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!
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