Friday, December 21, 2012

Waves

 
My heartbeat echoes in my ears, sending waves of hot blood coursing madly through my body
Flushed and poised, waiting, on each wave a new breath.
New life, new moment, potential at the point of the infinite now.
 
I hear the ocean rolling, healing waters,
Beating the beach, like hoofbeats across the sand.
Dragging back down and under the surface
Hip rolls in cycle, a dance of fluidity, poise and grace
Till snapping to a tension,
And a rest held a cycle of beats.
 
Tides of dreaming, hope, and desire.
Future actions joining the past’s longings
Patterns build glowing stronger
Merging till a new wave pours forth.




Happy New Year!  Happy New Age! 

Need a tarot reading? I'm available for a reading.
Like this type of musings? You'd love my book too which is just back in stock now

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Yod


 
What does a flame need to burn in this world?
 
A strong base in the earth of fuel
Air to as a vehicle to feed the flame upwards
An initial spark to ignite it and a bit of tending to maintain it

Ever upwards it reaches toward spirit, toward unity with flames nearby
Sacred smoke of earth and air
Sacred flame of fire and earth

Warm us within and light our way,
On the path toward brilliance,
Fiery breath of life, speak your creation.

Need a tarot reading?  I'm available for a reading
Like this type of musings?  You'd love my book too which is just back in stock now

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Breaking Free from Prisons of the Mind

It's been a busy week.  I've very excited to have the top featured article on Witchvox this week.  Check it out!

This article was originally inspired by a conversation I had with Ivo Dominguez Jr. on his blog post on chosen belief that you can read here.  He challenged me to try to break down the ideas a bit further.  His blog is great, you should check it out every Wednesday.


New shipments my book of Ecstasy in Shadow are in stock, just in time for the holidays, (yay!) and the Between the Worlds Conference where I'll be teaching about the book in my 27th Path workshop.


If you're looking to get a tarot reading, let me know!  I always start my new year with one.

Blessed be!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Cloud Atlas and Some Nights by Fun


What the mass media doesn’t understand they always seem to label as shallow, falling short of epic, and pretentious, not to mention boring.  However, I have found that whenever critics review albums and movies this way, I should probably be making a bee line toward it and will take to the story and theme like a fish to water.  This concerns me because it is much easier to miss a diamond in the rough than all the plethora of fools’ gold out there because such works so quickly go into obscurity having been missed by the masses.  I have two examples this month of popular artistic expressions that go a little deeper than the average work out there.

 

1.        Cloud Atlas


I raced to the this movie in the midst of power outages because I normally end up missing movies like this one.  The last one I missed of this ilk was the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.  The symbolism of this movie is very deep.  Critics have complained that it is both overly complicated as well as being boring and pretentiously sentimental. 


I was hoping that much like M Night Shayamalan’s Lady in the Water, the critics just didn’t get it.  I was so right. 

 

This movie has so many layers of symbolism, foreshadowing, and underlying themes, you must be a very active participant through its 3 hours.  For example, fire opals keep showing up in the different time lines, and then even a screenshot of the earth in the sky alludes back to the glowing blue gem.  What is an opal, up a stone used in the uncovering of past lives as well as a hydrophobic crystal that is mostly made of water.  What are we, what is the earth, but a gem of mostly water, moving through time in cycles that never end?

 

People change sexual orientations, gender, even the nature of their humanity or non-humanity, both corporal and discorporate, throughout the film.  The themes go so much further than love and relationships but also delve into the nature of society, status, humanity, freedom, responsibility, and destiny. 

 

I hope to see it again this weekend and plan to add this epic to my collection.  I look forward to reading the book as well.  I commend the makers and actors that made such an endeavor happen.  These are the messages and hopes much like the themes in the Matrix and Avatar, that need to be exposure to greater society.  Maybe a few more people will remember their multitudes of pasts and believe in the possibilities for their futures.

 

2.       Some Nights by Fun


What?  A pop song in a major key with a marching snare drum as well as traditional African backbeats?  That’s different.  Oh, and you even add some major symbolism in the lyrics and vocals that speak to people on more than one level?  That’s fabulous!  That also means that the critics will not understand it and say that it has a weak hook.  http://thevine.com.au/music/news/number-ones-fun-some-nights/ 

 

I want more out of life than a catchy hook.  I am always looking for the next anthem, the next cause, the chords of my heart that make singing and dancing in the rain and fighting the good fight worth it.  Some Nights does this. 

 

The song is in a major key and a march not because it is a “happy” song.  Think about why marches were written!  The tradition of the march has been for thousands of years to impassion the hearts of fearless, naive young men to run valiantly into battle and often to a gruesome, early demise.  This is the balance between battle rage and standing for a cause.  This is the distance between the national anthem and the pledge of allegiance and how our government is run by politicians.  This song is for some much more than teenagers heartbroken, confused, and looking for meaning to life.  This is the human song of us all, children of the earth - children of the stars!  This is the story of war, mistakes, heartbreak, loss, joy, love, all at the same time, pulling on our heartstrings, causing tears, struggle, and ecstasy.  The way the vocals go from staccato peals to the wordless high register cries to gentle humming, further illustrates the dynamic extremes of emotional tides we all experience when we are fully engaged in the base aspect of living our lives.

 

As far as the music video goes, I expected the war imagery from this march anthem.  The imagery here is not a dissonance and a strange contradiction but a graphic representation of the struggle for life and the struggle for a life worth living and loving. 

 

Stars above me, the cold dark ground below me, the snare drum and the cries of my comrades in my ears, my blood flows through my veins and in my heart is a song.  Onward.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

You Can Never Truly Know Someone

A few months ago my dad mentioned to me that you never know someone.  We were going to Porgy and Bess on Broadway and my mother was thrilled because she had all the songs memorized from the LP she had in high school, but had never seen the play.  It was her 65th birthday and she was so happy to finally see it.  Even after 35 years of being with her, my father never knew she cared so much about that particular play.  In fact, he hadn’t known how important or integral a part of my mother’s childhood musicals were.  Yet, he was the one that took her to her first Broadway show.  “See?” he says, “It just goes to show, all these years and there is always still more to learn about someone.” 

We navigate through our lives in solitary forms of flesh, bone, and blood.  Love brings us together, unites us, and gives us momentary opportunities to reach closer to the All.  Every moment we have the opportunity to reach out and touch the minds and hearts of others, joining solitary universes with each encounter.  Only through remembering who we are as a species and as communities and societies can we find evolution. 

I was floored to find out that in the past few days, as Northern NJ has started to get power service, stop lights, gas, and grocery stores back up and running, that people are driving much more aggressively than normal and are very angry.  In this of all times, why aren’t they reaching out to help people and have greater patience and care in a stressful, tiring situation?  On the other hand, many have reached out in support, offering real help in real ways. 

Like in ritual, where all actions gain greater meaning and have greater outcomes, at times of great stress, our actions and fortitude make a greater impact in the world.  We live in interesting times.  Who are you reaching out to?  How are you making a difference?  This is in a fact a test of your metal.  I hope mine will prove to be the strength of iron balanced with steadfastness of tin; striving for a heart of gold. 

Blessed be.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Walking through Mirrors

*Alice Through The Looking Glass
Guildford Castle secret garden, Guildford, United Kingdom
Picture by Stuart Chalmers

Shifting brainscapes and the fluttering wings of dreams
The mirrors glisten brightly in your eyes
The gateway opens and again I am falling down the Rabbit hole,
to shoot to the moon, the sky arrow dances.

Magick is afoot.  Join me! Come to the dance and walk between the Lions of Yesterday and Tomorrow.


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Wandering through Dream’s Gardens

Through the sonic waterfall, over rainbows, and under the arch of darkness I pass

To a land of treasures, magick, and danger.
Many a slipper wears thin upon my dancing feet,
In this land with dew drops like diamonds
and pearls that ping like bells as they scatter and strike against the cool stone floor.

I stir upon dawn’s horse, wearing gold and pink opals
Dazzling like the painted sky, the mockingbird’s dressing gown.
With sleep in my eyes and star dust in my soul,
Still sleeping upon waking,
Of Memory’s past, present, and future dreams.

Upon this dark, lonely sea, live spangled stars and bitter tears.
Now and then my hand brushes like undine’s well thrown wishes,
With another’s hand for a moment,
Scented of deep musk and heady myrrh;
The sword’s edge of impatient longing, wait,
Until a bloody cry heralds Time briefly, then burns into nothing.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

A Cultured Pearl

At Mabon I promised to be a sky arrow. The brightly shining, movement of purpose, golden, shooting across the sky, boldly flying toward the aimed goal—a thought, a word, a sound of meaning shooting across the sky.

Today a thought popped in my head, that I am becoming a cultured pearl. I was a piece of grit in an oyster in the mud. Through the trials, jostling, scrapes, and irritations of change, travel, and life lessons, that little piece of grit started to transform. Year after year, layers of shiny, smooth pearl casings have encapsulated and enhanced that grit. The bit of sand, in the mouth of an oyster becomes a pearl.

Margaret, the name from which my name is a derivative, means pearl. In this case though, the struggle has not been bad karma or even by chance. The struggles and lessons have been a part of the plan for without the irritation acting as the stimulus for the oyster, the pearl cannot be created. In oyster farming, the grit is implanted in the oyster to ensure the production of pearls.

Pearls are associated with Binah, the former of form, the giver of life and death. The pearl and its many layers are shells within shells, like the nesting doll form of an aura, the orbits of planets around suns, layers of atmosphere around planets, or even the electron shells of an atom. Amidst the great black womb of space, the shining, smooth, iridescence of a pearl emerges.

I know the mud
I know the sea
I know the sky
I shoot the bow of rain
I am a star falling, rising
And a cultured Pearl.




Monday, August 27, 2012

Faking Possession- A Deep Concern for the Pagan Community

I have noticed a disturbing trend in the Pagan festival scene of people manifesting symptoms similar to that of possession. These incidences crop up in several different ways and all of them are damaging to Pagan community. I hope this article will raise to a greater awareness the issues of false possession so that we can act as a community to lessen the negative effects of these occurrences with calm action, rationality, and a unified responsibility toward the community for which we care so much.



For many years, I shied away from pubic trance-possession and fet rites. This was not because I had any issue at all with the African diaspora religions, but because there seemed to be both a chaotic atmosphere to them that attracted the less stable folks of our community. Furthermore, until I did have some oracular, divine possession, and augury work under my belt, I was downright scared. I didn’t understand how the rite worked or what might not only come knocking on my head, but what might blast open my energetic front door and take up home during one of these rites. If I didn’t understand how a spirit might enter, how would I know how to get rid of it? No Ma’am, thank you very much!



I kept most of these feelings to myself for many years, until recently. I did in fact have some training on divine possession and then became wary of the opposite; that I was distancing myself from the experience solely out of fear and limiting my exposure to something I should probably be aware of.



Therefore, I decided to go to a conjure dance and see what I could experience. I was there only to observe, kept myself grounded, my shields up, and tightly caped my upper chakras (the crown, the nape of the neck, and the transpersonal chakra) those chakras are used in divine possession work. I then decided to groove off the drums and really get into the spirit of the ritual so that I could be a part of it and get the most out of the experience. I danced and danced, which is one of my joys in life. I was astonished to see, that as my energy built and expanded, that one of the guards became increasingly concerned that I might be possessed. I kept telling him that I was fine. Both my husband and one of my Tradition’s Elders were other guards and I knew that they were also looking out for my wellbeing. At one point, after assuring the guard I was fine, I told him that my husband was also looking out for me and not to worry about me.



Afterwards, I spoke with Ivo Dominguez, the aforementioned Elder of my Tradition about the subject. The answer I got was astonishing. I had often been worried about what was actually going on was not that I couldn’t see a possession happening. It was two other things in fact. One, most of the people that I had observed in the pan-Pagan conjure dance I had attended were high off the energy and ungrounded, but not in fact engaging in successful possession. The other thing was that he taught me how to discern the type of energy to be looking for to recognize an actual possession.



While these lessons were a great education to help me be involved in guardianship and energetic damage control roles, this did not explain the outcroppings of random possessions that happen both in rituals not designed for possession and outside of ritual. There is also a disturbing number of people who come to festivals and exhibit over-the-top attention seeking behavior. Such behavior could include inappropriate acting out in someone else’s ritual, hysterical mob behavior, inappropriate substance abuse during fire circles and rituals, and fake possession (whether in ritual or not).



Whether you have attended public rituals or have been a part of leading them at festivals and for the public, you will have experienced a range of strange behavior from inappropriate guests over the years. Part of learning ritual leadership not only includes how to deal with outside intrusions, crowd control, and helping engage ritual participants to flow with the energy and stay connected with the magick you are creating, but you unfortunately also learn how to minimize distractors and nuisances. Those who have led ritual over the years all have stories of “You wouldn’t believe what this person did in the ritual”. In the best scenarios, only the ritual leaders are aware of issues and the participants are left to their experience, unaware of such disturbances. In the worst cases, the public drama of the event disrupts attendees, stresses out organizers and medical staff, and scares children and newbies. If I had been an observer to some of the hysterics that happen at Pagan festivals early during my path, I would have hightailed it back to the mundane population and my engagement of the occult would have immediately ended. We are going to lose people that potentially might be our future leaders if we allow this ridiculous behavior to continue! This is why when people who are psychically sensitive see this sort of thing sometimes assume that all ritual and magick is a hoax. It is time to call out this behavior and have it stopped in a calm way that does not promote public drama and lead to gossip.



For organizers, instate internal protocols for how to handle social, psychological, medical/physical, and energetic emergencies. Know who is qualified to deal with all of those types of issues and properly diagnose and treat. Know where the limits of treatment are and when someone might need to be taken off site for medical care. It is dreadfully important to be able to tell the difference between diabetic shock, someone off their proscribed prescription meds, substance abuse, dehydration, ritual overload, and actual unwanted spirit possession. Be open about what is proper ritual etiquette and expected behavior of attendees. Finally, create a safe space for people with warding the festival/conference grounds and cleansing ritual and workshop spaces regularly.



After an event has occurred, empower yourself to set limits. If there are people with unstable mental conditions who are belligerent and cause major problems for your festival on a regular basis there is nothing wrong with deciding they should no longer attend your festival. Make sure that you know what qualifications you have to make these decisions and your organization has come to an official agreement. As a community we cannot encourage negative behavior by spending most of our attention addressing trouble makers. If crazy, drama queens get center stage at our events, we are de facto accepting such behavior. This is the image we are projecting to the world at large. It is up to us to cultivate our image as a sub-culture and group of valid, serious religions.



For ritual presenters and leaders, set protocol for safe rituals. Don’t do experimental ritual in public until you get stable results in private. Know what could happen in your rituals and make plans on how to deal with those situations. Remember the whole axiom of “don’t summon what you can’t put down”. If you are designing a ritual that might put people at risk, make sure they know those risks and make sure you can take everyone through a ritual safely, including aftercare. Finally, tell participants beforehand what you expect from them so that everyone is already on the same page to have safe space for their ritual experience and will also not be expecting or encouraging bad ritual behavior.



Now, if you are not an event organizer, how can you take responsibility? Look out for yourself, your family and your friends. If you notice your friends ungrounded, help them ground. Make sure that you are making extra effort to be hydrated. Use sunscreen for Goddess sake! Make sure you are eating proper nutrition when you need and take your maintenance medication. If you are in any sort of crisis, ask for help before you reach a critical moment. Sometimes your leaders, teachers, etc. will have a better grasp on what you probably need to help you work through something before an emergency arises.



I have been attending, participating, and leading ritual on a regular basis in this community for years now. I will attest that I have never had someone accidentally become possessed or spontaneously start drawing down or aspecting in a ritual. Divine possession is not an easy skill. It is much more likely for someone learning such techniques to have nothing happen that someone have something happen without meaning for it. I’m not saying it isn’t possible, but it is less likely. I would greatly discourage someone taking over, acting out, or going into a trance that the ritual was not designed for in a ritual I was leading. When I have had situations were someone’s energy is wildly out of control or disruptive, it is up to me and the other people leading ritual with me to help them energetically adjust and adapt so that they are going in the same direction as the rest of the group. In the worst case scenario, at least they would just not be a disturbance to the other participants.



Let’s all work on encouraging safe spaces and rituals and discouraging inappropriate behavior in our public events. We have a beautiful cadre of religions that are growing and maturing. Let’s make sure that we focus on the magick we are really trying to create and help to lessen immature, attention seeking histrionics. We all have to work together to stop frauds, fakes, and scary, disruptive situations.



Saturday, August 11, 2012

Why are you always so serious?

I tend to be an overly serious person, with a dry sense of humor that is bitter and acrid.  I was a serious, quite child too, probably with more of a sense of reality than was really good for me.

This week, this month, I look at my nature, my life so far and think to myself, "Well if I must be so damn serious, I should at least do it with a sense of purpose and solemn reverence. 

I hear my heartbeat, a march,
processing through time. 
Step two, three, four,
moving upward, moving onward,
into the future and over the horizon. 
 The dawn rises again,
and shines in my eyes.

We sweat, we cry, we bleed. 
We breath, we gasp, we yowl.

I tend the flame, and pull the weeds. 
I carry the burden of a heart vessel
spilling full of water. 

And today, I sit and keep time, silently with the earth. 
The stars turn somewhere in their obscurity. 

I reach up. 
I root down. 
The center is still,
and everything thing else buzzes around.


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Invocation to the Bornless One



Why do  I fear?
Why do I turn from the light that I look at the ground upon my own shadow?
Overshadow me! Bornless one, that I may see with true sight.
Spread your wings upon me that my soul my fly
that I see your shining face and know your Will.

Is it not the forest fires that opens the seed?
Is it not the storm that brings clear skies and rainbows?
For I have tread long enough in the darkness of the forest,
and seek the break of the sun, cresting over the mountain.

Satori, are you there?

...and her name is Hope.

-painting "Dawn of Hope" by Daniel Gerhartz

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Redefining Health, Fitness, and Beauty

For a long time I have been in a dilemma, because I am really short, stocky, and pale among other things that make me completely not fit in with the ideas of beauty in this society.  In the past 6 months I discovered Crossfit, and started redefining my ideas about strength, fitness, and my own fitness and body image. 

This week I decided to add in another approach.  For many years I've courted the idea of being really strong.  I admired strong, muscular women, and wanted to be like them and yet, never seemed to find the way in at the gym in the way that made sense.  In the past six months I went from being in pain and being lazy, being in horrible cardiovascular health, to being vibrant, stronger than I have ever expected, and having a strong physical balance in my core.  I love how I feel.  I feel alive!

And yet, something wasn't adding up.  I eat decently to begin with, and yet, I weight almost as much as I ever have and am not getting thinner.  My body proportions have changed a lot in the past 6 months.  In fact, I've lost 2 inches off my chest, waist, and hips.  I've probably lost close to that off my thighs as well.  My ankles look different too.  My wedding photos from less than a year ago look soft and round to me.  And yet, I wasn't getting smaller, quite the opposite in some ways.  My pant size is the same and my weight is the same.  I am looking at maybe starting to wear men's tailored shirts and altering the waist in order to have room for my biceps, shoulders, and back.

So I started looking at photos.  Here I was feeling strong, and fit, and proud of myself, and wondering why my reflection still looked so far off from any idealized form of feminine beauty I could lay hands on.

This week it occurred to me.  I was looking at all the wrong photos.  I needed to look at Olympians, bodybuilders, and Oxygen Magazine.  A new world opened to me.  Suddenly my legs started looking strong, not bulky.  My back is stable, not wide.  I took it a step further and tried to find some inspirational photos from someone my height.  At 5'1", it's hard for me to find what might make sense for my build.  I found Maribel Dominguez.  She's 5'1", 40 years old, lives in NJ, and weighs 135 pounds.  Ha!  a real weight goal for me! I think she looks amazing. 

See Maribel Dominguez here


I won't look like a professional bodybuilder, ever, doing the amount of physical exercise I'm currently doing, but I can still maybe adopt the adage that "Strong is the new skinny".   Looking at women who have muscles and workout, my body doesn't look weird.  It just looks untrained.

We all need to be active and conscious about how we identify with our culture and the messages we get from the media and our peer, etc.  The issue however, is just like in energetic healing, unless you replace a void with a new thing to fill it, it remains a void.  That void then attracts something else.  This is where the saying that nature abhors a vacuum comes to mind.  Without deciding what to fill that void with, it is very hard to actually change perceptions and habits moving away from the old and towards the new.  

Maribel will be mine for now.  Just because most jackets and T-shirts are too tight in the arms doesn't mean I'm a freak.  It means I'm healthy and strong and clothing styles assume I'm a weakling.  Just because a focus toward health and athleticism is a minority in this culture doesn't mean I'm obsessed, it means I'm healthy and the bell curve needs to shift.  It's time for us all to wake up and build the Earth of our bodies, the salt of our being in a way that will move toward longevity and vitality.

Remember the work is in the mundane.

Blessings. 


The Circle is the Beginning of Magick

My coven is hosting a Circle Casting Extravaganza on August 4th and 5th.

Weekend intensive hosted by Order of the World Tree, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Order-of-the-World-Tree-Assembly-of-the-Sacred-Wheel/233311536732463 a coven in the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel. This workshop is presented by Ivo Dominguez Jr., author and an Elder of the Assembly. The workshop will run 8/4 & 8/5 10am-5pm with the Coven's Lammas ritual at 6pm on Sunday.

Cost: $60 if paid no later than August 1st,
$75 at the door (cash only)

Preregistration: May be sent by check to:
Order of the World Tree,
PO Box 665, Ridgefield Park NJ

Or by Paypal to owt@sacredwheel.org. (Email if you need an invoice to pay from)

To RSVP: Email Maggi Setti at owt@sacredwheel.org or call 201-655-4785 for more details.

The casting of the circle is the beginning of ritual and magic in many Wiccan and Pagan traditions and the beginning is always important. In fact, the energetic container provided by the circle casting greatly determines the qualities and characteristics of the ritual experience and efficacy. Do not underestimate the impact of a strong and coherent circle casting that is tuned to the specific work that you are about to undertake.

In this workshop we will explore the process of circle casting, the nature of the Quarters, the 4 Elements, the 3 Modalities, and nuances that are often left out in most training. Whether you are a beginner or an old hand this workshop will provide you with useful insight and techniques. There will be a mixture of both theory and practice. If you have a wand or an athame, please bring it (or both). If not, there will be a few available on loan for the exercises.The workshop will also cover techniques to awaken and to raise the power that is required to actually create sacred space. Perfectly spoken invocations and moving with grace and ease are not enough. You must actually become a conduit for the energies required to take us between the worlds and you must shape them with your will.

Bio:
Ivo Domínguez, Jr. is a visionary, and a practitioner of a variety of esoteric disciplines who has been active in Wicca and the Pagan community since 1978. He serves as one of the Elders of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, a Wiccan syncretic tradition that draws inspiration from Astrology, Qabala, the Western Magickal Tradition and the folk religions of Europe. He is the author of Casting Sacred Space: The Core Of All Magickal Work; Spirit Speak: Knowing and Understanding Spirit Guides, Ancestors, Ghosts, Angels, and the Divine; Beneath the Skins with other books in the pipeline as well. He is also is one of the owners of Bell, Book, & Candle (http://www.bellbookandcandle.biz/), Delaware's largest metaphysical shop. More information is available at http://www.ivodominguezjr.com/.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Published article to be released in August on Witches and Pagans Magazine!

In August I have an article titled "beyond the Written Page" that will be published by Witches and Pagans magazine. The only way to see this e-article is by subscribing to Witches and pagans magazine.  You will then receive their subscribers only enewsletter including my article  
The article is about all the things in magick that you just can't learn from books and the underlying truths of making magick and learning the craft.
Subscribe now so you catch the web article in August!  Make sure you mention that you wanted to catch Maggi Setti's article so she knows where the business came from!
Subscribe to Witches and Pagans Magazine here.
Blessed be!  (and squee!  LOL)


Monday, July 9, 2012

Love, love and love some more

In the current affairs, we find ourselves in a battle of ideologies.  The open intolerance of people is polarizing every aspect of their lives.  Those of us that think about our choices and allow ourselves the reasons for our actions are caught in the rift between the power struggle. 

Most of my lessons in the past couple of years have been about love.  Could it be that all lessons are about love?  My heart beats to the tune of acceptance, tolerance, respect, and love.

 When I was a child, I tried to live as Jesus would have wanted people to; acceptance, tolerance, and love.  It felt right.  In the end, it was the backstabbing, hypocrisy, politicking, and pettiness that that led me from the church and toward a direction connection with God.  I found love, God's love.  I found equality and acceptance for myself.  I found steadfast constancy.  I found that my gender, my sexuality, the  truth of my being was a beautiful strong light that people see and look up to.  That light shines no matter what. 
It is through letting our love show, and living our love that others can afford the freedom to also pursue love.  Love is never ending, it will never run out.  It is the only thing that can fight the fear and insanity of the rest of the world. 

I reach toward love and Unity.  I reach toward the light of my God Soul and the light of God beyond that.  Above me is Beauty, Wisdom, and Understanding.  And today, my soundtrack will be the heartbeat drum, beating for love.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Crystallization

I shift I move I glide I dance
And now in the darkness I wait for the dawn.

It seems that Pluto always has some other challenge for me. On a Path where I asked for accelerated growth, evolution, and change, I find that the dust has barely settled from one challenge before the next is upon me. In a way, a lot of this is because once level of change begets another. Leaving one stage behind, implies the foresight and challenges of the next stage. Yet, one wouldn’t have reached the landing without having the ability to develop and hone the tools necessary to function at that level. At Beltane, the Scorpio moon gifted me with a ton of support of a great group of people, still in the process of crystalizing around me. I found that the depth of support and community that was growing in my harbor was much more than I had before relied upon. I was comforted by my comrades that they don’t expect me to be superhuman nor bigger than life. Last year’s process of trials and hardships and foundation building is starting to pay off. I look to the rest of the year and to many years beyond of a Great Work built upon a strong foundation of diligence, discipline, and Tradition.

At the moment I have a break from the stress of Pluto’s harsh engagement. I am learning to more consciously trust my intuition. It’s usually right, even when everyone is scowling at me. I am also learning a lesson about faith and belief and how core those tenants are to the continued health of the practitioner along the Path.

I’m sure there are many posts to follow about faith and belief. It’s something I’ve never had a problem with but something that I should elaborate on as I see the struggles others have with belief. Last night I watched an episode of Once Upon a Time, a TV show about storybook characters that my husband and I have been enjoying. Pinocchio says to the heroine, “Denial is so strong in you that you refuse to see the truth, even when it’s right in front of you!” The amount of force and power we allow ourselves is dependent on the extent to which we believe in ourselves and our right and ability to make changes in the world. I say often to people that most of the limits in our lives are based on the self-imposed ones we force upon ourselves. Most of the time people just stare at me blankly in response. I assume that they are going through the internal rebuttal of “but, you don’t understand, I can’t, but, but, but!”

The day you spend more time on the baby steps of progress that you can do and not on the excuses, limitations, and negative self-talk, is the day the door to the staircase of power, evolution, and gnosis will open.

Or as the trainer at Crossfit ACT said yesterday, “ignore it [the discomfort] and just keep going!” Right, I knew that! My will was gone, but I had a heck of a lot of people encouraging me and got me through it when I thought I couldn’t. Yesterday my soul got stronger. Will yours today?

Monday, April 30, 2012

The Signposts to Growth and Wisdom

My former High Priestess introduced me to the tongue-in-cheek phrase –Oh joy,” another f-ing growth opportunity!” (AFGO) It is well known that Wicca is a path of accelerated growth and evolution. One faces the depth of his or her naked soul and learns, in the spirit of the epithet of the Temple of Delphi, to “know thyself” in this process. Some of the benefits of coven work are that one has a lot of support, and mirroring during this arduous and grueling growth process. Over the course of personal work, however, one gains better fluidity of the parts of themselves and therefore also is able to uncover hidden power that prior was inaccessible. The best covens create an environment where truth, support, the team spirit, and accountability balance as the members share their experience within a shared context of the group.

Does this process happen during the moments of crisis or the fluxes we call “the dark night of the soul?” Yes and no. This process has critical moments, as well and regular cyclical fluxes. The growth happens both at moments like personal “ah-ha” moments as well as challenges and trials, aka the dreaded growth moment. Growth is able to occur not from the accelerated, intense outpouring of energy at focused times, but from the structure and background of the commitment to daily practice. Meditation, prayer, study, energy work practicing, personal ritual, etc. and those things that make up what build the magickal practitioner’s power and competency. It isn’t reading or attending powerful rituals, it’s the daily work of personal work and commitment to the little things. Those little things build in big ways over time.

Exactly when it’s not “fun,” When you don’t feel like it, when you feel alone, those are the exact moments where opportunity awaits you to seize the day and learn about yourself, life, and the grand order of the Universe in all of her mysteries. When the going gets rough…, you’re growing. I could recite a million clichés here, but I think I’ve illustrated my point. Wisdom awaits you at the end of a long journey of embodied knowledge and ability. It is called the craft of the Wise after all!

Monday, March 19, 2012

13 moons

13 moon and it has just begun
And Eah Binah ge

Silly girl, why name yoursel such a sad lonely thing.

Yes, Mum, the rabbit hole goes so much further than I ever could have imagined.

The dark of the moon, the descent begins.

Not madness, true life dawns. Burn the compass brighter.


Turn the page.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Tillin' time

Yesterday in class I mentioned a bumper sticker I have on my car that has an Aleph, the first Hebrew letter with the words "the work is in the mundane".  I was referencing our work on this earth; the laundry, dishes, exercise, proper sleep, work, caring for kids.  That work is the work.  The day in, day out routine of plain old work.  Being diligent and aware in this environment is the way of life. 

This morning though, the thoughts that came to me had taken it a little farther.  Aleph, uruz, and Aries.  It is Ostara time after all!  This early spring has everyone revved up.  Are you going to buzz about like a mad top and spin your energy out with no direction and no purpose?  Or are you going to yoke your ox to the till and do the work that is needed for planting?  I know what my answer is.  What's yours?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Northern Spring Magick

I sure am ready for Spring.  Order of the World Tree is really excited to be prepping for our upcoming biggest event of the year, Northern Spring Magick.  This will be the first time in 7 years that the Cernnunos ritual will be offered in New Jersey.  Its going to be a blast, but don't take my word for it, here's Jason Miller's recommendation:

http://www.inominandum.com/blog/?p=754

http://owt.sacredwheel.org/NorthernSpringMagick.html

Come in and hail spring with us with a great day of teaching and a ritual.  Io Evohe!

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Limitations are false

So, 3 weeks ago I joined a cross fit gym and its like I unburied a huge lost piece of myself.  My winter depression melted away and suddenly my knees quit hurting.  I've lost 3 pounds and I feel really good.  Hello libido?  you're back!  LOL.  Anyway, what's been interesting is though I've never done heavy lifting before, and I can't say right now that my strength is what it should be, it feels right.  It feels really good.  I feel like what Craig called my "explosive dwarf" body is made for this.  I have goals, tucked away, that I'm afraid to voice, but here it goes:

I want to be able to do 20 unassisted pullups again, be able to pop up and down in a head-stand/hand-stand combo that I used to be able to do and do 144 pyramid pushups.  I was able to do this 4 years ago.  I used to be a gymnast, I used to be a long distance mountain biker, I used to be a martialist.  I want it back.  All that is holding me back is what I think I can do and what I allow my body to do for me.  The lead trainer of the "box" (the Cross Fit term for gym) told me last week is "You have a lot of power and force, you just have to find it and let it out".  Talk about bowl you over.  I've heard that one before!  At that moment I was in the zone, and Spirit was speaking to me with exactly what I needed to hear.

The thing is, that statement is not just true for my physical capabilities or just true for me.  Its true for us all.  Are we willing to push past the comfortable limitations and find our dark, angry, raw, transformative, fiery power?  Hell yeah!  Your current limits are false.  They are based in fear of change.  They aren't based in fear of failure cause if you keep at it, over time, you won't fail!  That's called learning and growing!  It's inevitable.  Fear comes from the weight of self-responsibility and walking in power in this world.  What if you have the very thing someone needs to be the critical turning point in their life path?  Guess what?  You do have that power.  Stop thinking about why you aren't good enough and all the excuses for what's stopping you.

Make possibilities come alive.  There are many more than you could possibly imagine.  Go get it.  Do.  You won't fall when you realize you can fly.