Drum Trance

Welcome to all visitors from THe Real Witches of Halloween!
Sorry for the delay in the post but I had a magickal evening that I would love to tell you about!

Last Night six other people and myself spent some time on a vision Quest with the Mama Drum, Sacred Yellow Drum, of Flagstaff. It was a beautiful exerience. I was leading the trance and people seemed to really enjoy it and receive a lot from it. This definitely made me happy as SYD and I had this vision of drum trances this summer. It was a total moment of transformation and manifestation in my life. To see a vision come to fruition created a sense of being in the right place at the right time. A conformation of this feeling is when poeple were drawing Tarot/Medicine cards, one person drew the Dolphin! I was blown away. THe dolphin is the messenger of the dreamtime people to the people on this Earth and back again. Dolphin had a message for all of us that night and I was in shock! Have any of you all experienced this feeling?

The trance borught out the best in me for sure. I took the role as leader of the trance because I had the vision to make them happen. But this was a big step up for me. This drum has a lot of magick in it and to be able to guide people with that Magick is wonderful and something that I can't wait to do again. When this vision was manifesting itself ono this plane I thought that there would be only one of these occuring and it turns out SYD has different planes and has called for more Trances to happen. Drums are entities that know what they want. They are our ancestors and they have something they want to tell us! Listen to their heartbeat and when you are lost or just looking to be rocked by the mother listen to your heartbeat to tap into the
Drumbeat.

Blessed be!

Moving into the Cave

As we turn the wheel of the year, we are heading into a time of harvest and preparation. We head into the mysterious world of the Cave! The West, the Womb of the Mother where we seek rest and comfort. Here we will journey with the mother to know ourselves better and to learn another grain of her infinite wisdom.
This time of the year is one of my favorites! Of course there is Samhain, which is one of the most exciting witchy holidays! This year my sista witches and I will be celebrating Samhain with a lovely ritual and it just so happens to be the 5th anniversary of this Sahain ritual. This year instead of just visiting Baba Yaga, The Sahdow, and The Crone, there will be a new guest bringing a message of sacred magick and bits of wisdom. This new entity will be Crow. Crow/Raven medicine is a new medicine for me. I just started walking my path with Crow in August and already she has opened the world of Sacred Law to me and has brought ample amounts of insight for the path I walk.
One project that I have prayed on and been working out is creating a Crow mask. This mask would be used for ritual and if everything goes accordingly I will be done with the mask in time for Samhain. Ever since a drumming session in August I have been finding Crow/Raven feathers all over. I always seem to find a feather when I am talking about spiritual topics or thinking about my spiritual path. This mask has really started to evolve over the past few weeks and is becoming a spiritual labor of love.
I have been researching on various ways of expressing the Crow through dance and one day I found this beautiful picture of some Native Women dancing with amazing masks and capes fashioned after Crow. Of course there are no videos or descriptions of Crow dances so I am on my own to make one up, but that is the creative aspect of my spiritual path. This is a chance for me to allow Spirit to flow through me and teach me gentle lessons to further my spiritual path.
My altar is covered with feathers from Crow and has been bringing the medicine and magick of Crow into my everyday life. The Goddess on my altar looks fierceeee with the feathers standing guard on either side of her! On the altar you should also see a picture of Hecate with two feathers followed by a Smoky Quartz crystal which then starts a direct line to the bowl on the right. I am not used to having direct lines on my altar but the magick that it creates has really manifested in my life.

What to do when you are lost...

Recently my life has taken a drastic shift. My partner and I ended our relationship and are transitioning to friendship. This is not an easy task and something that I have never wanted to do before with an ex. Honestly the road ahead is filled with tricky turns and blocks that I am not fully prepared for but with the grace of the Goddess I will make it thru.
In this time of great crossroads in my life I find myself exploring the Goddess Hecate. She is the Goddess of magick, witchcraft, and crossroads. In ancient times people would leave offerings, poles, and altars for Hecate at the crossroads.
It is said that, food was often left at the crossroads to honor Hecate, especially at junctions where three roads met. Frequently a pole was erected at the intersection and three masks would be hung from it to pay homage to Hecate and to request her guidance in helping to choose the right direction.
This seems kind of hard to do now-a-days but part of me feels compelled to leave an offering of something at a crossroads. I feel as if Hecate is calling me to look inward and look into the future for some insight. She is the goddess that can offer these wonderful gifts and as such when I feel such a calling I know I must make an offering. I do not believe that I have to make an offering to work with Hecate, but to me it is part of the process. The universe works in a reciprocal way. There needs to be a balance in the universe and to me that means I need to make an offering to the area I live in. Appeasing the area I live in is important because the spirits of this place have made this one of the most welcoming and loving places to live.

Back to Hecate. She is the great teacher of change! She is there to us release negative things from the past, especially those things that are not serving our personal growth any longer. She is also the mother of acceptance. Accept the things we cannot change and accept the change that comes with it. I also read that "She sometimes asks us to let go of what is familiar, safe, and secure and to travel to the scary places of the soul". During this time of transition I feel an extra special bond to Hecate because I need a teacher to help me let go and search within myself for the answers. My mentor is on a spiritual retreat for the next week and I already miss her. There are some things I need to learn to cope with on my own and this is one of the lessons. Then again we are never really alone we just feel lonely.
New beginnings are not easy but Hecate is there at the crossroads waiting to guide us down the path we choose and lead us with her torch.

On Saturday I am participating in a LongDance and we will be drumming from 9pm till we fall asleep. This is connect with my sister witch on her retreat in Washington. I hope that Hecate will be there to guide me as Sacred Yellow Drum guides us into a deep trance where answers can be found and the world of energy maybe accessed.

Blessed Be Sisters!
Ponderosa Pagan

Magickal Mother Earth

Here is the video of the song.
I hope you enjoy and as a wise womyn I had the pleasure to meet once said "Never stop singing, our voice is our gift!"
Blessed be!

Drumming into my Heart

Drums. What beautiful entities they are!
I have never worked with drums before in my life but thanks to my wonderful mentor Madrone I have had the most joyous experience since they have entered into my life.
Over a year ago Madrone had the vision come to her through spirit that a Mother Drum was being called to come into exsitence in the Flagstaff area and she was to create this with a drum council. Together eight womyn were holding space to birth this be-ing
for the Flagstaff community. They worked together with the spirit of the drum to see what She saw the Flagstaff community needed.

On the weekend of May 28th the drum was birthed. 15 Womyn were a part of this process and two other mother drums were there to witness the birth of their sister. Buffalo Heart and Otter Woman played as the womyn birthed Sacred Yellow Drum (that is her name until the drum council receives another one). The other mama drums are part of a group called Woman's Way Red Lodge. If you have not heard of them please visit their website and find out more about them. Here is their LINK. Supporting groups this like are important on our pagan paths and some of you might even be called to start similar groups in your areas.

Sacred Yellow Drum was played for the first time on June 12th in the first drumming into the seasons and she was amazing.
Her Medicine is already being felt by myself and others in the area. At the sunrise ceremony when we welcomed her into the world Otter Woman and Buffalo Heart surely touched me in ways that are indescribeable and I am forever changed because of them.

For my graduation Madrone got me a frame drum made with Goat hide and it is beautiful. She sits on my altar and she herself has experienced the healing powers of the mama drums.
On summer solstice a small group of us went out to the peaks and celebrated the sun in ritual with Sacred Yellow Drum (SYD) and other drums. I brought along my drum (she doens't have a name yet) and was excited to play her while SYD was playing. The ritual was lovely especially as the sun was going down. I played many songs on SYD and then decided it was time to take my drum and head on out to do some playing for the sun. I am not sure what came over me but I started singing a song. I couldnt believe it....me creating a song all because I was with SYD and my drum. In my tradition we call it being "sung" because the song comes from some spirit, most likely my drum or SYD but the song came through and I went with it. My mentor wanted to hear the song right away but I explained I was nervous and that I only had one line. So when I got home the next day I decided to have some time with my drum. Next thing I knew I was singing the song again and chose to right it down this time. Two days later the song was complete and I have never been more proud of myself or more amazed. The song is called Magical Mother Earth and evolved into a sort of call to the directions. I will put up the lyrics and perhaps a video or me singing it at a later date. If you chose to sing this please remember that I worked very hard and do not mind sharing just hope that you will honor and respect my hard work and the intention of the song.
This picutre is where the song came to me!

Magical Mother Earth
Goodbye brother Sun,
Brother Sun

We Welcome Sister Moon,
sister Moon.
We the people guided by your light
call on you for your great insight.

Ancestos of the Drum,
of the Drum
Bring your wisdom,
wisdom
Help us through the day into night...

Great Fire Spirit, in the south
Enliven our senses, to your flame
Awaken us to our voice deep within

Wonderful Water, of the West
Womb of the Mother, we seek rest
Purify our hearts and our minds....

Whispering Winds of East,
sing your song
Carry the breath of change to our hearts,
Inspire new growth, on hte future horizon.....

Magickal Mother Earth, home of life
Resting place of Ancients, we seek peace
As we walk down our path in the life,
Strengthen our steps with your ancient might!
Copyright Ponderosa Pagan

That is the song. Hope you enjoy! I will post the video soon!
If you have not picked up a drum before Isuggest doing so. They are beautiful bright spirits that long to sing with you!

The Goddess was calling me..

The Goddess has a unique way of communicating with us. Not often do I hear Her voice so loud and intense telling me I need to do something. This was not the case though when it came down to my spiritual journey of finding myself and what I need.
For the past few weeks since graduating I have been looking for what I am going to do next. It has been a very hard experience because normally I know what is coming and I prepare for it. Graduation was intense and I feel as if it was an end to an era in which I found me. It is hard to describe but I suppose the correct term would be that I felt like I was in a warm womb and that I was taken care of no matter what happened. I have friends, family, mentors, spiritual advisers, and a university that I felt like I knew plenty of people.
After leaving this comfort I was feeling lost. Nothing was helping this feeling and I did not know what to do. One day while thinking about my struggles I realized that I needed to go on a spiritual journey. I needed to undertake a journey that would help my body mind and soul and one that would provide me with some insight into my life and my path in this life.
I am calling it a cleanse but it is also a spiritual journey. I knew that this cleanse would not just be a boring "no meat" cleanse or no soda or no candy, rather it is going to be an overhaul. This means for me no meat, no candy, no alcohol, no smoking, no facebook, no twitter, and implementing daily practices in my spiritual life. Realizing I was going to be taking on this process I needed to prepare my body.
I started using less facebook and twitter time and this was hard enough but I definitely knew that this journey was going to be amazingly difficult but rewarding.
To gain some insight into this journey I went over to my mentors house and told her about what I was going to be doing. She said that she felt this was a good idea and besides now she wouldn't have to try and keep up with me when we went out. hahaha. This was funny to me but also meant a lot because she has been instrumental in my life for the past 4 years and without her I am not sure I would have discovered my path as soon as I did. She offered some positive advise and then she told me to draw a medicine card for a guide for my journey. The card I drew was Salmon. To read the full description follow this link. The Salmon symbolizes wisdom and inner knowing. This is exactly what I was needing on this journey. The Salmon represents that I have the knowledge that I am seeking but that by doing this cleanse I am going to find that information within myself. For me that is a powerful teacher and guide for the next 4 weeks.
Even after this card I was still having some reservations for my journey so I knew that I needed another guide and would pray on it and see what comes up. I did a tarot reading and my guide that came up was The Empress.
I was confused at first when I saw her as my guide but I was willing to believe that she was pulled because she has something to teach me.
The Empress symbolizes emotional balance as well as fertility. It is not just a fertility of love but a fertility of ideas as well. This queen gives birth to our personal ideas and for my cleanse this is good news. I am happy to have her by my side on this tough journey.


To be honest after having done just 2 days of the cleanse I find myself struggling. The drinking is not a problem to cut out because I only really like nice beers and my friends mostly like hard liquor so I can avoid that easily. The other items I have given up are proving to be rather hard. I really would love to say that I am breezing through this but if I was I would not consider it a challenge or something to gain knowledge from.
Send your support and I will keep all of you posted on how it is going.
I will be posting my daily routine up here in the next few days and just so you know blogging is one of the daily/weekly tasks for me. We shall see how this all goes!!!

Brightest blessings on you all!
Ponderosa

I found the Path Back!

WOW. I cannot believe it is May 19th, 2011. I have missed a lot and I apologize for keeping all of you out of the loop and hoping that some of you would still continue to read. I have faith in the Goddess that she will motivate me again to write and inform myself and others on whatever comes into my path.
Too much has been happening in my life. I graduated from my university on Friday the 13th. I wish the goddess would have alerted me to the fact that I graduated on Friday the 13th because I had too much trouble getting to the ceremony. The trouble started weeks prior but you know what, it doesn't matter because I completed my degree. I am currently attending a community college to finish up my minor which is in biology. I am very proud of myself and since then I have been relaxing and preparing for school and applying for jobs in the real world.
The end of the semester was hard as Hades but I did it. Although there were flames biting at me every step of the way there were cold fronts that moved in to cool the flames. This cool breathe of the goddess came in the form of my partner, rituals, and friends.

My partner has been too wonderful to me during the end of my semester. He was always there to support me and I unfortunately was not the nicest to him during the dark times. hahha. For making it through the hell I think that he is going to get a really good graduation gift from me! ;) hahah.
The other day after stressing out about everything going on in my life Bobby and I went on a beautiful hike on the Urban Trail in town. It was beautiful but I also had a mission. I needed to ground again and do a meditative walk The urban trail is perfect because it goes all through town. I brought Rafiki with us and he enjoyed it thoroughly.
There are beautiful trees that symbolized the flow of life. The Ponderosa Pines are strong and resilient trees. They take all the wind in Flagstaff is stride! There was also a lovely uprooted tree that had a root sticking out that was perfect for a wand so I had to grab it. Of course had the tree root not been ready to come off I wouldn't have taken it but I feel as if the tree allowed me to take it!
Along the way there were various animals, Bobby and I were training our eyes and I am happy to say both of us found creatures that neither of us could see. I was proud of us.
I was the first one to see this chipmunk. He was so cute and let me get really close till Rafiki started barking.

The only problem with this hike is that the stream that runs along side of the trail is a reclaimed water area. It was originally a natural stream thru Flagstaff but because of daming there is no natural flow until the snow comes and melts. We walked all the way to the lake that the city has made that contains waste water effluent as they call it. If you do not know anything about reclaimed water I would suggest looking it up. The water is filtered and cleaned by the city and is deemed suitable for wildlife to drink from and to live around, yet the sign on the lake says WARNING: DO NOT USE!
How is this safe water? Shouldn't all life have access to clean water? And why don't the majority of people in this world value the environment and all more-than-human life? (The phrase more-than-human comes from a book I read called the Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram look it up if you get a chance) I took a class this semester entitled Gender, Nature, Culture and this was the most eye opening experience. I will making a post about all of the books I read and give reviews for anyone who is interested in educating themselves can do so.
The lake is a perfect example of the intersection between Culture and Nature. Seeing the sign at the lake helped open my eyes and remind me that I have a lot to accomplish in this world still!

This hike was beautiful and I am so happy B. and I went on it!
I owe him a lot for helping me ground and keep my insanity in check and for that I say THANK YOU AND BLESSED BE!

Friends have always been a help and will continue to be help. The wonderful thing is that I found a best friend in someone that I never thought would end up being that close to me. She has helped me so much this semester and I hope she continues to remain in my life. Rebekka you are divine in all senses of the word and am so happy that found someone I can lean on and learn from and I hope you know I am there for you! I share some of the most out there ideas and some of the most connecting ideas with you and because of you my spiritual knowledge has grown tremendously!
Friends are the rocks that I lean on and consider them as close as fmaily. DJ, Mari, and Sebbi love you boys! DJ- we did it!

The other factor that helped to get me through the end of the semester was ritual! From April to May 18th I did four big rituals. For some people that might not seem like a lot but for many of them I was leading different aspects. The first was a full moon ritual. It was really basic and a good way to set intention for the coming month which was the end of my career at NAU. This was very grounding and I am thankful it happened.
The next ritual that came was Beltane! Beltane was beautiful and I will be making a post about the ritual of Beltane in the coming days!
Then I had my class ritual. For one of my classes this semester we had to design a ritual that focused on bringing awareness to the land of Flagstaff and balancing the energies of fire and water in the area. That is also going to be part of the post on Beltane. Keep your eyes open for it!

Then finally my club (unbeknown st to me) designed a whole ritual for me and graduating. I had no idea that they were doing this and I was blown away. To be honest it made me tear up a bit to hear all the things people wanted to say to me and about me. I feel blessed that the club thought it fitting to send me off with some guidance! That will be a separate post as well.

Thank you all for holding out and waiting for me to return. I knew it would happen I was just not sure when.

Blessed be and look forward to those posts!!!

Winner of the Ostara Giveaway

Thank you all so much for your entries! I am so excited about that everyone participated!

I entered the numbers into a machine and the winner is...


WENDY!!!
From The Year of the Cats!


Congrats Wendy I will be contacting you to find out your info to send you the giveaway prizes!

Again thank you all.
Sorry for the delay things have been crazy for me!
I can't wait to show you all what I have been working on!

ANNUAL OSTARA GIVEAWAY!

Hello and Happy Spring to you ALL!!

Today marks the first annual Ostara Giveaway!
In this wonderful giveaway I am sending out into the universe four lovely heartfelt items for the spring!

First we have the lovely picture of the Goddess with a poem written on it.

Then we have the lovely postcard hand drawn by a Hopi woman that I know very well. The drawing is of the butterfly maiden and this card was inspired by the butterfly dance of the Hopi people. This card means a lot as the butterfly is my spirit guide and I think the colors are very spring!

Next we have a handmade beaded necklace that my mother made! It has a pouch so that you can place small stone of totems in it.

Then last but not least is the Ostara basket. In this basket are hand picked egg like stones that have been blessed in my Ostara ritual and have been sitting on my altar for weeks now!

I am very excited about this giveaway! I hope others are as well. The event will run for one week. Help me get the word out!

ENTRIES:
For having the button you will get 2 entries
Blogging about this will get you 1 entry
Also being or becoming a follower of the blog gets your 1 entry
And for the last entry tell me what your favorite post is on my blog. This will get you 1 entry.

Please post all the comments separately and do not hesitate to tell others!

And a last but not least thank you to Wendy over at The Year of Cats who made the button for me!

<center><a href="http://ponderosapagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="The Ponderosa Pagan Giveaway" src="http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/9229/ostaragiveawaybutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Blessed be!

Welcoming the God...what will you do?!

WELCOMING THE GOD
As I am sitting down to write this post I discovered that I am not sure what I want to write about. Working with the God is not an easy task for me. As a “recovering” Catholic, as I call myself, I have many reservations about working with the God. I am constantly reminded that the reason I left the church is that “God” is a judgmental prick who’s followers are hypocritical and unkind. Now I do not want to rant because I do not entirely feel that way anymore. Yes I still believe many people in the church are judgmental but that doesn’t mean I should generalize.
So back to the reason I am writing for this blog party. I honestly feel like I turned my back on the God completely. I was assuming that if I worked with the God in my new spiritual path that it would be rekindling flames from the Catholic God. This is simply not true.
The beautiful thing about the pagan God is that he is ever transforming and does not show what it means to be a man by societal standards, rather he shows his masculinity in many different ways. As Starhawk says in her wonderful book The Spiral Dance

He is difficult to understand, because He does not fit into any of the expected stereotypes, neither those of the “macho” male nor the reverse-images of those who deliberately seek effeminacy. He is gentle, tender, and comforting, but He is also the Hunter. He is the dying God but His death is always in the service of the life force. He is the power of feeling, and the image of what men could be if they were liberated from the constraints of patriarchal culture. (1999)

This is what I imagine the God to be like. I do not fit the mold as to what it means to be a man in this society. However with paganism I feel I fit just fine. There is no need to try and impress anyone by being manlier because I am manly enough. The God is about finding the balance in this world. He is strong but he is loving and kind. He is the Hunter but he is also the Lover. Without him the Goddess would be lacking a partner. She could create life by herself but there needs to be the balance.
My mentor is a Dianic Witch and sometimes I worry that when I first started this path I was a God hater. I felt like there was no place for the God in my life. I expected him to be the Catholic God. I can safely say that after 3 years of being on my new spiritual path I am ready to work with the God. I started my work with him on the last summer solstice. Since then I have been open to the idea but have not fully explored it. The last activity I did with the God was during Imbolc while making a priapic wand. This wand is shaped like a penis shows the depth of the interconnectedness of the God and Goddess.
The wand is shaped like a penis because it is supposed to welcome the spring. The phallic shape is also linked to the growth of spring plants. If the goddess is the Earth then the God must use his seed to help the growth process happen on Earth. I never made the connection between the God and spring. I always just assumed that the spring was a Goddess activity. Yes Spring has a special place for the Goddess but the God is celebrated as the light returns. The days get longer which means he is getting closer and closer. For spring he is the young green man who is courting the maiden Goddess.
Learning of the God’s cycle in Paganism was very important in my understanding of the God. In spring he is the green youth, in Summer he and the Goddess are married marked by Maypoles and bonfires. At Lughnasad he is mourned for he has died, but what we learn is that he has not really died, he is on his way to the Goddess’s womb where he will grow and become a young soul again and guide others at Samhain, and finally he is reborn again at Winter Solstice when the days have little light and are waiting for him to grow strong again.
This cycle is why I have come to respect the God. His life is intertwined with the Goddess. I do not believe we should have one and ignore the other. In my life balance of energies is important and this cycle proves how important balance really is. Not only do the Goddess and the God find balance with each other but they find balance within themselves. The God finds the balance of masculinity and femininity in himself. This is the take home message. To be a man in Paganism is not related to being a man in society. Exploring the masculine sides of life does not mean you have to drink beer and watch football. To me it is about finding the balance in your life. The masculine side of life has many beautiful lessons to teach us.
As I was walking on a hike this weekend I was reminded that the God’s presence is ever growing. No matter what name you call him by he is there. I think one of my missions this summer will be to find a male deity I feel comfortable working with (One might be Apollo but I need to figure that out). As new leaves spring forth from plants I cannot help but think he has something to do with it. From now till Lughnasad I will be wielding my priapic wand in my circle. I think that in order to start working more with the God and learning more I need to just dedicate myself to a practice. This will be hard but it is my challenge to myself for this upcoming summer season. What will your challenge be? Is it to even just work with the God? To acknowledge him? Whatever you decide to do in this upcoming season remember that the God is all around just like the Goddess. Call on him in time of need and learn the secrets he has to teach us.


I will leave you all with a chant to call him near!

Repeating Chant to the God

SEED Sower GRAIN Reborn HORNED ONE COME!
BRIGHT Sun DARK Death Lord of the Winds COME
The SUN Child The Winter-Born King
IO! EVOHE IO! EVOHE

(Pronounced Yoh! Ay-VOH-hay!)

How are you Welcoming the God?

This week is my Spring Break and I have been loving it. I have the post over at Country Witch Tomorrow for Welcoming the God. Super excited for you all to read what I wrote. It has been the catalyst I needed to start my next spiritual adventure. Encountering the God. I am challenging myself with a secret. You will have to wait to see what it is.

Then on the 21st of March, I am having my FIRST GIVEAWAY!!!!!!
It is a giveaway for Ostara.
Check back for details of what comes with the giveaway on the 21st. I can tell you one of the treats will be a basket of Ostara Eggs blessed in my Ostara ceremony!

The contest opens on the 21st and will be open for one week! On my sidebar is the button so you can grab one for an extra entry to win!
Till then Blessed be!

<center><a href="http://ponderosapagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="The Ponderosa Pagan Giveaway" src="http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/9229/ostaragiveawaybutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Japanese Character of the Week

I was not sure what I could do to help the people in Japan in a spiritual way. I know I can donate money and that is good and has its place but what can I do spiritually.
I figured I would ask Bobby if we could do a character in the ground for them.
I thought of fortune and he said that that has two characters or something like that so he came up with good luck or "fuku".


Here it is. I hope this sends some good luck over to the people in Japan. I will also be partaking in a prayer vigil for Japan. My mother-in-law said she participated in one and then the Berlin wall fell so we shall see that results.

Blessed be Japan we are all sending you healing Vibes!

Ouroboros

This morning I was working on an essay I had to complete and turn in before I offically started my spring break! I cant wait to be able to just relax.

Any way. I was busy typing when my puppy Rafiki started to chase his tail. It was the cutest thing I had seen since I woke up. He looked like an Ouroboros so I had to takea picture.

The ancient Ouroboros is a symbol of a snake or dragon eating its own tail and is a symbol of self-reflexivity and eternal return. It is a symbol of cycles just like the Phoenix.

This symbol is also special because the NPA is working on a symbol that will represent the group and part of the symbol is the Ouroboros. The snake circles our pentagram which has many other symbols in the pentagram. I will make sure to post it once we have an offical design.


Just wanted to post these amazingly cute pics of Rafiki!

Hope you are all ready for a beautiful weekend!

Blessed be

Winter plans taking root!

This winter season has been wonderful for the Neo-Pagan Alliance. I feel so blessed because Mark, Liz, Becca and I all started the semester sowing seeds for the club. We met and planned out half of the semester! It was lovely. The seeds that were planted 2 months ago have taken root and are sprouting. The last NPA meeting we had 13 people there. It was a dream of mine come true. The people who have joined the club truly have made my pagan experience so far. I have started a community that I can participate in and see flourish. Many of the members have made new connections with each other and it is beautiful to see the pagan community I desired coming to fruition.
This semester is my last semester and it will be 2 years that I spent with the NPA. I have met so many beautiful people and will continue to meet more. I also am super excited because the NPA is going to be hosting a public ritual during our schools Earth Week.
It is going to be an Earth healing ritual with the main element being Water!
I cannot wait for this to happen. We are forming a subcommittee (the first in the clubs history) to form the ritual. The committee has myself and my mentor and 4 other members! I am super excited because this will be my debut (if you will allow me to indulge) as a pagan to the whole campus. I NEVER thought I would be doing that in my college career. I have a pride about my paganism and am proiud to stand up and offer a healing to Mother Earth on my campus.

The ritual will be wonderful and as soon as I have it complete I will post it up here for you all to see.

Another big event for the NPA is our Beltane camping trip. We are going to be camping from Saturday night to Sunday May 1st. I cannot wait! We have a lot of people interested and it seems like it will turn out amazingly! We are in the process of finding a spot and making lists of what we will need.
This semester is turning out to be a beautiful expereince and I feel so blessed to be able to end my college experience with this amazing club!

PS I am gearing up for Country Witch's 15 days of Welcoming the God. If you haven't checked it out you should!

Blessed be!

Spring Time is a coming!

So I have a feeling that there will be some cold nights, but hopefully not too much more snow!
The weather has been wonderful and for the first time when I went outside to take Rafiki out I was not cold. This was at 8:30am which is normally really cold. That to me is a positive sign.
Also I have noticed that all the birds are out and about playing around! There were even some pairs looking for nest supplies in our yard!
Yesterday was a bad day for me. It was the start of a new month and for some reason there was too much bad energy out. Luckily the Goddess kept me safe when I really needed the help, but I think it has something to do with the mischievous God who is coming into the world again.
I am participating in the 15 days of Welcoming the God over at Confessions of a Country Witch's blog .
I am really excited because I am going to do a guest post as well as host a giveaway happening on the 21st of March. Once I make a button I will post it for everyone to partake in!
Anyway,
I was really feeling some strong weird energy yesterday and I think that the God has something to do with it. I am opening myself to something new and unexplored. I have only really worked with the God once during Summer solstice last year. It was a great experience and I wanted more. Now I get the chance and we will see what happens.

Today when working in the yard my partner Bobby drew a Chinese character in the yard. The symbol is for clouds. I told him as he was creating it that we want rain clouds not snow clouds. He told me it was for the gardens and not to worry!


Here is Rafiki under the symbol.


And here is the artist himself. Last week is was dragon this week cloud. What is next?!

False Spring

I am sitting here doing too many things. I am currently writing down another home remedy a wonderful Mayan woman told me to use for my father who has prostate cancer and diabetes. Don't worry too much, he says the cancer is in remission, but I don't know how I feel about that. So if you could send some loving healing energy to my father!
But anyway the home remedy is Apricot seeds! Marina says that if you take the pit of the apricot and dry it and then take out the little seed inside the pit and dry and crush it, the powder will help. When she worked on an apricot farm, she said drug companies used to ask for the pits to use in caner medication. I am gonna try. Anything that will help save some money and maybe help heal my dad I am willing to do!
But back to the post!



As many of you know the groundhog told us on the holy day of Imbolc that there was to be no more winter! It was going to be spring soon and we would enjoy a warming trend. At least that is how I interpreted it. Well I hate to break it to the council of men who now control when winter ends, but you should have checked with the snake.
Just like Brigit did in times of old, the snake was the indicator for when spring would be over. And I think that this year the snake has not come out of her hole yet. Once she does then I will be ready for spring time!

As the title of the blog says in my opinion we were experiencing a false spring here in Northern Arizona. For about a week it got warm and the plants and animals were starting to come to life again. Their activity excited me and was getting me ready for the upcoming spring, but my partner ruined my feelings when he said that the week of warm weather was just a false spring. I did not want to believe him. I kept telling him you are wrong the groundhog said it was going to be spring and as day after day passed without more snow or horrible weather I was sure he was wrong.

WELL...it turns out I was wrong and he was right! Darn you universe!!!!
It was a false spring. About 3 days after we had this conversation a snowstorm hit Sedona. Luckily it was not horribly bad, but it covered everything. I was very concerned with my garden because we had planted garlic and onions and they were sprouting. I didn't want them to die but I also knew that if I went and removed the snow around them they would not be hardy and might not survive later if cold comes.
A few days after the snow I went out to make sure the plants were fine and they were. Some have taken a bit of a hit and weren't growing very fast, but the ones that were tall enough started to poke through the snow or reach above it. I was surprised to find that even the smaller ones that had snow around them seemed to melt the snow. Just right around the 2 leaves sticking up, it looked amazing. I wasn't sure if plants had a heater system that they each carry around or if the energy from the plants was causing the snow to melt.
If you know please let me know. I am going to do some research but nothing to big.

The good news is that the snow has melted, even though I fear we might get more, and the plants are fine. I am happy to say they survived and are growing again. It was quite a joy to see the onions poking through the snow. The contrasting colors of bright lime green and white snow was beautiful.


How is the weather where you are? Do you plan on planting this year? We are starting our seeds this weekend so we can get a jump, but I have to be ready for the idea that we won't be able to put them in the ground for a while.
Oh well.

Blessed be!!

PS
OMGoddess. I forgot to say. The NPA had a meeting last night and we have 10 people there. It was amazing! There are new people showing up all the time and I am so happy and blessed that they are coming!

Home Remedies

Sorry for my long absence but I am back and ready for action. I am going to try and set aside an hour or so each week to make sure that I am actually blogging. I have found that my time and my energy are elsewhere and I am not liking the results of the placement of the energy.
So yesterday my partner and I went to this wonderful new club that is forming on campus right now. It is all about medicinal plants. The group doesn't have a name yet, but it is a branch of the SLUG organization on campus with is a club for students centered around Urban Gardening. The gardening club is awesome but this club really seems to be up my alley.
Yesterday was the 3rd meeting of the semester and I am so happy my partner and I went.
We were convinced by Marina, my partner's mentor/friend) she is a resident elder in the applied indigenous studies program and she is amazing. She has so many stories of medicinal plants and many many other amazing stories.

The meeting was about home remedies we use instead of using modern medicine. Some of the ideas were amazing, some were very useful, and some were just good to know.
The first one is Lavender.
Lavender I found out is great depression. One of the ladies there told us that she take a sprig of lavender boils it with cinnamon sticks and some honey in a small amount of water. Let is boil for about 10 mins and then pour into a cup. She told us that it is a sure fix for depression at the moment. It was great to hear. Especially if you are just feeling down I think this would be perfect to use.

Next was Celery Tea.
This recipe is to help acid reflux disease. The woman who spoke about this talked about her severe acid problems and aside from the acid, she said that it helps her relieve stress when nothing else will work.
what you do: go to the store and buy celery stalks with leaves on them. For this recipe you just need the celery leaves! You cut off the celery leaves and place them into a pot to boil with just enough water to cover the leaves. Boil for about 10 mins and then let cool and ingest. She advised to drink 15-30 mins before a meal or an hour to 2 after the meal! For her when nothing else would work this did. She also said that you cannot just eat the leaves you have to actually boil them.


Garlic was next. We all know garlic is amazing and has wonderful protective and healing properties, but the gentleman who presented it used Garlic as a wart remover. You can use Garlic or onions and what you do is take a sliced garlic clove and apply it to the wart and then tape it there. Another better way is to apply some animal fat first then apply the garlic. He said he thinks this is better because the garlic concentrates in the fat and it delivers a potent dose. His only note was continue even after the wart is gone, because warts are tricking and have deep roots. Home remedies are good but just like antibiotics if you don't commit to using your full dosage it will not help!


Next is Marshmallow root. This is one that I know of. Marshmallow root is a remedy that helps with lung condition, it can also be applied to the skin externally to help with skin conditions. I was given it as a child for asthma. You can ingest the plant or you can use it topically.

Then came my favorite. Aloe and alfalfa. Marina swears that this keeps you young and beautiful for as long as you choose. What you do is scrape out the inside of an aloe vera leaf and you mix it together with alfalfa sprouts and you have yourself an instance aging potion. It is a thick mixture and the aloe does have a bitter taste. Marina says that it keeps you looking young and vibrant and gives you tons of energy. Another woman in the group said that her grandmother just used to eat the aloe vera inside and she had endless energy. I think that this is my favorite one and I cannot wait to try it. If you have or know anyone who has let me know!

As with all home remedies I would say look into it if it is for you and use with caution. If you have problems check with your physician, but to be honest I trust the men and women who offered remedies.


Do you have a favorite home remedy? What is it, does it work, would your recommend it? I really would love to hear what all of you do so please let me know!

Exhausted

I am just now going to bed after reading for a class tomorrow. I am exhausted. I am drained and I need sleep food and time to collect my thoughts. I hope Dreamland will be nice to me. I would rather not have bad dreams.
I will be making a real post soon. I hope I still have followers by the time it gets up.
And I will be announcing my first GIVEAWAY!!!! Can't wait to tell you all about it!

Stay sane! I am doing my best

Goddess bless!

Brigid and Imbolc

As Imbolc approaches I am gathering all my material. This year I am planning an Imbolc ritual for the Neo-Pagan Alliance. This year we have formed our full moon ritual that we will be using for each full moon and I am really excited about this. I am excited because so much of our time last year was used to plan full moons. I love full moon ceremonies because that is what got me started on practicing and taking leading roles in my new spiritual path, but for the NPA we want to do more than full moon this year. Before the semester started Mark, Becca, Liz and I all got together to plan out the semester. This meeting was very useful. We planned out meeting days and planned the 1st four meetings of the semester! WE also decided that we wanted to celebrate more than the full moon so we agreed to write the full moon ritual and have that be the format we use. We did this so a) anyone who is new to the group and wants to come can easily fit into the ritual and feel comfortable b) so we could allow the group time to work on their own spiritual path c) so we can teach everyone who comes about the particular moon and d) so the group can work on writing other rituals. The one thing I am having trouble with is finding information out about the full moons and what they mean. I have different names for them but I need to find what they mean. If any of you have a good website or book that talks about the full moons and their meanings I would love the link or info! Thanks!

Anyway,
Imbolc.
At last night NPA meeting we solidfied the time and date of the ritual and now I have to get working on all of it entirely. So I had to do some research on Imbolc and what kind of activities go on during this event. What I found is that the holiday is also known as Brigid (after the goddess the holiday is centered around) or Candlemas. This holiday celbrates the coming of the Spring. We prepare the way as the snake emerges from the depths of the Underworld to tell us how many more days of Winter there will be. The warmth is coming and on Imbolc we recognize that and honor that.
First I think I will provide a little herstory of Brigid.

The first thing you should know about Brigid is that she is a Celtic Triple Goddess. And for those of us who work with triple goddesses we know they are cpmplex be-ings that also have a great deal of power and respect for those who call on her name. One figure of her triple aspect is the Callieach. The Cailleach is seen as a seasonal deity or spirit, ruling the winter months between Samhainn (November 1) and Beltane (May 1), while Brìghde rules the summer months between Beltane and Samhainn. Some interpretations have the Cailleach and Brìghde as two faces of the same goddess, while others describe the Cailleach as turning to stone on Beltane and reverting back to humanoid form on Samhainn in time to rule over the winter months.
The second thing you should know about her is that she goes by many names here is a list of examples:
Scotland: Bhrìghde, Brighid, Bride
Ireland: Brigid, Brigit, Brighid, Brìd, Brígh
Manx: Breeshey
Wales: Ffraid
England: Brigantia, Brittania
France: Brigandu

Brigit is the Celtic Saint and Goddess of Poetry, Healing and Smithcraft. She has been worshiped by the Celtic people as a Saint for over fifteen hundred years, and as a Goddess long before the Roman invasion of Britain and the birth of Christ. As the goddess of smiths and of healing.
Fire is a crucial element for her. In her temple and in her convent in current Ireland there was and is a fire burning at all times. It is said that her 19 handmaids service the fire and on the 20th day Brigid herself tends the fire. I found this amazing tradition on an amazing blog called Celtic Dreamscape! One folk tradition that still continues in certain places on Imbolc is that of the Brigid's Bed. The girls and young, unmarried women of the household or village make a corn dolly of wheat, rushes, or grain from the last of the harvest to represent Brigid; they adorned it with ribbons and baubles such as shells or stones. The dolly was then placed in a basket which had been lined with a white flower bedding. Often, a public ceremony would be held, and the village girls, dressed in white, would carry the basket door to door and each household bestows a gift upon the image. The gift may be a shell, a crystal, a flower, or a bit of greenery to decorate the person of Bride. Click here to find out the rest of that tradition. When Christians took over Gaul and Ireland they took Brigid and converted her into a Saint. Her evolution from Goddess to saint linked Pagan Celtic and Christian traditions much the same way the Cauldron of Cerridwen and the Holy Grail were combined in Arthurian legend. She acts as a bridge between the two worlds and successfully made the transition back to Goddess again with most of Her traditions retained. The worship of Saint Brigid has persisted up until the early 20th century with Her Irish cult nearly supplanting that of Mary. She is commemorated in both Ireland and the highlands and islands of Scotland.
In order to incorporate Brigid into Christian worship, and thus insure Her survival, Her involvement in the life of Jesus became the stuff of legend. According to the stories in The Lives of the Saints, Brigid was the midwife present at the birth, placing three drops of water on His forehead. This seems to be a Christianized version of an ancient Celtic myth concerning the Sun of Light upon Whose head three drops of water were placed in order to confer wisdom.
Further, as a Christianized saint, Brigid was said to be the foster-mother of Jesus, fostering being a common practice among the Celts. She took the Child to save Him from the slaughter of male infants supposedly instigated by Herod. She wore a headdress of candles to light their way to safety.This happened quite often in ancient times to powerful goddesses and gods. It was the easiest way to convince the "pagans" to follow Roman rule. Another popular thing for Christians to do to cover up pagan holidays is to replace the original holiday with something new and exciting. Imbolc was replaced by groundhog day. In modern times the groundhog comes out to tell us when winter will end, but in ancient times it is said that on Imbolc, the snake would slither out of its mound. It had been hibernating there all winter and as such the snake is seen as a creature of regeneration as well as lying between the worlds. Snakes were demonized by Christianity, so I think it is clear to see why they used a groundhog instead of a snake.
She is seen as the patroness of Imbolc and for that the NPA will honor her in our ritual.

Here is what we are going to do for our ritual.
First we are going to cleanse and ground with sage!
Then there will be a greating of the audience.
The Herstory of Brigid and the meaning of Imbolc.
Calling the Directions
Casting the Circle (using an aspen wand from the forest by my house)
Invoking the Goddess
Lighting the Brigid Crown
Carving Snake Medallions (made of crayons)
Meditation (possibly design Brigid knots)
Blessings of cups and cakes
Releasing Directions and Circle
Then Grounding and more snacks!

I am super excited to lead hte event and take a leadership role in this ritual. It will be the second holiday ritual that I have planned and lead for others! I can't wait!

Blessings to all of you as Imbolc approaches! And may Brigid bless you as the Spring approaches faster and faster!