My children are nearly four (in ten days) and 15 months. My son went through a period where he was fascinated with my prayers and devotions, and now he really isn’t all that interested. Occasionally he wants to join in. Mostly he just wants my attention. Baby girl is entering that age where she is watching and learning and repeating what we do. She is as good as her brother was about not touching items on the altar. We have... Read more
It is appropriate that this maxim comes up in time for Mother’s Day. This is an idea that is central to just about every tradition I’ve ever heard of. It either comes across as honor your parents, or respect your elders. Contrary to what my behaviour suggested between the ages of 11-14 and 19-25, this is a maxim that I’ve taken very much to heart. (I’m sorry, Mum.) Now that I’m a parent myself I see that it’s doubly important... Read more
#3 in the Delphic Maxim series, inspired by Star Foster. Here is her post on the same topic. This maxim makes me wonder what the difference between worship and devotion is. When I read or think the word ‘worship’ I immediately think of Christianity and the dynamic between the One Right and True Yahweh and us lowly humans. Devotion feels more intimate to me. I suspect I’m splitting hairs. I’ll admit that I like this maxim, mainly because I already... Read more
Today’s Delphic Maxim is ‘Obey the law.’ You can read Star Foster’s take on this here. This is a tricky one for me. It’s not that I break the law all that often (and who doesn’t speed occasionally, at the very least?), it’s that I hate being told what to do. It’s a good thing I am generally a person who likes to get along and finds the status quo pretty comfortable, because I tend only to follow rules/laws that... Read more
Star Foster, over at the Pantheon blog at Patheos, has started blogging on each of the Delphic Maxims. Her first on the statement, ‘Follow God.’ I liked what she had to say and I find the aphorisms thought-provoking, so I thought I’d follow in her footsteps and write about what I think it means to follow god. First of all, let me say that I know very little about Delphi, the Oracle, Hellenic tradition (ancient or modern), or the Maxims.... Read more
When I envisioned this blog project and thought up Place as a quarter I had ideas about getting in touch with the earth: its plants, animals, spirits. I wanted to get back in touch with parts of me that haven’t had much exercise in the last decade or so; the pieces of myself I encountered when I went hiking in Alaska, went fishing with my father, or marked seasons by the skies. I wanted to learn about indigenous peoples. I... Read more
May Day and Beltain. One a socialist holiday and the other a neo-pagan cross-quarter holiday. Also, my mother’s birthday. I love holidays and try to observe as many as I can as I am able. I enjoy the Celtic neo-pagan observances, as Ireland’s climate and seasons have been somewhat relevant to the places I’ve lived (except California, most of the Celtic and British holidays made no sense whatsoever there). While I am a huge fan of this holiday’s calendrical and... Read more
Everything comes back to the breath. Everything. Meditation? It’s about the breath. Trance? It’s about the breath. Yoga? It’s about the breath. Tai chi? Breath. Aikido? Breath. Orgasm? Breath. Singing? Shinto chingon and misogi? Being present? Pain management? Anger management? Birth and death? It is all about the breath. Read more
On my last entry the ever insightful Niklas suggested I think about things in terms of house-holding. I’ve been mulling over that this week. I’ve barely tended my outside shrine, hardly had time or focus to sit. I find that I need to adjust my shrine, or else accept that everything will rust. But there’s always one more load of laundry to deal with, one more diaper to change, one more need to meet. While the ideas of Place and... Read more
New(ish) quarter, new altar, new practices, new challenges. I’ll be honest: I don’t feel up to newness right now. It might be blog project fatigue, or it might be the unique challenges that this quarter presents, on top of all the changes from moving and having sick pretty kids lately. The new altar is small and outside. It’s a little metal cabinet I found at World Market Cost Plus. (It turns out that I love that store. I find so... Read more
A Witch's Ashram
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