I've used valerian root before, in a blend for menstrual cramps. It works pretty well for that purpose, not something you usually see when you are doing research on the herb. It helps by relaxing muscle, and since the uterus is a muscle, it helps pretty well.
It's mainly touted, however, for it's benefits for sleep (anxiety too, but mainly sleep). I've never really had trouble sleeping until now. I must say, so far valerian has been dismal in its effects for sleep. A little more online research suggests that's because of how I'm brewing it. It's another one of those roots, like kava kava, that seems to do better with cold water. (How many roots are like this?? I never knew this before...)
Unfortunately I'd already brewed up a strong valerian tea again tonight with boiling water, but tomorrow I'll try the cold and let you know how it goes! One website suggested as long as steeping overnight. Also makes me wonder how much better it would've done for menstrual cramps all these years. Maybe I really can throw my ibuprophen out!
Kava Kava is sometimes mixed with valerian, I could see that being nice and that would definately be something to experiment with. Kava kava has seemed to help me remember my dreams, at the very least. Some say they are more vivid, and for me, this basically means I am remembering them, or perhaps just having more than usual. Colors do seem a bit more striking perhaps...
Another thing to note is that valerian also seems to be taxing on the liver, so I need to go easy on the coffee (something I'm cutting anyway since caffeine makes you more anxious!), alcohol etc. As a result, kava kava and valerian are probably both contraindicated with any other anti-depressant or anti-anxiety perscription drugs (which are also hard on the liver!). Taking a break from any herbs once in awhile is probably a good idea too.
Don't think I'm offering any medical advice or advice on herbs for that matter, I'm not, I'm just offering a little insight into my own experiment!
Well, I'm off to try to sleep.
Wish me luck...or light a candle...or whatever it is you do!
--Nox
Friday, March 15, 2013
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Herbal Nervines Part 1
So I started getting really anxious lately. In ways I never have before. I think between the move to a new place after 13 years, and a bunch of other new and interesting problems I had too much on my emotional plate.
I was in a really bad way when I talked to a good friend of mine. "Why haven't you tried some herbal nervines like motherswort?"
Of course!
I was so busy being anxious I had forgotten to turn to herbs as a solution--something my normal self would have explored long ago.
I have tried kava kava in the past just for a slow-down to my day in the evening. I used to steep it in hot water like a tea, or perhaps I even boiled it a bit, figuring since it was a root that was what I needed to do (often a safe assumption with roots...). Even though I was screwing it up, it still had quite a nice, relaxing effect.
I decided it was my front-line defense this time around. *note to self and readers...when ordering herbs online for something like this, go ahead and splurge for 1-2 day shipping!!* I still don't have what I ordered yet, unfortunately! But I did have some kava left around from the last time, thank the Goddess!
The traditional method of extraction uses tepid water, not hot or boiling. People often masticate the root first, (and there seems to be some evidence that the enzymes in saliva help to break down some of the chemicals and make them more available for use) then spit it into a cup and set to soak for 25-30 minutes. For me, I soak it first, then chew the pieces up (they're softer if you soak first) and can resoak, but I've found that during chewing, I've absorbed pretty much all there is. I just chew up the root, drink the water it soaked in, and I'm pretty good to go. It seems to last around 8 hours. I take once in the morning and once in the evening. About a tablespoon of chopped, dried root to 8 ounces of water. I am tired but relaxed and can power through it, sometimes I add a little green tea a couple times a day to help counteract it. Pretty much any prescription drug will also causes drowsiness, plus, they can have some really bad side effects.
Kava kava's side effects are usually things like vivid dreams, being sleepy and relaxed but still capable of more complex thinking.
There have been reports of liver toxicity in people who took extracts and were also drinking (don't drink while taking nervines!! They are typically a little taxing to your system just like prescription anti-anxiety drugs), and it appears that the extracts were tampered with by people trying to make more money by using toxic parts of the kava plant. I think one website said it best by saying that this is like saying we shouldn't eat rhubarb because the leaves are poisonous. Of course, we do, we just eat the stems and not the leaves. Kava is the same, only the root is safe. Another reason I think buying dried root is preferable so I can better see what it is I'm getting. Using a good, reputable company is helpful as well.
Is supper-time here, I'll be back later for part 2, and I'll let you know how the other nervines work for me.
I was in a really bad way when I talked to a good friend of mine. "Why haven't you tried some herbal nervines like motherswort?"
Of course!
I was so busy being anxious I had forgotten to turn to herbs as a solution--something my normal self would have explored long ago.
I have tried kava kava in the past just for a slow-down to my day in the evening. I used to steep it in hot water like a tea, or perhaps I even boiled it a bit, figuring since it was a root that was what I needed to do (often a safe assumption with roots...). Even though I was screwing it up, it still had quite a nice, relaxing effect.
I decided it was my front-line defense this time around. *note to self and readers...when ordering herbs online for something like this, go ahead and splurge for 1-2 day shipping!!* I still don't have what I ordered yet, unfortunately! But I did have some kava left around from the last time, thank the Goddess!
The traditional method of extraction uses tepid water, not hot or boiling. People often masticate the root first, (and there seems to be some evidence that the enzymes in saliva help to break down some of the chemicals and make them more available for use) then spit it into a cup and set to soak for 25-30 minutes. For me, I soak it first, then chew the pieces up (they're softer if you soak first) and can resoak, but I've found that during chewing, I've absorbed pretty much all there is. I just chew up the root, drink the water it soaked in, and I'm pretty good to go. It seems to last around 8 hours. I take once in the morning and once in the evening. About a tablespoon of chopped, dried root to 8 ounces of water. I am tired but relaxed and can power through it, sometimes I add a little green tea a couple times a day to help counteract it. Pretty much any prescription drug will also causes drowsiness, plus, they can have some really bad side effects.
Kava kava's side effects are usually things like vivid dreams, being sleepy and relaxed but still capable of more complex thinking.
There have been reports of liver toxicity in people who took extracts and were also drinking (don't drink while taking nervines!! They are typically a little taxing to your system just like prescription anti-anxiety drugs), and it appears that the extracts were tampered with by people trying to make more money by using toxic parts of the kava plant. I think one website said it best by saying that this is like saying we shouldn't eat rhubarb because the leaves are poisonous. Of course, we do, we just eat the stems and not the leaves. Kava is the same, only the root is safe. Another reason I think buying dried root is preferable so I can better see what it is I'm getting. Using a good, reputable company is helpful as well.
Is supper-time here, I'll be back later for part 2, and I'll let you know how the other nervines work for me.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Natural Dyed Eggs For Ostara
I found a good website with some more direct/exact recipes. I've had really good luck with turmeric and red cabbage in the past. I always like to experiment with one other spice or veggie to see what color it makes.
The only thing is, I am uncertain that you won't get more color by actually simmering the spices/veggies etc. for longer before letting the egg sit in there. Someone will have to tell me how this person's method works vs. simmering the colorants for 15 min. or so. I will probably simmer as usual, just to make sure I get the most vibrant color.
I usually make the colors I know will turn out, plus one I haven't tried before to see what the color will be--I like the surprise.
Another note, a few years the red cabbage color has not stuck properly to the egg. I suspect a residual pesticide or something is not allowing the color to stick. Does anyone know anything about this?
If you haven't used red cabbage before, you will be pleasantly surprise by the beautiful color.
Here's a link below to
some natural colorants and what colors they actually produce
You could use regular store-bought dyes, but where's the surprise or mystery in that?
So an update on this years' egg dyes. I really feel you need to simmer the spices/veggies etc. for quite awhile to get the color out. We tried the method described in the link above, where you just pour boiling water over it and it did not produce sufficient color, especially for the robin egg blue that red cabbage produces. A good green color continued to elude us this year and I concluded that the turmeric is very over-powering, I think the green is possible combining red cabbage and turmeric, but you will have to add a lot of blue and a pinch of yellow (the "green" eggs where we mixed the two colors mostly turned out yellow, in case you couldn't guess.).
The only thing is, I am uncertain that you won't get more color by actually simmering the spices/veggies etc. for longer before letting the egg sit in there. Someone will have to tell me how this person's method works vs. simmering the colorants for 15 min. or so. I will probably simmer as usual, just to make sure I get the most vibrant color.
I usually make the colors I know will turn out, plus one I haven't tried before to see what the color will be--I like the surprise.
Another note, a few years the red cabbage color has not stuck properly to the egg. I suspect a residual pesticide or something is not allowing the color to stick. Does anyone know anything about this?
If you haven't used red cabbage before, you will be pleasantly surprise by the beautiful color.
Here's a link below to
some natural colorants and what colors they actually produce
You could use regular store-bought dyes, but where's the surprise or mystery in that?
So an update on this years' egg dyes. I really feel you need to simmer the spices/veggies etc. for quite awhile to get the color out. We tried the method described in the link above, where you just pour boiling water over it and it did not produce sufficient color, especially for the robin egg blue that red cabbage produces. A good green color continued to elude us this year and I concluded that the turmeric is very over-powering, I think the green is possible combining red cabbage and turmeric, but you will have to add a lot of blue and a pinch of yellow (the "green" eggs where we mixed the two colors mostly turned out yellow, in case you couldn't guess.).
The Things I Run From Define Me
I was doing yoga and listening to some music today when that phrase popped up into my head. It may not be helpful to anyone else, but it seems to make a lot of sense to me.
For some, yoga is a moving meditation where one can explore those places of openness or hesitation and tightness in the body; sometimes (or maybe all the time) you can directly correlate what your body is or is not doing well to your state of mind.
I am of the camp that doesn't necessarily belive that the state of mind always created the tightness etc. in the body. I think that a tightness in the body could cause a corressponding change in the state of mind. The good news is, many times this can be worked out through the body, which is a hell of a lot easier than to try to "mental" your way through a fucked up emotional state which may or may not have been there as long as you can remember.
Kundalini yoga is really great for this, perhaps even better than Hatha Yoga. The theory is something like this (have I written on this before?? oh well, here it is again..); perhaps when you were little you had a fear response, maybe this was abuse, maybe this was night terrors etc. you tighten up certain muscles as you curl into a fetal position (say your psoas muscles..) and over time as this fear response continues, the muscles get shorter and tighten, this in turn changes other muscles as they adjust to this new normal, and the emotional energy behind it, that caused it, is sort of stored up in there. When you release that muscle and begin to stretch it it can release some of the emotional baggage as well.
I have acutally had this happen in a Kundalini class before. I didn't used to believe it could happen, it sounded kind of new-agey to me (yes, even I have my limits as to what I buy into. I like to experience something before believing it). The emotional baggage went back so far it is not entirely clear to me what it was, I just felt this sense of sadness leaving me, and then I had a clear memory of being in a pool with my mother, a very happy memory that I had forgotten long ago.
Clearly this is a powerful tool for both mental and physical health at least for me, but I can safely say it is for many many others as well, or yoga would not be what it is growing to today.
Working on ourselves through yoga can also occur in observing what you are willing (or unwilling) to do, what you hesitate on. Do you like restorative poses only and shy away from ones requiring strength? Can you do a headstand away from the wall or did you get stuck there? The first time up in headstand is usually scary for people, and I was no exception. For me, as I observed today, as I did salamba shirsasana away from the wall that I am afraid of falling. That defines me, and confines me. We are all limited by something, each unique. To expand those boundaries is the divine work to make us more free.
The things I run from define me, to run towards them takes cultivated strength and determination, and it is not always a winning battle. Some battles are temporarily lost, then retried. It is time for me to try again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeafUYgw9gA
Artist: The Gaia Choir
Album: Womansong
CHANGING WOMAN
There was a time before we were born
We were the calm in the eye of the storm
We had a memory oh so deep
About the truth and the beauty so sweet
Man and a woman, passion ran wild
They gave birth to a freedom child
We are the children of love and light
We'll guide the planet thru it's perilous night
Lift up our hearts and raise our voices
Let the people know all of the choices
Lift up our hearts and raise our voices
Let the people know all of the choices
There is a woman
who weaves in the sky
See how she spins,
see her fingers fly
Chorus:
She changes everything she touches
And everything she touches changes
She changes everything she touches
And everything she touches changes
She's been beside us from beginning to end
She is our mother, our lover, our friend
She is the needle and we are the thread
She is the weaver and we are the web
Chorus (2 x)
Change me, touch me
Change me, touch me, changing woman
For some, yoga is a moving meditation where one can explore those places of openness or hesitation and tightness in the body; sometimes (or maybe all the time) you can directly correlate what your body is or is not doing well to your state of mind.
I am of the camp that doesn't necessarily belive that the state of mind always created the tightness etc. in the body. I think that a tightness in the body could cause a corressponding change in the state of mind. The good news is, many times this can be worked out through the body, which is a hell of a lot easier than to try to "mental" your way through a fucked up emotional state which may or may not have been there as long as you can remember.
Kundalini yoga is really great for this, perhaps even better than Hatha Yoga. The theory is something like this (have I written on this before?? oh well, here it is again..); perhaps when you were little you had a fear response, maybe this was abuse, maybe this was night terrors etc. you tighten up certain muscles as you curl into a fetal position (say your psoas muscles..) and over time as this fear response continues, the muscles get shorter and tighten, this in turn changes other muscles as they adjust to this new normal, and the emotional energy behind it, that caused it, is sort of stored up in there. When you release that muscle and begin to stretch it it can release some of the emotional baggage as well.
I have acutally had this happen in a Kundalini class before. I didn't used to believe it could happen, it sounded kind of new-agey to me (yes, even I have my limits as to what I buy into. I like to experience something before believing it). The emotional baggage went back so far it is not entirely clear to me what it was, I just felt this sense of sadness leaving me, and then I had a clear memory of being in a pool with my mother, a very happy memory that I had forgotten long ago.
Clearly this is a powerful tool for both mental and physical health at least for me, but I can safely say it is for many many others as well, or yoga would not be what it is growing to today.
Working on ourselves through yoga can also occur in observing what you are willing (or unwilling) to do, what you hesitate on. Do you like restorative poses only and shy away from ones requiring strength? Can you do a headstand away from the wall or did you get stuck there? The first time up in headstand is usually scary for people, and I was no exception. For me, as I observed today, as I did salamba shirsasana away from the wall that I am afraid of falling. That defines me, and confines me. We are all limited by something, each unique. To expand those boundaries is the divine work to make us more free.
The things I run from define me, to run towards them takes cultivated strength and determination, and it is not always a winning battle. Some battles are temporarily lost, then retried. It is time for me to try again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeafUYgw9gA
Artist: The Gaia Choir
Album: Womansong
CHANGING WOMAN
There was a time before we were born
We were the calm in the eye of the storm
We had a memory oh so deep
About the truth and the beauty so sweet
Man and a woman, passion ran wild
They gave birth to a freedom child
We are the children of love and light
We'll guide the planet thru it's perilous night
Lift up our hearts and raise our voices
Let the people know all of the choices
Lift up our hearts and raise our voices
Let the people know all of the choices
There is a woman
who weaves in the sky
See how she spins,
see her fingers fly
Chorus:
She changes everything she touches
And everything she touches changes
She changes everything she touches
And everything she touches changes
She's been beside us from beginning to end
She is our mother, our lover, our friend
She is the needle and we are the thread
She is the weaver and we are the web
Chorus (2 x)
Change me, touch me
Change me, touch me, changing woman
Monday, February 25, 2013
The Concept of Magickal Contagion
The title really could be "The Concept of psychic Contagion In General", but I want to address this on a Coven-specific level.
I've been thinking of something I read a couple years back, a book of experiments with meditators, monks, nuns, reiki masters etc. (the book is called "The Intention Experiment") They monitored brains waves during meditation or during reiki sessions, prayers etc. and found that all of these "masters" were reaching very specific brain waves that the normal populace doesn't spend any time in. I already digress...
One of the experiments used a couple people who just met and visited for 20 minutes, in another experiment they used spouses. If I remember correctly, they were separated in different rooms and one of them was subjected to some sort of stressful stimuli. The person in the other room (their spouse, or the person they met for 20 minutes) was being monitored as well, and they registered some sort of stress-response at the same intervals it was being administered to their "partner".
People who had never met did not register the same responses.
The partners in the next room who were not receiving stressful stimuli, did not even necessarily notice they were getting stressed.
I can't remember who taught me about the concept of magickal contagion, or if I just noticed or contemplated that it was something that occurred and needed to be avoided when possible. The experiments in the book backed me up though.
What this tells me is "choose your coven-mates wisely", if you get the choice!
Sometimes there are just people who are your family from the time you meet them, but others should be avoided for the drama or psychic distress they will bring to your group.
Before circle one of my covens used to take a moment for everyone to tell about their week so we knew where they were coming from, and what energies they might be bringing. Not a bad idea!
Don't get me wrong, everyone has bad years, and that doesn't mean they should be excluded, but perhaps if they were new to the group, they should get their shit sorted out before joining the coven. Once they are in, they should all be helped to the fullest degree. If someone is having a bad year, do workings to make it better. This seems like it should be a given.
I think that's it for today. A good concept for Candlemas I guess. Spring cleaning isn't just for your house folks!
love and light,
Nox
I've been thinking of something I read a couple years back, a book of experiments with meditators, monks, nuns, reiki masters etc. (the book is called "The Intention Experiment") They monitored brains waves during meditation or during reiki sessions, prayers etc. and found that all of these "masters" were reaching very specific brain waves that the normal populace doesn't spend any time in. I already digress...
One of the experiments used a couple people who just met and visited for 20 minutes, in another experiment they used spouses. If I remember correctly, they were separated in different rooms and one of them was subjected to some sort of stressful stimuli. The person in the other room (their spouse, or the person they met for 20 minutes) was being monitored as well, and they registered some sort of stress-response at the same intervals it was being administered to their "partner".
People who had never met did not register the same responses.
The partners in the next room who were not receiving stressful stimuli, did not even necessarily notice they were getting stressed.
I can't remember who taught me about the concept of magickal contagion, or if I just noticed or contemplated that it was something that occurred and needed to be avoided when possible. The experiments in the book backed me up though.
What this tells me is "choose your coven-mates wisely", if you get the choice!
Sometimes there are just people who are your family from the time you meet them, but others should be avoided for the drama or psychic distress they will bring to your group.
Before circle one of my covens used to take a moment for everyone to tell about their week so we knew where they were coming from, and what energies they might be bringing. Not a bad idea!
Don't get me wrong, everyone has bad years, and that doesn't mean they should be excluded, but perhaps if they were new to the group, they should get their shit sorted out before joining the coven. Once they are in, they should all be helped to the fullest degree. If someone is having a bad year, do workings to make it better. This seems like it should be a given.
I think that's it for today. A good concept for Candlemas I guess. Spring cleaning isn't just for your house folks!
love and light,
Nox
Saturday, February 9, 2013
On the Death of A Dear Friend and Coven Sister
"Depression is not a sign of weakness, it's just a sign that we have been strong for too long."
-- Elizabeth Gilbert
Thank the Goddess we were able to have a real Wiccan funeral for you! I don't know that you would have withstood lies told on your behalf of a faith you didn't want and didn't know. Bless your family for giving that to your spirit, and to your coven-mates.
We were so much more than friends and coven-mates, but family.
You taught me so much in our 8 years together, and I wish we had had many more.
You taught me that even though I speak up more than others, I do not speak up enough.
It's okay to piss people off on occasion (which is what happens when you speak up!), the ones you need in your life will forgive you. It's okay to speak up, even if you know damn good and well it will do no good at all, in fact, maybe that's the most important time.
You taught me to tell people how I feel about them. To not withdraw or try to hide my feelings from myself even if they are unfortunate feelings.
You were/are compassionate, fiery, fierce, loving, caring, beautiful, strong. Every cause you stood behind benifitted from those things.
I tried so hard to live without you these past few years. Had I been more honest with myself I would have busted down your door. As it stood, I was afraid of pushing you further away by overstepping your boundaries. I honestly don't know that it would have helped but perhaps I would have felt better for having tried...
For Lisa...
Do not cry for me
Remember my happy times and forgive me my bad ones
for who knows what choices are right or wrong in this shifting, illusory world.
What other knows the tests we each face or what the true answer may be?
Take a place outside of judgement and reach that place of understanding and love.
I think you know now how much people loved you.
--Nox
-- Elizabeth Gilbert
Thank the Goddess we were able to have a real Wiccan funeral for you! I don't know that you would have withstood lies told on your behalf of a faith you didn't want and didn't know. Bless your family for giving that to your spirit, and to your coven-mates.
We were so much more than friends and coven-mates, but family.
You taught me so much in our 8 years together, and I wish we had had many more.
You taught me that even though I speak up more than others, I do not speak up enough.
It's okay to piss people off on occasion (which is what happens when you speak up!), the ones you need in your life will forgive you. It's okay to speak up, even if you know damn good and well it will do no good at all, in fact, maybe that's the most important time.
You taught me to tell people how I feel about them. To not withdraw or try to hide my feelings from myself even if they are unfortunate feelings.
You were/are compassionate, fiery, fierce, loving, caring, beautiful, strong. Every cause you stood behind benifitted from those things.
I tried so hard to live without you these past few years. Had I been more honest with myself I would have busted down your door. As it stood, I was afraid of pushing you further away by overstepping your boundaries. I honestly don't know that it would have helped but perhaps I would have felt better for having tried...
For Lisa...
Do not cry for me
Remember my happy times and forgive me my bad ones
for who knows what choices are right or wrong in this shifting, illusory world.
What other knows the tests we each face or what the true answer may be?
Take a place outside of judgement and reach that place of understanding and love.
I think you know now how much people loved you.
--Nox
Monday, January 21, 2013
Snow Glad To See You!
We got a light dusting of snow, just enough to make the ground mostly white again. I missed the snow terribly. I love the changing of the seasons here. It seems like just when you've had enough of what is usually, a horribly humid, hot, summer it transitions to fall then winter. I love the fact that you can bundle up in the winter, and even in town, be mostly alone.
It is so much fun to go out on the worst days, with snow blowing and only your eyes showing and walk in the white silence of Winter. The steam from my mouth travels up the scarf and ends up making my eyelashes freeze periodically. I love that feeling!
I never claimed I was normal...
I am Wiccan after all, and that apparently makes me weird to start.
The snow is also precipitation we desperately need.
I have big plans for this year that I hope can actually pan-out.
Gardens to plow and bedrooms to re-do. Walls to tear down and chicken coops to go up. Last year we were in town and the dust was bad enough to breathe in and blow out, not good in the best of circumstances. Here in the midwest, that dust carries toxic pesticides as well. I stopped hanging my clothes out to dry, as I'd take them in dirty again. Many of the little lakes/ponds that are actually safe to fish in, went stagnant and near dry. A lot of fish died. I didn't fish once last year. The lakes that aren't spring-fed are also drying up, and were very smelly (partly fish-kills), and so hot that it was not worth the trip to swim in. My son and I hiked in dry creek beds and stayed up late for our walks because even after the sun set, temperatures would hover near 100 degrees. For people that like to be outside and do outdoor stuff, it has been a rough time already.
That was just year 1 of the drought! The drought will undoubtedly continue, but hopefully, we will still manage some good moments this year.
Really, I suppose us witches ought to get together and start working for rain, but I am uncertain that we should interfere. Perhaps this drought is the only thing that will make people see just how dependent we are on our environment.
Tread lightly on the earth, for She is our Mother.
It is so much fun to go out on the worst days, with snow blowing and only your eyes showing and walk in the white silence of Winter. The steam from my mouth travels up the scarf and ends up making my eyelashes freeze periodically. I love that feeling!
I never claimed I was normal...
I am Wiccan after all, and that apparently makes me weird to start.
The snow is also precipitation we desperately need.
I have big plans for this year that I hope can actually pan-out.
Gardens to plow and bedrooms to re-do. Walls to tear down and chicken coops to go up. Last year we were in town and the dust was bad enough to breathe in and blow out, not good in the best of circumstances. Here in the midwest, that dust carries toxic pesticides as well. I stopped hanging my clothes out to dry, as I'd take them in dirty again. Many of the little lakes/ponds that are actually safe to fish in, went stagnant and near dry. A lot of fish died. I didn't fish once last year. The lakes that aren't spring-fed are also drying up, and were very smelly (partly fish-kills), and so hot that it was not worth the trip to swim in. My son and I hiked in dry creek beds and stayed up late for our walks because even after the sun set, temperatures would hover near 100 degrees. For people that like to be outside and do outdoor stuff, it has been a rough time already.
That was just year 1 of the drought! The drought will undoubtedly continue, but hopefully, we will still manage some good moments this year.
Really, I suppose us witches ought to get together and start working for rain, but I am uncertain that we should interfere. Perhaps this drought is the only thing that will make people see just how dependent we are on our environment.
Tread lightly on the earth, for She is our Mother.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Other Fun Things to Play With If Your Health is Shit
Okay, this is going to be a weird post, more like a list, but maybe you'll find it helpful. Whether your health is really shitty, or you'd like to actually feel vibrant instead of tired all the time etc. give some of this stuff a try and see what happens.
Fermented foods/probiotics--make kombucha, kimchee,levaine breads, homemade sour kraut, pickles, natural fermented sodas! They have the stuff yogurt has in it but so much more, store-made yogurt has just a few cultures but there are so many more cultures out there and making your own will get a wider variety. The bacteria in our guts is getting a lot of attention lately, it may be hugely responsible for good health and vitality. On that note:
Try not to take antibiotics if possible:
if you can battle a sinus infection on your own--do it! We are not sure if the bacteria in your gut every fully recovers from a bout of antibiotics.
Oil Pulling--this one is new to me, it's interesting, I'm unsure if I've reaped any benefits yet, but worth a try.
Herbs for the specific ailment, or all-around toning ones-- (make a tea, get a capsule maker, apply directly, make an essential oil rub, steam with essential oils, use a tincture etc.)--do your research so you know possible side effects of what you're using!
Fasting--Juice fast, water fast, Clearvite protein shake fast, even fasting from meat and/or animal products will help some
Green smoothies--try some recipies, they can be good!
Detoxing: (fasting kinda falls in this category too) using herbs or sweating, or any other number of procedures to detox, research and take your pick!
Suana--also falls into detox but deserves it's own spot, since it does so much more than detox. Great for general aches and pains, back pain, endo pain or whatever. Start with just a few min. and work your way up.
Cardio--you detox through your lungs as well as your pores, with lots of other benefits too, like increased energy
Hatha Yoga--sometimes you gotta move so you can actually relax! Plus lots of other benefits
Pranayama and bandhas--detox your lungs and tone your insides (usually a part of a yoga practice, but if your health were so bad you couldn't move at all, this is a good start!)
Kundalini yoga--more vitality and your very own, cheaper psychotherapist! Sweet! I swear, this is better than years of going to a shrink.
Acupuncture--great for stuff no one else knows how to fix while you continue to try other stuff (cause really, who can continuously afford it, since insurance won't cover it now)
Chiropractor-- ditto this for acupuncture. Do this while you're down, then start doing exercises and stuff to keep your spine from getting a "subluxion" in the first place.
Abayanga--self oil message followed by a shower (usually with a dosha appropriate oil--look up Auryveda online)
Message- better circulation, detox etc. plus it feels great
Auryvedic Doctor--if you've got stomach complaints, give them a try
Elimination diet--fast for a couple days, then slowly reintroduce each food one or two at a time to see if you react to something you are eating, if you find something, remove it from your diet.
Wahl's diet-- for people who react to multiple stuff like me, you may need to rotate foods in and out . You may find you can eat say, dairy, one day, but not two days in a row.
Daily Bone Broth-- get good quality meat bones and make bone broth--look online for recipes, a crock pot is good for this.
Digestives/bitters--also used for better digestion, if your digestion is messed up, your whole body is out of whack. Try eating a bitter before every meal. It can be as simple as chamomile tea, or a tincture you either make or buy, or even dandelion greens.
vitamin/mineral/fats/ proteins/hormones testing--find a natural practitioner or chiropractor in your area that does this, it can totally change your life. Expensive, but worth it once you can afford it. How can you heal if you are deficient?
Positive affirmation--hey it can't hurt! Make up a rhyme or a cute phrase and say it over and over to yourself. Supposedly you don't want any negatives so in your phrase so you would say "I won't think about food" and instead say "I am getting healthier" etc. etc.
Prayer--ditto for positive affirmation
Ritually banish your problem--if you believe in that sort of thing, I obviously do
I'm sure there's more but that's all for now.
Namaste
Fermented foods/probiotics--make kombucha, kimchee,levaine breads, homemade sour kraut, pickles, natural fermented sodas! They have the stuff yogurt has in it but so much more, store-made yogurt has just a few cultures but there are so many more cultures out there and making your own will get a wider variety. The bacteria in our guts is getting a lot of attention lately, it may be hugely responsible for good health and vitality. On that note:
Try not to take antibiotics if possible:
if you can battle a sinus infection on your own--do it! We are not sure if the bacteria in your gut every fully recovers from a bout of antibiotics.
Oil Pulling--this one is new to me, it's interesting, I'm unsure if I've reaped any benefits yet, but worth a try.
Herbs for the specific ailment, or all-around toning ones-- (make a tea, get a capsule maker, apply directly, make an essential oil rub, steam with essential oils, use a tincture etc.)--do your research so you know possible side effects of what you're using!
Fasting--Juice fast, water fast, Clearvite protein shake fast, even fasting from meat and/or animal products will help some
Green smoothies--try some recipies, they can be good!
Detoxing: (fasting kinda falls in this category too) using herbs or sweating, or any other number of procedures to detox, research and take your pick!
Suana--also falls into detox but deserves it's own spot, since it does so much more than detox. Great for general aches and pains, back pain, endo pain or whatever. Start with just a few min. and work your way up.
Cardio--you detox through your lungs as well as your pores, with lots of other benefits too, like increased energy
Hatha Yoga--sometimes you gotta move so you can actually relax! Plus lots of other benefits
Pranayama and bandhas--detox your lungs and tone your insides (usually a part of a yoga practice, but if your health were so bad you couldn't move at all, this is a good start!)
Kundalini yoga--more vitality and your very own, cheaper psychotherapist! Sweet! I swear, this is better than years of going to a shrink.
Acupuncture--great for stuff no one else knows how to fix while you continue to try other stuff (cause really, who can continuously afford it, since insurance won't cover it now)
Chiropractor-- ditto this for acupuncture. Do this while you're down, then start doing exercises and stuff to keep your spine from getting a "subluxion" in the first place.
Abayanga--self oil message followed by a shower (usually with a dosha appropriate oil--look up Auryveda online)
Message- better circulation, detox etc. plus it feels great
Auryvedic Doctor--if you've got stomach complaints, give them a try
Elimination diet--fast for a couple days, then slowly reintroduce each food one or two at a time to see if you react to something you are eating, if you find something, remove it from your diet.
Wahl's diet-- for people who react to multiple stuff like me, you may need to rotate foods in and out . You may find you can eat say, dairy, one day, but not two days in a row.
Daily Bone Broth-- get good quality meat bones and make bone broth--look online for recipes, a crock pot is good for this.
Digestives/bitters--also used for better digestion, if your digestion is messed up, your whole body is out of whack. Try eating a bitter before every meal. It can be as simple as chamomile tea, or a tincture you either make or buy, or even dandelion greens.
vitamin/mineral/fats/ proteins/hormones testing--find a natural practitioner or chiropractor in your area that does this, it can totally change your life. Expensive, but worth it once you can afford it. How can you heal if you are deficient?
Positive affirmation--hey it can't hurt! Make up a rhyme or a cute phrase and say it over and over to yourself. Supposedly you don't want any negatives so in your phrase so you would say "I won't think about food" and instead say "I am getting healthier" etc. etc.
Prayer--ditto for positive affirmation
Ritually banish your problem--if you believe in that sort of thing, I obviously do
I'm sure there's more but that's all for now.
Namaste
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
I Am Only A Little Crazy and Alot Gluten Free
So no updates on the home-front for now. We had a few major road-blocks in the new house come up that I really don't want to go into right now. Perhaps another time...
Since everyone is stressed out, including those who helped us move, things got a little heated around these parts...
Mom got into one of those tirades where she started throwing insults etc. that didn't even have anything to do with what she was supposedly mad about, but during this bout she informed me that she thinks I'm crazy.
Proof of this? I don't eat gluten (and I'm pagan).
If being Wiccan makes me crazy then I guess I am guilty as charged. Right now I'll just focus on the Gluten free part..
I'd like to go into this bit of gluten-free craziness, just in case anyone else has similar troubles. I follow a blog on occasion where a woman is trying through trial and error to cure her disease--endometriosis. This disease is supposedly incurable, and I have/had it too.
I didn't just have it a little, I had it a whole bunch. The pain was so unbearable I could not enjoy any aspect of life. One of the great myths about this disease is that it just means you have "hard periods". How I wish that were true!
After many years of it getting worse I became unable to sit or stand for very long, could no longer ride a bike and could not have sex without resorting to prescription opiates. I had excruciating 24/7 pain. I considered getting on disability (good luck! that myth people have about endo. exists in the disability world too! why give someone disability for "hard periods??). I also contemplated (albeit in passing) suicide since my life was filled with nothing but pain.
I think this is very difficult for someone to imagine if they don't have it, or are one of the (lucky?) ones who seem to experience no pain from it. These "lucky" ones often have very severe cases and only find out when they are so full of scars they cannot conceive a child...
I finally got a diagnosis after about 6 years of doctor visits. I went in for the laperoscopy (the only definitive way to get a diagnosis) and they "lasered" off the scar tissue strangling my colon and burned off the tumors/implants/lesions --whatever you'd like to call them, that were covering the insides they could reach. Like most women, they were back in short order and growing and spreading again.
I was told I'd need to be on Lupron (a no bull-shit drug also used for cancer with bad side effects, some permanent). When I refused, they said I should try Depo-provera since it was just a lower dose.
I tried different natural treatments and was finally so miserable I opted to try the Depo thinking that maybe if I could tolerate that I'd move on to Lupron.
I took one dose, and lost a ton of my hair, among a host of other nasty side effects. Now, me and hormonal treatments have never got along. I understand there are many who like Depo--I am not one of them! I never got another shot and resumed my search for a cure or something to alleviate my pain without the side effects.
I started going vegan for inflammation. I went to aryuvedic doctors. I had acupuncture. I eventually came up with a routine of exercise, yoga, sauna for detox and a barage of herbs: yerba mate for allergies and fatigue, pao de arco for fungus, chasteberry for too much estrogen, maratime pine bark for pain mitigation. On my period I had to still resort to the prescription opiates, plus ibuprofen and a combo of cramp bark and valerian root. I did rituals to rid myself of disease. I prayed alot. I still barely got by. I found all these herbs that helped, but they just covered up the symptoms, took the volume down a bit, the same way western drugs had (at least they didn't have the nasty side effects...)
Funny thing about endometriosis, it comes with ALOT of complications and it tends to cascade and cause other things like thyroid troubles, cancer, allergies etc.
Many years a later I accidentally went gluten free for a couple of days after a trip to the asian market for rice-goodies. I felt great for a change. I examined what I'd changed....it was gluten. I'd seen online others with endo felt better after being GF, and I thought I'd tried it before. But I didn't know at the time how many things gluten was hiding in. Who knew most soy sauce had it?? I now check labels religiously. After a year of being gluten free, I now only have a twinge of pain from time to time. Periods can still be a little bad, but only 1 month out of six requires a prescription. It's pretty damned much cured.
Also my stomach pain is gone, my gas, bloating, joint pain, the numbness going down both arms and an improvement in allergies. I can eat meat again ( kinda feel like I have to since going gluten free leaves one with little options at times). I still watch dairy as it bothers my sinuses. Does this sound crazy yet?? With all of those problems I think it is easy to label someone as a hypochondriac (the word my dear mother was actually looking for when she threw out "crazy"). Having a gluten intolerance also causes those things.
Is going gluten free the only thing I have changed to keep my health in check? No, but it is 80% of my recovery as far as I can tell. I have breast-fed my son long-term now, so I cannot be certain how I will fair when my estrogen is no longer kept in check. In his first year of life my endo returned with a vengeance as soon as periods returned. It was not until I cut gluten that I began to improve. It took a year to get feeling back in my left arm/hand. If I get a "dose" of gluten my numbness returns. My various health complaints on gluten could fill a book I imagine...
The woman whose blog I follow still hasn't found her panacea, but for me, it seems largely due to cutting out gluten. Did I do other stuff in the years-long journey, yes! Am I still trying other stuff to feel even better--hell yes!
I think that a cure can be different for every woman. It is whatever is causing her particular imbalance (possibly more than one thing!). It is a daunting task to try to figure it out on your own. One that is nearly impossible, I think, without providence. But that doesn't mean it is impossible. Remember we are talking about a supposedly incurable disease that I (and many others) have all but cured, or eradicated using natural means. The blog I am speaking of "cureendometriosis.com" was recently hacked and someone posted all over it about how she is crazy and should just take Lupron.
It's not crazy. When something doesn't work we simply take our own life, our own health, into our own hands. The alternative is to lay down and die, or watch yourself get progressively worse,which is the same thing. This disease attacks younger and younger ages. Even as early as teens. That is a sad time to have your enjoyment of life, your actual life, over. I had symptoms as long as I can remember that got progressively worse, since age 11.
I don't see lying down and giving up as an option. And it is not crazy to take control of your own life, even if it looks strange to others. For any other women out there suffering, don't give up hope, and don't worry if you look crazy, your health is so much more important than all that...
love and light,
Nox
Since everyone is stressed out, including those who helped us move, things got a little heated around these parts...
Mom got into one of those tirades where she started throwing insults etc. that didn't even have anything to do with what she was supposedly mad about, but during this bout she informed me that she thinks I'm crazy.
Proof of this? I don't eat gluten (and I'm pagan).
If being Wiccan makes me crazy then I guess I am guilty as charged. Right now I'll just focus on the Gluten free part..
I'd like to go into this bit of gluten-free craziness, just in case anyone else has similar troubles. I follow a blog on occasion where a woman is trying through trial and error to cure her disease--endometriosis. This disease is supposedly incurable, and I have/had it too.
I didn't just have it a little, I had it a whole bunch. The pain was so unbearable I could not enjoy any aspect of life. One of the great myths about this disease is that it just means you have "hard periods". How I wish that were true!
After many years of it getting worse I became unable to sit or stand for very long, could no longer ride a bike and could not have sex without resorting to prescription opiates. I had excruciating 24/7 pain. I considered getting on disability (good luck! that myth people have about endo. exists in the disability world too! why give someone disability for "hard periods??). I also contemplated (albeit in passing) suicide since my life was filled with nothing but pain.
I think this is very difficult for someone to imagine if they don't have it, or are one of the (lucky?) ones who seem to experience no pain from it. These "lucky" ones often have very severe cases and only find out when they are so full of scars they cannot conceive a child...
I finally got a diagnosis after about 6 years of doctor visits. I went in for the laperoscopy (the only definitive way to get a diagnosis) and they "lasered" off the scar tissue strangling my colon and burned off the tumors/implants/lesions --whatever you'd like to call them, that were covering the insides they could reach. Like most women, they were back in short order and growing and spreading again.
I was told I'd need to be on Lupron (a no bull-shit drug also used for cancer with bad side effects, some permanent). When I refused, they said I should try Depo-provera since it was just a lower dose.
I tried different natural treatments and was finally so miserable I opted to try the Depo thinking that maybe if I could tolerate that I'd move on to Lupron.
I took one dose, and lost a ton of my hair, among a host of other nasty side effects. Now, me and hormonal treatments have never got along. I understand there are many who like Depo--I am not one of them! I never got another shot and resumed my search for a cure or something to alleviate my pain without the side effects.
I started going vegan for inflammation. I went to aryuvedic doctors. I had acupuncture. I eventually came up with a routine of exercise, yoga, sauna for detox and a barage of herbs: yerba mate for allergies and fatigue, pao de arco for fungus, chasteberry for too much estrogen, maratime pine bark for pain mitigation. On my period I had to still resort to the prescription opiates, plus ibuprofen and a combo of cramp bark and valerian root. I did rituals to rid myself of disease. I prayed alot. I still barely got by. I found all these herbs that helped, but they just covered up the symptoms, took the volume down a bit, the same way western drugs had (at least they didn't have the nasty side effects...)
Funny thing about endometriosis, it comes with ALOT of complications and it tends to cascade and cause other things like thyroid troubles, cancer, allergies etc.
Many years a later I accidentally went gluten free for a couple of days after a trip to the asian market for rice-goodies. I felt great for a change. I examined what I'd changed....it was gluten. I'd seen online others with endo felt better after being GF, and I thought I'd tried it before. But I didn't know at the time how many things gluten was hiding in. Who knew most soy sauce had it?? I now check labels religiously. After a year of being gluten free, I now only have a twinge of pain from time to time. Periods can still be a little bad, but only 1 month out of six requires a prescription. It's pretty damned much cured.
Also my stomach pain is gone, my gas, bloating, joint pain, the numbness going down both arms and an improvement in allergies. I can eat meat again ( kinda feel like I have to since going gluten free leaves one with little options at times). I still watch dairy as it bothers my sinuses. Does this sound crazy yet?? With all of those problems I think it is easy to label someone as a hypochondriac (the word my dear mother was actually looking for when she threw out "crazy"). Having a gluten intolerance also causes those things.
Is going gluten free the only thing I have changed to keep my health in check? No, but it is 80% of my recovery as far as I can tell. I have breast-fed my son long-term now, so I cannot be certain how I will fair when my estrogen is no longer kept in check. In his first year of life my endo returned with a vengeance as soon as periods returned. It was not until I cut gluten that I began to improve. It took a year to get feeling back in my left arm/hand. If I get a "dose" of gluten my numbness returns. My various health complaints on gluten could fill a book I imagine...
The woman whose blog I follow still hasn't found her panacea, but for me, it seems largely due to cutting out gluten. Did I do other stuff in the years-long journey, yes! Am I still trying other stuff to feel even better--hell yes!
I think that a cure can be different for every woman. It is whatever is causing her particular imbalance (possibly more than one thing!). It is a daunting task to try to figure it out on your own. One that is nearly impossible, I think, without providence. But that doesn't mean it is impossible. Remember we are talking about a supposedly incurable disease that I (and many others) have all but cured, or eradicated using natural means. The blog I am speaking of "cureendometriosis.com" was recently hacked and someone posted all over it about how she is crazy and should just take Lupron.
It's not crazy. When something doesn't work we simply take our own life, our own health, into our own hands. The alternative is to lay down and die, or watch yourself get progressively worse,which is the same thing. This disease attacks younger and younger ages. Even as early as teens. That is a sad time to have your enjoyment of life, your actual life, over. I had symptoms as long as I can remember that got progressively worse, since age 11.
I don't see lying down and giving up as an option. And it is not crazy to take control of your own life, even if it looks strange to others. For any other women out there suffering, don't give up hope, and don't worry if you look crazy, your health is so much more important than all that...
love and light,
Nox
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
The Move, Underground? Views on Polytheism...
We moved last weekend, and are making some headway on unpacking. My parents were, as usual, indispensable. No one else is as hard-working or as loyal as they are, I really don't know how we can ever repay them.
The neighbors stopped by, they are apparently Evangelicals and are just across the fence here. You might call me prejudiced but I am a little leery of some possible bad interactions with them. They are very friendly people, brought cookies and tools to help us fix the facet (apparently when you move it is the neighbor's job to come bring you food and introduce themselves etc. in big cities people often times won't do this.. Good thing my mom is here to tell me that stuff!). I grew up in a small town, and being a different religion was not received well. If we make enemies of our neighbors we could make things very difficult for ourselves for a very very long time, if not permanently. We now face the dilemma of whether or not to go underground or semi-underground.
To top it all off, getting a rep as a witch and thus part of Satan's Army would affect my business prospects as I try to open up a studio in the area (an up-hill battle here anyway, with yoga also having a reputation for being associated with Hinduism and thus, at odds with Christianity--which by the way, it is not--I can go into this more another time).
At best, I could say we are agnostic, but that may only get us proselytized to, which I will not tolerate. UU churches, which I will go to on occasion, are seen about as badly! I am amazed at the bad reputation they have among the general Christian population. I don't feel I can argue much with a church that is all-encompassing, accepting, supportive of their community, and believes that you should do good to your fellow man because they deserve it, and not because you will go to hell if you don't.
The only churches my son will go to would be Orthodox church with his Grandparents, or the UU church. And when he gets home from Orthodox church, there will be a big talk before and after. He will need to learn to take the teachings with a big grain of salt. While it is fine for him to learn about Jesus, I don't want him to think that he will go to hell if he also celebrates Samhain with us... you get the picture. Most witches I know believe that Jesus was probably a powerful Magus. He is definitely a deity in his own right, and we see nothing wrong with him in general. It is when Christians won't let us worship the divine in a way that is personally meaningful to us, that we find fault, not with Jesus, but with the way the faith is pushed upon it's "flock". If the leaders of the churches stopped the closed-minded preachings, their people would change too.
Back to the point: to underground or not to underground? It doesn't seem like a real choice at this point. Keep in mind, my decision would not just affect me, but my children and husband as well. But how underground? Perhaps just avoiding the topic will do it for us...
By the way, I feel I should amend an earlier post about Paganism and community. I was not saying that being out of the broom closet is for everyone and for all circumstances. I truly believe it is not. While it would be great if everyone could practice their own faith without persecution, it is not possible yet. If you live in a big city, you will be fine for the most part, but small towns or country, or even if you are a teen in your parents house (or many other circumstances) warrant caution even in this day and age. Not all of us wish to be pagan martyrs. I know some who have done this in smaller towns, and had windows smashed out, unable to get a bank account, or had their small business run out of town. Their kids also payed the price. I do not feel ready to have my family pay the consequences for my faith. Wicca was underground a long, long time, and it is not ready for mainstream in smaller communities just yet. Who knows, maybe in 20 years? I can hope!
I really believe that each of us worship a higher being that is more or less the same, but we are individuals and as individuals see that deity in different ways, whatever way is most beneficial to our soul and our spirituality. Call me a "soft polytheist" if you will, I think I'm actually more "moderate polytheist" to coin a term. If I were christian, I would venerate Saints extensively. To me, it makes more sense to approach the God*dess by her individual parts. If I am my father's daughter, I'll call him "Dad" not "John", which will "evoke" a different feeling and approach from him. When his friends call him "John" he probably feels more carefree, or if his hunting buddies call him "red" he might feel in the zone to hunt. It's probably much more complex than this in reality. I believe the individual personalities evoked are more individual than they are One, which is why I say I am a "moderate polytheist", not hard, not soft...
Okay, now that I've been rambling all over the place, my time is out! Until next time..
The neighbors stopped by, they are apparently Evangelicals and are just across the fence here. You might call me prejudiced but I am a little leery of some possible bad interactions with them. They are very friendly people, brought cookies and tools to help us fix the facet (apparently when you move it is the neighbor's job to come bring you food and introduce themselves etc. in big cities people often times won't do this.. Good thing my mom is here to tell me that stuff!). I grew up in a small town, and being a different religion was not received well. If we make enemies of our neighbors we could make things very difficult for ourselves for a very very long time, if not permanently. We now face the dilemma of whether or not to go underground or semi-underground.
To top it all off, getting a rep as a witch and thus part of Satan's Army would affect my business prospects as I try to open up a studio in the area (an up-hill battle here anyway, with yoga also having a reputation for being associated with Hinduism and thus, at odds with Christianity--which by the way, it is not--I can go into this more another time).
At best, I could say we are agnostic, but that may only get us proselytized to, which I will not tolerate. UU churches, which I will go to on occasion, are seen about as badly! I am amazed at the bad reputation they have among the general Christian population. I don't feel I can argue much with a church that is all-encompassing, accepting, supportive of their community, and believes that you should do good to your fellow man because they deserve it, and not because you will go to hell if you don't.
The only churches my son will go to would be Orthodox church with his Grandparents, or the UU church. And when he gets home from Orthodox church, there will be a big talk before and after. He will need to learn to take the teachings with a big grain of salt. While it is fine for him to learn about Jesus, I don't want him to think that he will go to hell if he also celebrates Samhain with us... you get the picture. Most witches I know believe that Jesus was probably a powerful Magus. He is definitely a deity in his own right, and we see nothing wrong with him in general. It is when Christians won't let us worship the divine in a way that is personally meaningful to us, that we find fault, not with Jesus, but with the way the faith is pushed upon it's "flock". If the leaders of the churches stopped the closed-minded preachings, their people would change too.
Back to the point: to underground or not to underground? It doesn't seem like a real choice at this point. Keep in mind, my decision would not just affect me, but my children and husband as well. But how underground? Perhaps just avoiding the topic will do it for us...
By the way, I feel I should amend an earlier post about Paganism and community. I was not saying that being out of the broom closet is for everyone and for all circumstances. I truly believe it is not. While it would be great if everyone could practice their own faith without persecution, it is not possible yet. If you live in a big city, you will be fine for the most part, but small towns or country, or even if you are a teen in your parents house (or many other circumstances) warrant caution even in this day and age. Not all of us wish to be pagan martyrs. I know some who have done this in smaller towns, and had windows smashed out, unable to get a bank account, or had their small business run out of town. Their kids also payed the price. I do not feel ready to have my family pay the consequences for my faith. Wicca was underground a long, long time, and it is not ready for mainstream in smaller communities just yet. Who knows, maybe in 20 years? I can hope!
I really believe that each of us worship a higher being that is more or less the same, but we are individuals and as individuals see that deity in different ways, whatever way is most beneficial to our soul and our spirituality. Call me a "soft polytheist" if you will, I think I'm actually more "moderate polytheist" to coin a term. If I were christian, I would venerate Saints extensively. To me, it makes more sense to approach the God*dess by her individual parts. If I am my father's daughter, I'll call him "Dad" not "John", which will "evoke" a different feeling and approach from him. When his friends call him "John" he probably feels more carefree, or if his hunting buddies call him "red" he might feel in the zone to hunt. It's probably much more complex than this in reality. I believe the individual personalities evoked are more individual than they are One, which is why I say I am a "moderate polytheist", not hard, not soft...
Okay, now that I've been rambling all over the place, my time is out! Until next time..
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
All Hallows Dumb Supper
I'd like to write a post on Samhain, but I don't think I'll go into what it is, or how we celebrate it in specific. There are plenty of blogs out there, I imagine, that cover that.
We are just about to move, I am unsure if I will get time to write my October post after the move so I'll need to write it now. I'm not really sure what to write, however. I'll start with the dumb supper we held a few years back.
Our coven usually holds large gatherings for Yule, so I decided (this was before the move!) to start large gatherings for Samhain as well, arguably, a more appropriate time for our spiritual tradition.
This only lasted the one year, because I was pregnant after that, then had our son and was too exhausted by the time the next year rolled around. My husband was also in the last semester of his school, and we had a newborn! Not the easiest of times for our family..
Anyhow, the idea was to host a dumb supper. Ideally, it would be at midnight, which would only work for people in the best of circumstances. I really feel if the dumb supper had been held at midnight, or even after dark, we would've felt much more, it has great potential. While the dumb supper itself is not part of any Wiccan ritual, it is something that we often do to celebrate the season outside of "circle'.
A little research will tell you that a dumb supper is eaten backwards, at midnight, a very Ozark-sounding tradition that just warms my witch-heart! In yoga, we practice Shirsasana (head-stand) not only to bring blood-flow to the brain, but to help get our consciousness used to balancing when the world is upside down. At Samhain the world is in the process of doing just that. I think it is a very powerful psychological mechanism to be eating a supper (with the intent of eating with one's deceased relatives), meal backwards, at an unusual and transitional time.
At a Renaissance festival a few years back I acquired some medieval-style spoon and fork (in bronze), the fork has two tines and the spoon is engraved with a green man. I was told bronze was probably not the best thing to be eating with all the time...Then the same year I hosted the dumb supper I found their use. There seemed nothing more appropriate than to set the seat for the deceased with those gorgeous bronze-ware that should not be used by living human hands. I could imagine a "dumb" seat set for each person deceased that year, but we also wanted to include deceased from previous years, so we set one place and had each person who had lost someone take something from the potluck that they thought their relative would've enjoyed and load up the plate. We set up two black candles at the table spot and those who had lost someone recently or that year, set at the main table, there was also a pet-plate for pets who had passed away, under the table.
Then we ate our apple-crisp first, put on some low, mellow music, ate in silence, opening ourselves to the season and to our deceased relatives.
I would imagine that this scene might seem disturbing to the vast majority here in America. If any of that vast majority has managed to read this far I applaud them...Please understand, that for the Wicca, ghosts are not necessarily creepy. They are simply a manifestation of those we lost. What if your Grandmother died, but you could still be with her, speak with her, have supper with her, if only for one night? I cannot tell you if the superstition on speaking with the deceased is "bad" for them or keeps them tied here, or even if that is a bad thing. If it is a bad thing, Samhain is the perfect time to reconnect with them without any perceived cost. The gates of Death are already open, then they should be able to step out, then step back without repercussion on that day.
Now to be honest, Halloween is not the only night that this can happen, or the only night where it is seasonally appropriate. The Scandinavians felt that Midwinter was even more appropriate,and I have to say some hard winters here, when the snow is blowing and the temperatures arctic-low, I can see where they are coming from. The gates of death must be yawning at that time, open-wide to take in those creatures who cannot withstand the hard winter.
Ghosts can appear at any time, especially strong right after death, or other powerful astrological events etc. but I find it comforting to have a day, a specific Wiccan Holiday, in which the dead are honored, remembered, and supped with.
Perhaps next time I'll write on holiday timing, if I remember!
Merry Samhain everyone!
We are just about to move, I am unsure if I will get time to write my October post after the move so I'll need to write it now. I'm not really sure what to write, however. I'll start with the dumb supper we held a few years back.
Our coven usually holds large gatherings for Yule, so I decided (this was before the move!) to start large gatherings for Samhain as well, arguably, a more appropriate time for our spiritual tradition.
This only lasted the one year, because I was pregnant after that, then had our son and was too exhausted by the time the next year rolled around. My husband was also in the last semester of his school, and we had a newborn! Not the easiest of times for our family..
Anyhow, the idea was to host a dumb supper. Ideally, it would be at midnight, which would only work for people in the best of circumstances. I really feel if the dumb supper had been held at midnight, or even after dark, we would've felt much more, it has great potential. While the dumb supper itself is not part of any Wiccan ritual, it is something that we often do to celebrate the season outside of "circle'.
A little research will tell you that a dumb supper is eaten backwards, at midnight, a very Ozark-sounding tradition that just warms my witch-heart! In yoga, we practice Shirsasana (head-stand) not only to bring blood-flow to the brain, but to help get our consciousness used to balancing when the world is upside down. At Samhain the world is in the process of doing just that. I think it is a very powerful psychological mechanism to be eating a supper (with the intent of eating with one's deceased relatives), meal backwards, at an unusual and transitional time.
At a Renaissance festival a few years back I acquired some medieval-style spoon and fork (in bronze), the fork has two tines and the spoon is engraved with a green man. I was told bronze was probably not the best thing to be eating with all the time...Then the same year I hosted the dumb supper I found their use. There seemed nothing more appropriate than to set the seat for the deceased with those gorgeous bronze-ware that should not be used by living human hands. I could imagine a "dumb" seat set for each person deceased that year, but we also wanted to include deceased from previous years, so we set one place and had each person who had lost someone take something from the potluck that they thought their relative would've enjoyed and load up the plate. We set up two black candles at the table spot and those who had lost someone recently or that year, set at the main table, there was also a pet-plate for pets who had passed away, under the table.
Then we ate our apple-crisp first, put on some low, mellow music, ate in silence, opening ourselves to the season and to our deceased relatives.
I would imagine that this scene might seem disturbing to the vast majority here in America. If any of that vast majority has managed to read this far I applaud them...Please understand, that for the Wicca, ghosts are not necessarily creepy. They are simply a manifestation of those we lost. What if your Grandmother died, but you could still be with her, speak with her, have supper with her, if only for one night? I cannot tell you if the superstition on speaking with the deceased is "bad" for them or keeps them tied here, or even if that is a bad thing. If it is a bad thing, Samhain is the perfect time to reconnect with them without any perceived cost. The gates of Death are already open, then they should be able to step out, then step back without repercussion on that day.
Now to be honest, Halloween is not the only night that this can happen, or the only night where it is seasonally appropriate. The Scandinavians felt that Midwinter was even more appropriate,and I have to say some hard winters here, when the snow is blowing and the temperatures arctic-low, I can see where they are coming from. The gates of death must be yawning at that time, open-wide to take in those creatures who cannot withstand the hard winter.
Ghosts can appear at any time, especially strong right after death, or other powerful astrological events etc. but I find it comforting to have a day, a specific Wiccan Holiday, in which the dead are honored, remembered, and supped with.
Perhaps next time I'll write on holiday timing, if I remember!
Merry Samhain everyone!
Monday, September 17, 2012
Bad Witch, Bad
So we've been here for several months now, and I just got around to warding my child's bedroom. I know, I know, that should've been one of the first things that I did, but as formula follows form, it takes me awhile to get around to some things. These next two moves have and will be particularly harrowing for me. While I've moved many many times over the years, I've never moved with a toddler before. It is particularly exhausting for me.
Usually I sage the place out before we even move in. This time was different. Try taking the sage bundle out (that your mother- in -law thought was a massive Dooby) and chanting, while going about your husband's late Grandmother's house. It just wasn't going to happen. While I am out of the broom closet to my family, I only bring it up in special circumstances and carefully, they don't see me practice--ever. I am after all, going to hell, and bringing out something even as innocuous as a sage bundle simply reminds them and brings up the whole mess again.
Back to my point though.
My son has been having nightmares, I can only assume. Since we've been here he's been waking up screaming. I figured he was unsettled by the move.
One night, a few weeks ago, he awakes wailing. I run up the stairs and find him staring, wide-eyed, at the "attic" door. Now, this place is a 1 and 1/2 story, there's no real attic, but there are three doors in his bedroom. One leads to a little dwarf-sized door that he plays in and has been cleaned out. The other houses century old bed frames, clothes and other items to be stored, from my husband's grandparents. The place is so crowded it is impassible, and we are not to move the things in there. We sort of live around all their old stuff, our stuff is just in the way...
I conclude that something is living in the storage/attic space. No, not a racoon, something else. I really have no idea what, I've never seen it, or even heard it, but even getting close to that door bothers me in a way I can't explain.
My first Wiccan teacher once told me if you invite and maintain relationships with healthy nature spirits etc. in your home, there will be no room for the nasties, they will chase the nasties out. In our case, we can't even get in there. So what is a concerned Mommy-witch to do?
I sealed the door and did an LBRP for good measure.
That night as I crawled, dead-tired, back into bed, my also magickally-inclined husband says to me "you know honey, that room always used to scare me when I was little, I thought I could hear or see something in there, both the little door and the attic door."
Why didn't he tell me earlier??? Wouldn't you think that was important? Especially after weeks of torment. I am sure he didn't remember until just then. Really though, the lesson here, is purify first and ward asap...maybe next move!
No more nightmares or screaming so far, weeks later. I did, however, come upstairs one day and find that attic door slightly ajar. I found this odd, since my son could not have pulled the door open, he wasn't opening doors at the time, and the doorframe was swollen and it was difficult for me to close fully again.
I re-warded it and do so regularly.
Usually I sage the place out before we even move in. This time was different. Try taking the sage bundle out (that your mother- in -law thought was a massive Dooby) and chanting, while going about your husband's late Grandmother's house. It just wasn't going to happen. While I am out of the broom closet to my family, I only bring it up in special circumstances and carefully, they don't see me practice--ever. I am after all, going to hell, and bringing out something even as innocuous as a sage bundle simply reminds them and brings up the whole mess again.
Back to my point though.
My son has been having nightmares, I can only assume. Since we've been here he's been waking up screaming. I figured he was unsettled by the move.
One night, a few weeks ago, he awakes wailing. I run up the stairs and find him staring, wide-eyed, at the "attic" door. Now, this place is a 1 and 1/2 story, there's no real attic, but there are three doors in his bedroom. One leads to a little dwarf-sized door that he plays in and has been cleaned out. The other houses century old bed frames, clothes and other items to be stored, from my husband's grandparents. The place is so crowded it is impassible, and we are not to move the things in there. We sort of live around all their old stuff, our stuff is just in the way...
I conclude that something is living in the storage/attic space. No, not a racoon, something else. I really have no idea what, I've never seen it, or even heard it, but even getting close to that door bothers me in a way I can't explain.
My first Wiccan teacher once told me if you invite and maintain relationships with healthy nature spirits etc. in your home, there will be no room for the nasties, they will chase the nasties out. In our case, we can't even get in there. So what is a concerned Mommy-witch to do?
I sealed the door and did an LBRP for good measure.
That night as I crawled, dead-tired, back into bed, my also magickally-inclined husband says to me "you know honey, that room always used to scare me when I was little, I thought I could hear or see something in there, both the little door and the attic door."
Why didn't he tell me earlier??? Wouldn't you think that was important? Especially after weeks of torment. I am sure he didn't remember until just then. Really though, the lesson here, is purify first and ward asap...maybe next move!
No more nightmares or screaming so far, weeks later. I did, however, come upstairs one day and find that attic door slightly ajar. I found this odd, since my son could not have pulled the door open, he wasn't opening doors at the time, and the doorframe was swollen and it was difficult for me to close fully again.
I re-warded it and do so regularly.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Is Traditional Wicca too Masonic/Ceremonial?
Something to mull over for you all. I am struggling with this as well, and also whether or not I actually should care.
I'd like to set aside the debate as to whether or not Traditional Wicca actually follows the traditions and Gods/Goddesses of our "original" pagan ancestors. I think I can safely say it does not, and it doesn't take much delving to figure this out. I'd like you to read some Ronald Hutton, Donald Micheal-Kraig, Aleister Crowley or even some of Doreen Valiente's books if you disagree and then we'll talk more...
While I strongly feel that there is a magickal current that is Wicca, and that is ancient; the practices, traditions and words we use today would be unrecognizable to our ancestors. Then again, so would our bathrooms, I-phones, cars, and stoves be confusing as well. We live in a different world than they did, and our practices need to be different too.
Our practices evolved as our worlds changed. They are unique to each country they developed in. Traditional Stregheria from Italy is different from British Traditional Wicca, and rightfully so. Each place that Wicca grew it had to change to be effective.
Due to dire circumstances, Wicca blended with ceremonial magick, from the city. Our groves were torn down, so we learned to create our own grove in our hearts, by making any space we chose sacred. While it is unfortunate, it ended up being our saving grace. During dark times, we have been able to move our sacred space indoors, in a time where we have no land to worship on, and the climate is not always friendly to any faith but Christianity. This makes our faith highly accessible in a time where most of us live in cities.
In this blending, I think, we have forgotten much. The importance of worshiping outside, the direct link to our craft ancestors, agricultural lore and calendar etc.
Discovering what we have lost is key to our continued survival. So we should add things, should we ever consider subtracting? If we subtract, what do we have left, and what replaces it?
My son is at the end of his self-entertaining. Just ponder this till next time...
I'd like to set aside the debate as to whether or not Traditional Wicca actually follows the traditions and Gods/Goddesses of our "original" pagan ancestors. I think I can safely say it does not, and it doesn't take much delving to figure this out. I'd like you to read some Ronald Hutton, Donald Micheal-Kraig, Aleister Crowley or even some of Doreen Valiente's books if you disagree and then we'll talk more...
While I strongly feel that there is a magickal current that is Wicca, and that is ancient; the practices, traditions and words we use today would be unrecognizable to our ancestors. Then again, so would our bathrooms, I-phones, cars, and stoves be confusing as well. We live in a different world than they did, and our practices need to be different too.
Our practices evolved as our worlds changed. They are unique to each country they developed in. Traditional Stregheria from Italy is different from British Traditional Wicca, and rightfully so. Each place that Wicca grew it had to change to be effective.
Due to dire circumstances, Wicca blended with ceremonial magick, from the city. Our groves were torn down, so we learned to create our own grove in our hearts, by making any space we chose sacred. While it is unfortunate, it ended up being our saving grace. During dark times, we have been able to move our sacred space indoors, in a time where we have no land to worship on, and the climate is not always friendly to any faith but Christianity. This makes our faith highly accessible in a time where most of us live in cities.
In this blending, I think, we have forgotten much. The importance of worshiping outside, the direct link to our craft ancestors, agricultural lore and calendar etc.
Discovering what we have lost is key to our continued survival. So we should add things, should we ever consider subtracting? If we subtract, what do we have left, and what replaces it?
My son is at the end of his self-entertaining. Just ponder this till next time...
Saturday, July 14, 2012
What do Dust Bowls, Moving and Reusing Have In Common?
It's been weeks, so here is some rambling. Maybe you can make sense of it.
Well, it seems forever since I've posted anything. Moving, particularly when moving again in short order in some unknown but close period of time, kinda sucks. But you all probably know that.
Our son apparently is having trouble adjusting, and his world is rattled by the new concept that his Daddy, and thus anyone else he likes, can leave him at any time, for weeks or worse. I am no longer allowed to leave his sight for more than mere seconds at a time. He may not be traumatized for life, but he is certainly traumatized right now. I know this whole ordeal is making me feel traumatized...
I am trying to bring some sort of normalcy to his life, but global warming is making that difficult. Sometimes I want to pray for leiniency from the Goddess, and I usually don't, because I don't think anything short of food shortages or dust bowl, will get anyone to pay attention. I fear we are getting close to the latter here in the midwest. I am not sure how much longer these temps can go on with no rain without more dire consequences. Add that to the fact that people have systematically removed every tiny bit of tree line that was left in the past few years and we have some real dust bowl possibility. It makes me feel like screaming.
Getting our boy out in this heat, even in the water, can be too hot.
I know, your little violin is playing just for us. I'm not really trying to be dramatic, just writing what I am living and observing. I'll try to post something more positive in the next few posts to make up for it! Promise!
I can't think of anything direct to do about the upcoming famine and dust bowl, except to say keep eating your cheese-burgers so you can outlive the skinny-folk, assuming you can find water; BUT, I would like to mention something about recycling while we're on the tree-hugging track.
Recycling keeps things out the land-fill, but other than that, it is a HUGE waste of resources and creates even more pollution. Did you know that? I had never thought about it before. Paper recycling can be a real bad one, as they use bleach to get the paper white again. Goddess only knows why we can't use hemp that would be easily renewable within a season unlike trees!!! Political/greed/bullshit. In any case, people used to just reuse things. Milk was delivered in glass bottles, then picked up, steralized, used again. This is not as viable now since glass is so heavy to transport, but there are plenty of other things you can re-use. Those grocery bags are one. And plastic grocery bags are nasssty. They get everywhere and clog everything. Unlike "American Beauty" I cannot find anything spiritual or beautiful about those things. Give me leaves blowing around any day. Maybe I am just not enlightend enough.
What do you re-use? Any thoughts?
Well, it seems forever since I've posted anything. Moving, particularly when moving again in short order in some unknown but close period of time, kinda sucks. But you all probably know that.
Our son apparently is having trouble adjusting, and his world is rattled by the new concept that his Daddy, and thus anyone else he likes, can leave him at any time, for weeks or worse. I am no longer allowed to leave his sight for more than mere seconds at a time. He may not be traumatized for life, but he is certainly traumatized right now. I know this whole ordeal is making me feel traumatized...
I am trying to bring some sort of normalcy to his life, but global warming is making that difficult. Sometimes I want to pray for leiniency from the Goddess, and I usually don't, because I don't think anything short of food shortages or dust bowl, will get anyone to pay attention. I fear we are getting close to the latter here in the midwest. I am not sure how much longer these temps can go on with no rain without more dire consequences. Add that to the fact that people have systematically removed every tiny bit of tree line that was left in the past few years and we have some real dust bowl possibility. It makes me feel like screaming.
Getting our boy out in this heat, even in the water, can be too hot.
I know, your little violin is playing just for us. I'm not really trying to be dramatic, just writing what I am living and observing. I'll try to post something more positive in the next few posts to make up for it! Promise!
I can't think of anything direct to do about the upcoming famine and dust bowl, except to say keep eating your cheese-burgers so you can outlive the skinny-folk, assuming you can find water; BUT, I would like to mention something about recycling while we're on the tree-hugging track.
Recycling keeps things out the land-fill, but other than that, it is a HUGE waste of resources and creates even more pollution. Did you know that? I had never thought about it before. Paper recycling can be a real bad one, as they use bleach to get the paper white again. Goddess only knows why we can't use hemp that would be easily renewable within a season unlike trees!!! Political/greed/bullshit. In any case, people used to just reuse things. Milk was delivered in glass bottles, then picked up, steralized, used again. This is not as viable now since glass is so heavy to transport, but there are plenty of other things you can re-use. Those grocery bags are one. And plastic grocery bags are nasssty. They get everywhere and clog everything. Unlike "American Beauty" I cannot find anything spiritual or beautiful about those things. Give me leaves blowing around any day. Maybe I am just not enlightend enough.
What do you re-use? Any thoughts?
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Bedtime Fits and Moving
Okay, so not a ton to write about and not a lot of time to write it...but, here it goes.
I've decided to make friends with the boxes that share my home with me. They have their own culture and ambitions and things to do and eventually places to be. In order to get along I have decided to box and let box, it's the only way...
Who knows when we will be moving again? It feels pointless to get too wrapped up in the War with the Boxes. I just wish they would move themselves into corners, or the garage. They just sit there in the middle of the floor, right in my way, like they're pissed at me or something. I just step around them, there's no sense in causing a fight.
The kiddo is taking the move fairly well, although now after the ruckus has calmed, his new bedtime has transitioned to10 pm which is NOT going to work. It is yet unclear though, how to get him to bed before this time without screaming, snot-flying fits that still result in the bed time being 10 pm. The only advice I can get is to start a routine, I wish kids were that simple.
We'll try starting a more elaborate night ritual and see what happens. I'll let you know if it works, but I have to say right now it is hard to see how anything will work until our lives calm down a bit in like 2 years.
Here's to hope'n.
--Nox
I've decided to make friends with the boxes that share my home with me. They have their own culture and ambitions and things to do and eventually places to be. In order to get along I have decided to box and let box, it's the only way...
Who knows when we will be moving again? It feels pointless to get too wrapped up in the War with the Boxes. I just wish they would move themselves into corners, or the garage. They just sit there in the middle of the floor, right in my way, like they're pissed at me or something. I just step around them, there's no sense in causing a fight.
The kiddo is taking the move fairly well, although now after the ruckus has calmed, his new bedtime has transitioned to10 pm which is NOT going to work. It is yet unclear though, how to get him to bed before this time without screaming, snot-flying fits that still result in the bed time being 10 pm. The only advice I can get is to start a routine, I wish kids were that simple.
We'll try starting a more elaborate night ritual and see what happens. I'll let you know if it works, but I have to say right now it is hard to see how anything will work until our lives calm down a bit in like 2 years.
Here's to hope'n.
--Nox
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Inner Spirituality and Babies...
So I had this thought today after running a measly mile and then chasing around my toddler all day...that I just had this intense desire for someone to exercise for me. What if you could hire that out, you know, like hiring someone else to mow your lawn or something?...
Man am I tired. Now several weeks of running my household sans husband, and being here all day alone, constantly trying to stay upbeat, while somehow managing to get things done. My patience is thin, and my exhaustion complete. I realize that there are military parents out there, single moms/dads, family's with truckers etc. that end up doing this with many more children...and I can't imagine it.
Why then am I thinking of having another child? I could be sittin' pretty at 40 years with my one kid and my life would be relatively back to normal. If I have more that time gets pushed back and pushed back. But I can't seem to get that animal that makes up my flesh to be convinced that 1 kid is a good idea. It says to me "your son will be lonely", or "what will Yule look like when he comes home and there's just the 3 of you". And (perhaps some of you geeks out there will find this amusing) who will he have to play D&D with? Although my husband informs me we would really need to have 2 more to make a good party...
And honestly I can't tell you for sure that it isn't just that Animal growling to me in the background saying 1 just isn't very good odds for keeping your DNA floating around on this planet. I feel like I need the answer to that question. What part of me is yelling "stop!", and what part is saying "go!"? And should that answer change my actions?
I am on this spiritual path, and each child I have ups the difficulty setting immensely. My spirituality is very important to me, so this is truly a situation; and yet, I feel very sad to think of having only one child. I think I have always imagined that if I had any, it would be two.
People could tell me you can make do with the little things, but try getting into a deep meditative state, when you have a newborn that could need you to rush in at any moment to save his/her life. And really, when they start bawling, any concentration goes out the window whether it is life/death or not. I strongly believe women are hardwired to not be able to stand the sound of crying like that. If you want proof, I bet many of you have experienced your male better-half snoring soundly beside you while your eyes pop open at the tiniest whimper of your baby. I dunno, maybe that's just me...
I know that eventually I would have my 2 kids and get back to my spirituality, but having seen others through this process before, it is 10 years or so after the final child, that they are really able to delve deep again. How many years will it take to truly experience the Gods? To experience Enlightenment, and take that with me through most of my days.
There is a reason that people have traditionally sequestered themselves when they are Seeking.
The Norse had a concept of meeting your fate with courage, not just dying the good death, but understanding when you are swimming against the current. I just want to know if I am trying to swim upstream by having another baby...
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Why We Need Pagan Community
Having spent a lot of time active in the pagan community in the Midwest I can say there are plenty of pagans here. That being said, they rarely come out of the woodwork to actually get together. For years I've watched pagan group after group and networking community die from lack of participation, especially at the leadership level. The same people doing the same jobs year after year, eventually burn out and leave. Part of the burnout ends up being because not enough people are actually attending group meetings, holiday/sabbats. If more people come and the leaders see there is a point to all their work, they are willing to work longer and harder.
It would be easy to say that there simply aren't enough of us to get the job done. I know for a fact though, that's not true.
In years of running a pagan group we would get maybe 6 people to show max, with several of those people being those in charge (and thus, having to attend). However, when bringing in a guest speaker on Hoodoo in one of those years, I suddenly had over 20 individuals. Hoodoo isn't seen much here, people came because they were interested in something new. I can only assume they were not interested in attending other meetings because they didn't want to be a part of a community, they wanted to be entertained. They cleared their schedules and made efforts to attend the Hoodoo workshop in a way they did not to create community.
If you read my last post you may already understand why I think this is a problem. We have a unique situation today in which we could form organized groups to help us connect, to help us form real communities to be there for each other. Pagans are beginning to do this all over as opportunity exists, if not, they are certainly talking about it, from one coast to the other!
Why is community important? Can't we get lasting friendships and help outside of our faith? I encourage you to watch the original Wicker Man just for fun. It will give a little food for thought as to how a real pagan community might function. Please omit in your imaginings the creepy parts of the movie, oh yeah, and the very end too...but I digress a little, back to friendships etc.
People in a good religious community back each other up on their faith. They allow each other to explore their faith by offering a listening ear and their own veiw points, and help them to raise their kids according to their values. Pagan values can be a little different than mainstream beliefs. For instance, if we were to grow our children up in a number of Christian churches, they would be taught that being gay is wrong. In every pagan creed I've seen, diversity is celebrated and encouraged. If you want your children to grow up with your beliefs, you can't just tell them about your values, throw them out into the world in Kindergarten, and expect them to fully understand. They have literally thousands of other beliefs directly contrary to what you're teaching them. With no community to help you, well, back to raising a barn by yourself. Doesn't work well.
When you've been delving into your faith, meditating, doing workings on your own and suddenly, you begin to see strange things, or hear things that aren't there, you could think you are becoming schizophrenic. Maybe you are, or maybe you are just moving along the pagan path and have acquired the ability to see spirits or hear them. If you go to a doctor, you will probably end up on some heavy-duty medications with health risks involved. Without someone else pagan to talk to, lots of someones actually, you are unable to properly assess whether you are going crazy or not. With help, these same people could help you to use your new abilities to help others, to help yourself, and make sure, they didn't drive you insane.
Perhaps you're not interested in any of that meditation crap. Maybe you just like wildcrafting and learning about the healing abilities of herbs. How much more quickly and effectively could you learn from others who have already walked the same path 30 years before?
How about getting together and pooling money for small business loans, childcare, scholarships, outside meeting places? Christian churches do all of these things and more. Why shouldn't we? Why should we, because we are pagan and not church attendees, be left out of all of these really important things? Guess what? They have those because they are willing to make a commitment to their community. Maybe they're not very interested in the sermons each week, but they make an effort to go to church when they can, they pool money when they can, and they make connections with each other there.
A friend of mine has told me his thoughts on the pagan lack of community. He feels that pagans have had to ostracize themselves from society in order to be pagan in the first place. They are not Christian, and not mainstream, so they have steeled themselves against friendships and connectedness with others. That is what they have had to do. But you know what? Paganism is growing up, and the United States more religiously diverse. We don't have to exist alone anymore. We do take risks by being openly pagan. But isolating ourselves isn't helping. Perhaps it is time for the pagans, heathens and witches to go mainstream. Attend Pagan Pride, seek out your local pagan groups or create one. Take risks, live dangerously, so that we can all truly live.
Thanks for listening,
Nox
Having spent a lot of time active in the pagan community in the Midwest I can say there are plenty of pagans here. That being said, they rarely come out of the woodwork to actually get together. For years I've watched pagan group after group and networking community die from lack of participation, especially at the leadership level. The same people doing the same jobs year after year, eventually burn out and leave. Part of the burnout ends up being because not enough people are actually attending group meetings, holiday/sabbats. If more people come and the leaders see there is a point to all their work, they are willing to work longer and harder.
It would be easy to say that there simply aren't enough of us to get the job done. I know for a fact though, that's not true.
In years of running a pagan group we would get maybe 6 people to show max, with several of those people being those in charge (and thus, having to attend). However, when bringing in a guest speaker on Hoodoo in one of those years, I suddenly had over 20 individuals. Hoodoo isn't seen much here, people came because they were interested in something new. I can only assume they were not interested in attending other meetings because they didn't want to be a part of a community, they wanted to be entertained. They cleared their schedules and made efforts to attend the Hoodoo workshop in a way they did not to create community.
If you read my last post you may already understand why I think this is a problem. We have a unique situation today in which we could form organized groups to help us connect, to help us form real communities to be there for each other. Pagans are beginning to do this all over as opportunity exists, if not, they are certainly talking about it, from one coast to the other!
Why is community important? Can't we get lasting friendships and help outside of our faith? I encourage you to watch the original Wicker Man just for fun. It will give a little food for thought as to how a real pagan community might function. Please omit in your imaginings the creepy parts of the movie, oh yeah, and the very end too...but I digress a little, back to friendships etc.
People in a good religious community back each other up on their faith. They allow each other to explore their faith by offering a listening ear and their own veiw points, and help them to raise their kids according to their values. Pagan values can be a little different than mainstream beliefs. For instance, if we were to grow our children up in a number of Christian churches, they would be taught that being gay is wrong. In every pagan creed I've seen, diversity is celebrated and encouraged. If you want your children to grow up with your beliefs, you can't just tell them about your values, throw them out into the world in Kindergarten, and expect them to fully understand. They have literally thousands of other beliefs directly contrary to what you're teaching them. With no community to help you, well, back to raising a barn by yourself. Doesn't work well.
When you've been delving into your faith, meditating, doing workings on your own and suddenly, you begin to see strange things, or hear things that aren't there, you could think you are becoming schizophrenic. Maybe you are, or maybe you are just moving along the pagan path and have acquired the ability to see spirits or hear them. If you go to a doctor, you will probably end up on some heavy-duty medications with health risks involved. Without someone else pagan to talk to, lots of someones actually, you are unable to properly assess whether you are going crazy or not. With help, these same people could help you to use your new abilities to help others, to help yourself, and make sure, they didn't drive you insane.
Perhaps you're not interested in any of that meditation crap. Maybe you just like wildcrafting and learning about the healing abilities of herbs. How much more quickly and effectively could you learn from others who have already walked the same path 30 years before?
How about getting together and pooling money for small business loans, childcare, scholarships, outside meeting places? Christian churches do all of these things and more. Why shouldn't we? Why should we, because we are pagan and not church attendees, be left out of all of these really important things? Guess what? They have those because they are willing to make a commitment to their community. Maybe they're not very interested in the sermons each week, but they make an effort to go to church when they can, they pool money when they can, and they make connections with each other there.
A friend of mine has told me his thoughts on the pagan lack of community. He feels that pagans have had to ostracize themselves from society in order to be pagan in the first place. They are not Christian, and not mainstream, so they have steeled themselves against friendships and connectedness with others. That is what they have had to do. But you know what? Paganism is growing up, and the United States more religiously diverse. We don't have to exist alone anymore. We do take risks by being openly pagan. But isolating ourselves isn't helping. Perhaps it is time for the pagans, heathens and witches to go mainstream. Attend Pagan Pride, seek out your local pagan groups or create one. Take risks, live dangerously, so that we can all truly live.
Thanks for listening,
Nox
Monday, May 7, 2012
Raising a Barn by Yourself (er wait...a baby)
As I sit here typing this, my young son is just getting up from a nap. I have a few precious minutes to myself. (I know, I know, I am supposed to cherish every second of his youth but guess what? That's just not realistic. We cannot live in constant child-rearing bliss despite what parents of older children will tell you...)
I just finished reading a book on Amish barns. The Amish apparently don't put lightening rods on their barns because it shows lack of faith in God. Actually, I think it would show them lack of faith in their community. If a barn comes down due to lightning etc. The community will come and simply raise a new one. It usually only takes a day, and their community comes out of the country side up to a 1,000 strong.
With all our modern conveniences we don't need to rely as heavily on our community, and yet, what has this afforded us? We've all drifted apart and no longer have the ties necessary to get jobs like raising kids done right.
I spend day after day doing what I feel is the right thing, staying home and raising my kid, because someone has to do it, and I feel I am the best qualified since he is, after all, my own. But to do this, I live in relative isolation. I won't yet delve into what this means for us a society that we don't allow our homes and public places to be accessible to small children, or why we don't seem to value community anymore...
The fact is we've spent the vast amount of our evolution with our tribe around us. Even if I had his Grandmother at hand all the time to help out, it cannot compare to what we are hardwired to expect and hardwired to need--a thousand people to come help build a barn in a day. Is it too much to ask that we have a couple of children and somehow manage to have a life also? I don't think it is. Only recently have we had to give up so much of our lives to rearing that little Joy-bundle. Don't get me wrong, I love my boy more than I can say, but we could all stand to do more living and less running ragged....
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