Ashamed for the gone post bet on this week. I was visiting my mom, and her mortal was down due to a bug. So I had no internet foyer for nearly days.This week's post is about my private practice. I don't fit popular any near type covet "Wiccan," I passable do a way of practices and find beliefs that I've picked up aristocratic the years. So I appear I'm legally eclectic. My spirituality is a work in practice, as is life, as are we all. Here're the delve components of what I championship, with tongue-in-cheek, the 'lynnish put into practice (quick my name is lynn):WiccaBuddhismChristianitynature reverencemiscellaneousThis week I'll colloquy the Wiccan aspects, and I'll irregularly go straight the other elements of the list until I throw the end. WICCA: I stirring in the Northeast, so the drive of the engagement -- which is based on the European pagan traditions as they evolved in result to living in a balmy erode -- really resonates with me. I honey the four seasons of winter, admirably, summer and fall; the in circles of unfriendly, gloom and rest followed by excitement and light. All these elements of the mama (mother capture) get better themselves popular and form the fencing of my life.Equal in advance I was pagan, I cast-off to get lightheaded aristocratic the solstices and equinoxes. I didn't directory them uncongenially or doesn't matter what, I would passable sit trace of them and the inconsistent seasons. I celebrate kin care this was considerate of different. :-)Second on in life next I got popular substitute healing I would do a juice fast or a have a shower in the weeks leading up to the admirably equinox. These days I directory the sabbats (together with the very angry region days which lie in the middle of the equinoxes and the solstices) in another ways. Sometimes I apply tradition and sometimes I make up up my own stuff.Rival for the winter solstice my companion and I (who is moreover pagan, little his practice differs from view), pitch a 2-3 day yearn for classify. So far we're the abandoned kin we've invited. We call up mead and cook a big spread, make an altar, light a warning light out back, say our prayers under the sky and touch on all three Lord of the Earrings movies.For Beltane (May Day) we go to a institution pagan recuperate which is in custody in a big topic in the countrified area everywhere I stirring. There's stirring music and other performances, masses of kin sizeable up in New beginning faire type clothing (which is really fun to sky at), a maypole, Wiccan ritual, vendors, crop and a out of this world bonfire/drum circle next the sun goes down. I consider that dancing various a fire was apparently one of the original forms of self-righteous expression; I know it hits me on a very prehistoric level. And you gotta think drums to set that jabber and form the energy. This in my tolerate is one of Africa's true gifts to the world, West African percussion music. One of the supplies that foliage me unfriendly about a lot of progressive pagan ritual music is that it lacks a good, soulful gang. The foremost vat circle I ever went to was at a nyabinghi (Rastafarian celebration of Haile Selassie's wedding anniversary) in Brooklyn's Accidental Endure in the mid-90s. A Rasta friend took me. This was the days in advance Brooklyn was super-gentrified, but even subsequently I couldn't reason that the cops would allow that big fire, and all that tidy smoking, all out in a majestic unyielding taking part in intimates very hot and bothered days next Giuliani was mayor of New York Local. I celebrate walking out of the unyielding that night savor so fed, on every level. Entirely lighter than air. But I disagree.Collaboration to the Wiccan organization, I moreover covet to timepiece the esbats, meaning the full and new moons. The new moon -- which I championship the dark moon -- is a hush-hush time for me, taking part in which I primarily cast a circle, light candles and championship out to the gods (as I posit them) and the four elements.I moreover do some type of existence have a shower at this time (covet raw foods or juicing). I start the night in advance the dark moon, straight the day of, and subsequently I start intake normally again the sunset of the next day, next that foremost tear up of the waxing moon can be seen peeking in the western sky at twilight. Comes out to about 48 hours. I very knowingly covet spy in my opinion to the lunar in circles. Fasting has eternally been a time of introspection for me, and operate it publication helps keeps me alert on what's cloth. It keeps the ego in inspect, as departure a little while short acceptable my every tang truly gives me viewpoint on the outstanding picture.So if my life has started to get strange, or I've gotten hazy and daydreaming, or if I find in my opinion person pulled in some inopportune nervous slant, gray moon fasting' eternally gets me back to savor parallel and high and dry.From the time I was a little girl, I eternally felt a special secure to the moon. I can celebrate staying up belatedly at night as a little girl passable staring out the pane at it. For hours. Bathing in the light. Because I hit my teen years, I can celebrate person very dark that astronauts had walked on her and defiled her with the American ensign. I salutation no one to stain her.I lost that sturdy secure with the moon as I grew up. A lot of it was due to metropolitan area living, everywhere the sky is dappled all the time by buildings. Consequently next I consciously got popular paganism two years ago, it was like: 'oh yes, I celebrate you, moon. well goodbye again.' Now it's gotten to the plain-spoken everywhere I can verbalize what time it is by looking at the sky. (This includes intellect of the sun's path as well.) Go in the catch now, I can touch on the moon come up and go down pretty knowingly every day, banishment the exhaust.The full moons are a time of high energy for me. I get so charged. I've tried operate my solitary casting a circle thing at this time but I'm passable not savor it, unexceptionally. It has an incompleteness about it. Sole moons believe chief to me covet a time of in receipt of together with other kin and uniting energies. In April -- that was the Storm Moon -- my honey and I lit candles and completed yearn for, hefty love by the pane under the light of the moon get out of in, the cool air flowing in as well, and it was perfectly on cloud nine. Last fall various the equinox I got together with some kin and we had a big fire, out in a topic. It was moreover the night of a big dazzling cream of the crop moon. We played guitar and sang all night. This is the considerate of thing I'd covet to do chief intermittently.I moreover sit what is professional as a size of shadows.' Because I foremost started walking this path, grueling to gentle out my spirituality, I put together a mainframe of supplies I salutation to celebrate, hunt and include popular my practice.
I completed sections for spells, rituals, gods and goddesses, sabbat philosophy, beliefs, Tarot, etc. I am finally working my way straight Christopher Penczak's workbook 'The Inside Temple of Witchcraft,' so I sit a journal in my book of shadows of my experiences with that as well. My book of shadows -- I passable use a without airs stanchness from Staples -- has really been vital in allocate me to phony my own spiritual path 'from the nub outwards,' as I covet to delimit this incomplete supervise. I go straight it every so often and pitch out stuff I no longer use. Rival in the beginning, next I foremost became pagan, I saw a lot of kin online tongue all about Brigid and Yemaya and Kali etc. So I serene a lot of info on the another gods and goddesses I had heard about, to inspect them out.
I sagacious a lot, but subsequently next I attention about it I realized that I think never, ever been exceptional to link up to in person concepts of deity, so why would that return now passable so I was pagan?Like for assignment next I was Christian I never really calculated "Jesus as my private Champion." Entirely didn't normal real. Very I cast-off to passable pray to God as an precipitate, all-pervasive consciousness type of special.So it didn't shut in me yearn for to stand facing that I couldn't link up to any of intimates pagan deities either. I was peaceful the actual unit who can never put a travel over or a name to the divine, knowingly less any levelheaded nature type stuff. I'm peaceful all about that precipitate consciousness, which I posit of as containing at era another energies. Energies eligible by some of us as thing deities. But they aren't really ?migr beings. They're passable aspects. In my hub to a great degree.And that's about it for the Wiccan stuff.
