The Magick of Play

In a world where life is ever more difficult, where we are constantly bombarded with unwelcome news, where the future seems ever more worrisome, we can become unbearably weary.  

We can become so burdened by the mundane, and the seemingly inevitable despair of the world that our passion, our joy, our optimism and our pleasure seem increasingly beyond our reach.

This is not the way I wish to live.  

In circumstances like these, Play becomes absolutely necessary.  We need to remember how to be hopeful, how to have fun, how to laugh.

Once a week I gather with some friends to Play.  I pretend to be someone else.  I spend an evening doing ridiculous things and together we create a story.  A wild, impossible and gloriously outrageous story.  I get to learn new skills, and to practice things that make me uncomfortable, like conflict, in a safe place with friends.  I get to practice communicating more clearly, and facing conflict, and being bold, and even vent stress and anger in healthy, playful ways.  I get to say, “bite me” to people who will not be hurt by those words.  And I get to laugh, a lot.

Play and laughter are just as important for adults as they are for children, perhaps even more so.  We need play, and laughter, and fun, to remain strong and healthy and to renew our spirits in a world that is filled with sadness and despair.  Laughter and play are the antidote to the toxicity and weariness of challenging times. 

Life is good.  The Sun still shines, as do the Moon and the Stars.  Find Joy, find Pleasure, find Laughter.  Play!

In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust

As we enter into ritual space as a Coven, each of us says aloud, “I enter this Circle in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust”. 

 At a Ritual a few months ago, I was asked by one of our guests why we say those words.   He was concerned that, if it was a requirement of entering Ritual with the Coven, he was not capable of meeting such a standard. 

 I reassured him that it was not a requirement, but rather an intention, an ideal to which we aspire, and that none of us are perfect in our practice of that ideal.  

If we cannot achieve such perfection, why would we use those words?  Because words have power, and stating our ideals, our intentions, helps us to remember our common goal, our aspirations, and our commitment to each other to continue to “practice” Perfect Love and Perfect Trust with each other, and with ourselves. 

While none of us can achieve Perfect Love and Perfect Trust all the time, there is magick in ritual, when we can reach beyond our limitations, and achieve for a moment, something beyond our own abilities.  Each time we reach beyond ourselves and achieve, if only for a moment, a glimpse of our ideal, we expand our own capacity for the practice of that to which we aspire.  We “practice” Perfect Love and Perfect Trust.  It is not just a quaint twist of language but a Truth that we “practice”.

We, as a Coven, have committed to “practicing” Perfect Love and Perfect Trust with each other.  It is an ideal that we have explored as a group and as individuals.  We have shared with each other what that ideal looks like, and discussed how we manifest that ideal, with Coven, with Community, with our loved ones and with ourselves.  We have all grown and learned and expanded our understanding of what those words mean, and how to put such ideals into practice in ritual and in our lives.

There is inherent risk in such work.  Just as we cannot achieve perfection in our practice, we are also, in our humanity, not ascended beings. We all have secrets; we all have shadows.  We will each, at some time or another, let another down in some way and we will all be let down by someone we love and trust.  This is a truth of human experience, Family, Friends, Lovers, Coven and Community.  So, what does it mean to practice “Perfect Love and Perfect Trust” in the light of such Truth?  Or do we give up such a lofty ideal in the attempt to avoid the pain that results from the inevitable?

It is my belief that the bonds of emotional intimacy that are forged by such work, and the vulnerability that is inherent in those bonds, hold the potential for greater magick and transformation. The opportunity to learn and to practice forgiveness, resilience, strength, courage, knowledge, wisdom and power with ourselves and with one-another is worth the risks of personal pain, from someone we love failing us, and from us failing someone we love.

Love is worth the risk of failure, and the risk of pain.  Love is worth vulnerability.  Love is great Magick.  Love is the Magick that can re-enchant the world. Love is the magick that can heal our world and ourselves. Perfect Love and Perfect Trust are ideals worth aspiring to and worth practicing.

May you be blessed with both.  Blessed Be!

sometimes I feel small...

I am the High Priestess of the Weavers of the Moonfire.  I have worked for years to earn the privilege to serve this coven, this family that I love.  I am blessed and honored to guide and nurture these amazing witches, as they seek knowledge, of themselves, of their path, of their own power and magick.  I find immense joy in fulfilling my purpose in guiding my beloveds as they seek to heal themselves, transform themselves into stronger, happier people. 

I have worked hard for years to know how big I truly am, big enough to do this, bigger than I was taught I should be.  And I am, big enough.  But sometimes I feel small.

There are days when I feel low, weary, anxious.  There are days when I do not feel big enough to do the work I love.  That does not mean that I am NOT big enough, that only means that sometimes I do not FEEL big enough.  

When I feel small, I can pretend that everything is fine but, that tends to give the smallness more power.  Last week I told my lover that I was feeling small.  He heard me, understood me, and reassured me that I would be big enough when I needed to be.  The smallness passed, as such feelings will, but I am grateful for the way he holds space for me to feel however I feel in any given moment.

We do not have to be big always.  We do not have to be strong every moment. We can allow ourselves to be human, small, weak, afraid even.  We can be sad, or wild, or angry, or mean.  We can feel petty and over-sensitive and churlish and childish and selfish.  (We do not have to indulge in behavior that hurts others just because we feel these things).  We do not need to be perfect. And when we are feeling small, we can ask for those we love to hear us, and hold space for us, and be patient with us until we are able to return to our better selves.  (And if some of that leaks into our behavior, we can ask for forgiveness.)

It is helpful to remember that I am a guide, and that those I care for need me to walk the path that they will walk but, they will walk it for themselves.  I do not need to be any bigger than is needed to hold the torch so they can see the path before them.  And even when I feel small, I am big enough.  Blessed Be.

Our Patriarch

The Patriarch of my family is my Older Brother.  I am not sure when that happened exactly.  Perhaps when our younger brother died suddenly this past summer but, I think it happened long before that. 

He has always been the one who makes everything alright for everyone, no matter what happens.  That is not to say our father hasn’t always been a strong and loving provider.  Or that our grandfathers were not kind and loving men.  Or that the women in our family are not strong, intelligent, powerful women.  All of these things are true.  But somewhere along the way, my older brother became the central pillar that holds up the hall of our House.  He is the Cornerstone of our foundation, the Oak that gives us shelter and security and rest when we are weary.  He is the peace-bringer we look to and the example we aspire to.  He is always there.

And now, when our grandparents are passed and our parents are aging, and the children are becoming adults, and raising little ones of their own (well one at least) the presence of this strong and easy-going man, has become essential to the well-being of our family.

He is the one who spends time with our father, and our mother.  He is the one who steps in to provide love and support our brother’s daughters, he and his love, his wife of 32 years, provide the home and hearth for our aunts, uncles and cousins, and their children and grandchildren to gather, so that our extended family can come together and remember that we are a tribe. There is no judgement, everyone is welcome, everyone is family, and family is everything.

Knowing that he will be there when we are old, when our parents pass, when the girls marry, when the boys become fathers, when our grandchildren too become adults, gives me a sense of peace that I have associated with him since I was a small child.

He is a loving son, husband, father, uncle, coach, friend and brother.  He is a Great Man.  A man of peace, a man of care, a man of humble strength.  I Give Thanks for the Blessing of Our Patriarch.  May the Gods and the Ancestors bless our family with his presence for decades yet to come.  So Mote it Be!

Joys and Sorrows and Blessings...

So, there have been many changes in my life in the past 6 months or so, and for the sake of continuity, I thought to mention them. 

On Sunday September 11^th, I received my 3^rd degree initiation from my Tradition.  The Ritual was challenging and profound and I am still working through the magick of it and I will be for a while to come.

On Sunday September 25^th, the Weavers of the Moonfire, my Coven, hived to give birth to a new Coven.  My High Priestess and best friend, and half of our number, were released and dedicated the new Coven, and I became the High Priestess of my Beloved Moonfire. It was a beautiful day and bittersweet for all of us.

On the day after my birthday, Saturday October 1^st, Pwca and I moved into a new home with two wonderful people and their sweet kitten, Luna.  And then Pwca’s health began to fail. 

On Sunday December 4th, I graduated from Gryphon’s Grove School of Shamanism and celebrated the achievement with friends with whom I have been blessed to Journey for the past two years.  Some amazingly gifted witches and healers whom I would not have known otherwise.

On Monday morning, December 19^th my beloved familiar and my companion for over 6 years crossed over.  It was a very difficult loss and I still miss him. 

On Saturday January 14^th, I found my sweet Gwion at the local shelter and, brought him home to Caer Ddraig.  He has settled in and is a joy and a comfort to me every day.

Life is full of changes, full of both Joy and Sorrow, and the future is never exactly the way we think it will be.  I give thanks for the life I have, for home and companion, for housemates and Coven, for friends and family and lovers and allies and teachers. 

I am blessed and I give thanks.  Blessed Be.

Opening...again

Since the loss of my brother in July, I have been struggling against an old obstacle.  I have worked relentlessly the past ten years to open myself to feeling…everything. I began with being open, engaged, and connected in ritual space, then with connecting to inspiration, and intuition, and imagination, love and grief and sorrow and joy, desire, passion and pleasure, anger, purpose and power…everything that makes me a living, breathing, loving person. 

Being closed off to my Self, my mind, soul, heart, body, and shadow, is like being asleep, or half-alive.  It feels like sleepwalking through the world, and it has robbed me of my energy, my motivation and my joy.   It has also robbed me of my compassion, empathy and connection to others.

The loss of my brother was the first but, there have been a series of losses, none of which I have felt fully.  And while I have not lost my connection to my Gods, I have not returned to the head-blindness and deafness, for which I give thanks, this disconnection from feeling is an obstacle that has become intolerable.  I will not live that way again. 

I visited the Sweat Lodge this past weekend and there I became acutely aware of the current state of my magick.  I gave thanks for the blessings I have been given. I offered up the distractions and worries (and a portion of my grief) that interfere with my being fully aware and connected to myself, and I asked for the return of opening that I may again fully engage with all of myself and with those that I love and with my purpose in the world.

This past week, in conversations with two of my coven-mates I had become unexpectedly “emotional”, even becoming disproportionately angry about something relatively trivial.  At first, I did not recognize why I was feeling so strongly, and then it occurred to me that my prayers within the Lodge had been heard and were being answered.  I give thanks for the return of opening, and I will continue this work. 

One of the ways that I intend to do this is by engaging in new experiences and striving to be fully present with them. 

This has reminded me that the lessons of this life are always repeating, we become more adept at the work each time we return to a lesson, we learn new ways, and practice and practice and practice, and through practice we become wiser and perhaps more graceful.

So, I am opening…again.  May my Gods bless me in my work.

Blessing the Waters and the Community

I am the High Priestess of a Coven, the Weavers of the Moonfire.  I live in a small town where there is not a large public pagan community.  That is not to say that the community does not exist here, but that it is not highly visible.  And I am about to attempt to make it much more visible, if not to our mundane community, at least to its self.

The nearest Pagan Pride event happens in Philadelphia. Our Coven will be participating with other covens from our Tradition, as well as other members of the greater community.  But before that Saturday in September, we will be offering a Public Ritual in a Public Park in our town.

The Intent of the Ritual is to Bless, Honor and Protect the Waters that flow through our town.  We hope to inspire the members of our local community to take actions to honor and protect the Waters that give Life to the Land on which we live.  We are also hoping to raise donations to send to support the Water Protectors of the Standing Rock Reservation in North and South Dakota.   

But, I also hope that the individuals in our local community will see each other and will know that they are not alone here, that they will understand that we all have allies here.  I want the community to become more aware of itself.  

This is action that I feel compelled to take.  This is how I can act to make my world better.  This is how I can act to support others in the Great Work.  Yes, this action is outside of my comfort zone, but it is not outside of my abilities.  It is action that I have been guided to for over a year.  I will write more about the seeds that have been planted in me to do this thing.  But for now, there is much work to be done.  May it be Blessed.

Monsters and Enemies

I am resistant to the thought of another human being as my Enemy.   Not because I cannot see just how horrific humans can behave, but because when we think of another as our Enemy we de-humanize them, we make Monsters of them, and that gives them more Power than they have a right to, but it also makes it easier for me to then treat them as less than my fellow human.  And that can be a slippery slope to me becoming the Monster.  When I am so focused on the Evil that a man can do, I can justify a great deal of Evil behavior myself. 

So, I will not think of 45 as a Monster or as my Enemy but, I will resist his actions and his behavior.  I can Resist his complete disdain for Truth, Liberty, Compassion, Justice, Peace, and the Rule of Law with Passion, Strength, Courage, Compassion, Love, and Truth against the World until there is Peace.

I will hold Compassion for those he harms and threatens with his unrighteous actions.  But  I will also hold Compassion for those who are confused, blind, asleep, and deluded by his deceptions. They are also not my Enemies. I will offer sanctuary to those who feel unsafe, support to those who are weary in the fight, protection to those who need it.  I will seek Truth and Speak Truth and Shout above the Shouting until there is Peace.

We are not the first people to face a human of his ilk, and I do not refer only to the fascists of the last century.  There have been men and women of his sort for as long as humans have existed.  We are all capable of living enthralled to our basest and worst selves and sometimes those humans most enthralled to the shadows within them are the most driven to seek and to gain power. 

Our Ancestors faced such power-mongers, some of them were such power-mongers…and some of us were as well.  We as a species are evolving.  We as individuals are the vehicles for that evolution.  Sometimes the worst of our shadows, in their basest human forms, are the catalysts for that evolution.

45 will eventually die, and perhaps he will be forced to relinquish power before he does so, or perhaps not.  What matters now is our behavior.  In the face of all his wrongdoing, what will we do?  When we look back upon our actions, what will we know about ourselves? 

Let us not become the Monsters we are capable of being, but let us prove to ourselves, to our families, our tribes, our ancestors, to our allies and our Gods, but most of all, let us prove to those poor deluded creatures who cannot see beyond the glamour and deceptions, that we are People of Truth, Peace, Liberty, Justice, Compassion, Courage, Strength and Love.  And let us hold onto Hope.  So, Mote It Be.

Prayers and Politics

I have felt many emotions today, about the past, about our history, about the men who have been president of my country during my lifetime.  I am still very proud that the transfer of power in this nation happens in a peaceful manner, with neither bloodshed nor imprisonment.   

I am not an overtly political person. I am a patriot, I believe in Liberty, in the rule of Law, in Justice and in a government of the People, by the People and for the People.  

I am neither a pacifist, nor an anarchist.  I believe in peaceful resistance and the great privilege of voting as a preferred means of revolution without bloodshed. 

When I was younger, I fell in love with the idea of a revolutionary named Ernesto “Che” Guevara but, while I have a theoretical weakness for the idea of “the Revolutionary”, I do not believe in armed rebellion.  I have never aspired to be “Great” in that way.

I believe that it is my duty as a citizen to be prepared to defend my neighbors from terrorists and fascists, especially if they come in the night in the guise of agents of my own government. But truth be told, I fear that possibility, because I fear that I may not have the courage to act when the moment of Truth arrives.

I know a lot of people who are afraid of what the future holds because they believe that the President who was inaugurated today will bring about untold horrors.  I am afraid that if those horrors indeed come to pass that, I will fail to do what I believe to be right.

I also know a lot of people who are hopeful because they have felt unheard and unseen and they have been afraid that they will lose their homes, or that their children will be cold and hungry, or that their loved ones could die if they are unfortunate enough to become ill because they cannot afford to be treated.  People who work harder than they should have to and are one small misfortune away from losing everything. 

We all have experienced fear of the future because it cannot be known.  It is a natural human reaction to fear circumstances that we cannot control. 

But fear of the future, and anger and hatred of others, the idea that other human beings, fellow citizens of our nation and our world, are “the Enemy”, is not the way to create the world or the future that I want. 

Civility, discourse and the ability to walk in another man’s shoes are needed.  The ability to listen to another man’s story, and to see that he is in no way significantly different from me, is necessary.  Compassion, understanding and hope, and a healthy dose of courage and honor will be as essential as they have always been. 

I do not like the President’s immaturity, his egomania, or his very fluid relationship with the truth.  I vehemently disagree with just about everything he has said and done over the years.  But he is just a very flawed human. 

I can do many things to positively affect the course of the future.  Now is not the time for rioting in the streets. 

I will not be marching tomorrow, not because I do not want to, but because it is not within my abilities for various reasons.  I will be praying, and holding those who are marching in safety and power. 

I will also be praying for the new President over the next 4 years.  For him to be guided, and restrained as necessary, and for him to learn, and grow and change, as any flawed human is capable of.  He is a 70-year-old father and grandfather.  He is not my enemy and he is not a monster, just a very flawed human just like every human who has ever held power. 

May the Gods, the Ancestors and the Spirits guide him, bind him, and teach him as necessary.  And may We the people learn and grow and evolve through this process as well.

And if the horrors we fear should be visited upon us, may They grant me the courage to stand for what I believe to be right.  So mote it be.