll do that whenever I can. I just find that being outside helps to ground me a bit, and helps me to think. Hearing the birds singing, feeling the wind on my face and hearing running streams ocean surf helps to remind me of a lot of things - my place in the world, how fleeting nature is becoming and how vitally important it is to life...those kinds of things.
So I think that if you can find something that helps you to connect with the divine, no matter how small it is, you need to hold on to that so that when things get crazy, so you'll be able to have that one thing that keeps you grounded in your spirituality.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Have you ever had a spiritual experience that was so amazing it changed you? What happened? How did you feel? How did you change or grow from it?"
Unfortunately, I've yet to have a spiritual experience that was so incredible that it changed me in some way. I have however, had the opportunity to go inside the tomb at Newgrange in Ireland. It was a truly incredible experience, but I didn't have any epiphanies or experience any profound spiritual enlightenment while I was in there.
At the end of last summer I was able to sleep in a hemlock grove in nothing but a sleeping bag, which was really cool. Again, I didn't have any earth-shattering spiritual experiences, but just to be able to sleep outside like that was really awesome, and it's something I would do again in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity.
So yeah, I'm hopeful that one day that will happen, but for now I'm perfectly happy having had the experiences I've had.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So there you have it, many blog prompts all in one post! Sorry it's so long, but it was a long time coming. Up next: a post about everything else!
Friday 13 June 2014
A Short Note
Hi guys! I'm back!
Well, I never left...I've just been away from my blog is all.
Anyway, I just wanted to come on here and update really quickly - something I've been meaning to do for a long time now.
I've not forgotten about IDGAF - although my reading has been slacking, I've still been doing stuff. As part of our land stewardship we've been periodically going to the bird feeders in the marsh to fill them, but we haven't been out there for a little bit, so they'll definitely need a top up asap. We've also got a small balcony garden started, so that's kind of fun.
It's my month for planning a ritual, but more on that later when I'm not pressed for time.
I've been getting outside a lot these days as the weather has been getting nicer, so instead of being stuck inside and glued to the computer or with my nose in a book, I've been out. We also did charms recently for a few things, but for the most part they were job related.
Sorry I'm a bit rushed at the moment, but I'm really hoping to come on here tomorrow and make a large update with several weekly blog prompts, as well as give more of an IDGAF update. I also apologize for my lack of online presence, but I'll get into that a bit more tomorrow as well. I should be off, though.
Enjoy the full moon tonight, and happy friday the 13th!
Well, I never left...I've just been away from my blog is all.
Anyway, I just wanted to come on here and update really quickly - something I've been meaning to do for a long time now.
I've not forgotten about IDGAF - although my reading has been slacking, I've still been doing stuff. As part of our land stewardship we've been periodically going to the bird feeders in the marsh to fill them, but we haven't been out there for a little bit, so they'll definitely need a top up asap. We've also got a small balcony garden started, so that's kind of fun.
It's my month for planning a ritual, but more on that later when I'm not pressed for time.
I've been getting outside a lot these days as the weather has been getting nicer, so instead of being stuck inside and glued to the computer or with my nose in a book, I've been out. We also did charms recently for a few things, but for the most part they were job related.
Sorry I'm a bit rushed at the moment, but I'm really hoping to come on here tomorrow and make a large update with several weekly blog prompts, as well as give more of an IDGAF update. I also apologize for my lack of online presence, but I'll get into that a bit more tomorrow as well. I should be off, though.
Enjoy the full moon tonight, and happy friday the 13th!
Friday 9 May 2014
Beltane and Life
Okay guys, it's been a while. I apologize.
So Beltane was last week (last Thursday, to be precise), and because everyone is typically busy throughout the week, we tend to have our celebrations on the weekend following the actual holiday. In this case, it was last Saturday. I think I'll be lucky enough to have mine on the actual holiday next month which is kind of exciting, but that's besides the point.
The whole idea of this Beltane ritual was to bring a piece of the "hearth fire" home with us, so that we would be able to light "our fires" with the flame from the Beltane bonfire throughout the year. This was Heather's ritual for our IDGAF studies, and it was actually her first "public" one. I think it was awesome, and went really well, especially for a first ritual. I know how tough and intimidating it is.
We were able to have access to a fire pit at another founder's parent's place, so we definitely took advantage of this, and had our ritual out there. We may have roasted hot dogs, and marshmallows...and maybe even made some s'mores too. It was a good time all-around.
Heather took inspiration from the more traditional Beltane festivities, incase you didn't already guess from the brief description I already mentioned. The hearth fire was a very important part of the household long ago, and was supposedly only ever actually extinguished once a year - at Beltane. That was because on Beltane, they would have their bonfires and take some of the flames from that home to re-light their hearth fires with. They would then keep it burning all year until the next Beltane celebration. Beltane is also a time to celebrate fertility, so in keeping with that aspect, she chose the more creative aspect of that to celebrate in our ritual.
Because we were so hungry, we decided to have a pre-ritual bite to eat, and then built up our Beltane bonfire.
I'm really hoping to really start reading my next IDGAF book this weekend. It's Natural Witchery by Ellen Dugan, and I'm really excited to get into it. So far I've just read the 'intro', which was intriguing.
I'm sorry I've not been around much lately, but quite honestly, I haven't felt like I've been around much in my own life at all. I'm not sure what's happening to the days, weeks, and months that are passing, but I feel like I'm in a weird time-sucking vortex, and one minute it's January, and when I blink my eyes all of a sudden it's May. I'm sure the weather we've been getting here isn't helping matters - normally by this time of year the leaves are on the trees and things are getting back to being green again, with steady temperatures around the mid to low teens (in Celsius). Right now...well...this is what it looks like outside...
So Beltane was last week (last Thursday, to be precise), and because everyone is typically busy throughout the week, we tend to have our celebrations on the weekend following the actual holiday. In this case, it was last Saturday. I think I'll be lucky enough to have mine on the actual holiday next month which is kind of exciting, but that's besides the point.
The whole idea of this Beltane ritual was to bring a piece of the "hearth fire" home with us, so that we would be able to light "our fires" with the flame from the Beltane bonfire throughout the year. This was Heather's ritual for our IDGAF studies, and it was actually her first "public" one. I think it was awesome, and went really well, especially for a first ritual. I know how tough and intimidating it is.
We were able to have access to a fire pit at another founder's parent's place, so we definitely took advantage of this, and had our ritual out there. We may have roasted hot dogs, and marshmallows...and maybe even made some s'mores too. It was a good time all-around.
Heather took inspiration from the more traditional Beltane festivities, incase you didn't already guess from the brief description I already mentioned. The hearth fire was a very important part of the household long ago, and was supposedly only ever actually extinguished once a year - at Beltane. That was because on Beltane, they would have their bonfires and take some of the flames from that home to re-light their hearth fires with. They would then keep it burning all year until the next Beltane celebration. Beltane is also a time to celebrate fertility, so in keeping with that aspect, she chose the more creative aspect of that to celebrate in our ritual.
Because we were so hungry, we decided to have a pre-ritual bite to eat, and then built up our Beltane bonfire.
We had a nice fire going
Then, we wrote down the things that get us excited, or make us really happy, or energized. We wanted to 'feed' these things to the fire, to help spark our own creativity so that the bonfire would be charged with happiness and excitement - something that we could later bring home with us and add to our own fires later on.
Feeding the fire
And then once we were all done, we tossed our papers, one by one, into the fire. We then lit tea lights from the flames of this fire so that we could take a piece of it home with us, to use throughout the year.
We all had lanterns to hold our fires
So it was a really nice ritual. I've yet to use my candle to light anything, but I'm hopeful that might get to happen this weekend.
On that front...
I'm sorry I've not been around much lately, but quite honestly, I haven't felt like I've been around much in my own life at all. I'm not sure what's happening to the days, weeks, and months that are passing, but I feel like I'm in a weird time-sucking vortex, and one minute it's January, and when I blink my eyes all of a sudden it's May. I'm sure the weather we've been getting here isn't helping matters - normally by this time of year the leaves are on the trees and things are getting back to being green again, with steady temperatures around the mid to low teens (in Celsius). Right now...well...this is what it looks like outside...
It's not exactly green, but at least today is sunny for eff's sake. Like really, it's only 9 degrees out there! It's May 9th! I'm so over this weather! And the most sad part about it - that 9 degrees feels like 15 to us because it's BEEN SO EFFING COLD! Sorry...I'm a little frustrated. I shouldn't be waking up each morning and looking out at that parking lot, only to see FROST on the tops of the cars below. YUCK!
Moving on before I get myself more depressed...
Honestly though, I think that my body/mind is still stuck in March mode because of how it looks outside, and it's really throwing me off. Like, a lot.
I've also had a lot on my mind lately, about where my life is headed (mostly career wise), and I think that's starting to take a toll on me as well.
I should also mention this has been a particularly stressful week (or two, I guess), because of two main work-related reasons. The first is that we've got hand-held devices at work that help us do our everyday jobs. Stuff like making signage for the store, putting in orders, and filling holes on the shelves, for example. These hand-held devices haven't been working for the past 2 weeks, so we've had to do everything by hand...yep, write down the UPC's of everything we need and do stuff that way. Not only were these "down", we have a HUGE tour coming tomorrow (second reason), which includes several "high ups" from across Canada, as well as the VP of operations for the entire company. As you can imagine, it's been busy getting ready for that...and with no handheld's...yeah...
So, now that I've given you a book to read, I must be off. I'm heading in to work early to help them for the big tour tomorrow. I'm hopeful I'll be able to come back before the weekend is out, and do a blog prompt, but like always, I make no promises...sometimes shit happens.
Bye for now!
Monday 28 April 2014
IDGAF: Month 2
Already another month has passed - blown through like the ever changing winds of the seasons. And where do I find myself?
I feel like I stalled a bit this month - like I was grinding my gears a bit and stalling my engine. I started the month off really well, but towards the middle I became a bit more apathetic than I'd like to admit. I started saying "I really should read now but I have loads of time, so I'll go do this other thing instead" and I sort of fell into a bit of a lull. My weekly practice has been suffering alongside my reading, and I feel frustrated I let it get to this point. But here I am, admitting my struggles to all of you, because I feel like I'm not alone in this. I know that even if you're not having a hard time with things now, there might come a time when you are, so you can look back on this and not beat yourself up over it. We're all human. I'm going through this process like the other initiates, and I want you all to see that.
Challenges, although frustrating, are actually kind of great. They make us push ourselves past our comfort zones. Kind of like, when you reach a wall, do you find a way around or over it, knock it down, or walk away from it?
We also just got another IDGAF initiate, which I find incredibly exciting. I'm really happy to see that our first initiate is enjoying her IDGAF "studies" so far, and it's great to hear how it's been a positive influence in her spiritual practice. I'm excited to see how her studies are progressing, and will continue to progress. I'm also interested to see how our new initiate will integrate IDGAF into her practice, and where that will take her in the future.
That's it for now. Stay tuned later in the week for my answer to the blog prompt.
Wednesday 23 April 2014
A Brief Tarot Comparison
*Please Note* This will be an image-heavy post, and might not be the best to view on a mobile device.
Since I have a bit of free time tonight, I figured I'd finally come on here and do that tarot review I was talking about a few weeks back.
I don't really remember when I first became interested in tarot, but I've always been a bit curious about it. It wasn't until I was in high school that I really took an interest in it though, at which point my dad bought me my very own deck. He used to let me look through his cards sometimes when I was a kid, so I think I was kind of intrigued by them at a young age (pretty sure he had the Tarot of Marseilles set). My dad also had (and probably still does) a small stone collection, which may also be where I get my love of stones and crystals, but that's another story.
Anyway, my first tarot deck was a used copy of the Rider-Waite Tarot. It wasn't a deck I would have ever gone out and bought for myself, but it was neat to have cards of my very own. As I started to look at them more and more, I knew wanted to get a nicer set of cards - something I actually enjoyed looking at. I think the first deck I bought myself was the Morgan-Greer Tarot. While I enjoyed working with them, the more I worked at the pagan shop the more tarot cards I saw, and the more I realized I might want a different set. That's the unfortunate trap you fall into being pagan and working at a pagan store - you want to buy everything in sight. So, naturally, I now have 3 decks, and I could easily have more.
The ones I currently have are the Hanson-Roberts Tarot, the Robin Wood Tarot, and The Shadowscapes Tarot. As you can probably guess from these decks, I'm a bit of a traditionalist. I'm still not very confidant in my ability to read the cards myself, so that's the biggest reason I'm sticking with more traditional decks, but the Shadowscapes Tarot was so pretty I couldn't help but buy it. I'm hoping that with the Hanson-Roberts and Robin Wood decks I'll be able to learn the cards well, and then I'll be able to move on to more artsy cards and still be able to read with them no problem - and maybe even get new layers of meanings from them.
So on to the photos!
So the Robin Wood Tarot is the deck on the left, the Hanson-Roberts Tarot is the one in the middle, and The Shadowscapes Tarot is on the right.
I pulled the 3 of cups from each deck so you can get a feel for the differences between them. It's really easy to see how different the Shadowscapes tarot is from the other two. It's a lot more elaborate overall, and uses vastly different imagery from the traditional decks, but I think that everything on that card is there for a specific reason, and because of that, I think that deck has a lot to offer aside from just being pretty.
Here's the details of the cards:
Shadowscapes Tarot
Hanson-Roberts Tarot
Robin Wood Tarot
So I also wanted to show you some of the cards I often look at when I'm choosing a deck, because I find it very interesting how each deck interprets these specific cards. Here's the overview shot:
And here's the detailed images of each *Please Note* Some of the images may be PG-13:
Shadowscapes
Robin Wood
Hanson-Roberts
Shadowscapes
Robin Wood
Hanson-Roberts
Shadowscapes
Robin Wood
Hanson-Roberts
So from these it's pretty easy to see the big differences between the more traditional decks and the more artistic one. Because of this, I think it's easy to see why someone struggling at trying to learn the meanings of the cards, like myself, would be better suited at trying to start off with more traditional images and then moving on to the more pretty cards.
Overall, my favourite of the 3 decks would have to be the Hanson-Roberts. I really enjoy the coloured pencil shading, as well as the physical size of the cards. I find them to be similar to the size of a deck of playing cards, which helps a lot when you have small hands and are trying to shuffle or, are just a clumsy shuffler (like myself).
I also bought the Robin Wood tarot at the same time as the Hanson-Roberts deck because I was having a hard time deciding between the two. The overall images are very similar, but are slightly different stylistically.
I was going to decide between the two decks by going through and making two piles - one for the cards I liked, one for the cards I didn't - and from there, I'd count each pile and go with the one that had the more "likes". The problem with that was that by the time I'd gotten through each deck, the "likes" and "not likes" piles from each deck had the exact same number. So, I ended up getting both.
I don't often use the Shadowscapes tarot because I find it really hard to read, and I think that's only because I'm still familiarizing myself with the cards in general. I love the art work though, more so than any other tarot deck I've come across. I especially like her choice of the Phoenix as the image on the Death card, and the way she ties the suits together with a common theme and colour scheme. I think that once I know more, that will likely end up being my favourite deck.
I also feel it pertinent to say that I didn't mean to choose the most menacing of cards to compare these decks, but these cards (Death, The Devil, and the Hanged Man) are all pretty loaded in terms of their meanings, and I thought it would be interesting for you to see a side-by-side comparison as to how each person represents them.
So yeah, the Hanson-Roberts is the winner in my books, because of the art style and size, but the Robin Wood follows closely behind (because the cards are larger and although I enjoy the art style, I prefer the look of the Hanson-Roberts), with the Shadowscapes following behind in third place, only because it's not exactly the easiest to read when you're starting out (I find).
I hope you've enjoyed seeing some different tarot cards. Now that you know some of the criteria I use to choose my decks, maybe it will help if you're thinking of picking up a new one? Happy tarot-ing!
Tuesday 22 April 2014
Blog Prompt and Earth Day
Happy Earth Day everyone!
I know it's not likely a gorgeous day everywhere, but here it's absolutely wonderful. I'm hopeful to be able to go out for a bit after work and enjoy it while it lasts.
I really feel like I've been slacking a lot lately, and I know I posted this before, but it seems to only have gotten worse with the advent of nicer weather. I think I'm really going to have to challenge myself to set aside some reading time soon. So, with that in mind, I figured I'd come on here and post about last week's blog prompt, so I don't have multiple ones in the same post. Here goes!
What's your favourite part of your practice and why?
I'm not sure that I can say I have a favourite part, to be honest. I really enjoy having an altar set up again though, and I like the layout I currently have for it. It's nice to have a spot to call my own, where I can go to practice when I want.
I also enjoy getting outside whenever I can, and I like to somehow incorporate rituals to suit the outdoors where possible. I love going for walks, and I think that being able to go into a wooded area and walk around somehow helps me to connect/reconnect on a subconscious level. Most of the time when I'm out for a walk I just walk - enjoying all the wildlife and scenery that surrounds me - and I don't really think about anything aside from just being there, at that precise moment. So, I guess in a way, that's kind of like a meditative practice in that I'm leaving everything behind and just being in the moment of wherever I happen to be. So maybe that could be my favourite part of my practice?
I really enjoy working with tarot as well though, but more on a "for fun" level, and not so much as an overly serious thing, just because I'm so "new" to it. I like exploring the elements too though, on a more physical level...so I guess there's lots about my practice that I enjoy, but nothing that I can really pin-point as a favourite part, aside from going on walks.
Caio for now!
I know it's not likely a gorgeous day everywhere, but here it's absolutely wonderful. I'm hopeful to be able to go out for a bit after work and enjoy it while it lasts.
I really feel like I've been slacking a lot lately, and I know I posted this before, but it seems to only have gotten worse with the advent of nicer weather. I think I'm really going to have to challenge myself to set aside some reading time soon. So, with that in mind, I figured I'd come on here and post about last week's blog prompt, so I don't have multiple ones in the same post. Here goes!
What's your favourite part of your practice and why?
I'm not sure that I can say I have a favourite part, to be honest. I really enjoy having an altar set up again though, and I like the layout I currently have for it. It's nice to have a spot to call my own, where I can go to practice when I want.
I also enjoy getting outside whenever I can, and I like to somehow incorporate rituals to suit the outdoors where possible. I love going for walks, and I think that being able to go into a wooded area and walk around somehow helps me to connect/reconnect on a subconscious level. Most of the time when I'm out for a walk I just walk - enjoying all the wildlife and scenery that surrounds me - and I don't really think about anything aside from just being there, at that precise moment. So, I guess in a way, that's kind of like a meditative practice in that I'm leaving everything behind and just being in the moment of wherever I happen to be. So maybe that could be my favourite part of my practice?
I really enjoy working with tarot as well though, but more on a "for fun" level, and not so much as an overly serious thing, just because I'm so "new" to it. I like exploring the elements too though, on a more physical level...so I guess there's lots about my practice that I enjoy, but nothing that I can really pin-point as a favourite part, aside from going on walks.
Caio for now!
Wednesday 16 April 2014
Lunar Eclipse's Get Me All Fired Up...tee hee
Jambo everyone! (pronounced like Jaam-Bo - it's a Swahili greeting, for those of you that don't know)
I hope you guys have been having a fabulous week! Mine has once again been busy, but I'm plodding onwards.
I picked our stuff up from the Clay Cafe on my way home from work today, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
For a refresher, here's the before...
And here's what it looks like now that it's been fired up:
I also picked up a book I had on special order today, which I'm pretty excited about. I've been wanting to read it for a while (my reading list keeps getting longer somehow) so I'm glad I finally get to read it. It will be my next book for IDGAF, so I don't want to start reading it until I'm done The Way of the Shaman, but I'm pretty anxious to get started on it now that its in the house. I won't tell you what it is just yet, so you'll have to stay tuned to my book updates if you're interested.
I also wanted to mention that there was a full lunar eclipse on Tuesday, in case you didn't know - I think it was around 3 or 4 am my local time - so we ended up doing a thing for that on Monday after everyone was home from work (because we knew we'd be busy on Tuesday evening). This was the ritual that Renee was planning as one of our IDGAF rituals (you need to do a minimum of one per month). Since it turned out to be such a wonderful day, we went to our regular spot outdoors for our witchy observance.
We ended up doing a consecration ritual of sorts - to help that space feel more like ours, and also to help give our own personal spaces a little extra oomph. We burned some powdered incense that Drew (and maybe Renee, I don't remember - it's been a whirlwind week again) made from dried herbs, and then each of us wrote down the things we wanted to see in our space on some parchment paper and tossed it in the cauldron.
So I guess that's it for now. I hope everyone gets to enjoy a long weekend, seeing as how it's Good Friday this week. I know a lot of things are closed here, so many people get the day off. I wish you all a Happy Easter, even if you may not celebrate it in the traditional sense! (Just because I'm not Christian doesn't mean I don't enjoy some time off and tasty, tasty chocolates, and I feel like some of you might feel the same way.)
I hope you guys have been having a fabulous week! Mine has once again been busy, but I'm plodding onwards.
I picked our stuff up from the Clay Cafe on my way home from work today, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
For a refresher, here's the before...
So quite a big change in the tiki "mugs". I know it's hard to see in this photo, but the antler I painted to look like it's got a cherry blossom branch on it, actually turned out pretty good. One of the shades of pink that I used was too light though, so it's really hard to see, but other than that I don't think it's a bad first attempt.
I also picked up a book I had on special order today, which I'm pretty excited about. I've been wanting to read it for a while (my reading list keeps getting longer somehow) so I'm glad I finally get to read it. It will be my next book for IDGAF, so I don't want to start reading it until I'm done The Way of the Shaman, but I'm pretty anxious to get started on it now that its in the house. I won't tell you what it is just yet, so you'll have to stay tuned to my book updates if you're interested.
I also wanted to mention that there was a full lunar eclipse on Tuesday, in case you didn't know - I think it was around 3 or 4 am my local time - so we ended up doing a thing for that on Monday after everyone was home from work (because we knew we'd be busy on Tuesday evening). This was the ritual that Renee was planning as one of our IDGAF rituals (you need to do a minimum of one per month). Since it turned out to be such a wonderful day, we went to our regular spot outdoors for our witchy observance.
We ended up doing a consecration ritual of sorts - to help that space feel more like ours, and also to help give our own personal spaces a little extra oomph. We burned some powdered incense that Drew (and maybe Renee, I don't remember - it's been a whirlwind week again) made from dried herbs, and then each of us wrote down the things we wanted to see in our space on some parchment paper and tossed it in the cauldron.
We kept a good fire going even though it was windy
My wishes for the space
Fly free!
This is what happened if we added too much incense at once, but I thought it looked really cool. It likely helped to consecrate the space a bit better too.
This is what happened when the "right" amount of incense got added...so pretty!
So then we let the fire die out, and sprinkled the ashes around from what was left, but we saved some for ourselves to have on our own altars as well. We also consecrated ourselves...kind of like ash wednesday, but more witchy. I was being very silly and took this "omg, why is there a smudge on my forehead?!" photo after the fact...
Don't I just look both shocked and horrified?
Friday 11 April 2014
What the Cards Said...I Think
So the last two "weekly practice" things I've done for IDGAF have actually been tarot readings, and inspired by Drew's recent video, I figured I'd share the one I did for today's weekly working.
Just as a disclaimer, I'm no tarot expert, but I do enjoy dabbling here and there. I still need to get the interpretations from books in order to do my readings, but today was the first time I was able to put it all together into something that makes sense to me. I kind of think that tarot readings should tell a story (I guess, depending on the reading), but I never really took the time to sit down and put all the meanings together to try and make sense of them until now. I think it went really well.
I used the "Who I am now and where I'm going" spread from The Tarot Bible by Sarah Bartlett (on pg 274 if you're interested), and I used Tarot Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis to help me do the interpreting. I could have cross-referenced with the Tarot Bible if I wanted to, which is what I normally do, but this time I didn't. Anyway, this is what my spread looked like once I flipped everything over:
So I'm sure you can't quite make out all the cards from this photo, so I took close-up shots of each card so you can get the details. I'm using the Hanson Roberts deck in this reading.
Card 1 is in the middle of the spread, with card 2 turned sideways on top of it. Card 3 is in the top left-hand corner, card 4 is in the top right, and cards 5-7 are along the bottom, going from left to right. Card 1 is supposed to represent "who I am now", card 2 - "what I don't know about myself", card 3 - "What I need to relinquish", card 4 - "what I need to develop", card 5 - "what I'd love to become", card 6 - "current quest", and card 7 - "where it will lead me". This is how it played out:
In this reading 3 "rods" (in other decks they might be called "wands") came up, which is something I thought was significant, so it was one of the first things I looked at. I thought that the presence of many rods could suggest that this layout likely concerns business matters or career issues, especially pertaining to new ventures, enterprises or projects that might pop up that are related to work in some way. I didn't ask anything specific as I was shuffling the deck, I just kept thinking "who am I now and where am I going?" So with that in mind...
What I don't realize is how far I'm willing to go for something, and how determined I am to overcome any obstacles I face. I also don't realize how capable I am to stand up for and defend myself against these things. I might have one last roadblock standing in the way of me reaching my goal, but when the time is right, I have the courage and determination that I don't know I have that will help me reach my goal.
Just as a disclaimer, I'm no tarot expert, but I do enjoy dabbling here and there. I still need to get the interpretations from books in order to do my readings, but today was the first time I was able to put it all together into something that makes sense to me. I kind of think that tarot readings should tell a story (I guess, depending on the reading), but I never really took the time to sit down and put all the meanings together to try and make sense of them until now. I think it went really well.
I used the "Who I am now and where I'm going" spread from The Tarot Bible by Sarah Bartlett (on pg 274 if you're interested), and I used Tarot Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis to help me do the interpreting. I could have cross-referenced with the Tarot Bible if I wanted to, which is what I normally do, but this time I didn't. Anyway, this is what my spread looked like once I flipped everything over:
Card 1 is in the middle of the spread, with card 2 turned sideways on top of it. Card 3 is in the top left-hand corner, card 4 is in the top right, and cards 5-7 are along the bottom, going from left to right. Card 1 is supposed to represent "who I am now", card 2 - "what I don't know about myself", card 3 - "What I need to relinquish", card 4 - "what I need to develop", card 5 - "what I'd love to become", card 6 - "current quest", and card 7 - "where it will lead me". This is how it played out:
In this reading 3 "rods" (in other decks they might be called "wands") came up, which is something I thought was significant, so it was one of the first things I looked at. I thought that the presence of many rods could suggest that this layout likely concerns business matters or career issues, especially pertaining to new ventures, enterprises or projects that might pop up that are related to work in some way. I didn't ask anything specific as I was shuffling the deck, I just kept thinking "who am I now and where am I going?" So with that in mind...
Card 1 - Who I am Now
So right now it would seem as though I'm in for a possible sudden and somewhat disruptive change - a change that could be dramatic and shocking - probably related to my job in some way - that may force me to question long-held beliefs or values and could shake the foundation of what I know to be 'true'. The card itself looks very unsettling, and when I flipped it over my first thought was "oh god". At least I have some warning though, right?
Card 2 - What I Don't Know About Myself
Card 3 - What I Need to Relinquish
What I need to give up or let go seems to be more of a person than a thing. This person is likely a male in some kind of a leadership or entrepreneurial role. He is a skilled communicator that is honest, trustworthy, and professional. He is also likely to be optimistic, fun-loving, passionate, and generous, but he may dislike details and is prone to hasty action.
Card 4 - What I Need to Develop
This was another card I kind of recoiled at when I flipped over. Normally it's not a very good card to get, as you can see from the image itself. In this case, however, I was having a lot of trouble figuring out how it made any sense in this point in reading, so I think that it may also be referring to a person rather than the qualities of the card. It could be suggesting that I need to develop more of a backbone, so-to-speak, and become less sensitive to criticism and the slights of others. It also could be that I need to develop a relationship with someone or help someone who is plagued by fear, guilt, doubts and worries that are to a large extent unfounded. It could be a person dealing with a problematic or difficult situation in which they feel their nightmares are becoming a reality.
Card 5 - What I'd Love to Become
Again, this is another card that most people hate to see pop up in a spread, but I really don't mind it at all. In this case, it seems as though it's more of a "what I'd like to see happen" than a "what I'd like to become" though, because I'm not sure that you can become change or transformation. Anyway, it seems like a situation might be coming to an end with a new one "dawning" so-to-speak. This card is all about endings and new beginnings, so a loss is possible (in this case, maybe a job) in order to make way for something new. A major change looks like it's about to take place - transformation is imminent.
Card 6 - Current Quest
It looks like my current quest is actually an opportunity or an invitation in which new relationships might play a role. There might be an offer that is hard to resist. This opportunity or invitation might lead me to "follow my dreams" or to "dream the impossible". It could be an offer that leads to new experiences.
Card 7 - Where it Will Lead Me
It looks like this "quest" will lead me to a successful enterprise, or to something in which I may end up a "career woman". There were a lot of qualities of this card that could very well represent me, but this card also had a lot of business success connotations attached to it.
So this was a very interesting reading for me. I got a lot of cards that are kind of jarring to see when they come up, but it doesn't seem as though it's all doom and gloom in this case. Kind of the opposite, really. I'm taking from this reading that it's very possible a dramatic career change could happen, with a positive outcome, but not without some "roadblocks" to surmount.
Stay tuned for a forthcoming update in which I plan to compare the 3 decks of tarot cards I own and why I chose each of them. Buenas noches, amigos!
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