What's in a Name?

I still haven’t figured out a satisfying response I can use to answer the question, “What religion are you?”

My problem?

After several months, I think I’ve made a lot of progress on finding something that works for me - but I’m not really sure what I’d call it.

The way things work right now, I’ve learned a lot about some common divination systems (dowsing, Tarot and Runes) but I use them for introspection - not telling the future.

I’ve learned to have a certain amount of affection for various plants (I now have a favorite birch tree in a nearby park) but I don’t feel that they can actually talk to me in any verbal sense, though I sometimes feel like I’m getting some sort of response to my presence near them.

I celebrate the Sabbats - the equinoxes and solstices, and the cross-quarter holidays that come between them. I honor the concept of the God and Goddess, but when I do, I’m honoring the idea of them inside myself. I do not get the sense that there are actually any gods or goddesses watching over me or controlling my fate.

I’ve definitely found what feels like a home in Paganism - getting closer to the earth, being more nature aware, being more in tune with my body and my environment, and learning to be more empathetic towards the people around me are all things I’ve found to be encouraged under the umbrella of Pagan beliefs. I’ve found a lot of encouragement to research not only spirituality, but art, history, culture and literature. Still, I’ve run into a lot of stuff that mixes the religious aspects of what I’ve found with what feels like a lot of metaphysical fluff.

Lately I’ve been calling myself a Pagan - but is it possible to be Pagan, but worship no gods? To practice rituals without believing in magic?

Little Black Book

There’s been so much I’ve been learning lately - new and wonderful traditions, seasonal celebrations, songs, rhymes, facts and myths - aside from this blog, how am I supposed to keep track of it all? Many Wiccan traditions call for a Book of Shadows for either personal or group use. A BOS is much like a journal, but instead of just writing down thoughts and feelings, you record important dreams, rituals, spells and other relevant information. You can put down things like recipes for celebration meals, different teas you drink and how you react to them, botanical information, and astrological charts. Whatever you might deem as important to your path gets recorded. It’s a very personal book, though when shared among a group or coven, it incorporates input from everyone. Wiccans aren’t the only ones that do this - having a book for keeping track of your spiritual growth is a habit encouraged in many paths.

Dreaming of Halloween

I had another one of my strange dreams last night. It was kind of funny to me in that it was seasonally appropriate.

I was walking alone at night, down a small paved road with trees on either side. There were bright lights strung up all around - orange, white and yellow. All the trees were beautiful shades of red and orange.

There was a cottage at the end of the path, decorated with fall wreaths, Indian corn, pumpkins, squash, etc. I knew that I was supposed to go in, so I did.

Inside, the house was decorated for Halloween, and there were bowls of candy out. I didn’t see them at first, but there were a bunch of other women in the house with me - some little girls, some teenage girls, some women (who I somehow knew were the mothers of the children) and a very old woman who seemed to be in charge of everyone. EVERYONE was wearing a costume - the little girls were dressed mostly as fairies and imps, and older girls were dressed mostly in fantasy costumes - goddesses, witches, queens, etc. Everyone was laughing and working on small crafts, or cooking.

But something strange was going on in the back of the main room.

The Autumn Equinox

 The trees are changing, the weather is getting colder, harvest season is wrapping up. Now is the time for cider and donuts, apple mills and hayrides. For pagans, yesterday was Mabon, a cross quarter holiday on the wheel of the year for Wiccans. It's a sort of thanksgiving.

It’s the time of ‘second harvest,’ and it’s themes center around harvest fruits. An apt symbol of this celebration is the Horn of Plenty, but most things associated with this season - gourds, pumpkins, squash, corn, grapes, apples - are fitting. In relation to nature, it’s appropriate to go out for a walk and bid good rest to the trees which are now getting ready for winter… as are most animals.

Birds are gathering to fly south, and mammals prepare their burrows for the cold to come. It’s a time to honor our aging family and friends, and to celebrate not only the bounty of harvest but the rewards of our own personal efforts. All in all, this is the time in which we reap what we sow, and give enjoy all that is good in our lives.

Making a pentacle

Still being in the process of accumulating the tools for a proper altar, one of the things I decided to make myself was a clay pentacle. I made a dish for the purpose in my ceramics class, but as I was decorating it, I became self conscious of people seeing it.

Would they think it was a pentagram (satanic) and just assume instead of asking? Would they see it and just assume that I was a long practicing Wiccan? What sort of judgments would people make just looking at it - if any at all?

One guy in my class, noticing that I was using a compass to draw a pentacle, perked up and mentioned that he used to draw them for some friends all the time - and then asked if I was "Into wiccanism or that Odin stuff." I said no, that I was just looking into earth religions, and he nodded, returning to his work - a beer stein with a skull and vines on it.
"That's cool," he replied. "I have a lot of friends into wicca or whatever."
He was oddly immature - being in his early 30's, he dressed and talked a lot like a teenager. It made me question what associations I might attach to myself allowing my interests to be more visible. It also made me question myself.

Making a witch bottle

Witch bottles are bottles/orbs/jars what have you that are meant to trap negative energies, curses (or maybe even astral projecting witches!) inside, and then destroy them either via the items/potion inside, or by the light of day. A witch bottle found in England made the news on the netterwebs recently - a traditional sort filled with all sorts of nasties, such as bent nails... and urine.

More after jump.

Tools and Supplies (pt 1)

A lot of different practices call for a lot of different tools (necessary or not for practice). For instance, Christians don't need a church, or pews, or a crucifix to pray or be Christian - but a good number of them go to churches anyway, partially for the fellowship, partially to feel closer to God, whatever reasons. Smaller, more personal physical items are sometimes carried - things like Rosaries, or a more open term, Prayer Beads.

A few months back, I made a Buddhist prayer mala. 108 beads with 4 markers splitting it into sections of 27, with a 'guru' bead at the bottom, and a tassel. I also added 3 removable counters that attach to the mala - two strands with counters (10 ea) and a little bead on a silver clasp that sits between beads on the ma la.

(The pictures aren't mine)
Holding the mala in either one or both hands, I say a mantra (Om Mani Pedme hum) and for every mantra I pass a bead. For every full round (108) mantras, I slide up a bead on the counter on the left. Every time all 10 beads on the left get slid up, a counter on the right goes up. For every 10 counters on the right, the little clasp moves over one bead.

When the clasp has gone all the way around, that's 1 million mantras. "But wait!" You say. "That math is all wrong!" Well, not quite. Every time I do a round, it only counts as 100. Why?

Every time I say a mantra, it's supposed to give me good karma, or spiritual merit. The last 8, however, are donated to the world, to everyone around me. When the 1 million mantras have been said, I dedicate the practice - once again - to everyone. As of this post, I've reached 31,500 mantras for myself. It'll be sometime before I reach my goal. You might wonder how much time I devote to this, or what the point of it is, but it's not something I do constantly - it's for moments of quiet, meditation - something for when my hands are bored at the movies, or when I'm just relaxing. In other words, for moments of peace... like a physical prayer.

In any case, the point of today's post (before I started rambling on about beads) was that I'm still looking for my tools. Since I'm looking into Wicca right now, I'm looking for the tools I'd use on my altar (Cauldron, Chalice, etc). I'll be heading out to a local gift shop, and some thrift stores in a bit - pictures if I find anything good.


UPDATE

A fruitful hunt! The gift shop uptown was closed today for whatever reason, but a trip to the local Salvation Army and The Goodwill resulted in a small incense burner, and a metal mixing bowl. Not for a cauldron, mind you, but a singing bowl!

I'll post another vid as soon as I find a better striker. As for the burner -

The picture makes it look huge, but it's only about 3" tall. Still, this size is normally around $11 at a store. Oh, and the bowl? A genuine singing bowl of the same size is normally over $100. Both the bowl and the burner ran me about $3. I love thrift shops.

Up and Running

I've been meaning to get this blog up for a couple months now, so here it finally is. Over the past year, I've been mostly looking into Vodun/Voodoo/Hoodoo, and brushed up a bit on Buddhism. Right now, I'm looking into more 'earth' based religions, specifically, Wicca.

Just the other day, August 1st, I celebrated "Lammas" with my boyfriend - First Harvest, the end of Summer and the very beginning of Fall. According to what I've read about the Wiccan faith, a time to celebrate the bounty of the earth, to consider regrets from the past year, and to begin gathering the fruits around you.

I don't exactly live on a farm, but there is a nice field nearby, and a very nice garden which I've been invited to share. I collected little bouquets of Queen Anne's Lace, Wormwood, mint, tansy and Rosemary, for use later*, and in the evening we made harvest bread. I just used regular dough with chopped up herbs and garlic kneaded in. The dough was a bit thick and I didn't feel like making little figures or separate rolls, so I just made it into a braided loaf. We shared the first two bites, and celebrated being together for the past six months. We also celebrated looking forward to future harvests. Overall, it was a very nice day, and a nice 'holiday.'


For those of you questioning the collection of the toxic plants (Wormwood and Tansy), they're not for consumption - their for use in gris-gris/mojo bags and satchels. Some might dismiss it as superstition, but I like making and carrying these at times, putting them under a pillow, or putting them in a drawer with my clothes. If nothing else, it sure makes things smell nice.