In the Charge of the Goddess it says “and you shall sing, dance, feast, [...] all in my praise, for mine [...] is joy on earth”. I suggest we do just that! Singing and dancing are wonderful ways to express your joy in life, your gratefulness, or on the other hand to express and transform anger, depression, loneliness.
Chose a chant or a song you like, or – if you feel inspired – write one. Choose something that expresses what you want to express. If you cannot find something, try to search something in the net, for example here. It does not have to be something specifically pagan – on the contrary. If something else helps you to express your feelings, great.
Take the song or chant with you throughout the day. Sing it at breakfast, hum it in the bus, sing it out loud on your way to work, make it a theme for the day. Then, in the evening, when you have some time, sing the song again, and again, and again. Become one with it. Express yourself through the song. Increase the power, identify more and more with it with each repeat.
Then, peak it. Sing it one last time, either very loud, very powerful, or slowly, quietly, very intense – and then let go. Let your message go out to the universe, and the Gods. (Of course, depending on your living conditions, your message might also go out to your neighbours, so take them into consideration.)
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
New moon meditation
The next new moon is on Wednesday, so that would be the perfect night to perform this meditation.
On a new moon's night, sit down somewhere dark and quiet. It would be best if you could look into the sky and see the stars, the missing moon.
Take some deep breaths and relax. Become aware of your surroundings: the quiet, the darkness, the shadows visible in the star light, the distant glimmer of the stars. Be aware of the darkness, the quiet, the absence of both light and sound. Let that absence flood through you, help to empty you of all thoughts and distractions. Focus on this feeling and meditate for approximately 15 minutes.
Then, turn your attention away from the emptiness that has filled you, and return to the blinking stars, then to your body, your surroundings. Move your fingers, your toes. You are back.
On a new moon's night, sit down somewhere dark and quiet. It would be best if you could look into the sky and see the stars, the missing moon.
Take some deep breaths and relax. Become aware of your surroundings: the quiet, the darkness, the shadows visible in the star light, the distant glimmer of the stars. Be aware of the darkness, the quiet, the absence of both light and sound. Let that absence flood through you, help to empty you of all thoughts and distractions. Focus on this feeling and meditate for approximately 15 minutes.
Then, turn your attention away from the emptiness that has filled you, and return to the blinking stars, then to your body, your surroundings. Move your fingers, your toes. You are back.
New moon
Darkness is one of the primal fears of mankind. We fear what we cannot see, cannot understand. The new moon is the darkest time in the cycle of sun and moon. And yet, if you want to see the stars, they are clearer on a new moon night, without interfering light from the moon. It is through looking into darkness that we can find hidden things.
Darkness is a transition that enables new beginnings, just as the night makes the new morning possible, and the new moon the next cycle of the moon.
Darkness is a transition that enables new beginnings, just as the night makes the new morning possible, and the new moon the next cycle of the moon.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Affirmation week
At the beginning of this week, choose an affirmation. It can be one you find somewhere, and I will give some examples at the end of this exercise, but from my experience it is best if you take the time to find/write your own affirmation. For that, sit down in a quiet place and have paper and pen ready. Relax yourself and quiet your mind. Then, focus your attention on your current life situation. What do you want to change?
Focus upon that topic and think about what you want to change. How should the situation look like? What do you want to / need to believe in? Try to picture it, and then condense the image into one sentence. It should be positive, short and concise.
Once you are happy with your affirmation, you can start using it. Say it aloud to yourself. If possible, write it on slips of paper and scatter them throughout your home. Use it as the text for your screen saver or background on your computer. Learn it by heart and repeat it often. Link it to something you do regularly and often, such as looking at a clock, and say/think it every time you do that. Use that affirmation during the week; experiment with it if the first one you choose does not fit. By the end of the week you should have one firmly in your mind. Continue to use it, to repeat it regularly, even if you remove the slips of paper and the screen saver after this week.
Examples:
Here and now I am a part of life, filled with strength and filled with love.
I am calm and relaxed.
I am a part of the love permeating the universe.
I am confident and strong.
Focus upon that topic and think about what you want to change. How should the situation look like? What do you want to / need to believe in? Try to picture it, and then condense the image into one sentence. It should be positive, short and concise.
Once you are happy with your affirmation, you can start using it. Say it aloud to yourself. If possible, write it on slips of paper and scatter them throughout your home. Use it as the text for your screen saver or background on your computer. Learn it by heart and repeat it often. Link it to something you do regularly and often, such as looking at a clock, and say/think it every time you do that. Use that affirmation during the week; experiment with it if the first one you choose does not fit. By the end of the week you should have one firmly in your mind. Continue to use it, to repeat it regularly, even if you remove the slips of paper and the screen saver after this week.
Examples:
Here and now I am a part of life, filled with strength and filled with love.
I am calm and relaxed.
I am a part of the love permeating the universe.
I am confident and strong.
Affirmation
Affirmations are short sentences that we repeat to ourselves over and over again, both in our minds and speaking out loud. Through continuous repetition, you start to believe it, and you – and your life – start to adapt to the affirmation. Choose affirmations that have to do with yourself, your perception of yourself and your life – not affirmations that run completely counter to hard facts. As an example, when you feel you need to attract wealth, do not choose something like “I win the lottery, I am a millionaire” as affirmation, but rather something like “My life is full of riches. I am wealthy.” Of course, it is quite possible that one effect of this affirmation might be that you become more aware of the wealth you already have instead of amassing new piles of money :-).
Some basic rules for choosing affirmations:
Tell them in the present form as if they were already true.
Do not use negations, use positive wording. As a rule of thumb, avoid the word “not”.
Make your affirmations short. You have to memorize them, and repeat them, so choose one or two sentences, not more.
Affirmations are a basic tool of positive thinking and many self-help concepts. If you are interested in more details, I recommend books by Shakti Gawain, Dale Carnegie or Joseph Murphy.
Some basic rules for choosing affirmations:
Tell them in the present form as if they were already true.
Do not use negations, use positive wording. As a rule of thumb, avoid the word “not”.
Make your affirmations short. You have to memorize them, and repeat them, so choose one or two sentences, not more.
Affirmations are a basic tool of positive thinking and many self-help concepts. If you are interested in more details, I recommend books by Shakti Gawain, Dale Carnegie or Joseph Murphy.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Full Moon Meditation
Choose a place where you can sit down and gaze at the full moon. Make yourself comfortable. Take a few deep breaths and relax...
Raise your eyes to the moon. The silver moon shines down on you, bathing you in its cool, silver light. Open yourself, and allow the light to stream into you, flow through you, illuminate you. Feel the touch, the caress of the moon. Empty your mind from all other thoughts. Stay in rapt attention to the moon.
Continue this meditation for approximately 15 minutes. Then, turn your focus away from the moon back into yourself. Experimentally move a finger, a toe. You are back.
Raise your eyes to the moon. The silver moon shines down on you, bathing you in its cool, silver light. Open yourself, and allow the light to stream into you, flow through you, illuminate you. Feel the touch, the caress of the moon. Empty your mind from all other thoughts. Stay in rapt attention to the moon.
Continue this meditation for approximately 15 minutes. Then, turn your focus away from the moon back into yourself. Experimentally move a finger, a toe. You are back.
Full Moon Contemplation
What is the difference between worshipping the moon and honouring a Goddess for which the moon is a symbol? Implications?
The Moon
The moon carries a certain fascination. Through the ages it has been connected with Gods, inspired poets and artists, watched over lovers or just given comfort in a dark night. In Wicca, the moon (often) is a symbol for the threefold Goddess, She who embodies change, and the life cycle of women. There is the maiden, the young one, connected to the waxing moon, full of joy, free of burden, without much experience, but with the vigour and passion of the young. There is the mother, symbolized by the full moon, the fertile one who has to care for her offspring, who offers nurturing and love. And there is the third one, the crone, symbolized by the waning moon, the old one whose strength is vanishing, but also the wise one, full of experience. Sometimes, there is a forth face, the dark mother, lady of death, she who takes back what the mother has given, the new moon.
This threefold Goddess is an empowering role model, especially in our world where it sometimes seems that we must always be young, beautiful and dynamic. I want to emphasise one point here: I do not worship the moon – I honer the Goddess whose symbol is the moon.
The charge of the Goddess tells us to meet at the full moon to honour her. In a busy world where everything goes to the rhythm of weeks and months, that can be difficult to accomplish, and there is no real reason to insist on the full moon. However, if we want to do some meditations on the moon, having the moon actually present, visible in the phase we are meditating about, will provide a better focal point.
This weeks exercises are therefore intended for a week of the full moon. You can do the contemplation on every day, but do the meditation on the day of the full moon itself if possible. You can find the current moon phase for example here ; the moon will be full on Tuesday this week.
There will be a post on the new moon in a later week. It is interesting to note that the associations of the three faced Goddess belong to the waxing, full and waning moon, while often rituals and meditations are performed at full and new moon. For magic, on the other hand, you associate the phase of the moon that shows the effect you want to achieve: growing, full of strength, decreasing, banishing.
This threefold Goddess is an empowering role model, especially in our world where it sometimes seems that we must always be young, beautiful and dynamic. I want to emphasise one point here: I do not worship the moon – I honer the Goddess whose symbol is the moon.
The charge of the Goddess tells us to meet at the full moon to honour her. In a busy world where everything goes to the rhythm of weeks and months, that can be difficult to accomplish, and there is no real reason to insist on the full moon. However, if we want to do some meditations on the moon, having the moon actually present, visible in the phase we are meditating about, will provide a better focal point.
This weeks exercises are therefore intended for a week of the full moon. You can do the contemplation on every day, but do the meditation on the day of the full moon itself if possible. You can find the current moon phase for example here ; the moon will be full on Tuesday this week.
There will be a post on the new moon in a later week. It is interesting to note that the associations of the three faced Goddess belong to the waxing, full and waning moon, while often rituals and meditations are performed at full and new moon. For magic, on the other hand, you associate the phase of the moon that shows the effect you want to achieve: growing, full of strength, decreasing, banishing.
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