Here we go: today the one year course for coming into contact with the divine daily starts! We will start slowly through the first weeks, with some very, very basic exercises. The important first step is to create a habit of doing something daily. So this week, we will start with prayer. There are a lot of reasons to speak a prayer, and it will not take much time. If possible, you should free some time – perhaps in the morning, before leaving for work, or in the evening, once the active part of the day is over. Think about this carefully – it is easiest to build a habit if you do it every day at the same time, so you should pick a time you can probably keep free most of the time. But if this is not possible on every day, no problem. You can still say a prayer – or more than one, if you want to – some time during the day, in a break, when a sunbeam touches and warms you, when you hear the song of a bird, when you feel the need for it.
I am excited about this course finally starting. Welcome to anyone reading this post, and if you are interested in a series of thoughts, insights, exercises and meditations about getting into contact with the Divine, I certainly hope you will check back every now and again. I will post weekly, probably some time during the weekend.
Hail and welcome, everyone!
Showing posts with label introduction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label introduction. Show all posts
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
About me
I started these introductory posts too early – I am running out of things to say before the beginning of the course. So I will take the opportunity to talk about myself a bit.
I started on my path as a pagan something like 15 years ago. At that time, I did not know anything about internet, but I had read a lot of self-help books and stumbled over a copy of Starhawk's “Spiral Dance”, and Z. Budapest's “The holy book of Woman's Mysteries”. Both books influenced my spiritual path enormously, but it took years before I became aware of the vast community of Wiccans and pagans around the world. Over the time, I have read pretty much everything I could get my hands on. I was fascinated when I discovered the Church of All Worlds because I had read Stranger in a Strange Land before and had been impressed by it. Contact to a traditional Gardnerian coven made me much more aware of the history and traditions of Wicca, and through the huge amount of information on the web I learned a lot about the positive and negative aspects of Wicca.
However, I became increasingly aware that British Traditional Wicca was not the right path for me: I had a tendency to think and question too much. I was also unhappy with the superficial and magic-oriented approach I encountered on the other end of the scale. My search finally lead me to a more scholarly oriented tradition that emphasises religion over magic and knowledge over dogma – Universal Eclectic Wicca.
Today, I believe the important part is to lead a meaningful life, within the ethical bounds of my religion, and to honour the Divine in its many manifestations. Everything else is optional. This is the spirit in which I write this blog – but I will write a lot about the optional part.
I started on my path as a pagan something like 15 years ago. At that time, I did not know anything about internet, but I had read a lot of self-help books and stumbled over a copy of Starhawk's “Spiral Dance”, and Z. Budapest's “The holy book of Woman's Mysteries”. Both books influenced my spiritual path enormously, but it took years before I became aware of the vast community of Wiccans and pagans around the world. Over the time, I have read pretty much everything I could get my hands on. I was fascinated when I discovered the Church of All Worlds because I had read Stranger in a Strange Land before and had been impressed by it. Contact to a traditional Gardnerian coven made me much more aware of the history and traditions of Wicca, and through the huge amount of information on the web I learned a lot about the positive and negative aspects of Wicca.
However, I became increasingly aware that British Traditional Wicca was not the right path for me: I had a tendency to think and question too much. I was also unhappy with the superficial and magic-oriented approach I encountered on the other end of the scale. My search finally lead me to a more scholarly oriented tradition that emphasises religion over magic and knowledge over dogma – Universal Eclectic Wicca.
Today, I believe the important part is to lead a meaningful life, within the ethical bounds of my religion, and to honour the Divine in its many manifestations. Everything else is optional. This is the spirit in which I write this blog – but I will write a lot about the optional part.
Friday, January 9, 2009
The importance of practise
Most religions have a (more or less clear) definition of what makes you a member of that religion. You have to be baptised to be a Christian, or initiated for some branches of Wicca etc.
For me, the important question is not whether somebody is officially recognized as a member of a religion or tradition or whatever. The important question is: Does it make a difference? Am I influenced by the ideas about Divinity, about the world, that are part of my religion, or is my life disconnected from my believes?
There are two areas where a connection can be recognized most easily. The first one is ethics: Are my choices, my decisions, influenced by the ethics of my religion? Or am I preaching one thing and doing the other? The most important prerequisite for this is theoretical knowledge about the ethics of my religion and awareness in those situations when I have to make decisions.
The second one is practise. A practising catholic goes to church on Sundays, fasts during lent, etc. What do I do as a practising Wiccan? That is what I want to explore during this year. Of course I will include the wheel of the year, but mostly, the idea is to get away from those “special” days and reach towards a daily practise that is not dependent on outer circumstances but furthers our contact with the Divine constantly.
For me, the important question is not whether somebody is officially recognized as a member of a religion or tradition or whatever. The important question is: Does it make a difference? Am I influenced by the ideas about Divinity, about the world, that are part of my religion, or is my life disconnected from my believes?
There are two areas where a connection can be recognized most easily. The first one is ethics: Are my choices, my decisions, influenced by the ethics of my religion? Or am I preaching one thing and doing the other? The most important prerequisite for this is theoretical knowledge about the ethics of my religion and awareness in those situations when I have to make decisions.
The second one is practise. A practising catholic goes to church on Sundays, fasts during lent, etc. What do I do as a practising Wiccan? That is what I want to explore during this year. Of course I will include the wheel of the year, but mostly, the idea is to get away from those “special” days and reach towards a daily practise that is not dependent on outer circumstances but furthers our contact with the Divine constantly.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Concept
The course will probably consist of 52 weekly packages. Each one will include some theoretical musings and at least one exercise. The course is called daily practice, so you should take a bit of time each day when you perform the exercises. In order to get the most out of the course, I recommend that you try each exercise at least once, so you can give an estimation of whether it works for you. Try it, do not guess. The results may surprise you. For the rest of the week, stick to the exercises you like or find effective (which is not necessarily the same). If you find that you do not like any of them, go back to an older exercise. An important part of the course is to build a habit of daily practise, and for that you should not interrupt your practises.
However, if you absolutely have no time for the exercises, accept that, choose perhaps a shorter one, and get back to the exercises when you have the time for it.
So what can you expect? I will include classical techniques like meditation, contemplation, visualisation. I will probably also include less conventional ideas. The course is based strongly in my own world view, which is basically Wiccan. Therefore, you will find a lot of Wiccan concepts all through the meditations. A modern pagan might find most of the ideas familiar. Everyone else: enter at your own risk.
May the Gods walk with you.
However, if you absolutely have no time for the exercises, accept that, choose perhaps a shorter one, and get back to the exercises when you have the time for it.
So what can you expect? I will include classical techniques like meditation, contemplation, visualisation. I will probably also include less conventional ideas. The course is based strongly in my own world view, which is basically Wiccan. Therefore, you will find a lot of Wiccan concepts all through the meditations. A modern pagan might find most of the ideas familiar. Everyone else: enter at your own risk.
May the Gods walk with you.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Hail and welcome
Hail and welcome to all who have found their way here!
This blog is intended as a collection of meditations and exercises that allow us to get into closer contact with the Divine. I will post them weekly as I practise them, and I hope to find readers who join me and practise those meditations they find interesting and helpful.
So who am I? I am known as Windsong, and I have been a practising pagan for approximately 15 years, and at least half of that time I have called myself Wiccan. After a lot of searching I found my home in the tradition of UEW[1] and I am currently a second circle member of said tradition. Apart from that, I am a solitary Wicca, I walk my path on my own.
During my years of practise, I have found that I have a tendency towards the "arm-chair Wiccan". I love to read, and I have collected and read quite a lot of books on Wicca. Through this, I have collected lots of ideas about how to connect to the Gods, develop myself etc. However, I have found it difficult to find a balance that fulfils my needs and allows me to integrate my religion into my life. Therefore I decided to start this blog - “Daily practise” - as a one year course of practical exercises to get into contact with the Divine daily.
The course itself will probably start on February 1st 2009, which incidentally is also my thirtieth birthday. Until then, I will write some introductory posts on how the blog course will work and what I want to achieve.
Welcome again, and I certainly hope to see you around!
[1] www.cuew.org
This blog is intended as a collection of meditations and exercises that allow us to get into closer contact with the Divine. I will post them weekly as I practise them, and I hope to find readers who join me and practise those meditations they find interesting and helpful.
So who am I? I am known as Windsong, and I have been a practising pagan for approximately 15 years, and at least half of that time I have called myself Wiccan. After a lot of searching I found my home in the tradition of UEW[1] and I am currently a second circle member of said tradition. Apart from that, I am a solitary Wicca, I walk my path on my own.
During my years of practise, I have found that I have a tendency towards the "arm-chair Wiccan". I love to read, and I have collected and read quite a lot of books on Wicca. Through this, I have collected lots of ideas about how to connect to the Gods, develop myself etc. However, I have found it difficult to find a balance that fulfils my needs and allows me to integrate my religion into my life. Therefore I decided to start this blog - “Daily practise” - as a one year course of practical exercises to get into contact with the Divine daily.
The course itself will probably start on February 1st 2009, which incidentally is also my thirtieth birthday. Until then, I will write some introductory posts on how the blog course will work and what I want to achieve.
Welcome again, and I certainly hope to see you around!
[1] www.cuew.org
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