Perspective

I love ritual!  Be it a Sabbat at the Turning of the Wheel, the drums at a Voodoo ritual, the swinging incense censer at an Orthodox Church, dancing at a women’s Passover Seder, or listening to the hypnotic chant of a Latin Mass, I’m mesmerized.   Add tradition and I’m hooked.

            That being said I hadn’t planned to spend Christmas Eve at a Christian church.  But the music is ethereal; the decorations are rich, and the feeling “holy”.  The people there are full of quiet anticipation.

I settle in and gaze up at the altar.  Painted on the back wall are sparkling gold even-armed crosses.  They point out the quarters: north-earth, south-fire, east-air, west-water.  This particular cross is a pagan representation of balance…..balance in nature and balance in life.  The harpist is playing Suo Gan, a haunting Welsh lullaby.  Peace…..

The candles are burning brightly.  Their light and warmth send forth healing to all gathered there.  I think of both Goddess and saint, Brigid of the Flame!  Brigid, Saint or Goddess, is an eternal being who, like the flame of life itself, keeps the our light shining and rekindles hope and inspiration.  And of course there are a host of others, Hestia, Vesta, Pele, Freyja, Agnayi, all associated with fire’s strength.

The choir is singing a “Christmas” song, The Holly and the Ivy.  Hummmm…. The holly and ivy are definitely Pagan fertility symbols.  Holly was sacred to druids who associated it with the winter solstice.  And there are stories of the Holly King who rules nature from the summer solstice to Yule. Ivy symbolizes vibrancy.  The druids admired its deep green hue. Sprigs of ivy would be woven into necklaces or chaplets to bring about clarity of thought as well as celebrate the vitality of nature.

The stained glass window behind the altar is back-lit.  The image of the dove, the Holy Spirit, hovers over all.  In Gnosticism the Holy Spirit is the "feminine" or female aspect of God so Gnostics see the Holy Spirit was the true "mother" of Jesus.  The dove is also the symbol of many Goddesses including my beloved Sophia!

Above the massive pipe organ I see a clover-shaped cutout. Three parts yet one leaf, a triskele of sorts, a trinity….Maiden, Mother, Crone.  And She is intently watching all that goes on here.

            The Mother aspect of the triune has many names, but tonight She is Mary, Maria, Virgin, Madonna, Blessed Mother.  The banner being carried by the acolytes is crimson red with an image of the Mother and baby on it.  The church is decorated with beautiful red poinsettias and the pine garlands are tied up with red bows.  The red wine is poured in to the chalice (yet another symbol for the Great Goddess, the Mother of the Universe).  She is here!
            Perspective, I begin to realize, is all that makes us different.  These folks, deep in prayer, are worshiping the tiny baby.  My focus is ever on the Mother.

Blessed Be!

v     “I am protected by your might, Blessed Mother, day and night.”

v      (freely adapted from a prayer by Scott Cunningham)

Who is My Sister?

            I’m sitting here watching the candles burning….dressed with special oils….energized with special intentions.  The flames dance sending prayers and requests upward with the smoke, out into the universe, to the Goddess.  “For my sisters and for me………”

            I remembered reading some research about intercessory prayer and healing.  1,000 heart patients were admitted to a Missouri hospital over a year period.  Half of these patients were prayed for daily by volunteers for 4 weeks.  The other half didn’t have “pray-ers” assigned to them.    None of the patients were aware of this study.  After 4 weeks it was noted that the prayed-for patients had 11% fewer complications.  That’s a small but statistically significant difference.  The medical community is finally figuring out something that spiritual people have known all along.

            “For my sisters and for me……”  I repeat this often.  But who are my sisters?  Well, I have no blood sisters, but I have my sisters in the Goddess.  These ladies are near and dear to my heart, although many of them I have never met.   Huhmm, my sisters??  I, of course, have my girl friends, some I’ve known forever, some newer friends. With some I share my deep, dark secrets, with some I share coffee and conversation.  I keep them in my prayers, yes, they’re my sisters. 

            I was reading an article about cultural differences and wound up praying for a young Afghani girl mentioned in the article.  “Aisha was the Afghani teenager who was forced into an abusive marriage with a Taliban fighter, who abused her and kept her with his animals. When she attempted to flee, her family caught her, hacked off her nose and ears, and left her for dead in the mountains. After crawling to her grandfather’s house, she was saved by a nearby American hospital.”  (http://www.thebestschools.org/bestschoolsblog/2011/12/03/wrong-culture-right-teacher's-surprising-discovery/)

Is this my sister?  Yes, she is!  Those women tortured and killed for being witches in Africa, are they my sisters?

            I want to cry whenever I hear girls or women putting down another woman.  I want to scream, “Don’t you get it?  If we want to survive in this world, if we want to gain power, we need to stick together; we need to support one another!”  How do we teach this to our daughters?  Society (dare I use the “p” word, patriarchy) sets us up to compete, not support, and encourages us to tear our sisters down rather than build them up. 

            We need to model respect and compassion.  We need to remember that the Earth is our mother so that makes us all sisters.  And we need to light those candles, send out positive energy, and we need to pray, “For my Sisters and for me……..”

           

           

To Party or Not to Party!

            Well, I’ve made another trip around the sun.  I just didn’t realize (until I did some research) that there was so much controversy concerning birthdays among some religious groups (other than Jehovah’s Witnesses).

I read an article written by someone belonging to The Restored Church of God.  This article informed me and members of their church (and anyone else who might read it) that birthday candles originated from the birthday of Artemis.  Pagans honored her each month with moon-shaped cakes.  Because the moon glows candles were place on the cake.

I was then enlightened to why we say “Happy Birthday.”  It is a superstitious way to protect your friend from evil spirits.  That’s also why we have noisemakers at parties (I can buy that).  I was then told, “It should be now clear that birthdays are not only unbiblical, they are pagan!”  Okay……I’m just sayin’….

Then there’s a site where a “Jewish Jesus” pastor says that he doesn’t believe that celebrating birthdays are pagan.  He ends his message with” “So who will go to hell: the person observing their birthday, or the one who claims birthdays are pagan?”  Huh?

Well, it’s a good thing that I don’t buy into the concept of hell; it seems to be getting awful crowded down there!  Also, I can go ahead and open my presents with abandon, blow out my candles with gusto,  really enjoy my cake and ice cream, and share my day with friends!

Tomorrow morning I’ll light a candle, a birthday candle, to remind me that the light of the Goddess shines in me and through me.  I do this also in gratitude….I am blessed far more that I even realize.  Then I plan to eat birthday cake and party!

Circles/Cycles

            The older I get the more I notice the repetitious cycles of life.  Wake up, go to work, go to sleep.  Sure, a lot happens during the mid-part of that cycle, it is composed of many mini-cycles.  Of course there are larger and more complex circles such as Lady Moon’s cycle, our menstrual cycle, and Gaia’s cycle of winter, spring, summer, and autumn.  There’s the turning of the Wheel of the Year, and any astrologer will wax poetic about the cycles involved in making a chart or writing a horoscope. Tarot card readers trace the natural cycles in the Major Arcana.

            Then there’s the cycle of life itself: Birth/Rebirth, Life, Death, repeating over and over.  We experience this constantly.  Most children first experience of a death, losing a loved one, when they lose a grandparent.  When we get older we realize that someday we will say good-bye to our parents……and our children will say good-bye to us. 

            What happens when a cycle doesn’t go as you thought it would?  Life feels off-kilter and we are lost and confused.

            Today I went to a wake to give a friend a loving hug and to say good-bye to her 22 year old son.  This turn of his cycle was completed before his mother’s cycle.  She indeed was lost and confused.

            What could I say to my grieving friend?  Words failed me.  I just held her and let her cry.  I reminded her I was only a phone call away.  I cried too.  Yet, I feel she knew that as I hugged her, so the Goddess hugged her.

             I know that at least one of his grandmothers was comforted by the promise of Jesus’ resurrection.  There is healing and power in faith!!  His mother and I are comforted knowing he’s having rest and healing in the Summerland before he embarks on a new journey. 

            As I sit here reflecting I think about Hekate, the ruler of regeneration:

Hekate,

Hold this young man tenderly. 

Afford him the rest he needs as his cycle continues.

And so the Circle of Life continues…………………….

Thoughts on the Power of the Subconscious/Thanksgiving Day

        
Today didn’t go as planned.  The game plan was to share the holiday with my husband’s family and extended family and who knows who else.  The celebration was held at the summer refuge out in the country.  This wasn’t my idea of Thanksgiving, way too many people and too much commotion for my taste.  I suggested every alternative way to celebrate I could think of.  “Thanksgiving is for being with family,” he kept saying to me, and in my heart of hearts I knew he was right.  So I decided to put on my big girl panties, suck it up, and go without complaining. 

        
I woke this morning, grateful for the beautiful weather, grateful for health, and grateful for all the blessings bestowed on me daily.  I watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on T.V.  We headed out the door without any whining from me.  As we locked the door I asked, “Are you sure you remember how to get there?”

        To make a long story short, there were many changes in the area and all the landmarks we remembered were changed or gone.  We rode in the area for 3 hours (trying to remember phone numbers, people to call, etc), knowing we were in the neighborhood, but never finding the turn off.  I finally said, “I’ve been very patient and haven’t complained at all, but I’m starting to get cranky.”

        We headed toward home.  We stopped at a restaurant and had our Thanksgiving dinner served to us with no clean up or dishes to wash.  I was very content.  Once my hubby relaxed (and calmed down) we had a nice time.  We enjoyed one another’s company.

        It winds up that we passed the driveway several times & were only 100 feet from where we needed to be.  I pondered on this.  I really, really didn’t want to be part of that Thanksgiving fray….I had been saying that aloud and to myself for 2 weeks.  Had I used “The Secret” to get what I wanted?  Had I visualized myself somewhere else so much that it worked?  Had I repeated it so often that it worked like a backward affirmation (not getting something I didn’t want rather than getting something I did want)?  Or did the Goddess just feel that I needed a break?

        
Hmmm….maybe I need to use this effort and energy (that I put into not doing something) into a more productive and positive outcome.  I need to be more conscious and focused with my thoughts and affirmations!!! 

        So I ask Mother Sophia (using the words of Abby Willowroot):

Make me strong in spirit
Courageous in action
Gentle of heart
Let me act in wisdom
Conquer my fear and doubt
Discover my own hidden gifts
Meet others with compassion
Be a source of healing energies
And face each day with hope and joy

        Happy Thanksgiving!

Beginnings

I've thought about starting a blog for a long time.  But, you know how it is...life gets in the way, work gets in the way.....so tonight I decide to just "Do It"!  Nike's trademark words come tumbling out of my keyboard.  It takes a split second to realize what's going on and I smile.  Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory, the bringer of success, the winged one encouraging me to fly, sail, soar to new heights.  In the Hymns Of Orpheus there is a hymn to dear Nike: "Come, mighty Goddess, and thy suppliant bless, with sparkling eyes, elated with success; may deeds illustrious thy protection claim, and find, led on by thee, immortal fame."
Well, I'm not expecting immortal fame, and I'm not real sure if any of my deeds could be labeled "illustrious", but with Nike giving me this first push I know I'd better fasten my seatbelt...I'm in for one heckava ride!