Friday, April 27, 2012

PBP - I for IPCOD

Many Pagans are in the "broom closet" about their beliefs, but why? Some are scared of what people in their lives will think. Some are just waiting for the right moment. Well, if you are one of these people who are waiting for the right time, how about May 2? Why May 2, because it just happens to be International Pagan Coming Out Day! If you are choosing to come out as a Pagan why not on a day, that there will be many others coming out as well?
I personally don't feel that I have ever really been in the closet. I just chose to not talk about religion too much due to it being a touchy subject for many people. Of course, I never really hid my beliefs from anyone. I wear my pentacle ring and necklace (under my uniform of course), have Wiccan on my dog tags, and kept my altar in my dining room when I had the space. I have had discussions about my beliefs, started writing this blog, and post "interesting" information on my facebook page from time to time. I have never experienced any discrimination, and have had nothing but acceptance from my family, the ones that know anyways. It should be noted that the ones who do not know, I either do not talk too, or just don't care about my beliefs. For me it is nice knowing that I don't have to hide my beliefs from anyone.

Since it is getting late here in Germany, and my Energy is not where I would like it to be anyways, I will leave everyone with a link to the IPCOD website, and invite you to browse around. I will continue at another time, my thoughts on being out of the broom closet.

http://pagancomingoutday.org/

Monday, April 23, 2012

Out of Sorts

I think I need to spend some me time. I have just been so out of it lately, and emotional. The problem is that I feel guilty whenever I even think about taking time for myself. I know that Steve spends all day at home with Alex and the dog, and really does not get time to himself at all. He still had not said anything about the fact that I wrote my duty on Saturday. I don't think that explaining to him that I was planning on taking Alex with me for a while will even make a difference in how he will react. Sometimes, I really think I would be better off if I just got out of the military. Just so much going on lately, with whats going on at home, everything at work, and then dealing with trying to potty train Alex STILL, I'm just so exhausted.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

PBP - H for Home Blessing

As I stated in my post from last week, we spend allot of time in our home, and for many Pagans it is also our place of worship. The problem with this is that so many people come and go in this space, that they tend to leave residual energy behind. This can really be an issue if you are renting the place you live in, or even live with someone else. All this left over energy can really weight you down. That's why I think that its important to periodically do a cleansing or blessing on your living space. The one that I am including is from my personal book of shadows. If you like it, please feel free to use it, change it, or completely ignore it if you choose.
What you will need:
Incense of choice, or smudge bundle (I use Sage in either)
Besom
Blessed Water

Even though this is a spiritual/ energy cleansing, it is always good to start with a clean space. Get the good old vacuum and dust rag out, and get the physical clutter out.
I always begin at my altar. If you would like you can cast your circle, but I find that this just adds an unneeded step.
Build up your energy. This should be energy that you will use to push out the negative unwanted.
Visualize a bubble building around you from the ground up. Picture it surrounding you from your feet to your head.
- If you are in an apartment, as I am, picture a barrier between your floor, and the ceiling below you. You only want your energy in this bubble, not the whole building.
Build the bubble until it touches you ceiling. If you have multiple stories, start with one at a time.
Picture your bubble anchored in one spot as you begin to walk your living space. Expand the bubble with you as you walk.
- When you finish the first floor move to the next
As your bubble expands, picture it pushing all the negative energy out.
If you live in an apartment, reinforce anywhere there is a shared space, (walls, floors, ceilings)
If you like, and if it makes it easier, feel free to walk with your besom to sweep the energy out.
Pick a chant or words that you like. I use "Out, about, I turn you out, All that dawdles here, I turn you out."
Once complete, be sure to ground the excess energy that you have raised. After all, you have just gotten rid of the stagnant energy, and don't want to start accumulating some more.
If you would like, you can take blessed water, and sprinkle it in the corners of your space.

I hope you like, and maybe even got some ideas.
Blessed Be!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Family... So many question.

Family is one of the things in our lives that we have no control over. There are times when we may be proud to say who we are related to, and there may be times when we just wish we belonged to a different family altogether. Is there ever a good time to say "enough is enough." When you just cant stand the draining anymore. Is there ever a right time to just severe any kind of contact with family? Is it too harsh, does that point not exist? Has it been crossed along time ago, or can it be seen in the near future? Is there more we can do, have we done our best, or could we have done more in the past? Has there been a serious of misunderstanding, or are you the one who misjudged? Would things have been better if you had stayed closer to home or was leaving the best thing you could have done? If you had stayed how different would things have been? Would things have turned out better, or worst and for who? So many questions that you hope you never have to be faced with, hoping you will soon wake up and it will all have been a bad dream. Hoping for a good change of events....

PBP - H for Home

Home is the place where you live, whether its an apartment, house, motel, dorm, barracks, or a spare room in someone Else's home. So what does this have to do with being Pagan? Well since many of us practice in our homes alone, it also becomes our place of worship. Ideally, there should be somewhere where you can be alone with your chosen entity. Of course this is not always possible, We have family, friends, roommates, and neighbors, that can prevent this. What is important is that when you go to worship, you are able to relax. With so many people in our homes everyday, allot of energy can be kicked up and left around both good and bad. This can effect how you are able to worship. If there is a lot of negative energy hanging around, it can make it difficult. Personally, what I do, is before I begin, I take a few minutes to ground and center myself and get rid of the energy in the immediate area of where I will be working. Of course, there are times when this may not be enough. As I have my own energy issues right now, I will be addressing this next week. This was just an intro on the topic.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Newest member of the Family

Since I was finally able to get a decent picture of him, I present to all my readers Kovu! He will be 10 months old this month. Yes he is a pure blood Siberian Husky, but we do not have the papers on him. He is hyper as would be expected from his breed, but likes to spend most of the day asleep, at least until I come home for some reason. Thankfully, the family we got him from had a 2 year old, so he is great with kids. He even knows to be a little bit gentler when he is playing with Alex. OK, I guess that's really all for this post. Just wanted to announce and introduce the newest member of the family.



Sunday, April 8, 2012

Another one of those days

I don't know what it was, but this has just been an exhausting day. Well, not entire day, mainly just afternoon. The morning went well. Alex found the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid in the house, and then went to find some at the Pavilion. Made and had dinner, and that's when it started. I really don't know what the problem was, but I was just getting so agitated. Kovu, was wanting to go out like every 30 minutes, Alex of course was not wanting to eat. Finally decided to take Kovu to the dog park, and took Alex with me. Of course no sooner than I get Kovu off the leash, than I hear Alex say he has to go pee pee. So there I go trying to catch Kovu, and Alex goes heading for his bike. Oh gosh.... here we go. Finally get the together, and Alex now says he doesn't have to go, and doesn't want to go home. Get home, and we are heading up the stairs, one set to go, and Kovu hears another dog coming up, the one from upstairs. Sure enough up he comes, Kovu sniffs him, and he gets snapped at. What a way yo end my day.

PBP - Goddess and God

"So what is the Goddess and the God?" Who among us Pagans, has never been asked this question. I recently was asked this question when some asked me about my beliefs. While we all may have our own definition of what these words mean to us, how do we explain them to others? How do you describe the feeling of knowing that no matter where you go they are with you? They are that nudge you need when you are struggling, that push to finish what you started. Duality. Male and Female. Light and Dark. Yin and Yang. Everything and nothing. Are they corporal beings in anyway? For me, no. I dont expect to cross over and be greeted by them, but I know that they will be there. Do I follow any particular goddess and god, no. For me it is more of a concept of everything that cannot be narrowed down to one.
So how did I answer the question? "What is your god to you?" Seemed only fair to me. So next time you are asked the question, maybe turn it around and see if the person is able to answer the question as well. You might be surprised by the answer, or even the lack of an answer.

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Stupid School

So I have been working on homework for the past couple of hours. I saved my lab for last due to having to do it in the bathroom. It is 1130 at night, and I have been sitting here for about 45 minutes waiting for it to upload! GRRRR!! All I want to do is go to sleep, but this stupid thing wont upload!
Oh well, that's what happens when I wait till the last minute as usual. On a better note, SHORT WEEK at work this week! YAY! Still got some shopping to do for Easter (Yes we celebrate with the egg hunt and dinner). Gonna be a busy weekend, got a birthday party to go to, cupcakes to make on Saturday, and eggs to decorate, stuff and fill. Should be fun this time around, since Alex is a little bit older, and should have more fun looking for eggs. Not quite Monday, and I'm already looking forward to the weekend.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...