The Fey folk love your beautiful witchy heart.
After having the above thought, I painted a border for it. To add Faerie magic, I paint everything I can: memes I write, the newsletter button below, my clothes—including my shoes …
(The art work blurred a bit and what-not, when I made the file smaller so the webpage would appear quickly for you.)
Wakening Yourself and the Earth
Winter blahs? Or just need a boost any time of year? Let’s use every means possible to be awake and to wake the earth, so we can dance together and with Her, in celebration of our collective wild, honorable beauty.
My following 2007 article was originally published in Faerie Nation Mag.
Where I live, many people become depressed around February and March. There’s not a lot of light here in the winter, and the cold and snow keep folks indoors with cabin fever. Moreover, local economic problems that prevail all year round exacerbate any seasonal difficulties.
To combat our February/March ickiness, my friends and I decided to go out together. While we weren’t sure what we’d do, it didn’t matter. The important thing was that getting out of our houses would break the monotony.
When deciding what our outing would consist of, I also happened to be pondering the local population. A good number of exceptions aside, there seems to be a collective lack of self-worth, accompanied by a general sense that there’s no point in being a dreamer who strives for a better life.
Though economic hardship accounts for some of this, it seemed to me that there must be a hidden additional explanation. The area is filled with natural beauty and power that should be uplifting and motivating people. Why wasn’t it? Or, if it was, why wasn’t it doing so enough? Perhaps, in a town where Christian fundamentalism is the norm, an energy field had been created that squelched the earth’s joy? What if the spiritual power of the land was being repressed?
Mind you, I understand that many Christians feel a spiritual connection to the earth. I’m not implying they don’t. Just about everyone here gardens, which makes them appreciate nature and its gifts. I could add lots more about a real appreciation of the land here, felt by most residents. To some extent, folks are uplifted by the land here. So what I’m addressing here is fundamentalism. It is so stifling and uber-controlling that maybe it doesn’t just affect people’s spirits but also the spirit of the earth here, so that it can’t give everything it wants to give us.
Okay, maybe my words seem like crazy talk, but I decided that doing a ceremony to free the land here from its mystical chains was not only a great idea, it would also be a fun way to shake my friends and me out of our winter doldrums.
I started to write the ceremony below, to wake the land from any lethargy, stupor, and even oblivion that might have been forced on it. Before doing so, I happened to mention my idea to Faerie Nation Mag staff member Ade, and joked, “I’m writing a ritual to wake up the power spot here so that it can overthrow local patriarchy.” We laughed, but then it seemed I had accidentally summed up one of the logical outcomes of my ritual.
Here’s the rite I wrote, shared with you in the hope that if enough people use it, the hopelessness that comes from repressive mentalities everywhere can be better combated. Not that this ritual alone is sufficient. The problem must be attacked from many fronts. However, we who are mystics bring a very specific gift to the mix. In addition, the land is alive with abilities beyond muggle imaginings. Let’s draw on that potential.
In serving the earth, we wake ourselves up from any negativity that we’ve fallen prey to.
If you lead a friend or friends in the ritual, please read them the whole article for context, because it empowers—and is a chalice for—the rite. Also please attribute the article and ritual creation to me. Attribution heals Gaia and ancestors. Lack of attribution makes bad mojo. Blessed be.
Step 1. Find the (or a) major power spot in your immediate area. My friend, Kush, suggested finding out what the first building here was, that it was likely put on a power spot. So I called the town’s Visitor’s Bureau and asked what the first building was. I also asked what the first church was, since they are often on native sacred sites. A local historical society might also be a good place to call—that’s who the Visitor’s Bureau referred me to.
If you can’t find a “major power spot,” go to a place that resonates for you. Or just find a square foot of dirt somewhere and go stand on it for the rite. Or sit in your own living room! The earth is all one piece, and it is alive and aware. Wherever you do the ritual, the area you live in will, as a whole, hear you. We did the rite inside a local church.
Step 2. Once in your spot, say out loud or silently,
Wake up
wake up!
Spirit of the earth
we call to you
It is time. You can rise now,
break through the mind-numbing
earth-crushing
desolation,
rise up, wake up,
bring your joy and power up
to the surface of Gaia
and into the company of the earth’s other children—
we humans and other beings who live here.
No longer can brick and board and cement
laid heavily against your urges
suppress you.
Let this prayer give you the power
to be free again.
Let this prayer give you the power
to be free again.
Let this prayer give you the power
to be free again.
And help us, who live here, have
the power to live free ourselves,
the power to honor your needs,
the power to take care of you,
so that you and we live
in a cycle of keeping each other whole and happy,
back and forth, ‘round and ‘round, again and again.
Wake up,
wake up,
We sing to you.
We sing to you
in love
and fellowship,
in hope
and lunacy,
in gratitude
and freedom.
So be it, So be it, So be it. So be it.
Step 3. Leave two offerings: one of joy and pleasure, the other of food and drink. In other words, the first offering should be fun or beautiful—a handful of dried rose petals strewn on the ground, or a few flowers placed there. Or a sprig of sweet-smelling herbs, a pretty feather, rock, or bead, or whatever else is uplifting. We hung a strand of beads on a tree.
As for food and drink, leave at least one tablespoon of each, any edible and beverage that you feel is appropriate. If you can’t think of anything that seems right, choose randomly so that you at least leave something. This offering can be placed directly on the ground, or in a cup or other container.
Step 4. (Optional) Do something to wake up your own spirit. The first three steps should accomplish this on their own, but you may want to add more. It needn’t be large. Spritz yourself with perfume. Or hug someone. Even a cup of tea can kindle warmth in your soul. It’s wonderful to do big things, but if that’s not possible, better something than nothing.
You needn’t do this ceremony in winter, but instead just when you want to give yourself and the earth a renewal of the spirit. Please try the rite out. It might change you, your town, our world. Many acts are needed to free the human race of its terrible dilemmas and to save Gaia. Let’s use every means possible to be awake and to wake the earth, so that we can dance together and with Her, in celebration of our collective wild, honorable beauty.
By the way, just the act of creating the rite really helped my mood. Then actually doing the ritual with my friends made me feel even better. And we had a ball on our outing.
This was my first needle felting.
Whenever I see felt gnomes—almost any style—I have to either grin or outright laugh in delight.
So I conjured three gnomes friends. Sure enough, these fellows have me grinning and laughing. They’re also good conversationalists, as long as you talk about things that interest gnomes.
Call them gnomes or Tomte—they do not care, as long as you give them a loving home. They definitely bless a home.
I’d only seen felt gnomes with one or two non-wool parts, eg a wood head. I wanted mine all wool instead, because I love working with it. Plus I hoped all wool might make them look roughhewn; I envisioned rough and tumble Tomte.
The only non-wool was a little needle and thread work to reshape one gnome’s base into a stable foundation.
I expected to make the fellows completely by wet felting, but when I couldn’t do everything by wet felting, I tried my hand at needle felting. It was easier than I expected.
I loved watching each fellow’s unique personality emerge as I made them. For example, the gray bearded guy is a big-hearted mischief-maker and ruffian-warrior who enjoys good ale.
Happy holidays!
Bragging rights! I have a great sense of accomplishment. Finished making over 60 Yule ornaments. It’s my job as a Yule elf: I designed, painted, personally printed, and hand cut ornaments for my friends and me. It was a labor of love, gifting loved ones and helping Santa spread magic. Happy holidays!
Santa Magic
A Four-Week Teleseminar
About Pagan Santa and His Yule Elves
Santa is in my pantheon. … Yup, you read that right. It started years back, when a friend told me she prayed to Santa.
But there was no information anywhere about Santa as a God.
So I developed the material myself.
Mind you, I found academic stuff about Santa’s roots as a ferocious ancient deity, but what about Jolly Santa who delights children? I had to develop that material myself.
I commenced to created a working relationship with a God who is jolly Santa wearing red—including his aspect as a ferocious God—by developing a theology, rituals, prayers, liturgy, and talismans. You learn pivotal parts of this in the class.
Convinced that Jolly Santa has important traits beyond those of the aforementioned ferocious God, I channeled a theology about that, with congruent ritual, etc. Now I enjoy a lusciously fun, yet complex and deep, connection with God Santa, and I’d like to share some of it with you in this four week teleseminar (class via group phone call) that is both class and ritual.
To give you a sense of my Santa God: He is a thoroughly Pagan Divinity—he gives material gifts all year long and chuckles at my mistakes instead of being judgmental. Santa bestows wonder, hope, and belief in goodness, while keeping me safe from harm. Santa is part of my year wheel; he sparkles until dark winter months are imbued with light.
Enrollment limited to 16 people so we can really connect during ritual. This event is experiential learning, so you’re guided into actually feeling the Yuletide joy and inspiration this God bestows.
As I channeled, one fun idea that came to me was Yule elves: kind of like the regular Santa’s elves but with a whole Pagan and magical twist.
We’ll look at what can you do as a Yule elf to help Pagan Santa with his work—spreading magic and wonder throughout the world, at Yule season and all year long.
People kept asking for more information, after reading my blogs about Pagan Santa and his elves. The readers would tell me things like “Oh my God, I relate to this so much, and I think I’m one of his elves!” Their questions motivate me to teach this class. I don’t know if I’ll teach it again, but feel strongly about teaching it once.
The sacred foolishness of this playful class opens the door to depth and magic. There are playful ways to get profound, e.g., clearing inner blocks to self-care during the holiday season and experiencing mystical states. My jolly Santa is deep, empowering, and healing. Expect to experience both healing and joy, laughter and power. Fun is important to my Santa—after all, he’s Pagan.
We meet in the year’s darkest weeks—Santa’s domain—continuing a bit after Yule to explore receiving Santa’s gifts all year long.
Nuts and bolts:
* These are group meetings by phone. To participate, just dial the phone from anywhere.
* Class meets four consecutive Tuesdays, from 6 to 7 PM EST, starting Tuesday December 15.
* Reserve Tuesday Jan 12, same time, for a makeup class in case I’m unavailable for one of the planned sessions.
* Tuition: $160. Your usual long-distance charges apply and appear on your phone bill. The event’s area code is a U.S. #.
* Upon receipt of payment, I email you event phone number, etc.
* Call me—814-337-2490—for more info or to discuss scholarship, trade, or payment plan. Do not email me. Refunds unavailable.
* Scroll down to enroll: enter your phone number and pay securely with PayPal.
Be filled with child like wonder. All year long. Enroll now.
The only lore I’ve read about dreamcatchers is specific to dreams and nightmares. I sensed a deeper layer about visions—and an even deeper layer about the Goddess. To convey everything I channeled, I crafted a poem and a sculpture. I call them both “Goddess Womb Dreamcatcher.”
The poem and sculpture also convey my thanksgiving to Goddess.
To make the sculpture, I felted wool into organic shapes like leaves, vines, flowers, and a feather. I attached the shapes to a V-shaped stick, so the Dreamcatcher would be reminiscent of a woman’s reproductive system.
The poem is below, but first a detail of the Dreamcatcher: the wool sculpted feather.
Shout out to the folks at Living Felt, where I purchase my wool: they sell quality felting supplies, created without cruelty to sheep, and provide exceptional customer service.
OK, this is the poem, (prayer, affirmation, contemplation, story, brilliant insights, brilliant application of said insights, visualization, ritual, etc.,):
Goddess Womb Dreamcatcher
All visions spring from the Goddess’ belly.
They travel down
until they meet a feather,
then tumble from between Her legs,
onto my mind.
I give thanks.
My mind is a womb upside down, though my mind is right side up.
My womb is a mind upside down, though my womb is right side up.
I am whole if I live in paradox.
I give thanks.
All life is woven within Her womb.
She’s the spinner who spun Herself into being.
I offer the life and art I weave to Her.
I give thanks.
She is the dreamer and the dream.
There is no Dreamcatcher but Her.
I send Her my dreams as an offering.
I give thanks.
The Goddess protects me—
captures both nightmares and sweet dreams,
taking them into Herself,
then birthing only the beauty
into my waking day.
I give thanks.
Yes, She’s Nightmare as well
—cackling menace in my powerless hours,
which are both sleeping and waking.
Even in those times, She holds all creation
—including the whole of me—
as the weaving of life that’s safe in Her womb.
I give thanks.
She bestows on me Her complete Self:
all creation and all beyond creation.
My ideal: give Her no less of myself,
offer my entirety
to Her and Her dreams.
I give thanks.
Science and magic meet. I won’t choose between mysticism and science. They can feed each other.
My ancestors are spiritually important to me. So I’m combining science and spirit in a deeply personal way: I ordered an AncestryDNA test kit.
A mystic, I travel through the blood in my veins, back through time, to discover the ancient ways my family once practiced. Today, the logical rational side of me does the same by spitting into a vial. This test tube becomes a chalice that arrived by mail, enclosed in plastic. Two supposedly disparate halves of me come together to feed my spirit.
I mailed my saliva, part of my sacred body, to scientists, who will analyze it to reveal my ethnic background. They’ll go back through many generations, the same way my meditations have. Their work will expand my otherworldly travels.
The lab analysis will determine where my ancestors hail from, based on a science my layperson’s mind can’t understand, no matter how much experts explain it.
Many scientists would be equally puzzled by my ability to uncover historical information by meditating on my blood. I have my expertise, they have theirs. I get to draw on both.
A relationship with my ancestors, in ritual and daily life, is pivotal to me. They lovingly support me. And I tend them. Trance journeys give me a strong intuitive sense of my ancestors. The DNA results can help me know whether my intuitions are correct.
It would be fine to trust my intuition without the DNA results. (Check out my blog about that: Mysticism and Non-Academic Scholarship.) But corroboration is useful.
Science can support my spirituality in other ways, too.
For one, I come from a European shamanic family tradition. Some of my family history has been lost. I’m hoping DNA will fill in gaps.
For example, I might see how major societal events impacted my family’s past generations to shape the family’s spirituality. That familial story could provide context to better understand my own path.
Luck allowed me to gather a staggering amount of anecdotal evidence about my ancestors. Information from relatives, and from strangers I don’t know but who have my last name, and from other sources, provided enormously convincing material, when looked at as a whole. I believe anecdotal evidence is part of folk culture and one source of the old wise ways. This fecund anecdotal evidence can be augmented with DNA science.
For example, the DNA test might help me gather more anecdotal evidence, if it leads to relatives I hadn’t learned about previously. They might know family history I don’t.
DNA results could also be a jumping off point for more ancestral rituals. I love the wisdom of ancient cultures, and appreciate reenactment whether based in textbooks’ history or intuited history. I revere native and ancestral spiritual practices. These leanings feed my desire for DNA info about my ancestral roots.
I can best explain another reason for wanting a test by telling you a personal story.
A friend of mine was part of a DNA study. Before continuing the story, let me be clear: I’m not part of any study. My test kit is from AncestryDNA. They’re not experimenting on me, and their tests results do not show an ancestral timeline such as you’ll read about in my friend’s tale. I checked out some companies, and AncestryDNA seems to give the most comprehensive results. If you’re interested, their kit is also easy to use.
Back to my story:
My friend phoned me one day, and exclaimed rapturously, “I got the DNA results. My family originated in Egypt!”
Then she added, “My later ancestors migrated to Greece. Guess where else my ancestors migrated to?”
I responded, “Mongolia?”
There was a long pause. Then she said, in a stunned voice, “That’s right! How did you know?”
“It was obvious. Your immense love for Egyptian religions motivated you to become an Egyptian scholar, devoted to reviving ancient Egyptian spiritual practices, which became part of your personal devotions. Later, you seriously worked with Greek Gods. Then, you channeled material that had no geographical basis, as far you knew, but later found out that the material resonated with documented Mongolian traditions.”
I continued, “Your family only told you about your Caucasian Irish lineage. But your earlier ancestors influenced your mystical life. Your spiritual quest this lifetime follows the migration of your ancestors, step by step!”
The point of my story: I want to know if my DNA matches my various spiritual leanings.
There can be valid reasons we’re drawn spiritually to cultures we were not raised in. Our DNA might be one of those reasons. I don’t hold with the idea that you should only use the spiritual tools of your obvious ancestors.
Mind you, I am not okaying co-option. I’m saying legitimate cross cultural shamanism exists.
That legitimacy is hard to come by. It would take a whole book to explain how to pull it off ethically and otherwise, so I won’t get into it here, except to say:
By “cross-cultural shamanism,” I don’t mean “core shamanism,” AKA the idea that shamanism is primarily the same in all cultures. I disagree with the modern standardization of shamanism.
My experience is that shamans individualize according to cultural differences, and way past that, individualizing family by family and person by person.
My personal definition of legitimate cross-cultural shamanism is an ethical, thoughtful blend of earth based mysticism as it manifests in various cultures.
Moving on:
I am a little worried. With adventure, comes fear of the unknown: am I going to like the DNA test results?
But mostly I’m excited about the DNA adventure I am embarking on.
And I feel gratitude for science and magic.
When the DNA results arrive, I’ll post them here, and share how it impacts my mystical journey.
********************
Note: I first posted this blog May 2015 at http://witchesandpagans.com/sagewoman-blogs/a-faerie-haven.html and post it again here for those of you who tend to read me here.
********************
Update: The day and time of this event has been changed, so you can enroll if the new schedule suits you better. New schedule: we meet seven Sundays, from 4 to 5 PM EST, starting Sunday November 8. Classes are consecutive weeks except we skip November 29, for Thanksgiving weekend. Reserve Sunday Jan 10, same time, for a makeup class in case I’m unavailable for one of the planned sessions. Rest of class info is below:
Come Home to the Faerie Queen
A Seven-Week Faerie Shamanism Training
The Faerie Queen tells us, “I’m Mother of the Faerie Nation. And more of you are awake to your magic now—lovers, warriors, children and elders, changelings, cats in disguise, bards, wolves, gardeners, corporate executives, tricksters, star-children, and many others. Come to me, come home, I will protect you and tutor you until our starlit cells flow back and forth between us like the milky way in all its immense luminosity. You’re awake now, my Faerie children. The new global Fey village has begun.”
This class responds to the Faerie Queen’s call. You’ll create previously impossible possibilities for you, Gaia, and all beings. Honest. The curriculum is the culmination of decades’ work. Rewrite your DNA and break through to the stars.
Faerie Ancestor who is a guardian to this site. Silk Painting, Outlaw Bunny
The Fey-spark in humans re-ignited. Ancient starlit blood came forward till it finally hit critical mass; Faerie magic’s thoroughly awake in many people. This leaves us with new questions and new approaches needed to answer them:
* Have you sensed shifts in the human/plant/mineral psyche?
* Can you have self-healing, prosperity, and great sex during present times?
* Do you feel the mystic part of you desperately needed by everyone, including you, right now?
* How can we better use our new/old/undiscovered/shifted powers, both magical and mundane?
* Do you find Paganism too dogmatic, not pagan enough? Do you long for fellowship that supports your unique vision?
* How can mystics—ranging from activists to quiet magicians—come together to love, celebrate, and protect Gaia? Can Gaia—and ourselves—be happy, or even survive, without such a tribe happening globally?
This class addresses these issues with innovative magic and fresh ideas.
You also receive lessons to be your style Faerie shaman. There are different places in Faerie, each special. One is your home. This class helps you go home. If you’re already home, you’ll learn (more) about its unique magic and spirituality, and use them practically to empower your mundane life.
This teleseminar is multi-leveled, suitable to entry-level beginners and adepts.
Come Home to the Faerie Queen qualifies as one of the two electives needed before advanced Third Road training.
Nuts and bolts:
* These are group meetings by phone. To participate, just dial the phone from anywhere.
* Class meets seven Sundays, from 4 to 5 PM EST, starting Sunday November 8. Classes are consecutive weeks except we skip November 29, for Thanksgiving weekend.
* Reserve Sunday Jan 10, same time, for a makeup class in case I’m unavailable for one of the planned sessions.
* Tuition: $250. If you’ve taken it before, repeat it at half-price. Your usual long-distance charges apply and appear on your phone bill. The event’s area code is a U.S. #.
* Enroll here.
* Or pay by check or money order here.
* Upon receipt of payment, I email you event phone number, etc.
* Call me—814-337-2490—for more info or to discuss scholarship, trade, or payment plan. Do not email me. Refunds unavailable.
If you want to be part of this experience, enroll now, because I don’t know when I’ll be able to teach it again. It’s maybe been six years since the last time.
If you see someone else’s class that sounds the same, this class is original material. No one teaches it but me.
Faerie holds daily miracles. I trust that.
Enroll here.
A mystical event is no substitute for medical care by a trained physician, psychiatric counseling, or other therapeutic treatments. Participants are personally responsible for the consequences of their voluntary participation.
The road to Faerie is not civilized, but kinder.
I wrote the above line in the 80s, but recently someone asked why. Good question! Here’s my answer:
Indoctrinated with the idea that our wild aspects are always ruthless and to be feared, many people’s wild, beautiful power is crushed.
Breaking out of that oppression, they often go to the other extreme, allowing themselves any actions at all, even cruel or irresponsible ones, unaware they’re being hardhearted. They might honestly believe they’re doing no harm, insisting, “I’m just being me. If you don’t like it, you’re trying to oppress me. Not my problem, because I’m a free spirit.”
I wanted to create a maxim showing a third option, other than the two extremes of suppression or hardheartedness. So I coupled the ideas of wildness and kindness.
However, it’d take a whole book to fully explain why I wrote the maxim, since I was trying to express so many ideas in it. I use my skills as a poet to write lyrical aphorisms because they can contain endless concepts and levels in a few words and touch the heart rather than just the intellect.
However, I should share: on one level, the adage refers specifically to the path I walk with my students—the Third Road—and was written as part of a blessing for students entering into a deeper level of study with me.
I wanted the blessing ceremony to include the following thoughts: We’d long ago rejected the hardheartedness mentioned above. But our upcoming shamanic journey would release more of their —and my—wild power than even our previous work together had done. When gaining another degree of wildness, it’s easy to fall prey to foolishness previously discarded. We needed to continue to integrate our wild and civilized aspects. This would more than ever make us whole in ourselves and as a community. Otherwise, we more than ever risked becoming enormously fragmented in ourselves and alienated from fellow seekers. I preferred to express all those thoughts in words that could be carried through the training not just in the mind but also the heart: “The road to Faerie is not civilized, but kinder.”
Hmm … maybe putting all the stuff in the above paragraph into the ceremony would’ve made things clearer, LOL.
Always happy to answer a question! I can’t always explain my poetry, because sometimes poetry is the only way I can explain something. But I tried my best today.
Blessed be.
My Goddess, I place my now and my future in Your hands. May all my actions be in Your service. Mother, help me put myself in Your care, by living my now and all my tomorrows in Your service.