So I am a newly welcomed citizen of the virtual community of Neos Alexandria and exploring the Greek end of Greco-Egyptian Syncreticism.  Tonight being the New Moon I must away to Honor Hecate with poetry and Libations and Incense.

A Call to Hecate

by Pax / Geoffrey Stewart (c) 2009

Thrice Great Hecate, I call unto you,

Most honored amongst the gods,

Lady of the Earth and Sky and Sea,

Under brightest Moon I call across the nights to you,

In the midst of darkest Night I call out unto you,

Underneath the Sunlit skies I call out to you,

The New Moon’s Mistress,

Torch bearing, Lady of the Hounds, hear me.

You who is the Queen of Phantoms,

The place where three roads meet,

Keeper of the Keys of Creation,

Crossroads Golden clad Guide,

Guardian of the Gates,

Gorgo, Mormo, Thousand faced Night,

Come unto us oh Savior,

Come unto us oh eldest of the Gods,

Who is also the Night Wandering Maiden,

Come unto us,

Attendant of Persephone and Demeter,

Come unto us,

Bless the incense,

Come unto us,

Bless us with your presence.

Dear Pagans,

So my experience of walking the labyrinth is staying with me.  The sensation of timelessness and isolation, the sense slow deliberateness as I twisted and turned round the circle to the center, and then the sense of building speed as I traveled outward once more.  The sound of the water burbling in the fountain, the heat of the day, and the light of the sun.

The memories of it speak to me of the experience of turning inward and doing the inner work one must do to heal and grow, the winding path one takes when one starts to build ones relationships with the Divines and the All That Is and the Spirits of the World Around Us, the twists and turns that we encounter as Pagans as we try to live our virtues and values in our own lives and in a world where honor and integrity and compassion and hospitality are so often looked upon so cheaply, and the strange way in which our journey inward and our inner work must, inevitably lead us back to an outward journey and re-engagement with the world.

My journey through that labyrinth is staying with me, and the experience of it and the memory and the symbolism and metaphor of it are weaving their ways through my heart and mind and soul and writings and thoughts.  It’s as if that moment and that experience is another surprise gift from the Divines, like my recently emerged sense of the Numinous presence of the Gods…

I remember when I wrote of that, I said…

“I don’t know if this awareness will continue or if it will waver in or out, or if I will wake up tomorrow and have no more sense of the celestial than before.”

And Terri said,

“It should last. Sure, there will be times when it fades into the background a little, but then it will surprise you by descending like a cloud from seemingly nowhere, when you’re in the middle of doing something else – take an instant out to savour it when it washes over you in your everyday life, and you’ll be building up a new habitual set of patterns-of-mind.“

… So now I am savoring the labyrinth and its sensations and lessons.

Looking back upon it, I was aware of the numinous presences in that moment.  But since that awareness is now always upon me, only a thought or a breath away, in some ways I am less aware of it.  Irony that what seems an especial gift may serve to devalue itself … I must work on some mindfulness meditation for my experience of the presence of the Divines.

I am also trying to be more mindful of these moments and mysteries and synchronous seeming coincidences around me…

For example…

I wrote earlier this week about Cultural Misappropriation, and then about the Labyrinth as journey and the importance of our choices in our journey, and then I go to WitchesVoice and find this excellent article by Nasionnaich!

So I now fully expect to publish this post and find at least a couple of posts in the Pagan Blogoshpere about unexpected initiations into mysteries or labyrinths…

Keep grounded, Keep centered, and Remain mindful of the Universe as it speaks with you!

Peace,
Pax

Dear Pagani,

I walked a hedgerow labyrinth today, an unexpected exercise in Spirit in an otherwise mundane day trip to visit with a room-mates cousin.

I walked into and out of this labyrinth, letting the everyday world slip away for a time and focusing on the thoughts and inspirations and messages I might find in the journey.

The journey as many a good mystic will tell you, is at least as important as the destination.  The thing is though that it isn’t just about experiencing the journey, or being open to inspiration or guidance; in life and in labyrinths it is what you choose to do with your time on your journey that is often the key component in the spell…

While I hardly ever watch television, and then usually crime shows or history documentaries, I am into the internet… although I do think The Big Guy’s accusations of “Internet Junkie” are a bit uncalled for…

Anyway I am inspired in this essay today by the lessons of singing and internet sensation and Britain’s Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle (here, here, and here for more info…) and  first series underdog BGT winner Paul Potts (here, here, and here for more info…).

Both of these folks had dreams of singing.  Both of them practiced and studied as they were able and both of them at some point decided to take their courage up and try for this televised tallent show…

“Both of them practiced and studied as they were able…”

This is key to my point…

Over the years I have had a lot of conversations about creativity and pursuing artistic and creative endeavors and the spiritual component of such things with my friend Ravenmoon.  She’s this cool and fabulously talented artist lady I know; and one of our continuing conversations is about how when one engages in a creative or artistic act, one in some way engages or touches the Creatrix/Creator.

Another of our long running themes is how sad it is that more folks don’t engage in creative or artistic endeavors.  It often seems like folks will give up on a creative or artistic endeavor… say drawing.. because the faces they draw don’t look “right”… never mind that “right” in art is rather subjective and that it takes a lot of practice for even talented artists to get faces “right” if getting faces “right” is what speaks to them.

And that’s the key thing… if something touches your soul and speaks to you, if in nourishes some part of your soul, if it brings you somehow closer to your center or to Spirit, then pursue it, practice it!

“…let nothing stop you or turn you aside.”

Keep working at it and trying and engaging in that process until you reach whatever goal you may set for yourself!

This holds true in Singing, and Printmaking, and Writing.  It especially holds true in Magick and Witchcraft and all sorts of Paganism and in life.  There are precious few people in this world who are so talented that they can pick something up instantly… practice, study, persevere!

“Never, never, never, give up!”

Fabulous talent, preciously and rarely, just IS…. most fabulous talent is the result of a lot of practice and work along the way!

Whatever you goal or destination, take the time on your journey to do the hard and often repetitive work needed to get you to your goal!!

Peace,

Pax

So on the Naos Hecate list there has recently been a thread about what sort of offerings do the members make, and how, to The Golden Clad Torch Bearing Maiden.

(look it up, Hecate was pictured as a youthful Goddess until Late Antiquity… of course being a Goddess, She can look like whatever She wishes, so I don’t know if there’s all that much room for confusion or scandal on the issue…)

This fact, combined with the scent of Lavender from the incense I’ve offered to the Gods and Guardian Spirits of my home today, has me thinking of the process of Libations and Offerings to the Gods.  As is noted on my Daily Practice page, I make offerings of incense and pour libations to the Gods of the Hellenic Pantheon and to the Lord and Lady of the Craft.

These offerings are, like regular prayer, an important part of the way I practice my Witchcraft as a solitary, and my Paganism as a budding Hellenic Polytheist.  It is through regular prayers and offerings , in addition to the rituals (in my case on a calendar of…) of the Esbat’s and Sabbat’s, that build our relationships with the Divine.

It is so sad to me that so little emphasis in our literature and dialogues goes to the importance of building our relationship with the Divine, or Spirit, or The All That Is.  The title of today’s post actually comes from my own term for the mystery that is the closeness and caring and respect one can feel in ones relationship with the Gods when one remembers Them, speaks with ~ and listens to ~ Them, and shares with Them on a regular basis.

Our focus should be on Them and our relationship with Them, not solely on ourselves and our needs as so many Pagan or Witchcraft 101 books and materials might lead you to believe.

For me, as a Witch, one of the best reources is Deborah Lipp’s Element’s of Ritual, which is a detailed examination of casting the Wiccan Circle and has some great points about Libations and other offerings.  There are also a number of other useful sources from the Hellenic, the Heathen, and the Celtic Recon p.o.v. regarding libations and offerings.

Peace,

Pax

So there have been a couple of things that have really been playing with my relationship with Beltaine over the last couple of years…

First, the whole move to a subtropical climate… it’s difficult to get into the whole Beltaine as Lady and Lord getting it on/fertility to the world vibe when the world around you is in a constant state of blossom and green and growth… and the turning to Summer is actually entering a kind of fallow period for some crops… June and August are the grape harvest though…

So there’s that…

Then there was a mis-understanding I had at an Open Beltaine rite a couple of years ago where it sounded to me at the time that the officiants were wanting only heterosexuals to participate in part of the May games…

Let me reiterate it was a big misunderstanding but it underlined for me a disconnect I have with Beltane as a fertility festival in that I am not, as a Gay man, necessarily a part of the fertility cycle.

On the other hand I have no problem celebrating a fertility festival, honoring the life-giving principals and actions of the Lady and Lord and celebrating the Act of Creation…

But what does Beltane really mean when you are somewhere where there is ALWAYS some fertility going on in the natural world around you?  Midwinter (December) is the citrus harvest and February sees the local Strawberry festivals

Then too, there is a change in how I view or understand the esoteric tides that ebb and flow around us in conjunction with the Wheel of the Year.

See it is at both Beltaine and Samhain that the walls between the worlds draw thin.   Everyone knows about the alleged traditions of Merry Old England and the Celts around Beltaine… what a lot of folks don’t realize is that the ancient germanic tribes lit bonfires on May eve to ward off ghosts and spirits… Walpurgisnacht…

Sex and Death,  Death and Rebirth,  Limnal and Primal Mysteries.

For years it was my understanding that at Samhain and Beltaine it was a different set of, or perhaps sort of, wall that thinned.  Those between the Living and the Dead at Samhain and those between the Earthly and Faery at Beltane… but what if they aren’t different walls at all?  What if it is only our viewing these limnal points in the year through the lens of the rise and fall of the natural world around us that lends the focus to specific parts of the Other World?

I am reminded of what I’ve read about the Goddesses and Gods of Ancient Greece and how they were honored and celebrated and worshiped in very different ways in different parts of the Ancient World.

I am also reminded of one of Dionysus’ festivals, Anthestria which we discussed on the Thiasos Lusios list… at the time I maintained that I wasn’t sure if I should celebrate it at the time of the ancients or in attune with the Wheel which I know and have attuned myself too.

… Limnal points and time of honoring the Spirits of the World around us and of our Honored and Beloved Dead…

Their Crossing festivals of Imbolc and Lammas have more to do with home and human activities and activity in this world…

I think I am begining to see my way towards a reinvention of the wheel that will honor the Holy Days and allow me to embrace the cycles of the natural world I now find myself living in….

Now to figure out how to honor these Sabbats and how to explain this strange new wheel.

Peace,

Pax

So I am in one of those modern Pagan’s quandries…

It started with re-reading Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed our World by Mark Pendergrast.  A delightful history book tracing the history of coffee from the dimly recorded days of Kalladi the Goatherd (semi-legendary discoverer of the bean) to the present.

It occurred to me to wonder about the Goddess and/or God of Coffee.

Some sources will bring up Caffeina, an allegedly Roman Goddess whose apotheosis some humorists have attributed to the Emporer Jullian.  (known to some histories as Jullian the Apostate for his desire to bring back Paganism in the 300’s C.E.)  I just have trouble swallowing this story… as my research indicates she may have been invented as a marketing scheme…

As someone who has recently been trying to blend his devotion to the Lady and Lord of Witchcraft with a burgeoning relationship with some of the Olympian’s (Greek Pantheon for the non-Hellenist crowd), I was a bit torn as to which of the God’s of Greece I might thank for the pep in my step.

I could easily see Apollo or Hestia as being credited by some.  I can definitely see Aphrodite and Dionysus being great proponents of this beverage, and of course my beloved Hecate as another night wandering deity would probably savor some in a cup or chalice.

Given though, that legends state that it was a Goatherd who discovered his goats, intoxicated on the coffee cherry who first discovered the mis-named beans blessing, I am minded to thank Pan for providing this sacred beverage!

Perhaps I shall go have a cup, pray to the Gods for guidance, and see who shows up…

Peace,

Pax

Hey all,

So I’ve been talking, with some friends and family lately about my long-term plan of opening up my own Coffee-house/bake-shop.  I came to this humble dream after working as a Barista in Anchorage in the mid-90’s and the owner of the small downtown coffee shop was running it into the ground.

It was after her attempts at after hours micromanaging (she had a day job while the shop was open so she would come in at night and leave dozens of sticky-notes all over the place questioning pretty much everything we and the manager did) drove the manager to quit.  Becky ~hack, ptui~ had the employee’s making pastry and supplie orders and doing other parts of the managerial stuff for the shop.  I had a few epiphanies that Summer…

First that I could run a business!  This was a rather radical notion to me at that point in my life because as much as I liked hanging out in coffee houses I hadn’t really thought about being more than a barista until then, I actually had a rather low self-esteem…heck, sometimes I still do.

Second, my Father was amazingly supportive of this idea.  He actually offered to buy this failing business for me if I thought I could really make a go of it!  (We ended up deciding against this because that crazy woman wanted way more than a failling business was worth)

Becky decided to fire me because I came down with pneumonia and left work early a couple of days without reaching her for permission.  He day job was as some sort of youth counselor and she could regularly not be reached at work, but i should have called her for permission.  I had the satisfaction of learning that the business failed and Becky was forced into bankruptcy… I know I shouldn’t be glad about that, but I am.  Sorry folks, it is not always sweetness and light here at Chrysalis.

Anyway, life happened for the next decade or so as I wandered away from and back towards this dream.

When the Big Guy first moved back to Florida after a tumultuous time in Alaska, the orginal plan was that I would persue my Associates in Small Business Management and visit him and move down with him later.  My dad surprised us both, and several other folks, by offering me the money to get established down in Florida and for me to go to School down here.

So off to the Orlando Culinary Academy I went.   I got my A.S. in Le Cordon Bleu Restaurant and Hospitality Management.  I’ve done a lot of studying and a lot of learning and growth in the 2 years I was there (would have been less, but I had to retake Wines 2.).

On of the things that was underlined for me is that I am a lot more capable and educated and knowledgable and expereinced in many areas than I had ever previously given myself credit for.   I felt a bit of a draw to Human Resources work and put the idea of my Coffee Shop on the back burner figuring I could work in the Restaurant/Hospitality industry for a few years and eventually go for the dream of ‘my coffee-house’.

The thing is, despite some of my best efforts, I find myself working the same type of barely above minimum wage jobs that I have been working for the last 20 years.

I am ready for, and capable of, a heck of a lot more.  I am also beginning to suspect that if I don’t get off my butt and try to do this now I never shall.  So I am.  I am hunting down and actively recreating my old coffee-house notebook.

(I still can’t decide whether to really go for it and have the Coffee House/Bake Shop also feature the Internet cafe and Independent/Used Bookstore from the get go or to add these things over time)

I am going to keep posting here, and writing my column, and writing in general… it’s something that enlivens my mind and feeds my spirit.  I am also going to keep trying to involve myself in the Pagan community.

I am also going to be working on business plans, and marketing plans, and menu’s, and recipes, and costing those recipes, and the million other things that go into creating a business.   I realize now may seem like a daft time to start such a project, but things will eventually take a new course and I believe they will get better; so why not take advantage of the time I have now so I am ready for the up-turn in the economy?

I shall be contemplating, and praying, and writing, and blogging about these things in the future…

Just thought I should give out a heads up!

Peace,

Pax

So a a little while back an article  on Witchvox by Juniper asked and answered the question “Where have all the Gardner’s and Crowley’s Gone?(an Answer)”

James French and Brendan Myers have each crafted some responses and I am going to barge my way into this conversation….

Before I grab the soapbox and stand upon it, let me direct your attention to Dr. Myer’s Excellent article and idea of The Clann-Maker.

So here’s the thing…

I like what Juniper has to say.  She comes across a little harsh in the article, but sometimes the truth is harsh.

I had to come to that conclusion AFTER a bit of time and reflection.  See, years ago I had had the realization that I was going to have to start building the Pagan Community I wanted to experience back in Anchorage… well my first reaction to Juniper’s well done article was a hearty…

“Well, Duh!”

The soul of compassion and wisdom, I am not… at least not always.  I have my moments, but,… anyways she’s right.

We need to get off of our own fannies as a movement and create a more interconnected and mature religious community ourselves!   I’ve ranted on this theme a time or two in the past…

Heck it’s kind of how I ended my recent article in Thorn.

We need to be the community and the elder’s we need, and our spiritual and physical descendants will need.  We need to find new and better ways to acknowledge and honor our Elder’s and Leader’s.  (Thus the whole ‘go look at what Brendan said’ part of our intro…check this out too while your at it!)

Now in the past I have said that Paganism is a religious, spiritual, and social movement made up of several overlapping and intertwined religious and regional communities.

I Have also observed that for the different Pagan faiths and paths there seems to be an overall theme of individual and group development into being a better person(s) (personal growth and perhaps enlightenment, although it is not neccesarilly phrased as such) by practicing certain rites, and developing our relationships with the Divine (or the essence of All That Is) and with the Spirits of the World Around Us (Elements and Land Spirits), and living certain intertwining and overlapping virtues and values.

I think that in the area of community building there are certain stages or experience/realizations you go through as a member of the Pagan movement whatever your particular path or practice.

1. Find something lacking within your local Pagan community…

2. Realize that if you aren’t finding what you want out of/in your local community… eventually you have to either do it yourself or shut up about it!

3. Actually engage in the work of building community.  Starting a newsletter, hosting a e-group or a social, or getting involved in the work of some of your local or regional Pagan community organizations.

4. We have the Challenge phase… something causes you to either re-evaluate or pull back from your involvement.

5. Is either : dormancy, you practice your path on you own… eventually your living of the values and your continuing personal evolution causes cautious re-evaluation and on to stage 6… OR in some cases stage 5is purely re-evaluation with no break from involvement in the community (my observations seem to indicate this is the rarer of the 2 forms of stage 5…

6. Re-entry…

I am basing these on my own experiences and observations… I am not sure yet how well these stages translate across the bandwidth of the Pagan movement.

This blog is part of my own stage 6, as is my Building Pagan Community column for Thorn magazine,  along with a renewed involvement in some of my online projects from years past…  including the Pagan Community Builders group on yahoo.

What stage are you in?

Peace,

Pax

(Cross posted from the other blog…)

~relevant Youtube Video Link~

So as a socially conscious individual I have signed a few online petitions in my time. Thus I have ended up on more than a few e-mail mailing lists. A couple of e-mails I’ve received today have highlighted for me why I am wary of some of our larger GLBT Rights organizations…

One of the e-mails was from the Democratic Party, or some ally or instrument of the Obama administration. It was asking me to take the time to call my representatives in the U.S. Senate and House and tell them of my support for the current budget before Congress.

The other e-mail was from a major GLBT rights organization, cautioning me that Congress would soon be taking a break from its duties and while at home many Senators would be under pressure from anti-GLBT groups to not pass the Mathew Shephard Act ( See also here, and here)

Was the major GLBT rights organization trying to help me connect with my representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives or in the Congress?

No, they wanted me to give them money… without one mention to the idea that you as a person might have some way of speaking up for yourself, no give us money and you don’t have to worry your little head about this…

Now I don’t doubt that this organization does good work and does indeed work on behalf of GLBT peoples… but why not add some direct action information with the appeal for more money? Isn’t it at least as important that GLBT and Allied peoples find our voices and reach out to our leaders on an individual basis as it is for us to support organizations working on our behalf?

Perhaps someone should write some of these larger organizations a memo?

~~~

PS I found Contacting the Congress, with a few moments search. It is a privately created and maintained resource page…