Rituals @ MindSay

We have this wonderful morning ritual. I wake up, stumble to find my glasses, go pee. Abi follows me and offers her back to me for a nice rub. Then I dress and head downstairs to boil water for my French press. She waits patiently while I get my breakfast implements ready and then I reach for one of her food dishes – they are all the same- and she starts to get a little excited, making sweet mewing noises. As soon as the plate is placed on the floor near the  heater vent she starts in  and I finish making my standard peanut butter sandwich – which I drink with sweet black coffee. By the time I bring the tray into the den to check email while I eat, she has posted herself on a plant pedestal topped by me with a suede covered board for perching.  Her favorite morning perch faces east and there is a bird feeder out side the window.

I open the window wide and we whisper- well I whisper and she purrs- while we wait to spot a junco  or a chickadee. The smell is of a northwest forest, green and fresh with maple leaves and pine needles, not the sulfurous rotting smell one finds in the south and I think to myself how happy I am to be back in the west.  The polka dots on my face now number 18, down from 40. I am healing well and I think the results will be great.

Howdy Howdy all!

One of my Best friends will be here in November for a visit and I am very very excited to see Him again. He did a tour of duty in Afghanistan and then another in an undisclosed location in the Middle East. He is back in the states for a bit and is making a special trip to visit yours truly...aint that sweet! Just when I was thinking that I needed somebody to say something or do something nice to/for me. You know how sometimes you just need attention that you can't come out and ASK for.... and then--- BAM a blessing from the Goddess-to whom I give thanks.

 I can't wait to see you Sarge!

Well the weekend is over and it is back to school on the morrow. Learning Latin is a lot easier than I thought. Anyway...I have just completed a purging ritual and whew do I feel a lot better. I have recently put some issues behind me Never to be visited again and I am more focused than ever on my myriad of goals. Sunday was a great day for this and here is how you might wanna do your own purging ritual in order to exorcise some demons as well as cleanse the body...Before the ritual right down some goals you want to achieve some feelings you want to work through...You will need a sage bundle and a source of fire to light it, a white candle and sage essential oil for annointing it (the candle).

Wake up naturally (No alarm clock)

See to your morning needs (face, teeth, shower )

Down a Large Glass of water with lemon (you should be able to taste the lemon well)

Light Sage bundle(some may light Patchouli if they like) set in fire proof dish (a mini cauldron works well)

Make a smudge on your candle with the oil and light the candle.

In solitude and silence sit quietly with your thoughts on those issues that plague you(you can read directly from your list).

Take deep breaths (inhale for a count of 4 and exhale for a count of 4).

Sit as long or short as you like and after you reach the natural end of your meditation burn the list (safely of course).

for the next three nights light the candle and meditate for a while on your list of issues to banish. Try to take a moment daily to think of ways that you can transcend the issues that plague your existence. Put one into effect each week and note any improvements in a weekly journal (I say weekly because daily is just too time consuming for many of us).

Well that is all for now. I would like to announce that I will return to my old format to a large degree. I will be concentrating on all things Pagan-herbal and once again vegetarian (including fish though) eating. Some notes on sustainable living and environmental issues and volunteer activities.

The reason for this is that I have been focusing on things that have not/will not be fruitful. It has come to my attention (I had a rather vivid dream actually) that I have been focusing on things so far outside of the way I want to live and so far away from my longterm goals that although I achieved one goal (Grad school) I have been stifled in others and that is unacceptable to me.

Don't worry, I will be Keeping my Retail Rants and the miscellaneous photo/video posts of me and my friends at the Richmond Arms but I am purging the negative and living in the present and future of Environgirl-ville, come on along and join me ya'll there is room for all manner of positive friends and lovers of our beloved MOTHER, Lady Nature!

How about some Poetry...here goes...(Doll...there is always, always, always room for you, of course)

Song

Love thou thy dream
All base love scorning,
Love thou the wind
And here take warning
That dreams alone can truly be,
For 'tis in dream I come to thee. --Ezra Pound

Goddess Bless

Before I hit the sack, the last three things I do are:

1.  Have a hot cup of Tea

2. Let the dogs out/in

3. Take my meds

Wow.. exciting ritual that is eh?

I went on an adventurous search for something special for Andrew this week.  He was looking for a cast iron cauldron that would hold five gallons or more.  At first I wasn't sure if I would be able to find one, much less afford one that big, but after a few phone calls to some of my friends in the Pagan community, I managed to track down a company that specializes in making big ass cauldrons!  Now I want one for myself.

I used to have a cauldron that held 2 gallons but my ex took it.  Not that I've had much use for one, mind you, still it would be nice to have one around whenever I get together with a group again.  Except I'd have to have two; one for cooking and one strictly for ritual use.  Well, maybe one just for cooking in the great outdoors, now that I think of it...

And just what kind of ritual would require such large cauldrons?  Well, all kinds of rituals involving any kind of cooking or brewing for a crowd.  I'd probably use one strictly for divination purposes and store it underground. 

Not very many people own cauldrons anymore, you see.  Before people had stoves, they cooked their meals in big iron pots.  Using cauldrons today harkens back to those early times and the cauldron itself is symbolic of the mother's womb -- where we all come from.  The cauldron is also especially special to the goddess Cerridwen.

I'd explain more, but that would require a lot of words and I'm not in the mood to go on a huge tangent today.  Besides, for the most part, being pagan has required me to explain to people who I am and what I believe and for once I'd just like to say I'm pagan and not have to explain further.  However,  for anyone out there interested in Paganism, ask me any question you have and I'll be happy to answer.  I'm not that stingy with witchy info!