Just a Quickie

I'm off to work very soon, but I figured I'd come back to update you on the altar situation.

I moved it to its permeant home after work yesterday, and at first I was so frustrated I was ready for a break down. After tweaking it this morning, and doing a little somthin' somthin', I feel a lot better about where it is.

Normally I don't like to have my altar in the bedroom if I can help it, but I like to burn incense and we have snakes and a gecko, so I couldn't do that where it was before, thusly, I moved it into a space where I could burn incense. Unfortunately it's really close to some wall outlets, and is in a spot that's prone to getting a bit messy from time to time. The mess-prone area I can work with to keep clean, but the wall outlets I can't get around. Like I said before though, I feel better about where it is now that I've put myself into it a bit.

Here's a few updated photos for your enjoyment...or not. Maybe you don't like photos. Maybe you don't like altars...I dunno. Anyway, here they are.

Still similar to what I had before, but I added a bit more me to it. The two statues on the top corners are of Ganesh (or Ganesha depending on who you ask), a popular Hindu deity said to be the remover of obstacles. I also have a small collection of Buddha statues that you'll see around my wooden incense burner. There's also a bottle of really old dried and crushed up flowers on there, I can't get into the story behind that right now because I really should get by butt off to work. 

Anyway, I'll hopefully be back tonight to add to this, or make a new post. Bye for now!

Altar Your Mind

I think it's important to have an altar set up to focus your practice. Many other non-pagan traditions use altars as well, so it's not just pagans that tend to keep them. They're great daily reminders and serve as a place where you can go to connect with the spiritual or divine. They can be really elaborate with lots of statues and tools, or they can be very simple and sparse depending on your situation. If you're in a place where you're uncomfortable letting on that you're pagan or, if you know it would be unwelcome knowledge, you can always make a shoebox altar. It's literally a shoe box filled with your stuff that you keep in your closet or under your bed, so that you can take it out and use it when you need it. Shoebox altars are also great because they're portable.

That being said, my altar needs some work. I've only recently just set it back up after not having had one in a few years. I think I'll end up moving it from its current spot, so I'm not going to get too involved with its layout until I know exactly where I'm keeping it. So far it's pretty simple. I tend to keep my working altar pretty simple anyway, because I feel like I can always dress it up more if the occasion calls for it. 

I'm also a fan of having one main altar where you do the majority of your workings, but also having multiple other mini altars set-up around your place. Maybe it's just a piece of your bathroom counter that's got a few sea shells and a candle, or maybe you've got a collection of statues arranged on a shelf somewhere. Those can be altars too, if the intent is there. 

So, as a part of that IDGAF thing I mentioned, here's a photo of what my altar looks like right now. 

Like I said, it's nothing spectacular, but it's something. I'll explain to you what I've got going on. On the floor is a small wooden sugar skull wall hanging I got last weekend (well, I guess it's been two weekends ago now). In the middle I have a rhodonite sphere, sitting on top of a slate pentacle. Directly above that is a bowl of sand for burning Japanese-style incense or resin incense on a charcoal, or small candles I don't have a holder for. Above that is a covered incense burner I use for burning traditional incense sticks. I have a framed print of a painting done by a local artist (and shaman) above that. To the right is a small metal chalice with a pentacle etched in it. Below the rhodonite sphere is a sweet grass soy candle, and below that is my athame. I've got a pinecone, tingshaws, a lighter, and a small glass bottle representing the four elements surrounding the stuff in the middle. 

This is what a typical everyday altar looks like for me - representation of the four elements, some candles, my athame, an incense burner, and some form of representation of deity. I'll usually switch it up if I'm doing something more specific or add more stuff when it's close to a holiday. 

Anyway, that's it from me for now. I'll probably check back with an altar update when I move my altar to it's more permanent home. 

A New Direction

So over the next 6 months I will be reading at least 6 pagan-esque books, and I will be using this space to talk about what I'm reading and my thoughts on those books. I will also be using this space to blog about stuff I'm doing for that IDGAF project I mentioned last night. I can't say much about it just yet, but hang tight and then I'll explain what I'm doing a bit more. For now though, things may seem kind of random and out of the blue, so just bare with me.

I'd just like to put it out there that, because I didn't start this until right now, it doesn't mean that today was my first day starting things, but just that it wast the first day of me realizing that I could use this space for this purpose.

I started reading my first book last Friday (Feb 28), and what I've read so far I've really enjoyed. I'll see what I can do to set up a page for that specific book, and the subsequent books I read, just so stuff isn't quite as all over the place on this "main page". I've gotta run for now!

The Winds of Change

I am writing this post to let you know that my blog will be taking a different direction from here on out.

Instead of a place to come and write the random musings I have from time to time, I'm starting a new project called IDGAF, and I will be using this space to blog about it. I may write random stuff from time to time, but by and large, my blog will now consist of personal views and thoughts about this IDGAF project, which is still pagan-y related. You may notice a tonal shift and a shift in the way I write, but that comes along with the territory. I hope you've enjoyed what I've had to say thus far, and I hope you are able to continue along if you're still interested.

Embracing the darkness

Now that Samhain is behind us, we're officially into the dark half of the year.

In my small section of the world it's gotten really chilly in the past week. It's time for us to get out the hats, scarves, and gloves, and put away the lighter jackets in favour of the warmer ones. We've been having frosty mornings that turn into frosty afternoons, where warm drinks and hearty meals help to take the chill out. Although the time just "fell" back an hour, the fleeting light I get to experience at the end of my work day will continue to become more and more dark as the weeks go on, and instead of greeting the sun at the bus stop near my house every morning, I won't get to say hi to it until I get to work.

The dark half of the year is a time for introspection. When we can take a step back and do some inner work. While I think this is important for everyone to grow and evolve, I also think that stepping out into the darkness is equally important. Challenge yourself in some way during this time, and I think you'll find it can be quite rewarding.

The "group" that I work with recently discovered an unsettling presence at our regular outdoor ritual spot. Someone else has been using the same space as us, and while we are normally more than happy to share (as the more people that use the space the more energy that goes into it), whoever it was did not have kind intentions. This left us feeling very unsettled, anxious, and jittery, almost with a sour taste in our mouth.  While I understand not every ritual or working is going to be all love and light, this was beyond that. It was putrid, and it makes me wonder what the hell someone was doing that would leave something so disgusting behind. Not wanting to give our spot over to whoever was doing that, we fought fire with fire, in a manner of speaking, so that the space feels much lighter now. Hopefully it will be back to a more usable condition soon, but I can't help myself questioning what happened there. Maybe it's best not to question these things...but whatever it was, was ugly.

Embracing your dark side doesn't mean conjuring stuff you don't understand, or hexing someone that called you fat at work, but it doesn't mean being all love-y either. Pure white light is a reflection of all the colours where as darkness absorbs them all - to be able to understand the light you must also understand the dark. You can do something terrible with the best of intentions, but you can also do something amazing even though your intent might be ill seeded. Remember the balance of things and be safe as you delve into the unknown. There will always be a light to guide you, all you have to do is remember to light it.

Samhain: Celebrating "the Mighty Dead" and pissing off Christians at the same time

Samhain is almost upon us, and over the past few weeks (well, month, really) I've been in a very nostalgic and reflective sort of mood. I get like that this time of year...

My grandmother passed away about 15 years ago, and not a day goes by that I don't think of her. I often catch myself wondering what she would think if she could see certain world events, meet the people that are in my life now, or go on the trips that I've been on. I often take heed of Albus Dumbledoor's advice, "it does not do to dwell on dreams, and forget to live". Thanks to that lovely reminder, I often don't dwell on these things and I usually just let them pass as they come up, but sometimes it's hard not to, especially around this time of year.

I find it interesting that other cultures always celebrate their dead, not just at any specific time of year but all the time, and yet here, once they're gone we seem to forget about them. Now I know, that's certainly not always the case, but by and large I think it's something us North Americans tend to do. Passing by a graveyard, you'll typically see lots of flowers and such decorating the graves of loved ones, but you'll often notice there are quite a few barren, old, and forgotten looking ones too. I think that Samhain reminds us to remember those who have gone before us, and I think it's a very important time of year for that specific reason.

It irrks me when I overhear people at stores saying how they "don't believe in Halloween". I get that many people are religious Christians and that those people think that Halloween is Satan's holiday and that everyone partaking in the events of halloween will enjoy eternal damnation. I'm sorry, but children dressing up in costumes and going door-to-door for candy plays no part in summoning the fallen angel himself. At the same time, children dressing up in costumes and going door-to-door for candy have no part in celebrating their dead relatives, in much the same way that putting up a christmas tree, writing letters to Santa, and giving butt loads of presents to one another doesn't really celebrate the birth of Jesus. Sure there are people that know how these traditions evolved to become what they are today, but the general population don't know these things. They just do it because that's what you do. I'm sure that if I went into a mall at Christmas time and said that I don't believe in Christmas, I would get he dirtiest looks around, but when people say the same thing about Halloween no one batts an eye. I hate the stigma around Halloween, and unfortunately it is what it is. If I went up to those people in that store and told them what Halloween evolved from, I doubt that they'd re-think their hate-on for the holiday because no one takes it seriously. It probably shouldn't bother me as much as it does when I overhear people saying that, but I can't help it. It's like someone is trash-talking one of my most sacred holidays and I get really defensive. I know I shouldn't take it personally, but I sometimes I wish that I had pamphlets made up and ready to go so that I can educate the masses.  Anyway, moving on...

I also find it interesting that Samhain follows closely behind our Thanksgiving, because I notice myself being even more thankful than I normally am for things. Thankful for the people I have in my life, for those that have breezed in and out of it, so to speak, and for those that are no longer on this earthly plane. Not just thankful for people though, but also for my situation in life. I'm not the most wealthy person around, I'm actually quite the contrary, but I have a full-time job and somehow I'm always able to pay the bills on time, and I have a roof over my head. I'm happily married (which is something I never thought would happen), and I have the best friends and family a person could ever hope for. I've seen things that some people never get the chance to see in a lifetime, and I've been places that I never thought I'd get to be in. I have it pretty damn good, and I feel like I owe the universe something for having provided me with this lot in life, but I find myself coming up short with ideas. I typically just send out as much gratitude as I possibly can and hope that it can scratch the surface.

I never used to view Samhain as the actual new year, but for the past couple of years I've been treating that way. It seems as though I become more reflective in the fall, and it also seems as though I get recharged somehow. When September hits its as if I get a breath of fresh air, and the stagnation I'd been feeling all summer clears up. I start looking forward to the projects I'd like to start or the things I'd like to accomplish. It wasn't until the last year or two that I realized this pattern in myself, but now that I have, everything makes more sense to me. Yes January 1st is just the new year on paper, but November 1st feels like the start of a new year to me. I feel like there are other people out there that feel like this but that don't realize it.

So, I leave you with these thoughts, as I hold my glass in a toast to the "mighty dead" (as Christopher Penczak so aptly put it). Hats off to a "New Year", and Happy Samhain everyone!  

On Religious Differences

Religion fascinates me. That's one of the reasons I ended up majoring in Religious Studies in university (I double majored, English was my other one). Some people that were taking the program with me started to question their beliefs during their studies, but others just found them reaffirmed. For me, the courses I took allowed me to diversify my own beliefs and better understand those of others. It also taught me how to apply the teachings of others to my own practice. 

Christianity. Many pagans would cringe at the thought of sitting through a Christian service, and although I'm not clamouring to go to one, I wouldn't refuse if I had the opportunity. I find it very interesting what is "discussed" during these masses. The ones that I have had to sit through, I've been able to apply to my own beliefs very easily. Perhaps the churches I went to had progressive pastors, but even the talk of sin and sinning was able to be repopulated in my brain to suit my needs. It could also be the fact that I'm inherently critical of just about everything, so I tend to ask a lot of questions before I accept or believe something. I think that humanity as a whole should be more like this but I digress...

What I'm saying is that if you find yourself in a situation where you feel like you can't possibly have anything in common with what's being preached spiritually, think about it for a moment. Try replacing the words with vocabulary that suits your needs (gods/goddesses instead of God), or try taking the overarching theme or issue and see how it applies to what you do. This won't work in all cases, but I bet you'd be surprised at what you can make work. 

Take the idea of original sin, for example. I absolutely hate everything about this concept. You mean to tell me that baby that's been out of the womb for all of 12 hours is a sinner and needs to repent? Yeah right, buddy. Anyway, what I take from this concept is that there is inherent "good" and "bad" or light and darkness in all of us, and the world around us influences us as to how we develop these things. I don't think that anyone is inherently bad, but I do believe that everyone has the potential to be serial killer...it's just how you internalize the world around you that determines the likelihood of this happening. 

What spawned this particular "discussion" is that one of my co-workers is very religious. She was raised a Catholic, and although she's not as "rigid" as her parents, she still goes to church regularly and observes things like lent and ash wednesday. We have meaningful discussions from time to time, and I find that while we have two very different sets of belief systems, we are able to reconcile lots of stuff. She's actually one of the only people that I feel completely comfortable talking about my spirituality to, because I know she doesn't think I'm crazy. It's kind of funny that...