Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Home away from home


For many Pagans, the bulk of our spiritual life is centered on our home.  Some faiths have temples or churches that are the heart of the spiritual life, but not so much for us.  Even those that work with dedicated covens, groves or groups often have a robust personal practice at home.

Our home houses our shrines and altars, our books, our journals, our tools and our supplies.  Even for those that have a fairly minimalist practice (maybe you don't do a lot of tool heavy work), if you sit down and actually list the 'stuff' that you use in the course of your practice (don't forget the oils, herbs, stones, tarot decks...all that stuff!), you would find that it's a pretty big list.

I am a huge collector of stuff.  I love having variety.  I'm also a touch person, so I like having actual, physical stuff to touch (though I am quite capable of visualizing everything I need...if I can I like to have touchable stuff).  The things I use in my spiritual practice are literally spread around the house.  I actually have spiritual stuff in every room of the house (including the bathroom, laundry room and son's room).  If I were to pile it up in the middle of a room somewhere I bet the pile would be almost as tall as me (probably taller...I have a lot of books!).

And just like many Pagans have their practice centered at home, we almost all take it with us wherever we go to.  We might have sacred items at our desk at work, in our purse (or wallet, or work bag), in our car, on our person (jewelry is a great way to keep items with you at all times!).  And for short excursions most people have figured out the best way to handle things that come up, either by using what they have at hand or waiting until they get home.

But there are times in many of our lives where we are going to be away from home for an extended period of time.  We might be living in a dorm for college, we might be in the military or we might be on a vacation.  Whatever the reason, being away from your home for more than a day brings special challenges.

Firstly, you are pretty much guaranteed that you can't bring all your stuff.  This can be really stressful for some people, especially if their practice is very tool-based or if they vary their practice a lot.  I own about 20 tarot decks, and it's not practical to take them with me when I travel.  Sometimes, in cases like this, you can pick a deck that is more universal, one that you can use for virtually any need (so I might take my Everyday Witches tarot, but probably not the Oracle of the Shapeshifters, which tends to fit specific types of readings better than general ones). 

When it comes to herbs and oils and other stuff like that, the same theory applies.  Think of the things you do daily, your regular everyday needs, and try to find the fewest things that will fulfill those needs.  If it is a shorter trip (like a week's vacation) you might be able to make do with one all purpose oil, but if it's a longer stay (like living in a dorm), you might be able to take more (hopefully your dorm will have more storage space than your vacation suitcase!).

I always think of emergency supplies too.  Salt is something that tends to go in my travel kits, whether it is a few chunks of rock salt or some salt packets from a restaurant (which are a great way to keep your salt when traveling!).  I also like those short incense sticks, they are about 4 inches or so, great for being on the go, as they take up less space and don't take as long to burn.

When it comes to generalizing your supplies, some things are easier than others.  Clear quartz works great for me as an all purpose stone, because it acts as an amplifier for me.  Instead of holding it's own flavor of energy, it's like a magnifying glass, so if I spark the energy I want to send, I can use it to multiply what I am making.  I love hematite for my all purpose protection stone.   Between the two, I have both sides covered!

If I am looking at living with limited supplies, white candles are a must.  Again, they are just an all purpose thing.  You can charge them with the color you want through visualization, by placing them on a piece of paper of the appropriate color or by using colored markers to draw symbols on them.  Instead of needing all the different colors, you can use white ones to handle all your needs.

As I mentioned, I'm a tool person.  I have a selection of tools and I love being able to pick and choose.  But, in a pinch, I am an Athame girl.  If I could have one tool, to do all my stuff with, it would be a blade.  So when I am paring down my tools, I might just pack one, and knowing what your personal 'one tool' is helps a lot.

Now, sometimes you can't use the things you would want because of where you are going.  Even though I am a blade girl, sometimes you just can't take a blade with you.  I don't carry blades with me when I travel by plane.  I knew guys in the military who had issues keeping their Athame in their barracks room (they were allowed one, but it was kept in the armory and they could check it out when they wanted to use it...not so convenient).  When I lived in the dorm, I had a letter opener I used as an Athame, because it didn't have an edge or really a point, but it worked for me.  Sometimes you have to find adaptations because of outside circumstances.

Open flames are another thing that you might have to work around.  When you are not in your own home, there may be restrictions on things like open flames and incense.  You might want to look into electronic candles or use a scented mist instead of burning incense.  Every location has it's own specifications, so you will have to look up what your restrictions are and then find something that will work.

One thing that I think is a huge boon to practicing away from home, especially for extended periods is technology.  I have several  tarot apps on my phone, so I have options when I am away from home, even if I don't have a physical deck with me at all.  I have tons of books on my kindle, so those are always with me too.  I love being able to take a library in my pocket, because sometimes you just need to look something up (the internet is great for this too...).

When I lived in the dorm, another thing I made great use of is pictures.  I printed out pictures of things, laminated them and hung them on my walls.  I had pictures of deities, of elements, of candles..all kinds of stuff.  Now, I like to keep stuff like that on my phone.  Before I travel, I'll take pictures of my altar, so that I can carry it with me.  Having devotional pictures of your deities is another great thing to keep on your phone!

Another thing to be mindful of, when you are away from home, is you may be lacking in privacy.  In a dorm or barracks not only do you often have a roommate, but your stuff is subject to inspection.  You might have someone coming in and looking through your things, possibly checking for stuff you aren't supposed to have.  This can be really distressing to some people, if they have private things that they might not want other people poking around in.  The same often goes for vacation, where your bags might get searched (and if you are visiting with family, you might have nosy family members or young cousins who are poking about in your things lol).  Sometimes I make the choice to leave something at home simply because I don't want someone else to see/touch it.

The lack of privacy may also mean that you might not feel comfortable doing things the way you did when you were home.  This is something you will want to consider before you leave home, while you are figuring out what stuff to bring and what to leave home.  If you know you will be sharing a room, you might want to plan for a way to keep your sacred things private.  When I had a roommate, I kept my stuff in a box (that could be locked if I felt the need), and also made it easy to transport (if I wanted to grab my box and go, I could find someplace private to do rituals). 

There are many ways to keep sacred space less obvious, and again this is something you can think about before you leave home.  I have many things in my house that speak to me of sacred things, and a good number of them are not overtly Pagan or witchy.  If you like making things, this is a great way to display almost anything, because it is something you made, and that just makes sense to people.  Many crystals can be displayed in a way that is decorative, and no one need know that it is more than that to you.

Ultimately, being at home away from home means thinking through what you really need, and what the situation will be where you will be staying.  It involves flexibility, but also looking into the core of what you do and deciding what you can do without.  The beauty of many of our practices is we have the freedom to adjust as we need, and we can find ways to work within almost any situation.  Being away from home for an extended period of time doesn't mean that you can't maintain your practice, you just may need to think about things a little differently.

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