D is for Divination

The seeking after knowledge of future or hidden things by inadequate means. The means being inadequate they must, therefore, the supplemented by some power which is represented all through history as coming from gods or evil spirits. Hence the word divination has a sinister signification. Asprophecy is the lawful knowledge of the future divination, its superstitious counterpart, is the unlawful. As magic aims to do, divination aims to know.Divination is practically as old as the human race. It is found in every age and country, among the Egyptians, Chaldean's, Hindus, Romans, and Greeks; that tribes of Northern Asia had their shamans, the inhabitants of Africa their mgangas, the Celtic nation their druids, the aborigines of America their medicine-men — all recognized diviners and wizards. Everywhere divination flourished and nowhere, even today, is it completely neglected. Cicero's words were, and apparently always will be, true, that there is no nation, civilized or barbarian, which does not believe that there are signs of the future and persons who interpret them. Cicero divided divination into natural and artificial. Natural (untaught, unskilled) included dreams and oracles in which the diviner was a passive subject of inspiration, and the prediction that from a power supposed to be then and there within him. Artificial (taught, studied) comprised all foretelling from signs found in nature or produced by man. Here the diviner was active, and the divination came apparently from his own skill and observation. This division is almost the same as that given by St. Thomas with respect to the invocation of demons: divination with expressinvocation of spirits, embracing dreams, portents, or prodigies, and necromancy, and divination with tacit invocation through signs and movements observed in objects in nature, such as stars, birds, figures, etc., or through signs and arrangements produced by man, such as molten lead poured in water, casting of lots, etc. Dreams here mean those expressly prepared and prayed for with hope of intercourse with gods or the dead. Portents or prodigies are unusual and marvellous sights coming from the lower world. Here we are considering artificial divination.


The above article is from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05048b.htm


I started this post with the above article to provide some insight as to how many Christians see divination. Obviously as Pagans we know that what we get from divination does not come from "evil spirits" but are simple messages from the universe that tell us how things are or will be if we continue on our current paths. There is no evil behind it at all. It is simply used as a guide to help us. I am going to attempt to give a little insight into my thoughts on the topic of divination, specifically Tarot.


When it comes to Divination, there are more forms than most normal people could count. It seems like everyone has their favorite form. Mine happens to be Tarot. I have tried others like runes, but just cant seem to make any sense of the symbols. While I have not given up, I still remain loyal to tarot. There is just something about how each card forms a piece of the overall story of the reading. No matter what deck you pick up, you can usually get a sense for what the cards are telling you just based on overall basic knowledge. 
When it comes to actually using decks there seem to be at least two schools of thought. One says that you find a deck that works for you and stick with it. One the other hand there is the thought that is does not matter how many decks you use, as long as they speak to you. I am a member of the latter school of thought. I currently have two decks that I use. The ones that I use are the Transparent Tarot and The Quest Tarot. Both of these have AMAZING artwork, and really speak to me when I do a reading. I also personally feel that it is important to have other decks available for reference. One that I have found particularly helpful is the Tarot of the New Vision. 
You can easily open and Pagan/ Wiccan/ New-Age themed book, and each of them will swear by one or another form of divination. What is ultimately important in the end, is to make sure that you are able to work with your chosen medium. It will serve you no good if you are not able to connect with what you are using. Also, keep in mind, that no where does it way that as a Pagan you need to be able to do divination.
If you should decide to pursue divination keep in mind that it does take practice. If you go into it thinking that you will pick it up right away without studying, it will be that much harder for you to connect. Don't be afraid to ask for help and guidance. Above all things, divination should be a way to connect with yourself. If you don't know yourself on a deep level, it will show when you go to do readings. 

What better place to start... Altars

What is an Altar? An altar is defined as any elevated place or surface at which religious rites are performed. But what is it really? Many Pagans feel that an Altar needs to be an elaborate piece of work, with expensive pieces on it. Its true that we would all LOVE to have the $500 dollar crystal ball in the shop window, but that's not always practical or affordable. What is most important constructing an altar is the intent put into it. So on that note, is it even necessary to have it on a "surface" in the traditional sense. What about this? 

While looking at the traditional definition of an Altar, this would not count. However, on a personal level it has very special meaning to me both personally and spiritually. So why cant we carry our altars on our bodies. For that matter, why cant they be something as simple as some rocks and seashells that represent the elements and goddess and god. Don't get me wrong, I love the process of changing out my altar for the Sabbats, but there is just something about looking at the simple beauty of nature as it is and enjoying it in its natural beauty. So next time you look at your altar and think about everything you don't have, STOP and look at all that you do have and what it means to you and how special it is to you.

Pagan Blog Project 2012

http://www.paganblogproject.com

So what is it you may ask. Well basically it is a way to get in touch with your own spirituality. Each week you are given a letter of the alphabet to write about. Since there are 52 weeks in the year, and 26 letters of the alphabet each letter is "assigned" for two weeks. Needless to say I am going to give this a shot. Wish me luck.

Frustration

Really dont know what Im going to do. I feel like Im about to have a nervous breakdown if things dont change real quick. It is currently almost 100 in the morning, and Alex is in his bedroom showing no sign that he will be going to sleep soon. I dont know how much more of this I can take. I cant get anything done, cause I have to spend 2 or more hours trying to get him to go to sleep. Last night was the worst, 2.5 hours of straight screaming. Seems like no matter what I try, it doesnt work. I try rubbing his head and back, and he ends up making faces at me. I try popping his butt and he screams more. I really had to take a step back and just give up last night, and it was half the time I have spent sitting here listening to him tonight. Granted, he is not screaming anymore, but I can still hear him in his room playing and talking on his bed. I dont get what is wrong with him that he wont go to sleep. I guess Im just gonna have to take my already no existing down time after work and take him outside to the park or something to try to wear him out. What gets me is that Steve is always talking about wanting to get out of the house, and never does. He had the perfect opportunity today. H wanted to get the oil changed, but was going to wait for me to get home. Well sure enough we got stuck in a STAU and he ends up calling me, like its my fault. He could have easily gotten Alex together and gotten it done, but no instead he had to go and blame it on me instead. As usual, this only happens when he has plans. Yeah cause nothing ever goes wrong that I have to change plans that I made. Oh wait thats right, I cant make plans. If I do, I either have to do it by myself, or have to deal with him clearly wanting to be doing something else instead. Some support I got I guess. Well, I guess now that he finally seems to be asleep, I will go ahead and try to get a couple hours before I have to get up to start the cycle all over again.

Stress

So feeling extremely stressed out lately. So along with taking 4 classes and a lab, I have also been taking FAST class to improve my GT Score. Needless to say, not much time to get ANYTHING done. Well luckily the Fast class is almost over, but more on that in a minute. So along with all the classes, I have supposed to have been studying for the NCO of the Quarter Board. Yeah, REALLY no free time. So the board was today, just to find out that apparently it was a tie.... and we have to have the tie breaker TOMORROW... the same day I have to take my TABE test to get out of FAST (I know allot of acronyms I'm sorry). So I have to go to PT, take the TABE at 0800, and miss the rest of the FAST class at 1000 to be at the SGM's office at 1030 for the tie breaker. Really makes me wonder what our scores were. Don't get me wrong, I really didn't study, but I still felt pretty confident. The only thing that really threw me off was that the questions were asked differently. Normally, each board member will ask all of their questions at once. This time, it was more rapid fire bouncing back and forth. I really think I know what did me in, but oh well, what are you gonna do. I will just be glad when this is all over so that I can go back to some sense of normal (well for me anyways). So because of everything, I have kinda gotten a little behind in a few classes, but have been able to catch up for the most part over the weekend. I just have to make sure I stay on top of it, so I don't fail any classes again this semester.
So Imbolc came and went, almost without noticing because I was so busy. It was so bad that everything is still on my altar. That's OK though, because I already starting to get things together of Ostara. I am definitely not going to let that one slip by. LOL. I have gotten a few more books, and of course I ordered a new Tarot deck. Once they come in I will be sure to take a picture. Until then, just do a search for Tarot of the Silicon Dawn. They look AMAZING, and I cant wait to see them in person. Hopefully, once this board and FAST Class stuff is over, I will be able to go back to having at least a little bit of time to sit down and relax. Until then, that is what I am doing tonight. Wish me luck tomorrow.
Blessed Be!

New Year, New Inspirations

A belated Happy New Years to all. So a little update from last posting. I went to the promotion board and finally got my go, and am now just chasing points waiting to see what the trend is going to be for the new year. Also just this past week, I found out that I will be going to the NCO of the Quarter Board the beginning of this month. This is the follow up to winning the NCO of the Month for December. Yule of course has passed, and there are pictures in my Picassa Album. Christmas was good for everyone here, as well New Years.
So now onto the inspirational piece. So Ive been thinking allot about my Book of Shadows, and ways to redo the binders I have. Well just before New Years, I found my Witches Almanac and Date book. I was looking through them at the articles and both of them had entries on the topic. So I think the verdict is that I am going to make one. I know ambitious for the artistically challenged. Ive kinda been looking at videos and pictures of what others have done and just been feeling inspired to do my own. The only problem that I am running into right now, is that  I cant seem to find the big boxes of the paper that I want, so I may have to either order it, or wait till I can get some.

Chance Encounter

So I went to get my photo taken for winning the NCO of the month board, and had one of those encounters that you don't expect to happen. I walked in and was greeted by the civilian working at the front counter. "You must be our 830." Yes I am . Please come sign in. I go to the front counter, and get the clipboard with my right hand, as I always do, and got the strangest reply. "Blessed Be". Now when I say strange, I mean that in the sense that I don't usually hear that when I'm in uniform, and definitely not when I'm on post. So turns out that her and at least an MP buddy of hers have been talking to the chaplain about getting a circle started, and hes all for it. Well what do you know, I just happen to have the paper work to get sponsored as a DFGL. What are the chances that this would happen. Ended up having a nice little chat with her before I had to leave to head back to work, and gave her my contact information, so hopefully, there will be a circle coming to Heidelberg soon.