G is for Gossip

I have looked through the prompts for this fortnight's Pagan Blog Project and most, if not all, seemed alien or personally uninteresting to me. (no offence intended!!) Probably more to the point, I harboured an assumption that they would all be addressed elsewhere in due course. So I got to thinking about 'G' words and what I could write about, what was most interesting to me. Then it hit me - Gossip.

Now I do not want you to think that I like gossip or that the act of gossiping is among my hobbies, because this is far from the truth! I have an intense dislike for gossip, mostly as it seems to me a sign of an uninteresting life. If someone has to talk about other people's lives, then to me it is a sign of an unhappy life! They are probably a) bored with their own lives or b) need to deflect attention off of themselves and what they are doing, which may be against their outward morals!!

Most people avoid gossip out of some sense of superiority or as a part of an unwritten code to which they only half heatedly adhere. Others choose to live by the code 'do unto others...' And in my first draft I counted myself among them. Upon further reflection I realise that I don't care if people gossip about me, which in my mind invalidates the saying all together! If what I do is so interesting to others they want to spend their valuable time gossiping about me, so be it!! I send them all love and compassion and hope to the Gods they will find their way! 

For me, gossip avoidance is about two main personal needs. Firstly, I think not is as simple as not having enough time to worry about what others are doing! Time spent gossiping is time better spent talking about something of worth to me, i.e. what we will do on our next Sabbat, what awesome meditation experiences we have had or helping someone gain clarity in some area of their life. 

Secondly, and to me most interesting, I can actually feel the energies in the room plummet when people start to gossip. I have recently become aware of the energetic value of gossip and choose to participate in something a little more UP! 

I understand people need help with some things that often involve other people, and as long as the conversation remains solely on you and how you will fix the situation, then vent away! A lot of people, myself included, gain great clarity from discussing their feelings about situations with others. My line is usually drawn when people start discussing things that have nothing to do with them! There is a difference between gossiping and seeking guidance in a situation, and energetically you can feel it!!! 

So next time you are around people who gossip, be aware of the energy in the room and feel it shift with the change in topic!! Try your best to bring it back up and remember, you have a right not to be involved in the conversation!! :)  

F is for (Janet and Stewart) Farrar!

This instantly piqued my interest when I read it on the prompts for The Pagan Blog Project! I thought I'd just swing by and see what the prompts were, as I again felt like writing something - the spiders in my house always remind me to 'write creatively without limitation' so here I go!!

I was first directed to these authors when my questions about Deity were deeper than 'who does what and in which era or country/continent?' Unfortunately, I purchased my editions of The Witches' God and The Witches Goddess via kindle, which does not mean I enjoyed it any less, it just means that it was more difficult to take notes etc!!

Anyway, my questions about deity had become of a more serious nature, as I have said. I wanted to know where they came from, if and how they were real. I had purchased both the God and Goddess book, but for some reason I chose the God one first, even though it was written second and referred to the Goddess one in the introduction - for a split second I thought I had made the wrong choice. I decided to read ahead, as I had chosen to do it this way for a reason... well, let's just say all of my questions were answered shortly after!! I realised that, yes they are real, they too come from the creation source and my current understanding (although I am well aware it may change any day now) is that they are manifestations of the creation energy out of it's own desire to see itself objectively through the eyes of another. Carl Jung mentions the collective consciousness in his works, and I feel it applies here. To me, the Gods and Goddesses are just ONE manifestation of the creation source. It does not mean that we created the Gods, I would never be so bold, all it means is that there are a variety of ways to get to deity, and none are any less valid than any other (excepting those that use force, coercion, murder or general lies in order to reach deity - but this is just my opinion!). And this was all before I had finished the introduction!

These books also provided a logical (and I am a ruling number 4, I need some level of logic and rationality in my studies!) explanation of the development of both the God and Goddess through time, which helped me to deepen my understanding of the various aspects of deity in it's male/female aspect. I also loved the list of the Gods and Goddesses throughout the world and I have come back to it time and time again to introduce myself to certain deities! I would have liked a deeper description of them, however, the scope of the books just did not allow for this - it would after all have to be larger than an encyclopedia in order to meet this need of mine! It is a good introduction though, to both the concept of the God and Goddess and provides some examples of deities to turn to or to research deeper for your own spiritual nourishment!

Definitely a book for the beginner and expert alike!!!

Random Ramblings - Emotions

Emotions have been a hot topic for me of late. It seems that a lot of people around me, including myself, are dealing with the continued suppression of our tears, angry outbursts, and possibly even excessive happiness. It got me thinking that this country has done it's citizens a great disservice.

You may be wondering what I mean? Well, it is this simple - who has ever heard their parents utter (or in most cases yell) the phrase 'what are you blubbering about', or 'Stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about', or even when you were making too much noise playing, 'Keep the noise down'? It seems that every time a child in this country, probably since the arrival of the First Fleet, has been conditioned to suppress their feelings! Perhaps it has something to do with the stereotypical stoicism of the English, or the firmness of the men and their inability to cope with excessive noise (for whatever valid or invalid reason), or the mother's wish for a moment's peace and quiet, or more likely the parent's wish to not have unnecessary attention drawn to them with overly loud children. It could be a multitude of things!

Either way, the result appears to be a generation of emotionally repressed individuals who find other ways to release their emotions - angry bar fights, nervous breakdowns, anxiety disorders, higher than average divorce rates, increased suicide rates, higher instances of bipolar, ADD, ODD and CD in young people etc etc etc... I am not in anyway saying that things like bipolar can be prevented or cured through adequate expression of one's feelings - I am not a doctor or any kind of health care professional - it just seems that as the stresses of living in the later 20th and early 21st century get higher, so too do instances of these events... I know from personal experience what continued suppression of feelings can do to a person!

Perhaps it is time to stop telling people to be quiet, allow them time to cry, yell and scream (in a controlled environment so they do not do themselves any harm) and let our children know it is OK to feel what they are feeling and see what the next 200 years brings??

E is for Etheric Cords

Not that I have submitted anything to it yet, but the Pagan Blog Project has got me thinking about all the different aspects of living a spiritual life. One of these is etheric cords. Most of my experience and teachings have been that they are bad, they drain your energy and leave you exhausted. While all of this is true, I feel there is also a positive side to these cords that I think needs to be approached.

Psychic work required you to create a connection with your client, a spiritual link between you both so that you can receive psychic information about said client. This link is also necessary to some extent when doing any form of divination, tarot, psychometry etc, even though the information you are receiving is usually from your own guides (who speak to your client's guides and give the information to you). In this case you still need to be spiritually linked to your client in order to acknowledge who you are getting information for, to create a limit as to who and what you are tuning in to. How can you do this if you are not connected to them, even for a short while?

Many people I know fear these cords, approach them like they are something bad to be avoided, if not outright feared! To me, these cords are just connections to loved ones or people who you have interacted with. Sure, if you have too many cords and too many of the bad kind (unfortunately people will subconsciously use these connections even when they are not physically around you) you can find that your energy stores are quickly depleted and you become lethargic all the time. These ones are not recommended, however, the positive ones that are created out of love and sharing would only serve to bolster your energy, right?

Obviously the bad ones, created out of a need to find energy from someone or to remain connected to a past event or possibly an ex-partner, need to be severed, I am not arguing against this. It is easy to do, you can just ask Archangel Michael to sever them with his sword, do a chopping motion down the body to cut them (which my friend calls the 'chop and zip', the zip is to prevent reattachment), another friend of mine even performed a scissoring motion with her hand in front of her body to cut an especially strong one - and it did take a while, but it worked! I just think that forming no connections or keeping none is probably worse than having only bad ones... if there are no positive cords attached to you, does this mean that you have no positive relationships?

I guess what I am putting forward is, that with the right intention, even those things most feared by people in the spiritual/psychic world can be good?

(I decided after publishing this that I would in fact submit it to the Project, so wish me luck!!!)

Discovering the Inner Self through Numbers? AB501U731Y!!

Warning! Frequent brain explosions occur if you proceed... hehe

Complete Book of Numerology

I have always been fascinated with numbers. Not mathematically, or scientifically - I couldn't multiply anything to save my life! - but just in general. I have always had a knack for remembering phone numbers, ID numbers, licence plate numbers and any other sequence of numbers I needed to remember (and some I did not!). I have even been able to tell when a loved was in front of me at the traffic lights based on the numbers of their licence plate! What I did not realise was that numbers had a specific vibration, or meaning, to them. I just thought they were used to add stuff up or subtract stuff, the 'If Johnny had 8 apples' kind of thing. I now realise there is so much more to them! 

My birthday was always just another day, my favourite day where I got awesome presents, but a day nonetheless. I love birthdays in general, where you get to celebrate that you made it out of your mother's womb in tact and continue to be in a somewhat similar degree! It is the day a person just happened to be born into this world - as we all know there is no such thing as 'just happened'! 

I had also been interested in numerology for a while, from the all too brief discussions at psychic development groups and with friends who were a little more versed than me on the subject, but I had never gotten around to actually doing something about it. Until recently that is...

I used to work in a book shop (yes, it was as awesome as it sounds!) and was familiar with a variety of titles, so when David A Phillips came up on my Kindle (Blasphemy! I hear you all shout...) search I immediately bought it. Well, was I in for a surprise!! 

I am also now a teacher of high school students, partly because I love teaching History, and partly because I love to torment children and watch as their heads explode every time they have an epiphany. Well, let's just say Karma visited me and came with a vengeance! Every 'page' of this book revealed new information that did exactly that - BLEW MY MIND!!!! On a daily basis there were little bits of my brain, skull and skin littered all over the floor! Obviously not literally, as that would be completely crazy, but you get the picture! 

I was somewhat aware that our birth dates could tell us a bit about ourselves, but I was not prepared for it to EXPLAIN ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!! It told me why I am so easily frustrated with things, why I am overly sensitive to people and situations, why I have a very hyperactive personality and why I liked numbers so much in the first place!

The best part of this book is that it is easy to follow and you can do the activities while you read through, gaining insight into your life and personality as you go along. Another awesome thing is that you can start doing the charts of other people (at least in part) before you have even finished the book! I have an equally hyperactive friend and we discovered that she too has the same numbers as I do - now we just blame it on the numbers and go about our merry day!! I found that looking at the charts of others bit by bit helped me to better understand what Phillips meant by certain things and to solidify each aspect - and there are a few! - of numerology as I progressed through the book. 

I think the truly best part (I know, let's just say it is an awesome book and leave it at that ok?) is that it will help me to tune in to my intuition and to help build the trust in it more. Once you have the basics down, you can easily look at a chart and intuitively provide information to your client about themselves by looking at the numerous links between each aspect. It is all just so very awesome! I have also found from recent conversations that doing the charts of children, their parents get a better understanding of how they work and why, and most importantly what to do about it!

I feel this book was an excellent first look at numerology; comprehensive, well written and easy to follow! If anyone was ever interested in studying numerology - and I quickly found out it is a 'study' not just a 'read' - this would be the perfect place to start!! 

Feel free to post your own insights below, or links to other awesome numerology books. I think my passion has awakened with force!!!!

To 'Fire North, or not to 'Fire North'?

There has been some talk around me lately about the directions for the elements while in ritual or any kind of working. I have done a fair bit of research myself about this, and have come to my own conclusions about it.

For me, it depends heavily on what you are surrounded by, either as a country or local area. As I live in Australia, everything is backwards (or truly forwards depending on your perception!!); the Sabbats are all opposite, so why not the elements?

So I (as usual) gave it a lot of thought and this is what I came up with:

Fire - North, because the equator is the hottest part of the world and the Summer sun arcs closer to it during the day.

Earth - West, because to the west of me there is a mountain range, then hundreds of kilometres of desert.

Water - East, because the Pacific Ocean laps at the shores on the east coast of Australia where I live.

Air - South. This one was a little difficult to reconcile. I placed it here initially because of the process of elimination, but then I was talking to a friend about the breezes I get running through the front of my house to the back (very strong, almost like I am sitting in front of a pedestal fan!). These were apparently the southerlies, bringing cold winds up from Antarctica to cool our hot summers!

The penny dropped with the last one really. If I could arrange it this way and the final quarter fits even thought I had not expected it to, then the rest should be right too, right?

The other thing is, if I decided to move to Western Australia the east/west would change, because the position of the water and earth has changed geographically. If I moved to Canada for example, the south/north would change for a similar reason (and possibly the east/west, or all of it, depending on where exactly I lived). My current arrangement feels right to me. I get it. It is meaningful. And if it is meaningful, then my rituals will also be meaningful; I wouldn't want to do something just because someone else said it was right then spend the rest of my ritual freaking out because it feels wrong. That would have a negative effect on the ritual, and no one wants to go to all the trouble of creating a ritual, only to force some aspect of it and ruin it!!!

Chakra Fundamentals: The Crown Chakra

I know this will be blogged out of order, but I have been inspired by The Pagan Blog Project and, since this week’s letter was C, I thought it fitting to write this now. I have not submitted this to the project yet, however, follow the link for more exciting information about paganism and other associated topics. I will also refrain from explaining again what Chakras are all about as I have done it in Chakra Fundamentals: The Base Chakra, so if you are unsure please visit this page also! But now, down to business!

The Crown chakra, or Sahasrara (also Sahasrana), is located at  the top of the head, either resting upon the very top or just above your physical body. Its symbol is the thousand petalled lotus (pictured below) and its colour is traditionally purple, however, as much as I might try mine is always white! Either way you see it, it is the fastest spinning chakra, and these two colours reflect this. Generally the crown chakra is the centre of spirituality and connection with the divine, if it is open and active you will have strong faith in something, whether ‘new age’, pagan, or monotheistic etc. It is also the centre for connection to the higher self, understanding and knowledge of the self, spiritual wisdom and claircognizance (clear knowing) and for ‘living in the now’. It is associated with the element of thought and the planet Uranus.

In the physical body, Sahasrara governs the brain, skull, cerebellum central nervous system and the pituitary gland. If you are experiencing any issues in this area, such as migraines or headaches, it may be the manifestation of a crown chakra block or imbalance. Emotional issues connected to this chakra may be depression, alienation, confusion, inability to trust life and see the big picture, lack of inspiration, worry or living too much in the past or future.

So again, how can we fix these issues? Again, like all the other chakras, a good cleanse may be necessary, or perhaps a meditation with an associated crystal, such as amethyst, fluorite, diamond or clear quartz. Also, breathing in the colour purple or white (depending on what you see) into this area with the intention of clearing it will be of benefit. There are some other, simple, every day ways to balance and open you crown chakra:

Ø  Meditate

Ø  Bless food before eating

Ø  Recycle and avoid polluting mother earth

Ø  Send healing thoughts to people and situations

Ø  Ask for guidance from your higher self and spirit

Ø  Forgive

Ø  Spiritual practise and prayer that supports your religious beliefs

Ø  Wear purple or white material on top of the head

Ø  Drink violet infused water and visualise it flowing to the crown chakra

It is interesting that I have recently started to bless the food I eat, not regularly but when I feel necessary and I am also feeling more connected to the world and the people in it; I am sure the two are not exclusive!

(Most information is gathered from personal experience and discussions with teachers and like minded people, however, a good book to read to get an overall idea of the chakras is Janet Boyer’s ‘The Chakras’.Also, the following website is also of great use - http://www.healing-journeys-energy.com/Chakra.html)