PBP- Week 10: Empathy and music

Music plays huge part in both my practice and my life. I am very emotional, both on a personal level and a psychic one. There are a lot of times where things overwhelm me, no matter how well I shield. I know that if I need to be in public for long periods of time, especially at a crowded event (like a school function, or holiday shopping), that I will most likely be a bit twitchy.

For me, music is a huge savior. It forms a filter between me and others, both energetically and socially. If I have to do a lot of shopping, and I have headphones on, a lot of salespeople won't try to see if I need help. But more than that, I can ride the energy of the music I am listening to and use it as a dampener to any other energy that I come across.

I spent a lot of this past summer in doctors offices and hospitals, which are not my favorite places. I was driving a family member for treatments, and had a lot of wait time. Music helped me to deal with my personal anxiety so that I was in a much better place to be supportive to my family member.

One thing I love about music is that you can tailor it to your needs. If I just need to be upbeat, I can put on something that makes me feel happy. If I need to vent, I can put on something and dance about and rave. If I want to relax, I can play something mellow and soothing and it will help calm me down.

Music is great to add into your practice as well. For meditation there are tons of good songs and tracks designed to aid meditation. I also like using music as a timer. If I know I want to meditate for twenty minutes, I can either find a piece that is twenty minutes long, or build a playlist that is the length I want, and when the music stops it is a nice gentle reminder to come back to my waking mind (as opposed to a timer which can be quite jarring).

For rituals, you can pick your music based on your intent. Playing something that matches the outcome you are working towards helps put you in the right mindspace. It also helps block out any random road noise or sounds from the neighbors which might be distracting. For me, it is like building a bubble of sound that I can be in. Even though I can still hear other things, my mind can focus on the sounds I like instead of the ones that just happen to be there.

PBP- Week 9: Evolution of Practice

Change is a part of life, everything changes. I am not the same person today that I was yesterday and I definitely am not the same person I was when I started my path. And yet, in a lot of ways, we treat parts of our practice as if change isn't present.

Sure, most of us do have evolution in our personal path. We keep learning, and we keep growing, and as we uncover new information or ideas, we work them into our practice. But some things are so very ingrained that they don't seem to change.

One of the things I struggled with for a long time was grounding, and not because I couldn't ground (because I was actually grounding in my own way), but because I wasn't resonating with the 'basic' grounding that was put forth in just about every book and website: visualizing yourself as a tree. I can do it now, and have had some very moving experiences with it, but as a basic, everyday grounding practice it just doesn't work for me. And yet it seemed to be the only way to ground (if you believed the things you read, and at the time I was learning, reading was my main source of knowledge), and so I came to believe I just was horrid at grounding.

I think there is a lot of value in the 'tried and true'. Being able to read about practices that have worked for people for decades (if not generations!) is invaluable, especially to those of us who learned in a very solitary manner.

But I also think it is vital to keep up with the times, in so much as the mentality of today is very different than it was a decade ago, and certainly different than it was a century ago. Things that were commonplace and standard then, may not be as viable now. And things that are at the core of our daily lives today might not have existed then. So why do we have this tendency to take inspiration for our regular practice from times gone past?

As I have mentioned before, I think we place a big value on tradition. We want to connect with our ancestors, with our past and with the people who paved the way for our modern practice. We want to tap into that energy that has been built up over the years. And that is definitely something good! I love finding old rituals or practices and there is a distinct difference I feel when doing something that is rooted in ancient times as opposed to more modern practices. But my life has room for both, and I think we are missing something by not looking to the present (and the future) in our practice.

Sometimes I feel like we, as a Pagan community, have embraced the past as if it were trapped in amber: locked in stasis at the time of it's heyday and being this golden ideal we should try to attain. I don't believe that my deities or my practice is stuck in some time loop. How can we expect our deities to respond to our modern day concerns (when we have computer troubles or fret over being able to pay our phone bills) if we only envision them still as hunters or gatherers.

A friend of mine recently asked about this, about whether we view our deities as being creatures of their time or if they have transcended and can be seen in a more modern way. Do you ever see your deities in modern garb? Do they utilize technology? I feel that some do and some don't. But those that I feel don't step into the modern light, I don't approach with modern troubles. My grandparents are not that tech savvy, and while I love them dearly, and there are many things that I would gladly seek their advice on, if I can't figure out how to do something on the internet, I won't be emailing them to find out what they think I should do.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think we need to stop drawing this line in the sand between old and new. If your practice is based on recreating ancient practices and that works for you, I am very happy for you. If my practice incorporates my modern life, and it works for me, I hope you would be happy for me in the same way.

I think some have forgotten (or never heard) one of the things that I love most about Paganism: we do what works for us! Each of us has things that will work for us, and they may not be the same things that work for others....and that is okay. It is more than okay, it is wonderful. We have the freedom to be who we are, to do what we love and to not feel like we have to do things a certain way because 'that is how they are done'.

PBP: Week 8- Drawing and other artsy stuff

There are a lot of spells and rituals that involve drawing (or sewing or otherwise physically creating a representation of something). I am blessed to be artistically inclined, although I haven't had formal lessons in ages, I do consider myself pretty artsy. Most of the time I can make pictures of things that make me happy, and while I don't think I am quite on a professional level, I don't stress out when I have to draw or craft something.

But I know that a lot of people don't share this gift. I know my son always says he is horrible at art, and even for school projects hates having to do anything that involves drawing (even when the quality of the art isn't in any way being judged). It doesn't matter how many times I reassure him that it is the effort that matters and that his pictures are fine, he still feels frustrated when he tries to draw something, especially if he is trying to copy a symbol from somewhere.

When it comes to using artistic skills in workings, I feel very strongly that the quality of the work itself is not important. What is important is the intent, focus and emotion put into the crafting. The purpose of creating a symbol to represent something is to activate the child self, the younger self, the subconscious mind. This part of you doesn't care about perfect, it sees perfection because it sees the essence of a thing, not the specifics. So if you make an apple out of clay and it looks more like a lumpy ball, your child self sees the apple anyways, because it believes!

I think it is vital to approach sacred art in a playful manner. Let your inner toddler out! Don't worry about making a mess, about coloring inside the lines or even about making things the right color! If you want to create harmony in your house, and feel that lavender makes you feel good, draw your family and color them lavender!

Think about it this way: if you were handed a picture by a kid, who told you they made it 'just for you' and asked you if you liked it....most likely you would tell them it was great and wonderful and you absolutely loved it! If it looked like a pile of green spaghetti but they told you it was a picture of their mommy, you would tell them it was beautiful. Treat your inner child with the same indulgent love! Embrace the pure joy of creation, the letting go of expectations and of letting your mind's eye create.

Put away the fancy pens and break out the crayons. Grab some paint but no brushes and use your fingers. Stop trying to fix your 'mistakes' and just roll with them. Draw stick figures with no legs or make dolls with no faces. If you can't draw hands, don't!

But most importantly, have fun with it. Sing while you create. Name your creations, talk to them, and tell them what they mean to you and what you want them to do.

If you are having trouble getting started, go and grab a piece of plain white paper (or lined paper, or whatever kind of paper you have, you can even take an old bill or magazine). Grab some brightly colored markers or crayons....nothing fine tipped or fancy, just something that makes color. Don't draw anything, just scribble. Pick colors based on how you feel. Let your lines show your mood. Try this on different days, when you are feeling differently. Look back at your pictures and see what they make you feel.

PBP- Week 7: Decision making Divination

My apologies if this is disjointed or otherwise random...been feeling a bit off all week, and put off writing it, so putting down thoughts as best I can today!

My personal view of divination is that when we approach the cards, runes or scrying medium, we are opening ourselves up to the divinity within, and focusing on letting it speak to us. Finding that stillness, and learning to interpret the impressions we get is part of the process of learning do divine, just as becoming familiar with the tools we wish to use. One thing I see often said is that it is very hard (some people say impossible) to use divination to answer your own questions.

I definitely don't think this is the case. I use divination all the time for myself. What I do think is that I listen differently when I am reading for myself. I think it is a lot easier to keep a fully open mind when divining for someone else. I am not as invested in the outcome, sometimes I don't even fully know what is weighing on their mind, and I am rarely aware of what their innermost fears and hopes are. This makes it a lot easier to remain impartial, to interpret the information as it comes and not be swayed by personal opinions.

When reading for yourself, I feel like it takes a different focus. I have heard from a lot of different people that you can't get an honest reading because your subconscious mind is influencing the information you receive. But I think this can give a whole new layer of meaning to a reading when you take it into account. I sort of think of it like looking in a mirror. I can look in the mirror and describe myself factually: brown hair, glasses, mole on my nose. I can also look at the mirror and describe what I feel: tired or joyful, sad or angry.

The trick is taking a step back and really thinking about which type of description you are making. When I read for myself, I take a lot of time to think about why certain meanings are coming through. Sometimes I can just feel that it is something outside of my self. Typically these are the readings where something surprises me, or feels completely random. I also find that when I get these unusual interpretations, they also come with the feeling that anything else is just wrong.

On the other hand, sometimes I get meanings that are definitely influenced by my mind, either conscious or subconscious. Sometimes I will logic myself into these meanings (sort of like how you may talk yourself into something by coming up with reason after reason as to why it is true). Sometimes it will be something I know I was thinking about before I looked at the cards, or something that I know I was hoping for or fearing might happen.

When this happens, I find it very helpful to not only examine why my mind is picking these particular things to think about (from the vast number of possible outcomes), but also how they make me feel. Much like looking in a mirror, my mood and general thoughts will influence where I look on a particular day. I find this type of self-reflection very useful in sorting my mind out when thinking about a tricky problem or trying to figure out what I think would be best for me to do. I let the divination become a tool that my own mind can use to speak to me.

I think that divination tools have so many uses, that trying to restrict them to just one thing is not harnessing their full potential. I highly recommend to anyone who has not done readings for themselves to try it, and to see what kinds of personal insight comes up. Sometimes it's not about finding unbiased information....sometimes it is about listening to where the bias' come from.

PBP- Week 6: Coins

It is pretty common for old spells, especially ones for wealth and prosperity, to include as an ingredient a silver coin. Sometimes in modern books, it will say that a dime can be used in place of this silver coin (as modern coinage, at least in the united states, doesn't actually contain silver anymore). I think there is a tendency to overlook modern things as possible tools of magic, and yet coinage is not only readily available, it also has tons of layers of symbolism that make it very usable.

First and foremost, coins are money. While we often think of them as inconsequential (especially with the modern tendency to do everything electronically), when you are low on cash, you start adding up all those nickels and dimes (and pennies!) and you find they suddenly are much more vital than you otherwise thought. A penny is no longer just an inconvenience (one more thing to toss in your wallet/purse when you don't want to dig through your pockets for exact change....and you always have one less than you need anyways!), but one tiny step towards whatever you are working on...and isn't that a great thing to have when working magic?

American coinage has the phrases “In God we Trust” and “E Pluribus Unim” (which means “out of many, one”). These sentiments can be used in conjunction with the coins to harness these ideals. Consider 'donating' a coin anytime you are putting your faith in the Gods...trusting them to do what is best for you. You can say your blessing or prayer to the coin and leave it somewhere, trusting that it will find it's way to someone else who might need a blessing as well. E Pluribus Unim can help with bringing a group of people together to work towards a common goal. Or you could use it as a focus charm, when you are trying to narrow a huge range of choices or ideas down to just one.

Money is nothing more than a symbol itself...a symbol of the power to get the things we need and want. A penny is the smallest denomination, great for representing a small step towards a greater goal. We encounter pennies all the time: lost on the ground, found in our pockets (or the couch), given as change. If we set ourselves a trigger of “when I encounter a penny I will (insert goal action here)”, think about how many times we will be reminded to work on our goal! Not only that, but if the penny is one you can take, why not set aside a place to keep them. Decorate a jar with images of your goal or working. Whenever you have a penny, focus on your intent and put it in the jar. When the jar is full you can use it to further your goal...or donate it to a cause in honor of your goal (as gratitude).

On the front of the Penny, is Abraham Lincoln. The current reverse is a shield (which has 13 stripes on it). There are quite a few other designs that can be found on the back of the penny: the Lincoln memorial, scenes from Lincoln's life and two wheat heads. Originally made from pure copper, modern pennies are made from copper plated zinc (and amusingly enough cost almost two cents to manufacture). So there are a lot of ways you can go with the penny. Lincoln is probably most famous for outlawing slavery. He also led the country through the Civil war. He is a great symbol for equality and fairness. Wheat is still (for many) a staple food: bread and water being quite iconic of the bare minimum sustenance to survive. This makes the penny (the smallest form of currency) ideal as a representation of always having the basics.

The face of the nickel features Thomas Jefferson, and it's reverse is Montecello (Jefferson's home). In 2005 and 2006, two additional reverses (for each year) were printed in honor of the bicentennial of Lewis and Clark's Expedition. These were: an adaptation of an Indian Peace Medal (two hands shaking crossed by two pipes), a keelboat (like the one used for the expedition), a buffalo and a picture of the coastline featuring a quite from one of Clark's journal entries “Ocean in view! O! The Joy!” The five cent coin was originally made of silver and was a 'half-dime' but today the nickel is made of a copper-nickel alloy. The actual cost to manufacture a nickel ranges from three to eleven cents (based on the current metal prices). Jefferson is most well known as the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. While there is a lot of controversy involving many of these things, I think that the essence of the ideals they represent can still be harnessed through the nickel. Expansion and exploration, joy of discovery, peace and compromise and independence to name a few. Thinking even further outside of the box, you could use the keelboat to represent a safe (or productive) journey, the coastline to represent the ocean or beach...or even a sense of relaxation.

The front of the dime is a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the reverse features a torch flanked by an olive branch and an oak branch. Other versions of the dime featured Lady Liberty, and one which (while still representing Liberty) is commonly referred to as the Mercury dime (because she is shown wearing a winged Phrygian cap, a symbol of freedom and liberty, with the wings intended to symbolize freedom of thought). The dime was originally made of silver (and made to equal one tenth of a dollars worth of silver, hence it's small size), but today is made of a core of copper plated with Cupronickel (more on this stuff in a bit). I find Lady Liberty a fascinating subject. Sometimes called Columbia, viewed by many as a 'modern' goddess, a creation of America and a feminine personification of the United States itself, I find her to be a very powerful symbol. FDR was the only president to serve more than eight years (and he actually served four terms as president). He is widely know for energizing the country after the Great Depression, refusing to accept defeat at the hands of Polio and setting the United States up as a world power. FDR makes a great symbol of both perseverance and keeping a bright outlook. The reverse also holds very common and powerful symbols: the torch for illumination and the olive branch for peace. The oak branch was intended to be a symbol of strength, and the oak is a very sacred tree in many traditions.

The quarter bears a bust of George Washington on the front and the presidential coat of arms on the back. There have been a lot of alternate quarters in recent years. The bicentennial quarter features a drummer with a torch surrounded by 13 stars. There was a set of quarters with a reverse printed for each of the 50 states, ones for the District of Columbia and the US territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands), and ones featuring a national park or site from each state/DC/territory. The amount of images and symbols that can be found here are astounding. Not only are there often iconic images, many of these quarters feature sayings that can be quite useful as well. Quarters were originally silver, but are currently Cupronickel over a copper core. Washington was, of course, the first president, and is easily linked with foundations, creation and building something out of nothing (also could be used as a symbol for breaking free from another's rule). One of the greatest folklore stories about Washington was how he chopped down the cherry tree and when questioned about it replied that he 'could not tell a lie' and thus is an icon of truthfulness and personal responsibility. The eagle on the reverse is a powerful symbol for many people, often representing strength, leadership and connection to the divine.

Cupronickel (used in many coins, specifically the dime and quarter), has it's roots in alchemy. It is typiacally 75 percent copper and 25 percent nickel with trace amounts of manganese and/or iron. It is highly seawater corrosion. Cupronickel was known to the Romans as 'white gold', and to the Chinese as 'white copper', as even though it is primarily copper, it is silver in color. The Greeks called it orichalcum, and made the first coins out of it, around 180 BCE. The Chinese were able to produce it due to deposits of natural ore containing some of the requisite components, and used it like they would gold: for decoration and enhancement. As they began to export it, the western world sought to figure out how to make it, and alchemists strove to discover it's makeup. It was highly desirable as it shared many qualities with silver, and could be used to create cheaper items that would pass as silver. It is interesting that the roots of Cupronickel lead us right to where we are today: finding a way to have something that looks nice but is cheaper to create.

The origin of the alloy leads us to some very interesting options however. There are quite a lot of parallels to the alchemical pursuit of turning lead into gold: the transmutation of the self from base to noble. The resistance to saltwater corrosion lends it to protection, especially from natural elements or disaster.

In addition to the few coins I've talked about there are other coins that can be studied and used magically. And of course, one needn't limit themselves to coins from their own country. Foreign coins provide links to other cultures and a whole new group of symbols! But one thing I do know...coins offer up a buffet of uses and are readily available. There is no need to only use them as silver substitutes.

PBP- Week 5: Calendars

I am fascinated by Calendars, which I find slightly ironic because I am horrible with time. Seriously, it is not uncommon for me to forget which day of the week it is (and there is no way I can tell you the actual date without looking at a calendar, computer or my phone). But I love the structure of a calendar, the fact that it comes with all kinds of partitions and ways to organize. I love patterns, making patterns and exploring them!

There are a ton of calendars that can be applied to my practice. To start at the most basic, there is the Wheel of the Year. When I started learning that was a huge part of pretty much every Pagan and Witchcraft book. I still have to pause a moment now when people tell me they don't follow the Wheel. I am fine with it, really I am, but the Wheel is one of the pivots of my own practice, so I have to step outside myself and remember that my path isn't everyone's path.

One of the things I love about the Wheel is that it is a never-ending cycle. The Wheel turns, and comes around to where you started (and you can start anywhere on the Wheel!) and then keeps turning. One of my first calendar creating experiments was to make a circular Wheel calendar. I'm a pretty visual person, so having a list of 8 days to remember just wasn't working for me. I drew out my circle, marked the spokes, and started filling in different attributes and what not. It made it a lot easier for me to not only really place each of the days on the yearly seasonal cycle, but to see the interaction between the days.

After the Wheel of the Year, I think the lunar cycle is the next most common way of marking time. There are a lot of spells and rituals that suggest being done at a particular phase of the moon. Many practices are repeated on a particular phase over several cycles of the moon. It used to be said that covens would meet on Full moons for regular Esbats (which is not something I see as much talk of now). What I find wonderful about the cycle of the moon is that it is a fairly short cycle. You can work through an entire cycle in just under a month, so it is a good starting point for a lot of things.

In the last couple of years, the names for each of the full moons has become very popular, and while I did encounter a lovely progression of moons over a decade ago, they have become more readily available too. What I love about the progression (marking each full moon in it's place in the year, and not just seeing each full moon as a 'full moon' and nothing more), is that it echoes the Wheel cycle, but often with a different focus. Generally I see the Wheel as focusing on more of a grand, outward scale, while the moon progression is more inward and personal.

I took French as my language in school, and so was pretty familiar with the days of the week being named after planets, and it was pretty early on that I learned the deities that the English days of the week are associated with. Having Norse leanings, it fits quite well with my personal inclinations. Again, like the cycle of the moon, the weekly cycle gives you a very short cycle of different energies to work with. I think it is a great way to start thinking about how to approach problems from different angles. So if it is a Friday (generally associated with love: Venus and Freyja/Frigga), but you were having conflicts with a co-worker, you might tailor your working to harness that more gentle energy and work towards peace as opposed to creating more conflict.

Even within a day, there is the cycle of morning, noon, evening and night. Everyone has their own awareness of the energy of a day and how it changes. I am a night person, so for me, mornings aren't full of energy (or at least not full of energy that resonates well with me), so I have to adjust my own self so that I start my day in a way that lets me be functional (and not just want to crawl back into bed!). Likewise, I have to make extra sure that at night I am winding down, and not winding up.

I know some systems break it down even further, with correspondences for every hour of the day, but I find that to be just too much. I have at least one chart like that written down (because I love charts, symbols and Named things, and this chart had it all), but never used it.

I should also mention there are a lot of cycles that revolve around astrology. Astrology is one of those things that I find interesting, but really haven't studied enough to be fluent in it. One of the calendars I check every day shows prevalent astrological features, but beyond noting them, I really haven't done that much work with them. Most people know at least one of their astrological signs, even those who aren't in any way, shape or form Pagan.

But back to calendars and my practice. With all these different systems, it can be pretty confusing to get it all sorted out into one working system. I actually tried to make a working calendar that tracked the moon progression, moon cycle and wheel of the year. It involved rings that could rotate behind a front plate with slots cut out (so you would only see the current place on each cycle). It was kind of unwieldy, and to me, it lost some of it's impact because I couldn't see the connections as easily.

I still haven't figured out the best way to do a working calendar for my personal practice. What I do know is that I will keep working on it. I want to be able to (easily) track the days that are important to me and my practice. As my practice has progressed, more days have been come important. Some have phased out (I have several “Book of Days” type of books/websites that list all kinds of festivals or days, and some that seemed very interesting at the start of my path no longer appeal to me). I think that keeping the calendar vital is very important. To me, even something like the wheel of the year, which has been a part of my practice for pushing two decades, is new again each year as I add more knowledge and the meaning for me changes.

PBP- Week 4: Business and Bragging

There seems to be a split in the Pagan community when it comes to the concept of accepting money for Pagan related services. Some people are of the opinion that it isn't right to accept money for any type of service, be it healing, teaching, or spellcasting. Others think that accepting a fair wage is just fine. There are some that come in the middle, either finding it acceptable to take enough payment to cover costs or finding it acceptable to receive gifts or trade but not to formally set a price on skills.

Personally, I think that it is all a mater of degree. I have no problem with anyone charging for their services. I guess in my mind it comes down to the reasons why you charge. If I charge for anything it is not because I want to milk the most out of someone that I can, or take advantage of them (as many very public psychics and 'curse lifters' are accused of), but rather because I value my own skills. I feel that my time is worth something.

Now this isn't to say that I wouldn't help someone who was in true need just because they couldn't pay...although in my mind everyone can 'pay' in some way, even if their payment is an invitation to dinner, or a truly heartfelt hug and thanks.

But I don't feel that it is unreasonable to even make a small profit off of providing services. We have only a certain amount of time in each day. If we choose to spend our time using our skills, whatever they may be, then that time can not be spent doing some kind of mundane job. I don't think it cheapens my practice or beliefs in any way to accept or require payment for the things I do.

Actually, I find it kind of ridiculous that some find it acceptable to take trades but not money. If I do a reading for someone and they give me a chicken in return, or if they give me money and I go and buy a chicken, the result is the same: I provided a service and ended up with a chicken. Money itself isn't evil or corrupt, and accepting money instead of goods doesn't somehow make the transaction dirty.

I think a lot of where people start crossing the line is when they start trying for recognition. When you feel you are worth more because of who you are, and it becomes less about the service and more about your (perceived) name and station. I do feel that paying more for a more experienced practitioner is one thing. In a way, you are paying for the benefit of the years they have put into their practice, into training the very skills you are seeking. It is like paying more to have a plumber with ten years experience come to fix your pipes instead of your neighbor who watched a video on how to fix pipes....I would definitely pay the plumber more (although for something simple, I might hire my neighbor).

This is also where I feel that bragging becomes a problem in the Pagan world. I have been solitary for the bulk of my practice, so I understand how it feels to have walked a lonely path and to crave that peer recognition for what you have done. I feel very strongly that feedback (both for success and failure) is important, and sometimes that outside perspective is hard to come by when walking alone. Also, when something wonderful or new and shiny happens in my practice, sometimes I just want to share it...and share it with people who understand where I am coming from.

But I think we have all met someone (especially online) who is constantly talking about the things they have done and how it makes them better than the 'average' (whatever that is). The way I look at it, the minute I start comparing my stuff to someone else's stuff in any sort of judgmental way, I am loosing the focus of my path. It is one thing to recognize that you may be better or worse at a skill than someone else, but that doesn't make you a better or worse person.

Sometimes I feel that the argument about money for services all comes down to bragging. The people who charge excessive amounts do it either from greed or desire to be known. The people who I have talked to that are against charging anything always feel like they are putting their nose up in the air (like they are better because they only do things out of the goodness of their heart). And often they seem to fall into the braggart category as well, talking about all the ways they donate their service and what not.

I still maintain that a person who is truly acting from the heart and offering their services, won't spend a lot of time talking about it. If they charge, they won't go about bragging about how much they made that month, if they don't charge, they might not mention they did anything at all. It's like donating money to a cause and then feeling the need to tell every stranger you meet on the street how much you donated.