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What is Paganism, a factual overview
isle-of-avalon.com
Modern Paganism as practised in the west is particular to the native peoples of the west and although there are many forms most are descended from Celtic origins. Modern Paganism or 'neo-Paganism' has the following characteristics: -
Phoenixes.
The Phoenix Legend
The legend of the Phoenix has been around for centuries. There are a few variations, but the basic idea is this: The Phoenix is a supernatural creature, living for 1000 years. Once that time is over, it builds its own funeral pyre, and throws itself into the flames. As it dies, it is reborn anew, and rises from the ashes to live another 1000 years. Alternatively, it lays an egg in the burning coals of the fire which hatches into a new Phoenix, and the life cycle repeats.There are a few theories as to what might have given rise to such a legend. Perhaps a brightly colored bird was captured in Asia, and sold in a foreign land with wild stories about the bird's legendary powers, in hopes of jacking up the price. Perhaps someone saw a common peacock backlit by the setting sun, and believed the bird to be on fire. There are a myriad of possibilities, none of which can be confirmed.
One theory about the origins of the Phoenix legend is rather bizarre, but may be closer to the truth than some others: The original 'Phoenix' may have been a crow or raven dancing in a dying fire.
It sounds strange, but truth is often stranger than fiction.
Ravens and crows have been known to practice a peculiar form of behavior called 'Anting'. The bird will disturb an ant's nest, or sit over something sweet (like spilled honey or an almost empty soda-pop can), spread out its wings, and allow ants to run up and down its body. It is thought that the ants give the bird a sort of 'back massage' this way, or that they feast on feather mites which live on the bird and cause irritation. For whatever reason, they seem to enjoy the sensation and have been known to do it repeatedly.
In a similar way, some of these birds will sit over a hot surface, such as the dying embers of a fire, and spread out their wings. Perhaps they do it for the same reason we sit in a sauna – they just enjoy the heat – or perhaps they use the intense heat to encourage feather mites to find a different home. Since they won't talk, it's hard to tell.
However, if a bird such as a large raven sits on the embers of a fire, and for some reason chooses to flap its wings (maybe as a way to cool off, or maybe because it's ready to take to the air) then it could stir the fire to life again. The sudden resurgence of flames around it would almost certainly cause the bird to take off.
And voila – you have a bird rising from the midst of flames and ashes.
Art by http://sandara.deviantart.com/
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Ӂ̴Native American PrayersӁ̴
Ute Prayer – Ten of Eleven
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Ƹ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ´Please feel free to share/tag/download, kindly press the magic "like" button -
Ƹ̴Ӂ̴ƷWise WordsƸ̴Ӂ̴Ʒ
If you don't like the road your'e on, start paving another one
Please feel free to share/tag, kindly press the magic "like" button – link if you download -
Fairies.
The fairies are very desirous to abduct handsome cows and carry them off to time fairy palace under the earth; and if a farmer happens to find one of his stock ailing or diseased, the belief is that the fairies have carried off the real good animal, and sent an old wizened witch to take time form of the farmer's cow. It is therefore to neutralize the fairy spells that the cattle are driven through the fire on St. John's Eve; and other devices are employed–a bunch of primroses is very effective tied on the tail, or a hot coal run down the cow's back to singe the hair.
One evening a boy was driving home his father's cows when a fairy blast arose in the form of a whirlwind of dust, on which the cows took fright, and one of them ran upon a fairy rath. The boy followed to turn her back, when he was met and stopped by an old witch-woman.
"Let her alone, Alanna," she cried, "she is on our ground now, and you can't take her away. So just run home and tell your father that on this day twelve-month the cow will be restored to him, and bring a fine young calf along with her. But the fairies want her badly now, for our beautiful queen down there is fretting her life out for want of some milk that has the scent of the green grass in it and of the fresh upper air. Now don't fret, Alanna, but trust my words. There, take you hazel stick and strike the cow boldly three times on the head, that so the way may be clear we have to travel."
With that the boy struck the animal as he was desired, for the old witch-woman was so nice and civil that he liked to oblige her, timid immediately after she and the cow vanished away as if they had sunk into the earth.
However, the father minded the time, and when that day year came round he sent his son to the fairy rath to see if the witch had kept her promise, and there truly was the cow standing quite patiently, and a fine white calf by her side. So there were great rejoicings when he brought them home, for the fairies had kept their promise and behaved honourably, as indeed they always do when properly treated and trusted.Not but that the fairies will do wicked things sometimes, and, above all, steal the milk when they get a chance, or skim the cream off the milk crocks.
A farmer had a fine cow that was the pride of his farm and gave splendid milk, but suddenly the animal seemed ailing and queer; for she gave no milk, but went every morning and stood under the old hawthorn-tree quite quietly as if some one were milking her.
So the man watched the place at milking time, and as usual down the field came the cow and took up her position close under the old hawthorn. Then the farmer beheld the trunk of the tree open, and out of the cleft came a little witch-woman all in red, who milked the cow in a vessel she had with her, and then she retreated into the tree again.
Here was devil's work in earnest, so thought the farmer, and he hastened off for the greatest fairy doctor in the country. And when he came the cow was singed all along its back with a live coal; and then an incantation was said over it, but no one heard the words the fairy doctor uttered; after this he gave the animal a strong potion to drink, but no one knew the herbs of which it was made. However, the next day the cow was quite restored, and gave her milk as heretofore, and the spell was broken for ever and ever, after they had drawn a circle round the old hawthorn-tree with a red-hot piece of iron taken from the hearth; for neither witch nor fairy can pass a circle of fire.Art by Manuel Gervasini.
A fairy, or faerie, is a spirit or supernatural being that is found in the legends, folklore, and mythology of many different cultures. They are generally human like in their appearance and have supernatural abilities such as the ability to fly, cast spells and to influence or foresee the future. Although in modern culture they are often depicted as young, sometimes winged, females of small stature, they originally were of a much different image: tall, angelic beings and short, wizened trolls being some of the commonly mentioned fay. The small, gauzy-winged fairies that are commonly depicted today did not appear until the 1800s. -
Timeline Photos
Witches FamiliarsBlack cats, silky snakes, and owls of the night are just a few creatures that may be associated with a witch. Witches familiars can come in all shapes and sizes and not all witches have them. The general consensus on familiars is divided in opinion on whether familiars can be pets or wild animals. Myself they are a part of my being and share a understanding beyond others.
What are Familiars?
Familiars are animals that work with a witch during spell casting, rituals and for psychic guidance. Many believe Familiars are Spirits in animal form (familiar or recognizable form) who guide and help the Witch within meditation, spellwork and knowledge. Any animal can be a familiar to a witch if the witch feels a spiritual connection with the animal.How are Familiars used?
A witch's familiar is used in varying ways. Most often a witch will use a familiar to transport messages and for psychic guidance and visions. For these the animal might be whispered a message to transport to another witch or the animal is included during the ritual and spell casting for their psychic awareness.How does a Witch gain a Familiar?
Some witches have familiars and some don't. A witch who wishes a familiar will send out a psychic call. This call will be received by the familiar and if the familiar wishes to help the witch it will respond. Many times they will just appear to the Witch by showing up at the door or by touching that mystical part of the Witch and they just know. There are lots of theories on whether a familiar is an animal from past lives, a spiritual part of the soul or a random soul called.Do witches always use Familiars?
No. Witches do not and cannot always use familiars. A familiar will help you if it wants to. A witch does not always have a familiar to use anyway. Witches may also choose not to use a familiar either. That is dependent upon the spell or ritual being performed as well as the desires of both the Witch and Familiar.A little bit of History on Familiars:
Familiars who are or were also called imps during the dark ages those within religious power convinced many that familiars were demons gifted to witches by the Devil to help them carry out their dirty work. (Again a lie and way to seek out Witches for death.) This being of course untrue as witchcraft does not deal with the Devil nor believe in it.
Familiars were also thought to be bought or gifted from one witch to another. Some believe you can not inherit a familiar from another witch. It is however possible for a familiar to be attracted to the same family member and thus be passed from mother to daughter.Truth* A cat massacre happened in medieval Europe when all cats were thought to be a witch's familiar. Pope Innocent IV enacted a law that condemned all cats to death during this time period. Witch hunts were at there zenith and many innocent animals died as a result of ignorance.
In America during the Salem Witch trials a Dog and a Cow were tried and hung as a witch. This was documented in 1692. The dog was sentence to this death because John Bradstreet had supposedly had "incited the dog to afflict".
Familiars are still used today by many of the magickal heart. Wise Men and Women of villages have been known to use them just as Medicine Men and Women have used animals for healing, guidance, diagnoses and remedies. Shamans, Mystics and Witches have been known to use familiars for a long time and will continue to do so.
* Personal note: I is important to trust the Fates and not try to make a pet into your familiar. You will know when and if the animal soul within your life is a familiar, it can not be forced. Sometimes a pet will never be a Witch’s familiar. Other times after many years a pet will ‘out of the blue’ speak to you on a spiritual plan, then you know they are ready to work with you. But again, you can not make it happen.
Lady AbigailA collection of internet information along with personal thoughts:
Posted by Lady Abigail - DARK MOON
by Magus and ArielChanting before and while entering circle. So…
DARK MOON
by Magus and ArielChanting before and while entering circle. Soft background music when
ritual starts.Priest: We are gathered here in recognition of the dark, to celebrate
the dark mother, the crone of time, grandmother of us all!All ears hear! The circle is about to be cast, let none be present
but of their own free will! Be it known that we are in the
presence of the dark Goddess.Priestess: circles deosil with the salt, casts the first circle.
I cast the circle thus! With salt, deep from the womb of the mother!
From oceans deep and cold! I consecrate this space! So mote it be!Priest: circling deosil with water.
I cast the circle thus! With water, ancient and old; with the
life blood of the world! I consecrate this space! So mote it be!Priest: circling deosil with censor.
I cast the circle thus! With fire and air, clean and hot!
I consecrate this space! So mote it be!Priest: And ever it was thus!
All: So mote it be!
Calling of the quarters:
Priestess: Ancient one of elemental Air! I call and summon thee by
name!
Raphael of the wide ranging air! Sylph of the endless skies! We
bid you come! Stand in our presence and guard this circle cast.
So mote it be!All: So mote it be!
Priest: Ancient one of elemental Earth! I call and summon thee by name!
Oriel of the fertile plain! Gnome of forests deep! We bid you
come! Stand in our presence and guard this circle cast!
So mote it be!All: So mote it be!
Priestess: Ancient one of elemental Fire! I call and summon thee by
name!
Michael of flickering flame! Salamander of scorching fire! We bid you
come!
Stand in our presence and guard this circle cast! So mote it be!All: So mote it be!
3300
Priest: Ancient one of elemental Water! I call and summon thee by name!
Gabriel of oceans and streams! Undine of pools and ponds!
We bid you come! Stand in our presence and guard our circle cast!
So mote it be!All: So mote it be!
Priest stands in the east, Priestess stands in the west.
Together with outstretched arms begin chant A U M !
<invoking Spirit pent>All: So mote it be!
Priestess: And ever it was thus! From the beginnings of the world,
air and earth, fire and water weaved together with spirit and love!All CHANT
We all come from the Goddess
And to her we shall return.
Like a drop of rain,
Flowing to the ocean.***Isis, Astarte, Diana,Hecate,
Demeter, Kali, Inanna **Priest: Dark Mother!! Crone of time!! We ask your presence and your
blessing! All things to you must go, though darkness and death
are your domain, you promise peace and rest! Thy gift is life!
Yours is the hand that turns the wheel and cuts the thread.
Be with us this magickal night! Give each of us your wisdom
and bless our rite! So mote it be!All: So mote it be!
Priest and Priestess circle while chanting:
Hecate, Hecate of visage dower,
Dark Mother, Dark Mother come in power.
Hecate, Hecate of visage dower,
Dark Mother, Dark Mother crone of time.While Priest and Priestess chant, everyone else can chant
also if the mood strikes.Each person will take a sheet of parchment paper and write down
that which they have outgrown and want removed.
They will keep the paper with them until later when
this petition will be burned and tossed into cauldron.Priest and Priestess:
And ever it was thus!Priest: As God
Priestess: To Goddess
Together:
So woman to man
From the beginnings of the universe
3301The energies joined and co-mingled
whereby we are sustained and carry on.Priestess takes chalice:
Dark Lady, Mother of night, we thank you for your presence and
wisdom. (pouring liquid into libation bowl) as the fruit of the
vine was plucked and pressed, it came to know the touch of death
and thereby we are sustained and carry on!Priest takes cakes:
Likewise as the grain of the field ripened and fell beneath thescythe it came to know the touch of death, whereby we are
sustained and carry on!
While cakes and wine are passed around all will chant:
<in retrospect this works better if you've got the music.
Hebrew is hard>Hine matov umanayim
Shevet akim gom yokad
(Happy are they that dwell
together as brother and sister)Priestess: And ever it was thus!
All: Blessed be!
Priestess stand in the west with cauldron in front of her.
Priest kneels and silently draws down . While still kneeling
Priest says:
Dark Lady of the waning moon!
We thank you for your presence
and your blessing, and in silence we turn within
and willingly offer
to thy realm that which is old and outdated,
that which no longer has life and no longer grows.
We offer to thy Blade that which
we no longer need.
(Priest stands and lights cauldron)Priestess draws invoking earth pentegram in front of Priest saying:
Of the Mother darksome and divine
Mine the scourge, and mine the kiss;
The five-point star of love and bliss -
Here I charge you, with this sign.Priest: Here ye the words of the Dark Lady; we who of old was called
among men Hecate, Persephone, Kali, and many other names.Priestess: Worship me as the Crone! Tender of the unbroken cycle of
death
and rebirth. I am the wheel, the shadow of the Moon.
I rule the tides of women and men and give release
and renewal to weary souls.
3302Though the darkness of death is my domain,
the joy of birth is my gift.Everyone in turn ignites their petition off the cauldron and
tosses it into the cauldron.Priestess embraces each person as they go by.
Priestess: And ever it was thus! That which falls to the hand of the
crone finds regeneration and new life!All circle and CHANT:
She changes everything she touches and
everything she touches changes!Priestess: Grandmother! Blessed thou be! Depart to thy realms .
Thank you for the lessons learned this dark night! Blessed be!All: Blessed be!
Priestess: Ancient one of elemental Air! Thank you for your vigil here!
Leave with us a renewed mind as clear as air! Blessed be!All: Blessed be!
Priest: Ancient one of elemental Earth! Thank you for your vigil here!
Leave with us steadiness and patience! Blessed be!All: Blessed be!
Priestess: Ancient one of elemental Fire! Thank you for your vigil
here!
Leave with us swiftness and action, a flaming soul to always do
what is right! Blessed be!All: Blessed be!
Priest: Ancient one of elemental Water! Thank you for your vigil here!
As you depart leave with us the fluidity of water that we may
have compassion for our fellows as well as our selves!
Blessed be!All: Blessed be!
Priestess: Let all ears hear! The circle is open but remains
unbroken!
Brothers and sisters, we are children of the Lord and Lady!
May they always dance within our hearts.
Merry did we meet, merry do we part, merry we meet again!All: Merry did we meet, merry do we part, merry we meet again!
Blessed be!
- The Dark of the Moon is traditionally the last three days of the Lunar cycle, im…
The Dark of the Moon is traditionally the last three days of the Lunar cycle, immediately preceding the New Moon, and the time when the night sky is notably absent the presence of the Moon. The phrase can also be applied (in terms of roughly 2600 years) to the last portions of The Great Cycle, when the 25,920 year Precessional Cycle is completed, and the Age of Pisces gives way to the Age of Aquarius. [1]
Demetra George [2] has noted that in the earliest mythologies and traditions, night was given precedence over day, and the Moon was revered over the lesser Sun. Immanuel Velikovsky in Deification of the Planets, has noted the greater lunar influence, as well — an apparent suggestion that Lunatics and practitioners of Wicca may know something of which the much vaunted science has no clue…
Dark of the Moon
www.halexandria.org - A dark moon describes the Moon during that time that it is invisible against the…
A dark moon describes the Moon during that time that it is invisible against the backdrop of the Sun in the sky. The duration of a dark moon is between 1.5 and 3.5 days, depending on the orientation of the Earth and Sun.
In astronomical usage, the new moon occurs in the middle of this period, when the moon and sun are in conjunction. This definition has entered popular usage, so that calendars will typically indicate the date of the "new moon" rather than the "dark moon". However, originally "new moon" referred to the crescent on the first night it is visible, one or two days after conjunction. Maritime records from the nineteenth century distinguish the dark moon (no moon) from the new moon (young crescent).
- Well we hit the mid point of the week a day many of us struggle with so today ma…
Well we hit the mid point of the week a day many of us struggle with so today may time run quickly but not to fast may those around bring you smiles and laughter, may the Gods bring you a day of perfection. May the dark moon bring deep insights and allow you to connect more deeply with your inner self and the Goddess within Brightest Blessings Draco )o(/|\
- NEW MOON CAPRICORN
(21° 45' 39")January 11:
19:44 UT, GMTJanuary 11:…
NEW MOON CAPRICORN
(21° 45' 39")January 11:
19:44 UT, GMTJanuary 11:
2:44 PM EST
1:44 PM CST
12:44 PM MST
11:44 AM PST - 28th Moon Day info:
Symbols: Lotus, Karma.
Characteristics: Favorable day, day…28th Moon Day info:Symbols: Lotus, Karma.
Characteristics: Favorable day, day of opening of all Chakras, day of clear vision, reflection, balance and compassion, day when you can know the higher truth, and your past, through meditation or in your sleep, work with astral body and dreams.Recommendations: Positive thinking and elevated attitude, one of the best days for making peace, cleansing and detox. Juice diet recommended. Good for buying or renovating house.
Precautions: Prolonged exposure to bright light, TV and computer screens, reading and straining your eyes is not recommended. Sex is not recommended.
- Moon Day 28
A happy day. Good for beginning an important pursuit, for getting…
Moon Day 28A happy day. Good for beginning an important pursuit, for getting to know influential people, and for meeting friends. It favours holidays, amusements and pleasures, and it improves health.
- Wednesday — Woden's day
Middle English wodnesday, wednesday, or wednesdai
Old E…Wednesday — Woden's day
Middle English wodnesday, wednesday, or wednesdai
Old English wodnesdæg "Woden's day"
Latin dies Mercurii "day of Mercury"
Ancient Greek hemera Hermu "day of Hermes"Woden is the chief Anglo-Saxon/Teutonic god. Woden is the leader of the Wild Hunt. Woden is from wod "violently insane" + -en "headship". He is identified with the Norse Odin.
Mercury is the Roman god of commerce, travel, theivery, eloquence and science. He is the messenger of the other gods.
Hermes is the Greek god of commerce, invention, cunning, and theft. He is the messenger and herald of the other gods. He serves as patron of travelers and rogues, and as the conductor of the dead to Hades.
- Sunrise: 8:10 AM GMT
Sunset: 4:21 PM GMT
Length of Day: 8h 10m
Tomorrow wil…Sunrise: 8:10 AM GMT
Sunset: 4:21 PM GMT
Length of Day: 8h 10m
Tomorrow will be 1m 57s longer.
Moon Rise: 5:34 AM GMT
Moon Set: 2:07 PM GMT
Moon Phase: Waning Crescent 9% Illuminated -
Timeline Photos
Hi guys!
Here's some folklore for January;
Fog in January brings a wet spring.
A favourable January brings us a good year.
If grass grows in January, it will grow badly the whole year.
January's birthstone, the garnet, is thought to keep the wearer safe during travel!
Blessings mandyxxx
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