The Pagan Circle

[Gypsi]

Anyone doing astrology - it would be a good idea to keep an eye on Black Moon Lilith. It was exactly conjunct my Mercury at the time of my accident.... in addition to the rest of the mess. Still fighting Allstate. There are a LOT of Knight Truckings, and it looks like the one Allstate found was as wrong as mine....

 

[doc_gonzo]

hope everyone had a blessed solstice!!!
i for one enjoyed basking in the starlight with a fine hand rolled cigar and a couple fingers of caribian rum. it was a bit chilly for dawn so i celibrated tonight alone, perhaps tomorrow night we'll get a fire going in the circle and both enjoy the stars and a cigar together. i'm just starting a week off so we have plenty of time for that.
gypsi, i noticed in you're siggy that you have fish, and anemone. dawn and i keep a reef tank as well as a fresh water planted tank. we operated an aquarium maintenance business for 13 yeas before the echonomy tanked [pun intended]. i studied marine biology at university before i met dawn and land locked myself. i'm a chesapeake pirate at heart.

doc

 

[Marianne]

Thanks, Doc! I did absolutely nothing last night but go to bed really early. zzzzz. But today, I'm celebrating the longer days to come.

Blessings to all!

 

[Gypsi]

I started with an aquarium service on the side, after my day job, in 1997, because I pretty much got drafted. I still service a few aquariums, but fewer every year. And with the new copper/formalin resistant ich in freshwater, and enteric septicemia, I decline most new accounts now. Depends on what they want stocked with. Best place to find healthy fish - a local aquarium society with members who breed their own.

Happy Solstice. (yesterday was 'the day that is not a day" to me.

Gypsi

 

[hqueen13]

What an interesting thread, glad it got pulled up again... I'm in the midst of some transition and learning quite a bit more about myself and what I feel connected to. I was raised Presbyterian, and don't mind the religion, I just think its too full of fluff and not enough real deep connection. It works for some people, and that is great, but I stick to the earth.
I've gotten a lot more into things that I dont' think my mother approves of, but oh well. I have several different stones now (don't really know what to do with them) and a pendulum that was a lovely gift from a very close friend of mine. I also have a deck of cards called The Way of the Horse put together by author Linda Kohanov (Of the Tao of Equus) and they work very well for me. I would say things like Tarot and such do get their energy from their person that they belong to, but ultimately, it is the universal deity directing through the cards. I never really got answers through prayer, but my cards help me to see things from other views, and help me to hold thoughts in mind when I go through activities.
I have also come to experience Ho'Oponopono, which I feel strongly connected to, that has become my mantra and prayer for everything. I love the simplicity of it, and need to work on using it more.
Much to think about...

 

[LittleRoosterCroft]

Glad Yule to you all.

I have not posted on here yet...but this seemed a good time to do so.

I am heathen (Asatru) and follow the Norse gods but I am also HPS to a coven that is part of a large (10 covens) eclectic but very serious, ceremonial based paganTradition.

I hope everyone enjoys the quiet days of the winter as we watch the light (Sunna) grow longer and longer until we can dig our fingers into the warm soil again!

Frith and Blessings.

 

[Marianne]

And welcome to the thread! Any time is a good time to post. We're such a thankful and respectful bunch.

 

[hqueen13]

I spent some time thinking after I read all this as I was on my way home from work for the holiday (finally!!) and I realized that I have come to the point where I am using more signs and symbols in my life that relate to my faith in the same way that someone would use prayer or ask for a 'sign' from God. My prayer comes in the form of being open to the different ways that the divine speaks, now, and I relish in it. The more you are open to, the more information is available to you.
Some time last year I began to see foxes everwhere. I couldn't stop seeing them.... on the property where we live, on my boss's farm, on my friend's farm as we turn in the driveway fox was curled up sleeping he looked up at us and trotted off into the trees and was gone. My coworker that I have come to cherish loaned me the Animal Speak book by Ted Andrews, and I was able to learn all sorts of things about fox that really fit into my life at the time. I have since come to really feel that fox is probably one of my totems.
Just this week EVERY day on my route to work I have seen a Heron. I am not sure if it is a great blue or another type of heron, but every day, and yesterday there were two. Since I gave her the book back (begrudgingly! I HAVE to find a copy for myself!), I had to do some digging online, and again, found that the information was exactly right for the situations in my life currently. I believe that Heron will be added to my totems list now.

I mentioned that I also use a deck of cards called the Way of the Horse that is from Linda Kohanov, and I really like them. I have worked with them on my own and also in a group setting during an Epona workshop, and it is amazing how the cards connect to exactly what is going on in the moment. I would like to explore other sets of cards, and my coworker has a set of Runes that she uses, and the one time that she did a reading with me it was also spot on.

I see all of these things as simply manifestations of communication with the divine. Heck, Moses had a burning bush, and the dove was seen frequently throughout the bible, as well as angels in the form of voices and apparitions, or even other people. These are just symbols of ways that God affirms our faith and communicates with us, and I don't think it is much different today.

I am really exploring a lot of these things currently. I think that I have access to some things, I am a high sensitive, and usually know people's emotions whether they are willing to admit them or not, and that has made life challenging in many ways. Due to situations in my childhood I walled off the access that I had to many of those things because it was too much to bear, and it was unacceptable in a lot of ways as well. I am only now trying to reopen those doors and it is a scary undertaking. My horse also has some connections that I am only beginning to learn. I am positive that he is in my life for a reason, and am only beginning to explore that. During a recent workshop there were some pretty strong connections to holy things that were bought to light by a couple of different people (including phrases that relate to religious writings/songs), and he being represented between two other horses in a VERY trinity like position. It is scary to being exploring these things when you have no idea what dark little corners of your being are going to be exposed to light. I look forward to it, but processing and handling the emotion is a huge undertaking.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday, however you choose to celebrate. Me, I am mostly grateful that the sun will start its (too) slow return!

 

[hqueen13]

Dang, it appears I killed this thread! LOL

I was excited the other night to have a chance to leave all my stones out for the full moon the other night. It was my birthday to boot, so that made it extra special!

Hope everyone is doing well.

 

[Gypsi]

I thought I killed the thread. But I just got so busy I couldn't even stop by the forum... So, hi, bye, got to go cut firewood now.

Gypsi