7 Days a Week, Pt. 2: Magic & the Planets

Hello again, Readers,

Welcome to Part 2 of this two-part blog mini-series! It's taken much, MUCH longer than I thought to get this second post together, and multiple people have asked me about daily magic and related things since I started working on it, so I'm excited to finally have it posted for everyone!

If you haven't yet, go back and read Part 1, Planets & Deity Names, 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 magical timing for certain types of spells or other workings, to set intentions that align with the planets and/or Deities, and so on.

Image by me, symbol images from solarsystem.nasa.gov

The days of the week as we know them in English are as follows:
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.


These names are associated with the following "planets", respectively:
The Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn.


In magic, we talk about a concept known as magical timing, which is the process of choosing the "best time", according to various correspondences, to do a magical 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 magic of the Days of the Week.

Moon Sign Datebook: My First Impressions

Hey, there!

This blog post is a companion to my video review of the 2018 Moon Sign Datebook, 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.

Watch the video here if you prefer to listen/watch along!

I'm writing this blog post in addition to the video for two reasons:
1) So that people can choose to read this text summary rather than listen to/watch the video.
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.

Dissociation & Sub-Typing

Hey again, Readers,

I was writing a blog post about generalization 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.

Generalization: "ALL Witches" etc.

Hey, Readers,

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.

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).

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.

Pagan Library Books

Hey, Readers,

In July, I visited a library in a large town--not a city, but a fairly big college town--and was dismayed with the selection of pagan books. When using the computer database to search for keywords, very few things came up when I searched "Wicca" or "Paganism," and none of the titles that came up were available at that library. They also weren't things I had heard of, except for one, which I did end up reading later because my friend happened to have a copy, but that's another book review entirely. Anyway, that library did turn out to have a couple really good pagan books once I looked in person, including Triumph of the Moon and Drawing Down the Moon. They also had some interesting books I hadn't heard of yet. I was confused as to why I couldn't find those titles with the searches I had conducted on the computer; If they didn't come up under "pagan," "paganism," "witchcraft," and so on, then how could people expect to find them?

I think I've stumbled upon an answer to that question in the days since that library visit. For one, I looked at some of the books in the Paganism section at my half price bookstore, and then earlier this week I visited another library to check out what kinds of books they had on pagan paths. Basically, what I discovered is that there are quite a few books that pagans would find interesting at libraries, but unlike at the bookstore where they're on the "New Age" or "Paganism" shelves, books that libraries choose may have sneaky classifications.

As Above, So Below: Paths to
Spiritual Renewal in Daily Life

At the bookstore, I came across this title and chuckled to myself at the way it was classified on the back. Some books have keywords or topics listed in a corner of the back cover, and this one said something like "Body, Mind & Spirit / Psychology," things which are clearly related to pagan spirituality and in a book which touches on it, but not listed as a "Pagan" book. (It was, however, on the cart of new books for the Religion/New Age section of the bookstore.) Of course pagans do not only read "pagan" books, but more and more I started noticing that some books which ARE obviously pagan or specifically about paganism, are still not listed as "Pagan." Here are some more examples from this past week at the library, when I was paying more attention and specifically thinking to take photos and remember how some things were classified.

Before I get to the books, let's take a moment to remind ourselves of what we have to work with. This is what the "Religion" section in a library consists of. The 200s are Religion, in general. The 210s cover philosophy and theory thereof, and the 290s are "Other Religions." The 220s through 280s are all various topics about the Bible and Christianity. So right away, we're all in the severe minority for resources. The 290s are for ALL other religions, and there are a lot of them.

Dianic Wicca & Transgender Pagans QUOTES

Hey, Readers!

I really don't like posting so many things so close together, and I just published my blog about Enlightenment yesterday, but I have some supplemental materials to post that go along with my Tuesday Pagan Perspective video (which, unfortunately, took so long to upload due to our recent internet connection issues that it is now Wednesday).

Watch the video here.

This post outlines some specific quotes I looked at for my quick research. The previous post is the script of my notes for the video.

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So You're New to the Craft...

Hey, Readers,

This is my script to this week's video on The Pagan Perspective. It covers three questions: one for general advice for new pagans, and two from a new pagan about how to be a pagan and about the number of gods.

The questions:

from CulainRuledByVenus
--I just uploaded a video directed at people new to Paganism, and now am wondering how you too would address them. Considering the broad spectrum of all that it is, implies, entails, and even all that it is made out to be by those who misunderstand and misrepresent it, I'm asking for your thoughts on this in the spirit of general advice and suggestions. I had suggested that newcomers should gather many perspectives about it, and thought "What better accommodation than the Pagan Perspective?"
Thank for reading,
Culain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sKs9Ra6t1c 

from mikilee2290
--i need help being a pure pagan. i been raised in a christian family, and im only 12, and i wanna be pagan, but was never taught how. can you help me?
--how many gods are there

Update. Location, Universal, and Study.

Hey, Readers!

There are quite a few messages in my YouTube inbox that I need to address, so I thought I would update this before getting to those in order to track what I've been thinking about before, and then possibly what comes up after, because of people's messages! I've narrowed it to three main things I've been thinking about.

LOCATION:
As traveling to England and Wales recently taught me, there is definitely something great about being at home. You have all your own things, a place to put everything, and you can get any one of your possessions right away if you find that you need it after not using it for a long, long time. Traveling was great, and I think if I lived over there, it would be fine to stay for long periods, but being away from my home was the hard part.

I've also seen this effect on me when I stay at my boyfriend's house for a couple nights. I love being with him, and I love staying at his house. Sometimes I really just need to get away from my home and the people there, and visiting him is the perfect way to do so. But I notice an effect on my practice when I go there, which is that I don't really grow much spiritually while visiting him. This is because there, I am a guest. I don't have my own space at his house, and I don't use my time there for study--I use it to spend time with him. This is fine, of course. I like taking time out from my week to relax on the weekends. It's just something I've noticed. I don't take time there to meditate, or to have circle, or anything. I know that if we end up living together this will be different, because I will have my own space, and he is fine with my practice so there wouldn't be anything keeping me from feeling like I could use my own space for my study. In fact that just means he'd be listening to my ramblings about it even more often than he does now! But I do wonder how people might keep up their practice if they are constantly moving, or if I were to travel for a period of time, how I would seek to ensure that I always have time to practice should I desire it.

UNIVERSAL:
Or, to be specific, what it means to be "too universal." Someone left a comment on one of my YouTube videos a while back, saying that I was being "too universal," and their view was that certain people should be left out. Without getting into that exact context, the concept of being "too universal" has stuck with me, and probably always will. I wondered, how could one be too universal if being universal is about everything and everyone? Why shouldn't I be accepting? And now, after several months at least (I don't remember exactly when the comment was, but I think it was under a year ago), I think I have come up with one example, whether or not it matches what the person originally meant.

I am well aware that my personal beliefs and practices are not Universal. I never felt they should be. Instead, what I attempt to do is to understand or at least acknowledge other viewpoints as I learn about them. Thus, I say things like "I do it such a way, but I know some people do this, and one person I talked to does this, and I think this other group has this opinion but I've really only read about that." I try to show that I do care (and know) that others do things differently, that my way is not the only way, that the person asking me for advice may prefer another way I happen to vaguely know about rather than my personal way. But sometimes I do find myself feeling like I'm not giving my own beliefs their due status by constantly mentioning other people's views. In other words, even though I do think other people's ways of doing something are valid, I sometimes feel it makes me seem unsure about my own beliefs. I say this because people often comment that they got a different feeling from what I said, when I actually fully agree with them as far as my personal practice goes, and I was just offering another perspective about what other people may do. I wonder if I'm not being clear as to what I actually believe.

I still don't want to ever say my way is THE way, or that no one does things differently. That goes against my belief in itself. But I wonder if the way I speak is sometimes "too universal," and perhaps I need to focus on my ways more, so that I no longer feel I am leaving them untied.


STUDY:
Actually, I now cannot remember exactly what I meant by this keyword when I typed it in the subject bar. There may have been a better word! Let's see. I have been thinking a lot about wanting to study more formally. I've always said if a teacher came along I would like one. I've also been thinking about how it's important to study other views as well, which may go along with the "too universal" point. In fact, I think this brings me to a whole other realization. I do think it's important to study all one can, and to learn about other faiths when given the chance, and especially to be able to have a basic working knowledge of something so that when it's brought up you're not left totally in the dark. But seeing as I've only just recently (as of graduation) begun to follow my OWN chosen path more than I have in the past, maybe I should go ahead and stop focusing on other ways, and learning about other people, and really focus on my own stuff for a while. Again, this is tough because I never want to shut out other ideas, and I always want to learn about other ways! It is part of my belief that this betters me, as well. However... maybe it is time to get serious and put off any outside learning just yet.


This is, of course, aside from the fact that next month, I will be taking a trip to Lily Dale, NY, which is a Spiritualist center. Granted, Spiritualism is part of my path, being defined on their website as "one who believes, as the basis of his or her religion, in the continuity of life and in individual responsibility," also stating that "Spiritualists endeavor to find the truth in all things and to live their lives in accordance therewith." The Lily Dale Assembly is concerned with the Science, Philosophy, and Religion of Spiritualism, so I will doubtless find much that fits my path, but it isn't exactly pagan and I am going with a group of others, including my mother, who is Christian-based. Still, for me the trip will be about how it can expand my personal faith.


~

Anyway, just some thoughts before I get into responding to a bunch of messages tomorrow! Thank you for reading.

Blessings~
-C-

Pagan Prejudice (video)

MY LATEST VIDEO

I am going to be using pagans as my target research group for my Stereotyping & Prejudice class. I'm excited to learn more about how wide-spread the things we have to deal with actually are, and I'm also excited to share knowledge of paganism with the members of my class, and with any of you who watch or read what I post about my findings.

Do you have any links to news stories, websites, videos, or anything like that which discuss actual accounts of discrimination against pagans, stereotypes, or prejudice?

-C-