I've often read about how many pagans had a very particular view of the natural world as children, very close to animism, only to lose it somewhere in adolescents or early adulthood. I think part of the reason I can't remember ever really not having pagan beliefs (I've believed in the Greek gods since I was very small, like 2 or 3 years of age) is partly do to the fact that I never lost that view of the natural world. I still talk to trees and flowers, knowing that they can hear and understand me and that if I'm open to it I'll get their response. I've hugged trees for extended lengths of time trying to feel their heart beat. The first time I actually managed to feel it I was 12, and as odd as this will sound, was developing a crush on the nature spirit that lives inside the giant maple tree in the very center of our property. I once wrote an essay about him for a high school writing class and my teacher told me it was the most magickal and heart warming thing she'd ever read. I've been able to communicate with nature spirits as far back as I can remember. I suppose that's a huge part of why I've never lost that animistic view of nature. It's hard to believe or think something's not alive when you can speak to it directly.
0 Comments
So if you've somehow managed to miss the fact that tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, you're either living under a rock, or very far out of the United States or British Isles. And you're definitely not in Ireland! I live in the US, and incase you haven't heard me mention it before, I'm Irish. Irish to the point that every St. Patty's day I end up sitting at my Nana's for dinner to have corned beef and cabbage, I also have at least 3 cousins named Shaun (my Da came home from work tonight sharing this bit of trivia: Shaun is the top boys name in Ireland), my cousins like to convince people that we're really leprechauns and that we bleed green, etc, etc. Another odd this is no matter how hard I try (unless I'm quoting Harry Potter), whenever I try to do an actual British accent, it falls apart and all the sudden I have a thick Irish accent. No idea why that happens but it does, and it's a wee bit embarrassing. (High five if you just read that in an Irish accent). The other strange Irish thing about my Mom's family is that my great-grandparents, after being born and raised Catholic, decided along with their siblings, that before moving to Michigan they were all going to become die-hard Southern Baptist. Go figure. Half of my family went back to the church, but my grandparents decided not to. I had to go that route on my own. All the Irish on my Da's side is fully Catholic though. Also, when my family found out I was pagan in the slightest, they said it was fine as long as I was Celtic. Yeah, I killed that didn't I? I would actually love to be completely Irish Pagan, but the other gods get in my business a bit to much to actually allow me to do so.
But in the end, my heritage, my crazy family, and my odd Catholic and Irish Pagan leanings come together and have caused a love of St. Patrick's Day that could probably rival my love of Halloween. And don't get me started about all the St. Patty's Day merchandise at stores right now. My friends and family don't allow me to be around it with money, because I'll buy it all. I have 3 St. Patty's Day shirts, pajamas, Hats, necklaces, a tiara, etc. And to be honest I have Shamrock cookies for tomorrow. Tomorrow I will look like a Gothic leprechaun. Black St. Patty's Day faerie shirt, shimmery emerald green button up used as a jacket (provided I need it, it's supposed to be 78 degrees) my "Irish Princess" tiara, St. Patty's necklaces, green makeup, and my nails are already painted sparkly shamrock green. I even have St. Patrick's Day temporary tattoos. Yes I am that happily tacky. I will also probably be rocking green lipstick. And I will be happy and speaking with an Irish accent all day, more than likely screaming random things in Gaelic. It's okay to laugh at me. But tomorrow night, after I was all the green gunk off and turn off the leprechaun-ness, I have a little ceremony I've been doing for years and some of you might be interested in it as well. St. Patrick's Day Ceremony Altar set up: colors- green and white. Incense of any kind. Green candle. Communion supplies (if you do this). Representations of a snake, leprechaun, shamrock or three leaf clover, and pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Celtic music in the background is optional. Procedure:
I've never really thought of my own personal ethics before. I mean, I use them day to day, but I've never really seen them outlined in a book, or any individual religion present a code of ethics I fully identify with. But to be honest, I haven't exactly looked that hard. I went through the normal period where I was fascinated by different pagan ethics and "laws. I actually went and hand wrote all million or however many of the Craft Laws presented in the Gardnerian BOS, later going over them with my coven and taking out those that were outdated or didn't fit our tradition, while adding in a few that better represented us. For awhile I really liked a document called "The Celtic Commandments" that I got from a group I no longer remember. It was a fantastic thing, but it's very Wiccan and no longer really describes my own personal ethics nor my spiritual path (though I truly wish I never had to leave that path. I was blissfully ignorant at that point and that path was easy to follow). When I first discovered Hellenic Paganism, I began following the Seven Pillars of Hellenismos and the Delphic Maxims. The Maxims are:
I guess I should explain why I'm currently so preoccupied with ethics. As many of you know, I'm participating in the 2012 Pagan Reading Challenge. So far I've read two books and I'm working on the third, which is an anthology titled Pagan Visions for a Sustainable Future. The first article, "The Ethics of Paganism: The Value and Power of Sacred Relationship" by Emma Restall Orr, really got me thinking about the fact that I'd never really taken the time to define my own ethics. The second article, "Magickal Ecology: Future Visions from Ancient Egypt" by Akkadia Ford, got me thinking even more, but she did something the prior article hadn't: She presented me with a list of ethics and morals followed by the Egyptians that applies today as much as it ever did, The Negative Confession. She actually went and elaborated and showed how no longer following those ethics has actually caused many major problems like mad cow disease and the infertility of the Nile River flood plains. I've previously read the 77 commandments of the Egyptians and found it rather lacking and no longer applicable in many instances. But the entire Negative Confession as she presented was beautiful and perfect. It may not be perfect, and it many not be everything I want to include, but as a follower of Sekhmet and Ma'at, I feel this is right. I think I've found my ethics. :) (My computer shut off while I was typing this, and after turning it back on and logging back into tumblr, I had a notice saying that I had an unsaved draft. I guess that was the gods way of saying that my crappy daily devotions are still appreciated!)
I wouldn’t say I’m very good at daily devotions. I actually have a tendency to forget them. But I definitely notice a difference in myself on the days that I do morning devotions, and I sleep better on the nights I do my evening devotions. Many Witches and Pagans do beautifully elaborate devotions every morning and evening, and oh how I envy them! But being in college, I rarely have time to sleep let alone two half-hour rituals a day! My normal devotions are simple, take less than 5 minutes and are short enough that I’ve memorized. I’ve also tried my best to make them engrained in my daily routine! In the mornings, provided that I haven’t overslept, I make a pot of coffee. It takes roughly 8 minutes to brew so as I’m waiting for that I make breakfast. About the time I’m getting my cup ready, the coffee’s done. I prepare my coffee the same way every morning: 3 spoonfuls of sugar, coffee almost to the top (my travel mug holds almost 3 cups of coffee!), and then I top it off with flavored creamer. Then I set it to the side. My kitchen window looks out on a giant maple tree, which is fitting as my prayer mentions the Tree of Life. So I gaze at the tree while praying in goddess position. My prayer is to the Moirae (The Fates. I love their name in greek, mostly because I used to go by Moira, which is crazy similar), and the words can be found in Dorothy Morrison’s book Everyday Magick. When I finish, I turn around, and take the first sip of my coffee. In the evening I brew a cup of tea, usually it’s spearmint, but if I need it, I brew a teas called “sleepy time extra” by Celestial Teas to help calm myself enough to sleep. After I finish the whole cup I light a small tealight in my oil burner, add a bit of scented oil (lately it’s been Egyptian Musk). I like this as opposed to incense as my sister (who’s pregnant) has been getting horrible headaches and nausea whenever I burn the incense. But the scented oils give a good scent with less smoke, and I don’t have to clean up the ashes in the dark! While that’s burning I sit and pray from my heart to any deities I’ve called on for assistance. Some nights if I don’t have many deities to thank (or any) I pull out my rosary and pray with it. When finished I snuff out the candle and curl up in bed and say “As I lay snuggled in my bed, pillows tucked beneath my head, Maiden bring me joyful dreams, Mother bring me peace serene, Wisest Crone watch over me until the light of dawn I see” (I cannot remember where this is from. I thought it was from paganwiccan.about.com, but I cannot find it on the site. If anyone knows, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!). While my daily devotions are far from elaborate, I sometimes try to bulk them up for holidays and esbats though it doesn’t always happen. I also love looking for new ideas for my devotions. Right now I"m trying to add a few things to them, but so far it isn’t going very smoothly as it adds a lot of time. I’ve been trying to add sunrise yoga to my morning devotions, and moonrise yoga and daily offerings to my evening devotions. I haven’t give up on that working yet though! What do you do for daily devotions, if you practice them? Do you do the same thing everyday or do you switch it up for the season and holidays? I’d love to hear what you do for your devotions! Let me set the scene for you. A darkened room lit only by candles. Clove incense fills the air. Inkubus Sukkubus' music blares from an unseen speaker. You raise your athame high above you and invoke Nyx and Hekate. Tonight is the dark moon, their most sacred time of the month. To some, this scenario is 100% taboo. Invoking deity with an athame (yes, I have met those that have a HUGE problem with this). Use of stereo in circle (goodness, didn't you know you're not suppose to use electronics in circle? lol). Invoking "dark" deities, and most taboo of all, magickal workings being performed during the dark moon. To others, this entire makes complete and logical sense. Candle light and clove incense always get me in a magickal mindset. Inkubus Sukkubus is a fantastic Pagan (and Goth) band, and I frequently use their music for my group sabbat circles. I use the athame for invoking everything. I very rarely use wands. Hekate is a goddess of the dark moon, so the timing makes sense for her. Nyx is the goddess of the night, so invoking her during the nights when the moon's power holds the least sway, when it is truly night, also makes sense. No matter the view, if you've ever held a ritual even close to this, you've tasted Dark Paganism. If you've ever celebrated Samhain in the dead of night, and honor the Dark Goddess and those that have gone before, you've tasted Dark Paganism. But what is Dark Paganism? According to author John J. Coughlin, Dark Paganism is a combination of one or more of the following definitions:
My personal path combines the second and third definitions, so its no wonder Samhain is my favorite Sabbat! But then again I'm also part of the Gothic subculture, and I've loved Halloween for as long as I can remember. Dark Paganism can also include vampirism and the Vampiric faith, blood magick, and necromancy. For some it also includes darker sex magick that may have bdsm-like influences (often for energy raising, healing from any kind of abuse, etc). Dark Pagans, unlike many other Pagans, aren't afraid that others will associate their use of skulls, athames, and dark gods to devil worship. They don't really care what others think. They also aren't part of the group of pagans who think all paganism should be safe and happy. We know that some magick is dangerous, and that paganism can be scary. But quite a bit of what people find scary (i.e. death, skulls, cemeteries, etc) is very spiritual and beautiful in our eyes! We also don't shy away from working with darker herbs like belladonna, wormwood, deadly nightshade, etc. My personal path includes the worship of many dark deities, especially Sekhmet, Anubis, The Morrighan, Nyx, Hekate, Hades, and Persephone. I perform my rituals almost exclusively in the dead of night. The exception would be occasionally Alban Eiler (Spring Equinox), Midsummer, Lughnasadh, and usually Mabon. I love workings for the dark moon, and its one of my favorite (and most accurate) times to do divinatory work. My path includes blood magick, vampirism (I'm actually a Sanguinarian), bdsm-like sex magick whenever I include a partner in my sex magick, and necromancy in the way that I do call on the dead during Samhain, memorial rites, and many other times of the year. For years I've prominently displayed a ceramic skull on my altar to symbolize my ancestors, and when not working with individual deities, I call on the energy of the Dark Mother and the Dark Father. Even my tarot deck is darker, featuring Vampires and Gothic imagery. Honoring my menstrual cycles also goes hand in hand with honoring the dark moon. And I'm not afraid of the image of the traditional Witch. Some days I even proudly embrace the stereotype. Further Reading
The Aces: The back: The Emperor and the Empress: Seven of Knives, Nine of Knives, Daughter of Knives:
"In some traditions January 31st is the night that Hekate hands Her torch to Brigid, whose arrival is celebrated at Imbolc.
This seems to parallel the cycle of the Holly King and the Oak King, who each rule one half of the year: Hekate carries the torch through the dark half of the year, while Brigid takes it for the light half. Some suggest that Hekate and Brigid are sisters who share the torch." --http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/pontoon/2457/id110.htm All this may seem very odd, given that Hekate is Greek and Brigid Celtic. But traditional beliefs that evolve over time may have little to do with historical origins. Both Goddesses are very ancient, and have been worshipped in Britain for centuries, so who is to say what relationship may have developed between them? Sometimes the ways my Greek and Celtic beliefs over lap is rather surprising. . . Hey, i have been looking at and studying the beliefs of paganism for a while now. I completely agree with many of your ways and very interested in converting. when you first discovered paganism how did you first start out? |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2015
Categories
All
|