Why I am not Dianic

There has been a lot of talk latley about Dianic Wicca. It seems mostly sparked from events at Pantheacon. I was not at that event so I don’t have the ins and outs and I wont state what I read happened because well I wasn’t there. But as it is the Day to talk about the Goddess I thought I would brooch the subject of the Goddess and Feminism and Dianic Wicca.

To be honest as we know I can’t even call myself a Wiccan in the true i was initiated by someone who was initiated by someone who was initiated by Gardner. I am a Witch, but as our religion is legal recognized as Wicca I do tell people that is what I practice. As you can see from the title I am not Dianic, nor have I have I ever been. I have practiced with Witches who were and some of thoes experiences were good, some where not. I am also very much a feminist. Heck I was head of my colleges Wymens Center. I am never surprised when feminists find this path.

When I first began teaching my current student she was telling the various people in her life about her new path and got the response from one dear woman friend along the lines of “what woman wouldn’t like the psychology of a religion with a female deity.”  As wonderful as this statement is my response is, The God and Goddess are not psychological terms. They are not metaphors, They are real.

When I first began to practice I sort of though of them as metaphors. My original inkling was that the ALL or the Nothingness or the One was to big to understand as a whole and so humans divided them in the the God and Goddess to better understand them. More on this later. As I got more mature in my practice I began to understand that no it is not a metaphor but there are indeed female and male energies, yin and yang, positive and negative (not in the i’m getting a negative vibe from you way but in the current way) essentially the law of polarity, and the law of gender.

Therefor my to walk in truth I must walk in my knowledge. My knowledge and experiences have taught me that with one there is always the other. To leave either the Goddess or the God out would be lopsided and unbalanced. Which of course is why I am not Dianic, and I am not other religions that see their Deity as one gender or the other.  I do think that at time you may wish to have a gender specific circle, but this must be done in a respectful way. Also whats good for the goose must be good for the gander. If you have a women’s only circle to celebrate a members first moon blood, then your community should also have a men’s only circle to celebrate a member becoming a man.

Which brings me to my next point. No matter what path you walk it is not an excuse to be hate filled and hateful. The definition of feminist I know means a person who believes all people should be treated fairly and equally. If you are being a bigot you are not a feminist. Nor should any community accept your hate speak unless of course they condone it, in which case I want no part of that community. I don’t care if you are a founder, and elder or a newbie, hate has absolutely no place in religion.

I am not saying that all Dianic’s hate men because of course that would be rubbish. The above is mostly in reference to the stories that are floating around regarding Ms. Z. Though I dear say they apply to others on both sides of the fence. Practice as you choose as long as you are following  “an ye harm none”

Sunny Saturday

I have shared with you that Saturday is our family fun day.  It is also our very important farmers market day. I will not get on my soap box but if you have a farmers market you owe it to you health, and to the people that grow your food to shop at a farmers market. For one I spend half or less of what I spend in a store on my produce and other goods. For two more of that money goes to support the small family farms that grew my food.(If you have not read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle HIGHLY recommend it) For three the taste! Oh my the taste. I cannot even begin to describe the differences in taste between an in season beet at the market and a beet from the store. And while I climb down from the soap box that I said I won’t not get on let me share this photo with you.

Beautiful no? Lots of people and Kids having a great time. There is music too. Some times it is a band. Often it is a local character who plays the accordion. He was there this morning playing away. Little and I said hello to the cats (the local shelter brings one up for adaption to find new loving homes) and we heard this voice.  As we got closer I realized that a lady who was shopping, just like the rest of us, had put down her bag of produce and began to sing with the music. She was singing Italian Opera and it was amazing. Beautiful and special. A truly magical moment that brought tears to my eyes as it did many others in the ever growing crowd of onlookers. She sang two songs. Got a humongous round of applause and cheers, picked up her bag and finished her shopping.

 

Little and I did our weekly shop and then went to my folks house for lunch. After lunch a friend joined us and we all made yogurt cake.  We used the recipe in Bringing up Bebe by Pamela Drukerman, which we had both just read and loved. We may add it on to our Saturday Traditions. Actually we helped, but mostly Little made the cake.

Little is alseep now, and I get to write 🙂 after nap will be time to taste the cake and for Little to help me make dinner. It is sunny and beautiful and what more could you ask of a Saturday?

My first BOS

I thought I would share with you some more pictures today. These are all of my first book of shadows. If you look at the date on top of the full moon ritual page you will see it was made in 1995.

I found this beautiful book at a wonderful local store called Avalon. It had blank pages and was covered in fabric. Oh how I Ioved these books (I had several more after this one got filled up) I used them as journals as well until the day I could no longer find them. A very sad day. This was the first and it is so beautiful.

and here are a few photos of some of the pages inside.

 

gotta love the stickers! ha. hope you enjoyed the peak.

 

 

Books. Books Books

Oh how we love them. How to books. Self help books. Theology books. Gardening books. Glorious books. I think we already are people who loves books but being introduced to Wicca or the Craft it seems like we go into overdrive reading everything ever written. From ancient manuscripts to romance novels with Witches. Some times we read five at a time.  I thought I would share some of my favorites with you.

One of the most important to me is Power of the Witch by Laurie Cabot. This is the book that I read as a pre-teen where I had my ephiancy “oh there is a name for what I do, and think” It still speaks to me and just seeing it on my shelf or more likely my bedside table / altar it gives me that little thrill of knowing I found a home.

Like many Solitars another favorite of mine is Scott Cunningham. We lost him to soon. His breath of knowledge and desire to share was just so special.

recently I got WiccaCraft for families,  which I use quite a lot. Not for the rituals but for the ideas, the concepts and the activities to do with children. As my husband doesn’t share my views we don’t really practice as a family. Though we do have family holiday dinners and we do some activities together such as egg day.

speaking of families and Kids, my dear Sister Witch recently got the ABC Book of Shadows, for Little. How Sweet was that! The picture is a little blurry as I was rushed to take it before Little plucked it back up. It is so cute and such a sweet little book. If you have a Little I highly recommend it.

I have a lot of gardening books too. Herb books and a ton of Sunset garden books. I got Gaia’s Garden a guide to home-scale permaculture,  on freecycle and I am in LOVE with it. Another must read for anyone who gardens or has space.

I think every Witch should at least be familiar with the Old Farmers Almanac. You can also visit their site online. You will find the names for the different full moons and all kids of lovely information. The also often have information about our holidays. If you garden it is a good resource.

Of course I still read 5 books at a time and some are better then others.

Darlings I’m Tired

I can only write what I know and feel and lately I have felt that my writing has not been up to par. There are times in my life where the words just rush. I can scarcely write or type fast enough to keep up with the flow. Now is not one of those times.

I have been writing a lot lately about not being able to pour from and empty cup because that is how I am feeling. I am tired. Very tired. I know it will pass and I know it is valid. I have had one crazy year. Do not misunderstand me. I love my life. I still feel blessed. But the emotions of the last year are catching up to me and I need something. Time and sleep come to mind but that is not really the answer. Coffee of course is both helpful and draining.  The point is that I don’t really know what I need.

I have lots of projects up in the air and I value all of them. Some are work and some are family and some are new endeavors that are fun and challenging. All of them bring me joy. all are important, and yet I am still tired. It is something I will think on, pray on, and work on. There is no punch line or grand revile. Nothing is changing I am just sharing with you how I feel.

 

Ostara layers

Ostara, Eostra,Esther and many, many other names.

However you spell it or say it She is the Goddess of spring, The names are may be originaly derived from Ishtar. She is often pictured with flowers in Her hair, holding eggs with bunnys happily hopping around her feet. I will get more to Her and the God at the vernal equinox later but for now I want to meditate on what she teaches us about layers

This is a lesson about human development and human spirit and the human experience. Names change as people move and take their cultures or as new cultures come and conquer the existing one.  The simple passing of time also changes names. Themes and symbolism change as well but it seems to me to be slower of a change, With much of it overlapping.  In Spring there are themes in many cultures and many religions about renewal and rebirth. For apparent reasons, eggs and bunnies are fertility symbols.  To some extent it doesn’t matter in what way you frame the renewal of life but that humanity as a group feels it stir in them as the quite and stillness of winter give way to the jubilant feelings of spring.

While we may get caught up in who’s frame is the best, I think it is important to look beyond that. I like to think about the human spirit that feels things in a deep manner, and regardless of frame has a lot in common with other humans. You have heard of me talk about this before in terms of being out of the broom closet or not. I sometimes have a hard time understanding why someone couldn’t practice even if they are not out, because so much of our practice overlaps other religions and other people will just think you are doing what they are doing. I understand that this is not the complete case but in many instances it works.

As we look at these layers, in this time of renewal, it is a good time to start paying attention to what we have in common. When we focus on what is similar as opposed to what makes us special more understanding can happen. As we look back through the layers we can see there is a common thread that is connecting us all. We can also realize that this is a moment in time and years from now, more layers will have been added.

Thanks for being on this journey with me.

I have been having a hard time writing about rituals and Sabbats. I have wanted to share it with you. I know some of you are very interested in the basics and the Wheel of our year is a big deal and big part of what Witches do. I want to be able to share with you what I do but do it in a way that has integrity. I have thought a lot about this over the last week and I have figured out why I have been feeling so reluctant AND what to do about it.

The first reason I am hesitant to share, is that I use a lot of other peoples stuff. I felt like I had to give only new stuff and my own stuff but I think I have gotten over that. I have decided that as long as I site it correctly it is ok. I have a big thing against plagiarism. I am saddened when I see others take credit for work that is not their own. The thing that makes that somewhat troublesome is that as pagans we often copy from each other. If you are part of a coven often part of your learning is coping the HP’s book in your own hand for your own book. We also tend to take things from here and there and then maybe not remember where we got them. I know that I have some items in my BOS that I am not sure where they came from. So I will do my best to site and guide you to where you might find the original.

The other reason speaks more to me and my biases. As you know I’m a Kitchen Witch. I found a good quote to sum up what that means to me.

“…the term kitchen witch refers to pagans who practice informally, with the tools at hand and a deep appreciation for the sacred in the everyday.“ -Cait Johnson, Witch in the Kitchen

Because of this bias I think I have been putting all the emphasis on the daily. I truly in my heart believe that every Witch should be a Kitchen Witch to an extent. I believe we should all practice our faith daily. I believe we do need to honor our connection with the sacred by how we live our life day in and day out. Not just on the high holidays. That however doesn’t mean we shouldn’t celebrate the holidays. So having figured out my own issues I think I am better prepared to talk to you 🙂 thanks for being on this journey with me.

What can I do for you?

Since today is witchy housekeeping day I thought I would do some blog house keeping. I asked once when I was new to this what people wanted to read about or see and I got some feed back. I thought I would ask again now that I am hearing from more of you in general.

What would you like to read about most on here? what questions do you have? what do you want to see?

love problems

One of the biggest needs of people is to be loved. Sometimes we fail at fulfilling this need because we are looking for an other to fill our love need. This simply will not work. Before anyone can love you, you must.

This is and has been said time and time again. We all know it on some level and yet in our day to day lives we have a hard time acting in a loving way to ourselves. We may use harsh words with our selves that we would never use with our loved ones, and often even strangers. We may choose to make choices that we know will hurt us.  We may (and by may, I mean 99% of women do) put others need ahead of their own and not take care of themselves.

We all know the deal we wear 500 different hats and we want to play each role and accomplish each task perfectly. We also know you can’t pour from an empty cup, but we tend to think our cup has just a little more in so we can keep pouring with out a refill.

lets look at a few consequences of this action. you are pouring all of you out and expect your other (significant or not) to step up and do the same. You think they can build you up. While I believe in reciprocity, this is not what I believe a good example of that is. When this doens’t happen we then sometimes get agrey with our other. We feel they are not doing thier fiar share, their job of filling our cup. They should do thier fair share, and they should make you feel loved, but they are not responsibile for you cup. Only you are. Something else that happens is you pour, pour, pour, and then you are empty. We often hear people say they are burnt out. I would guess that there is very little if any self care going on in thoes situations. We play the maryter card “I can’t take care of me because_________” my kids, hubby, family , friends, job, depends on me can’t do it with out me. How well do these people deal with burnt out you? how well do you deal with them when your burnt out? long story short trust me you are not helping them by not taking care of you.

So how do you fix this? How do you begin to love yourself? 3 little spells and a heap of opinions.

spell one: get a picture frame with glass (if you don’t have one go to the dollar store) get a dry erase pen. Hang the frame somewhere on your wall. Somewhere you see it. Every day write something nice about yourself there. Every day! use your name i.e. “Poppy your a great mom” dare to be bold and write “I love you Poppy” Write a new phrase every day for a least a month. At least.

Spell two: sit quietly as you can, still your mind and bring to mind what makes you happy. What do you see your self doing? Make a list. When you have the list divide it into 3 categories. can do in less then an hour, more then an hour, and more then day. Put your list in to action. I would keep less then an hour list posted in the house or on your phone or date book so any time you have some free time you can pick an activity and do it. Take out your calendar and mark off once a week where you can do more then and hour activities. or once every two weeks. The point is to start taking loving care of you.

Spell three:  write a list of 11 things you do well and are proud of. write a list of 10 things you beat yourself up about for not doing “right”. find a mirror. Look yourself in the eye and say “Poppy, I love you because your a great mom” “Poppy I love you because you could improve your financial knowledge” use your name obliviously.  Start and end with a positive. end with “I love you because you are you. All the different parts of you add up to who you are and I love you”

Loving you is the single most important thing that you can do for you, your family, and your world. You, not anyone else, but you, are in charge of your happiness. You need to keep your cup full. Loving you enables you to look at things and people through the lens of “is doing this, having this, being with this person an act of love or not” You will notice the toxic parts of you life will fall by the wayside and you will be able to pour out of your cup for others in a much more fulfilling way for them and you.

 

basic parking spell

For today’s practical Magic post I thought I would give you a lovely link. Octoberfarm is a great blog full of everything and of course The Practical Magic Book of shadows

http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/search/label/Practical%20Magic%20spellbook

This is a beautiful post with lots of looks at her other books as well. Such a treat.

I also want to share with you one of my of my used spells. This is from Lauri Cabot and I have used it forever. Take a moment to still and center yourself and with deep breaths. Once your are centered visualize in your mind a busy parking lot or road. Don’t be surprised if a your recognize the one you see. Now visualize an empty parking space among all the packed ones. While you hold that picture in your minds eye place the tip of your ring finger over your pointer fingers nail.

Next time you are parking try to pull up that picture in your mind and again place your ring finger tip on your pointer finger nail. I am always very “lucky” at finding parking and I hope you will be too

By the way I thought I would add you do not need to be a Witch to do magic. As you can see with this spell it can be done by anyone from any faith.