tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49184719299561831962024-03-02T20:47:12.822-05:00The Witchy StuffCara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.comBlogger136125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-57880535268714218782023-12-16T17:17:00.005-05:002023-12-16T17:41:55.862-05:002024 Personal Practice Theme: Devotion<p>Hello, dear readers,</p><p>Reclaiming Tradition communities often work with an annual theme or story, around which to structure the work of the year in ritual, skill shares, and so on. Not everything has to fit the theme, but it's a way to help guide things and explore a certain area over a given time period. Years ago, I also began working with a personal intention for the year, based on ideas shared by another Reclaiming-adjacent, Feri practitioner, T. Thorn Coyle, who wrote about choosing intentions rather than making new year "resolutions." I have done a yearly intention on and off for about eight years now -- about as long as I've been involved in Reclaiming.</p><p>Now I'm part of multiple Reclaiming communities, which will have different themes and intentions for 2024. But aside from all this, I have gotten a nudge from the Universe to have a personal theme. It is kind of also an intention, but it is a broader theme for my work of the year. And, it is a sneaky one for my indecisive and ADHD focus issues, because it is a theme that gets to change focus every few months!</p><h3 style="text-align: center;">The theme is...</h3><h2 style="text-align: center;">Deepening Devotion to Deities</h2><p>If you've been following all of my content that I've ever shared, anywhere, over the past few years (I really doubt most people fall into this category lol), then you might know that the topic of devotion has been a big question for me for a while.</p><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Read on to hear more about the path that lead me here, and what I'm planning for this themed work. Maybe you want to do something similar, maybe not for the year, but in general at any point in your practice!</h4><span><a name='more'></a></span><p></p><h3 style="text-align: center;">~</h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">My Devotional Journey</h3><p>I have been working with deities in what I would call a "casual" way, for maybe ten years or so...? Notably, I did not work with any specific deities for the first several years of my practice. I would call upon "Goddess and God" in the general sense, but didn't have any relationships with particular deities for quite a while. It wasn't until years into my practice when I started to feel a little pull when reading about certain deities, noticing symbolism of theirs that was also already special to me, that I decided to actively form relationships with and call upon certain deities in rituals. I did some meditations to see which deities would show up to speak with me. I also sought some out due to my own initial interest. </p><p>So as for that whole "did they choose you or you choose them?" topic, I'd say a bit of both happens in my experience, but in my case, I had at least heard of any deities who showed up for me.</p><p>In the past few years, since I'd been working with a handful of deities for a while, I started wondering, "What makes a devotional relationship? What is the difference between that and what I'm doing? What do devotees DO that makes it that level of relationship?" I even facilitated an optional offering at an online Witchcamp a couple years ago to discuss these questions, hoping to get some ideas from practitioners who consider themselves devotees. Instead, there was a group in much the same position as me, wondering about how to bring deity and spirit relationships to that level of devotion.</p><h4 style="text-align: center;"><i>What does devotion mean to you?</i></h4><h3 style="text-align: center;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;">~</h3><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">This Year</h3><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then along came 2023. I was on the Ritual Arc Team for my regional Witchcamp again, for the second year in a row, and this year's camp theme was working with a specific deity myth. I don't want to go into detail here on what exactly that was (I may talk about it more in <a href="https://www.patreon.com/cutewitch772" target="_blank">my Patreon</a>), but I will say that it was one of the various "descent to the Underworld" myths, of which there are many in existence. So my year was focused on descent work, and deities related to that story line.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Working with a story in preparation for camp is an intensive experience. Camp itself is an intensive, sinking into the magic for one week in sacred space, away from the details of everyday life (mostly). Prepping to facilitate a big part of that magic takes months, so the team had months to familiarize ourselves with the story, the deities, the energy and the magic of it. It also provided a structured schedule and a goal for the timeline of it all, which is something that can help people like me, who tend to procrastinate if there is no specific length of time in which to do something! I knew I wanted to be at a certain place by the time we got to camp, and then moving through the week of camp itself had its own magical process for me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Coming back from camp, I had a different understanding of what devotional work could, or might, or does look like (for me, at least). I wanted to apply the skills I had learned throughout that process to the deity and spirit relationships I already had before this year, especially since when I had to move at the beginning of 2023, I effectively left a lot of my regular practices behind, too. It was taking me forever to find my footing in my new situation. Relating to my godds from a different geographical location and environment was strange, because some of them feel very connected to certain environments for me.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><h3 style="text-align: center;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;">~</h3><div><br /></div></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The Basic Plan for 2024</h3><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I am going to break up the year into seasons, with the solstices and equinoxes as the start of each. That means that actually, the first quarter of this adventure begins in less than a week, with the solstice! I live in the northern hemisphere, so December 21st, in the evening in my time zone (22nd in other time zones) begins the season of Winter for me. At the spring equinox I will begin working with the next deity, then summer solstice, and autumn equinox. So I will complete this theme actually at the winter solstice in one year's time, rather than it lining up exactly with the calendar years. I like that, because I like following natural cycles more than human-made calendars when possible.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiXE0My_W3F4Ev5Xy2o2xEiK7T_jDAuAxKojBb7G0q52S5yTcCaNp23jNqGbbHHEoySBX3nlPHZWMxzZI5U3VcBV96lHA2r-YjxAJgRSJbhxQSVNS_HZgig5c7Z9nj7welUMTkYSXPIYm5EllInE4xJ3e4VGQ9jRk-YFg3Tme2CNriG68SX3JYtFIMCK5F/s633/2024%20theme.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="visual representation of the next year as a quartered circle, with solstices and equinoxes labeled, and Deity number 1 through 4 marking each quarter. the quarters are also colored light blue for winter, green for spring, pink for summer, and orange for autumn" border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="633" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiXE0My_W3F4Ev5Xy2o2xEiK7T_jDAuAxKojBb7G0q52S5yTcCaNp23jNqGbbHHEoySBX3nlPHZWMxzZI5U3VcBV96lHA2r-YjxAJgRSJbhxQSVNS_HZgig5c7Z9nj7welUMTkYSXPIYm5EllInE4xJ3e4VGQ9jRk-YFg3Tme2CNriG68SX3JYtFIMCK5F/w400-h351/2024%20theme.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I will not be telling you which deities I plan to work with in this post. I'm going to keep that for reveals as each quarter comes up, and <i>possibly </i>reserving specifics only for Patreon. I like to give my supporters there some behind the scenes content that the general internet doesn't get to see! (I am also extremely private about this type of work, which may be something I work on this year, too. We'll see how it feels as I go.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">What I do want to share here is the basic idea of what I will be *doing* with each of the deities, based on some of what I realized works for me this year.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">What will I do each quarter?</h3><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>read stories and myths associated with the Deity, including modern retellings that look at their story from different angles</li><li>read basic information available online, as I have done before since these are deities I already have some relationship with, but will help me tune into their specific energy from a mind-space</li><li>do a ritual at the start of each quarter (around the solstices and equinoxes) to formally and magically welcome them in as the main energy of the quarter. (I will continue to work with all my godds and spirit allies as needed throughout the year, but each quarter will have this more specific focus or leaning toward the one I'm deepening with that quarter)</li><li>search for art created by others that depicts the Deity, and create some of my own. I will be looking to see how others see them, but also to note which depictions I do or don't like and resonate with, for my relationship with them.</li><li>if I don't already have something, I will seek items (find second hand, in nature, or create) to represent them on my altars</li><li>if I haven't already, I will be writing songs, chants, poems, and other such works for each of them. Again, since these are deities I have been working with, I already have this for some of them, and I want to make sure I do that for all of them. I may also create more for those who already have some, but we'll see what feels needed as I get there.</li><li>spend time in meditation with them, connecting directly, asking questions if needed, and getting a sense of what they may have for me to learn or do at the time</li><li>determine some personal offerings for them, and offer them regularly throughout the quarter. These will also be things I can use as offerings for them moving into the future. For example, I have certain types of incense I offer to some of them now, or foods, liquids, and other things.</li></ul><div><br /></div><div>That covers the main things I already know at this time that I want to focus on! I want to spend time with them, learn more about them where they are my main deity focus during that time, create things for them and for me to use in connection with them, and so on. Other things may come up as time goes on. I don't exactly know yet; It's all part of the magic and mystery!</div><div><br /></div><div>While I may choose to keep deity specifics to a more private venue such as Patreon, I would like to share about this general process throughout the year, at least. And who knows, if I receive a nudge to share something publicly, I will be listening to that guidance. It's all part of the process.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: center;">Thanks for reading!<br />I hope you all have a good end of calendar year season!</h3><h3 style="text-align: center;">Blessings~<br />-C-</h3></div>Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0676J+79 Milbank, SD, USA45.210626 -96.7190217-7.8041940313246485 -167.03152169999998 90 -26.4065217tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-23960060402793408432023-08-25T17:15:00.000-04:002023-08-25T17:15:02.704-04:00Charm School Update: Week 12 ?!<p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUiW4l9NTLB4N_NJ5UG6AeBdvxly0kIPNLjxd-Utz_bcaSv0lz7sgPdNHhbNWUCsDsl6wB0F-PFG2u6N6JAsfNddRhSYDEiAVR_J4YEcIwF1RNkViekGI89SseFXWXOxxaOK7uu8Y6ixxUCzWX5RgRRpYveVs9Gfpur6WH68FA3kePqOj6YM-B3imR4iLc/s586/Charm_School.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Charm School promo image showing a school desk with books and pencils. A chalkboard behind the desk has font over top reading "Charm School with Cara Mia and Stella Gramina."" border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="586" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUiW4l9NTLB4N_NJ5UG6AeBdvxly0kIPNLjxd-Utz_bcaSv0lz7sgPdNHhbNWUCsDsl6wB0F-PFG2u6N6JAsfNddRhSYDEiAVR_J4YEcIwF1RNkViekGI89SseFXWXOxxaOK7uu8Y6ixxUCzWX5RgRRpYveVs9Gfpur6WH68FA3kePqOj6YM-B3imR4iLc/w200-h200/Charm_School.png" width="200" /></a></div>Dear Readers,</h3><p></p><p>As you may recall, Week 6 of this project overlapped with a regional camp that Stella and I attended, and for which I had an organizing role. It took a lot out of me, as well as energizing and sustaining me, as it always does, and while I knew camp week would be a lot -- that's why I made it a "grace week" in my estimated schedule of how to get through this project -- I very much underestimated the time it would take me after camp to get back into any semblance of "normal routine". It could be argued that I didn't have any such "normal routine" before camp, anyway. Regardless, I was... optimistic.</p><p>I actually thought that this was probably <b>only Week 10</b> or so, but according to the calendar, nope lol. This is indeed week 12, when we originally anticipated wrapping this all up. Well I can tell you, we are not doing that just yet.</p><p>After camp, I was still in Ohio for a few days before flying back to the southwest, so getting back to routine was already delayed. Then my flight got delayed 18 hours, putting me back at an altogether different time of day than expected. Then began the just... processing and recovery time. I am already not the best at judging the passing of linear time (if that even really exists), so weeks went by with no progress on Charm School. Then I started getting back into it a little at a time, but my focus is pretty shot once again. (Also, the return of insomnia! Huzzah! /sarcasm)</p><p>I've been struggling with my focus when reading since 2020. Audio books have helped a lot, because I can listen and read along at the same time and that helps, but not all books I'm reading have an audio version! Anyway, here is where we are now.<br /></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3><h3 style="text-align: left;">Earlier this week, I sat down and looked at how much I still have left to do.</h3><p>I'm partway through all of the reading, but haven't finished any one, since I've been doing a little of each simultaneously. Since <i>What Witches Do</i> was going fairly quickly at the beginning for me, I've gotten back into that, and I'm prioritizing finishing that one first. It's a little easier because I'm reading an ebook version, so I can pull out my phone and read a few pages anywhere I am. I'm dog-sitting this month for a neighbor of my mom's, so when I go over there a few times each day to check on the pup, I read a little bit each time. In this way, I've been able to finish at least one chapter in that book every day this week! One day I finished two. I am on chapter 11 out of 16 now, and have already either fully read or at least skimmed all the appendices previously.</p><p><br />The other books are print copies, but I also have an audio book for one:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>To Stir a Magic Cauldron</i> is not technically part of the reading assignments for this project, it is simply the origin, inspiration, and source of some of the specific tasks we are doing. It is where the Mist Tradition tasks are found. But since I had never read it before, I'm reading it now. I finished <i>To Ride a Silver Broomstick </i>first, earlier this year (also not technically part of this project, but for me, a necessary/desired precursor), and didn't start <i>Cauldron </i>until after I had finished that. I first flipped through Cauldron to find, read, and bookmark the sections that are directly needed for various Mist Trad tasks, like the explanation of Altar Devotions, and the qualities of a "proper person." After that, I set about starting to read in earnest, beginning to end. I'm not very far along in this, and my ability to focus in my current living environment is, shall we say, challenged greatly? So I checked out the audio book to help me along. I did the same for <i>Broomstick </i>near the end, so this time I'm just bringing in the audio a lot earlier in the book.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>The Twelve Wild Swans</i> is the other book we're using for this project, and there is no audio book available for it, but I have also read it before. I've worked through the Elements Path in it now three times, and this will be my second time doing the Inner and Outer Paths. I went back through Elements again, pretty smooth sailing, got it done in the first couple weeks of this project back in June. I started the Inner Path and then ended up having to set it all aside because we were getting very close to camp and I had a lot of meetings to attend. It's taken me many weeks to get back into it. Two years ago, actually, my local community was going to work through this whole book together, and we got stuck and put it all aside when I was partway through Inner Path, too. This time, since I started back at the beginning, I'm actually not even back to the part where I left off last time yet lol. If you do a chapter every day, you can work through this book in three weeks. That's how I did it the first time I did it, but it was also the main thing I was working on then, not one of a ton of other things I'm doing! So it's different.</li></ul><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The other tasks are also still in progress.</h3><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I already updated about most of this in <a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2023/07/charm-school-update-week-5.html" target="_blank">my previous, Week 5, update</a>. I actually just typed a paragraph about it and then thought I better go check to see what I said there... I had already done it, haha. </span>Suffice it to say, I have made little progress on the rest of the tasks compared to where I was at Week 5, so go have a read of that one, if you missed it. I'll let you know when there is NEW stuff to say.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I will say now, however, that I am thinking about doing a live stream where I sit down to work on memorizing / reviewing the circle castings and quarter calls, so people can hang out live during it or watch back the recording later. I'm not sure when this will be yet, but I'll keep you posted! If you're part of <a href="https://patreon.com/cutewitch772" target="_blank">my Patreon community</a> or following <a href="https://instagram.com/cutewitch772" target="_blank">my Instagram</a>, I'll let folks know there, too. I might do the live stream for Patrons and post the recording publicly on <a href="https://youtube.com/user/cutewitch772" target="_blank">my YouTube</a> afterwards.</p><div>Stella and I chatted briefly this past week. I asked if we wanted to schedule a separate discussion for each book, or at least for <i>What Witches Do</i>, since that's the one that was new to both of us. I have no timeline for that yet but we agreed that it would be a good idea to do that separately from any kind of "whole project recap" we get up to in the future.</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">We are also extending the length of this project, which is for me now even more obviously necessary, since now I realize this was Week 12 and not Week 10. <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Segoe UI Emoji;"><span style="font-size: 18.72px;">😂</span></span></h3><div><br /></div><div>I will still attempt to get as much done as possible within this next week, up to the end of August. I guess in my head this past week, I was thinking Week 12 went up to the end of August, but now I recall that felt like a nice, neat 13th week in which to record our final recap chat. Had I looked back at my schedule document, I would have realized my error sooner. Ah, well, it was always just a guideline! </div><div><br /></div><div>And really, this is doable in 12 weeks' time, if you're actually able to focus and work on things each of those weeks! I've had MANY weeks where I have done no work on this, and just haven't been able to keep track of how much time is truly passing. I think "oh I didn't do much this week", and it's actually been two weeks... or more. Yeah. So, there have been some challenges that are definitely about me and my personal situation, how my brain works, the environment I'm currently in, and how many other things I have going on at the same time. But when I go back at the end and count up how many days I actually spent doing the work of these tasks, I'm sure it will be less than 12 weeks. So I think the way I set this up was a decent plan, one that would also allow for integration time in between... if only I were able to stick to it week by week instead of spreading it farther out!</div><div><br /></div><div>But this is one of the challenges we modern Witches and Pagans face: how to make time for our chosen magical studies and spiritual development in the midst of everything else. The good thing is, there isn't actually any kind of schedule or deadline other than the ones we place upon ourselves -- for fun, or for some structure where it can be helpful to learning.</div><div><br /></div><div>Besides, no one in Mist Tradition is actually spending <b>only three months</b> on their work. Traditionally these types of things take at least a year! So really, we're doing pretty well. 😉</div><div><br /></div><h4 style="text-align: left;">Be well, Witches!</h4><div><br /></div><div>Love & Power,</div><div>Cara</div><p></p>Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-8359732229924198832023-07-06T16:35:00.003-04:002023-07-06T16:55:20.507-04:00Charm School Update: Week 5<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinl2BL1WVdXkUs9RJDfXy0eRI7RiyQeGQW_Q6Ez8sxfshKBeOPVd_tZUaEB8Go5yMrwle3H5NQJvcRgbKZcEOngjfJL47YRTMAAbAkxY6E21jY4PPxwhHAGZ_jVRczG-fE-9qogVwhF7xWfFH3JbrZMlxLs8iT3IrVc5Jpf3RcAdPJ_134U1DGrqVtzknC/s586/Charm_School.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="586" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinl2BL1WVdXkUs9RJDfXy0eRI7RiyQeGQW_Q6Ez8sxfshKBeOPVd_tZUaEB8Go5yMrwle3H5NQJvcRgbKZcEOngjfJL47YRTMAAbAkxY6E21jY4PPxwhHAGZ_jVRczG-fE-9qogVwhF7xWfFH3JbrZMlxLs8iT3IrVc5Jpf3RcAdPJ_134U1DGrqVtzknC/w200-h200/Charm_School.png" width="200" /></a></div>Hey, all! Checking in from nearly the end of Week 5 of this 12-week Charm School challenge / fun self study time.</div><p>In my general scheduled plan, I wanted to ideally be finished with <i>Twelve Wild Swans</i> by now (doing a path per week, a section per day, for three weeks total) and finishing up <i>What Witches Do</i> this week. Next week, Week 6, Stella and I will be away at camp with lots of other magical things going on so I had planned for it to be a week "off" or grace period. If we wanna do more of this and have time, cool, but it wasn't being counted as necessary time.</p><p>That was the ideal plan, but I know myself, and I knew that traveling during this time and prepping for camp would take up time, space, and energy for me. There have also been other, unexpected things that came up this past month because, you know, life is like that. So as I expected, I am a bit behind where I wanted to be "ideally", but that's okay! The plan is not rigid, it's there to help keep me from getting totally lost as I lose track of linear time. It happens.</p><p>So here's where I am at this point...<br /><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Swans</u></h2><p>I have finished the Elements Path reading in <i>Swans</i>, which is the third time I've done that path in this book! I actually decided to start a list in the front of the book on one of the blank pages, keeping track of the different times I work through all or part of the book. I worked through the whole book by myself in 2013, Elements Path with my local community in 2021, and now I'm doing the whole book again alone / in tandem with a friend but each at our own pace, in 2023.</p><p>Have I redone all the exercises this time around? No, but I've done them all before and I do several of them regularly as part of my practice. The "Tree of Life" style grounding meditation is a staple, as is the "Saltwater Purification" (which I also know variations of, and tend to do a version without salt more often, since I can do it with any drinking water I already have available). Going on a "Witch's Walk" is also something I got from this book, have continued to do regularly over the years, and have taught to others. Basic breath work, energetic shielding, and trance techniques, plus ritual steps from Circle casting to welcoming Elements and invoking Deities (if applicable), are all found in the Elements Path part of this book, and all are things I engage in regularly as a Reclaiming Witch.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>What Witches Do</u></h2><p>I'm reading an ebook version of this book. Though I do own a physical copy of an early printing (lucky second hand find!), it was in Ohio and I was not when I began reading. I like mixing ebooks into my reading because, unlike a physical book usually, I am more comfortable reading an ebook on my phone while laying down in bed before I go to sleep, after waking up while I still want to relax and not fully get up yet, and so on. As a result, I found myself breezing pretty quickly through the first chapters of this book. I'm reading it on hoopla (an app), which also allows me to highlight passages in a few different colors, underline, and add notes, and then quickly view just my highlights and notes in their own separate screen, so I can quickly reference the things I want to go back to.</p><p>There haven't been a lot of "exercises" or "things to do" so far in the book, but the few I have come across to the point where I am, I've highlighted in a specific color so I'll be able to find them more easily. So far it's concentration/focus exercises, mainly. Nothing I haven't done before, but still something to make it a point to do and see what comes. Other than that, I'm making notes about my own reactions and responses to the text, and Stella and I are planning to discuss it as our way of "completing the lessons", since there aren't as many "tasks" as such. Read the book, engage with it by taking notes, discuss... That's mostly how I was looking at this one!</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Other Tasks</u></h2><p>There are several other things on the list of things to do for Charm School... I wrote a lot more about them in <a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2023/05/charm-school-begins-soon.html#more" target="_blank">my first blog post about this challenge, which you can read here</a>. Here are my updates on just some of them that we aren't doing differently or already considering done.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>reading <i>To Stir a Magick Cauldron</i> & specific tasks therein</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Stella has read this book multiple times, but this will be my first time reading it so I want to read the whole thing. I have not started this, except to look through for specific parts that pertain to other tasks and mark them with colored sticky note tabs.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>for example, I found the "qualities of a proper person" section and read through them. I have not yet begun attempting to memorize the list, but I would be able to give a general paraphrased idea of what it means at this point, if not list all of the exact qualities Silver has printed in the text.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I also bookmarked the "altar devotions" section since one of the other tasks is to know one by heart, and this is -- as far as we can tell -- a term used specifically by Silver in these books, so I don't already know what it entails. I can guess from context clues, but, yeah.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>memorize 3 circle castings and quarter calls</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>because I didn't have all my books with me at my mom's, I started with what I did have. I chose a quarter call from Twelve Wild Swans. There is also a circle casting, but I already know several variations of that one by heart, since it's very traditional in Reclaiming. The quarter/elemental calls, however, are something we usually don't hear set versions of, and instead improvise on the spot. So I decided to memorize the one given in Elements Path. I do have this one memorized and used it once in a meeting/ritual with my ritual planning team, to practice.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>the other two quarter calls, and all three circle castings, were waiting until I got back to my books to look through them and choose some! I have done my info gathering now -- turns out a lot more of my beginners books do NOT include scripted cast/calls actually! many of them just explain how to do it and leave it up to you to decide the words from the heart, which may well explain my comfortability with that form of practice -- and to save on carrying multiple books around while I choose, I took photos of the relevant pages in various books. I already knew I wanted to do something from Ravenwolf, something of Ray Buckland's, and something from Scott Cunningham. But I still need to choose the exact ones from my variety of options.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>one thing is, most books that DO include scripted versions of these things to try out, they will have both a circle casting and a quarter/elemental calling/welcoming in one because they are parts of ritual that often flow from one to the next seamlessly. So it's been tough to feel like I can separate out just one from the other from some texts! so that's part of my issue in decided which to do, and whether to do the circle casting, the quarters/elements, or both pieces from the same source.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>completing a personal challenge we assign to one another</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Stella and I have chatted about this just briefly so far, only to say that we're not yet sure what challenge we would issue to one another! We've known each other for over a year, but it's not like we know EVERYTHING about each other's lives and practice at this point. So it will require a bit more yet in order for us to come up with something that would be both a challenge for the person, and also doable in a relatively short period of time. Not too simple, but also not too time-consuming. (Also, what is "simple" versus "difficult" totally depends on the person.)</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>creating a solitary ritual</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>these tasks were on my schedule for after camp anyway, so I haven't worried about starting this piece just yet!</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>keeping a magical record</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>we decided to try to do this by jotting down notes daily... I think Stella has been doing this. I... have not lol. I started doing it, but daily is just not my vibe. Instead I messaged Stella a few times here and there when something super magical came up that I wanted to discuss, and I've been making notes of other times for myself that I did not immediately message Stella about. Plus, I feel like the spirit of this task is for a potential initiate to show that they have been regularly practicing and keeping records of their efforts over the course of a longer period of time. I do that, absolutely. It's just not on a daily level over here. And that's okay. That's something I already know about myself.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>being able to tell whether a circle has been cast</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>we planned to do this in person at camp, which is next week!</li></ul></ul><div>~</div><div><br /></div><div>The week isn't quite over yet, so I think tonight and/or tomorrow I might go through my photos of the books and decide more concretely which circle castings and quarter calls I want to do. Then I can work on memorizing them during next week. I'm not too worried about the memorization tasks, myself -- I don't know whether my memorization skills helped me in theatre or my work in theatre helped improve my memorization, but either way, I memorize fairly quickly, usually. And I think having the time next week dedicated to magical goodness will be a lovely time to work on them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks for reading! Hope you're having a good month and a good summer or winter where you live!</div><div><br /></div><div>Blessings~<br />-C-</div><p></p>Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-46627389492815672712023-05-29T03:59:00.001-04:002023-05-29T04:36:17.932-04:00Charm School Begins Soon...<p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVZ44PkY3GtKNb1mmEsjzcSk-FjFYiU0kYsLTF8Ly8jdh8JCzgVYgHW69lvCAKN738vfpYNANoOxCpPT523sxwJCwJVD9wQuVBEbfOUVgNUEF213JOShousS2kjxBDE3IOrXlBZNA1h9AaMS3Wh3bSdXeEMd8FreGOPXnfGgdvFwl1Y-zKFqGb8ZMWA/s609/Charm_School_Promo.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="classroom stock image showing a desk in front of a chalkboard. Text over top of the chalkboard reads "Charm School" in light blue and yellow curvy lettering, and "with Cara Mia and Stella Gramina" in smaller white text. On the light wood colored desk is an open book with a pencil, next to a pencil cup containing various pencils. A pair of reading glasses sits in front of the pencil cup, and a stack of books is visible at the right edge of the image." border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="609" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidVZ44PkY3GtKNb1mmEsjzcSk-FjFYiU0kYsLTF8Ly8jdh8JCzgVYgHW69lvCAKN738vfpYNANoOxCpPT523sxwJCwJVD9wQuVBEbfOUVgNUEF213JOShousS2kjxBDE3IOrXlBZNA1h9AaMS3Wh3bSdXeEMd8FreGOPXnfGgdvFwl1Y-zKFqGb8ZMWA/w320-h320/Charm_School_Promo.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;">Hey, Readers! More news for you!</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm uploading a new public channel video right now that is a conversation with my friend Stella about our new personal project for the next few months.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We're calling it...</span></p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">Charm School</span></i></h1><p><span style="font-family: arial;">This is a three-month project where Stella and I will be working together through Silver Ravenwolf's 1995 title, "To Stir a Magick Cauldron", and completing the tasks given as the requirements for the first degree of the fictionalized "Mist Tradition."</span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNYqBVHHDo__39rRQK7kX8GpJquOIeBmiX-Wgrm_MMUuKsw7E8GrE69YPvZhhMdBfKl-acHx80C93AVyiml8hzmpi2odlN3xXeUHln-mIPD9ubvqJmaBqBLBSjE0KRHMJK0Wqd90eReiHlFvMLwN8nq4xljNZMhWcL_1sWGA31A2Cx6DUabfgGTDDBw/s338/cauldron%20book%20cover.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="one of the original 90s covers of "To Stir a Magick Cauldron" by Silver Ravenwolf. This book cover is mostly purple with light blue and yellow title text. This edition features an illustration of a Witch with curly brown hair stirring a cauldron that is resting on a tree stump. Smoke, mist, or tendrils of fog emerge from and surround the cauldron and wind throughout the whole cover." border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="234" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNYqBVHHDo__39rRQK7kX8GpJquOIeBmiX-Wgrm_MMUuKsw7E8GrE69YPvZhhMdBfKl-acHx80C93AVyiml8hzmpi2odlN3xXeUHln-mIPD9ubvqJmaBqBLBSjE0KRHMJK0Wqd90eReiHlFvMLwN8nq4xljNZMhWcL_1sWGA31A2Cx6DUabfgGTDDBw/w222-h320/cauldron%20book%20cover.png" width="222" /></a><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">If you haven't read it, there is a section in the book where Silver talks about systems of Witchcraft with degree-based systems, and gives examples of the type of work one may be asked to do before receiving the first, second, or third degree, and so on. To illustrate the point, she asks the reader to imagine a made-up tradition, called the Mist Tradition, and then lists a bunch of stuff that Witches of that tradition may be asked to do for each stage of learning and progress. But then -- plot twist! -- at the end of this section she says that Witches in her own, actual tradition are expected to do all the things on those lists, and more! So the Mist Tradition isn't real -- at least, Silver made it up for this book -- but the tasks are based on actual tradition requirements. Every tradition is different, so it just depends which one you're looking into.</span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">~</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a>Stella has read this book before, many times, but I have not! This is the second book in what I call the "Silver Series", which consists of the following books, published in the 90s:<p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">To Ride a Silver Broomstick (1993)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">To Stir a Magick Cauldron (1995)</span> </li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">To Light a Sacred Flame (1999)</span></li></ul></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Two of Ravenwolf's other popular books are <i>Teen Witch</i> (1998) and <i>Solitary Witch </i>(2003), though she has published many more titles over the years. <i>Solitary Witch</i> was one of my very first books on Witchcraft. <i>Cauldron </i>was Stella's first. So both of us are reaching back to the beginning of our practices with this one!</span></p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"It's a gift to our Younger Selves."</span></h2><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">To prepare for this project, I wanted to read <i>Broomstick </i>first, which I have been doing! I started earlier this year. My previous blog post here, from just a couple days ago, is a <a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2023/05/silver-broomstick-journaling-note.html" target="_blank">list of the journaling/writing prompts from the first two sections of <i>Broomstick</i></a>. I will be doing another, similar post when I finish the whole book. So you should be able to expect that sometime this June, since I want to wrap up that book and move into the reading for Charm School!</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">~</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Stella and I got together earlier this month to record <b>a "before" conversation</b> about this project. You can check that out on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/cutewitch772" target="_blank">my YouTube channel</a> in video form, or soon on <a href="https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/3GvrGSMoSJx" target="_blank">Stella's podcast</a> in audio form. (You can listen to the Stella Speaks podcast on multiple platforms, so search your favorite!)</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifp2JdnqoiMIhfZ2pLiw0kBeINMw97iAKTzXtWjscVVMtByovFngR9VJwuFhkF9zHlbl27mM1y27_4x_em5sMEIDaSJwyVZRd-Ut_KnxMNH4LwWA_xO7bdpzVEROyGkRIiouFmh_ERdm2DJ_Xzn7fME0u8PLb4Ts-f4sQo2zMlIor9C6azetcruDlElQ/s1920/charm%20school%201%20tn.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="thumbnail of video with the same Charm School image from above in this post on the left, and images of three book covers to the right. The books are "To Stir a Magick Cauldron", "What Witches Do", and "The Twelve Wild Swans". The background of the thumbnail is a gradient of grey, light blue, and yellow, and white text reads "Before We Begin!" and "June - August 2023"" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifp2JdnqoiMIhfZ2pLiw0kBeINMw97iAKTzXtWjscVVMtByovFngR9VJwuFhkF9zHlbl27mM1y27_4x_em5sMEIDaSJwyVZRd-Ut_KnxMNH4LwWA_xO7bdpzVEROyGkRIiouFmh_ERdm2DJ_Xzn7fME0u8PLb4Ts-f4sQo2zMlIor9C6azetcruDlElQ/w400-h225/charm%20school%201%20tn.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/YDe41emOisg" target="_blank">Watch the video here!</a></div></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The conversation was super fun to have, and also for me to edit! We talk about the project and each of our personal history with this book, interspersed with side conversations about what our names mean, solitary and coven experiences, and whether or not we're Wiccans.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But since it is a long video, and some people prefer or need to read rather than listen, I wanted to toss this blog post up with a basic rundown of the project. Again, this is covered in the video / podcast if you want to listen instead!</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">~</span></p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What is this project?</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We're doing the First Degree of the Mist Tradition from <i>To Stir a Magick Cauldron</i>, which is on page 256 in the first edition version of the book. Or, in Chapter Nine (the last chapter) if you're accessing a different version or audio book. It's in the section titled "Goals to Work Toward."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We're giving ourselves a time structure of twelve weeks to work within, and we've broken up the tasks into a personal schedule to help us keep track. Each of us will be posting updates on our personal Patreon accounts for our supporters there, as well as some public updates, like this one, on our respective blogs, my YouTube channel, Stella's podcast... you get the idea!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We started with the "before" conversation mentioned above, and are planning to do a mid-term check-in around the six-week mark (mid-to-late July), as well as a final wrap-up conversation when we finish at the end of August (so that content will likely happen in September).</span></p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What does the project entail?</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There are 11 listed things to do for the imaginary First Degree, plus one thing we're doing that is actually on the Second Degree list: completing (and passing!) the "Wicca 101 Test" given in Appendix III of the book.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">Let me tell you, I have looked over the Wicca 101 Test, and although I've been on this path for 20 years, I DO NOT know all the answers coming into this. I know many of them, but some of them are specific to the way Silver teaches, and since I haven't read this series, I'm lost! But in reading <i>Broomstick </i>and then reading <i>Cauldron </i>as we do this project, I should come away at the end able to pass that test with flying colors. So <b>Unofficial Lesson One</b>, my dear Witches... don't let years of experience fool you into thinking you know it all! We learn different things from different teachers, traditions, and all kinds of sources. I am far from being a beginner, and yet, I don't know all the things Silver expected beginners to know after reading her books. What fun to go back and learn it now!</span></blockquote><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Stella and I are doing some tasks as written, in our understanding of the spirit in which they are written. Other tasks, we are adapting.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For example, we will be <b>memorizing three different circle castings and quarter calls</b>, which are the first two tasks. But since we are Reclaiming Witches and our tradition does a lot of things improvisationally and differently each time, I already know several circle castings and quarter calls! So we had to talk about what this part of the project would look like. We decided that Silver intended for people to learn and memorize essentially scripted pieces. So we will be either learning some that already exist in other books, or writing our own, but writing them down and learning them just as written. Probably we'll do a bit of both.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Task 3 is to know and be able to demonstrate an <b>altar devotion</b>. This is not a term I've come across outside of these books, so I actually don't know for sure what Silver means by this until I read about it! I can certainly guess from context clues, and what I think it is, is also something I would normally do pretty off the cuff, not memorizing a scripted version. So it will likely be a similar challenge to tasks 1 and 2 as far as that goes.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Task 4 is to "pass the testing of all your lessons", for which she suggests using her book <i>To Ride a Silver Broomstick</i> and Raymond Buckland's <i>The Complete Book of Witchcraft</i> (aka the Big Blue Book) for the lessons and exercises we need to complete. I am already reading and working through <i>Broomstick</i>, and I've been working with Big Blue for a while. We could have done those. But since we are doing this work further on in our practices, we wanted to challenge ourselves further by <b>choosing different books</b>. The thumbnail for the video, inserted above, shows off the covers of the books we're using: <i>What Witches Do</i> by Stewart Farrar, and <i>The Twelve Wild Swans </i>by Starhawk and Hilary Valentine. Neither of us have read <i>What Witches Do</i>, so it will be a new area of knowledge, and a new author's perspective. And while I have worked through <i>Twelve Wild Swans</i> on my own once before in its entirety, it was years ago, and I want to do so again because I've also been teaching with it and facilitating book club for our local Reclaiming community. Plus, it is another work with many exercises and things to do, that builds on itself in a more or less "beginner, intermediate, advanced" format.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Task 5 is to <b>meet a personal challenge</b> designed especially for you. Stella and I will be chatting more about this and deciding on a challenge for one another. We talk a bit more about the parameters for this in the video. Task 6 is to <b>demonstrate a solitary ritual</b> that includes raising power. We have actually planned to write this ritual ourselves, as well, so we will be completing this at the end of the 12 weeks. Again, either of us can already do this now just by getting up and doing it -- this is how our tradition works, and we've seen each other do various parts of rituals both in person and online over the last year -- but we believe that the spirit of the task is to memorize a set ritual.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Task 7 is to provide a <b>written record</b> of our magickal experiences to our "instructor", and typically this covers one year of your practice, since many groups want training for each degree to last at least one year (a year and a day). We're doing this for 12 weeks, so we have decided to jot down notes for that time period and either share them privately with one another for accountability, or perhaps post them online publicly. We'll see what we do! I can tell you now, I will not be posting anything daily. But I might write some notes daily and post a week or two weeks at once, or something like that. We shall see.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Task 8 is one we are counting as accomplished, because we've been working in community with one another for over a year already, and have been part of community groups for multiple years. It is, "<b>show that you are a responsible individual who can be trusted</b> by all members of the Craft and your tradition [siblings]." This is, of course, also an ongoing task. But in the context of a first degree situation, this is mainly about getting to know a person enough so that you know you want to welcome them into your group. Stella and I are already in community together and part of larger community that both trusts us and holds us accountable. We welcome each other, and know we are welcomed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Task 9 is to <b>be able to tell whether a circle has been cast</b> or not! This is a fun one! In my first Elements of Magic class (Reclaiming trad core class), the teachers had us all practice casting circles in different ways and feeling and sensing the energy. We did a lot of fun energy sensing exercises. So I know what it feels like to be inside a circle I've cast vs outside it. And I know what it feels like to be in a ritual where a circle wasn't actually cast, and one where the container is well constructed. But I don't know what a circle cast only by Stella feels like -- we typically cast together as a group -- and it will be fun to try this together in person. We will be together at camp about mid-way through this project, so we plan to complete this task then.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Task the 10th is "be willing to take the oath of initiation and all it includes", which is not applicable for this project because we are not actually entering a tradition, so we don't need to take any oaths. But I have suggested that in place of this, we come up with a <b>statement of completion</b> that we can use to affirm that we have done this work, and witnessed one another doing this work. Finally, the 11th thing on the list is<b> "know what a proper person is"</b>, which is directly from the book and is specific to certain traditional context, as well. Stella says it's basically another thing to memorize.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Plus the bonus task,<b> pass the Wicca 101 test!</b></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">~</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So that is what we're actually DOING over the next few months.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">How are we gonna do all that in twelve weeks?</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: arial;">We have a lil schedule. I don't think I'm going to share the actual one we plotted out, because I don't want people who may choose to play along to feel obligated to use the same schedule. I have a LOT of free time right now. Also, I FULLY expect things to fluctuate, so I've tried to build in wiggle room, as well as a grace period when we'll be away at camp, since we'll be engaged in a lot of other magical goodness. I will also be traveling a bit during this time, to and from camp and visiting with people, so it will be an interesting time overall.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But I can tell you how I plan to start out, and a few mile markers along the way.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Twelve Wild Swans</i> is formatted into three paths -- I've talked about this on my channel before, so if you're a regular viewer, you might know this already -- that can be worked in different timelines. The quickest (and most intensive) one is to do a chapter per day, finishing one path a week, and the whole book in three weeks. This is how I originally did it years ago, so that's how I plan to do it again! I plan to dive back into <i>Swans </i>starting in June with our first week of this project (starting June 5, counting from the Mondays for ease), and get that done in the first three weeks... though I have also given myself a fourth week for breathing room. I know myself. Some days I will just NOT be able to do the things.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm also going to start <i>What Witches Do</i> right away. I looked ahead at the chapters and page counts and broke it up into what I think is doable each week. I hope to finish both of those books within the first six weeks, so they're done before camp and our "mid-term" zone.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The circle castings and quarter calls are nice and slow, with plenty of integration and practice time. Each one will be practiced for about two weeks and reviewed later on, staggering the beginning of learning a new one. I'll start learning a circle casting one week, then start learning a quarter call the next week while still practicing the same casting... the following week, I'll be practicing the same quarter call while moving on to learning the second casting, and so on. The pieces of the solitary ritual we will be creating also fit into the schedule in a similar way, with time to create and then practice each piece, beginning after the mid-term. The only ritual piece I'll try to start before that is the altar devotion. Then in the last six weeks I'll focus on writing the various pieces of my ritual.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">But who knows? Given my theatre experience, I already have some pretty good strategies for learning lines, so I might learn these pieces faster and move on to other things. But I will be trying to stick to a nicely spaced out plan in order to prevent things getting too clumped together or procrastinated!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So yeah! Basic idea, I'll be focusing on the two "lessons" books for the first six weeks, focusing on creating the ritual the last six weeks, and working on circle castings, quarter calls, and reading <i>Cauldron </i>throughout the whole time period.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">It is a lot. But it's a fun challenge! And it's so much easier to get things done with a friend working on it, too, for accountability. This has always been my biggest struggle with solitary practice -- if it's just me, I'm much more likely to just let things go.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">~</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Thanks for reading! Keep an eye out here for any more public stuff I decide to share here. Bookmark <a href="https://stellaspeaksup.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Stella's blog</a>, as well.</span></h3><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Check out both of our <b>Patreons</b>, which you can join for $1/month (or more! this is the best way to directly support each of us!) to access any Patrons-only Charm School stuff we post.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>| <a href="http://www.patreon.com/cutewitch772" target="_blank">Cara's Patreon</a> | <a href="https://www.patreon.com/stellaspeaksup" target="_blank">Stella's Patreon</a> |</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">You can find me on socials as <b>@cutewitch772</b>, and Stella as <b>@StellaSpeaksUp</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">And again, my YouTube channel is <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/cutewitch772" target="_blank">cutewitch772</a></b>, and Stella's podcast is </span><b style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.podbean.com/site/podcatcher/index/blog/3GvrGSMoSJx" target="_blank">STELLA SPEAKS</a> !</b></div><div><b style="font-family: arial;"><br /></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IfH7AAgUAWLqjXeh_tqICluJqJOTyC4LOhVB4xl0gStJZKX8OaZBV51Q6xlJawrtTF309lxCvKi3Fy0eIPJtDTdqV-kFGSFPvUuN1FK87fLFC9vgDR0sH9fg4cIn5_e3QmyQiLSl_jhLjgmBjI0O8Fg1jtG-d_9u8rT0eAob2R2XnGolNhqy_tlW7w/s900/cw772%20cauldron.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-IfH7AAgUAWLqjXeh_tqICluJqJOTyC4LOhVB4xl0gStJZKX8OaZBV51Q6xlJawrtTF309lxCvKi3Fy0eIPJtDTdqV-kFGSFPvUuN1FK87fLFC9vgDR0sH9fg4cIn5_e3QmyQiLSl_jhLjgmBjI0O8Fg1jtG-d_9u8rT0eAob2R2XnGolNhqy_tlW7w/w200-h200/cw772%20cauldron.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdjBN_BvX3KUWv-z24jJEN1He7PpU_8gSjD7blj-xk_ps1GtuId0A4btSN2P6KCPvaw7U8uHBXFbgPLP0FvQJ1wMJDPCUL5HBuTEKx_UgCUiM2JQgE0vGScgI_9OEBi0JuBFB5z-ciLSIOrgpf2pTkzIPhjoq0aIuAam2Q0E6tYH5tFnjDH9-_rdg1w/s400/Stella%20Speaks%20logo%20smaller.png" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCdjBN_BvX3KUWv-z24jJEN1He7PpU_8gSjD7blj-xk_ps1GtuId0A4btSN2P6KCPvaw7U8uHBXFbgPLP0FvQJ1wMJDPCUL5HBuTEKx_UgCUiM2JQgE0vGScgI_9OEBi0JuBFB5z-ciLSIOrgpf2pTkzIPhjoq0aIuAam2Q0E6tYH5tFnjDH9-_rdg1w/w200-h200/Stella%20Speaks%20logo%20smaller.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /></b></span></div>Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-9494915722784973062023-05-26T23:02:00.003-04:002023-07-06T12:32:18.409-04:00Silver Broomstick journaling & note-taking prompts!<p><span style="font-family: arial;">Hello, dear readers! It has been a WHILE. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I have some content for you that feels best suited to a blog form.</span></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsamQWxDzaqHl59jFzi9SMd_L-0vc89-d4kaXatJAMIdeIEP5njP74Ebuk78COJ3XO0aM5d-sx5ZE6h_WoISFhMPPFdr8dDwn0GwVJKJwfFahe5HBDeQ-9Zy1HMJDzM-gBEnYGZIeADofj2wDN-AfO--xw5zKlbBP-IriA6Wd8-_mpiGsApwtD4UM26g/s2640/broomstick.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cara holding up a first edition copy of the book described. Cover art depicts a Witch with long hair flying on a broomstick in front of a Full Moon." border="0" data-original-height="1488" data-original-width="2640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsamQWxDzaqHl59jFzi9SMd_L-0vc89-d4kaXatJAMIdeIEP5njP74Ebuk78COJ3XO0aM5d-sx5ZE6h_WoISFhMPPFdr8dDwn0GwVJKJwfFahe5HBDeQ-9Zy1HMJDzM-gBEnYGZIeADofj2wDN-AfO--xw5zKlbBP-IriA6Wd8-_mpiGsApwtD4UM26g/w320-h180/broomstick.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">My copy of <i>To Ride a Silver Broomstick</i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;">I've been reading Silver Ravenwolf's 1993 title, </span><i style="font-family: arial;">To Ride a Silver Broomstick,</i><span style="font-family: arial;"> and making content about it for </span><a href="https://www.patreon.com/cutewitch772" style="font-family: arial;" target="_blank">my Patreon</a><span style="font-family: arial;">. In addition to that, I've been making notes about where in the book Silver offers prompts for </span><b style="font-family: arial;">"stuff to journal about or copy down in your notebook"</b><span style="font-family: arial;">, and I figured, if I'm making notes about it for personal use... why not share that info for anyone else who may be into it?<br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I am not completely copying pieces of the text here, so please view this as a companion to having the book in front of you. But I am summarizing the prompts in my own words, and some of them are things you could do without it having to be connected to the book, so I imagine some people might find this and use some of these prompts just because you want to explore these topics! And where I think that is most possible, I am writing this with that in mind. But for some of these, it is really connected to what she writes about in the book, so just know that not all of this will make sense outside the context of the book.</span></p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Broomstick </i>is separated into four sections of varying lengths, and I've finished <b>sections one and two </b>at this point. I just posted a video to Patreon with my thoughts about these first two sections, and that's what I'm focusing on for this post. I'll be doing another Patreon video with my overall thoughts when I finish the whole book, and I'll also either make another post here with the prompts for sections three and four at that point, or I'll add them into this post so they're all together. Not sure about that yet, but we'll ride that broomstick when we get to it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Notes:</b></span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">My copy of the book is a first edition. I'm including page numbers, but I'm not sure that holds up to the newer printed editions of this text. From what I've been told, the text itself has not been updated, but since the formatting has, the page numbers may not match. I'm also noting the chapter these are from so you can find it that way.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Some of these are definite journal prompts, like "write about your thoughts on the word 'Witch' at this time", while others are things to copy down into your notes. Others are "do an activity and then write about your experience with it". There are other things in the book that you definitely could make notes about even though she doesn't specifically say to, and I'm noting some of them here for the chapters that don't have explicit "get out your notebook and do this..." prompts. But if you like to journal, I'm sure you could read this and find even more things to write about! So this is not an exhaustive list.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The summary of the subject for each chapter here is not necessarily the actual title of the chapter. I just wanted to give you some idea of the content of each as it relates to the writing pieces.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">As I read and work through the book, I am doing some of these exercises and not others. I'm reading this 20 years into my own practice, so some of these don't feel necessary for me to write down at this time. In addition to noting what the exercises are, I'm also noting here whether I've done them or not and why!</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">---</span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"></h3><h2 style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial;">To Ride a Silver Broomstick<br /></i><span style="font-family: arial;">"stuff to write in your notebook" prompts!</span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><u>Section One</u></span></h2><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Ch. 1: </span><span style="font-family: arial;">getting started</span></b></h3><div><span style="font-family: arial;">(all the prompts from this chapter can easily be done without the book itself)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 5 - write an imaginary letter to Silver with a few paragraphs: your current definition of "Witch", your current description of the word "Witchcraft", "your general knowledge on how you feel society in general accepts the practice of Witchcraft, and why this is so", and close with a goal you'd like to complete by the time you finish the book. Sign & date.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I did this one from the perspective of where my definitions and goals are now, and had a lot of fun doing it! It's definitely different from how I would have answered these questions at the start of my path, around age 12.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>My friend Stella, with whom I am embarking on a journey with <i>To Stir a Magick Cauldron</i> (the next book in this series) over the next few months, also did this prompt and put it on their blog! You can <a href="https://stellaspeaksup.blogspot.com/2023/05/dear-silver-ravenwolf-charm-school.html" target="_blank">read Stella's version of this imaginary letter to Silver here</a>. Currently, mine is private, but if I decide to share it in the future, I'll let you know!</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 8 - read the <a href="https://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos056.htm" target="_blank">Principles of Belief from the American Council of Witches from 1974</a> (reproduced in the book on pages 6 & 7, but I also linked the version from Sacred Texts so you can read it even without the book). Make note of the ones you don't understand or don't agree with, and why. Revisit your notes over time to see how your views may change as you learn more along your path.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I did this in pencil in the book itself, circling the ones I don't agree with, and making notes about what language would need to change about it for me to agree with it.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 8-9 - journal about how you came to this point in your life, current needs, expectations for what you'll gain by studying the Craft, any fears you have about this path. She urges readers to be honest with themselves about where they're coming from with this, and to examine why. Another piece of this she suggests is to write your own statement of purpose and revisit it, along with your other notes, one year later.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I did this, again, from my perspective now. So I don't have the same fears as I may have when I was first starting this path, but I spent some time thinking about any that are associated with my current work and next steps along my own path. And I wrote about what has brought me to this point in my path where I'm reading this book now, 30 years after it was published!</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Ch. 2 - info on various Witchcraft Traditions known to the author at the time</b></h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 15 - copy down the names of traditions described in this chapter and a short version of their descriptions, leaving space to add more info about each, and add more, as you continue to learn.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I didn't do this right now, because I've done it in the past! I have so many notebook pages and index cards and book marginalia with notes about this type of thing. So for me, I don't currently need to make notes about this again. But for a beginner, it might not be necessary to copy ALL of them, but you could make notes about which sound appealing to you right now, based on her brief descriptions.</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Ch. 3 - a glossary of terms</b></h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 25 - copy down the words and definitions given in this chapter, leaving room to add more as you learn.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Same as above, I already have notes on stuff like this so I didn't do it again. I did, however, make pencil notes in the margins about any definitions she gives that I disagree with, or terms that I've just never really come across in my 20 years as a Pagan Witch. Some of these terms might have been more common years ago, but I don't really hear people using them much now.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Also, I have a question for anyone reading this book as a beginner at any point -- I'm wondering, does having a glossary chapter like this one so early in the book feel helpful to you, or confusing? I could see knowing some words' meanings before they come up in the book being helpful, but I also feel like this glossary goes into a bunch of stuff that I didn't need to know early on, myself, so I could see it being potentially overwhelming to beginners. Let me know how it felt to you, since everyone will have different experiences as they learn!</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ch. 4 - Religion and "Science"</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 29 - use three pages of your notebook to write about your feelings on the subjects of "Science", "Religion", and "Religion vs. Science." The way Silver is using these words is contextualized in the book, so I do think this prompt would be understood differently when removed from the text and her discussion of it.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>From my own reading of it, she seems to be using the term "science" here to refer to magical practices, what I might call the "ritual tech" and actionable "stuff we do", compared to the religious belief aspects. I did this in a short paragraph in the book itself (in pencil), because these are topics I have developed my views on over years, so I didn't feel the need to take three pages to expand at this time.</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ch. 5 - magical timing, special days, Sun & Moon based dates</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 38 - write down the eight major sabbats, a brief description, their dates, and what day of the week they fall on this year.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I do have general notes about the sabbats among my own learning notes from over the years, and I do note where they fall each year on my calendars.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 41 - write down the major moon phases and a description of each. make a list of the things you'd like to improve in your life, and then make a note of which moon phase(s) would be appropriate to do a working for those things. Refer to the list over time, checking things off with the date as you complete them, or crossing off ones that no longer apply.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I didn't do this, but I love it! I've been working with the Moon phases as magical timing for my work for years now, and I think this is a great exercise for learning to incorporate them into your workings. 10/10 recommend people try this, and note that you can be new to Moon magick at ANY point in your path. Someone could have been practicing other aspects for many years but still be new to working with the Moon phases.</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ch. 6 - Deities & learning about them</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 45 - make note of your current ideas about what the Goddess and God might look like in humanized form. Consider their physical appearance, what they are wearing (or not), their personalities, anything else about them. This leads into an exercise where you close your eyes and imagine what it would be like to meet each of them, and how that conversation would go, making notes about this imagined journey in your book. (She doesn't call it a meditation or trance in the text, but it basically is; daydreaming and imagining is part of those skill sets.)</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I have done exercises like these in the past, and I think they're good ones. Even if you're not super into working with deity concepts, it can be an interesting exercise to see what your brain does when you ask it to imagine various things, and look back at those notes over time as your perceptions on various concepts evolve over time and with different life experience.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 47 - Silver not only encourages keeping all deity and pantheon research in your notebook, with separate pages for each so there is room to add as you go. She also lists a number of questions to keep in mind while researching pantheons and deities you may want to work with. Since I'm not reproducing an entire page of her book here, this one is definitely specific to the text. (eBook and audio book versions can be checked out from the library system via apps, at least in the US! so if you don't have the book you may be able to look at or listen to a copy for free.)</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I think the questions are awesome, so while they are not given as a thing to copy into your notes directly, I wanted to mention them here because I think they could be really helpful! Had I had these at the time when I was starting this path, I think I would have absolutely copied them down and used them for my research, and hey, I might just do that for the future, too. I will say that I DO have pages in my old notebooks that were just for deity and pantheon research, as prompted by other books I read. And now I keep some of those notes digitally.</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><u>Section Two</u></h2><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ch. 7 - magic(k)al names</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 59 - on a new notebook page, make notes about the strengths you want your magickal name to stand for. A little further down, make a space for noting the various deities, plants, animals, elements, and other characteristics you may want to incorporate into a name. Use this page to add, remove, refine, and play with ideas for a magical name over time. Then when you have chosen one, write a "statement of affirmation" about why you chose the name and how you chose it. Sign and date.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I have a few magical names at this point, some known only to me and the Universe / my godds, some used only with certain people or in certain contexts. I wrote a few paragraphs about how each of those names came to me. It's a fun one!</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ch. 8 - meditation, visualization, dreams</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>there are no specific things given in this chapter to write down, but it covers basics of meditation, creative visualization, and dream work, so there is definitely a lot one COULD make notes about. She does encourage record-keeping as you engage with these practices, and gives some tips on how to do that, there just aren't any specific prompts in the text. There are, however, a basic meditation format and visualization exercises, so you could make notes about those things (like write down the meditation steps for reference later) or journal about your experiences with doing the activities given.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ch. 9 - personal spiritual space, altars</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 79 - make notes, draw diagrams, etc. of your ideas for how you would create a personal magical working space. She mostly writes about this from the perspective of how to transform an existing room in your house (consider whether you'd paint the walls, install shelves, change out lighting fixtures, utilize curtains and blinds), but for visioning exercise purposes, I think you could start from an imaginary "anything goes" space and just design your own indoor and/or outdoor magical spaces from your dream version of them at this time. Then you can see what things you may be able to incorporate into your real, physical spaces. Refer to these notes/vision boards over time to see what still appeals to you, what tastes have changed, and so on.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>Have I done this? Kind of, over time... Not as formally as this. And perhaps I should! Though I also play The Sims 4 (when I can, which isn't often lately, boooo) and I have built altars in the game before lol. So I think doing this now, I would build my ideal altar room / outdoor spaces in The Sims 4 as a fun start!</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 83 - questions to consider (and answer in your notes) about your altar! What kind of altar do you want, and where will you put it? Will you use altar cloths? What will you use for lighting? What things will go on the altar (tools, representations of the Elements, or deity, or other things)? Also, she reminds readers that the things you use do not have to be expensive. You can use things you already own, make things, utilize natural objects (the most basic wand is a stick you can collect on a walk outdoors!), or... as I have done... find a LOT of things inexpensively at thrift stores, dollar stores, and so on.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I've absolutely done this before, and I've given similar prompts to beginners who asked me for advice on where to start. I need to make a new blog post about it, because I had done one on tumblr years ago but that's all long gone for me now. I think that designing an altar space guides you to ask yourself a lot of useful questions about your beliefs in that moment and your intentions for your path.</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ch. 10 - tools and things to use and store</h3><div><ul><li>there are no specific "write this down" prompts in this chapter, either, but it's all about the THINGS you might want to use, and the types of things that could be found in Silver's magical cabinet. So you could, if desired, use this chapter to prompt journaling and list-making about the types of items you may be interested in working with, ideas for where to obtain or how to make them, how you'll store them*, and what you plan to use them for**.</li></ul>* a few storage notes from me: here we're talking about things like, herbs should be in airtight containers, ideally in a dark and cool place like inside a solid cupboard. crystal balls or "gazing balls" (many of which are simply glass) should be covered when not in use so they don't magnify a stray sunbeam through a window and start a fire... it has happened. candles should be stored away from direct sunlight and heat so they don't melt. just a few examples of what it means to consider how you plan to store your tools! to me these types of questions are far more about the practical safety and utility reasons, than about any spooky stories people have added onto them.<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"></ul>** one thing I've come across online that bothers me is when I see people posting about a beautiful, ornate, expensive tool they bought, only to ask people to let them know in the comments what they're supposed to use it for... Do yourself and your budget a favor and research what something is used for BEFORE you set about buying one! You might realize you don't need that thing at all in your own practice. You don't need to have something just because other Witches have it. Some things are used in certain traditions but not others, and you may or may not use it at all in your personal path. If you are like me, when you are curious about possibly using a certain tool, you might start by repurposing something you already have, or get something inexpensive first, to start working with to see if you even like that tool or would actually use it. Then if you really like it and know you will actively use it, maybe then you begin to consider spending some money on a "fancier" one, whether that means buying supplies to make it yourself, or saving up for an artisan-practitioner's handiwork.</div><div><br /></div><div>Right now, I think the most I've spent on a "traditional tool" up to this point is maybe $30... I think one was $20 and another was $25. But I got those items after 20 years of practice, having worked with simpler versions for years, or mostly not using those things at all. Most recently, I got a matching set of two metal goblets for $10 for the pair, at a resale shop that donates all proceeds to an animal shelter. Probably my most obviously "Witchy" looking tool, a small cast iron cauldron with a handle, I got for $15 at a resale shop in the country, where things like iron cooking pots are a lot more common than in the city. I also used to work at a Witchcraft shop so I'm pretty familiar with what reasonable retail pricing is these days, and I can tell when a shop is REALLY over-charging their customers. Make note of the area the shop is in, as wealthier and more tourist-driven areas will tend to have higher prices in general. (I'll probably make another post about this topic in the future.)</div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ch. 11 - cleanse, consecrate, charge</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>this chapter again has no specific prompts to write about, but it talks about how to cleanse, consecrate, and charge/empower tools and other items, so notes about that could be useful. This chapter also provides pages that are templates for record-keeping about spells and rituals, so readers may want to copy those down if they seem helpful.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I also recorded a video about Cleansing, Consecrating, and Charging back in 2022 that hasn't been posted yet. I plan on posting it soon, and just want to note that I made it before I read this chapter, so it doesn't incorporate anything learned from this book in particular! But I am sure that Silver's book<i> Solitary Witch</i>, which I read years ago, also had definitions of these terms that greatly influenced how I learned them. So I'm not saying Silver didn't have anything to do with how I see these concepts, just that the upcoming video is not based on THIS chapter, which I hadn't read yet lol.</li></ul></div><div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ch. 12 - record-keeping</h3><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 115 - write or find a book blessing to add into your notebook. She doesn't provide one in this book, just says to take some time to think about how you would word your own blessing that both protects your book and dedicates it to a specific purpose.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>This is definitely something that was also in <i>Solitary Witch</i>, because I copied a book blessing given by Silver into my own Book of Shadows back then.</li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>pg. 116 - review the table of contents for Silver's own book, and make notes on what kinds of things you might want to research for yourself. Add your own topics, and note how you might go about doing this research.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>I have notebooks full of notes on many of these subjects, so I didn't do this exercise right now. As for how I would go about doing the research, for me, public library books are always a big one, as well as now, of course, the internet!</li></ul></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>~</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: left;">Recommended Reading</h2><div>Speaking of ways to do more research, Silver also provides recommended reading lists at the end of some chapters! So she already gives some options of other books that existed at the time that could be good places to look for more info on various topics covered here.</div><div><br /></div><div>With those, I make a note on each list of what I've already read, what I own a copy of but haven't read yet, and what books are on my list to find a copy of somewhere (including library apps to check out eBooks and audio books). Those left unmarked are ones that I'm not currently interested in looking into. But that may change in the future.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you were a student like me who loved being given reading lists so you could check off titles and know some others to look for in the future, you will love the recommended reading sections.</div><div><br /></div><div>~</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Thanks for reading!</h3><div>Those are my notes on the writing prompts from the first two sections of <i>Broomstick!</i> Given how long this was... I may indeed be putting the ones from sections three and four in a separate blog post, depending on how many there end up being! The later sections cover a lot more exercises to DO and practice, so it'll be interesting to see if the number of things to WRITE about changes at all. Though, of course, with any of those, a built in prompt is "write about your experiences doing this exercise." =)</div><div><br /></div><div><b></b></div><blockquote><div><b>EDIT! <i>Check-in from July 2023 here.</i></b></div><div>I have now finished reading the whole book (and posted the second video with the rest of my thoughts on my Patreon), and it turns out there are a LOT fewer journaling prompts like this in sections 3 and 4 of the book! So I will not be doing an entirely separate blog post, I'll just add the few there are to this post later. And yes, as I suspected, there are mainly a lot of notes to write about our experiences while doing the work, keep records, etc. But not as many specific prompts like those above.</div></blockquote><div></div><div><br /></div><div>~</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Other Suggestions + Content from Me...</h3><div>If you're really into stuff like this -- that is, working through Witchcraft books with exercises and things to practice -- <b>you might also like <i>The Spiral Dance</i> by Starhawk</b>, which is a book that eventually lead to my tradition, the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft, and I have a <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvJMMY7tqGKsOp2Y3zQmvitrQglosBW6C" target="_blank">playlist of videos going over discussion prompts for Spiral Dance</a>! I recommend the most updated version (20th Anniversary edition) and that you also read the notes in the back where Starhawk gives thoughts on the original text from ten and twenty years later. A LOT has changed about that text and the tradition since it was published in 1979, and I find that when people assume the tradition today looks exactly like it did then, they are not at all getting an accurate image! But my videos also address that a bit.</div><div><br /></div><div>There is also another book from Reclaiming with a lot of stuff to do, called <i><b>The Twelve Wild Swans</b></i>, which I've also talked about on my channel in the past, and will be working on a similar playlist of discussion prompts for this year, as I'm planning to work through the book again (for the third time!) next month. =)</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, this is a post on a local community blog that I wrote about the three books that existed at the time (I would now add a fourth) that I consider <a href="https://ohioreclaiming.blogspot.com/2019/04/reclaiming-introductory-books.html" target="_blank">introductory books to Reclaiming Tradition</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>~</div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Thanks for reading, I'll see you around the internet!</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Blessings~<br />-C-</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div>P.S. I am leaving comments on for this post so people may respond to my questions, or ask their own. Please just note that I do not check comments sections frequently, so it may be a while before you get any response, if one is forthcoming. But I will eventually read everything that is written, even if I don't reply. =)</div></span></div>Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-56720170467095379772021-03-13T02:28:00.003-05:002021-03-13T02:54:47.444-05:00Witch Trials Memorials video resources<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Hello, all!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This post is the resource list from my video about Witch Trials memorials. I will be doing another video about other witch trials I learned about this past week, so there may be some overlapping resources, but this one is just the resources I used for the Memorials video.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">The resources should mostly be in the order here that I mentioned them in the video, except the statue from Virginia is in the USA section, though it wasn't mentioned until the end of the video along with the statue from Ireland.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Images in this post (same as in the video) are from the sites linked here. For ease of citing sources I only used images from these articles.</span></p><h3 style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://youtu.be/agzqQJKQ_kA" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial;">Watch my Witch Trials Memorials video here!</span></a></b></h3><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial;">~</span></b></p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Resources and links:</span></h1><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">USA</span></h2><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Salem, Massachusetts</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Salem Hanging Site memorial:</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">"<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/site-salem-witch-trial-hangings-finally-has-memorial-180964049/" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Site of the Salem Witch Trial Hangings Finally Has a Memorial</a>"</span><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">July 2017 - Smithsonianmag.com</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Salem Hanging Site memorial in Salem, MA. Semi circle low stone wall at the base of a hill. Names carved into stones throughout. Oak tree sapling growing in the center." height="220" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/djjmSgcwJ_YQTsdnENoZ6WiqhbooCOmp9lhvzTQeN2BuQ7ElmFfzi1hD_jBzwZ2mhfRLP7n0J7kksKgRqjHAwl-CSSB37E2I9whRl9xNR8yjazMNh6GvU97RmX71H8VwaacigTOh=w294-h220" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="294" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Salem Hanging Site memorial, Salem, MA.<br />Dedicated July 2017.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span><a name='more'></a></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Salem Witch Trials memorial:</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">"<a href="https://voicesagainstinjustice.org/memorial/">About the Memorial » Voices Against Injustice</a>" (Dedicated 5 August 1992)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"<a href="http://www.salemweb.com/memorial/memorial.php" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Salem Witch Trials The Memorial</a>"</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - salemweb.com</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">T</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">his site includes photos of the individual stones with dates of execution, and a timeline of events.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2648e6b2-7fff-3fc1-1542-05db3046483f"><span style="font-family: arial;"><div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Salem Witch Trials memorial park. Stone walls line a small, grassy area with a couple of trees in the center. Stone benches jut out from the walls. 20 benches total. Each bench has the name of a Salem Witch Trials victim and their date of execution carved into it." height="239" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/N4Armr70_MnFY6ctlnaQ1i2nna0tMVoOm1guVLjbWdiiqPFEgjzG1QSrRd0OrKqdQOK85fW06WyLkBbpddv0NtSydU2WJ_wm-EXSJq5O8zx1PbKV8dWN-roGQ4VwDoAGsWpxJNOI=w320-h239" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salem Witch Trials memorial, Salem, MA.<br />Dedicated 5 August, 1992.</td></tr></tbody></table><span id="docs-internal-guid-c87e2006-7fff-e0e3-0b31-e7cbc6e1ddc2"><span style="background-color: #ffe599; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Marblehead, Massachusetts</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Wilmot Redd memorial stone:</span></h4><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"<a href="https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/old-burial-hill/">Old Burial Hill In Marblehead, MA</a>" - stone erected in 1998</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Memorial stone dedicated to Wilmot Redd, only victim of the Salem Witch Trials who was from Marblehead." height="263" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/URGdL3Q2fRCMesdARzUVYuQFqvCFydxA8t5qgyNhdx_HgFnZeAJEI7j72BZrdHDhbhuD4Dma_WI1FI9v5JM5nE10Xzf3bPiNZfYJZI1QuGlNxv5pM_Ygi22dL2LE2N9EN0PUS8ID=w320-h263" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Wilmot Redd memorial stone, Old Burial Hill,<br />Marblehead, MA. Erected in 1998.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Danvers, Massachusetts</span></h3><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7b108d24-7fff-7eb1-9fba-66442912dfee"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">used to be called Salem Village and is where accusations began.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Salem Village Witchcraft Victims Memorial:</span></h4><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Dedicated May 1992 - "<a href="https://katemcolby.com/salem-witch-trial-historical-sites/">Salem Witch Trial Historical Sites in Danvers</a>", Kate M. Colby</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This page also mentions the Rebecca Nurse Homestead - “Nurse family burial ground. It features a memorial to Rebecca Nurse, a second statue honoring the witch trial victims.”</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Salem Village Witchcraft Victims memorial in Danvers, MA. A stone altar with podium and Book of Life carving. Stone wall behind features carved quotes from witchcraft trials." height="201" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xN89hrb_9uwYF_suJ8hDnuIuQu0sApOJNRDT75-pdC5O7bDDtxndz-ucQr5D9Rb0g5LEY7ih2fcJ_dnO6V6Ud88u8DYi7qOc8VY3i-RHScMSvZMAZU67l_5Sv77R1oCCOILH0wUy=w302-h201" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="302" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Salem Village Witchcraft Victims memorial,<br />Danvers, MA. Dedicated May 1992.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Virginia</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Grace Sherwood statue:</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;">"<a href="http://historyarch.com/2019/10/31/grace-sherwood-the-witch-of-pungo-truth-and-fiction/">Grace Sherwood, The Witch of Pungo– Truth and Fiction</a>"</span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB5E_BHeWENQS6n-Xm22NQNv8-Qw849O3mW0l6VpYQwcNGKauG-buG805xQaIUOPrIHgHykwc14foyj3ziWGElMMFBG67uPS2-CtT6_28cQXNYasQStK-Kr_DEfJPlHcQgy72CAAVlcZPs/s658/sherwood.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Grace Sherwood "Witch of Pungo" statue in Virginia. Depicts a woman holding a bundle of cloth and herbs, and a raccoon tugging at her skirts. Memorial stone to the right tells her story as a healer convicted of witchcraft and survived being ducked in the river." border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="658" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB5E_BHeWENQS6n-Xm22NQNv8-Qw849O3mW0l6VpYQwcNGKauG-buG805xQaIUOPrIHgHykwc14foyj3ziWGElMMFBG67uPS2-CtT6_28cQXNYasQStK-Kr_DEfJPlHcQgy72CAAVlcZPs/w320-h209/sherwood.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Grace Sherwood statue and stone, Virginia.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">~</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">EUROPE</span></h2><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-e41cdef9-7fff-893c-73e6-ec00271a128d"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">"<a href="https://www.equaltimes.org/in-memory-of-the-witches#.YD-1GWlOkwA" style="text-decoration-line: none;">In Memory of the Witches - Equal Times</a>"</span></span></span></h2><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">- This article kicked off a lot of my Europe research and I reference this article multiple times throughout the video!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The above article mentions these first two <b>Witchcraft museums</b>, and I later found the third through other searches:</span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.annagoeldimuseum.ch/index.php/de/">Anna Göldi Museum</a> - Switzerland</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="http://www.turismo.navarra.es/esp/organice-viaje/recurso.aspx?o=4040&">Museo de las Brujas</a> - Navarro, Spain</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://museotriora.it/">Museo Etnografico a della Stregoneria di Triora</a> - Triora, Italy</span></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-254b73d8-7fff-ea7c-0ab0-b8004b50e9ae"><h3 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Norway</span></h3><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4><h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Steilneset memorial:</span></h4><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />"<a href="https://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/routes/varanger?attraction=Steilneset">Steilneset - National Scenic Routes in Norway</a>" - Norwegian Arctic - many photos</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;">"<a href="https://www.norwegianamerican.com/vardo-memorial-honors-witches-of-finnmark/">Vardø Memorial honors Witches of Finnmark</a>"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Steilneset memorial in the Norwegian arctic. Foreground, an art installation of a flaming chair, with large mirrored discs overhead reflecting the firelight. Background, a long hallway-like building with windows set in the side: 91 windows, one for each victim of the witchcraft trials here." height="205" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/4fZi1o5mFXMsWcNBighLvRSYg62pgawlNiMw2CLAyfzMfkV1EBkdA6QwYS4GX0CCB1xQlmJcwGxOX5o16V70RBEhkuHEeVpnkS6kUlA0BFK4B2w1J0TGkLlG8byhjVjx-_VTE_Dw=w285-h205" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="285" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Steilneset memorial in Vardø, Norway.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Sweden</span></div></h3><h4><span style="font-family: arial;">Torsåker witch trials memorial:</span></h4><h4><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"<a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/news/beyond-salem-6-lesser-known-witch-trials">Beyond Salem: 6 Lesser-Known Witch Trials" - History .com</a></span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/news/beyond-salem-6-lesser-known-witch-trials"></a>"<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tors%C3%A5ker_witch_trials">Torsåker witch trials" - wiki</a></span><br /><br /></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Large memorial stone with carved writing stands at the edge of a clearing in the woods in Sweden, a marker to the victims of mass executions." height="190" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/GZ97BRNJt8VJKsLILOdgr6AYgh5BVlNe346QUinNvSfgtnfQSBaRfXKQkPYR82zqcl1qZHaozgi0t0QtqP8D3vuFPcZI1_3CvbwHeluUVUWQ_ZdJVMAl5AhzJwCLMDrXICV6_a_6=w285-h190" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="285" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Torsåker witch trials memorial stone,<br />Sweden, placed in 1975.</span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Germany</span></h3><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fulda memorial:</span></h4><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-423bf0a6-7fff-f899-6366-0ab6a16b5842" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulda_witch_trials" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Fulda witch trials"</a> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">- wiki - memorial established 2008</span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Fulda memorial stone, monolithic stone standing on its own. A plaque in the grass next to it describes the memorial and dedication." height="257" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Y8iizTKxvv-nDmh70VWa5L1YtB5fh7hUtkZBCg3jqLhBCDUIpYIy9TQsRSqYEBCGwxB47KolUhRBLpl-9_SHPbP-3VA-PRA9d-T83ZQko4O7a-mZZDRje0xGKAOoz7d65rwrB7s8=w179-h257" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="179" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Fulda witch trials memorial,<br />Germany, established 2008.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-f28378c2-7fff-0f9c-81d7-d6c3dd949bda" style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Bernau monument:</span></h4><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt">Witch-hunt</a>" - wiki <br /></span></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><h4><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“Monument for the victims of the witch-hunts of 16th- and 17th-century Bernau, Germany by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annelie_Grund">Annelie Grund</a>” 2005</span></span></div></h4></blockquote><h4><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Wooden pillar monument with pieces of glass designed to look like they have been shattered sticking out of, or into, the top. Names of witch trials victims are carved along the outer side of the wood." height="221" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/29pEBmF_4HVlBS4caQ38g7pogI_XD7RfMF5yUkqloAD5qX7ZQq24J1e7N70DWhzrOcl5DPZBCKRfMAbdMSJ5cAkKtLLx6uYs9lJmUHvWeE2-P9wUqdizAh7uV0dEz3WP2Ibf12eu=w166-h221" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="166" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Bernau witch trials monument<br />made by Annelie Grund, 2005.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1621c72c-7fff-c0d3-99c1-577f26c17204" style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p></h4><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">England</span></h3><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Devon Witches memorial:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bideford_witch_trial">Bideford witch trial" - wiki</a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burton_at_Bideford">Burton at Bideford museum</a>" has a permanent display related to these t</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">rials.</span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Plaque on a brick wall honoring victims of the Bideford, Devon Witch Trials. Victims names and year of death are inscribed." height="181" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/5nP_zb4YYcjI2QUDmJf1dOpsEEZ7hiRsC25mHKInDjxgrX5xLO98JQNUy2v6bSELMg8SehHPAzuOR0vMp3whmhcGs9q-DbPc9JRuKrEDS11H1Pv-c7wVwc8PxTi556l_LkHFcjB8=w208-h181" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="208" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Devon Witches memorial plaque,<br />Rougemont Castle in Exeter.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Essex Witch Hunt Victims memorial:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-4fd84854-7fff-945c-4460-8da83b7439cb" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Essex Witch Hunt Victims Memorial –</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Atlas Obscura</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Memorial stone lying on the grass, surrounded by fallen, wet leaves. Carving on the stone dedicates it to the victims of the Essex witch hunts." height="212" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/JNgOSO57BHsxJB3wEIereFuZwgdlCwKOOvNTI4oVbVkrkjGS-_OA59sZJmrh5p8Lx5Hgj-Ul2QZhKXltKXgx9PTeXw-BXfJt1WGMA1UyoMYzUp9IQy8plPMS_MjkphVD6nMM5bKT=w320-h212" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="320" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Essex Witch Hunt Victims memorial,<br />Colchester Castle.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></h3><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Scotland</span></h3><p></p><div></div><blockquote><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">As for Scotland’s memorials, Goodare laments that most of them are little-known and historically inappropriate. “I sent an email, some time ago, to the Scottish government, suggesting that it should create one, but they replied saying that they have a policy of not paying for memorials,” he explains.</span></i></span></div><p></p><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">- Julian Goodare, Historian, quoted in "</span><a href="https://www.equaltimes.org/in-memory-of-the-witches#.YD-1GWlOkwA" style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Memory of the Witches" - Equal Times</span></a></span></div></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Maggie Wall monument:</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/monument-for-a-witch-called-maggie-wall">Maggie Wall's Memorial – Dunning, Scotland</a> - Atlas Obscura</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dunning/maggiewall/index.html" style="font-weight: normal;">Maggie Wall's Memorial Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt="Maggie Wall monument, Dunning, Scotland. Pile of stones on a small grassy area, topped with a stone pillar and cross. White paint on the stones names it as dedicated to Maggie Wall, representing Scotland's witch hunt victims." height="231" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/T30F36PdQN1mqfs-hRheme1jBgoGYLjrcd9Ob29d61DJWT9840QYr8m3rEunsjI5UjphStitTAeGDihYH8Rh0iIXihVne4oFGQ6Ac5-F5dqrGPgZaRZJG76tJaQEbVO_bu0nPdQg=w310-h231" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="310" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Maggie Wall monument, Dunning, Scotland</span></td></tr></tbody></table><h4><div></div><p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></p></h4><h3 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Ireland</span></h3><span style="font-family: arial;"><h4><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></h4>"Dame Alice Kytler and her maid Petronella" statue:</span><h4><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://historycollection.com/10-little-known-witch-trials-from-history/">10 Little Known Witch Trials From History</a> - HistoryCollection</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img alt=""Dame Alice Kytler and her maid Petronella" statue in Ireland. White, carved stone statue sitting in grass across a roadway from a field where sheep are grazing. Two women are visible in the statue, one facing the side is looking slightly up to the sky. The other kneels facing the viewer, knife in her hand and a fish on the ground before her." height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/jYQaWT8MLc7O53xHgwdc2Pr9QrJXvWRptEtXwU-mJy8Eyl5HYT9oy4gQfaruGOHqP8Wsmtks8d7Q0Z9G8l5ToFhxBXe5pD9aIMR-W_-yG4f3Og_ME9EQHMadAQFldPcR_pTqnpbB=w214-h320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px;" width="214" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"Dame Alice Kytler and her maid<br />Petronella" statue, Ireland.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><span id="docs-internal-guid-dd38a7a6-7fff-38af-54b7-16bfc1c04b5b" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></div></h4><h2 style="text-align: left;"></h2><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">~</span></span></h2><div><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><span style="font-weight: normal;"><h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Witch-Hunts still happen around the world today.</span></h2></span><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt">Witch-hunt</a>" - wiki</span></h3><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This article covers today's witch-hunts </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">occurring</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> in areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, South-Central Asia, Papua New Guinea, and Saudi Arabia.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">"There are some countries that have legislation against the practice of sorcery. The only country where witchcraft remains legally punishable by death is Saudi Arabia."</span><br /><br /><br /></span><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">~</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Thank you for reading, and for watching/listening to my video. Many hours went into this and the final video is less than 30 minutes! I'm very happy with how it turned out, and I hope it is helpful or interesting.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This video, as with all my public channel videos, was sponsored by my supporters at <a href="http://Patreon.com/cutewitch772">Patreon.com/cutewitch772</a>. If you enjoyed this, or my other content, $1 or more can help support the work I do and make sure I continue to have the hours to do it.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Until next time,</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Blessings~<br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">-C-</span></span></div><h4><div><br /></div><p></p></h4>Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-35951004742231599162021-01-10T23:52:00.000-05:002021-01-10T23:52:16.630-05:00Death & Dying (Pagan Resources)Hey, Readers,<div><br /></div><div>This post has been sitting in my Drafts folder here for the past year, just about. 2020 saw a lot of unnecessary death, and though I had been planning to share this beforehand, once certain events occurred last year, it no longer seemed appropriate timing to share. On the other hand, maybe some people would have considered it the perfect time to discuss death and dying and grief resources, but to me it felt like it may be construed as "using" the situation to seem relevant, get more views, or whatever. It truly just wasn't the best timing. So I've saved this post, and now, here it is.<br /><br />Early last year, someone wrote to someone I work with, asking for help finding information about Pagan beliefs and practices around death and grief. The questions were forwarded on to me, and this was my response at the time. I saved it in case it could be helpful to others. Now it's been another year, and I'm sure there are other resources that can be mentioned (I think a few new books on the subject have come out more recently, though I haven't read them yet), but this was my answer as it stood at that time, early last year.</div><span></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Questions:</b><br /><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>What are beliefs about death and dying?</li><li>What is the belief about autonomy or self-determination regarding treatment or end of life decision making? (Who makes treatment decisions, how much information does the dying person want, etc)</li><li>What are the death rituals? Is there a focus on burial and/or cremation?</li><li>How does bereavement play out -- are there expected practices after someone has died?</li><li>Is there anything that individuals do in order to help with the grieving or bereavement process? (Ex. therapy, community organization)</li></ol><div><br /></div>And my response was as follows:</div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br />My top resource, and one I'm happy I FINALLY got around to reading last year (2019), is<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i><b>The Pagan Book of Living & Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over</b> </i>by Starhawk, M. Macha Nightmare & The Reclaiming Collective (1997)</li></ul>It starts with explaining some basic beliefs, and includes personal stories of dealing with death and loss, as well as rituals, prayers, etc. and even resource information about Living Wills vs. Last Will & Testament, health care proxy, all kinds of info. There are rituals for remembering loved ones after they are gone, as well as practices and support for the dying while they are still with us. This is THE resource on this topic -- the main one I've ever heard recommended by others, and certainly the best I've read on the overall subject. This would be the one to answer those questions about things like autonomy and self-determination, personal preferences people might have for burial vs cremation, as well as bereavement and what we do when people die.<br /><br /><br />By contrast, many resources would answer that first question about the basic "beliefs about death and dying." I'm sure I don't know them all -- most books tend to include the respective tradition's or author's personal views on basic things like the afterlife, reincarnation, etc.<ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i><b>Eight Sabbats for Witches</b></i> by Janet & Stewart Farrar includes a chapter on Requiem, and talks about their personal/traditional views on death, including a ritual for Requiem as their coven/tradition would do it (<i>Eight Sabbats</i> comes from an Alexandrian Wiccan perspective).</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Raymond Buckland's <i><b>Complete Book of Witchcraft</b></i> talks about reincarnation, afterlife, and beliefs about "between lifetimes" in Lesson Two, and Lesson Eight provides short rituals for rites of passage such as birth, marriage, and death.</li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i><b>Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions</b></i> by Starhawk, Diane Baker, and Anne Hill touches on how to approach the subject of death with children, and includes some simple practices and ideas for things like honoring the passing of our animal friends, too.</li></ul><br />Those are just a few titles off the top of my head that I've looked at recently, but most books about Paganism & Witchcraft will at least briefly discuss the basic beliefs of that author and whatever tradition perspective they come from. The above texts are mainly from Wiccan and Reclaiming Witchcraft perspectives, and their beliefs and practices are likely to be different than other Earth-centered paths, such as Druidry, for example. There is some overlap of common beliefs, but depending on how specific the research, there are probably better resources from those other traditions/paths themselves. I don't already know a Druid text about this topic, if someone were looking for that, but I would start by looking around the website for the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD) at druidry.org -- or contact them for some Druid specific resources to get that perspective. Every tradition is likely to have their own specific rituals and beliefs.<br /><br />YouTube also has many resources for hearing about individuals' personal views on death & dying. I know we've talked about it on the <i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/paganperspective" target="_blank">PaganPerspective </a></i>channel I'm part of many times over the years. You may also be able to find resources online from Pagans who work as "Death Doulas" or do similar work specifically with the dying.<br /><br />It will always come down to personal beliefs, of course -- not all Pagans believe the same way about anything, haha -- but there is usually a very basic look at what each tradition/path believes about death in any sort of "beginner" book. And there is much more in depth information and practices in <i>The Pagan Book of Living & Dying</i>, which is the only one I know of that is really set out specifically as a resource about death, grief, and loss, and they attempt to make it relevant to as many people as possible. You don't have to be part of their tradition in order to benefit from the suggested work. It's more a handbook to learn and then apply to your situation as needed.<br /><br /><br />I hope that helps!<br /><br />Blessings~<br />-Cara-</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>And indeed, I hope this helped anyone who may find this blog in the future! Again, this isn't a perfect or completely exhaustive response, by any means, but it is how I was able to answer someone's question within the past year. So if you are wondering the same, here is one response with a few ideas for how to start finding answers. </i>😊</div>Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-74341228367399946742020-05-31T22:34:00.004-04:002021-01-11T00:03:24.929-05:00Anti-Racism ResourcesDear Everyone, really, but especially white people,<br />
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We all have a lot of work to do in the fight against systemic oppression, racism being one of the big systems of abuse and discrimination that is currently on everyone's minds, especially where police brutality against BIPOC (black indigenous people of color) communities is concerned. I have been posting some things on my Instagram, sharing MANY things from other people in my story there to amplify other voices, and I'm working on a video that will go up on my YouTube channel tonight (31 May 2020).</div>
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I wanted to put together a post here with links to some of the anti-racism resources for white people that I've been finding thanks to other people sharing them, so I can link people to all of these more easily and have them handy for my own future reference, as well as everyone else's. I will continue updating this occasionally as I collect more. Please share any more resources you have.</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Anti-Racism Resources for White People:</b></span> <a href="http://bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES" style="font-family: avenir; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: inherit;">bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES</a></div>
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This document includes resources for parents to teach anti-racism to children, podcasts to listen to, movies or videos to watch, articles and books to read, social media of organizations to follow, and more. There is a LOT here and I recommend starting here and going through it a bit at a time.</div>
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One of the articles I found via the large compiled document above: <b><a href="https://medium.com/equality-includes-you/what-white-people-can-do-for-racial-justice-f2d18b0e0234" target="_blank">"75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice"</a></b>. #38 is decolonize your bookshelf, which is one thing I've been doing -- looking up all the authors whose books I own so I can see how many are white men, as opposed to women, POC, queer, trans*, gender non-conforming authors, and so on.</div><div><br /></div><div>---<span><a name='more'></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CAxMO_2A9Ne/?igshid=1g6n5vos8izix">IGTV video from @SonyaReneeTaylor</a> that really made me see and understand things differently. Biggest thing for me was when she explains <b>"there is a difference between fear and danger." </b>In fact, Taylor's IG account is an absolute treasure trove of important and helpful and REAL messages about this work. I highly recommend following her.<div><br /></div><div>Also on Instagram, I have been learning a lot from <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mspackyetti/">Brittany Packnett Cunningham</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ihartericka/">Ericka Hart</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/officialmillennialblack/">Millenial Black</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/laylafsaad/">Layla F. Saad</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ijeomaoluo/">Ijeoma Oluo</a> (author of "So You Want to Talk About Race"), <a href="https://www.instagram.com/raquel_willis/">Raquel Willis</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/gisellebuchanan/">Giselle Buchanan</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/munroebergdorf/">Munroe Bergdorf</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/brandonkgood/">Brandon Goodman</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alexjenny_/">Alex Jenny</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theblackhistorylesson/">The Black History Lesson</a>, and many others, and enjoying the photography of <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kidnoble/">Kid Noble</a> (Reginald Cunningham, spouse of Brittany who is linked above).</div><div><br /></div><div>---<br />
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<b>A handful of books: </b>Most of these are already listed in the document found in the first link in this post, but I wanted to specifically mention a few of the titles that my partner and I own and that I plan to read first since I already have access to them.</div>
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<u>How To Be An Antiracist</u> by Ibram X. Kendi</div>
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<u>The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness</u> by Michelle Alexander</div>
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<u>When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir</u> by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Asha Bandele, foreword by Angela Davis</div>
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<u>White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism</u> by Robin DiAngelo, PhD is also recommended on many of these lists, but I do want to note that it is written by a white woman. Black educators have been pointing out that her book has greatly surpassed anti-racism books by Black authors -- a white author is being listened to more than Black individuals themselves. So while it is on many lists, we should all look to learn from Black folx about their own experiences first, before we go to a white person teaching about racism.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="https://www.phoenixpubliclibrary.org/browse/StaffPicks/Pages/Books/An-Anti-Racist-Reading-List.aspx">Here is a larger list of anti-racism books</a></b> that I was made aware of thanks to someone else sharing it, as well. Don't underestimate how much sharing resources/posts helps! </div>
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As for movies, I definitely second the recommendation from the above list of <i><b>The Hate U Give. </b></i>You might also appreciate the movie <b><i>BlacKkKlansman</i></b> (2018) directed by Spike Lee, and the CW show <b><i>Black Lightning</i></b> is fantastic. Probably the best of the DC shows, very relevant.</div>
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<a href="https://www.thewellnessofwe.com/">The Wellness of We</a> - a FREE 8-day online practice discussing wellness, community care, "wellness beyond whiteness" and so on. I signed up for it in advance because a friend had shared it with me, but check out the site and you should still be able to gain access to each day's materials.</div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Witchcraft/Paganism specific things:</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fPGdjKL190VI2P-HUhBPWzhEsXvxerqI/view">A statement from BIPOC within the Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft on the subject of anti-racism practices</a>.</div>
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If you are a Witch who is interested in activism, or an activist interested in Witchcraft, I also recommend David Salisbury's book <u>Witchcraft Activism: A Toolkit for Magical Resistance</u>. You can <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmmkT7SD84k">watch the review video I did when I read the book last year on my YouTube channel</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/tempest/category/sigils">Sigil posts by Laura Tempest Zakroff</a> on her blog, so you can read the full process and intention that went into building each sigil before using it. There are many specifically designed with activism and social justice issues in mind, such as the <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/tempest/2018/07/a-sigil-to-protect-protesters-those-detained-by-ice.html">Sigil to Protect Protestors</a> and many more. <b>Please use with CREDIT to the artist</b> and link people to the original blog post for it if you share them, or what you did with them, online.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.ladyalthaea.com/resources.html">A list of Anti-Racism resources for Pagans</a> has been added to Lady Althaea's blog. You can submit additions to her list at the bottom of the page, as well.</div>
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Again, I will keep adding resources that I've found helpful, some specifically Witchy related but probably mostly not. Just anti-racism in general. But that first link here, the document of Anti-Racism Resources, contains a TON of stuff just within that one document. I think I will be going through that for a while yet.</div>
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<b>Black Lives Matter.</b> <i>Trans Lives Matter.</i> <i><b>Black Trans Lives Matter.</b></i></div>
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My feminism and my Witchcraft are, and must be, intersectional. I am not perfect, but I am committed to learning more about anti-racism, and how to do better for everyone concerning a variety of issues. When I mess up, as I'm sure we all do at times, it will NOT be for lack of trying.</div>
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I support BLM and all efforts to dismantle systemic oppression, racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, classism, ableism, xenophobia, and all other forms of oppression and injustice.</div>
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I believe that the personal is political and our politics are personal. I believe that magic(k) is about change, and if we didn't want change, we wouldn't do magick. Pagans and Witches have always been political, and our elders who came before us had to fight for our rights for us to get where we are today. </div>
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In the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, as well, our rights started with riots - the Stonewall Uprising. When people say "the first Pride was a RIOT", they mean it literally.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4IeXvmzxbdjplyEYhiP76wQWTuMCKN5b4VMbQQfIjbiiAV61Y6tNiM1MvSfCBcNp3PqvUyyP3rUjVLwT_jGDfiM7tQCBXqfWw5sfCVyQvYjIPqXJ71-YIT6FyvtStyrbHdH6DNJFWldZ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Screenshot of a Tweet by George M Johnson. Text in caption below image on page." border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="720" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV4IeXvmzxbdjplyEYhiP76wQWTuMCKN5b4VMbQQfIjbiiAV61Y6tNiM1MvSfCBcNp3PqvUyyP3rUjVLwT_jGDfiM7tQCBXqfWw5sfCVyQvYjIPqXJ71-YIT6FyvtStyrbHdH6DNJFWldZ/w320-h310/georgemjohnson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">[Screenshot of a Tweet by George M Johnson reading, "A reminder to any queer person not understanding riots and looting. The Stonewall Uprising was 5 days of rioting, looting, and VIOLENT protests against the police. These RIOTS, led by Black & brown trans & queer folx were the catalyst for the reason we have LGBTQ rights today."]</span></blockquote>
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Blessings~<br />
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</div>Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-69171149344003489142020-03-10T23:14:00.000-04:002020-03-10T23:14:14.570-04:007 Days a Week, Pt. 2: Magick & the PlanetsHello again, Readers,<br />
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Welcome to Part 2 of this two-part blog mini-series! It's taken<b> much, MUCH longer </b>than I thought to get this second post together, and multiple people have asked me about daily magick and related things since I started working on it, so I'm excited to finally have it posted for everyone!<br />
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If you haven't yet, go back and read <b><a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2019/05/7-days-week-pt-1-planets-deity-names.html" target="_blank">Part 1, Planets & Deity Names</a></b>, which focused on explaining how the English names for the days of the week came about, and how they are related to the planets and various Deities. In this post, we will be taking the information from Part 1 and using it to determine the best magickal timing for certain types of spells or other workings, to set intentions that align with the planets and/or Deities, and so on.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image by me, symbol images from solarsystem.nasa.gov</td></tr>
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The days of the week as we know them in English are as follows:<br />
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.<br />
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These names are associated with the following "planets", respectively:<br />
The Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn.<br />
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In magick, we talk about a concept known as <i><b>magickal timing</b></i>, which is the process of choosing the "best time", according to various correspondences, to do a magickal working. Timing can include one, or a layering of many time-based associations, from the Moon phase, to the day of the week, even down to the hour of the day should you choose to delve that deep. In this post, we're focusing on the magick of the Days of the Week.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Magick of the Planets</span><br />
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If you're into astrology at all, you probably already know some common associations for the planets that are used in astrology. Our Sun Sign is considered to be the one that focuses most on our personality as a whole and the way we interact with the world, for example, while our Moon Sign reveals more inward qualities that are not immediately apparent to the world. In Tarot, also, The Sun and The Moon are cards with well known associations that tie into their meanings in astrology. The Deities after whom the planets were named also play a part in this. Our Venus Sign in astrology deals with relationship matters, love, and beauty... and that is of course because love, beauty, and relationships are major areas of life ruled by the Goddess Venus, for whom the planet is named. This is true for the other planets and the Deities who rule them, as well.<br />
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In looking up this topic online, we see a lot of pages with basic tables of correspondences, and some books I have at home have lists of what types of magick/intention are best with each planet/weekday. But very few sources talk about <i>why </i>any of that is, especially not most of the sources I'm seeing elsewhere online. So what I'd like to do here is take a look at some basic characteristics of the "classical planets", how those translate into magickal associations (and in my mind personally, why they make sense), and then, how we can connect that information to our own magickal practice (again, <a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2019/05/7-days-week-pt-1-planets-deity-names.html" target="_blank">go back and check out Part 1</a> if any of these mentions are confusing).<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Sun:</span><br />
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The star around which our solar system orbits is naturally associated with light, life, and exuberance. Without the Sun and its light, warmth, and energy, life could not exist on this planet in the way it does currently. (I don't claim to be an expert on biology or space, but I think we can agree on the fact that our life as we know it depends on the sun!) As such, the Sun is associated with life, energy, light, warmth, happiness, success, and even our health.<br />
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Magick that would best be done with the Sun would include anything that involves health, success, and warming, drying, or illuminating things. One great example that is relevant to my life is Depression--not only is it a health related issue, but also is often tied to success, having enough energy for things, and so on. We also describe certain mental states as "dark times", which the Sun can directly help through its light (and vitamin D!). Because the Sun rules Sunday, the "best day" to do a working with the Sun for an issue that falls under its area of expertise would be a Sunday! But of course, you can work with the Sun any day or any time because it is always there whether we can see it or not, whether it's raining, or cloudy, or night-time. BUT... it certainly feels the most accessible and tangible on a beautiful, bright, sunny day!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Moon:</span><br />
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The Moon does not create its own light; it reflects the light of the sun off its surface. As such, the Moon is associated with reflection, and mirrors are considered tools related to the Moon because of this. Because we mainly see the Moon during the night, it is associated with darkness, night, dreams, and other things that might happen under the cover of darkness: secrets, hiding places. Witches "traditionally" meet at night, especially outdoors when the Full Moon is enough to light the way. So the Moon is also a source of illumination, but a more subtle one. It teaches us things that are closer at hand, or illuminates what was previously hidden inside. It is associated with inner work, Shadow work, and that which is confusing or difficult to understand (being "in the dark" is a phrase used to imply that we don't know something, or don't understand it fully... hence the reason we need to "shine some light" on a situation).<br />
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Because the Moon is a satellite of our planet Earth, it is the closest to us, which may be one reason we associate it with very personal, inner work. The Moon also has a direct effect on the tides on Earth, so it is associated with Water and magickal qualities related to Water such as emotions, dreams, trance work, and more. It also has a relatively short lunation cycle--approximately 28 days, which is slightly shorter than our average calendar month--so we often use the Moon's phases to determine magickal timing because the cycle is so short compared to that of other planets and celestial bodies. If you miss the night of the best Moon phase for your magick, you only have to wait another month until it's back, as opposed to months or years with other planets! And of course as far as weekdays go, the best day to do a working with the Moon would be a Monday.<br />
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The "red planet" is named for the Roman god Mars, who is often considered an aggressive god of war. Mars rules the sign of Aries, the Ram, sometimes associated with hot tempers, and barreling into situations head-first. (Mars also classically rules the sign of Scorpio, which is a Water sign known for being intense, passionate, and having strong desire.) Even the color red is associated with high energy and aggression. When we "see red" it means that we are angry, perhaps out of control. This can make this planet and things associated with it seem pretty negative. Yet the color red is also associated with love, specifically passion. When coals are red, they are burning hot. It's dangerous to touch, but heat is something we need for comfort, food, health, just like we need the Sun although it is too dangerous to look directly at it with the naked eye.<br />
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Similarly, Mars as a god and as a ruling energy also have their benefits, their time and place. People who value warrior-like strength may be very drawn to Mars energy, and we associate the planet (and the deity) with things like protection, courage, and a willingness to fight for what we believe in. If we need protection, support in asserting ourselves, or generally require fast, fiery energy to accomplish a goal quickly, we may very well turn to Mars, or do the work on a Tuesday.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mercury:</span><br />
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The Roman god Mercury is known as the messenger of the gods. As such, we associate this planet with communications, and speed (<i>mercury </i>the liquid metal is also known as <i>quicksilver</i>). Mercury is also associated with technology, especially technology that is used for communication or travel: delivering messages back and forth includes both, after all! This is why Mercury retrograde is such a big deal in astrology that even the general public is pretty aware of it. It is the time when it is said that communication and transportation errors, and problems with technology, are very likely to occur. We are encouraged to take extra care with our words during Mercury retrograde, to ensure we won't be misunderstood or cause problems from miscommunications.<br />
<br />
Since Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and its orbit therefore the shortest, Mercury has a retrograde period more often than any other planet in the solar system--about three times per Earth year--and it only lasts about three weeks every time. It's <i>quick</i>. We notice it more because the transitions into and out of it are more sudden than the larger planets further out, which also have retrograde periods, but theirs last MUCH longer and don't happen nearly as often.<br />
<br />
Mercury is also associated with the mind, the intellect, and thoughts. Studies and other intellectual pursuits are aided by mercurial energy, as well as divination, since it is technically a form of communication. So if you're studying communications, working on divination, or scheduling an important meeting or call where you have to speak clearly and well, you might call upon Mercury for guidance, or try to schedule it on a Wednesday!<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Jupiter:</span><br />
<br />
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system, and accordingly, we associate it symbolically with growth and expansion. If you are trying to grow something in your life, increase its influence, or make something feel larger than life, Jupiter is a great helper. Jupiter the Roman deity is known as the "King of the Gods", a position that is certainly BIG and stands out as important. Because of the deity, Jupiter energy is also sometimes related to positions of power and authority, traditions, formalized structures, and so on. In some Tarot decks, Jupiter (or Jove) is used as a symbol for the Emperor card, who also represents those qualities. (The Emperor is also card #4 of the Major Arcana in Tarot, and 4 is both a number representing structure and stability, and the number associated with the planet Jupiter.) Speaking of Jove, yet another name of the god associated with Jupiter, we have the word "jovial", meaning friendly and cheerful. Jupiter energy is considered generally convivial and helpful in nature.<br />
<br />
Jupiter is also associated with education in astrology, so while Mercury is great for studying because it's all about the intellect, I have had success in the past with utilizing Jupiter's energy for studies because of its direct link with education. Also, as mentioned above, any time you're doing work to grow or increase something in your life, Jupiter might be a jolly good ally. And since the day associated with Jupiter is Thursday, which comes from Thor's Day (the Norse god), we may also connect Thursday's energy with thunder and lightning storms... Fire, Water, Earth (whatever is struck by lightning), and Air all come together in those moments, and the energy of a storm is, dare I say it...? <i>Electric.</i> Haha, but seriously! I've cleansed crystals and other magickal tools in a thunder storm, and the effect is palpably different than just cleansing in water, or wind, and so on. Extremely useful for certain things that need a big ZAP of energy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Venus:</span><br />
<br />
Ah, lovely Venus. From the commercials for "Venus" brand beauty products which played constantly when I was a kid, we get a sense of Venus as being related to femininity, women's bodies, and beauty standards. We also associate Venus with the feminine thanks to sayings/titles of things like "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" which is a strange way that society attempts to use planetary correspondences to solidify gender roles. We even use the symbols of the planets Venus and Mars to represent "female" and "male". Don't buy it! None of that means that you have to identify with the feminine to work with and benefit from Venusian energy (and likewise, one need not identify with masculine energy in order to call upon Mars). But it comes from the fact that Venus is the Roman goddess associated with beauty and love. Freya, or Frig, the Norse goddess(es) from whose name we get "Friday", are also associated with love, beauty, sex, lust, even marriage. Venus in astrology deals with all sorts of relationships, including romantic ones. Of course, ancient cultures' standards of beauty were much different than western society's today, and so were the relationships described in many myths.<br />
<br />
Witches and other Pagans working with Venus energy today know that it's not about sexism or selling products to change our appearance. Yet, we do associate Venus, and Fridays, with love and beauty, and practices like self care. If we're doing a spell for self love or to increase our capacity to love, Friday is a great day for it. If something we're working on needs a gentle, loving touch, instead of a more direct or harsh energy, perhaps sensual Venus is the way to go.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Saturn:</span><br />
<br />
Saturn absolutely gets the worst reputation of the bunch, but it's not as bad as some people make it out to be! In medieval astrology, Saturn was known as the "Greater Malefic" (Mars being the Lesser), which basically means it was considered <i>the worst...</i> People thought it was bad luck, signaled misfortune, and all kinds of things. Since I'm currently experiencing my first Saturn Return (when Saturn makes a full orbit around the Sun and returns to the position it was in when you were born, which happens around age 29, and then again around age 58), I've been doing a lot of work with Saturn energy--I've even designed <a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/p/saturn-returns.html" target="_blank">an online course to help other people out who are going through it with me!</a> I've learned the reality behind these doom and gloom tales about Saturn. Basically, Saturn is all about limitations and boundaries. Some people refer to Saturn as "the great taskmaster". Others prefer the more positive-sounding term "life coach", but they both mean the same thing in this case: an influence that gets us on track with our lives and what we need to be doing in order to get where we want!<br />
<br />
When its influence is at the forefront in our lives (like during our Saturn Return), things can get pretty difficult, because we're being asked to examine ourselves and how far off course we may have gotten since the last time we checked in. A lot of people <i>really don't like change</i>, and may not be too keen on having to give things up or change their tune in order to get on track with where Saturn thinks we should be. When my Saturn Return was approaching, I ended a long term relationship, quit a full time job, and moved... several times. There is definitely a lot of change involved with Saturn energy, particularly if we're not on track with our "purpose" and need to adjust. But it's largely about exploring and acknowledging our own limitations and boundaries -- both positive and negative, self-imposed or imposed upon us by others or society at large -- and if we're getting off track, Saturn knocks us back in line. I won't go on any longer in this post, since I have a plethora of Saturn related resources thanks to my <a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/p/saturn-returns.html" target="_blank">Saturn Returns work, which you can also check out.</a><br />
<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Planetary Magick Review:</span><br />
<br />
Sun - health, success, light, happiness, outer work, drying, warming, fire<br />
<br />
Moon - dreams, reflection, inner work, secrets, hidden things, cooling, phases, water<br />
<br />
Mars - strength, protection, courage, willingness to fight, aggression, passion, energy<br />
<br />
Mercury - communication, knowledge, intellect, divination, travel, speed, technology<br />
<br />
Jupiter - growth, expansion, increase, friendliness, education, luck, authority<br />
<br />
Venus - love, beauty, gentleness, sex, lust, relationships (all kinds), self care<br />
<br />
Saturn - limits, boundaries, goals, staying on track, change, expectations, ending of cycles<br />
<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">How do we use all that to inform our magick?</span><br />
<br />
Firstly, we can look at lists of "types of magick for each planet/weekday" and simply do certain types of magick on certain days. If you're doing a working for health, work with the Sun and/or do it on a Sunday. Love? Friday/Venus energy. <b>It can be as simple as that.</b><br />
<br />
But many things in life are more complicated, or sometimes our schedules don't work out so that we can always do something on a given day of the week.<br />
<br />
The information given here, and all correspondences with certain times/days, are mainly for use as guidelines. These are not the ONLY times to do certain magick, they're just some of the "best times" for certain types of work, because of the energy of the planets and what we consider to be their area of expertise. But if you can't do something on a given day of the week, that doesn't mean you can't do it another day! The planets and stars are always up there, always influencing our lives here on Earth (if you believe that at all... if you don't, you probably aren't interested in this type of work and haven't found these posts very useful!).<br />
<br />
<i>We can do any kind of magick we want at any time.</i><br />
<br />
Working with different associations is just thought to add even more <i>oomph </i>to the work, because we're choosing specific elements to add into the magick based on those planetary (or any other) associations. The more associations we include, the stronger that specific energy. But you don't have to stick strictly to any of them if you either can't with the timing you have, or simply don't want to. It can be really beneficial and even fun to learn about and work with these things, but it's optional to do so, not required universally.<br />
<br />
This is my personal belief and the way I practice, but I'm far from the only person who believes or works this way. Other specific paths, groups, traditions, etc. may consider it required for the way they practice, and that will be up to you to determine for your situation. Individual or group preferences may vary! =)<br />
<br />
<h3>
Example:<b> </b></h3>
Let's say I have a client who wants me to do a Tarot reading for them. I can do this on any day, and at any time that works for me. And generally, that is exactly what I do, because my schedule is often variable! But if I wanted to match it up with some correspondences, I could do it on a day when the Moon is in a certain phase or sign, or I could choose a certain day of the week.<br />
<br />
Using the information shared in this post, here are a few ways I could look at it:<br />
<ul>
<li>I could do the reading on Wednesday since Mercury energy is associated with divination, and I will want to communicate the reading clearly for my client</li>
<li>If they want to know about their love life, I could do the reading on a Friday</li>
<li>If they're asking about their new job,</li>
<ul>
<li>I could do the reading on Thursday to work with Jupiter energy surrounding authority and formal structures, which we may associate with careers</li>
<li>or I could do it on Sunday to focus on whether they will be successful and happy at the new job<br /></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i> ~</i></b></div>
<span style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>What other options can you think of? Can you imagine different situations which would lead to a different day or planet's energy being better?</i></b></div>
</span><span style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>~ </i></b></div>
</span></blockquote>
<br />
Those are just a few ways to look at a situation and choose associations based on what we're focusing on. There are many angles to every circumstance, and many ways to alter our intention or goal to suit the time we have--IF working with weekday correspondences is something you really want to do!<br />
<br />
Thanks so much for reading! I hope you've enjoyed this mini-series, even though I bit off more than I could chew thinking I could fit it into only two posts, and took QUITE a long time to finish this second one lol. I really wanted to avoid making it SO long that I had to add a third post! =)<br />
<br />
Much love and many blessings on your workings, whatever they may be!<br />
<br />
Blessings~<br />-C-<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
<br />
<h4>
Sources:</h4>
I wrote this post from my accumulated understanding of planetary correspondences over the past 15-ish years of my practice. This basic information (the Sun being associated with health and success, Venus with love and beauty, etc.) can be found in basically ANY resource that deals with this topic. My intention here was more to share my personal thought process about WHY those associations we read in all the books make sense to me, because I don't see that kind of explanation given, usually. If anyone would like names of specific resources, let me know, and I'm sure I can come up with a couple books from my shelf or websites that cover this same information. Otherwise, I thought it wouldn't make much sense to list specific sources here, since it's kind of <i>every source I've ever seen on the topic</i>. But yeah, resources available upon request! Just allow time, since I may not see comments here immediately. =)</div>
Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-22721390420589794212019-09-21T17:58:00.000-04:002019-09-21T17:58:33.500-04:00Saturn Returns course is back!Hello! I'm excited to announce that the next Saturn Returns course is finally here!<br />
<br />
We start on the 5th of October (a Saturday, of course). Registration ends on the 30th of September, and payments are offered at a sliding scale.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/p/saturn-returns.html" target="_blank">Click here to go to the Saturn Returns page to learn all about it!</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtbblD6cUBhyphenhyphenJTrU5HgyhW5FzO4jlwJEgjRHupvychcrx-WiA7RtWSBMmMKbW0tWGWZPHbF-KsSDj00Ivacs_Vuz6sDvJIc_WK89VA8VDaZt7WUAMpyP9tMWXgCbRh_YRGcR2yJgEQFUm/s1600/sat+square+big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtbblD6cUBhyphenhyphenJTrU5HgyhW5FzO4jlwJEgjRHupvychcrx-WiA7RtWSBMmMKbW0tWGWZPHbF-KsSDj00Ivacs_Vuz6sDvJIc_WK89VA8VDaZt7WUAMpyP9tMWXgCbRh_YRGcR2yJgEQFUm/s200/sat+square+big.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Blessings~</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">-C-</span></div>
Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-82575677327041643642019-05-31T14:30:00.001-04:002019-05-31T15:03:58.017-04:007 Days a Week, Pt. 1: Planets & Deity NamesHello, Readers,<br />
<br />
As I've been reading through some beginner-Witch material again lately, I've started thinking again about basics--building blocks of magick, timing, simple things we can do everyday--and one of the things that came to my mind was timing and intention based on the day of the week. Many people know where our English names for the weekdays came from, but many people also still do not. I remember years ago, when I was first studying Paganism and Witchcraft, mentioning the origin of the days of the week to my mother, who had no idea! So I figure in 2019, maybe some other people still haven't had this come up for them, either. And even if you do know this naming origin stuff, a Part 2 of this post will be going up next, talking about using the planetary and/or Deity associations with the days of the week for deciding what kinds of magick to do on what days. If that is a sort of magickal timing you're interested in, look out for that post next.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GVgTNi6I9PJ2OoQMNKZROCL4qZO4oxsfEtsGcig2d9nEHwSpmZ0tIEGiMz_-vHAOgYns-LPuFsKOG3ZkywN190VvPIe9Uq7yJpVciA9xUNxRi3dSnjDyxnSqdtoJqw73-D_fTizlvrbj/s1600/planets+days+of+week.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="153" data-original-width="602" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GVgTNi6I9PJ2OoQMNKZROCL4qZO4oxsfEtsGcig2d9nEHwSpmZ0tIEGiMz_-vHAOgYns-LPuFsKOG3ZkywN190VvPIe9Uq7yJpVciA9xUNxRi3dSnjDyxnSqdtoJqw73-D_fTizlvrbj/s640/planets+days+of+week.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image by me, using symbol images from solarsystem.nasa.gov</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Days of the Week: Planets & Deities</span><br />
<br />
There are seven days in our calendar weeks, and this has been the case for centuries although it was not always that way. The Roman Empire was responsible for the shift sometime between the 1st and 3rd centuries, according to the Wiki article which I will link below with other sources. There were also seven "classical planets", or moving celestial bodies that, at the time, could be seen with the naked eye and were known to the astronomers of classical antiquity. We would not use the term "planet" for all of them today, as the definition has changed over the years. One of them is our Sun, which we know as a star. The other is our Moon, which we consider a "satellite" today because a planet would have to be orbiting the Sun directly, whereas our Moon orbits Earth.<br />
<br />
These seven classical planetary bodies were <b>the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn</b>. Earth was not included because, well, we live here. It was all about what we could see up in space from where we were.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
I'm not sure why the order of the days of the week is as it is, and I'm not sure if anyone really knows. The articles I'm reading mention the fact that even people in the era in which it originated wondered why the order was different than the order of the planets known by astronomers and astrologers, but I haven't seen an answer given. In any case, we all know the order of our days of the week at this time. The question is whether the area in which you live starts the week with Sunday or Monday as standard. In international standard, Monday is the first day of the week. The USA, however, makes calendars that begin with Sunday at the far left. I live in the USA so I've gotten used to those calendars, but I prefer datebooks that begin with Monday and when I draw schedules for myself, I begin with Monday.<br />
<br />
In any case, we have the days of the week associated with these planets:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Sunday - The Sun</li>
<li>Monday - The Moon (so far, easy to follow)</li>
<li>Tuesday - Mars</li>
<li>Wednesday - Mercury</li>
<li>Thursday - Jupiter</li>
<li>Friday - Venus</li>
<li>Saturday - Saturn (back to an easy one here)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
The Sun, the Moon, and Saturn translate pretty directly into Sun-day, Moon-day, and Saturn-day. For the others, there are a couple more steps to follow. First, we have to look at languages that aren't English. I took French in high school, so the French names are the ones my brain normally goes to as a reminder, and many others follow a similar pattern.<br />
<br />
Names in French and Latin, listed Monday-Sunday:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>French - <i>Lundi, Mardi, Mercredi, Jeudi, Vendredi, Samedi, Dimanche</i>.</li>
<li>Latin - <i>dies Lunae, Martis, Mercurii, Iovis, Veneris, Saturni, Solis.</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
We can see the names look a bit more like the planets associated with our weekday names, Luna being the name for our Moon and the Goddess associated with the Moon (at least, Luna was her name in some languages). The Latin names also refer more directly to the Sun with <i>Solis</i>, whereas French and other "romance languages" have a name for Sunday beginning with D, like <i>dimanche</i>, <i>domenica </i>(Italian), or <i>domingo </i>(Spanish). These D-names refer to the "Lord's Day", with the word for "God" being things like <i>Dieu </i>in French, or <i>Dio/Dios</i> (Italian/Spanish). Saturday also has names that connect it to the "Sabbath" in many languages, like <i>sabato </i>in Italian.<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Here's where we get into Deities.</span><br />
<br />
The Roman deity names were mainly the same as the names we know for the planets. It wasn't so much that they named the days after planets, as they named them after deities. Their gods and goddesses were actually called Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and so on. The planets were named after the deity who ruled over each of them.<br />
<br />
When we look at the names given to deities by different cultures, we see some that are similar to the names we have for the weekdays in English, and some names are not so familiar. Here are just a few fairly common examples, starting with Sunday so we have the Sun- and Moon-related names first:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Roman - Sol, Luna, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn.</li>
<li>Greek - Helios, Selene, Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, Kronos.</li>
<li>Germanic - Sunna/Sól, Mona/Máni, Tiw/Tyr, Woden/Odin, Thunor/Thor, Frige/Freya, Saturn.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
The Germanic names have a couple variations, because it depended on the area. Our modern English language has mainly Germanic roots--while we have certainly taken words from other languages, if you look at the "family trees" of language development, English came from West Germanic--and those are the names our English weekdays were named after. We can see the similarities of the names that don't look like they came directly from the names of the planets as we know them: Tiw's Day/Tuesday, Woden's Day/Wednesday, Thor's Day/Thursday, and Frig's Day/Friday. The Greek names would have given us MUCH different names for the days of the week!<br />
<br />
So there we have it. The days of the week were named after deities, and so were the planets, but our English weekday names look somewhat different than the planets' names because of Germanic roots, and Germanic gods and goddesses. The names used in different languages depend on the names that were given to those deities, though many are similar to the Roman names we still know today.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Sun . Moon . Mars . Mercury . Jupiter . Venus . Saturn</i></span></div>
<br />
<br />
In a second post here, we'll talk about how we can use these planetary and deity associations in magick, for timing purposes, setting intentions, and more! If that's something you're interested in, be sure to look out for the next post. When it's up, I'll link this post to it.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading! Check out the resources below.<br />
<br />
Blessings~<br />
-C-<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
Resources:<br />
<br />
Classical Planets - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_planet"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_planet</span></a><br />
Names of the days of the week - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_days_of_the_week"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_days_of_the_week</span></a><br />
West Germanic languages - <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/West-Germanic-languages"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.britannica.com/topic/West-Germanic-languages</span></a><br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
This post was supported by my amazing and wonderful Patreon sponsors!<br />
Check out <a href="http://patreon.com/cutewitch772">patreon.com/cutewitch772</a> to learn more!<br />
<br />
---Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-86324353388014904282019-04-27T19:14:00.000-04:002019-05-31T14:41:34.306-04:00Naming the Full Moons (in 2019)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUq0B1DK5Di5-XtyzM0fkuifEonAHWmjjADc9Q_sk4PLrv48ubLKi_gumhu38JDX8DWNn-GnYjCOVJl7AUkipTfSEdraT28lUcywfP4ZBw1xN9ua0Hvn7pg9qQvo1P5hUoC5qmljUZSUrE/s1600/mystic+moon.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="595" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUq0B1DK5Di5-XtyzM0fkuifEonAHWmjjADc9Q_sk4PLrv48ubLKi_gumhu38JDX8DWNn-GnYjCOVJl7AUkipTfSEdraT28lUcywfP4ZBw1xN9ua0Hvn7pg9qQvo1P5hUoC5qmljUZSUrE/s320/mystic+moon.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moon sticker on my mini laptop, which is also the<br />
header photo in my Moon Magick group.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Hey, Readers & Moon lovers!</span><br />
<br />
This was originally going to be a post in my Moon Magick group on Facebook (which you can <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/cwmoonmagick" target="_blank">request to join</a> and I will, eventually, check the requests lol), but it quickly turned into FAR too long of a post for Facebook. It is, however, a fairly normal length (for me) long blog post. So here we are!<br />
<br />
Earlier this year in the Moon Magick group, I shared two tables with the Full and New Moons for 2019. The original tables were generated from <a href="http://moontracks.com/" target="_blank"><i>moontracks.com</i></a> and the Full Moon one also includes some of the most commonly known "Full Moon names". As you see on the tables below, I have to adjust some of the times because my area uses Daylight Saving Time. The moontracks generator creates a table for any time zone you set it to (mine is Eastern time), but it doesn't adjust for DST, so I do that myself, looking up the dates it begins and ends and adjusting the Moon times between them. The changes I made are in blue.<br />
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I should also note that I started working on this post back in December 2018, to get ready for the new year. The moontracks generator begins from the time you're using it. If you look at it today, the day I'm posting this, it begins with the Moon in April. The New Moon table also didn't include the last New Moon of 2019, again I think because I generated the tables in December and it only goes so far. So I added in the info for the Dec. 26 2019 New Moon myself.<br />
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So what you see above are the original tables with my changes for Daylight Saving Time, and adding the last 2019 New Moon which wasn't on the generated table at the time I generated them.<br />
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I then combine those separate Full Moon and New Moon tables from moontracks into one, chronological list for the calendar year. I also add in the dates and times of the solstices and equinoxes, which I look up usually on <i><a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/seasons.html" target="_blank">timeanddate.com</a></i>, so that I can clearly see the separate seasons. The combined table that results is shown here, below, for 2019:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZqry2vYgalfcplXWGt8wb48BRPmJojArRalGGj1GVFi_foYKGJ4AwnBZg-iP9ZFEW96z1d9kwt7mncvbkgZ7cNCmK0hAWhDeDA8vpLi2U0WGujSM-A4NsVJ80E1pqBDcuF5IWsM7NEct/s1600/2019+full+and+new+moons+and+solar+combined+table+no+names.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZqry2vYgalfcplXWGt8wb48BRPmJojArRalGGj1GVFi_foYKGJ4AwnBZg-iP9ZFEW96z1d9kwt7mncvbkgZ7cNCmK0hAWhDeDA8vpLi2U0WGujSM-A4NsVJ80E1pqBDcuF5IWsM7NEct/s1600/2019+full+and+new+moons+and+solar+combined+table+no+names.png" /></a></div>
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Because I generated my tables in December of 2018, it included the <b>Full Moon on Dec. 22, 2018.</b> But as you can see from the inclusion of the solstices and equinoxes, that Full Moon was actually the <b>first one of our Winter season</b> (in the northern hemisphere, or of Summer in the southern hemisphere) this year, so I'm very glad it was included, and you'll hear more about that as this post goes on! Similarly, the last New Moon of 2019 will occur after the next Winter Solstice, making it the first New Moon of next winter, part of the <i>next year</i> as far as the seasons go.<br />
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This next image is basically the exact same image as the combined table above, with one difference: Here, I've added a different way of looking at the Full Moon names, as compared to that original table, that is actually based on the seasons.<br />
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<i>**Please note that seasons mentioned here throughout this post are as they apply to the <b>northern hemisphere</b>, as that is where these Moon names originated! The seasons are different south of the equator, so I imagine these Moon names also don't fit at all in other geographic locations.**</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">The Blue Moon</span><br />
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I talk about Blue Moons a lot, because the most popular and commonly known definition used today, is not actually what a Blue Moon was supposed to be, but rather it was a mistake someone published decades ago and everyone began passing around. It is known that it was a mistake, but people kept quoting that mistake and spreading it around like a bad meme on social media, and you know there's not much luck correcting such things at that point! Still, you can <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/blue-moon.html" target="_blank">read about the original definition of the Blue Moon, and how the mistake came to be known as a "second definition" here</a>. I personally utilize the original definition in my practice. It's okay to make mistakes, but I think when we find out we've made an error, we should try to correct it. Still, this is the tendency of human beings... When we are told we've made an error, instead of correcting that error and admitting we were wrong, we turn that error into a "second definition", so that we were not wrong at all! "Alternative facts", am I right? LOL, anyway, moving on...<br />
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2019 has a <b>true Blue Moon</b>, a seasonally based one -- the 3rd Full Moon in a season with 4 Full Moons. This is why seeing where the solstices and equinoxes fall is helpful. Seasons usually have 3 Full Moons each, but as you can see in the tables above, this Spring will have 4 Full Moons (between the vernal equinox and summer solstice). The 3rd of those 4 was traditionally called the "Blue Moon" in order to ensure that all the others kept their names in relation to the solstices and equinoxes.<br />
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However, this year is a little strange because we also think of a year with 4 Moons in a season as "a year with 13 Moons"... but 2019 still only has 12. This is probably why in the original table from moontracks, they all have the normal 12 names that people commonly associate with the 12 calendar months... 12 Moons, 12 months, 12 names... There doesn't seem to BE an "extra" moon at all, so how could there be a Blue Moon if there aren't 13 Moons in 2019?<br />
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This is because the Moons are generally grouped by seasons, not calendar months.<br />
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We don't say "there is one Full Moon per calendar month", because we know that isn't so. Sometimes a month has two Full Moons, and sometimes February doesn't have a Full Moon. Instead we say there are usually three Full Moons <i>in a season</i>. Well, the seasons don't perfectly align with the man-made calendar year, and the Moon's lunation cycle is not a perfect "calendar month". The time from one Full Moon to the next usually spans multiple calendar months, and changes slightly in relation to the seasons--and calendar months--every year. We know that the dates of the solstices and equinoxes can vary, as well, and there is no season that ends or begins on the day we call January 1st.<br />
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(Some calendar systems begin with the spring equinox as their new year, but the Gregorian calendar, which is currently used as the secular, or civic calendar in many countries, does not do this.)<br />
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As mentioned earlier, the first Full Moon of winter this time around was actually in December 2018, the day after the solstice. If we look at "this year" as being the time from <b><i>solstice to solstice</i></b>, not Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, we see that there are 13 Full Moons this year.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Naming the Moons</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">- Winter -</span><br />
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I looked up a few different sources on Moon names to see what solstice/equinox/etc. they're supposed to align with, and here is what I learned:<br />
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The Wolf Moon (typically associated with January) is also known as the "Moon after Yule."<br />
The Cold Moon (typically associated with December) is also known as the "Moon before Yule."<br />
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If Yule begins at the Winter Solstice, then the Full Moon on Dec. 22, 2018 which occurred the day AFTER the solstice, was the Moon After Yule, also known by some as the Wolf Moon. Yule is another name of the Solstice, or Jul is a multi-week-long festival, so if they're going by the first Full Moon after the extended period of Jul/Yuletide is completely done, THEN yeah, the Jan. 21 Moon would be it. But typically the Moon names were based on the seasons, and the solstices and equinoxes are the indicators of those beginning and ending.<br />
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This tells me that for this year, the Wolf Moon was the Full Moon back in December, not the Full Moon in January this year, as many people assumed because we simply think "First one of the year = January". Some years the first Full Moon following Yule does actually occur in January. I think we might even be able to say that most of the time it does, which is why the names became associated with the calendar months. But, sometimes it doesn't perfectly align with the man-made calendar. And why should it? Humans do not control the celestial bodies or the cycles of the Moon. Humans did, however, create the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_calendars" target="_blank">various calendars</a> we've used to try and track time passing throughout our history. We used to base calendar calculations off the sun and moon, and some systems still do to this day, but our secular calendar diverted from that centuries ago.<br />
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I also learned that the Worm Moon is supposed to be the "last Full Moon of winter."<br />
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In the original moontracks chart they have it as March 20, but that Moon takes place after the equinox (on the same day but after the moment of equinox, which of course we can tell only because of astronomical and astrological calculations, not by looking up at the sky, but that's what almanacs were for!), making it technically the first Full Moon of what we call Spring. The last Full Moon of the winter season, before the equinox, was the one on February 19th.<br />
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The Snow Moon is also known as the Midwinter Moon, which makes perfect sense as it would be the second out of three Moons in winter. The first Winter moon is the Wolf, the third or last Moon of Winter is the Worm, making the Snow Moon the middle one between those two.<br />
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Again, people think of the Wolf, Snow, and Worm Moon as simply the first, second, and third "of the year", and they think of the calendar year which leads to "January, February, March." In that case Worm Moon would always just be in March. Third month, third Moon, right? But that pesky Full Moon back in December being AFTER the solstice this winter really throws this year off of being perfectly and simply in sync with the months of the calendar year.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">- Spring - The Moon and Easter</span><br />
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The Pink Moon is the "first Full Moon after the Equinox", the first moon of Spring, and is often also called the Paschal Moon because it's the one that is supposed to determine the date of Easter. Easter is generally thought to be the first Sunday following the first Full Moon falling on or after the Vernal Equinox. (I checked to make sure whether the rule was that it had to be on a separate day, or if the Full Moon on the same day counted, and sources say that it is supposed to include a Full Moon falling "on or after" the equinox.)<br />
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The Full Moon on the date of the equinox this year occurred a few hours after the Equinox "moment", so it was after the equinox. Based on this, Easter should have been the following Sunday, March 24. But it isn't. Ultimately, scheduling religious holidays is up to the Church. There is a very lengthy page about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computus" target="_blank">how Easter is determined</a> (called the Computus) on Wikipedia, which explains that although we still think of Easter as "the first Sunday after the first Full Moon following the Vernal Equinox", the Church actually doesn't base it off of the ACTUAL equinox. They just picked a date, and always go from there. The Computus article says the <i>ecclesiastical Full Moon date</i> is the 20th of March, and this <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/determining-easter-date.html" target="_blank">Time and Date article</a> explains that the <i>ecclesiastical equinox date</i> is the 21st of March, and how that explains when Easter was this year, since it seems so disconnected from how we usually think of it. If it were truly still based on the Full Moon on or after the equinox, Easter would have been in late March this year, but it wasn't.<br />
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Because Easter was in April, and the Pink Moon is also thought of as the Paschal Moon (the one related to Easter), this is another reason people would simply attach the Pink Moon name to the April Full Moon this year, even though seasonally, the April Moon was not the "first Full Moon after the equinox" or "the first Full Moon of spring" at all. So in my table above, the Flower Moon would be the Paschal Moon this year because it's the one on which they based Easter, but the Pink Moon (March 20) is the first one on or after the vernal equinox, the first Full Moon of spring.<br />
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The other two spring Moons, in this system of common names, are the Flower and Strawberry Moons.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">A Side Note: Two Libra Moons</span></i></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
{ Another interesting thing in 2019 is that we had TWO Full Moons in Libra right in a row--the one on March 20, and the one on April 19--because they both fell when the Sun was in Aries. A Full Moon occurs when the Sun and Moon are on opposite sides of Earth, so the Full Moon is always in the sign opposite the Sun in the zodiac. A New Moon occurs when they're on the same side of Earth, so the New Moons are always in the same sign as the Sun at the time. I haven't looked into how often we get two Full Moon of the same sign in a row, but I certainly find it interesting regardless! }</blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">- Summer / Autumn -</span><br />
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The three Moons of summer in this basic system are the Buck, Sturgeon, and Harvest Moons. There are no other well known nicknames I could find that link all three of them obviously with solstices or equinoxes, like the "Moon before/after Yule" ones, but if we are sticking just to the idea that there are typically three Moons per season, we would think of the Buck as the first of Summer (after the solstice which marks the start of the season), the Sturgeon as the mid-season Moon (similar to the Snow also being called "Midwinter"), and the Harvest Moon would be the last Full Moon of Summer.<br />
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The Harvest Moon, however, is the only one that does have another specific characteristic: It is supposed to be the Full Moon <i>closest to</i> the autumnal equinox. Not just "before the equinox" but "closest to"... which means it could differ from year to year. This really changes things! This is the only Moon name that has something like this, which means it could be the name of the last Full Moon of summer, or it could be the first Full Moon of autumn, depending on how the cycles fall that year! Usually the Harvest Moon is in September, as it is in 2019, but sometimes it's in October if that Full Moon falls closer to the equinox date. Goodness, we had to go and make it more complicated!<br />
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The three Full Moon names of autumn in this basic system would be the Hunter's Moon, Beaver Moon, and Cold Moon.<br />
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In the way that people match Moon names to the calendar months today, the Hunter's Moon is considered the Full Moon in October. But sometimes the Harvest Moon falls in October, so then what? Apparently, if the October Full Moon happens to be closest to the equinox, then people call it BOTH the Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon. It gets two names. And when that happens, the September one becomes the Corn Moon, because otherwise it wouldn't have a name suddenly.<br />
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Other than this circumstance, there is no Corn Moon in this particular system of Moon names (Various Native American and other groups use totally different names for the Full Moons, and there are multiple names having to do with Corn throughout the whole year, but among these "most common names" that most people end up talking about, there is no Corn Moon usually.)<br />
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So people today just double up names and substitute in a totally different name if needed... in order to maintain the Hunter's Moon ALWAYS being in the calendar month of October, instead of saying it's the first Moon of autumn/first after the autumn equinox, or even the Moon following the Harvest Moon.<br />
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Up until this point, the Moons are only based on their relation to the seasons. Or, I mean, people attach them to the months, as we've also been seeing here. But even then, the Harvest Moon would always be the one in September if we only go by the months. And it would always be the last one of summer/before the autumn equinox, if we go by just the order of the Moons in each season. But having one Moon name that depends on which one is CLOSEST to the equinox really throws all this off. Then we've got double names and extra names needing to be pulled in off the bench. Of course the harvest would be based on the seasons, and the planting. That is different in every area of the world. Sometimes it being in late September would make sense, sometimes early October. But overall, we're seeing that the names people give to the Moons really depend on who you ask, and how you determine them--seasons, calendar months, or some occasional exceptions to either rule.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Calendar Based / Northern Hemisphere-centric</span><br />
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Full Moons are typically thought to have been named in relation to their place in the seasons, and that's why a 13th Moon would disrupt the naming sequence, and had to be given a nickname -- the "Blue Moon". Three Moons per season, with three names... a season with 4 Moons would throw that off. That sounds fairly simple and has always made sense to me, personally.<br />
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But here we are in 2019, with a true seasonal Blue Moon, and it doesn't even get called the Blue Moon by most people because there are only 12 Moons between the calendar dates 1/1/2019 and 12/31/2019. There doesn't seem to be an "extra" Moon, so there is no need for its name because there are already 12 moon names, "one for each month" and people just plug the names into the calendar like that's it. People aren't necessarily thinking about the fact that the first Full Moon of the winter season was actually in December 2018 after the solstice, or that the Blue Moon is actually something other than "the second Full Moon in a month" (that mistake that got adopted as an alternate definition, see the link I shared earlier in this post).<br />
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Calendars are created by humanity, and have in fact changed many times throughout human history (also see the link earlier in this post to read more about calendars). The Moon names are supposed to be about the cycles of Nature, planting, wildlife, the changing of the seasons around us and what we observe. That's why there are also different names for different peoples around the world--this "basic system" as I've called it for the sake of ease, these names many of us have seen shared everywhere online, are not universal. They are only based on specific areas of the world, and names given to the Moons by specific groups of people. They are not the only names out there, and they don't all make sense for every geographic area.<br />
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As I mentioned way at the start of this post, these names are from the northern hemisphere. The autumn harvest here may occur in September or October with what some people call the Harvest Moon, but in the southern hemisphere the autumn harvest happens in like, March or April. So it really makes little sense to attach seasonal observation based names to calendar months, because the seasons are very different in different places on Earth while the man-made calendar we follow remains the same in every country that uses it. Imagine talking about the Harvest Moon in March or April in the northern hemisphere. Doesn't make sense, does it? We're only just planting seeds at that point, not harvesting! And when we have the "Flower Moon" as flowers bloom here, other places are experiencing the decline of vegetation and preparing for winter. These names are northern hemisphere centered to begin with, and they don't even always make sense here, depending on where you live.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Moon Names by Season: Review</span><br />
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For a quick review of these commonly used names, and really I think an easier way of looking at all this, here are the names of the Full Moons grouped by their season in the <i><b>northern hemisphere</b></i>:<br />
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<b>Winter -</b> from Winter Solstice to Vernal Equinox - Wolf, Snow, and Worm Moons. Wolf is "the Moon after Yule", starting off the winter season. Worm is the "last moon of winter", and Snow is the remaining one in the middle, aka "Midwinter Moon".<br />
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<b>Spring -</b> from Vernal Equinox to Summer Solstice - Pink, Flower, and Strawberry Moons. Pink being the "first Full Moon after the equinox".<br />
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<b>Summer -</b> Summer Solstice to Autumn Equinox - Buck, Sturgeon, and Harvest Moons (though the Harvest Moon is the one "closest to the autumn equinox" and it doesn't specify BEFORE, so it could be the first Moon of Autumn if it falls after but still closer to the equinox, like it did in 2018).<br />
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<b>Autumn -</b> Autumn equinox to Winter Solstice - Hunter's, Beaver, and Cold Moons (Cold Moon also known as the "Moon Before Yule", the last one of autumn, before Winter begins).<br />
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Each season typically has three Full Moons, and those are the names as they are based on the seasons, not the calendar months. Many years they line up with the same months, yes, but every so often, like this year, they do not.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUzbS9mD1dTgTozVXJ0XzaztEHK5E9syR-iJfD5UvOR-9hN97HWrTL8X0FTTkfgw1Wbw0k2uoGP8dIPL3yWyqyfMAhHTjA3vvntU3EqNBzddFdypS6ppTsPNUuNbcpCHbI9N9NhgHXEyCR/s1600/2018+full+and+dark+moon+dates.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="366" data-original-width="649" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUzbS9mD1dTgTozVXJ0XzaztEHK5E9syR-iJfD5UvOR-9hN97HWrTL8X0FTTkfgw1Wbw0k2uoGP8dIPL3yWyqyfMAhHTjA3vvntU3EqNBzddFdypS6ppTsPNUuNbcpCHbI9N9NhgHXEyCR/s320/2018+full+and+dark+moon+dates.png" width="320" /></a>(In 2018 there were two Full Moons in January, and in March, and moontracks did some other strange things with the names they provided. They called the second Full Moon of January the Old Moon. This is an alternate name for "the January Full Moon", but there was no real reason for using it in 2018, other than because there were two Full Moons in the same month and if you think the names are <i>monthly</i>, rather than <i>seasonal</i>, then you might be confused as to what to do with two Full Moons in the same month. Otherwise, there was absolutely no reason to do that. 2018 had 13 Full Moons within the <i>calendar year</i>, although the last one in December was after the Solstice, so <i><b>solstice to solstice</b></i> there were only 12 Moons. There were also only 3 Full Moons in each season, no seasonal Blue Moon, no reason to add or subtract or change any names. So really... people do strange things with these names that make sense to them, perhaps, but are not universal names/reasons to use them.)</blockquote>
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The only changes to this line-up are when there are 4 Full Moons in one season, the 3rd one is called the Blue Moon. The rest of the Moons around it therefore remain in their original place relative to the closest solstice or equinox (except for that darned Harvest Moon** but I'll get back to that in a second). For example in 2019, Spring has 4 Full Moons and the third one is the Blue, meaning the Strawberry Moon remains the one before Summer Solstice, as usual.<br />
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Another little extra thing I found was that if the Beaver Moon is also "the last Full Moon before Winter Solstice", then it is also called the Mourning Moon. But this must depend on the monthly version of naming, because otherwise the "last Full Moon before Winter Solstice" is the "Moon before Yule", which is the Cold Moon. So the Beaver Moon would never "also be" the one before Solstice, unless you only go by the calendar months, and not the seasons. This is basically saying "If the November Full Moon is the last one before the solstice", which was the case in 2018, since the December Full Moon last year was after winter solstice. But then it wasn't the Beaver Moon... It was the Cold Moon, just in November. ;)<br />
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**As for that Harvest Moon being the only one with a specification of being CLOSEST to an equinox, rather than simply before, after, or in the middle of the season, I think to make things easiest, the Harvest Moon should just be the last Moon of Summer/the one before the Equinox. Especially since some people celebrate the first harvest at Lammas/Lughnasadh on August 1st, even if the Full Moon in question falls at the beginning of September and feels far away from the autumn equinox, it's still already harvest season! But, I'm not the one who created these Moon names lol. So that's just me saying, it would be a lot easier to just have 3 names for each season, and the Blue Moon is when an extra one happens in a season, and that's it.<br />
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And you know what? <b><i>No one ever said we all have to follow THESE twelve names anyway.</i></b> The Moon names are different all over the world, and between different groups of people in the same area. If we take time to come up with our own names, based on our own lives and observations of what's going on in our world at the time, some of them might be the same, but they could also be very different. They would be personal to us and our path/practice, not meant to be universally followed by everyone, just as truthfully, these 12 names don't apply to everyone universally, either.<br />
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So that's my LONG thought process about the Moon names and how no one truly bases them off the seasons anymore... But I think we should, and actually I think we should use names that truly fit our own lives, climates, geographic regions, etc. But perhaps that will be another post!<br />
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Thanks for reading! You're the best!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Blessings~</span><br style="font-size: x-large;" /><span style="font-size: large;">-C-</span><br />
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<br />
~<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Resources:</span><br />
<br />
Other than the links provided throughout the text of this blog, here are some other sites I looked at when doing my basic little bit of research.<br />
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From Time And Date, listing what most people think of as the "Moon names", sort of the standardized list of names taken from multiple sources, that you'll see most people refer to:<br />
<a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/full-moon-names.html">https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moon/full-moon-names.html</a><br />
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A page listing many different Native American tribes and their individual ways of naming the Moons: <a href="http://www.wwu.edu/planetarium/a101/indianmoons.shtml">http://www.wwu.edu/planetarium/a101/indianmoons.shtml</a><br />
<br />
More about Lunisolar calendars, which are based off a combination of both the Solar and Lunar cycles: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunisolar_calendar">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunisolar_calendar</a><br />
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Farmer's Almanac - This page actually assigns the name Corn Moon to the month of September, allowing the last Moon of summer to ALWAYS be the Corn Moon, and the Harvest Moon is then able to be a secondary name for whichever Moon is closest to the equinox, be it the Corn Moon or the Hunter's Moon: <a href="https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-names">https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-names</a><br />
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There are many more pages with many more lists of names, thoughts, and opinions. These are just some that supplemented my thought process here.<br />
<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
This post was supported by my amazing and wonderful Patreon sponsors!<br />
Check out <a href="http://patreon.com/cutewitch772">patreon.com/cutewitch772</a> to learn more!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
~Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-59352376201711080882019-03-06T19:35:00.000-05:002019-03-06T19:35:14.817-05:00Readings Page Update LAUNCHED!Dear Readers,<br />
<br />
<b><a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/p/readings.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">My Readings page reboot is finally done! And live! Here it is! Ahhh!</span></a></b><br />
<br />
If you also follow my YouTube and Instagram (possibly also mentioned this on my Facebook page, not entirely sure), then you know I've been working on redoing my Readings offerings for the new year. I wanted to have it done by January 1st, but personal life issues in December threw me way off. I started redoing the page in mid-February and was making great progress to have it done by the end of February to start out with March as the beginning of my Spring Quarter (that's a new thing, you'll read about it on the page!). But then February 28th, in the home stretch, all the work I had done that week was suddenly lost when the page--for some unknown reason of technology--reverted all the way back to original draft... It was a blow, for sure. I spent two hours that night trying to redo everything from that week, realized it was already after midnight and therefore officially March 1st, and decided I needed a break lol.<br />
<br />
So I finally got back to finishing the page today, and IT'S DONE! FINALLY! The link is above. Just wanted to update you. So many hours creating the images, taking the photos and doing the editing, typing out the descriptions of decks, deciding which decks will be available each quarter, typing the descriptions of the readings... and it's finally ready for the public. <3 p=""><br />
Blessings~<br />-C-</3>Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-91293802600901804062018-12-05T04:33:00.000-05:002019-04-06T17:12:10.791-04:00Gods, Grant Me StrengthHey, Readers,<br />
<br />
Before 2018 totally passes us by without another post from me, I figured I'd better write something up. I've been meaning to write again for a long time, but on one hand, it can be difficult to decide what should be a blog, as opposed to a Facebook post, Instagram post, YouTube video, private journal entry, or <a href="http://www.patreon.com/cutewitch772" target="_blank">exclusive Patreon post</a>. On the other hand... I haven't wanted to actually open up my mini laptop, sit in front of it, and type up a blog post.<br />
<br />
As a matter of fact, I haven't wanted to do anything.<br />
<br />
I thought the past few years were bad, but this year... well, it's been even harder. It's been one of the worst years of my life, in its own ways. It's also been one of the best.<br />
<br />
As I approach the crux of my first Saturn Return, the effects of which I've definitely been feeling for some years now but the exact moment of which (when Saturn will be in the exact place it was at my birth, not just in the zodiac sign, which it entered last December--Capricorn, for those keeping track) doesn't occur for about another year yet, the challenges I find myself facing are only increasing.<br />
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My mental health has taken quite a blow. It's like the more work I do to empower myself and attune myself with Universal Truth and my purpose and my inherent power and worth, the more anxious and scared and doubtful and worthless I feel.<br />
<br />
Don't let that scare you, for I also know full well that those feelings are not True. I recognize that they are the much needed result of opening up a soul and seeking out the things that don't belong, the habits, thought forms, patterns, and general bullshit that shouldn't have been there in the first place but found its way in and lodged into our marrow, and breaking it apart. The feelings that result are illusions, they are challenges, and they are part of my reality in some moments throughout life. They are necessary parts of the change. But they are absolutely not the Truth.<br />
<br />
I honestly don't even remember if I blogged about my intention for this year, that's how long it's been since I've written on this blog, but my intention for 2018, you may or may not know, was... IS... <b>Truth.</b> And my 2018 Year Card from the Major Arcana, determined via numerology, is <b>Strength.</b><br />
<br />
Dear gods, have I ever needed it.<br />
<br />
<i>Truthfully </i>(hah), the major thematic element of my practice this year has been the intention of Truth. It has been both a conscious, and unconscious undercurrent in many aspects of my path. I came across many helpful quotes about "truth", I experienced telling new truths and seeking truths. I recently finally obtained a small Apophyllite piece for myself, known as the "Stone of Truth" (which is recommended by Judy Hall in her book <i>The Crystal Zodiac</i> for people born under a Gemini Moon (me), and obviously caught my attention for other reasons, too).<br />
<br />
But Strength is not something that's been nearly so much on my mind this year. And yet, looking back, of course it's been there. It's been there all along, guiding me, keeping me going through those dark, formless moments as well as the brilliantly sharp, defined ones.<br />
<br />
Something happened today--a mental shift--that brought Strength back into my awareness. I was messaging a friend about how my year has been going, and I was saying that I know I've gotten really off track, pretty much, and it's been awful and I didn't like it but it's just how it had to play out, but now I feel like I'm finally coming back to myself, and getting ready to get my practice back in gear, start sharing the work I've been silently and covertly doing, and so on. I said I think I'm finally in a place where I'm ready to tune back into the Universe and make magick happen.<br />
<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">That felt wrong.</span></i><br />
<br />
<b>No,</b> I thought. <b>Not make magick happen.</b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Let magick happen.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>A weightless presence. An ear-splitting silence.</i></span><br />
<br />
There it was. This was Truth. And it was Strength.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSzyF7mnup0ONseCPf2YSx_Hb5vxOhALRW7oxKk61KdFH2XxB-edZPFxQuzYXTOqzWUVKtOQGtaAcEMw87A-RKTIlvR1vQmAvfN1r4DZ78hVrMs4YzU4kvcS59X-RJ2pCVOgJQIZ1o03Vb/s1600/150px-RWS_Tarot_08_Strength.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="271" data-original-width="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSzyF7mnup0ONseCPf2YSx_Hb5vxOhALRW7oxKk61KdFH2XxB-edZPFxQuzYXTOqzWUVKtOQGtaAcEMw87A-RKTIlvR1vQmAvfN1r4DZ78hVrMs4YzU4kvcS59X-RJ2pCVOgJQIZ1o03Vb/s1600/150px-RWS_Tarot_08_Strength.jpg" /></a>The Strength card in many "traditional" versions of the Tarot depicts a "female" figure gently, yet firmly, holding the jaws of a lion. This is what is shown in Pamela Colman Smith's artwork for the deck written by A. E. Waite, so it's well known by many, and is the one I think of most. One of the key phrases for the meaning of this card that has always stuck with me, is that it's about "Allowing, not Forcing."<br />
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I could make magick happen. I am a magick-maker. I am a Witch. I can do the thing. Or, I can take a breath and realize that magick is already happening. It's happening right now. And now. Everywhere, all around me, all the time. Around us all. I don't have to make anything happen. I just have to let it. That is the difference between forcing, and allowing.<br />
<br />
If you ask me to recount what I've done this year, I would say I've done a lot of nothing. I certainly don't feel like I've forced ANYTHING. In fact, I feel I've been too gentle on myself and that I should have been harsher, at times. But in many ways, I have been forcing. Even though I've specifically tried to chill the heck out, meet myself where I am, and flow with the personal tides. I've actually been rather proud of that, except for the times when I feel like "Ugh I should have been harder on myself because it's December already <u>where did the year even go</u> I've done <b><i>nothing</i></b>." But... I have been forcing.<br />
<br />
I've forced myself into a vision of how I think my life is supposed to be going right now. I've forced myself to calm down. I've forced myself to pick things up, to accomplish, to wrap up loose ends. I've forced myself to feel things when I just don't. I've forced myself to be numb to things that hurt.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>What have I been allowing, exactly?</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Where has the balance of Strength been all this time?<br />
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Well... Right fucking there, I think, is the answer. It's been there the whole time. I just haven't been utilizing it to my best advantage. I haven't been allowing it to help me.<br />
<br />
At least I'm finally receiving messages again. I must be allowing somewhere.<br />
<br />
Blessings~<br />
-C-Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-62380536073654060022018-02-21T15:29:00.000-05:002019-04-06T17:13:59.766-04:00I Am a Change-MakerHey, Readers,<br />
<br />
Last month I posted <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrsugLt8iQc" target="_blank">a video going over the results from a viewer survey</a> I posted about a year ago. Some of the questions I asked in the survey were about how people felt about the more political topics I had started to make some videos about, and in the video I responded to a few things I learned from the survey results. For example, some people said they don't understand why the political/justice related topics are relevant, and/or they don't think they belong on my channel. I explained briefly in said video, that my channel is about my life, and the identities I hold are part of my life. So when I talk about the LGBTQ+ community, I talk about my own place within it and my own experiences as a non-hetero person. When I talk about Paganism and Witchcraft, it is with the similar knowledge that I am sharing views from minority identities. There are more of us than people think, but Pagans ARE still a religious minority. And we get treated as such. I used to not think my life was political, and I "didn't like politics" (which, as a child, I thought of mostly as voting for Senators and the like, and voting for or against school tax levies).<br />
<br />
Ever since starting my YouTube channel, however, I have made videos about my religious path and identity with the knowledge that this is a minority point of view. This is fringe. This is still widely and vastly misunderstood by many people.<br />
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I started<i> The Pagan Perspective </i>collaborative channel with some other Pagan YouTubers in order to show more of the diversity of our community, and find common ground while celebrating our differences and the fact that having those differences is okay! At the end of my college career I did a semester's research for a Psychology course on prejudice/stereotyping using Pagans as my target study group, and since then, I've been presenting that work as a workshop at Pagan Pride events, at Unitarian Universalist Churches, and to private coven groups. People have asked me to continue sharing that work for years now, because people realize that we are a group that is affected by prejudice and stereotypes, and that the work I talk about, understanding how and why we do those things, how they work, can help us change the way we operate for the better.<br />
<br />
I did all those things, believed all those things, wanted the world to be a better, more inclusive, more understanding and fair and just place, before I woke up to the fact that this meant my life was political, and that I was doing social justice work. Now I know that. And while I know it took me some time to see, I continually find myself being surprised when others don't see it. One, I need to slow down and remember that if it took me time, it won't happen overnight for them, either. And two, you'll see repeated several times below, maybe I'm not being clear enough about my work.<br />
<br />
As an example, earlier this month (when I first started writing this post) I was looking through old posts and found a continued thread from a year ago that I hadn't continued reading after my initial response, because I was upset and confused and didn't feel like having to explain my position once again. But I read through it today, and wrote a long response, and I'd like to share it here, with some reflection.<br />
<br />
The comments I responded to were in response to a video I posted about understanding privilege, intersectionality, and what it means for an identity to be "salient" in a situation (based on my prejudice/stereotyping work, also). I was originally going to share the comments here, without the people's names, but I've decided just to recap it for you. In the comments, the people share their opinions that the idea of privilege is "nonsense" and "rubbish". When I said it isn't either, and that I was surprised to find that so many people who regularly watch my videos don't agree with this work, the new comments (that were from a year ago, that I didn't read until now) said that such things "come down to people's opinion that is strongly shaped by their worldview". They also express that in their opinion, people watch my channel for Paganism and Witchcraft content, not social justice or "progressive theories on how society should work." Someone else said that the idea of privilege has been "debunked countless times" (which... it absolutely has not, unless they mean in their own mind), and "has no place in Paganism or Wicca." Another comment said the commenter doesn't think privilege is something that really even happens, and that it's not important. The final comment was something about how "plenty of religions ... focus on teaching people to ... control other people's behavior" and that Paganism isn't one of them.<br />
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Most of these comments were from someone who's been following and supporting my work for years, so I initially felt personally hurt that someone who I thought has liked and supported me for so long apparently doesn't care about my rights, our rights, our issues, the way I thought people who support me did. I clearly made an assumption about what supporting me means to the people who choose to do so.<br />
<br />
I cannot know why people decide to support me. I have learned over the years that some people who support me DO entirely disagree with me... They've left enough hateful comments to make that clear, yet they still watch and offer financial support. And that feels weird. Why support me if you don't agree with the work I'm doing? To have someone to make fun of? That doesn't feel good, that doesn't feel supportive... I can't guess why people do what they do. I struggle often with whether it's ethical to continue being supported by people who don't actually support me as a person, my life, my rights, my values.<br />
<br />
On the other hand, there are others who I feel do support me, but for some reason they don't actually know what the work I'm doing is about. As you'll see from my reply below, which was written earlier this month, I'm beginning to think that perhaps I haven't been clear enough about how my work is political/social justice work, if people who have been following my work for so long don't see that, yes, I AM a "social justice warrior"... And that's not the insult that people on the internet think it is. Have I been unclear? Or have I been perfectly clear in my intentions, but people who don't believe in it will only ever see their own point of view regardless of what I say? While I cannot know for sure, because I am only me, not everyone's reactions to me, I can think about it and adjust my own work accordingly to where I think I might have work to do, such as considering whether I do need to be even clearer about what my work is for, and what I believe. Here is the response I wrote that day, and have left here on my blog in reflection before actually coming back to publish this post. I've decided to share it publicly and reflect on it here as one way of clearing things up, and marking this point in my path:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><b>Cara Mia - cutewitch772</b></i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I didn't read these again until now because this kind of thought process makes me upset. The fact that people don't see social justice and privilege as issues related to religion is actually part of the problem. A lot of people seem to view religion as something outside justice, and it really isn't... It's a huge part of how people think the world should work, as you said. Which is why I don't understand making a distinction between Paganism/Wicca/Witchcraft and "progressive theories on how society should work"... Paganism, Wicca, and Witchcraft ARE progressive ideas about how society should work!</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Paganism is a minority religion. We are a minority, and we are treated as such. There is privilege to being a member of a majority faith--people don't tend to automatically assume you're evil, people don't think you're made up or don't exist or are pretending to be Harry Potter, the civic calendar acknowledges all your religious holidays and many places automatically get days off for them, to name a few privileges. You don't think Pagans and Wiccans online talk about the unfair treatment we get as Pagans all the time? They do. All over the internet, all the time. Most people seem to spend the first few years of their Pagan path doing just that, lamenting the way society treats us relative to majority faiths (mainly Christianity, in the US). Maybe those people aren't thinking of it as a social justice issue, or as lacking privilege in that realm, but that's exactly what they're talking about. We just don't all have the terminology to know what other people (activists, people working in social justice, etc) call it.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>My channel is about me and my life. You may recall that I've also done videos about my sexuality, because it's part of my life, and about the intersections between my Pagan identity and my identity as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ rights issues are social justice issues. Heterosexuals have privilege in our society. As do white people, as do men, as do able-bodied people, as do neuro-typical people, as do lots of groups, some of which I am a part and some of which I am not a part. This is about recognizing that we have privileges in some ways, and not in others, depending on our identities, and remembering to take other people's identities into account instead of assuming everyone is like us. Things like wheelchair accessible buildings are a result of recognizing privilege that people who can walk up stairs have, and making the world more accessible for people who have a different identity in that regard. That's just one example that I think many people comprehend today, but don't necessarily think of as related to this issue, and it is.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Plenty of Pagans have progressive notions about society. Have you never heard people talk about how much better they think things would be if Christianity and other Abrahamic religions hadn't killed or converted everyone and changed the way the world works? The resurgence of interest in Goddess traditions in the past several decades? What about people making plans for Pagan-based education for our future generations? At the last Pagan Pride event I attended, last year, there was a whole section of Selena Fox asking people to name out loud ideas for the future that we would like to see, such as Pagan schooling, more Pagan-oriented senior care and end of life assistance, Twelve Step programs for recovery that aren't focused on only one religion's idea of God, and much more. Pagans have their own ideas of how society should work, all right. Again, I go back to how many videos and blogs I've seen from Pagans talking about how mainstream society misunderstands us. The Pagan Perspective is about education for the betterment of the community, learning about our differing views so we can expand the way we think about our diverse community, and the way we relate to one another. The Pagan Pride movement is similarly about education and community, educating people that we are not the horrible people they have been taught that we are... These ARE social justice issues. I used to try to separate them, too, because I thought I "wasn't a political person." But the reality is that every identity we hold is political. Laws and social structures make things a certain way, and changing them to improve our lives and the world around us is political. LGBTQ+ rights, political. Pagan rights, political. It's not about controlling other people's behavior... It's about recognizing our own privilege and how we can understand it to help improve the world. I can't control you, nor can you control me. It's about choosing to do the work ourselves, because we believe in treating other people (or animals, or the planet) better. And if some people don't think that I've been trying to improve the world and our place in it by educating people about Paganism... I'm not sure what anyone thinks I've been doing.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>If people think, for example, that I've been educating with workshops on Pagans & Prejudice, and being asked to fly or drive to various locations around the country to present this information to Pagan groups and non-Pagan groups alike, because people DON'T think prejudice and social justice are issues that Pagans and Witches can speak to and do something about... then I'm not sure those people have been paying attention. That's what it's been about the whole time.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It's not my fault if people haven't seen it. We all live with our own blinders on about certain things. I've been doing the work, but it's up to the people observing it to see what they choose to see. We all experience the world through our own lens.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I didn't always see it either, but now I do. Witches ARE warriors for justice. Magick is the art of CREATING CHANGE. That's radical. We've always been that way. Not all of us are today, I think due in large part to the fact that so many of us have convinced ourselves, like I did, that politics is a separate thing that we don't have to be part of. But realizing that's not true is up to each of us, on our own journey. I can't make that happen for others, I can just talk about my own experiences and my own journey, which is what I've been doing this whole time. And maybe the fact that people haven't gotten that, means I haven't been clear or loud ENOUGH. I think most of us, radical as we may be, could do MUCH more.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>I am happy to have found traditions of Witchcraft lately that fully embrace our role as Witches in creating change for the world, which again I think many Pagans and Witches already do, but they either don't know that it "counts" as politics or activism or social justice because we don't always talk about it in those terms, or they're afraid to name it, because maybe they don't want to sound like a radical "SJW" as you said. Maybe they don't want to get made fun of online for it. But if you don't want change, you don't do magick. If you don't want a better, more just world, if you don't have ideas about a better way of living, I'm not sure what people are doing with their religious views at all... Because that IS the way we see the world and how we think it should be, or we'd believe something else. Some people in this world cling to a religious identity but don't truly live its principles, but THAT is something that is not widespread in Paganism. And that's probably because many of us weren't raised in it, we found it, and we consciously chose to follow it. We typically do something about our beliefs. You revere nature? You work to protect it. That means everyday practices like conserving energy and water, not littering, not polluting, but it also means supporting environmental protection efforts, signing petitions, donating to causes doing the work you support, maybe taking part in community impact like cleaning up the beach. Pagans are usually people who DO things based on their worldview. We don't only sit home and pray about it. We go out into the world and make it a better place, we design ritual to change our consciousness and the way we see the world because we understand that when we change the way we see the world, the world around us changes. We know how magick works. We are change-makers.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Or, we're not.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Lots of people will continue to do nothing and be complicit because they don't see anything wrong to change, and that's their own journey, but that's not me. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. I've seen it my whole life, I just didn't know anything was wrong. So I get that. A lot of people are there. But please don't try to tell me it's not my place, or doesn't fit with what I do on my channel... It is everything to do with my channel. All my identities, all my life experiences. It's everything, and everywhere.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Those who can't see that, it makes sense that they also don't see it in the world around them. And vice versa--if they don't see it as a problem in the world, of course they wouldn't notice it in my channel, in my work. That makes sense. But as you said, it's about your worldview. If you don't see it, YOU don't see it. That doesn't mean it's not there, everywhere, permeating our culture. If anything, it just proves it. It's so ingrained, we don't even notice it anymore. Until we do.</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Taking a deep breath... Honoring that you have been watching and supporting my channel this whole time... without realizing that you apparently fundamentally disagree with why I do this work, the whole time... That feels very raw for me, I imagine it feels weird for you, too. So just offering gratitude for the situation that you are even here to have heard what I've been saying for years, and acceptance that it is always up to you whether to actually hear/see it.</i> </blockquote>
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<i>Blessings~</i></blockquote>
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There are so many more examples I could give to this discussion...</div>
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Part of revering nature and wanting to protect the environment for me is also my choice to be Vegan. Very few of us talk about that, because what we eat is such a charged topic for people. I remember years ago talking on <i>The Pagan Perspective</i> about whether Pagans are required to be vegetarian, and saying no, of course it's not a requirement for your beliefs the way that some religions have actual dietary requirements or other lifestyle restrictions (which plenty of people break anyway). But for me, not eating meat is a change I wanted to make as a child, but my family was in charge of what I ate and made me eat meat. As soon as I graduated from college, moved out and became solely responsible for buying my own food, I went Vegan. I personally don't see that choice as separate from my environmental work, from bettering life for creatures on this planet whether human or non-human animals (for we are animals, too, and what makes us more important?), or from dismantling systems of oppression and abuse--ALL forms of oppression and abuse. This is something I've been thinking about a lot as I read more about Witches who work for justice, specifying "ALL forms of justice, dismantling ALL forms of oppression and abuse", but all of it is focused on humans and the planet, the Earth itself and the plant life, with only a side note for the animals, as though they aren't part of the inhabitants of the planet and the environment. I even did it above in my response to that person, talking about revering nature and I only talked about the planet itself... Even I, as a Vegan, still have ingrained programming that makes us forget to talk about the animals in the main discussion. That's a powerful realization in and of itself. And I know people will be tempted to say that focusing on that means we don't care about the injustice against humans. That's not true at all. We can care about MANY issues at once, and think they are ALL important, and do work toward as many of them as we can. ALL forms of justice. Against ALL systems of oppression and abuse.</div>
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Which brings me back to the idea that some people seem to think justice is not applied to religion. It takes me back to the YouTube <i>Project For Awesome</i> in 2014. P4A is an annual event created by the Vlogbrothers, Hank and John Green, where people create videos about a non-profit cause of their choice and upload it to YouTube, and fill out a form to have it be part of the official Project for Awesome website. Then everyone watches them, likes and comments on them, donates directly to the cause if they want to, over the course of a few days, and at the end, the videos with the most interactions get some of the money raised by P4A itself. It's a pretty cool thing the Vlogbrothers put together to get people involved in learning about causes, and an easy way to learn about causes others care about and donate to them if you can. The reason I think of this is that you can make your video about ANY non-profit organization, so one year, after I had been working closely with <a href="https://pentaclesofpride1.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank">Pentacles of Pride, International</a>, an organization based in Arkansas, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2R2xUtrKQU" target="_blank">I made my video for P4A about them</a>. Pentacles of Pride's main project is sending free pentacle charms to anyone who requests one, because we know that pentacles are a minority faith symbol that isn't as readily available to people, and sometimes they can be expensive. So, even though they are not the ONLY symbol used by Pagans, of course--it largely depends on the path you follow--Pentacles of Pride decided to send simple pentacle charms to those who wanted a symbol of their faith and couldn't otherwise obtain one. Of course, they had to buy the charms, and they pay for the shipping. So donations to them mainly go toward helping pay for the charms themselves, and to pay for shipping them, because they ship anywhere in the world. Some of their other projects, which I mentioned in the video I made (linked above), include interfaith temples, funding scholarships, and publishing anthologies of Pagan stories/experiences.</div>
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I was really proud of the video I made about the organization, and I listed it in the section of P4A that was for Religious/Spiritual non-profits. It may have been a miscellaneous category, I can't remember now, but I do remember checking it out and finding that someone else did a video about an Atheist non-profit that sounded really cool, so I went to leave that person a comment about how I liked their video, and saw the comments other people were leaving them. Other people, other Nerdfighters... people from this online community who are all about Decreasing World Suck, were saying things like "This video doesn't belong on here. This issue isn't as important as other causes." Someone else actually said "Religious organizations don't belong on here, P4A is more for important things like hunger and clean water." No one was saying those things weren't important, as there were hundreds of videos already about those causes. I was surprised. We're a community of nerds who fight for the things we love, and fight to Decrease World Suck. The non-profit is called The Foundation to Decrease World Suck. Why did these people think that hating on someone for their views was appropriate or necessary, or in any way decreasing the amount that the world sucks? They clearly forgot to be awesome that day, which is the exact thing Nerdfighters strive NOT to do. DFTBA = Don't Forget To Be Awesome... it's the reason I say it at the end of all my videos as part of my closing statement, and here was this community that is all about making the world better and learning about causes, saying this religious organization <i>wasn't important enough</i>, that this person's identity as an Atheist was so unimportant that they shouldn't have made a video about a cause they care about, that they had a personal connection to, that helps improve their world... What would they say about my video about Pentacles of Pride, International?<br />
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Obviously wanting to be taken seriously as a religious minority, not wanting to get hatred every day from family, school staff, peers, strangers at the grocery store, etc., are not the same as fundamental needs like clean water, providing education, and battling hunger across our country and across the globe. But that doesn't mean being part of a minority religious identity doesn't affect people. I mean, clearly, people think it's not important enough to talk about... That shows some prejudice and privilege right there. People think religion isn't part of the discussion of justice, even though religion is where a lot of people first get their ideas of justice. This person had a strong personal connection with this non-profit that no one else was talking about, so they made a video to get the info out there, just like I did with my personal connection to Pentacles of Pride. Hundreds of people made videos for Water.org and other big causes that we had all already heard of because they have been P4A causes for years... To tell some people that their choice to expose people to a little-known, minority faith (or no-faith) organization, "didn't belong" and "wasn't important"... is... not awesome. And it goes right back to that idea that if we care about one thing, like being taken seriously in our religion and spirituality, it somehow means we don't care about clean water and sustainable resources and educating children across the globe. We do care about those things... (In fact, as a Nature-reverent, Earth-based Pagan, those things are PART of my religious and spiritual path and experience, not separate from it.) That's why, in life, we contribute to as many causes as we care about. No one said we were picking one over the whole, but lots of people like to make that argument as a way of making someone's cause seem lesser. Our hearts are big. Our love is infinite. There IS enough to care about ALL THE THINGS. Just because someone wants to say "Hey, I have this other experience that not a lot of other people know about or take seriously, and I thought you might like to add it to the list of things you know about so maybe it can help", does NOT mean they are saying "Hey my experience is way more important than all those other experiences in the world and you should only listen to me."</div>
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WHICH brings me to another example of a Pagan operating in privilege that came to mind while writing the above response to that I didn't go into: there once was a straight male Pagan commenting on my video about gay male Pagans/the stereotype that men in Paganism are gay, who attested that people never assume male Pagans are gay, because it's never happened to him. In his mind, because it has never happened to him personally, that meant it never happens, and I must have been lying or making it up. This is a problem that many people have. We think that our experience speaks for everyone's reality, and it doesn't. Thinking it does, is a form of privilege. The video I did on that subject was actually requested by multiple male Pagans who watched my videos, who have personally encountered the stereotype that men in Paganism are gay--they are heterosexual, but had experienced that some people, when learning that they were Pagan, assumed they were also homosexual--and they wanted to hear my thoughts on it. That is a stereotype I had seen and heard for YEARS, since I was about 12 and first studying Wicca, so when people asked me to talk about it, I thought sure, I have experienced that stereotype floating around enough that I can talk about it a little. For someone to say it's fake, a lie, or never happens because it hasn't happened to them, is an example of privilege. Just because something doesn't happen to you doesn't give you the right to claim others are lying about their own experiences. I'm not a male Pagan, so that stereotype has never been put on me, but I know it happens to others. I concluded that perhaps it makes a difference if you know the exact paths these men follow...<br />
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The stereotype that Pagan men are gay often is leveled at Wiccan practitioners, I've noticed, perhaps because of the fact that many people in the general public only know Wicca and Witches as examples of Paganism, and there is a stereotype that those paths are "for women." But Norse paths are more associated with Viking warriors, typically thought of as very masculine and made up of mostly men. There is not as much stereotype of those men's sexuality. Druids, similarly. I have not specifically heard people offering the stereotype that Druids are gay because of their path. Both Norse paths and Druid paths, while we know they are not specific to any gender, are generally stereotyped as pretty male-centric paths, having mostly male practitioners, etc. We know this isn't true today... It's a false stereotype. But it may explain why a straight, male member of one of those paths has never been faced with the stereotype that his Pagan path makes him gay. Because people don't have that stereotype of paths they see as heavily masculine or male-centered, only of paths that are stereotypically seen as "feminine" and made up of mainly "women." So we see how it might work, from one person's point of view to another's. But to say that the men who asked me to talk about the topic because it happens to them all the time, are lying about it, or that I'm lying about it and made it up, because this other person has never had it happen <i>to them</i>... is it's own kind of closed-minded. And it could be related to a discussion of privilege and social justice--if you don't believe something negative/harmful is happening, you aren't very likely to work toward helping it not happen anymore. It can also be used in a discussion of intersectionality, because all the men in this example are Pagan, and all identify as Men. But it makes a difference which path they follow--a Norse Pagan man, or a Druid Pagan man, and a Wiccan man, have different stereotypes leveled at them, and different experiences of the world. The intersection of their identities and experiences makes a big difference in how each of them are treated, how they treat others, and how they see the world. But for one to say the other is lying about those experiences because they are different, is unjust, and plain incorrect. Just because something doesn't happen to us personally, doesn't mean it doesn't happen.</div>
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There are many more examples, but you've got the idea by now.</div>
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This is stuff that we, as Pagans, as Witches, talk about all the time. How people see us, how we see each other, how we treat ourselves and others as a result. This is about prejudice, it's about stereotype, it's about justice and compassion and equity in our affairs, it's about political identities, and it's about social change.</div>
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Magick is about change. It is <i>the art</i> of creating change. Of <i>changing consciousness</i>. At will.</div>
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We are <b>change-makers.</b></div>
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"She changes everything She touches and everything She touches changes."</div>
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"When we change the way we see the world, the world we see changes."</div>
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"What happens between the Worlds changes all the Worlds."</div>
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"Be the change you wish to see..."</div>
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These are not ideals for people who don't want change. Who don't want progress. Who don't have ideas of a better world. These are tenants of those who seek to create substantial change, not resist change or be complicit with systems in power simply because we were born into them.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(As a side note, anyone who was raised in a majority/Abrahamic faith and consciously chose to begin following Paganism of any kind, or any other minority faith, is already someone who consciously chose Change rather than be complicit with the system in power that they were born into. You are magickal. Don't tell me you're not able to change the world. You already did.)</blockquote>
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In the interest of intersectionality and knowing that this is not everyone's path, I do want to say here that I know not all Pagans are Witches. Not all Witches identify as Pagans. Not all Pagans do magick or spellcraft outside the magick inherent in their rituals. And maybe their rituals are for change, maybe they aren't; maybe they're purely for celebrating the holidays or communing with the gods. Maybe the gods never challenge some of us to change, maybe they don't ask us to help change the world, to be better people, to treat others better, to dismantle oppressive systems. Maybe they don't. So that is up to everyone's individual path. It is each of our decision to answer the call, or to listen for it in the first place.</div>
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But for those of us whose path is about change, who do care about social justice, and fighting injustice and oppression, I don't believe we should shy away from that. And maybe I've been too quiet, too unclear, about who I am and what all my work has been for. Maybe not. But just in case,</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">I am a Witch.</span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">I am a change-maker.</span></i></div>
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My path is not about sitting still, never changing, never making progress.</div>
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My path is not about not believing other people, or saying they're wrong, or lying, because I haven't yet or never will experience what they have.</div>
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I was long ago called to understand, and to help others understand.</div>
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We can't always fully understand, we can't be in someone else's shoes, but we can listen to them. We can believe them. We can take their experience into account, knowing we will NEVER have the exact same experience as someone else and that's why their view <i>matters</i>. Because with it, we have a fuller picture of reality than we would with just our own.</div>
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My path is not about denying other people's experiences.</div>
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My path is about recognizing the role I play in the world, and how I can better understand it, and change it when I need to, to create the change I really want to see.</div>
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So many people now are doing intense inner work to improve themselves and the world around them and their relations with others, to remove blockages, and traumas, and old behavioral patterns that hold us back. They aren't all billed as Witchy practices, or as religious or spiritual at all, but they are absolutely the same as the work Witches do. As I do. Maybe not all Witches are doing that work. That's their own decision. But it's important work, that I think we should all be doing at some point. Just not until you're ready. I wasn't ready for a long time, myself. Now, even though I am ready, there are aspects I'm not ready for. It's a long process, and a lot of work.</div>
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My path is about doing the work.</div>
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My path is about being ready to not be ready.</div>
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My path is about showing up.</div>
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Learning everything I can. Deciding how it applies to me.</div>
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My path is about struggling with things I don't think are for me until I learn the lesson I need to learn. My path is about not immediately saying "no" to someone's experience because I disagree, but sitting with it until I decide whether it's for me, whether it's good work, whether I need to create a change. And if it's not... then saying "no."</div>
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I understand--I have to continually remind myself--that this, to be a Witch, is not the same idea shared by all Witches or Pagans. But it is what I believe we are here for, whether it takes us years to realize it and start to do the work or not. It took me years. It takes years, it takes lifetimes.</div>
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There are whole groups of Witches and Pagans who understand that we can create substantial change, and we have a responsibility to do so for the better, to help the world and its creatures and peoples, not hinder them. These groups do so much, and every day we recognize that we choose the work we will do, but that there is always more to do. And maybe one day we will add on that further work, and maybe we will let others head it up while we continue doing ours. But it's all good work, all important work.</div>
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There are also groups of Witches and Pagans who honestly do nothing but dress up, call the quarters, and gossip together. I know, because I've been to some of those circles. They don't care about change, they talk about the same things every time, complain about the same things, never considering that they could actually do something about it instead. Through witnessing those kinds of groups, I quickly learned that Witchcraft and magick that aren't seeking to do anything to create positive change are not for me. Make no mistake, Witches are change-makers, and that means potential to create change... But not all of us are actually doing that. Again, that's their journey.</div>
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But it's not mine.</div>
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I hope I've made things a little more clear.</div>
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Blessings~<br />
-C-</div>
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<b>Update:</b><br />
I wrote this post weeks ago, originally. I'm publishing it today and wanted to offer a few other thoughts that came up last night/today.<br />
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<li>First, a link to the <a href="http://www.paganicon.org/programming/" target="_blank">programming schedule of this year's Paganicon</a>, the Pagan convention in Minnesota. A friend reminded me of this event yesterday, and I can't help but notice how much of the programming--the rituals, the panel discussions, the workshops--is rooted in social justice and political work. As you look through it, you'll see content relating to creating healthy boundaries, addressing issues of abuse and related things in our communities (similar to what we recently talked about on <i>Pagan Perspective</i>), looking at paths through a queer perspective, a Pagan recovery meeting (remember one of the suggestions with Selena Fox's talk? Some people are already doing it!), discussing the role that colonization has on the way we view indigenous practices, viewing the Goddess through more than just physical biology/having a uterus, making spaces more welcoming to trans individuals, Self Love work (which is radical in itself in a society that profits off us not liking ourselves), the dangers of cult mindsets and how to watch out for unhealthy religious groups, death midwifery (another suggestion someone had in Selena's talk and which people are already implementing in a Pagan framework), cultural identity, and many more including things actually titled "Tarot and Social Justice" and "Political Magick." And this is just one year at one event. These things have a place in Paganism.</li>
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<li>I checked my email today and found SJ Tucker's most recent email update. In addition to talking about her newly released songs this month and the fact that she is performing at Paganicon next month, she also mentions in the email that this weekend is her birthday (Feb 22), and if people want to do something nice for her birthday, she suggested that we donate to a group fighting to save the White River Bridge in Clarendon, Arkansas, and preserve it as a walking and bike path. Here is SJ, a Pagan singer-songwriter and musician, encouraging folks to give to a local conservation effort that is important to her personally. Her email says, "Their next official court date, to fight for the conservation of the old bridge as a pedestrian and bike path, just happens to be on my birthday, February 22nd. Let’s give them a boost! Learn more about the organization and their conservation efforts here: <a href="http://clicks.fanbridge.com/l.php?cid=1458037&sid=237835699&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.whiteriverbridge.org%2F">http://www.whiteriverbridge.org/</a> " This is political. This is people going to court, fighting for things that matter to them, to maintain something good for their community.</li>
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Just more things to think about. Thanks again for reading. I'm sure there will be more in the future, but this post is long enough for today. =)</div>
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Blessings x2~</div>
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-C-</div>
Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-49082714652200615422018-01-20T20:52:00.000-05:002019-04-06T17:14:34.344-04:00Moon Sign Datebook: My First ImpressionsHey, there!<br />
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This blog post is a companion to <b><a href="https://youtu.be/fTsBJ-dcMpI" target="_blank">my video review of the 2018 Moon Sign Datebook</a></b>, giving my first impressions of it as I prepare to work with it this year. I also plan to do a fuller review at the end of the year, to share any further insight after working with it for the whole year.<br />
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<i><b><a href="https://youtu.be/fTsBJ-dcMpI" target="_blank">Watch the video here if you prefer to listen/watch along!</a></b></i></div>
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I'm writing this blog post in addition to the video for two reasons:<br />
1) So that people can choose to read this text summary rather than listen to/watch the video.<br />
2) I can add updates here, as I've continued looking things up and adding information to my planner since the video was recorded and edited.<br />
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<b>A couple disclaimers:</b><br />
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<li>To begin with, I do not have an overall bias against Llewellyn Publishing. There are many Pagan/Witchy books on my bookshelf that I consider awesome resources, which bear the iconic Waxing Crescent logo. That said, I am aware that many people do not like Llewellyn because they also publish things that are poorly researched and/or rife with misinformation. Unfortunately, the <i>Moon Sign Datebook</i> appears to be one of those things.</li>
<li>The back cover of the <i>Moon Sign Datebook</i> says that it is a companion to the <i>Moon Sign Book</i>. I have never read completely through a <i>Moon Sign Book</i>, so I don't know if some of the information that is missing from the datebook is in the <i>Book </i>itself. For the purposes of this review and my work with it this year, I am treating the <i>Moon Sign Datebook</i> as its own, self-contained item.</li>
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<b>Basic features of the planner:</b><br />
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<li>Page toward the front listing Eclipses, Solstices & Equinoxes, and Mercury Retrograde/Direct dates and times. This page also has a Symbols key so you know which Zodiac symbol stands for which sign, Moon phase symbols, and that V/C stands for Void of Course.</li>
<li>Tabs at the start of each month making finding that month easier.</li>
<li>Full monthly calendar view, followed by weekly views with daily spaces for planning.</li>
<li>Random Moon info and interesting history, etc. interspersed throughout.</li>
<li>Monthly "At-A-Glance" sections list brief interpretations of the Full and New Moons, as well as more detailed info for gardening by the Moon.</li>
<li>Printed in Eastern Time. Already adjusted for Daylight Savings Time.</li>
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<b>Now, into the specifics of things I noticed...</b></div>
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<li>The definitions of terms included are incorrect or incomplete. For example, only the popular misunderstanding (the "new definition" that most people know) of a Blue Moon is included, which is expected, but they don't talk about the original definition or the history of how the new definition came to be. I like to have all the available information and make my own decisions as to what has meaning for my practice. This only gives you the popular definition. And the definition of a Void of Course Moon given is incorrect. (Check out the links at the end of this post to learn more!)</li>
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<li>As mentioned above, the datebook is printed in Eastern Time only. If you are in another time zone, you have to adjust all times for your time zone yourself. There is a World Time Zone map and conversion chart to help with this, but it's still extra work to do on your own.</li>
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<li>Doesn't explain what the notations "1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th" on all the days are. I figured out by looking at the phases that they are breaking the Moon cycle into 4 quarters, so every day from the New Moon to First Quarter says "1st", every day from the First Quarter to Full Moon says "2nd", and so on. But it doesn't explain that anywhere. (Not sure if these things are explained in the <i>Moon Sign Book</i> or not. This was just the first thing I noticed that I was confused about and had to figure out myself.)</li>
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<li>Times are included for when the Moon goes <b>Void of Course</b> (Eastern time, UTC -5).</li>
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<li>Times are NOT included for when the Moon enters the next sign (so I'm looking that up and writing it in myself). As a result of this, some of the signs printed on the days are misleading--not WRONG, per se, but since they don't tell you when the Moon changes signs, it can be confusing. For example, one day might say Cancer, but the Moon moved into Leo at 1am that day. So Cancer is printed on that day, even though it's Leo for most of the day. If you're trying to align your magick with a certain Moon Sign, you might need or want to know when the Moon changed signs, and this doesn't tell you that.</li>
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<li>In the Gardening sections in the Month At-A-Glance, it does list the times the Moon entered and left each sign. But that's the only place it does so. I almost didn't notice, because I'm not going to be using it much for gardening. It seems strange that they'd have the info there, but not do it for every time throughout the year. Maybe two different people were in charge of those sections of the datebook. Who knows?</li>
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<li>Most of the Void of Course times are correct so far. At the time of uploading the video and writing this blog post, I've double checked and added times the Moon entered signs for January through May. So far, I've come across one Void of Course time that was wrong (should be 1:59 AM and the datebook says 10:59 PM--I double checked on multiple other websites to be sure), and one V/C time that wasn't printed at all--it got skipped. Seems like the editors weren't looking closely.</li>
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<li>Also since the signs are sometimes notated in a misleading way, it doesn't say what sign each <b>Full and New/Dark Moon</b> is in. Example: If the Moon is in Pisces in the morning, and it says there's a Full Moon that evening, you may think that Full Moon is in Pisces. But if the Moon moved into Aries in the afternoon, that Full Moon is actually a Full Moon in Aries. Maybe not a huge deal for everyone, but if you're trying to align your magick with specific astrological signs, this makes a difference--Pisces energy and Aries energy are not the same. So again, knowing when the Moon entered each sign makes a difference, and those times aren't listed.</li>
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<li><b>Eclipses</b> are notated in Month At-A-Glance areas, and on the reference page in the front of the planner, but not on the days in the weekly view. Not a huge deal, but if you want to see them all on every day you have to put them there yourself. It says whether it's a Full Moon on the days, of course, but it doesn't say that that Full Moon is also an Eclipse, for example.</li>
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<li><b>Solstices and Equinoxes</b> are noted in the reference page at the front of the datebook, and in the daily/weekly view. Times for them are not noted anywhere. Maybe because they're Solar events, not Lunar? *shrugs* The Eclipse times <i>and </i>astrological degrees are listed, but Solstice/Equinox times are not. Just thought that was interesting.</li>
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<li><b>Major Moon Phases </b>(Full, New/Dark, First Quarter, Third/Last Quarter) which are specifically noted in the weekly view on the appropriate day, are not marked in the monthly view at all. Most wall calendars you can get at the store include symbols for these major phases, so I was really surprised that this datebook doesn't put them in the monthly views at all. In fact, nothing is on the monthly views. You have to add the major Moon phases, solstices & equinoxes, etc. yourself.</li>
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<li>Another thing I expected to find in something with "Moon Sign" in the title was for it to tell you what it means when the Moon is in each sign of the Zodiac. The Full/New Moon snippets in the At-A-Glance sections are probably created with the sign in mind, but it doesn't correctly list them all in the weekly view (as I already mentioned) and it doesn't tell you what they mean so that you can come up with your own meanings, or apply it to your work for that Moon. To be fair, the back cover lists some major features of the datebook, and it never claims to tell you what the signs mean. That's just something I expected based on the item's title.</li>
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<b>Overall First Impression:</b></div>
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As of right now, I don't recommend this item. I specifically don't recommend it to anyone outside the Eastern US time zone (UTC -5), because you have to redo all the times yourself anyway, and I'm already having to look up and add in all the other things that the datebook doesn't include even for Eastern time. You'd be better off buying whatever planner you want--even a blank, inexpensive one--and adding it all in yourself, since you have to redo everything regardless. I also don't recommend this to beginners. The introduction in the datebook says that they've always intended these books to be suitable for beginners all the way up to experience practitioners, but now that I've had a chance to look at it, see all the things that are left out, the incorrect definitions, and so on, I wouldn't recommend it to someone who wants to use it to begin learning about Moon Magick or how it relates to the Zodiac signs. At the end of this post (and in the description of the video) you'll find links to resources where you can learn more, find Void of Course times and times the Moon enters each sign for multiple time zones, etc.</div>
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At the end of the day, this item is a planner, and it can be used as a regular everyday planner. It has monthly and weekly views, tabs for ease of finding months, and space to write it notes and appointments. However, you can find that in any basic planner. You don't necessarily need this one, especially since it's rather misleading more often than not. I will be using this planner all year--with all my corrections, additions, and added charts and tables for the information I feel is necessary--so it will certainly get used, but I wouldn't give it to a student of mine as it stands right now.</div>
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Have you used the <i>Moon Sign Book</i> before? What do you think of them?</div>
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<b>Links for Further Research:</b></div>
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Blue Moon</div>
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<a href="https://www.space.com/15455-blue-moon.html">https://www.space.com/15455-blue-moon.html</a></div>
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Black Moon</div>
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_moon">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_moon</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Void of Course Times, Tables, & Calendars</div>
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<a href="https://www.lunarium.co.uk/articles/void-of-course.jsp">https://www.lunarium.co.uk/articles/void-of-course.jsp</a> (Lunarium.com article explaining Void of Course Moon)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.lunarium.co.uk/calendar/universal.jsp">https://www.lunarium.co.uk/calendar/universal.jsp</a> (Lunarium calendar--You can adjust for your own time zone and generate a calendar for any month from 1900 to 2020. It uses symbols instead of words, but there's a key at the bottom to tell you what you're looking for.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.moontracks.com/void_of_course_moon_dates.html">https://www.moontracks.com/void_of_course_moon_dates.html</a> (MoonTracks table--You can adjust these for your time zone, but it's only available for the current month and following month, so you'd have to do it every couple months. These also don't adjust for Daylight Savings, just the time zone at Standard Time.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.astrologybyjudithryan.com/2018-void-of-course-moon">https://www.astrologybyjudithryan.com/2018-void-of-course-moon</a> (Full tables for Eastern Time for all of 2018. Already adjusted for Daylight Savings, but you have to calculate for other Time Zones yourself.)</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.moontracks.com/cgi-bin/astrology-calendar.pl">https://www.moontracks.com/cgi-bin/astrology-calendar.pl</a> (MoonTracks calendar covers the whole year and lists V/C times, the time the Moon enters each sign, and the times every other planet/the Sun enters a new sign. But... it's in Pacific Standard Time. So you have to adjust. This is the one I've been using mostly, and triple checking with the one above, since it's in my time zone already.)</div>
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***</div>
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If you're interested in learning more about how I work with the Moon in my practice, I'm working on a Moon Phase Magick course to offer this year. My friend gifting me this datebook was, in my book, a message from the Universe to get my butt in gear and get my courses ready! Until then, you can join this Facebook group I created to keep updated on any courses I offer related to the Moon, and I'll be posting articles and other resources there, as well. =)</div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/513100212396868/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/513100212396868/</a></div>
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***</div>
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Thank you for reading!</div>
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Blessings~</div>
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-C-</div>
Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-83059027092115049072017-12-19T13:28:00.000-05:002019-04-06T17:15:30.064-04:00Trust & Who We AreHey, Readers,<br />
<br />
<b>Have you ever noticed people whose energies and personalities seem totally out of line with what they say they do?</b><br />
<br />
I have. In the past, and again today, a similar thing.<br />
<br />
In college, for instance, one of my friends and I got into a course that was usually for Nursing students only, because it fulfilled a core requirement we needed and overlapped with our studies in theatre. It was a course on bioethics and how narratives (theatre, fictional stories, non-fictional accounts, etc.) can help have difficult conversations about ethics in medicine. So it was myself, and one of my theatre friends, in a class full of people who were studying to be Nurses.<br />
<br />
Long story short, not only did half of the Nurses-to-be in the class have poor attitudes and not seem to care at all about other people's needs, but a few of them actually actively fought back against having to learn about other people's views and needs, arguing that the Western medical system always knows best and everyone needs to just deal with it.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, I hope no one I know ever ends up with such uncompassionate nursing care. But it's out there. There are a ton of people in fields like that because the medical field makes money, and has a certain amount of prestige. Thankfully there are also those out there who are amazingly caring and compassionate, and passionate about their work helping people--PEOPLE, not just names on clipboards, not just means to a paycheck. One such nurse is a friend of mine who also happens to be a High Priestess. Another is my partner's mother, who recently retired from many, many years caring for people. A third, though not a Nurse but a Nurse's Aid, is my mother. My mother cares deeply about people, who they really are, what they really want and need.<br />
<br />
But, this isn't about Nurses. That was just an example, one of the more startling experiences I had, in that classroom with these people who were meant to care about people and flat out refused to do so. This is about people whose personalities make them seem out of place with what they're doing. Nurses who don't care about people seems a little odd, if the way you think of nurses is as people who care for others. Care-givers. Nurturers. Nurturers who don't nurture? Seems like maybe something else would be more suited to their personality and views, right?<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Today I came across a pair of women in a restaurant, one of whom was wearing a very Eastern style necklace, with a chakra lotus charm and the Om in the center. When I see things like this, I think, "Hey, my people!" What I mean is, "people who are interested in/know about the same things I do!" But despite this, I feel a knot in my chest, closing my heart chakra area. As I've learned from my previous work this year, this is the area through which I feel the most.<br />
<br />
I quickly realized that these women, including the one wearing the necklace, didn't actually know what they were talking about. I see this a lot, especially with people who get into Yoga though classes recommended by their friends, classes which don't teach principles of Yoga in an Eastern way, don't teach history, or really any form of practice beyond he physical asanas. And they definitely don't talk about the Deities involved.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
(Some classes do. I've been to some. But some definitely don't, and you can tell when those are the only classes someone has been to. A while ago I had a conversation with a woman I had gotten to know over a few months, and I knew she was into Yoga and practiced it regularly. One day we got into a conversation in which it was revealed that she never knew several pretty basic things about the practice's background or origin. She said her classes hadn't taught that. I'm not surprised, given that many classes are taught by people who took 200-hour training from another teacher who wasn't taught the background in their 200-hour training, either. 200 hours is about 8 days total... Think about that. Study of Witchcraft recommends a year and a day before you even decide whether it's right for you, a minimum of 365 days to even reach the point when a coven will consider having you join, before they begin teaching you... And people today get to the point where they're certified to teach Yoga without knowing about it's history or meaning, in the equivalent of a little over one week's total time. But I digress... this isn't about Yoga, either.)</blockquote>
<br />
Anyway.<br />
<br />
The women are discussing. They don't know how to pronounce any of the things they're talking about. They're getting things slightly wrong. I don't want to correct them and sound like a know-it-all, even though we had just been talking moments before. But then--THANK YOU, INTERNET--one of them realizes they're not sure how to pronounce something and pulls out her smartphone to check. They start looking up and reading about Reiki (RAY-key), energy work, chakras (they learn that it means "wheel" in Sanskrit), and I'm proud. I'm happy these women are taking the initiative to learn about something more fully, looking up pronunciations when they realize "Oh I've only read this before, I've never said or heard it out loud, I don't know how to say it." I'm kicking myself for forgetting my bracelets this morning because I would have loved to talk about my chakra bracelets with them, and I start thinking I'll recommend my favorite chakra website that I use so they can learn more. I start to wonder what my heart constriction was all about, because this is great!<br />
<br />
Then, in the middle of telling her friend about healing rays of light that help people fight depression, Lotus Necklace woman becomes a huge jerk.<br />
<br />
She starts complaining about the food her friend is eating. It looks bad. It looks wrong. Her friend seems fine with it, continuing to eat. But the woman continues to get angry. She yells at the server, who immediately removes the food and offers the woman who ordered it another meal free of charge. That woman says no, that it's okay, she'd just like some new bread, but the rest of the meal is fine and she'll keep it. This takes place. Shortly after, Lotus Necklace gets back up and returns her friend's whole meal, saying it's horrible, she tasted it and she's not letting her friend eat it, and they're not paying for it. They are told that the charge was already removed, and they are happy to provide another meal for free, the bread she asked for was provided, what else would she like instead? The woman kept insisting that she didn't want anything, her meal was fine. But Lotus Necklace said "No, we don't have TIME for you to make a whole new meal for her." She spooned her own meal onto her friend's plate and made her eat that. (I don't know about you, but if my friends try to mess with my food, they've got another thing coming.)<br />
<br />
The server is in the back talking to the chef, who is crying. Not about the returned food, about something else, because she was crying before... but this probably isn't making her feel any better.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, back at the table, Lotus Necklace is talking sweetly about her grandkids and upcoming holiday plans. But when the server returns, she's surly and biting. She snaps, "Of course it's one check, there was only one meal!" I might point out that this was quite a long time after the initial issue. Plenty of time for the restaurant to have made them another meal. Or they could have taken it to-go. But, oh well, some people would rather be bitter and try to justify the anger they already have within them, than be willing to accept a correction of a mistake.<br />
<br />
I've worked in food service, and I can tell you, some people really do think the old adage "the customer is always right" (which is bullshit, by the way) is a license to be an asshole. At least we know this person wasn't just out for free food, because she repeatedly refused the free meal for her friend. And her poor friend just wanted to eat! Yikes.<br />
<br />
<b><i>So why am I blogging about this?</i></b><br />
<br />
Two reasons. One, when our energy field picks up on something, it may not be clear immediately, but we need to trust it. My energy field knew something was wrong right away, but the outer circumstances seemed inky, and then much better, so I thought I had misinterpreted my body's own sign. But finally, the truth revealed. This woman, for all her talk about healing energy, and her attempts to begin to learn, still has a long way to go. And the energy she was in--of Anger, of Spite--is not the energy she was just teaching her friend about minutes before. It seems, like the uncaring nurses, out of place. And that's the second reason I'm blogging about this: because some people might wear the jewelry, might go to the classes, might look up the correct pronunciations, but they still don't necessarily comprehend the values. They haven't done the work--either they're so new they haven't done it yet, or they've been doing this for a while and still just don't get it, haven't gotten to a place of their own inner progress. Which reminds me of a video a posted this week, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjpk66K1pbYAhWI4iYKHeJzC7gQtwIIKTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2HF8tTf3NbQ&usg=AOvVaw0WKelSN9wQ6l42oglK2H5A" target="_blank">"When We Don't Change."</a> When I say these things, I'm never claiming that I've mastered them. I'm noticing patterns in myself and others around me, noticing when our behaviors, thoughts, and words clash with what we say we believe, the work we say we're doing.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Scott Cunningham included in his "Goals of a Witch" that we must keep our thoughts in good order, and keep our words in good order. Think before we speak, and after we speak. Pay attention to what we're doing versus what we're saying. I have <a href="http://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2013/03/13-goals-of-witch-interpreted.html" target="_blank">a blog about my interpretations of those goals</a>, as well. (In looking back at that post, this topic touches on several goals... or all of them!)</blockquote>
<br />
I am partially blogging about this to say that it bothers me. And I'm not always sure if it should. Why does it bother me when I catch people talking about certain topics--like energy work, healing, chakras, meditation, these things that are so much about Self evaluation and Self-healing--and then learn that they don't embody those teachings at all? Is this because I think I'm better? Is it that I take offense? Is it unreasonable to expect people who preach such things to try to make an effort, not just in their yoga space, but in all aspects of their lives? I don't think so. But I don't pretend to know who people are outside of the short interactions I may have with them. In the video linked above I talk about people I've had interactions with over many months or years, and can observe their words and behaviors a little more. In this instance today, I only have this instance as a mirror of what this woman is like in public around strangers. Maybe it was a bad day? Who knows? I have bad days, but even on my worst days I don't think I act that way. I hope I don't. Either way, I do tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, sometimes too often. People have actually told me I offer the benefit of the doubt to many who don't deserve it.<br />
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<b>Wasn't it Maya Angelou who said "When people show you who they are, believe them"?</b></div>
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I think I need to be a little better at that. Trusting my gut, my instinct, my intuition... and trusting that when people show us who they are, that is who they are. And I do wish people who claim to work on such inner-peace and balancing type work would actually do it. Not saying you have to be perfect, because no one is, I'm not. But. At least try to do the actual work. That's all I ask.<br />
<br />
This has come up for me a lot in the past couple weeks, and I've seen others post about similar things coming up for them, or with people around them. How about you? Noticing anything like this coming into your awareness lately?<br />
<br />
Blessings~<br />
-C-Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-29078673873603032232017-12-03T01:37:00.001-05:002019-04-06T17:32:20.694-04:00Dissociation & Sub-TypingHey again, Readers,<br />
<br />
I was writing <a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2017/12/generalization.html" target="_blank">a blog post about generalization</a> and seeing other groups as one big group that believes all the same (outgroup homogeneity) while simultaneously seeing our own groups as diverse and made up of unique individuals. I wrote too much for one cohesive blog post, but I wanted to talk more about another aspect of this kind of thing, which is dissociation.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
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Here's a recap from the other post:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>When members of our groups do something we disagree with, we might dissociate from them, saying they're not representative of the whole group, or aren't actually members of the group at all. (And sometimes this is true.) Or we put them into a sub-type. Sub-typing is one of the reasons stereotypes persist as long as they do, because when one stereotype is revealed as not actually being true of the whole group, we just add a sub-type! Instead of saying "Hmm, this must not be true," we say, "Oh this is true of the group, but this individual is part of this sub-type, over here, which is different in these ways..."</i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Human beings love stereotypes so much that we'd rather create more, smaller, more specific ones, than admit that a stereotype can't possibly be true of a whole group. We are silly.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Now that we're caught up, I want to talk about dissociation and sub-typing.<br />
<br />
If a group is highly varied, then it probably has sub-types. Paganism is a large group containing many paths under its larger community title. In our case, sub-types might be thought of as the different types of paths within Paganism. So we can have stereotypes about Pagans as a WHOLE, and sub-types that explain why not all Pagans fit those stereotypes. On the other hand, if a group largely agrees on something and some members (or a very small fringe group) have a different view, we might instead dissociate from them, explaining that they are not core members and do not speak for everyone.<br />
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For example: If I have a stereotype of Pagans as all being Nature-reverent, and then someone comes along who says they're Pagan and doesn't give a crap about Nature, I might dissociate from them, saying they're really a minority view but MOST of us are in fact nature-reverent. We might even think that person "isn't really Pagan", but something else entirely. It depends on how important that stereotypical characteristic is to us in our definition of our group identity. However, if I already know there's a whole group within Paganism, or multiple groups, which are not focused on Nature as part of their path, then I can go for the sub-type, saying "Oh yeah they're Pagan, too, they're just part of this specific path that focuses more on Deity than Nature." Or whatever the case may be.<br />
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It depends on who you know, in a way. And it depends on who you like. Because we tend to know more about, and have more positive feelings and thoughts toward groups we like and get more familiar with. This is why we say education and exposure are such key parts of prejudice reduction.<br />
<br />
This reminds me of a specific example from my life:<br />
<br />
At a discussion in Arkansas at one of the Universities there, with Pentacles of Pride, International, I went around asking members of the Pagan group in attendance what they consider their path. One person there identified as a Satanist. When talking about dissociation, I asked them how they felt about the fact that so many people still begin explaining their Pagan, Wiccan, or Witchy path by saying "But I'm NOT a Satanist/Devil-worshiper" pretty much first thing. Their answer was that being a Satanist, they figure it pretty much comes with the territory, that deciding to be a Satanist means they just have to put up with that. And I think that's pretty much crap.<br />
<br />
If we consider Satanists members of our community (which I do), and we know that they don't all even actually worship a Devil, why do so many of us still feel the need to defend ourselves by saying "Don't worry, I'm not a Satanist or anything"...? Think about it. What do the actual Satanists get to say? "Don't worry, I'm not a... Wait. Actually yes. I am the thing everyone else eases people's fears by saying they're not. That's me. Take it or leave it."<br />
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And maybe some people like that. Maybe some people enjoy the shock value, or scaring people. Some people DO actually get into Witchcraft because they want to look cool and feel powerful, we know that. So sure, maybe some Satanists don't care. But overall, as a community, I think we can do better.<br />
<br />
How about we define ourselves by what we are, instead of what we're not?<br />
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Maybe I did the "I don't worship the Devil" thing when I was younger. I probably did. But I haven't done it in years. I don't need to. We don't need to. I talk about what I DO believe, what I do, how I personally define "Paganism" and what the major factors are for me. Probably 99% of the time, the Devil never need enter the conversation. That other 1% of the time, it's the other person saying something about "Wait, I thought that was all Devil-worshipers", and then, and only then, do I begin to explain that. It's too complicated of a subject to just bring up first thing and toss away in a one-liner. Besides, what if you're talking to someone who has actually never heard that stereotype, and you just put it into their heads? Yeah. Let's not do that.<br />
<br />
That's just the biggest example I have to use, because it's something that so many people still continue to say when explaining their path to non-Pagans. It's one of the first things they say, and it's reinforcing a negative stereotype about a certain group of people within the community, in the hope that we will lessen the negative stereotypes about the parts of the community with which we identify.<br />
<br />
It's pretty rude--<br />
<br />
But it's not the only way we dissociate from people within our community. Try to think of other ways you have done this, or have seen or heard others do it, and think about who it's leaving behind. Sometimes it's the whole community dissociating from extremists who truly do not speak for us, any of us, wide variety and all. And that's probably as positive as it gets, because it attempts to ensure that reprehensible acts are not continually associated with our community based on the actions of an individual or small group who really isn't connected or embodying the community's beliefs. (The overall Pagan community speaking out against white supremacy comes to mind as a great example of when dissociation from people who claim to be part of our community is important.) But in other ways, like shunning Satanists, or Wiccans, or solitary practitioners of any path, or Christo-Pagans, or people who we think are only focused on the Dark, or people who we think are only focused on the Light (I love those, because people think they know everything a person does in their own practice and, they usually don't), or any number of groups that we casually dissociate from... We could actually be breaking our community further apart.<br />
<br />
I'm not saying we have to believe all the things. Not gonna happen. I'm saying, instead of saying "We don't do that," maybe say "I don't do that, but some people do." Instead of erasing things we simply don't like, we can acknowledge that they do exist in our community. And if we don't actually know what other people do, the least we can do is make it clear that we only speak for ourselves.<br />
<br />
Now, I'm talking about differences that don't actually harm anyone, like differences in beliefs in Deity, or the way we do ritual. But this can apply to actual harmful beliefs that exist in the community, as well. We don't have to pretend they don't exist. In fact, we shouldn't. As we've learned in United States politics recently, a lot of shitty beliefs still exist in our society, and we need to deal with it, not just act like it isn't there. If it really is something that needs to change, we need to change it, not ignore it. Talk about it. Transform it. If we don't, it'll just continue.<br />
<br />
What do we do about dissociation, then?<br />
<br />
As always, these are just my ideas. We can start to pay more attention and notice when we are tempted to dissociate from an individual or group. (I definitely do this. This isn't about never doing it, it's about noticing it and figuring out our reasons, to hopefully reduce it to only really necessary occurrences.) Ask ourselves questions about what we feel. What are we dissociating from, and why? Then, make sure that what we say matches the reality of the situation for us. I'm a Witch, and this is just an example, but let's say I dislike a group of Witches for some deep, moral reason. Then I might say "Yeah, I'm not like them. No way. I really disagree with what they do on a fundamental level because I believe this and they believe that and it doesn't sit well with me." If the difference between us is also hugely different from my overall definition of what a Witch is, I MIGHT even go so far as to question their Witchiness. (!!!) But if I feel the need to dissociate and upon inspection of my feelings I learn that it's just because I don't prefer the way they do their circle casting, then I might say "Yeah, we don't do things the same way, but that's true of Witches as a whole. We're a very diverse group. I do this, they do that. To each their own."<br />
<br />
I think you get the point. =)<br />
<br />
For me, this work is all about just trying to pay more attention, looking at why we react the way we do to certain things, and figuring out how understanding our reasons can help us look for strategies for reducing negative reactions, stereotypes, and prejudice.<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2017/12/generalization.html" target="_blank">If you didn't read my previous post, go ahead and do that!</a><br />
<br />
Otherwise, I hope you have a great day. Thanks for reading.<br />
Blessings~<br />
-C-Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-68986831009558228952017-12-03T01:37:00.000-05:002019-04-06T17:17:44.497-04:00Generalization: "ALL Witches" etc.Hey, Readers,<br />
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<br /></div>
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<div>
After posting a miniature version of this post (really just introducing the ideas/thought process) on my Facebook Page, I'm happy and unsurprised to see that those who responded basically already get what I'm going to say here. Happy, because that's great! Unsurprised, because they're people who watch my videos and hear me talk about this stuff a lot, so it's really a "preaching to the choir" situation. Nevertheless, I hope some of this provides food for thought and gives a little more background.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
For a quick recap, I mentioned that I get comments on my YouTube videos saying things like "Wiccans all think ____" or "Witches are all ____" or even "All Pagans ____". These are coming from someone outside whatever group they're commenting about. But then what gets me is that in the same comment, they'll talk about their own groups in a much less generalized way, talking about the diversity and variety that can exist in their group. This is something that happens a lot. We have a tendency to see our own groups as diverse and able to be different from one another while still part of the same group, and to see groups we aren't in as being made up of people who are all the same as each other (and very different from us).</div>
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There's a term for this in prejudice psychology: outgroup homogeneity. Our outgroups (groups that we do not identify with/that we are not a part of) seem like one big, homogenous group of people with no variety. We generalize them into people who all act, think, believe, or look the same. But since we know the groups that we are part of, we know how different they can be... because they're made up of real people... whose personalities and quirks we know well. And accept.<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
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There's another side of this, which is dissociation. Or, related to this, we sub-type.</div>
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<br /></div>
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When members of our groups do something we disagree with, we might dissociate from them, saying they're not representative of the whole group, or aren't actually members of the group at all. (And sometimes this is true.) Or we put them into a sub-type. Sub-typing is one of the reasons stereotypes persist as long as they do, because when one stereotype is revealed as not actually being true of the whole group, we just add a sub-type! Instead of saying "Hmm, this must not be true," we say, "Oh this is true of the group, but this individual is part of this sub-type, over here, which is different in these ways..."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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Human beings love stereotypes so much that we'd rather create more, smaller, more specific ones, than admit that a stereotype can't possibly be true of a whole group. We are silly.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2017/12/dissociation.html" target="_blank">I wrote a lot on these subjects, so here's a second post that is more about dissociation, if you're interested.</a></div>
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So let's talk about outgroup homogeneity and generalization for a bit.</div>
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As many of us know, stereotyping & feelings of prejudice are things that are natural to human beings for many reasons. They help us in some way, otherwise we wouldn't continue to do it! This is called the functional approach to stereotyping & prejudice: the idea that stereotypes and prejudice serve a function, or multiple functions. Different functions have different sources, and different methods for reducing them, so knowing which function is at play makes a difference in how you approach reducing it.</div>
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If you'll notice, we don't typically refer to "getting rid of" stereotypes/prejudice. This is because we know that on some level human beings will always be doing it--and that has to do with the functions it serves (which I talk about in my Pagans & Prejudice workshop, but is perhaps too tangential even for this post). But this is why we say "prejudice reduction". We're looking at how to <i>reduce </i>its frequency, severity, and so on. That sounds a lot more doable than getting rid of it all at once, right?</div>
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Let's go back to my specific example with these comments. People say things like "All Witches think ___ about my group, but MY group is not all like that. We are really like this, but Witches don't realize that. They all think we're ____." This hypothetical commenter sees their own group as diverse--allowing that maybe SOME people in their group are whatever it is they're talking about, but they're NOT ALL like that--while at the same time grouping all Witches together as ALL believing that everyone of this other group is the same. To which I might say, well, in my experience as a Witch and knowing lots of Witches, I know that some Witches do believe that about your group, but not all of us do.</div>
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Of course not. And we all know this. On a certain level, we all realize that we cannot accurately generalize a whole group, whatever that group is. All Witches, all Muslims, all Milennials, all Whovians, all whatever. Can't be done. We know that, because we see it in practice with the groups we're a part of and know well. Therefore it should follow that we can't do that about other groups, either. And yet, it doesn't seem to follow for a lot of people... We still keep doing it. Stereotypes persist.</div>
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Stereotypes persist for several reasons, and I don't want to go too much into that kind of stuff (I talk about it in my Pagans & Prejudice workshop, which I will get around to putting online at some point, but it's definitely too much to go into now), but I will say that knowing why we do it, or even just starting to think more about it, helps us to become more aware of when we're doing it, which helps us begin to reduce it.</div>
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For me, one of the things I do is just try to catch myself when I find that I want to say "All" of some group does/is something or other. If I stop to think for a fraction of a second, I remember that the thing I'm talking about really can't be said to apply to EVERYONE in that group. So I ask myself, what do I mean to say? And how well do I know this group? How much is what I'm saying really characteristic of the group as a whole? Based on my answers to those questions, I'll change what I'm saying, usually something as simple as changing "all" to "some", "most", or "many" depending on how prevalent this thing (whatever it is) really is, and how well I think I know the group that gives me reason to think I can actually make such a claim.</div>
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In reality, I never know a group I'm not in as well as I know a group I am in. And because the groups I'm in tend to be extremely varied, such as Pagans... How well do we even know the groups we're in?</div>
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So usually I go a step further and get more specific. Instead of saying "All Pagans" for example, I might say "Most of the Pagans I know," "many of the people who watch my channel," or I might allow a very specific "all" such as "All the Pagans I've worked with" IF the thing really does apply to EVERY ONE in a specific group I can actually speak to.</div>
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I don't know a single thing that I feel I can authoritatively say about "All Witches" except that they practice Witchcraft. And you know some Witches out there would even try to argue that.</div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeUdgN3zt-s" target="_blank">I did a video on the "Principles of Paganism"</a> from the book "PAGANISM: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions" wherein Joyce & River Higginbotham shared seven things that, through their research, they found to be the core beliefs tying together ALL Pagans. I asked my viewers who identify as Pagan for their thoughts, and only one of the principles was debated as far as I could see, which was our beliefs (or lack thereof) in the Afterlife. So, there's that. We've tried to come up with things that are true of All Pagans. It's not easy! The best we can usually say is "most".</div>
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<a href="https://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2017/12/dissociation.html" target="_blank">If you want to read some more of my thoughts on dissociation and sub-typing and whatnot, please do so by clicking here.</a></div>
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Until next time, thanks for reading!</div>
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Blessings~</div>
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-C-</div>
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Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-36695568952883282392017-09-29T18:00:00.000-04:002019-04-06T17:18:32.365-04:00Long Live Uncle Ray<span style="font-size: large;">Dear Readers,</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZjbSox0aU5XI_6PhaZWwjfHK_QDedxm5KhEOsJra7wc_cjYTLxOECoIKf8r1-jV2MsTy3dNXfkkO2_3oyRU-Peq9SkuttoF72xjQWLXikWQN8hTZJe6xX4EZsMebJmAfrZtQ5w4IKSAyK/s1600/ray2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="531" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZjbSox0aU5XI_6PhaZWwjfHK_QDedxm5KhEOsJra7wc_cjYTLxOECoIKf8r1-jV2MsTy3dNXfkkO2_3oyRU-Peq9SkuttoF72xjQWLXikWQN8hTZJe6xX4EZsMebJmAfrZtQ5w4IKSAyK/s320/ray2.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me with Ray at the Buckland Gallery opening, April 2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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As you may know by now, especially if you follow me on other social media, Raymond Buckland, known by many as Uncle Bucky or Uncle Ray, and more formally/historically as "The Father of American Witchcraft," has passed on. He has left his mortal body in favor of his Spirit body. In other words, he has died. We say all kinds of things instead of "died" often, don't we? In this case, since Ray is a Spiritualist, we know that he believes Consciousness survives Death. So while it is true that he died, I feel totally comfortable with the flowery language of "Raymond Buckland left his mortal body on this Earthly plane."<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
I had the pleasure of meeting Uncle Ray (my preferred name for him in casual speech and writing, though to his face and in our emails, I ALWAYS called him Mr. Buckland) five months ago today, at the grand opening of the Buckland Gallery of Witchcraft and Magick in Cleveland, OH. Before that, we had exchanged a few emails a couple of years ago, about Wicca, different definitions, and things that my online viewing audience had asked me about repeatedly over the years. Who better to ask than someone who was THERE? Who was actually first-hand part of the history of Witchcraft in the United States, as such? I believe whenever possible, we should go to the source. For me and my purposes, that source was Raymond Buckland.<br />
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There are many articles about Ray's life, work, and influence online today because of his death this week. I can't claim to do a better job than any of them, but I can talk about my own experiences and share in my own way. The Ray Buckland I corresponded with, the man I met five months ago, is a wonderful, warm, and encouraging energy. In some posts I wrote in my private Facebook groups with people who are working with me currently (and maybe on my public page, I really can't remember, I wrote so many posts while processing the event yesterday), I said that in meeting Uncle Ray it was clear to me that he embodied the Goddess' wishes for us, and by that I mean those named in <i>The Charge of the Star Goddess</i>. Ray exuded both, and all,<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Beauty and Strength</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Power and Compassion</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Honor and Humility</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mirth and Reverence</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejB-Pk8UM6WBQX7GBz6AkJJ2pHO-XZdBiqG-QWL8lC-FK8I90vBapOFF0142k2TKjiNlvVk8oUJVh3Kn-zAZzBvow1jACEYaEGEpwSfZ-QclcwEQtrv4TlLTZHBFu87EZ-w4PXg6HBWMM/s1600/ray3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="713" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjejB-Pk8UM6WBQX7GBz6AkJJ2pHO-XZdBiqG-QWL8lC-FK8I90vBapOFF0142k2TKjiNlvVk8oUJVh3Kn-zAZzBvow1jACEYaEGEpwSfZ-QclcwEQtrv4TlLTZHBFu87EZ-w4PXg6HBWMM/s400/ray3.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chatting with Ray at the Buckland Gallery opening.<br />
Thank you, Steven, for taking the photos!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In many ways, I am grateful to have met Ray in his twilight years. He retired years ago, has been over the "hustle and bustle" of public appearances and huge online courses for quite some time, and he has been living for years right here in my own state of Ohio. He is a grandfather, a well respected Pagan elder to many, and that calming, charming, goofball energy that is the prerogative of folks who've done more than their share and they're ready to just kick back and relax, is wonderful to have known, even for a short time.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
~<br />
<br />
Everyone processes things in their own way. As I have been enamored with Numerology and Tarot this year, it's only natural that I decided to look up some of Ray's Year Cards, as though I were to do one of <a href="http://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2017/03/lets-look-at-your-year-cards.html" target="_blank">my Year Card Readings</a> for him. Then, while reading other folks' articles about his life, I decided to see what cards matched up with some of the major moments in his career (at least, as far as the dates are publicly reported). Just for a little insight, here is some of what I learned.<br />
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<b>Raymond Buckland was born in London, England, on the 31st of August, 1934.</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>*All Year Card dates are based on your birthday, and the year in question. We add them together, then reduce to get a number between 1-22, the number of cards in the Major Arcana of Tarot, with 22 standing in for the number 0, The Fool. Some people choose always to reduce to a number between 1 and 9, working only between The Magician and the Hermit. I prefer to use the whole Major Arcana. So if you've seen it done another way, perhaps that explains it!*</i></blockquote>
Thus, his Life's Purpose or Personality card, based on his whole birth date, is <i>Judgement (20)</i>. His Soul's Purpose, then, is <i>The High Priestess (2)</i>. One of the key words for "Year Card Lessons" for Judgement is "dealing with criticism," which Ray definitely did in all aspects of his work. And the High Priestess, a card of spirituality, occult wisdom and knowledge, instinct and intuition, more than describes the work Ray was here to do, as a Spiritualist, as a teacher and author, and as a High Priest.<br />
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Being a Virgo, his Zodiac card is<i> The Hermit (9).</i> The Zodiac card represents what we need for self-expression. In this case, The Hermit points to a need for introspection and solitary study and work. Ray spent the last several decades as a mainly solitary practitioner, having left the coven he first formed in the US. Others who knew him better could speak more to how solitary a person he liked to be. His Shadow/Hidden Factor/Teacher card is <i>Justice</i> (or Strength, depending on the deck) <i>(11)</i>. A Master Number, speaking to either balance, harmony, and integrity (Justice) or endurance, staying the course, and standing your ground (Strength).<br />
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In my Year Card Readings, I look at your current year, and also the previous year and next year, to see the transitions in between. Ray's card for this year, 2017, is<i> Death (13).</i> We know that Death as a symbol, as a card, is not always literal, but signifies a great change, a new beginning. While in this case Ray did actually die this year after his birthday (in some systems the card of the year begins its energy on your birthday that year, in others it begins at the top of the calendar year--I prefer the system that looks at both overlapping), it also still most certainly represents a great change in the status of his Spirit, and a change in that the worldly plane on which we exist, in which I am typing this, is now short one Raymond Buckland.<br />
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His card for last year (2016) was <i>The Hanged Man (12)</i>, symbolizing gaining of wisdom through seeking new perspectives. And his card for next year is <i>Temperance (14)</i>, which is about compromise, give & take, blending of ideas, finding a healthy balance, and making things stronger and able to handle more. Depending on your beliefs in what happens after physical Death, I'd venture that's a pretty good thing for a Spirit to be doing to prepare for its next lifetime, if it believes in that sort of thing.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPku6oarDB0PMBM3hdlnPtPJTuOKYLy2Jnc-rY6u668R5j8j_2qDIOe6uyd3RjLMZEzSfXad15S5NxCTvdtFgCOiQPucJkqPtg2GLE7DViaFAsOoa9KHrgv4BWHkt13VvTkPdVZ8z4Lq5I/s1600/Ray+Buckland+Year+card+reading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="662" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPku6oarDB0PMBM3hdlnPtPJTuOKYLy2Jnc-rY6u668R5j8j_2qDIOe6uyd3RjLMZEzSfXad15S5NxCTvdtFgCOiQPucJkqPtg2GLE7DViaFAsOoa9KHrgv4BWHkt13VvTkPdVZ8z4Lq5I/s320/Ray+Buckland+Year+card+reading.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My set-up for Ray's Year Cards, using The Vertigo Tarot.<br />
This is the first I've done so far with all 7 being different. =)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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~</div>
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Those are the 7 card positions I work with in my Year Card Readings. But I went a little further to see what cards match up with some of Ray's published life moments, just to see. Hindsight is 20/20, as we know. (When the cards repeat, just check above to the first mention of the card for the meaning.)<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>1955:</b> Ray marries his first wife, Rosemary.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>(5) The Hierophant.</i> Teaching, studying, professional development, spiritual development and guidance.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<li><b>1957-59: </b>Ray serves in the Royal Air Force.</li>
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<li><i>(7) The Chariot. </i>Movement, goals, taking control, overcoming struggle.</li>
<li><i>(8) Strength</i> (or Justice, in some decks, but I read it as Strength). Courage, endurance, standing your ground, allowing without forcing.</li>
<li><i>(9) Hermit.</i> Solitude, contemplation, taking a break, taking stock, caring for health.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>1962:</b> Ray & Rosemary move to Long Island, NY & begin studying Gardnerian Witchcraft and corresponding with Gerald Gardner.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>(3) The Empress</i>. Abundance, developing creativity, nurturing, settling down.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>1963:</b> They go back to the UK to be initiated into Gardner's lineage. Gardner was present at the initiation, from what I've read.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>(4) The Emperor.</i> Important decisions made, tradition, lineage, taking charge, leadership.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<li><b>1968: </b>Ray opens his collection of artifacts as "The First Museum of Witchcraft and Magick in the United States", running it out of his basement by appointment only.</li>
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<li><i>(9) The Hermit.</i></li>
</ul>
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<li><b>1969: </b>Ray's first book is published, <i>A Pocket Guide to the Supernatural</i>.</li>
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<li><i>(10) Wheel of Fortune.</i> Luck, fate, completion and turning of cycles, major change.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<li><b>1973:</b> Ray & Rosemary separate/divorce (some sources use different words) and both leave the Long Island Coven, as the coven they founded on Long Island came to be called, although articles with interviews say that Ray said the coven didn't have an official name.</li>
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<li><i>(5) The Hierophant.</i> (I found it interesting that the year they married and the year they separated and left the coven had the same card energy.)</li>
</ul>
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<li><b>1974:</b> Ray married his second wife, Joan. / Publishes <i>The Tree</i>, a book on Anglo-Saxon Witchcraft that is now considered to be the kind of guide for solitary practice that Cunningham's Wicca is, years before Cunningham's was published.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>(6) The Lovers. </i>Relationships, choices, taking responsibility, following your heart without losing your head.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>1978:</b> Ray shuts down his museum and moves all the artifacts into storage.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>(10) Wheel of Fortune.</i></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>1982-83:</b> Met Tara Cochran, who was to become his third wife. / Married her in 1983.</li>
<ul>
<li>1982 meeting: <i>(5) The Hierophant</i></li>
<li>1983 marriage:<i> (6) The Lovers</i></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>1986:</b> Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, also known as "The Big Blue Book" is published.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>(9) The Hermit.</i></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>1992:</b> Ray & his third wife, Tara, move to a farm in Ohio.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>(6) The Lovers</i></li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<li><b>2015:</b> Ray's health begings to decline. / Also, his museum collection artifacts are turned over to a coven in Columbus, OH, which he co-founded, for them to put them on display again. That collection eventually opens as the Buckland Gallery (see 2017, below).</li>
<ul>
<li><i>(11) Justice. </i>Balance, harmony, legal issues, integrity, what is fair vs. what is just, partnerships. (or Strength, in some decks, meaning listed above)</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><b>2017: </b>The Buckland Gallery opens in Cleveland, OH. / Raymond Buckland dies in September.</li>
<ul>
<li><i>(13) Death.</i> Letting go, releasing the old to make room for the new, transformation, regeneration, dealing with emotional pain, end of old life. (As mentioned, this is the overall Card energy of the year 2017 for Buckland.)</li>
<li>29/April (4)/2017 - Buckland Gallery opening date - This specific date adds up to<i> (7) The Chariot. </i>Forward movement, setting goals, etc.</li>
<li>27/Sept. (9)/2017, Buckland's exact date of death - <i>(10) Wheel of Fortune</i>.</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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~</div>
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<div>
All of this, to me, makes me feel like I know Ray a little better because now I've read more about some of the major things he did in his life. This isn't the same as knowing him in person, of course, but is a little more than we may know otherwise. And obviously there are tons of books he's published, interviews he's done, etc. and we could look up the years for ALL of them, but I chose only some of the most major ones, and of course the first one.</div>
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Ray's Zodiac card, or "what he needs for self expression" is The Hermit, and I find it interesting that several of his major moments that I looked up, happen during other Hermit years for him. He opened the first iteration of his museum and gallery during one of his Hermit years (it cracks me up that opening a museum<i> in his basement</i> would be a Hermit year! Of course!), and published his first book the following year (The Wheel of Fortune makes a lot of sense for publishing his first book, being a big change that made him into a published author, but this also means he likely did a lot of the work on that book in the previous, Hermit year). "The Big Blue Book" was also published in a Hermit year for him, and he did his last year of service in the Royal Air Force in another Hermit year.</div>
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The Hierophant and The Lovers repeat through many of his relationship milestones--marrying and separating from his first wife, marrying the second, meeting and marrying the third, moving to Ohio, as well as leaving the first coven he established in the US, which is definitely another kind of relationship and partnership with people.</div>
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~</div>
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What energetic patterns repeat for you? What years have you experienced milestones in different aspects of your life, and what does that card's energy tell you about the experience in hindsight? Use numerology and the Tarot to find out for yourself and explore the possibilities of what those patterns can tell you! And if you'd like, <a href="http://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2017/03/lets-look-at-your-year-cards.html" target="_blank">get a Year Card reading with me</a> and I'll help with some insight from a third party perspective, from me to you, in video format.</div>
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~</div>
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<div>
Dear Ray, this is part of my way of processing the surreal nature of your not being here with us on this plane anymore. I hope it isn't too much. You are worthy of so much respect and thanks. My gratitude to you. Blessings on your journey, and bright blessings to your family and friends at this time, and always.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Blessings~</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">-C-</span></div>
Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-59145450055737698962017-08-28T16:18:00.001-04:002017-08-28T16:26:41.390-04:00Reclaiming - Principles of UnityHey, Readers,<br />
<br />
This past weekend at Cleveland Pagan Pride, I presented two back-to-back workshops. The first was co-taught by myself and my friend Ariawn, a High Priestess of a traditional English coven. We talked about the Art of Ritual, comparing and contrasting public/private ritual, and traditional/eclectic/solitary ritual. My second workshop was my Pagans & Prejudice workshop that I've done before, but in a rebooted format, with more activities to help with understanding concepts.<br />
<br />
During the event, I mentioned to people that I'm on the slow but steady track to becoming a teacher in the <b>Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft</b>. A few people know what that is, but most people I talk to around here do not. Then I ask, "Have you heard of Starhawk, and the book <i>The Spiral Dance</i>?" Even when the answer is yes, people haven't necessarily heard of the Reclaiming Tradition, because in that book, Starhawk didn't really talk about it as a tradition. It wasn't, really, at the time. It started as a collective, and over the years has grown into a tradition that has groups and practitioners in pockets all over the United States and in other countries, as well.<br />
<br />
I'd like to encourage anyone who doesn't already know about this tradition to add it to your mental list of types of Witchcraft you know about by reading about it at <b><a href="http://reclaiming.org/about/index.html" target="_blank">the Reclaiming website</a></b>. And below, I wanted to share the Reclaiming Principles of Unity. The <b>bold </b>formatting is my addition, but the words are directly from the website.<br />
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Blessings~<br />
-C-<br />
<br />
<br />
~<br />
<br />
<h1 style="color: #006600; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular; font-size: 18px;">
Principles of Unity</h1>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Trebuchet, Arial, "Times New Roman", Georgia, Times; font-size: 12px;">
<i>"My law is love unto all beings..."</i><br />
<i>- from The Charge of the Goddess by Doreen Valiente</i></div>
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<i><b><br /></b></i></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Trebuchet, Arial, "Times New Roman", Georgia, Times; font-size: 12px;">
<b>The values of the Reclaiming tradition stem from our understanding that the earth is alive and all of life is sacred and interconnected.</b> We see the Goddess as immanent in the earth's cycles of birth, growth, death, decay and regeneration. Our practice arises from a deep, spiritual commitment to the earth, to healing and to the linking of magic with political action.</div>
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<b>Each of us embodies the divine.</b> Our ultimate spiritual authority is within, and we need no other person to interpret the sacred to us. We foster the questioning attitude, and honor intellectual, spiritual and creative freedom.</div>
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<b>We are an evolving, dynamic tradition and proudly call ourselves Witches.</b> Our diverse practices and experiences of the divine weave a tapestry of many different threads. We include those who honor Mysterious Ones, Goddesses, and Gods of myriad expressions, genders, and states of being, remembering that mystery goes beyond form. Our community rituals are participatory and ecstatic, celebrating the cycles of the seasons and our lives, and raising energy for personal, collective and earth healing.</div>
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<b>We know that everyone can do the life-changing, world-renewing work of magic, the art of changing consciousness at will.</b> We strive to teach and practice in ways that foster personal and collective empowerment, to model shared power and to open leadership roles to all. We make decisions by consensus, and balance individual autonomy with social responsibility.</div>
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<b>Our tradition honors the wild, and calls for service to the earth and the community.</b> We value peace and practice non-violence, in keeping with the Rede, "Harm none, and do what you will." We work for all forms of justice: environmental, social, political, racial, gender and economic. Our feminism includes a radical analysis of power, seeing all systems of oppression as interrelated, rooted in structures of domination and control.</div>
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<b>We welcome all genders, all gender histories, all races, all ages and sexual orientations and all those differences of life situation, background, and ability that increase our diversity.</b> We strive to make our public rituals and events accessible and safe. We try to balance the need to be justly compensated for our labor with our commitment to make our work available to people of all economic levels.</div>
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<b>All living beings are worthy of respect.</b> All are supported by the sacred elements of air, fire, water and earth. We work to create and sustain communities and cultures that embody our values, that can help to heal the wounds of the earth and her peoples, and that can sustain us and nurture future generations.</div>
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<i>Reclaiming Principles of Unity - consensed by the Reclaiming Collective in 1997. Updated at the BIRCH council meeting of Dandelion Gathering 5 in 2012.</i></div>
Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-46543089409237194412017-08-07T13:38:00.000-04:002019-04-06T17:19:40.914-04:00Saturn Returns Course 2.0 (Sept.-Dec. 2017)<div>
Greetings, all!</div>
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It's time for the second iteration of my Saturn Returns course! Here is some information about this course, links to relevant videos, and at the end, a link to your way to start the journey if you are ready to go!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1ayYXqi1NZnJhtypB33xDYqVwY3AKYasaOzneKfLjxHX5Uvk7Hu26MPG6VDkMKd1izeF9dLXu2P9IkbLLxngVx86nddtQ6NCcvGw9X8t60y884lsUvZk1HlnrKgPbLaxQ5yOS7sLQjG2/s1600/saturn-return.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="600" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw1ayYXqi1NZnJhtypB33xDYqVwY3AKYasaOzneKfLjxHX5Uvk7Hu26MPG6VDkMKd1izeF9dLXu2P9IkbLLxngVx86nddtQ6NCcvGw9X8t60y884lsUvZk1HlnrKgPbLaxQ5yOS7sLQjG2/s320/saturn-return.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Saturn has been called the <b>Taskmaster of the Skies</b>, and also, perhaps less intimidatingly, our <b>planetary Life Coach.</b> Every 29.5 Earth years or so, Saturn completes a full orbit. Thus, in your 30th year of life, when you are age 29, Saturn makes it's first return to the place where it was at your birth. The second time this happens, you are around age 58/59. A third return occurs when we reach age 88 or so.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What happens when Saturn comes back around?</span><br />
People experience the effects of Saturn differently, and pick up on different things. Because we are in different places in our lives, the tasks that Saturn has set up for us will vary. If you're pretty much on course, you may not need a lot of additional guidance, maybe just some support and confirmation. But if you've wandered far from your path, you may feel some pretty extreme turbulence as good ol' Saturn whips you back into shape. What it all boils down to is this: We get 29.5 years to live our lives. When Saturn comes back for inspection, we get a progress report, and if we've gotten off our marks, we get... well, readjusted.<br />
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You can feel these effects as early as years in advance, because nothing in the Universe happens immediately and suddenly, as far as the movement of planets into different places/signs goes. And something as big and foreboding as Saturn? You can feel it. I've been going through things for maybe three years now--definitely two years--that can be classified as Saturn Return *STUFF*, and I'm only 27 right now... If I'm already being prepared and given homework and being guided to turn my life upside down and inside out... what the heck is going to be in store for me when I turn 29?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What about for you?</span></div>
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What's feeling strained in your life these days? What is changing? Do you feel a profound desire to make a change, but don't know what, why, or how? Maybe you're feeling called, pushed, or prodded into making a change already. Relationships changing or ending, jobs changing or ending, moving, getting rid of, letting go of... Feeling like you lost track of what you're doing, who you are, and where you're going...</div>
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I know that feeling. And it's not even here yet.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">**</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jr092En5Dw" style="font-size: x-large;">Watch my video about Saturn Returns, where I first talked about this workshop, by clicking here.</a><span style="font-size: large;">**</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What is this course?</span><br />
This is the second iteration of my Saturn Returns workshop/course, which takes place from September to December, 2017. It includes eight "lessons" which will be sent and shared in video form--one "lesson" (or exercise, or activity, or ritual, as it were) will come every two weeks, over a span of those four months. We will talk about Saturn and some of the ways its lessons can appear for us, and do exercises and activities aimed at looking into what's going on, where we are, and figuring out what our goals are, what we feel our limitations are... And getting some guidance for working past that. There will also be more obvious "Witchy Stuff"--Tarot, spells, ritual. Between lessons, there will be other, smaller prompts and activities on our private Facebook group, and an opportunity to interact with everyone in the workshop, for feedback and sharing.<br />
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This course is taking place during the Saturn in Capricorn return (view the video linked above for more on this), but this work is open to those who have already gone through their Saturn Return (once, or more times) and to those who have not yet reached their first or are coming up on another one! There will be some Saturn-in-Capricorn specific energy and information at times, but the work is appropriate for Saturn Returns in general, regardless of your Saturn sign. In the private FB group, there will be discussion time to tell everyone what sign your Saturn is in (and I will show you how to do this, if you don't already know how), so that I can provide some insight for you personally, as well.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Some expectations/requirements for participants:</i></span></div>
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<li>It <b>IS NOT required</b> that you be going through your Saturn Return right now. Parts of this course are geared for Saturn in Capricorn folks, as Saturn Returns to Capricorn this December 2017, but this course is open to anyone regardless of Saturn status. =)</li>
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<li>It is expected that you have an interest in astrology or specifically learning about Saturn Returns and what it can mean for us. No prior knowledge of what Saturn Returns is, or what your Saturn sign is, is required--I'll teach you all that if you don't know! And the video linked above is full of good info on that, too.</li>
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<li>There will be a <b>private Facebook group</b> for folks in this session only, to chat privately among each other and with me. So it is <b>preferred that you have a Facebook account</b> in order to utilize this element, but you are welcome to do this course via email only, with the understanding that you will not necessarily hear from everyone in the group or be able to join in those chats. (If you don't have Facebook, let me know, and we'll all try to work something out!)</li>
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<li>After you finish this session, participants in this and previous Saturn Returns sessions will be invited to join a larger group together, to keep up discussions with everyone who's done this course at some point or another--Participants in future Saturn Returns groups will be asked to join it after they finish it, too!</li>
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<li><b>Active participation</b> in group discussion! You don't have to share all your deepest, darkest secrets, but I will be posting various small discussion topics in the group in between sessions, and others may post thoughts of theirs, and it's very nice when everyone participates and responds in some way, just so people know they are being witnessed, if nothing else.</li>
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<li>The ability to disagree respectfully, communicate with dignity and respect, and not be rude, or belittle others in any way.</li>
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<li>At the onset of the course, mid-way through, and toward the end, I will be sharing links to <b>surveys</b> that will help me get a feel for where the group stands before, during, and after the course. These help me to improve your experience in the course as we go, and will help me to improve things for the future, so I would let to let you know in advance that when those come around, I would like you all to complete them! They don't have to be done same-day or anything, but within a reasonable amount of time. I'll let you know if their are specific deadlines, and remind you.</li>
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<li>Sessions should be posted every other week. You do not have to complete them right away, but the course is designed so that you have two weeks between each session to complete it. This way, any ongoing work or discussion in the group can be specific to work that has been done.</li>
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<li>I will be posting discussion topics in the Facebook group between sessions, and you are also free to create prompts yourself, ask for guidance, share a dream or insight with others in the group, etc. You do not have to wait for me to post something if you feel called to share!</li>
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<li>I also ask that we all, of course, respect each other's privacy in the group. The group is private to only current participants in the course. Do not share anyone's personal experiences, words, or anything with those outside the group. If you want to share something outside the group, please ask that person's permission and see if they mind. If people want to be called by their Craft name in the group, let's try to remember and respect that, and so on. More on this will come in the group itself, but I wanted to include it here so you are aware in advance. =)</li>
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That's a general idea of participation/behavioral expectations for respectfully working together in an online group with me. More specifics may come as needed. =)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strike>If you're ready to start your journey, click here to view the options for how to sign up and get started!</strike></span></div>
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<strike>The deadline to sign up is Saturn's Day, <i><b>August 26th.</b></i></strike><br />
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<i>This session has begun! Reach out to let me know if you're interested in future sessions through Facebook at <a href="http://facebook.com/cutewitch772">facebook.com/cutewitch772</a>, or at <b>cutewitch772@yahoo.com</b></i><br />
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**I'm also offering an additional reading currently, that is not on my Readings page on this blog. If you are interested in using Numerology and the Tarot to look at your Year Cards, finding the connections and transitions from last year, to this year, and into the next, <a href="http://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2017/03/lets-look-at-your-year-cards.html">please read the page here</a>. If you sign up for this Saturn Returns course and would like a Year Card reading, let me know once you've signed up and I'll make special arrangements with you!**<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Questions?</span><br />
Email <b>cutewitch772@yahoo.com</b> or message me at <a href="http://facebook.com/cutewitch772"><b>facebook.com/cutewitch772</b></a>.<br />
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If you are unfamiliar with my work and my style, please do watch the Saturn Returns video I have linked above, but also <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/cutewitch772">check out my YouTube channel</a> (cutewitch772) to get a feel for who I am and how I teach!<br />
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Blessings~</div>
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-C-</div>
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Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-42483315200810923732017-06-28T06:00:00.000-04:002019-04-06T17:20:26.949-04:00Priestess and WitchHey, Readers,<br />
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I recorded <a href="https://youtu.be/2zkT2_tTg74" target="_blank">a video</a> a while ago, which is being posted today, about Priestesshood and Witchery, in a sense. The questions I had for myself and viewers/readers were along the lines of <b>what we think a Priestess is, what we think of when we think of a "Witch", who they are, and what they do. Is a Priestess the same as a Witch? How do they differ, and where do they overlap? Are all Priestesses Witches? Are all Witches Priestesses? And, for those who are Priestesses</b>*<b>, are we a Priestess OF anything in particular?</b><br />
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*<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Some who identify as men, using masculine pronouns, also choose to identify as Priestess, for their own reasons. You'd have to ask them to know exactly why. Feminist traditions particularly choose to combat preconceived gender roles by using certain words. Others may use Priest the same way I use Priestess in this context, in NeoPagan terms.</i></span><br />
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I said I'd be doing a blog post to further discuss my own thoughts on this subject, as far as my own path is concerned. So here we are!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Are Priestesses and Witches the same?</span><br />
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<li>These terms in my opinion and usage are not interchangeable, but neither are they mutually exclusive. One can be both a Priestess and a Witch, and in fact, I think this happens rather often. But to me, they are separate things, each with their own functions.</li>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So what's the difference? Who is a Priestess, and who is a Witch?</span><br />
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<li>I'll start with what I think is the easier/clearer definition for me. A Witch is a practitioner of Witchcraft. Simple as that. Not all of these people identify with the terms "Witch" or "Witchcraft"--that is, I recognize that people who would be considered Witches by my own definition, based on their beliefs and practices (Witchcraft), do not recognize what they do as Witchcraft, and do not identify as Witches. While I would consider these people kindred spirits of a kind, I think that in order to be a Witch in fullness, we must accept and acknowledge that title. (Side Note: This is part of the reason I like the <a href="http://www.reclaiming.org/" target="_blank">Reclaiming Tradition of Witchcraft</a>, which began in California. The name itself requires that Witches reclaim the title, and in order to be a Reclaiming Witch, one must own and hold and take pride in that title.) So many Witches dissociate from the name because it is misunderstood. I personally don't think any understanding is gained for a word when people refuse to use it.</li>
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<li>A Priestess, as I mentioned in <a href="https://youtu.be/2zkT2_tTg74" target="_blank">the accompanying video</a>, could in one sense be defined as someone in an initiatory/degree system tradition who has reached a certain level of knowledge, or perhaps someone who is qualified to teach. The "High" Priest/ess of a tradition is typically the leader, while Priest/esses (without the "High" modifier) might make up other members of the group. So it is a title that shows a certain level of knowledge/practice, and ability to pass it on. Another way I see this term is as a devotee to/of something or someone, such as a "Priestess of Isis" or a "Water Priestess" such as the one I described in the video. If I maintain an altar to Gaia, for example, and do regular work for her, I may call myself a Priestess of Gaia. Or if my work primarily involves and is for the Earth, I may call myself an Earth Priestess. Similarly, because I teach, some people may call me a Priestess based on knowledge/ability.</li>
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<li>The one final association I have with the word "Priestess" is in a way leadership, but is deeper than simply being the leader/teacher of a group. This definition for me comes from the Reclaiming Tradition, with whom I've done some Priestess training and other similar work, both at Witchcamp and at subsequent weekend intensives I have attended. This definition is not so much hard definition... It's more an idea, so, bear with me. Within this work I do, a Priestess takes on a role almost of spiritual guide or counselor, but also kind of like your Soul's best friend. Priestesses hold sacred space, or create that space, for someone (or all someones) to do deep, transformative work. As a Priestess in this regard, I might be designing and then facilitating a ritual for a group that will allow them space to do some awesome work for themselves, each other, and the world, or I may be working one on one with someone, listening deeply and witnessing their own journey. I find this work immensely fulfilling, and enjoy practicing it and improving my skills to help others every time.</li>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Squares and Rectangles: Are all Witches Priestesses? Are all Priestess Witches?</span><br />
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<li>This is not a case of "all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares." This is a Venn diagram. Some people are both Priestess and Witch. Some are one or the other. Some are neither. Not all folks who practice Witchcraft also have either 1) the level of ability/knowledge/recognition (yet!) to be considered Priest/esses, 2) something or someone to which they are devoted to the level of being a Priestess of it, or 3) the desire/ability to do the kind of Priestessing work I briefly attempted to describe above. And not all Priestesses may be Witches (those who practice Witchcraft). The utmost example of this in my mind would be some more hard polytheistic practitioners, who are devoted deeply to the service of their Gods, but who do not engage in Witchcraft. Their practice is mainly Deity-centric, focusing not on the Earth and its cycles, nor on spellcraft and other forms of magick, but on ritual for Deity alone. Many people we chat with online these days are certainly both, but I do know some folks who are Priests and Priestesses of their gods who are not also Witches.</li>
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<span style="font-size: large;">What about me? Where do these terms fit into my life?</span><br />
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<li>I am both a Witch and a Priestess. I practice Witchcraft, and proudly call myself a Witch. And as I mentioned, I do Priestessing work. I am not part of a lineaged initiatory tradition, though some may consider me to have the equivalent level of knowledge/ability within my own practice. This doesn't mean I know how to do things in other, specific traditions, as these have their own ways to do things. This refers only to the level of ability I have within the practices and traditions I am a part of. (In Reclaiming, initiation is not required, and Priestess work is done by many. But being a Teacher, someone who is trained to teach in the style of the tradition, requires certain training and pathwork. So Priestess and Teacher have different requirements in Reclaiming, different than traditions which confer the title of Priestess at the point of being qualified to teach.)</li>
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<li>But my main question for myself was, am I a Priestess OF anything? So let's look at that...</li>
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<li>Ah, there's the rub... At first, I don't think I am! I do maintain altars to certain Deities, and do regular work with Universal forces/energies that are big in my practice. But none of these are daily, sit-at-the-altar-and-do-this-thing practices. I don't have regularly scheduled devotions. I do them when I feel called to. The deities I worship, work with, and have altars to, do not require daily anything from me, and I currently am pretty bad at just doing it anyway. Sometimes I try to start a daily practice, because I think it will be good for me. And sometimes I keep it up for a few days. Inevitably, though, it drops off for quite some time before I pick it back up again.</li>
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<li>Am I boxing myself into a false ideal of devotion? Just because I see those who are deeply devoted to Deity blogging about their daily or weekly specific devotions to specific Gods (One on Mondays, one on Thursdays, all of them on Saturday, or whatever it may be), does that mean this is the only way to be truly devoted to something? It certainly shows a lot of dedication and effort, especially for those who are busier than I am, to carve out this specific time. I do not do this, and I consistently beat myself up for it, while also telling myself it's okay, that's just not who I am or how I work. But does this mean the Deities I consistently meet with in trance, the Goddesses I have altars to, the Gods and Goddesses I call upon in ritual, are not Deities I am devoted to? Am I, or am I not, their Priestess? With some, I feel that I am not. Not because of these presupposed boxes and requirements for ritual based on what others do, but because I know my relationship with them, and I do not feel that it has that type of connection at this time. Others, I feel I am, or could be Priestess to. I could call myself a Priestess of two or three of the Goddesses I work with and worship, because of the strength of my connection to them and their presence in my daily life. From there, it's up to me to decide whether they need their own day when I should always do some kind of devotion to them, in addition to just the everyday, all throughout my life connection. Should I? *shrugs* That's up to me and them, not anyone else. As I said, sometimes I have done this. I enjoy it when I do. I even purchased specific incenses for them at one point, scents that evoke their personal qualities. I only burn these incenses at their altars, when doing devotional work. I just don't do it daily, or on a regular schedule.</li>
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<li>In <a href="https://youtu.be/2zkT2_tTg74" target="_blank">the video</a> that goes along with this post, I talked about a woman who is a Water Priestess. She keeps a sacred water altar, doing daily work there, and regularly uses the water to heal the waters of the world. Do I do anything like this? Hmm... not really, but also, maybe. I tend my herbs about this frequently, and use them in healing work. Most people would consider this Green or Kitchen Witchery, but not everyone would think of this as being an Earth Priestess, or Herb Priestess. Is some of this just personal preference in how you see these terms for yourself? I think so. I have a very strong connection with the main herbs I grow and use in tea and cooking, and with certain trees. I can call myself a Green Witch (I don't typically, I just consider this all part of Witchcraft), and/or I could call myself a Priestess of Willow, or of Apple, Chamomile, or Mint. I tend them regularly, I sing to them, I praise their growth and progress, I ensure natural remedies to anything ailing them, I give offerings, and I use their gifts in magick to heal myself, others, and through us, the World. Is this not Priestessing? Though we don't all call it that, I think it is. Calling it Priestessing in addition to magick or Craft adds a layer of seriousness, of depth. It implies that I don't just casually grow and pick herbs. I don't just <i>like </i>this type of tree. I maintain a relationship with them, the Spirit of them, and that connection is part of my ongoing work for myself and the planet. The Water Priestess is undoubtedly a Witch. She described other Witchcraft she employs. She could call herself a Water Witch (very <i>Coraline</i>, is it not?), but she calls herself a Water Priestess. The work of the Priestess is different from, but compatible with, sometimes overlapping, the work of the Witch.</li>
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<li>There are also major Universal forces/energies that I find myself Priestessing a lot, both for myself, and for other people in my personal life. Much of my personal Priestessing work is for Love, but also--and this is a connection I only really made recently--for Death.</li>
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<li>Our main Purpose as human beings on this planet is Love. To Love, and to vibrate with Love. This is a teaching I have come across a lot, and I love it (pardon the word choice). Everything comes from Love, everything goes to Love. As Ginger Doss sings, "There is nothing to fear when it's Love that you come from. / There is nothing to fear when it's Love that you're made of." Sound familiar? I've quoted it before, because it's awesome. Love is not just Romance, in case you needed that reminder. Love is bigger than anything. And the Love of the Gods, of the Universe, is truly boundless and unconditional, beyond human comprehension. Every day I strive to work in Love, with Love, for Love. You might call me a Priestess of this energy/force.</li>
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<li>Death, or Loss, is something that I think about a lot, and Priestess for people a lot. I've often said, in circles especially around Samhain when we honor our ancestors, that I am lucky that Death has kept its distance from me so far, but I feel a lack of connection to many people who have lost people very close to them. One day, of course, I will experience this. It is inevitable that I will eventually lose multiple people who are very close to me. But so far, those I've lost haven't left enormous holes in my life. I have frequently found myself the only person at a funeral or wake holding everything together, being strong, not just in show, but in earnest. I didn't know then that what I was doing, what I have been doing for years, was Priestessing. I was holding, and continue to this day to hold space for people who are grieving. As a child, at funerals of older family members who I didn't know very well, I was often looked at strangely as people commented that I did not cry. They joked that I had no feeling. This never bothered me, although I thought perhaps it should. But as I've recently been thinking more about my work as Priestess, and what kinds of things I Priestess, I've come to a new understanding of my relationship with Death and Loss. I cried when my pets passed away, initially. Some much more than others. But after the initial cleanse, there were no more tears. I took on the duty of putting them to rest. And I create videos in their remembrance. (<a href="https://youtu.be/pkf6XRoTM1Q" target="_blank">Mystery</a>. <a href="https://youtu.be/fzyGS6_u3Gg" target="_blank">Sierra</a>. <a href="https://youtu.be/EkmaddX8R7A" target="_blank">Kitty Lizard</a>.)</li>
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<li>Recently, another family member passed. Again, they were not close to me. It took me some effort to connect to the event, realizing that to their closest loved ones, this was a devastating blow. So while I didn't need any healing, I knew they would, and I did my work not for my own grief, but for the departed soul and those left behind. Nothing to interfere with personal will--which I hope I don't have to specify to many of my readers by this point, but just in case you're new here--but sending them Love and healing. Here again, Love and Death work in concert.</li>
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<li>Thinking back, I remembered other times I was a Priestess of Death. One vivid memory, when I was working as a housekeeper at a medical facility. I entered a room I had cleaned multiple times before, with or without the patient there. This day she was there, and I was forewarned by a nurse that she was dying. We didn't know when it would happen, just that the medical team thought it would happen soon. I've told this story before, so you can skip ahead if you've heard this one. As I was cleaning, I saw and felt someone behind me, tall, and wearing black. I stepped out of the way to avoid them and said "Excuse me," I saw and felt them so close. When I turned, there was no one there. A favorite poem of mine came into my head then, and I began to recite it, out loud, in the room of the sleeping patient while I finished dusting and cleaning:</li>
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<i>Because I could not stop for Death<br />He kindly stopped for me<br />The carriage held but just ourselves<br />and Immortality</i> </blockquote>
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<i>We slowly drove, he knew no haste<br />and I had put away<br />my labor, and my leisure, too<br />for his civility </i> </blockquote>
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<i>We passed the school where children played<br />Their lessons scarcely done<br />We passed the fields of gazing grain<br />We passed the setting sun </i> </blockquote>
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<i>We paused before a house that seemed<br />a swelling of the ground<br />The roof was scarcely visible<br />The cornice but a mound </i> </blockquote>
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<i>Since then 'tis centuries, but each<br />feels shorter than the day<br />I first surmised the horses' heads<br />were toward Eternity </i></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">--<i>The Chariot</i>, Emily Dickinson</span> </div>
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<li>I finished cleaning and went on to the next room. The next day, I was told that the patient had passed away later that morning. I also learned then that her name was Emily.</li>
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<li>I do believe the figure I saw/felt in the room was Death, in some form. I've rarely seen beings of Spirit with my physical eyes, even in my periphery. The only other time I can recall physically seeing a Spirit was my grandfather, shortly after his death, when I was a child. It is one of my earliest memories. This instance in the patient's room was unlike any other I've experienced. The presence I felt was so strong and concrete that, as I said, I actually moved out of the way and spoke to it, so much so did I think a real, tangible person had walked into the room behind me. I've also seen the Spirits of my previous cats for brief seconds. But never other human-esque figures, besides those two examples.</li>
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<li>Whether that was Death or not, I consider that experience an instance of Priestessing that transition, again, years before I knew what Priestessing was, or that I am a Priestess in such a respect. I was holding space, offering my Love in the form of art/poetry to someone I knew was probably going to die soon. I have never felt particularly afraid of Death or people dying, or dead people. There is no uneasiness. I used to think this was just me being morbid and a little weird, in a quaint Addams Family kind of way. I mean, I enjoy spending time in cemeteries, after all. And I've always thought about Death and had strange thoughts about it, from the time I was a child.</li>
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<li>Something I read recently actually helped me with this old story from childhood, the one where people said I had no feelings because I never cried at funerals. I'm reading the autobiography of a Witch currently (and I'll be doing a review video when I finish it, or beforehand, depending on when I feel like it, but I'm almost done reading it, so maybe soon) and in one chapter she briefly mentions how she dealt with Death as a child, and the reactions of people around her to her apparent lack of emotion surrounding Death. In her case, she had future sight, and was able to know when someone was going to die. But to the question of why she didn't cry, she did not say that it was because she already knew and had time to grieve, but simply that she was a Witch, and Witches typically do not cry at such times because they tend to have a very different concept of Death than other people. Instead of fearing it or misunderstanding it, Witches recognize Death as part of a cycle. This may not explain things for everyone, and certainly some Witchcraft practitioners may cry at funerals. But this helped me to realize I'm not the only one.</li>
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<li>So am I a Priestess of anything? While on one hand I think, no, on the other hand, yes... several things. I am a Priestess of my Herb Garden, even as a Witch working in her garden. I am a Priestess of a few Goddesses I am close to, in varying ways. (While some Gods have accepted/claimed me as among their followers, I am not particularly a devotee to any of them.) I may be called a Priestess of Willow and Apple. Of Love. And of Death.</li>
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I am a Priestess and a Witch. A Witch Priestess, perhaps. Though that sounds a bit pretentious, I may just use it from time to time. ;)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">What about you?</span><br />
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I hope this gives you lots to think about and muse upon. Thank you for reading!<br />
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Blessings~<br />
-C-Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-8067410003646655332017-06-27T10:50:00.001-04:002019-04-06T17:21:09.873-04:00Slice of Life: TodayHey, Readers,<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The heat is broken at my grandmother's house.</span><br />
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But let me back up.<br />
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Today, for the second time in a few months' span, my partner and I had to get up early to get our cars out of the parking lot so a crew could come fill in cracks in the pavement. Last time, it turned out they couldn't do it because it had rained, so we had gotten up and rushed out and stayed out for hours (my partner going to their job an hour early, me going to Grams' place to do some work) for nothing.<br />
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It's raining. So it's happened again.<br />
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This time the rain date is tomorrow, which means I'll have to get up early again and go... somewhere... again tomorrow. This is already quite inconvenient, but to have to do it three times is carelessness.<br />
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I got here and my grandmother wasn't even awake yet. I left without my sweater, so I'm cold, but she has sweaters. I make coffee. 100% Columbian. Sugar. I make toast. There is no peanut butter or jelly. I'm vegan, so the regular cow's butter in the fridge is out. I eat it plain. I put my laundry in downstairs. We fold the clean sheets my cousin left in the dryer. We notice the heat isn't on.<br />
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And just now, as I typed that, the television cut out. But we have power. Light. My laptop. Still on. (My laptop battery is shot, so it would immediately shut down if it lost power.) But the digital clock across the room is out.<br />
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I forgot my flash drives at home in my rush to get out on time, so it's a good thing I uploaded the video I need yesterday, so I can just write up the blog post that accompanies it and set it to public when I'm ready. I also forgot my phone charger, but I had a cord in my car and can plug it into my laptop to charge. I have to get home later to work on some craft things that need to be done by Thursday morning. I've been working on one for a couple days, and haven't started the other yet, so I can't spend all day away from home. Since it's raining, though, they probably aren't fixing the pavement, so I can go home any time.<br />
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I'm working on another blog to go along with a video I'll be posting.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today is a strange day.</span><br />
Making the best of it.<br />
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Blessings~<br />
-C-Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4918471929956183196.post-11345846947282696542017-04-13T10:19:00.000-04:002019-04-06T17:21:46.691-04:00Saturn Returns Workshop #1Dear Readers,<br />
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A little while ago on my channel, I announced that I have felt called to create a <b>Saturn Returns course </b>for those of us who are going through our Saturn Return (or who maybe just went through it, or have been through one in our lives and are now onto the second or the third) to work together on some tools to aid in this time.<br />
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I've also mentioned that the process of creating these courses and recurring subscriptions is new to me, and I am happy to say that I have finally figured out a way to get us started! So here we go...<br />
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Saturn has been called <i><b>the Taskmaster of the Skies</b></i>, and also, perhaps less intimidatingly, <i><b>our planetary Life Coach</b></i>. Every 29.5 Earth years or so, Saturn completes a full orbit. Thus, in your 30th year of life, when you are age 29, Saturn makes it's first return to the place where it was at your birth. The second time this happens, you are around age 58/59. A third return occurs when we reach age 88 or so.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>So what typically happens when Saturn comes back around?</i></span><br />
People experience the effects of Saturn differently, and pick up on different things. Because we are in different places in our lives, the tasks that Saturn has set up for us will vary. If you're pretty much on course, you may not need a lot of additional guidance, maybe just some support and confirmation. But if you've wandered far off the beaten path, you may feel some pretty extreme turbulence as good ol' Saturn whips you back into shape. What it all boils down to is this: We get 29.5 years to live our lives. When Saturn comes back for inspection, we get a progress report, and if we've gotten off our marks, we are about to get seriously readjusted.<br />
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You can feel these effects as early as years in advance, because nothing in the Universe happens immediately and suddenly, as far as the movement of planets into different places/signs goes. And something as big and foreboding as Saturn? You can feel it. I've been going through things for maybe three years now--definitely two years--that can be classified as Saturn Return bullshit, and I'm only 27 right now... If I'm already being prepared and given homework and being guided to turn my life upside down and inside out... what the heck is going to be in store for me when I turn 29?<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: large;"><b>What about for you?</b></span></i></div>
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What's feeling strained in your life these days? What is changing? Do you feel a profound desire to make a change, but don't know what, why, or how? Maybe you're feeling called, pushed, or prodded into making a change already. Relationships changing or ending, jobs changing or ending, moving, getting rid of, letting go of... Feeling like you lost track of what you're doing, who you are, and where you're going...</div>
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I know that feeling. And it's not even here yet.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large; text-align: center;">**</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jr092En5Dw" style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Watch my video about Saturn Returns, where I first talked about this workshop, by clicking here.</a><span style="font-size: large; text-align: center;">**</span></div>
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<input name="cmd" type="hidden" value="_s-xclick" />This, the first iteration of my Saturn Returns workshop, will take place from May to August 2017. It includes eight "lessons" which will be sent and shared in video form--one "lesson" (or exercise, or activity, or ritual, as it were) will come every two weeks, over a span of those four months. We will talk about Saturn and some of the ways its lessons can appear for us, and do exercises and activities aimed at looking into what's going on, where we are, and figuring out what our goals are, what we feel our limitations are... And getting some guidance for working past that. There will also be more obvious "Witchy Stuff"--Tarot, spells, ritual. Between lessons, there may be other, smaller prompts and activities, and an opportunity to interact with everyone in the workshop, for feedback and sharing. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Ready to get started?</i></span></div>
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<strike>If you feel like, <i>Yes, this is the thing for me right now!</i>...</strike><br />
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<strike>The deadline to sign up is <b>Saturday</b> (because why would it not be Saturn's Day?), <b>April 29.</b></strike><br />
<strike>A welcome message will follow at the beginning of May, and lessons begin arriving after that!</strike><br />
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<strike>If there is enough interest, I plan to do this workshop again at the end of the year.</strike><br />
<strike>And in the coming years, we'll go even further as Saturn approaches its Return for more of us.</strike><br />
<strike>Saturn Returns into the sign of Capricorn in December!</strike><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The first iteration of this course began in May 2017,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">but look out for more information on the second course,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">which will begin in September and go through December.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Sign-ups will be ready at the start of August 2017</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and the deadline will be toward the end of August. =)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Thank you!</span><br />
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I'm also offering an additional reading currently, that is not on my Readings page. If you are interested in using Numerology and the Tarot to look at your <i><b>Year Cards</b></i>, finding the connections and transitions from last year, to this year, and into the next, <b><a href="http://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/2017/03/lets-look-at-your-year-cards.html" target="_blank">please read the page here</a></b>.<br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Questions?</span></i></b><br />
Email <b>cutewitch772@yahoo.com</b> or message me at <i><b><a href="http://facebook.com/cutewitch772">facebook.com/cutewitch772</a></b></i>.<br />
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If you are unfamiliar with my work and my style, please do watch the Saturn Returns video I have linked above, but also <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/cutewitch772" target="_blank">check out my YouTube channel</a> (cutewitch772) to get a feel for who I am and how I teach!<br />
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Blessings~<br />
-C-Cara Miahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02427027038601201495noreply@blogger.com0