A child lives in continual contact with the world of spirit. Somewhere around nine years old, the child comes fully into his body, as if entering the real world after a nine-year dream. This transition is painful; the child feels an acute loss that he cannot articulate, much less explain. (Re-read the last chapter of The House at Pooh Corner if you haven't in a while: Christopher Robin is losing the imaginative world that he has built up so carefully, and he knows it. Once it was pointed out to me, I could see my own children losing their own Hundred-Acre Woods. In fact, I could remember losing mine.)
I read this while persuing an article on the Waldorf method of schooling (http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/kenny/essays/waldorf.html) and it brought tears to my eyes. Sometimes this happens; I read something that strikes a chord I didn't even realize that was out of harmony and boom--tears. With all my heart I wish my parents had tried harder to bring me into a spiritual frame of mind, given me *some kind* of guidance in those thoughts and feelings instead of letting me do it completely and utterly on my own and wander lost in the desert of spiritual emptyness until I was 16. All I knew of faith was what I picked up from tv or movies, my little kid bible with the REALLY scary picture of the devil in it, and some friends. My older sister was baptized but I've always gloated that I wasn't. Neither of us recieved any kind of spiritual instruction but as far as I know it's only ever bugged me.
Discovering Paganism by accident while in a computer class in highschool was the first big step. Later on I was a part of a circle, then a one-on-one with a mentor/teacher, then alone, now apart of a group again. It's more focused on community than actual spirituality but we're working on that, trying to create our own Canadian tradition. It's a work in progress. I'm a work in progress. The very latest step has been the adoption by and of the Anishnabe.
I think each of those steps needs it's own post. For now I'm out of time as the small man is potty training and being very demanding.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Four faces
I mentioned at the end of my last post the masks the Creator wears to show Itself to us; the mask I see most often is that of Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt/Wild Places. She wears a lot of other hats too, depending on the historical period and where the stories come from; add childbirth/fertility and virginity to that as well. A friend and I have talked of rejecting the dichotomy of Male/Female, Agressive/Passive when it comes to Paganism because it's such a narrow definition of relationships. It privledges heterosexual monogomous relationships above all others, just like the rest of the world, when honestly, we both feel that all relationships are equal as long as there's respect and caring on both sides.
In my effort to further distance myself from that dichotomy my brain came up with the following during my morning shower.
Artemis as Maiden: As a forever virgin, Artemis empowers those who would stand alone and strive for excellence on their own terms, outside of a sexual relationship. Artemis had friends (Orion is one of the more better known ones), a mostly good relationship with her brother Apollo, and of course her servants, the nymphs and dryads of the forest, but no lovers. She demanded of her father to never be forced to marry and he allowed it, having foolishly said "I will give you whatever you want" in front of the other gods.
Mother: In her creation story, Artemis is born of Leto on an island while her mother is in hiding from Hera. Artemis then assists Leto with the delivery of her own brother, Apollo. While she never has children of her own she is seen in early art as having multiple breasts, capable of suckling all life.
Warrior: Artemis is known in many of her stories for killing those who have angered her or for vengence and some people did sacrifice to her before a new military campaign. Artemis rarely showed fear, usually only when facing Hera, and always did what she thought was right, acting by her own code of ethics. She was a tireless defender of the wild and its' creatures, a warrior for those that couldnt' defend themselves.
As a forever-Maiden, unfortunately Artemis has no way of representing the Crone, except in her death-dealing ways, and her later associations with the moon and its' phases. She sometimes is associated with Hecate and her death/Crone aspects but those are borrowed or put upon her.
That's it for now. Showers just seem to be a good place for me to think.
In my effort to further distance myself from that dichotomy my brain came up with the following during my morning shower.
Artemis as Maiden: As a forever virgin, Artemis empowers those who would stand alone and strive for excellence on their own terms, outside of a sexual relationship. Artemis had friends (Orion is one of the more better known ones), a mostly good relationship with her brother Apollo, and of course her servants, the nymphs and dryads of the forest, but no lovers. She demanded of her father to never be forced to marry and he allowed it, having foolishly said "I will give you whatever you want" in front of the other gods.
Mother: In her creation story, Artemis is born of Leto on an island while her mother is in hiding from Hera. Artemis then assists Leto with the delivery of her own brother, Apollo. While she never has children of her own she is seen in early art as having multiple breasts, capable of suckling all life.
Warrior: Artemis is known in many of her stories for killing those who have angered her or for vengence and some people did sacrifice to her before a new military campaign. Artemis rarely showed fear, usually only when facing Hera, and always did what she thought was right, acting by her own code of ethics. She was a tireless defender of the wild and its' creatures, a warrior for those that couldnt' defend themselves.
As a forever-Maiden, unfortunately Artemis has no way of representing the Crone, except in her death-dealing ways, and her later associations with the moon and its' phases. She sometimes is associated with Hecate and her death/Crone aspects but those are borrowed or put upon her.
That's it for now. Showers just seem to be a good place for me to think.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Reiki thoughts
1) Do I ever need to find a way to do this comfortably. Right now I'm practising on the hubby, who either lays on the floor or the couch. The floor forces me to squish myself in half so I can use him to support my weight; this causes me to feel like I'm trying to force energy through a bent straw. It doesn't work too well, though I do feel it doing *something*. It also kills my lower back to stretch over him to reach (he's got broad shoulders) or up to his knees (he's tall).
2) Music; I have a cd of ocean waves goodness but to me, it's boring. It's not empowering, invigorating or anything. It's just waves on a beach. Peaceful is good but I put together an hour of Reiki music on my itunes tonight that worked better; Alanis Morisette's "Utopia" and Emerald Rose's "World's Wedding" were both VERY good tunes. They speak to my inner pacifist and my Pagan self, respectively.
If this were my lj I'd do a cut and put up some lyrics. Let's try embedding a video. Oops, it's got to be one of my own to upload.
Let's hope that works out. Emerald Rose's "World's Wedding" isnt' up on Youtube, unfortunately.
3) My brain, while performing/chanelling Reiki, is continually thinking of how to do things 'professionally', what a room I'd want to practise in would look like, what I'd like to have there for decorations, lighting, scents, blankets, even something for me to sit on! A blend of Pagan and Anishnabe for sure.
4) I definitely am not doing things like I was taught. When I begin I have my own 'opening' of breathing excersizes, my own visualization to stay focused on what I'm doing and when I'm 'told' to move my hands I move them; not always to the next position, but to try and open/move/smooth/change whatever it is I'm feeling and make it beter. When listening to my intuition I'm a better healer; the hubby's shoulders and feet no longer hurt and tonight I spent a LOT of time on his heart chakra. It needed to be opened, healed, but mostly just OPENED. I felt like I was trying to crack open his ribs with my bare hands, smoothing and opening over and over until I could feel a change. Waited a minute more, then moved on.
A few years ago I wouldn't have been confident enough to do Reiki, to trust myself to listen and do what needs doing. I was going through an atheistic phase as well, convinced that there just *couldn't* be a god, nothing we could touch, anyway. Nothing we could understand, nothing that would listen. That's changed and I think it's for the better. I believe in a Being, a Something that put things in motion. It shows Itself to people in whatever way they can best understand and accept It, whether as Allah, God, the Creator, Isis or Kwan Yin. It's all the same power behind the mask.
"I believe God hears all prayers...even if the answer is sometimes 'No'."~President of the USA a movie that currently escapes my memory.
2) Music; I have a cd of ocean waves goodness but to me, it's boring. It's not empowering, invigorating or anything. It's just waves on a beach. Peaceful is good but I put together an hour of Reiki music on my itunes tonight that worked better; Alanis Morisette's "Utopia" and Emerald Rose's "World's Wedding" were both VERY good tunes. They speak to my inner pacifist and my Pagan self, respectively.
If this were my lj I'd do a cut and put up some lyrics. Let's try embedding a video. Oops, it's got to be one of my own to upload.
Let's hope that works out. Emerald Rose's "World's Wedding" isnt' up on Youtube, unfortunately.
3) My brain, while performing/chanelling Reiki, is continually thinking of how to do things 'professionally', what a room I'd want to practise in would look like, what I'd like to have there for decorations, lighting, scents, blankets, even something for me to sit on! A blend of Pagan and Anishnabe for sure.
4) I definitely am not doing things like I was taught. When I begin I have my own 'opening' of breathing excersizes, my own visualization to stay focused on what I'm doing and when I'm 'told' to move my hands I move them; not always to the next position, but to try and open/move/smooth/change whatever it is I'm feeling and make it beter. When listening to my intuition I'm a better healer; the hubby's shoulders and feet no longer hurt and tonight I spent a LOT of time on his heart chakra. It needed to be opened, healed, but mostly just OPENED. I felt like I was trying to crack open his ribs with my bare hands, smoothing and opening over and over until I could feel a change. Waited a minute more, then moved on.
A few years ago I wouldn't have been confident enough to do Reiki, to trust myself to listen and do what needs doing. I was going through an atheistic phase as well, convinced that there just *couldn't* be a god, nothing we could touch, anyway. Nothing we could understand, nothing that would listen. That's changed and I think it's for the better. I believe in a Being, a Something that put things in motion. It shows Itself to people in whatever way they can best understand and accept It, whether as Allah, God, the Creator, Isis or Kwan Yin. It's all the same power behind the mask.
"I believe God hears all prayers...even if the answer is sometimes 'No'."~President of the USA a movie that currently escapes my memory.
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