Category: New Moon

New Moon 4/14/2010

On By PaxIn everyday, Hecate, New MoonLeave a comment

Dear Friends,

Here is how I spent my evening…
I woke up at around 5pm and made some coffee and a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich for breakfast.  Showered.  Puttered around on the computer and ran to the store before sundown, and did some cleaning in my room.   It wasn’t going to be pristine but I at least put things in order and sorted my usual creatively exploded environment into piles…

… besides of the Theoi, Hekate seems to be the least concerned or bothered by the occasional mess as she stands a bit outside the usually more metaphorically Apollonian world of the Theoi, although I think she certainly appreciates some effort at the proper respects…

I set out a purple altar cloth.  Upon it I placed an incense holder, a stick of incense, the small black ceramic Sake bottle that I have adapted to use as a vessel/lamp in my honoring of Her, and a copy of the Homeric Hymn to Hecate.

To set my mind in the proper mood I listened to the Waterboys song Church Not Made With Hands and let my mind wander around the Internet… opening myself to Her inspiration and stopping off at a few interesting and synchronous spots along the way.  Then I took a deep conscious breath, and listened to Daemonia Nymphe’s Nocturnal Hecate.

I sat in silence for a few moments, then I took a handful of barley and held it in my hand.  Pouring it from hand to hand I contemplated the flavor, the texture, the taste, and the fact that for many in the world today and for so many in the ancient world this might be a meal’s worth of food.  When I felt I had truly reached some understanding of what I was offering, I poured the barley into the black ceramic Sake pitcher.  I placed the tea-light candle into the spout portion, and lit it.  I raised my hands to the heavens and read the Hymn.

Then I lit the incense from the candle flame and sat in silence for a while open to Her inspiration and being thankful for her blessings.

And now to work, and to Work, and to contemplate her inspirations…

Peace,

Pax

New Moon, Noumenia, and Me.

On By PaxIn Blame Sannion, Dionysus, Hecate, Hellenic Polytheism, Modern Pagan, New Moon, Seeking, spiritual practiceLeave a comment

Dear Friends and Pagani,

A stick of incense burns upon my altar.  An offering unto the Theoi on the Noumenia.

In ancient times the Noumenia honored Selene, Apollon Noumenios, and The  Household Gods; including Hestia, Zeus, Hermes, Hecate, Appolon Ageieus, the familial Agathos Diamons, and ones honored Ancestors.   Many contemporary Hellenic Polytheists will take this time to honor and make offerings to all of the Theoi.

Technically I am three days late, as the first sliver of the waxing moon, which the ancients considered the New Moon and the start of the new month; however it was on a walk earlier this evening that I caught my first sight of the moon since the astrological New Moon.  It helps that I am being inspired by recent discussion of how to handle food offerings on the Neos Alexandria ~ discussion group on Yahoo.

The basic discussion was that once food has been offered to the Gods, it becomes blessed as They partake of its essence, and then the worshiper may eat the food offered to the Gods.   (the general feel, based on UPG and some historical sources, is that food offered to the Dead is better left out in the woods or perhaps burnt)  Because of my current financial status I have to rely on discussion groups and online sources of information about my worship of the Theoi.  Although admitedly almost 40 years of being a history geek have certainly helped to inform my online research… and I am finding a little money here and there to start buying books to increase my knowledge and understanding.

And still I practice.  I pray to Them, I make offerings of incense, and now apples, and water… maybe some juice or wine….  Practice, practice, practice… Pray, sit in meditation, breathe into my Center, going for walks, writing out my thoughts and feelings and doing my best to become the best me I can be; both for myself and for the Gods.

“Every day, in some small way, I reweave myself, I rebuild myself.”

I am not only dealing with the recent break-up of my increasingly mis-named Life Partnership with the Big Guy; I am dealing with all of the old patterns and hurts that I have acknowledged for years but never really wrestled with, everthing that came roiling to the surface after the break-up.

I am doing it though!  I am finding my way.   I am learning who I am and what is important to me.  I am building my spiritual and religious practices and figuring out how to work within and build upon my relationships with the Theoi, and with the Lady and Lord of the Witches, and the other Gods who I encounter and have encountered in my journey.

I am learning how to budget, and how to eat properly, and how to date and laugh and live and love; both again and for the first time.

For all of these blessings, and all of the blessings in my life, I thank the Gods.  I offer my words and sweet smelling incense unto Them.

Peace,

Pax

Begining… again and again…

On By PaxIn Chrysalis, Hecate, New Moon, Pagan Ponderings, Prayer, SeekingLeave a comment

Tonight is the New Moon and I have honored Hecate.  I made some offerings of incense and poured a libation of consecrated water.  I also sent a prayer of thanks and remembrance to my Honored Predecessors… my own term for those members of the honored dead who were Queer.  In a sort of cultural, or perhaps subcultural, way they are my Ancestors too and I feel a need to grant them a special recognition.

I have been rereading A Book of Pagan Prayer by Ceiswr Serith.  A very useful little book, I highly reccomend it!  I contains a lot of wisdom and information about relating to the Gods through prayer and of the different types of prayer one may offer up to Them.  I found some inspiration in the pages of this book, and indeed some great prayers to Liberty for the upcoming U.S. Independence Day.

The last few weeks I have been just kind of coasting along.  I think I have somehow switched the Winter Solstice stasis/hibernation patterns of my youth for a Summer Solstice Stasis now that I live in a land of Stifling heat and humidity.  I have also been thinking, some, about this annual pattern of ‘hibernation’.  Everything but the most necessary duties, work and some housework, is dropped.

I am feeling betwixt and between as I realize I need something more than Solitary practice at this point in my life.  I also feel intimidated as I contemplate trying to immerse myself in Witchcraft and how shall I ballance that with building my career in the Hospitality and Restaurant industry?

I think… no, I know I need to meditate more, and pray more.  I need to open myself up to the inspiration of the Gods and I need to learn to listen to Them and to the wisdom of the world around me, as well as that quiet voice of Wisdom inside myself.

Strange.  I find myself thinking about a truly spiritual life and how it is sometimes like climbing up a seemingly endless series of fire escapes.  You work and you strive to reach a level and then there is more work ahead of you.  Living a faith, any faith, is like that.  It is a continuing journey, an eternal blossoming forth into the light of the Divine.

New Moon 2~7~2008

On By PaxIn Hecate, Imbolc Poetry Blogging, New MoonLeave a comment

In place of casting the Circle, a Blessing…

“In this night, and in this hour,
With this head, and heart, and voice of mine,
In this place, I call upon magicks power,
To Reawaken and Rekindle the spark Divine,
In each cell and atom of this now holy place.”

Then the invokation…

“I call Einodian Hecate,
Lovely dame, of earthly, watery, and celestial fame,
Sepulchral, in a saffron veil arrayed,
Pleased with dark ghosts that wander through the shade;
Persian, unconquerable huntress hail!
The world’s key-bearer never doomed to fail;
on the rough rock to wander thee delights,
Leader and nurse be present to our rites;
Propitious grant our just desires success,
Accept our homage, and the incense bless.”

Lit the insence, toasted the Goddess, and poured a Libation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hecate is at once the Thousand Faced Night,
And the Torch Bearer, Guardian and Giude through the Wilderness…

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am experimenting with blessing a place, trying to reawaken or rekindle the inherint divinity of a place rather than casting Circle. A Circle is one way of working magick and creating sacred space, but there are others.

I like to think that by not limiting the blessing or holyness with a boundary that, maybe, eventually, that rekindling of holyness will spread like a wildfire, or like water spilled in a Libation. Washing over every atom and cell of creation, touching and transforming the world.

Hmmm… I’ve got a LOT of blessing to do!

Peace,
Pax