Embracing Change…Sounds like a reasonable thing to do, right? After all, the only true constant in life is change. I have to tell you though, it is much easier said than done.
I’ve personally struggled with change throughout my life. You see, I’m a Cancer with a moon in Scorpio…this tends to make me relate to situations with a great depth of emotion. Letting go and moving on when change occurs?? Not so easy, lol. Over the years I have come to realize that some people and some situations are only meant to be with us temporarily. We have lessons to learn from everyone and every situation, whether pleasant or not.
“Meet this transient world with neither grasping nor fear; trust the unfolding of life, and you will attain true serenity”. ~ Bhagavad Gita
I’ve learned that whenever a change occurs, it’s best to feel the feelings, reflect and then look to the future. Whether it’s loss of a friendship, a job, a coven member striking out on their own, a death (friend, family, pet, beloved celebrity, etc…), or finding out you’re rather unexpectedly about to be a Grandmother [Yes, Dear readers, this Pixie is going to be a Grandma come the end of June!], take some time to breathe and focus on the change(s) and no matter how many negative thoughts come flooding at you, search until you find a nugget of positivity. Cling to this nugget, or “Happy Thought” and let it fill you up and help you to fly out of the doldrums and into the next exciting phase of your life.
How does this relate to us as Pagans? That’s simple…it relates to EVERYTHING. Life is Change, and we spend our little Pagan lives celebrating it. The Wheel of the Year, The Cycles of The Moon, Maiden/Mother/Crone, Life/Death/Rebirth, all of these are things we learn about and can talk to people about, and mark on our calendars (mostly). We don’t truly “get it” though, until we can apply the same reverence to the changes we can’t plan for.
A prime example is the loss of a job. As difficult as it can be to be out of work, it can also be an enormous gift! It can wake you up to the fact that you needed some “down time” to save your sanity, or the “wake up call” to get you to pursue your dreams that you were to chicken to go after while you were stuck in the safety of your day job.
“Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.” ~ Buddha
I’ve plopped two quotes in this post, and I urge you to jot them down and keep them somewhere they are easily seen. I think they are both fabulous reminders that it is in our best interest to do just as the title of this post says, and Embrace Change.
Alrighty, in my last post I went over the basics of what divination is, as well as some fairly standard divination practices. This week, I’m going to share some less than commonly practiced forms…just for fun. 
Amniomancy is divining the future life of a child by examining the caul (membrane material from the amniotic sac) covering their head at birth. The diviner examines the color and condition of the caul to interpret the baby’s future. If the color is vibrant it suggests the child will have a vibrant life, the opposite is predicted if the color is muted.
Ailuromancy is predicting future events, such as the weather, by observing a cats’ movements and/or jumps.
I’d love to find more info on this one that explains what certain movements are said to mean…my cats have been known to do some pretty odd movements. It’d be nice to know what they predict! lol
Cromniomancy is the art of divining with onions, and is known to have been performed throughout Europe, Africa and northern Asia. Why onions? Well, the whole “sphere within a sphere” composition of the onion was seen as a symbol of eternity and spirituality, so much so that the ancient Egyptians sacred oaths by placing their right hand on an onion, much like many place their hands on a Bible.
Examples:
Trying to choose between lovers? Try carving their names on separate onions, and see which suitor’s onion sprouts first…the first to sprout is said to be the one most worthy of your affection.
Answers to Yes or No questions can be attained by carving the words “yes” and “no” on two separate onions and planting them. The one that sprouts first is your answer.
Gyromancy is a method in which a circle is drawn on the ground with letters of the alphabet drawn around the perimeter. The diviner then either spins around inside of or walks the circumference the circle until they stumble or fall across the edge, and takes note of the letter at that location. This is repeated until an intelligible message is formed, or till they are stopped by madness or death. The dizziness experienced by spinning/circling is ensure randomness as well as induce an altered state of consciousness.
Kumalak is a method involving, of all things, sheep poo (“kumalak” means sheep dung in the Turkic languages). 41 dried pellets of sheep poo are put on a cloth on the ground, and touched to the readers forehead one after another to open their Third Eye. The reader then chants incantations repeatedly to coax a spirit to present itself, and to give them insight by orchestrating the division of the pellets into various positions on a grid for the reader to interpret. This method has been used for centuries in the regions of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Siberia. (I don’t know about you, but I won’t be using trying this one anytime soon.)
Oinomancy sends shivers down my spine! This kind of divination conducted by examining wine (What can I say, I like wine). Oinomancy was once performed by a priestess of Bacchus known as a Bacchante.
Various Techniques of Oinomancy:
- Wine is spilled on cloth/paper (Nooooo!!!!) and predictions are made by studying the stains.
- Boil or soak cloth/paper in wine, and then study the appearance/condition of it.
- Studying the sediment at the bottom of a glass or bottle of wine.
- Studying the wine itself (ie: color, taste, body, etc.)
Annnd I’ll leave you with this one, which I admit, made me giggle a bit. And yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like…Rumpology!
Rumpology or “Bottom Reading” (Yup…Bottom Reading) is done by examining the various nooks, crannies, crevices, dimples, moles etc. of a the querent’s bum. Much like one would examine and read the palm of the hand.
I also don’t think I’ll be starting a Rumpology practice anytime soon. Believe me, if you lived with my husband, you’d learn to keep your face away from that particular region. Unless, of course, you happen to own a gas mask.
Divination…what is it exactly? If you ask someone who either doesn’t know much about it or believe in it, they may call it “fortune telling” or “hocus pocus”. If you check the dictionary, you’ll get: “the practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means”, which I like better. But to get to the best definition, in my opinion, we need to examine the etymology of the word and derive our own from that.
The online etymology dictionary has the word origins of divination listed as: “late 14c., from O.Fr. divination (13c.), from L. divinationem (nom. divinatio) “the power of foreseeing, prediction,” from divinatus, pp. of divinare, lit. “to be inspired by a god“.
Combine that with the etymology of the both the adjective AND verb divine: [adj] “c.1300, from O.Fr. devin, from L. divinus “of a god,” from divus “a god,” related to deus “god, deity” .
Mash all that together, what do we get? How about this: Using supernatural insight, inspired by the Divine, to discover a possible or foreseeable future. Yeah, I like it!
So, that’s what it is…now, why do we do it? Because either we, or whomever we are divining for, are seeking Divine Guidance. It is not about seeing what will happen, it’s about seeing what could happen. It can show us that we are on the right track…or if we see something we don’t like, it gives us the opportunity to change the course of future events, or to prepare for the things that we cannot change. Just think about Charmed. When Phoebe got a premonition that so-and-so was gonna get fried by a demonic fireball, it was not always a foregone conclusion.
Aaaand, moving on…
Some common forms of divination are Astrology, Geomancy, the Tarot, the I Ching, and direct psychic means (such as clairvoyance and clairaudience).
Astrology uses the position and movement of celestial bodies as indicators to what will/is happening in our daily lives.
Geomancy is divination by means of interpreting markings on the ground, or patterns made by handfuls of items scattered on the ground. Most definitions use soil, rocks and sand as examples of what is scattered…but all I ever think of, when I read about Geomancy, is the scene in Willow when the wizard “consults the bones” by shaking them like Yahtzee dice and scattering them on the ground to seek an answer.
The Tarot is a set of 78 cards used in divination. It is used by the reader to connect to the the subconscious mind (or Universal Consciousness) in order to to answer questions, predict future events, or to understand past and current events. The deck is divided into The Major Arcana and The Minor Arcana. There are 56 cards in the Minor Arcana which are categorized into four suits: Wands, which symbolize action; Cups, which symbolize emotions; Swords, which symbolizes intellect; and Pentacles, which symbolizes material concerns. The remaining 22 cards make up the Major Arcana, which depict archetypes and elemental forces.
The I Ching is a bibliomancy (divination using books) method using the Book of Changes (or “I Ching”). The book is organized into an 8×8 grid of 64 hexagrams – called Trigrams – representing the states and the dynamic relationships of the eight elements (each of which is represented by a hexagram). The eight elements are: Qian (Heaven); Xun (Wind); Kan (Water); Gen (Mountain); Kun (Earth), Zhen (Thunder), Li (Fire); and Dui (Lake).
Using the book as an oracle consists of the seeker asking a question, opening the text to a seemingly random page, and then reading the text associated with the hexagram on that page.
Using Direct Psychic Means for divination is different for each person who has these abilities. There are many ways in which people can gain information. A few example are: Clairvoyance (seeing/visions), Clairaudience (hearing/listening), Claircognizance (knowing), Clairsentience (feeling/touch).
True divination is more than just “going through the motions” of a divination system such as the Tarot, Runes or Astrology. True divination is when the reader interprets things, not just by what the tools of the system suggest, but by their ‘intuition’, by their connection to Divine, and the one they are divining for. And, now that I think of it…sometimes these ‘tools’ are not even used. Sometimes we receive messages without the use of tools…things just ‘come to you’. So, with or without the use of tools…
Well, I’d say “Stay tuned for next week’s post” but this was was a wee bit late. So stay tuned til this Friday when I’ll have more stuffs to share.
Toodles!
The Theory of Polarity states that all things manifest from interactions between pairs of Complimentary Opposites. Light and Dark, Masculine and Feminine, Positive and Negative, North and South, Samhain and Beltane, Fire & Water; all of these are opposite halves of the same coin. We cannot have one without the other, it is a symbiotic relationship from which remarkable things are created.
It is much like the Eastern philosophy of Yin and Yang which describes two primal opposing but complementary forces found in all things in the universe. Yin, is the darker element. It is passive, dark, feminine, downward-seeking, and corresponds to the night and the moon. Yang, is the brighter element. It is active, light, masculine, upward-seeking and corresponds to the day and the sun.
It is through our understanding of how Pairs of opposites relate to one another and the Universe, that we re-enforce the importance of Balance. This applies even in our mundane lives.
For example: I find it most interesting that even though my Husband and I do not fit the ‘typical mold’ of our respective sexes…He is far more domestic than I am, and is perfectly fine with quiet evenings at home. I also enjoy a nice quiet evening, but I much prefer a night out with the boys watching things blow up in the latest testosterone filled action flick. I swear like a sailor, yet he (the former sailor) just doesn’t see profanity as an art form the way I do, lol. I do, however have a typical female trait or two, just as he has some traditional male traits.
The Theory of Polarity applies to us (as a couple and as parents) because, while in an nontraditional manner, we still maintain the balance and calculated tension of complimentary opposites.
In understanding this, we learn that when one Balances a Pair of Opposites, for Example Black and White…we discover where the most amazing magick happens…in the middle…with Shades of Gray. Which leaves me with a lovely song in my head…one that encompasses the struggle to distinguish between the extremes. When we are young and naive we see this as either This or That…with Age and Wisdom we come to learn that its not so simple. While this may seem daunting and disappointing to some, I think that understanding the middle ground is the Key to EVERYTHING.
With that, I leave you with The Monkees…Shades of Gray. 
Each one of us ( both Male and Female) can match up our emotional, physical, sexual and psychic cycles to the cycles of the moon. Both a woman’s menstrual cycle and the Moon’s cycle are 28 days. Although the match-ups will vary from person to person, women menstruate and ovulate during the same phase of the moon each month.
While pondering what my topic should be for this week’s Pagan Blog Project, one word kept creeping into my mind: Bonds. I wasn’t quite sure what my brain was driving at, so I just kept going about my week. I revisited the task a few days ago and there it was again: Bonds. OK, I guess I need to write about Bonds…but I had such a raging head cold the thoughts just weren’t able to form completely. Today, however, my head is a bit more clear, and the musings are coming through…with the help of some well chosen quotes.
“Nothing is more exciting and bonding in relationships than creating together” ~ Stephen R. Covey
This quote seems very appropriate if one is discussing the importance of a Coven. One must already feel some kind of bond to join a Coven, but the energy created, magick worked and lessons learned while working together can forge Bonds between it’s members that are stronger than steel. Connecting through shared personal experiences is powerful…connecting through shared energy and communing with the Divine, is life affirming and changing at the same time.
“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.” ~ Richard Bach
This quote truly speaks to me. My “true” family is made up of so many I have met over the course of my lifetime (and perhaps a lifetime or 2 that came before). There are some blood relatives included in this, but beyond them are people with whom I have shared some of the most spiritually meaningful experiences times of my life, as well as some of the most trying. From friends that I’ve met online only to meet in person and find that we are truly cut from the same cloth, to long lost friends from school that turn up once more and turn out to be far more important to my life than I could ever have imagined they would be.
The Bonds we make throughout our lives are important, ALL of them. Even if something happens to remove someone from our lives (ended friendship, divorce, death, dissolved coven, etc…), we must honor the reasons we were bound together in the first place, because it is a part of our journey, and helped to create the people we are today.
We as humans are communal beings…we live to be connected…not always with other people, but with something. There are some who live without human companionship, but are truly fulfilled by their relationship with Nature & the Divine. As long as we have made a vital connection with something/someone, we are generally content. A life without a vital connections with Divine, Nature or Humanity can be a desolate existence and, in my opinion, quite unhealthy.
So, go forth my Pagan friends! Create, Cultivate and Nurture your Bonds with your friends, family, coven/community members, animals, the Earth and the Divine. It’s what we’re meant to do.
Big Blessings of Bonding Bliss,
Isleen
I know you’ve heard of him, actually, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a pagan/witch who hasn’t heard of him. I’m willing to bet you’ve got at least one (but I’m guessing more) of his books on your bookshelf. Who in blue blazes am I talking about?? Well, if for some reason you were completely oblivious to the title of this post, I’m talking about Raymond Buckland.
For many, he is the first teacher of The Craft that they’ve had, I know he was a huge part of my initial studies. Yup, “Uncle Ray’s Big Blue Book” (aka: Buckland’s Complete book of Witchcraft ) was always within arms reach…and is still a very useful resource.
Since he came to the United States in 1962, he has written an enormous body of work on Witchcraft & the Occult: A Pocket Guide to the Supernatural (1969), Practical Candleburning Rituals (1970), Witchcraft Ancient and Modern (1970), Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft (1986), The Witch Book (2001), Signs, Symbols & Omens: An Illustrated Guide to Magical & Spiritual Symbolism (2003), Wicca For One (2004)…My Goodness! The list goes on, and on, and on!
Today I discovered his video Witchcraft: Yesterday and Today on YouTube, while the hair styles of some of the witches in the video are a bit distracting (There’s LOTS of hair and mullets running amok! lol), the information is still very useful for the beginner.
I can’t imagine finding someone who didn’t value his teachings, even if they don’t fully agree with him, but today I wanted to learn more about him, not as the Wise Sage of the Craft, but of him as our awesome “Uncle Ray”! I wanted to find out what he used to do before coming to America (go ahead, try and get Eddie Murphy out of your head now…I dare ya) and what, besides Witchcraft, makes him tick.
So, what did I learn today? I learned he’s as interesting as I always thought he was (judging solely by photos, of course). I learned that before heading across the pond he was a scriptwriter for British Comedic actor Ted Lune. He continued working in the entertainment industry once in the US. He wrote several screen plays that didn’t quite come to fruition, and worked with the likes of Vincent Price, William Friedkin (he directed The Exorcist), and Orson -Freaking- Welles! He actually worked as a Technical Consultant for the 1972 movie Necromancy starring Orson Welles. Welles plays Mr. Cato, a Coven leader who needs to obtain the powers of a woman, named Pamela Franklin, in order to resurrect his dead son. I now feel the need to find this, it’s got to be 70′s Horror-Cheese at it’s finest!
Other interesting tidbits: He loves to fly, and has actually built his own plane. He’s an avid fan of unusual cars, like ones with 3 wheels…and has also built one of those, so I guess I’ve also learned he’s quite handy. And, according to the Raymond Buckland’s Books facebook page, he is also a lover of New Orleans Jazz & Ragtime music (which makes me think Uncle Ray likes to boogie, but that’s is just a guess).
I also learned that I would REALLY like to attend a workshop of his. Learning from his books and videos is great, but to be there in an interactive setting would just make this Pixie SUPER HAPPY! 
Well, to sum up: Raymond Buckland is a highly intellectual, diverse human being with many talents and loads of Wisdom. To get a feel of the man himself, I’ll close with an interview that was done by WitchTV. The audio of the interviewer is difficult to hear, but Raymond comes through loud and clear. Enjoy!
Until Next Week…Pixie: Out.
In September of 2004, like any other S.K. fan, I was anxiously awaiting the debut of Stephen King’s Kingdom Hospital on ABC. I knew I would find a world filled with ghosts and mystery, sarcasm…and even the occasional disturbing incident, I did not, however expect to discover my Patron God. For most of the mini(?) series Anubis is portrayed as a giant anteater type creature, due to a little girls misunderstanding his name…she hears it as Antibus and thus pictures him as a creature that would fit the name. It’s a long and twisted story, but essentially I learned that Anubis dealt with the dead, afterlife and justice. I then began a search for more information.
Anubis is part of the Egyptian pantheon, however he seems to pre-date most Egyptian deities. Anubis was God of the Underworld before Osiris came into the picture. After Osiris was accepted as God of the Underworld Anubis has been seen as the God of embalming. Anubis is also the keeper of poisons and medicines, which is why Isis went to him for the proper herbs necessary to embalm Osiris after his death. Anubis was the one to perform the funeral of Osiris, which became the model for all funerals that followed.
After the dead have been placed in their tombs, it is Anubis that guides them to the afterlife and the Halls of Ma’ati. It is in the Halls of Ma’ati that he, acting as ‘He who counts the hearts’, oversees the weighing of the heart against the feather of Maat and judging of the deceased. Before the actual weighing, Anubis makes sure the scales are in proper alignment so that the heart may be weighed correctly. It is then Anubis’s job to weigh the heart and pass judgement on the deceased. Anubis would then give the guilty over to Ammut to be devoured, but would protect the innocent from her jaws of Final Death.
Anubis is most often seen as either a jackal or a man with a jackal head. This is most likely his totem because he is also the Guardian of the Necropolis (cemetery) and jackals were known to hunt the edges of the desert, near the necropolis and cemeteries throughout Egypt. He is very rarely seen in full human form, but a spectacular rendition exists in the Temple of Abydos of Ramses II. In the temple he is pictured fully human and seated in a chair next to the Goddess Heket (who I personally believe to be an incarnation of my patron Goddess Hecate).
Opening up to the male aspect of the divine was difficult for me, but he was patient with me, to a point. I have learned that, like Hecate, he will keep bugging you until you listen. Although, I do find him to be much gentler in his prodding. I believe it is he who has guided me to work with herbs in manners both magickal and medicinal, for before I knew him, I had little interest and now I seem to have a gift for them.
I do not see him in his jackal form or with the jackal head. I feel privileged to see him as a man, and was quite overjoyed when I discovered the picture of him in the Temple of Ramses II. To me he is a beautiful man with raven black hair, thin with skin the color of coffee with lots of cream. He has black eyes that are gentle and can see to your soul. I think that knowing Anubis is knowing how to judge the life you lead. If you are true to yourself, you should have no problems when it comes time to weigh your heart, for if you follow Anubis, you’ve really been weighing it all along.
Awareness, it’s a word that’s tossed around a lot these days. Usually it’s used in conjunction with the latest popular cause, but what does it mean to us as Pagans? Well, I kinda think it’s a HUGE chunk of what we’re all about.
As we go along our respective Paths, we must become “Aware” of a great many things. We must become aware of Our Surroundings, Ourselves, Universal Energies, and the Cycles of Nature.
So what does it mean exactly…to become aware? It is taking the things you know (or think you know) to a whole new level of understanding. All of those Oprah “Aha Moments”, those would be moments of gaining awareness with a nice catch phrase.
Now here’s where I ramble a bit (I know how y’all love it when the Pixie rambles, lol). Let’s break down those few broader categories I mentioned previously.
Awareness of Our Surroundings:
This goes way beyond “I’m standing on the corner of 31st & Elm ST and it’s raining.” Being aware of your surroundings includes the moods and behaviors of those you come into contact with, as well as an understanding of how your words and/or actions may effect them. It is being able to sense the overall “mood” in a room, or even an area outdoors. It also goes to practical things, like knowing which way you’re headed by being able to use the path of the sun. Paying attention to, and understanding the moods of pets and wildlife. In other words “being in tune” with the people and nature that are all around us. If you are plugged into your surroundings, things tend to go more smoothly and things are less hectic…at least in my experience. If I am feeling out of touch, well, then I truly feel lost…I become discombobulated (<= love that word!) and things just become chaotic. Once I take a moment to ground and center myself once again…things become much clearer and I am a happy Pixie once more.
Awareness of Self:
This is perhaps the most difficult for many. It involves delving into One’s history and exploring even the nasty bits, learning from every incident. Understanding why we did what we did, and hopefully to know we have grown since then. It is to be mindful of our thoughts, and our words, as well as our body language. It is knowing that every thought, word, or action we think, say, or do will send ripples through the Universe….creating some kind of change. Whether these changes are for good or ill, depends largely on the intent of the original action. Being self aware means accepting responsibility for the changes we help to create.
Awareness of Universal Energies:
As Pagans/Witches, we know that all things are connected. True awareness of this connection is where the Magick happens! Knowing which phase of the moon will give your spell the most mojo is powerful! I personally believe that you can work any magick at anytime, it’s all in the wording….you just have to be able to mold your words and intent to fit the energies of the moment. Ya just gotta tune in.
Awareness of the Cycles of Nature:
Birth, Death, Rebirth…The Wheel of The Year, these are things that we have a fairly simple time understanding on an academic level. Being aware of them, however, comes from the core of our being and is an ever evolving process (much like self awareness).
OK, so I’ve gone on and on, and have probably told you things you already knew…but who knows, maybe you (or I) simply needed to be reminded to be mindful. If that’s the case, then this was a useful post after all.
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