Earth Meditation

Okay, okay, I know I haven't been on much lately. Don't hate me =) I've just been super busy lately, what with school work, college work, day care work, and other miscellaneous work. But I'm back! Hopefully more often, but I can't promise anything. So, here's the post for today~ a nice guided meditation for you all =)





Earth Meditation



Seeing that winter is correspondent with the element of Earth, I view it is appropriate to do an earth meditation. We just got a huge dumping of snow up here, and for the first time in a decade gotten a snow day, so I'm going to do this meditation to connect with Earth today. Remember, it's good to record this and listen to it.



This meditation is best done on the earth itself, whether in a garden or woodland.

Make sure you’re comfortable, take a few deep breaths, and close your eyes.
Focus your mind on the solidity of earth beneath you and in your mind’s eye visualize a huge green pentagram on a black background. See the pentagon in the center of the pentagram shimmer and disappear, opening a doorway to the elemental realm of earth. Through a doorway you can see a mountain range rising up with a dense forest, lit by the morning Sun, covering the lower slopes. Send your awareness through the doorway in the center of the pentagram and into the elemental world of earth. As you do so, you feel the cool, rich soil beneath your feet and find yourself standing in a forest clearing with trees rising up toward the heavens. Look around; take note of the different types of trees in the forest as well as the many different wildflowers, herbs, and other small plants.

(pause for a few moments)

You notice the stillness that surrounds you, a sense of peace permeating every particle of your being. Listening carefully to the sounds in the forest, you hear movement nearby and see a stage bounding through the undergrowth. This seems to be a signal for other animals that start appearing in the forest around you. You see a bear lumbering by and a fox hurrying through the glad. There are other forest creatures lurking in the undergrowth.

(Pause)
A sharp breeze catches your breath and you feel flakes of snow on your face. Soon the snow is blanketing the ground and you are struck by the transformation, as everything is covered with a layer of crisp ice. The verdant greenery is now a white winter and activity is reduced. At this time, although you feel no inclination to move, you realize this is not a time for stillness, so you walk through the trees toward the mountains.

(Pause)

Soon you find yourself at a cliff face, and see a cave opening in the rocks. You decide to enter the cave. Caves are entryways into the earth and this one will provide you with shelter as the snow turns into a blizzard. Crossing the threshold of the cave, you feel yourself changing. Your skin turns into fur, your body grows larger, and you become a bear. Warm in your protective fur, you curl up in a corner of the cave and consider hibernating. Your thoughts are interrupted by other animals entering the cave in search of shelter from the blizzard. A fox, a badger, and a deer all enter, their desire for finding shelter stronger than their desire to fight with each other. They all approach you, settling down against your warm fur. The sensation of the animals against your skin makes you focus on the pleasure you get from nurturing others, sharing your warmth to help them survive.

(Pause)

Time passes and the blizzard lets up, and the animals all get up and leave. You realize that it’s time for you to leave as well. With your ursine sense of smell, you easily retrace your tracks back toward the pentagram in the forest clearing through which you entered this realm of earth. As you stand before the pentagram you take a last look around.

(Pause)

Then, walking through the doorway, you feel yourself transform back into your human form. Awareness returns to your body, you take a few deep breaths, and open your eyes.

The Four Beauties

Something I came up with last year during meditation.

The Four Beauties.

Beauty has no love to give. Beauty if nameless, label-less, thoughtless. It is beyond the scope of thought. It is Sacred. Beauty is silent, love is loud. Try to put them together, and you have a cacophony of nonsense.

1) Death is the true Beauty. Death has no feeling, no thought, no nothing. The approach to Death is so, so, painful, but the act of actually dying is utterly painless; a benediction; a Beauty.

2) You are stirred in the black abyss of Beauty, until you are Chosen again, in which you are born. Creation is the second Beauty.

3) Children are simple and pure, and so they are happy. Childish bliss is the third Beauty, as is curiosity.

4) Chaos is good, is pure. Chaos is the natural state of the universe. Chaos is the fourth Beauty.

My Creation Story

So, just for fun, I decided to write my own creation story by melding two different ones together and adding some stuff in. I think I did a pretty good job. :3

Billions of years ago, there was only a deep ocean of empty infinity, a void that was no place. On the curved mirror of this abyss, Spirit fell in love with itself and sought to be One with itself. And so it drew in upon itself and, in a mighty burst of joyful vibration, the Universe and Our Lord and Lady exploded into being. This is known today as the Big Bang, when the Universe started as the size of a walnut and exploded in silent song. Even now the laughing vibration of it reverberates in all things.
The Lord and Lady, beautiful aspects of the Universe, danced together in this new realm. Their feet beat out the rhythm of all creation, giving birth to every pattern of energy, every spiraling galaxy, as sparks of light flew from their extended fingertips. Their ecstasy, Their love, burst forth in a single song of all that is, was, and ever shall be, and with that song came motion.
Together they formed one life-sustaining planet in each galaxy. In each they began to create the beings that may live there. On our own planet, Earth, they designed the animals, the nature, the seasons. They weaved a complex Plan to which all things flowed and lived. They laid upon the earth a Sacred Geometry which held the instructions for this Plan throughout the earth’s life.
And this Plan moved toward the Ultimate Complexity, the Ultimate Creatrix that lies above All. And in each Age, the Lord and Lady joyfully created more and more complex beings. All that went against the Plan were reformed into new beings. They gave all these beings the Divine gift of free will, just as they have. They gave them the power to create or break down as they saw fit. But when a being began to inhibit the Plan, the Divine’s hand would mold them into something new, for nothing can be completely destroyed, only changed. Today, we call this evolution. It serves the purpose of the Plan, of the tendency towards complexity.
But over time the Lord and Lady found that They were beginning to be affected by the cycles of Their creations as well. They died and were reborn many times each turn of the wheels, just as their beings did. And as Their beings became more complex and intelligent, the Lord and Lady found that Their own spirits became divided into the aspects Their beings created and gave names to. For in giving their beings free will, They gave them dominion over Spirit. And so They became the Lord and Lady of a Thousand Names and Faces.
The Lord and Lady, the Goddess and God, forever watch over their beings and the Universe they inhabit, turning and creating the Wheel, part of it and yet in complete control. Blessed Be.

The previous image is not owned by me.

Avatar

Okay, first things first. My Imbolc was aaaaaaaaah~mazing, absolutely invigorating and completely fun. The day was gorgeous, although some believe that good weather on Imbolc means bad weather for Spring. But we'll just have to wait and see, nyah?

Okay, now back to the topic of my post.

Avatar.

Last night I caved and went to see it with my buddy Lucas. (half-buddy...half-kinda-sorta-crush? Idk. He really likes me. And I kinda like him. But whatever.) Anyway, back on topic. I went and saw it last night.
Now, for those of you who don't now, Avatar is about a planet called Pandora that is much like our own, but the air isn't breathable for humans. So, a bunch of us humans go there to get this amazingly valuable...rock. Now, here's the thing. There is an indigenous race of people there called the NA'vi. They worship the nature around them and know that everything is intricately intwined. The whole planet, every piece of nature, is connected and alive, with more "synapses" than the human brain. And the NA'vi know how to access this power. They worship it. They worship life. Now, they live on a huge, huge, huge tree. Bigger than five thousand skyscrapers put together. They call it the Hometree. And, well, their Hometree is set on top of the biggest deposit of said-valuable rock on the planet. And these nasty humans want it now. So they bring in a bunch of troops. One of these men is a man named Jake Sulley, who has lost the use of his legs. They put him in a coffin-like contraption and link his mind and body to an avatar that looks like one of the NA'vi, and send him out with others. He gets seperated from the others, due to his stupidity, if that's what you'd like to call it. He encounters the NA'vi, and claim him as their own because they get a sign from Eywa (that's what they call the spirit of the planet; in essence, their Goddess). The humans come in and begin destroying everything, even their Hometree, just to get to this rock. But Jake Sulley, in his NA'vi body, convinces The People (that's what they call themselves) to stand up and fight.
Now, doesn't this sound remarkably familiar?
It sure does to me. This sort of thing has happened throughout the human history, especially in the last 2000 years. And that's the message of the movie: that if we keep doing what we're doing, destroying our Mother for profit, that we will wipe ourselves out. But if we people overcome the greed and selfishness that is so inherent in our species, we can stand up and defend our planet. We can save our planet. We just need to try.
During this movie, I was in awe, and in tears. At the end of the movie, I couldn't stop shaking. It was a very intense movie, not just because of the amazing graphics, but because of the relate-ability.
I have a feeling that because of this movie, people are going to be even more determined in their efforts to save this planet. And I am glad of it.
Light a candle and send energy towards those fighting for the Mother. And then get up, and go save the planet as well.
That's what I'm going to be doing.

Blessed Be.

Solitary Imbolc Ritual

I don't know about all of you, but I am way excited for Imbolc! Last night's Full Moon was amazing, and chugging along behind that power is the promise of spring. Already here in Alaska we're feeling the sun's warmth, even if it's interrupted with icy wind.
This is a solitary ritual I did last year as part of my Imbolc celebration. Enjoy~

Needed: white candle (inside cauldron), green candle (beside cauldron), tarot cards, an earthy-smelling incense, chalice of juice, cauldron, bell

Cast circle.
Raise arms to altar. Say:

“The earth is filled with the first stirrings of renewed energy and life. Awaken, oh fair Maiden! Hear the voice of the Son; He is calling to you to join him in the spiral dance of life. It is time for You to prepare the earth and all creatures for the coming of spring!”

Ring bell three times. Say:

“The sunlight is growing at this time. It is calling to all followers of the Goddess and God to purify our minds and spirits for new cycles of life. Here and now, I ask the Lord and Lady to give me guidance and a glimpse of the future.”

Shuffle cards and do a three card reading. Note cards pulled.
Ring bell three times. Say:

“Goddess and God, I place my dreams and goals for the future in Your open hands. If You foresee a different future for me, tell me clearly. Thank you.”

Light the white candle in the cauldron and say:

“I praise the Goddess as the sacred Maiden, who now returns from Her rest in the creative abyss of the Crone’s cauldron. Her joyful dance releases a renewal cycle into this world. As She spreads Her blessings upon all lands and all creatures, I, too, am touched by Her gentle hand.”

Light the green candle beside the cauldron and say:

“I praise the God as the young Son, the Sun King, who calls to the Maiden and awakens Her from Her slumber. When they combine Their powers, They pour a stream of energy into this world, energy that permeates everything. Regeneration is here, and everything is blessed.”

Perform any other magickal workings at this time.
Perform Great Rite.
Ground.
Open the circle.
Pour the juice in the forest.

The previous image is not owned by me.

Imbolc Baked Custard :3

With Imbolc coming up on our heels, here's a yummy recipe!

The word "Imbolc" comes in part from the phrase "ewe's milk," so dairy products become a big part of February celebrations. For our ancestors, this time of year was hard - the winter stores were running low and there were no fresh crops. The livestock was typically preparing for birth, and the lambing season would begin soon. At that time, the ewes came into milk, and once milk arrived, you knew your family would have a source of food again. Sheep's milk is highly nutritious, and sheep were considered a dairy animal long before cattle.

If you have eggs, then you've got the makings of custard, a perfect dairy dessert.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 00 minutes

Ingredients: 4 eggs, 3 C. milk, 1/2 C. sugar, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, A pinch of salt

Preparation:

Preheat your oven to 350.

Combine all the ingredients into the bowl of a food processor, and blend for about 15 seconds, or until well mixed.

Pour custard mix into ramekins or custard cups.

Place the ramekins into a baking dish, and fill the dish with hot water up to a depth of about ¾".

Bake the custards for one hour.
**Note: If you don't have a food processor, you can use a hand mixer; it just takes a little bit longer to get everything mixed up.

Giving in Spirituality

This post is a response to the Pagan Blog Prompt (http://paganprompts.blogspot.com/2010/01/prompt-giving-of-yourself.html) asking "How do you see giving of yourself as a spiritual act, if at all?"

When people go to third-world countries to "give" their spirituality to people---basically, proselytizing, which is one more problem they don't need---is not giving at all, but an extremely selfish act.

When I think of giving as part of spirituality, I think of freely, and happily, giving your time to not only donate to homeless shelters, but volunteer at homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and even joining Peace Corps, and a whole array of other options like that. And not only do I think of helping humans, but helping animals and the environment as well by doing your very best to stop pollution and animal cruelty. But you can give in small ways as well, such as taking time out of your life to help a friend. And I mean really help a friend, without mentioning yourself, without expecting anything in return.

And when you help people, you become more...I don't know how to describe it. I want to say, it raises your light quotient. (I'll explain that in another post. If you're impatient for the info, though, you can check out the book Ascension Magick by Christopher Penczak.) It makes you more spiritually inclined. It opens your mind and expands your heart. And the less selfish you become, the more loving, caring, and compassionate you become. It makes you more self-aware as well. Once you open your mind, you see your own flaws, and by seeing your own flaws and eliminating them, you can go on to do more good. (By flaws I mean, of course, not physical flaws but flaws of personality and spirit. And not the shallow flaws, like "I'm stubborn", such and such. Everyone has the shallow flaws. Go deeper, to what lies at your core.)

So I guess what I'm saying is that giving of yourself, without expectation of reward, makes you a better person, not just mundanely, but spiritually as well. Unfortunately it's very hard for many of us to do this, because humans as a whole are a selfish lot. But just because we're selfish doesn't mean we don't have the capacity for good. If we truly don't want to be selfish anymore, if we truly want to change, then we can do it! Humans are stubborn. Humans are determined. We can do anything we set our minds to, once we actually decide to do it.

Your Alaskan Witchy,

Celeste

The previous image is not owned by me.