Ultimate Source and the Concept of Deity

Having a look at the prompts for this week's Pagan Blog Project got me thinking about Ultimate Source and what it means to me. (I will say at this point, there is no intention to offend anyone or their beliefs through this post, so if you are easily offended I suggest you stop reading NOW!!) It also just so happens that I have been doing a lot of thinking about deity/ies and the idea of an ultimate creative source, how they relate and what they mean. The main reason is that I have really only connected with Kali and even then it appears to be short-lived (or perhaps I am doing my usual second guessing thing and questioning her continued presence through self-doubt, which is more than likely) but as yet the other deities appear elusive.

It got me thinking that if there is an ultimate source then why do we need to pray or connect to one single manifestation, if this is what they are - manifestations - then why don't we pray or connect straight with the ultimate source and acknowledge it as an asexual, conscious being in charge of all? For me, this source exists as creative potential in its purest form, so it can be whatever you want it to be and harness it however you want to harness it. (respectfully of course!) You could speak directly to this source and ask it for what you would like, leaving the how open and go from there. I have manifested many things in my life simply by asking (mostly as a fleeting thought) and letting go, perhaps this is why I have not connected in any long term way with a deity as simply asking the universe seems to work just as well (if not better) than performing ritual and/or spell casting. Or perhaps I am not trying hard enough? Perhaps I am not studying enough or meditating enough or experiencing enough? Perhaps I should second guessing and start experiencing expectation free? Who knows?? 

Don't get me wrong, I do believe the Gods exist in one form or another, mostly through the Collective Conscious, and I would never argue against their existence to anyone. For me at this time, deity exists as the creative potential and actualisation visible in the world around me - there are no mistakes in nature so there must be some force guiding nature. Could I just honour this and leave the archetypes alone?? 

(Comments welcome)

Tarot vs Oracle Cards - What's best for me?

This week is T for the Pagan Blog Project and I thought I'd write about the Tarot. However, since I have been asked on several occasions what the difference between Tarot and Oracle cards is, I thought I'd address it here, just for a little twist.

Ok, so the first step is to explain how they work. Basically, each card has a meaning that is interpreted based on a) it's position in a spread (if you use one), b) my own intuition and c) the question asked. I don't always need a question, but sometimes it helps me to clarify the message or guidance being given. I also use my intuition a lot as it helps to provide a deeper, more specific message for the client. I use this same process for both sets of cards, but I don't always use a specific spread unless I am drawn to it or the client has a specific question that a certain spread can help to answer.

Sounds easy right? Well, it is in a sense, but there are differences between Oracle and Tarot cards that make it a little less so. The main difference between Oracle and Tarot cards are the meanings. Tarot cards, while most decks do include specific meanings, usually have universal meanings to draw from. For example, the Hierophant will mean the same in the Rider-Waite deck, the Nefertari deck or the Celtic Tarot deck etc etc. This means you can give a general reading using any deck, even playing cards! (Considering that playing cards are modeled on the original tarot, this is just as well!!) Oracle cards will come with deck specific meanings for each card, usually because they have very different themes and reasons for being created. Each deck will serve a specific purpose for which individual card meanings are necessary. this is not a bad thing, it just means there is often less study involved! Further to this, I have found that Oracle decks (other than the simple past, present, future layout) don't come with a wide variety of spreads to work from. True, Tarot spreads can and are used when reading from Oracle cards, but for some reason the authors don't see this variety as a necessary component of readings.

These are some of the cards from the Doreen Virtue, Angel Therapy cards I use. I have been drawn to them for a long time and absolutely love them!!

Both have their individual benefits. For the Tarot, once you know the universal meanings you can read any deck effectively. They also come with a variety of spreads to cater to any question that will lend greater depth to the reading. There are also Tarot specific symbolism, i.e. colours, images etc, that you can draw on for even deeper meaning, but these are not exclusive to the Tarot. Once you have this knowledge you can apply it anywhere, even Oracle cards. On the other hand, Oracle cards help to strengthen your intuition, in my experience more so than Tarot cards. The main reason is that you can read them based entirely on what image or colour you are drawn to and use general symbolism as interpretation for the messages. These cards usually have a sentence or two on the bottom of each card as a general interpretation, which helps as well. There is far less study involved as well, which can help for people who are (for some reason or another) put off by this. For both decks, reading the book is optional (though recommended) and I know a few who have never read a book and rely solely on their intuition, but for me a Tarot reading without the knowledge is much less deep and meaningful than one with it. But that's just me...

This is an example of the simple three card spread: past, present, future. 

Oracle cards were a good starting point for me, allowing me to strengthen my intuition and connection to spirit and I sometimes revert back to them if I feel I am relying too much on knowledge rather than intuition. Oracle cards gave me confidence to read more and the foundation I needed to move up to the Tarot (for which I always had an interest). Neither one is more effective than the other, in fact having a working knowledge of both serves to deepen the readings I do now. Despite this, I do prefer the Tarot because of the general meanings, but like to employ general symbolism and my own intuition as well when reading for someone.

Sacred Signs

This week's letter for the Pagan Blog Project was easy to write about. In fact, I am writing this well in advance in case I forget... and with my memory it is almost certain I will...

I was first 'introduced' to sacred signs a few years ago by my first 'official' spiritual teacher. The idea is that you ask the universe for a sign, assign specific images or words to mean certain things and watch and wait. It is similar to omens in that the universe is sending you information, but the interpretation is less subjective. Assigning specific signs, images and words also helps the universe to direct its efforts to something that you will definitely understand. Dreams are also a good source of communication, but these are too easily open to subjective interpretations and I find that the less room for 'error' there is in the interpretation, the better! You can't argue against something you have asked for!! I like to ask to receive it 3 times, just to be sure I am not putting it there or reading too much into everyday life. Some consider this arrogant or demanding, but if the universe is going to all the trouble of sending me a sign, I would rather get it right!!

One of the early sacred signs I asked for was concerning whether to accept an opportunity to take over a psychic development class. I in no way felt ready to lead such a class and needed some guidance as to whether I should or not. I asked for a rainbow for yes and a black hoodie for no. That night, I rediscovered Wicca books I had bought when I was a teenager and had not read since. So, I decided to start reading it. It was as if the book called to me from the study where it lived. A few chapters later and it was late and I decided I needed to sleep, but the book had other ideas. It said 'no just one more chapter'. Well, the next one was about 'fear' and in it the writer explains fear as a shrouded, dark feature with a hooded cloak... I was shocked! I had never expected to get my sign so quickly, nor in this manner. I was still not convinced, and for some reason I needed further validation. The next morning I was walking to my friend's house, the very friend who had offered me the opportunity in the first place, and as I was walking up the hill I found myself staring at a person walking towards me. I literally could not take my eyes off of the person! I thought it might have been my friend coming towards me, but soon realised it couldn't be her as the person did not appear to be waddling as a pregnant woman would. I brushed it off and continued walking. I turned the corner and was about 100m up the road before I realised the person had been wearing a black hooded jumper!!  Further validation received, I felt confident in declining the opportunity as I knew the universe had other things in store for me.

Another particularly memorable experience working with sacred signs was when I had the opportunity to work at my first psychic fair. I had been reading tarot for friends and family for a while and was ready to take it 'public', but was not sure where (or if I was meant to). So I asked the universe for a sign. To make things easy, I used the old yes = rainbow and no =  black hoody signs. the very next day, as I drove to work, the very same way I always had, I turned the same roundabout I had for months and looked at the same shop window but only now realised that the seven circles at the top of the logo were in fact the colours of the rainbow! I laughed out loud and continued to work. Later that afternoon, as I was driving down to Newcastle to visit my father, I looked at the sky and thought 'wow, it looks like a rainbow!' and again, I giggled at how the universe chooses to get its point across. The sun was setting and leaving purple, blue, yellow, orange and red sections across the horizon, it was quite beautiful really.  This time I had asked specifically for three signs, as I wanted to be totally sure. I had my two at this point, and was excited to see how the third would arrive! Further down the highway, there on one of the traffic announcement boards that litter the highways and freeways these days, were the words 'Rainbow Flats'!! Now, I didn't even know Australia had a Rainbow Flats let alone where it is exactly. I laughed so hard I could barely see where I was driving!!!! I still can't remember what exactly happened in Rainbow Flats that day, probably an accident of some sort, but I am grateful it did! (and hopeful no one was hurt...)

I have also changed the signs depending on what I wanted. I recently used the word 'twist' as a sign as the Oliver Twist scenario fit what I needed guidance about. I got it, more than three times over the last week or so, so I guess it is true!

I love working with sacred signs as it is an easy way to get information with very little margin for error through misinterpretation. Besides, it is interesting and fun to see how the universe gets the information to you!! All you have to do is ask the question and set the symbols and wait. The universe really will do the rest!!

Working with Colour - Red

This week's Pagan Blog Project is R, which for me was easy as I am really into colour and its vibrations and benefits etc etc. I started out with a very clinical approach to this blog, but just didn't feel it. I had read something this morning from another blogger which got me thinking about my own blogs - are they real? Are they what I truly believe in my heart or what I have read in books? I hope it is the former as I always try to be authentic, but this morning it just felt clinical. I had a formula based on previous work with colour and it wasn't working for me. So, as I am learning to be more spontaneous (which is anathema to my 4 vibration) I thought I'd just sit and write and see what happens.

So, Red? What do I use it for? What does it mean to me?

I love red, have done so for a while now and it is probably my favourite colour after orange. To me, red is about passion, vitality and life. When I wear it I feel sexual and sensual (especially as a lipstick!), confident and ready to tackle anything - dare I say bullet-proof?

I also feel like me... I am not a pastels girl, and never will be, so wearing strong colours is part of who I am, wearing the standard rainbow colours gives me strength I can't describe. It also fills me with hope, hope that today will be a good day, hope that maybe I can achieve anything, hope that I will get through the day and whatever challenges it may bring (and as a casual High School teacher, these are many!).

I would love to say that I use red for grounding, but until recently I didn't think specifically of grounding techniques so I would be lying. I guess I naturally moved towards it without understanding it properly. I have owned and worn a read pair of boots for a few months now and I love them and wear them any chance I get! I now realise I may have been doing this instinctively as I desperately needed grounding and was unaware of it - I live in my head and have recently discovered my inability to understand the earth element reflected a deep need to be grounded, but that is another story...

In my travels (Inna Segal's book again!), I have learnt that red can be good for improving the circulation (which I often have trouble with), healing wounds and blood disorders, constipation, sciatica, increasing the sex drive and helping with weight loss but I have not had the urge to use it for these issues... probably should see what happens the next time I cross my legs for a period of time in my red boots! An interesting experiment... I may yet have cause to test the other theories out along my journey, but today they remain untested!

I do, however, use it for balancing my base chakra, which I am assuming is common practice. If I have money troubles or issues concerning the home or security, I will wear my boots or another piece of clothing to help balance this chakra. I will also meditate with a red jasper at my base or wear a garnet if the mood strikes me (or if I have the flu, as garnet is great at helping to assist with flu-like symptoms - to this I can attest!). I have also recently 'learned' that red is the numerological equivalent of the number 1, being about all things physical and how you relate to the world around you.

To me though, it is a colour of passion and vitality! I always feel a little sexier when I am wearing it, a little more confident and able to meet the challenges of the day. I do feel just simply better... Blue also does this, but for different reasons... Red is just such a strong colour to me, it gives me strength and for that I am forever grateful.

Q is for Quarters

I have just finished reading the other posts about quarters, and I thought I'd just add my thoughts... A friend and I were discussing this the other week and we both pretty much said the other's was wrong. I realise now, as I did shortly after the discussion, that there is no right or wrong, it is all up to you as your interpretation.

Still, as a traditionalist I struggled with this for a time. All the books, as has been said many times before, say certain things which I just didn't get. Why would I put water in the west, when I am on the east coast of Australia and the Pacific Ocean is right there! Why would I put earth in north as to my west I have the Great Dividing Range and thousands of square kilometres of desert? It just didn't fit. So I thought about it, read some more Southern Hemisphere focused stuff and came up with the following:

North - fire, because of the heat of Northern Australia and the equator being up there. This is also the direction the sun travels across the sky. 

East - water, mostly due to the location of the ocean, there is little more thought than this...

West - earth, again little more thought than the thousands of square kilometres of mountain range and desert... (Sarcasm intended!)

South - air, at first it was placed here due to a process of elimination, but upon further reflection I realise that this, other than east, is where the wind comes from mostly in this part of Australia. The southerlies are beautiful and bring the cool in summer and the chill in winter.  

So there you have it, correspondences according to me! hehe I know that if I moved to Western Australia it would change, well east and west anyway... It may even change if I moved somewhere on the east coast where there was a river to the west and a large mountain to the east, depending on how I felt at the time. The key for me is that it is purely a personal thing and each person has a right to choosing their own correspondences. The hard thing is doing a ritual with people with different views!!!! 

Working with Colour - Purple

Well, it's P week on the Pagan Blog Project and I thought I'd continue with the previous week's post and do another one on colour. This will focus on how I work with the colour and include some of the work of others, but as there seems to be a plethora of different uses I have just kept this post to what I use it for.

Purple is often associated with the Crown Chakra, but I see it in my Brow Chakra, despite many attempts to try and change it! I finally decided to stop fighting it and run with it, but now I just as often see indigo for the Brow so I tend to wait and see what happens on the day. Still, my Crown Chakra has and always will be white I guess. I wont go too closely into the Chakra other than to say that it governs the intuition, imagination, clairvoyance, dreams and visions/visualisation and purple can help in all these areas. In the tarot, purple is the colour of compassion (as in the Lovers), spirituality and visions. Inna Segal, in her book The Secret Language of the Body, states that purple helps to clear mental complexes and brings out leadership qualities. It can also help improve the connection between mind ,body and soul and attracts hope and success. On a physical level, purple helps boost the immune system, heal skin eruptions, rheumatism and bones, kidney, lung and stomach problems. It helps to relieve nervous tension, thus calming the heart and helping with blood pressure.

To work with purple, the easiest way is to wear it on or around the head, however, the location is not as important as intention when wearing of the colour. Purple socks will do just as good as a purple bandana if the intention is stated clearly! For physical healing, you can eat purple food, such as eggplant or beetroot, or visualise yourself inhaling the colour directly into the part of the body you want healed (this last is most effective while in a meditative state). Perhaps the easiest, and possibly the prettiest way to work with purple is to incorporate crystals, such as Amethyst or Purple Fluorite, into your healing regimen. Again, it is all about intention, so if you are having trouble seeing the big picture, with visualisation, clairvoyance and dreams or perhaps have constant sinus problems, then purple can help!

Working with colour: Orange

This week the Pagan Blog Project is up to 'O' and I thought it was about time I posted about one of my favourite colours! Orange... I did a bit of research into colours, their chakra correspondence and their energetic vibrations, a while ago and this is what I came up with:

Orange is associated with the Sacral Chakra, found a few inches below the navel. It is the centre of creativity, vitality, sensuality, appetites and desires. In the tarot, it represents passion, creativity and family connections. If you see orange a lot, it may be a message to further enhance these qualities in your life. It can, according to Inna Segal, indicate that shock or trauma is holding you back from moving forward in life and using orange can help bring up associated emotions for healing. On a physical level, it can help with digestive issues, breathing conditions and fertility. It also helps with fear and depression by creating optimism, enthusiasm, courage and determination. It helps to create bonds of love and connect you to your wisdom and intuition.

Orange clothes are a good way to utilise the energy of the colour. Orange directly on your Sacral chakra will help balance this chakra, however any orange clothing will do the trick!!

Wearing orange, particularly around the Sacral Chakra, can help to alleviate these issues and increase your vitality and optimism for life. You can also visualise breathing orange into your Sacral or Heart Chakra with the intention of healing any associated issues. You can also wear an orange crystal, such as a Carnelian or Orange Calcite, or eat more orange food. Remember, intention is key! Just ask that the orange clothing, food or crystal heal your ailment and trust in the universe to provide! 

There is a lot more to Orange than the above, I am sure, however, I find that it is great for increasing courage so when I am feeling a bit fearful, I wear it with the intention it increase my courage and allow it to do its work. There are a lot of changes going on in my life at the moment, so perhaps this is why I have been drawn to it for some time...

Norse Gods and Popular Culture

This is another synchronisitc post for both my journey and the Pagan Blog Project. I had been having trouble finding an N to write about, then this happened...

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day about comic books and characters and who created who etc etc, when he stated that Thor was created by Marvel Comics. I cleared my throat, all lady like and said "Well, the truth is that Thor has been around much longer than that. The Vikings 'created' Thor, not some writer with a good imagination!" Obviously, because he is a grown man and quite intelligent he knew this to be true and his comment was merely a slip of the tongue or perhaps he was differentiating the two characters, the real Norse God and the comic book hero. Which is fine, but it got me wondering... How many other people out there, kids especially, look at the comic version of Thor and Loki and whoever else is in it (I have as yet not ready any myself) and see them as 'make believe'? See them as characters some genius made up and decided to write stories about? I wonder how many people out there do not understand who Thor and Loki (etc) really are?
 

It also got me wondering, how much else in popular culture has been taken from the ancients and adapted to suit their purposes. I know Anne Rice uses the name Akasha (which i only recently learned is the sanscrit word for ether...), and the gods and goddesses in Supernatural are based upon deities from a plethora of pantheons, but exactly how deep does it go? Are people picking random symbols from a book they picked up at an occult store and running with it? How many other TV series' have the myths of the ancients interlaced with modern world ideas? It is intriguing to me, and what it means is that there is a lot more reading and viewing in store for me in the future. I don't think I'll make it my life's passion to discover them all, after all I have other things I need to do, but it might be something else I draw on when viewing new series and movies...
 

It is interesting to me that the knowledge of the ancients is right there for the next generation to access, should they decide to make the connections and dig a little deeper into the name of their favourite comic book character...

M is for Meditation

This is a very meaningful topic for me… Mostly because I don’t do it nearly enough! Despite universal nudges that would make Ghandi himself frustrated……

I am a very practical person, and I like to understand the purpose of an activity, whether it be sport or cleaning, I like there to be a reason for me to do it. And the meaning needs to be on a relatively deep level, for example I do not usually like walking, even though I know it is good for my health, unless I have somewhere to go. A destination, other than to return home empty-handed, helps me to focus and get the job done.

What I find with meditation, is that if it is undirected, I do not see the point and often decide to do something else. This results in me sitting down to meditate perhaps once a week, at best… I know there are heaps of meditations on YouTube that I could do, but I often find it hard to do something if I do not know what to expect (which often blocks my psychic development!!), a fear of the unknown is one I have to deal with in this life and I have as yet not discovered how to… It occurs to me while writing this that meditation may be the very thing I need!! Weird, huh?!?! Hardly… anyway, I digress…

So, what is the purpose of meditation? What are the benefits that I can employ in my everyday life?

Without doing any actual research, my first thought is that it gives you time out from your life and the stress of holding down a job and a house (which for a single childless woman is not really hard). This is probably where I get stuck. I don’t really have any stresses, and if I do I tend to deal with it in a positive way anyway. I tend to be very organised and practical with deadlines etc so I rarely get stuck last minute… well, that is if I don’t put things off until the last minute, but then I just tell myself I put myself here, quit your bitching and get yourself out!  

What about the physical benefits? I have had to do some research about this section, as my first draft was just ignorant ramblings about the possibility of it helping with sleep and metabolism and stuff. I really wanted to know so I did it. This is what I found.

Benefits:

1. Reduces stress and anxiety.
2. Slows brain functions (the article does not say why this is a good thing, but I think that anything having a rest has got to be good!).
3. Increases focus.
4. More creativity: through open-monitoring, or guided, meditation.
5. More compassion and empathy: apparently meditation activates the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes emotion, one experiment found.
6. Improves memory.
7. Improves cognitive processes: through more grey matter, which leads to more positive emotions, longer-lasting emotional stability and heightened focus. Apparently, meditation reduces  the effects of age-related damage to grey matter and can reduce the decline of cognitive functioning (link to a reduction in Alzheimer’s?).
8. Boosts immunity: Meditation apparently activates disease fighting genes (recent research) which can help protect against pain, high blood pressure and rheumatoid arthritis.
9. Balances hormone levels: relaxation is linked to higher levels of feel-good hormones such as serotonin.
10. Helps with fertility issues.
11. Stress is linked to decreased digestion and immunity, so perhaps relaxation/meditation can help boost the digestive system and metabolism leading to weight loss?!?!
12. Relieves irritable bowel syndrome.
13. Acts as an anti-inflammatory.
14. Calmness – thoughts occur but are the witness, while in a stressed or ‘ordinary’ mind the thought is the boss. This reduces reaction to situations and allows you to sail through difficult situations. 
15. Sharpens the mind through focusing and expanding through relaxation.

There are literally hundreds of others, one website boasted 100 benefits! I have listed the ones I feel are of benefit to me, perhaps not now but in the future! 

But what about the spiritual benefits? Research suggests that it helps you to discover your true self, sharpen your mind, develop your intuition and expand your consciousness, which I can attest to. I have had some awesome experiences meditating that have helped me on my spiritual journey. Most recently I lit my God and Goddess candle and asked them to be present with me during the meditation and I just sat in their energy, getting to know them and how they interact with me on a physical level, conversing with them to seek clarification on a few topics which they happily gave me. For me, after this experience, I realised that meditation is a way to increase your energy levels to converse and merge with deity, spirit guides and perhaps deceased loved one to get messages or to simply honour them and increase your own connection to ad relationship with them. For me now, meditation is more about connecting with deity and my own spiritual nature and reminding myself that it is a part of who I am. Still, I don’t meditate nearly as much as I should, which is a major issue of neglect on my part, as I am sure that I will feel better if I do meditate every day. I am not sure what it is that prevents me, fear probably – fear of the unknown, fear that nothing happens and probably most importantly fear that something does and I will not believe it (as I am also want to do). Or maybe I am just thinking too much about it and not doing it enough… Maybe I should just sit and breathe deeply and open my mind to the possibilities of it all…… I feel, excluding the obvious physical benefits, it will help increase my connection to deity and my true spiritual self so I need to make a commitment of at least 15 minutes a day. This can be part of my daily ritual to help strengthen my spiritual self and help her to come out more. I know when I did make it a daily habit, part of my routine (even if it was as an escape from a relatively bad situation), I felt more confident, aware and compassionate in my daily life. Perhaps I can get her back, or maybe even evolve to a better me? Sounds like a lovely idea… 

Will I keep the commitment though???? Perhaps I start with 5 minutes a day……

Pagan Lightworker?

I have been thinking about this a lot in the last weeks, since I knew L was coming up... Can u mix the two ideas of pagan and lightworker together? I know I, and anyone else with similar ideas may be branded with a fluffy white bunny tattoo, but I still feel there is merit in the idea of a pagan lightworker...

The idea of a lightworker is someone who has reincarnation to raise the vibration of the Earth and being it Ito a new age of love and sharing. This is a very nice idea, especially as the Earth definitely needs it. 

For me, a pagan is someone whose spirituality is based around the observances of the season, honouring the elements and the Gods and goddesses. To me, being pagan means protecting and nurturing the earth, allowing my vibrations to be in sync (as much as possible) with the earth and honouring the existence of a supreme creation force manifested as the male and female inherent in all things. 

To combine the two is to be someone who is working with the earth and nature to bring the vibrations of the inhabitants of the planet to a hover level of love and sharing... It is to use the elements and what we know about deity, the universe and existence itself to inform and educate and help people to be better people for themselves and he planet... To me this is a noble idea, and the combining of Paganism and the term Ligtworker seems a nice fit... 

If I had to label myself I think I would use this term as it accurately describes the direction of my beliefs and what I hope to achieve on a grander scale at this very time. 'Fluffy' as it may be, it feels right to me and it is not harming any one for me to believe this, so as I will it...... xx

J is for Judgement - Pagan Blog Project

This kind of just happened... We were only just entering 'J' week, and I had this epiphany last week sometime and started to write about it. I am reading a book by Suzie the Ghost Whisperer, and in it she mentions about being judgemental and it got me thinking... so this is the finished product of such thoughts - just in time for 'J' week!!! Well, it would have been had I not been sidetracked with other things... so much for committment! Anyway, I also had to edit and re-edit this a few times to make sure what I was saying firstly made sense, and secondly was really what I meant... This was a tricky one and I needed to get all my little duckies in a row... hehe

From the Rider Waite Tarot Deck

This one has been hard for me to put into words. I think for me, its more about the differnce between judgement and judgemental. Judgements can get us out of some possibly scary situations, such as judging that you wont make it past the car in front before oncoming traffic reaches you. This is a good thing, and helps us keep safe.

Being judgemental is not so much a good thing. It is what you do in relation to a judgement you make. You might judge that the big, hairy biker (sorry to use an old cliche here...) is scary and may hurt you, but to act with disrespect towards this person based upon this judgement makes you judgemental (not to mention narrowminded!). Lifewise, to avoid having contact with this person may leave you wanting for entertainment or intellectual conversation... N'ever judge a book' right???

People make judgements every day, about clothing, when they cook, drive, hang out the washing etc. But these are harmless, and should be acknowledged as part of the human experience. It is when your judgements become part of how you show yourself to the world and treat others that you (and the rest of the world!) have issues.

I know in some situations I have been judgemental of late, mostly towards myself (which in the world of spiritual growth and understanding is probably the worst person to show judgement towards!!), but also to others. I have judged people based on gaining small snippets of insight into them as a person and acted accordingly. You might think that this is ok, as it is not a factless judgement, and you are partly right. The problem is that it is based on a small part of the person, not the whole. I asoknow that people show certain parts of themselves in certain situations to meet certain needs and may not even be who they are at all!!! I need to open my mind to the possibilities and not make judgements about an entire life based on one interaction with it. Sure, if these snippets appear to make up more of the whole than it now does, I will act accordingly, but in the meantime I am going to try to embrace all people I meet and get to know them on a deeper level before discounting them.

Also, I am going to acknowledge that judgements are a part of the human experience, and work through those that help and hinder me in an attempt at personal growth... Let's see where this goes, shall we?

The Importance of Indigo - Pagan Blog Project

I am not sure if you are aware, but apparently scientists have taken Indigo out of the colour spectrum as it is not a definable colour between the blue and purple (this is only rumour for me, but considering the fate of Pluto, I am assuming the worst!). It got me thinking about the impact of this on the chakras and other aspects of paganism, spirituality and life in general.

Also, the Pagan Blog Project focus this week is 'I' and it seems 'coincidental' to me now that I should choose this week to think about colour therapy and my relationship with indigo in general... so here goes!!

For me, it appeared at first to have little impact as my brow chakra had always appeared as purple anyway, and my crown white, so I was not really used to working with indigo for this. So I forgot about it and got on with my life.

Lapis Lazuli, what I affectionately call my 'Atlantis Temple'

Then, very recently, I started to look at the meanings of particular colours, their vibrationary meanings, healing ability etc etc and stumbled upon an important personal truth. Even though I do not work with indigo, and very rarely have I since seen my brow chakra appear this colour (it has happened once or twice), it has it's own merits in the world and should be included and honoured among the basic colours used in healing, magick and other aspects of life. It is used to increase spiritual knowledge and awareness, intuition, inspiration and imagination and also has been said to soothe physical pain (through visualisation and intent of course!). And although it is a tertiary colour and I usually only work with primary and secondary ones, I still feel it has it's place in our lives. To me, colours like violet, turquoise and to come degree pink (although I do like to use this to differentiate between the types of love you would want to encourage) just seem to be watered down versions of their primary or secondary counterparts. Yet,  indigo seems to have its own specific vibration and magickal use, separate to the others. It just 'feels' as if it is important enough to include in my 'colour chart'! 

Perhaps this will lead me to further explore tertiary colours on a larger scale in time, but for now I'm taking a 'keep is simple stupid' attitude... I'll revisit the tertiary colours issue when and if it arises.

For now I am happy with my inclusion of Indigo in my work, and I hope you all do too, no matter what 'scientists' say!!!

This little light of mine, I'm (someday) gonna let it shine......

Inspired by Ms Moonlilly - http://wiccanwonderland.wordpress.com/2014/04/11/h-is-for-holding-it-in/

This blog entry is inspired by Ms Moonlilly's H is for Holding it in discovered most 'coincidentally' through the PBP... again... Read this one first, then come back to me!! xx

I have been a part of something wonderful this past week. Someone who I love very much has finally accepted all of herself and is allowing her true self to be seen by the world! She has accepted that she is a spiritual being and that she just might be able to do the things we have hitherto only 'played' at doing. It was a wonderful thing to see the light bulb moment, be with her the moment she stopped fighting it and embraced it all, and for that I thank her and the universe for putting me in the room with her!

It is not surprising that I myself have been going through this same thing for much of my life. I always knew I was destined for something 'more' or 'greater' than the mundane, but my teenage mind decided that was fame and fortune. My adult brain now realises that this may perhaps be the embracing of my own spiritual self and allowing this part of me to shine to the world. Accepting that I have a gift or talent for helping people is hard. As Ms Williamson says 'our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure' and I can definitely relate to this.

Who am I to be so 'gifted'? Anyway, I am not really, it's only tarot I read and it's not even information from me, its from my guides and my client's guides. I don't really do anything but sit there and listen, what's so special in that??

This makes me laugh now though, because I know there are so many people out there who don't listen, who don't know what I/we know. They just live their lives based on YOLO or some other gimmick and hope for the best! In some cases they use YOLO as an excuse to be an arsehole, a fact I have made very clear to any teenager I can (and I am a High School Teacher by trade!) that it is not... There are no excuses for being an arsehole... ever... Especially when you are aware you are being such...

Anyway, as usual I digress (hoping said teenagers will read this blog eventually... :))...

I think this fear has extended to my ritual observance. For a while now I have been drawn to being more active in my spiritual life, for myself not for others. I have been getting 'flashes' of an offering bowl on my altar, me sitting in front of it meditating and connecting to the God and Goddess, perhaps doing a pathworking to find my God (I have found my Goddess, and she does need a named counterpart!! Well, not really, but it would make me feel better!). But something is stopping me... It is fear. Well, DER right? But not so much fear that nothing at all will happen, cause there is always that, but fear of what other's will say if they find out I pray and meditate to a Hindu Goddess and which ever God I am to work with now? I am an Australian living in Mine Country (not Wine Country... lol). You don't sit at home and pray to Indian Gods!! Gee, I don't think many people in this area even think about the concept of God in any form, let alone pray to one!! What would they think if they found out??

I think for me the truth is that most people who know me (students especially!) already know me as 'weird', so it would only be another notch in that belt anyway... I also have to realise that I should not fear them finding out, I should embrace the idea. What I could share with them should they but ask?!

There is another quote that fits nicely here - those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

Perhaps I should use this as a mantra for a few days and see if it helps any??

I think the real trouble isn't what other people will think; a colleague pointed out to me once that people don't very much anyway. The real problem is accepting the real me and letting the old one go in favour of her. That is scary on a 'better the devil you know' level... I know who I am now, and she has gotten me this far in life, what will the new one do? No one can tell me, but I just have to have trust in the Gods and the universe that they know better than me and allow her to shine through right?? Easier said than done, I know, but it seems to be a running theme in client's readings of late, so perhaps this is the universe's way of telling me 'others are dealing with this same issue, how can you tell them to do something that you are unwilling to do yourself?' Which is true on many levels... a healer that can not heal themselves is no real healer at all right??

I know I have to embrace my true, spiritual self. It doesn't have to, and probably wont, happen overnight, so I guess I have time to take it slow. But I think I deserve to be the real me, to let my own light shine upon the world because 'as we light our own light shine, we unconsciously give permission for other people to do the same'. To me, that would be the ultimate gift to anyone. Not that anyone really needs permission from me to do anything, but perhaps if I lead by example, then others will start to believe it is OK and they can be who they were put here to be. That's gotta be for the greatest good of the world right??

Chakra Fundamentals: Heart Chakra - H is for Heart Chakra

If the other weeks brought confusion or indecision about what topic to write for the Pagan Blog Project, this week was easy! I am working on going through all the chakras eventually, but will wait til the appropriate letter to submit something (obviously...lol). I have also worked on its western name, for ease of access more than anything else... So, here goes......

The Heart chakra, also known as Anahata (usually pronounced anna-hat), is located in the centre of the chest, vibrates green, sometimes with pink flecks, and its symbol is the 12 petalled lotus flower. On a physical level, it is responsible for the heart, ribs, chest, upper back, circulatory system, lungs, immune system, the respiratory system and thymus. Emotionally, it governs all matters concerning love, including unconditional love, forgiveness, relationships, compassion and tolerance, however, negative emotions such as anger and hate can dwell here as well. Any imbalances in the heart chakra are indicated by physical pain or illness in these areas as well as feelings of being unloved or unlovable, issues with hate, forgiveness and compassion.

As with the other chakras, there are a few very simple ways you can balance this chakra. Possibly the easiest is to wear green, such as but not limited to a t-shirt or bra as it sits directly over the chakra, with the intention of balancing Anahata. Crystals, such as rose quartz and malachite (among many others) will also help to balance this chakra. I have also had some success with Tiger’s Eye. Specifically used for the Solar Plexus, I find that whenever I wear Tiger’s Eye I laugh a lot more, and that has got to do something for my heart as well right?? Play around with a few other crystals and see what ones make you happy or more prone to laughter and use these in conjunction with other heart chakra methods, after all, isn’t happiness the key to love? Or one of them anyway...

You can also balance Anahata through the food you eat. Eating green food with the intention of it balancing your chakra will be of great use, however, what might work more is to have an appreciation and love for the food you are eating. Take a few seconds to thank the universe, or the tree or animal themselves for providing the sustenance for you. This prayer is about giving gratitude for what you have and being more aware of the good in your life. This will also lead to feelings of happiness and love which will open your chakra more!

Here is a list of a few other easy ways to balance your chakra:    

• Breathe into the heart chakra
• Hug people. You will need to be IN the hug. Some people just put their arms around others and hope for the best. The next time you hug someone, be in the moment and feel the love inherent in the hug! Open yourself up and allow yourself to feel and be love!! 
• Write letters of appreciation to those who have helped you
• Apologise to those you have hurt
• Offer to help people
• Tell loved ones that you love them
• Own a pet and play and pat them
• Own plants and water them with love
• Be willing to forgive

Another interesting issue with the heart chakra is receiving love. It is all well and good to give it to others, but in order to have a properly balanced chakra you need to be ready to receive love. This has been an issue for me my whole life it seems, especially self-love in a culture that frowns upon people who ‘love themselves’ as ‘stuck up’. Love of self does not mean you think you are any better than anyone else, it just means (among other things) you have self-respect and understand your own worth. I have recently discovered that love of self gives you a deeper understanding and appreciation of love when you experience it for yourself from yourself. It helps you to better understand what it means to love and what your own expectations are concerning receiving love from others. Through the self-acceptance that comes from self-love, you can more easily accept others for who they are (tolerance and acceptance) which increases your capacity for unconditional love on a much larger scale.

But how to rectify these issues? There are a few easy ways, some may seem weird, difficult or unnatural but start small and work your way from there. 

1.  Look in the mirror and find one thing that you like (at first, later turn it to love) about yourself and focus on that aspect for a few minutes. If you can find more than one, then by all means honour them all! If not, after a week, make it two things, then three etc etc.
2. Wear clothes that make you feel good about yourself, that you feel are flattering for your figure or emphasises your assets. Include any make-up or particularly flattering hair styles.
3. Stand naked in front of a mirror and admire your body for what it is, lumps, bumps and all. Remember, you are the God or Goddess manifest! Loving yourself and accepting yourself for who and as you are allows you to accept them on such terms and gives you a closer relationship with them. 
4. Number 3 also works in a bath or shower situation, and may be a better first step for you if you particularly loathe mirrors. As you wash yourself, note your body shape and tone, any blemishes you have, honour any scars you have and just feel the love and acceptance wash over you as the water falls over your skin. You must, however, graduate to the mirror scenario eventually!!
5. Write down a list of your characteristics, flaws and all. Do not categorise or judge them, just write the list down. When you are done, read over them and send love to each of them. They all make up who you are and you must honour them. The one/s you do not like, you can work on (or may be at this very moment!), but in the meantime they are who you are, they make up a part of you, so honour them all and accept them. 
6. Put on your favourite music and dance around the house. Do not judge yourself, just feel the movement of your body and let the love flow!
7. Record your voice and play it back to you. This will need to serve a purpose though... it would seem silly just to record a random conversation and play that back!! I remember reading in one of her books that Doreen Virtue learnt to love her voice, and herself more, by recording and listening to a list of affirmations every day! This may work, but if affirmations are not your thing, then why would you start now? So, the next time you find a meditation in written form, instead of memorising it and doing it this way, record yourself saying it over nice music. Do the meditation to your own voice and remember to give your voice and yourself love as you hear it! If there is a ritual or anything else that you could record and complete in this same way, then do so! I am sure the added love you feel will serve to empower your ritual.
8. I recently read a book called Unleashing the Sex Goddess in Every Woman by Olivia St Claire. It was very confronting to me, whose own views on sex and masturbation have been in conflict throughout my life. The one thing I learned from this book is that love of the physical self is important for loving and accepting yourself and who you are (it will also help you to understand how your body works so you can tell your partner and make your love making all the more exciting! Anyway, back to the issue at hand... ) So, the next time you take some time out to pleasure yourself, instead of seeing your favourite movie star in your mind’s eye (although this can be very fun!), just be with yourself and feel what you are doing to yourself. Be in the moment and feel the love as you bring yourself to climax. This brings your spiritual and physical self closer together, giving you a better understanding of how the two are actually one, inseparable. A lot of people honour their spiritual selves and neglect their physical body (or vice versa), which to me now is an example of gross misconduct! OK, so I over exaggerate... again... But there is still truth in what I say. You can’t have one without the other in this life, so acknowledge, honour and love both!!
9. Do #8 in front of a mirror... Send yourself love and acceptance as you watch your body and facial expressions. This is not for the faint-hearted, so be sure that you are comfortable looking at yourself in the mirror before doing this. Remember, the goal is to increase your feelings of self-love. Do not do this if you feel it will shatter everything you have worked for... It can wait until you are ready!
10. This may be the most important one… Sit in a quiet place, where you will not be interrupted and put yourself into a meditative state. Play your favourite meditation music, burn incense (possibly rose for love!), light a candle (again, rose or a red one!) and wear or have on your person one of the aforementioned crystals. When you are ready, send the love out of your heart chakra into the universe or to a person, animal, place or situation that inspires love for you. Just send it out there for a few minutes. Then, draw it back into yourself. You can do this by seeing Anahata's green and pink flecked colour circling to the object or situation and back into yourself (through your back may help if you are particularly visual). Also, breathing out the love and then back in can help if you are not particularly visual. The how does not really matter, what is important is that you send it out and also RECEIVE IT BACK free of judgement or category, just allow it to come back. Sit in this energy of love for as long as you feel the need then bring yourself back. Thank the universe and deity for the experience and whenever you are feeling a bit down or overly negative about yourself, remember this moment and allow the familiar feelings to wash back over you. For a particularly fun twist, combine this with #7 and do the meditation this way! 

This one was longer than I thought it would be, but in writing it I realise the heart chakra is about more than just giving love, but also receiving it. The two aspects work hand in hand to promote love on a daily basis. It has definitely opened my eyes to the true nature of Anahata and love in general, as I hope it does for you. So a big THANK YOU to the PBP for allowing this to happen! 

If you have any other ways of balancing Anahata, please feel free to include them in the comments below.

Blessed be and Love to all!! 

(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 - Chakra Balancing - Heart Chakra Anahata) 

F is for THE FLU!!

Ok, so I had committed myself to the Pagan Blog Project and was all set to start researching something for the letter F and the disaster struck! I got the FLU!! da da daaaaaa!!!! 

Anyway, I woke up that morning with a sore throat and a little tickle in my nose and thought to myself, 'self, I think you have the flu?! This is the universe telling you to slow down and take some time out!' So, I did - I cancelled all my appointments for the day and stayed in bed. After a few episodes of I cannot now remember what, I fell asleep. For 4 hours!! I woke up wondering if this was just the flu or something more serious. 

I am a firm believer that any illness, sickness, injury or disease is emotionally based, it is your body telling you something that you are not hearing any other way. It has been proven to me time and time again! I get ulcers in my mouth when I have not said something I need to and it is eating away at me, I break my index finger when I am letting fear and ego rule me, my mother hurts her back when she is not getting support from someone and needs it, and I get the flu when I am doing too much or have massive inner conflict about something! (Read Inna Segal's 'The Secret Language of Your Body' for more details!! it will change your life!!) So, I was also wondering what inner conflict I was having at this time, but knew mostly that it was the universe telling me to slow down!! For the millionth time in my life, mind you… I just can’t help it, there is so much to do, learn and see and I want to do it all, NOW!! Anyway, I decided to take a day off and see how I felt the next day.

Well, my condition only got worse. And the worst part? I had to go in to work because in recent years I have been so flippant with my money I now have very little! Even though I have had a well paying job for almost three years, I had managed to, at the end of the contract, have saved around $300!! Very bad finance!! Anyway, so I have recently learnt the need to be more frugal and have just started to become that way when I got sick – not having enough in my account as yet to be able to afford to take time off (as I am now back to casual and do not get sick leave etc!) I had to go in to work!

Luckily though, by Friday I was feeling a bit better and was able to go in to my Saturday Tarot Reading job, which I love because I get to help people in a more personal way than I do as a teacher. Well, apparently I was not in fact well again and the universe appeared to have more lessons in store for me. By Monday I could barely speak! Some things happened over the weekend, which I will not get into here, but suffice it to say I fought the inevitable, tried to control things and prevent having to have ‘the conversation’ with a male friend of mine and it manifested in a small dose of laryngitis!! Well, according to Inna Segal in her aforementioned book, laryngitis is about holding back (among other things, which are not that relevant, but everything on the list doesn’t have to fit!). I was trying to prevent something from happening, that may not need to happen, through my actions, when if I had just spoken my truth it would be over with by now! Well, it has been a week and I have finally just this morning been able to belt out a few notes of one of my favourite songs, so it seems I am on the mend and the lesson has been learnt! For now… Here’s hoping I don’t forget it and have to go through it all again!!! 

Available through innasegal.com

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!!!

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!!!)