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Category Archives: Ritual, bardic tales, poetry, & other liturgy
Diana Lucifera
Diana Lucifera
Love, Beauty, Blessings, and Occult Danger
Diana, the Light Bearer.
Magna Mater.
Goddess of Stregas.
You are all power, love, and beauty.
You are bliss.
You are eternity in which I reside each moment.
You are every moment.
This blog is not about the wonderful Diana that many American Pagans know—virgin huntress and patron of Dianic Wicca, a women-only witchcraft tradition.
This blog is about the equally wonderful Diana, known more in Europe. She is the Great Mother. I painted the above portrait to honor Her.
I discovered amazing love from Her and for Her. After I’ve given my students rituals to experience the same, the majority of the men chose Her as their Patron.
Pray—not just read—the following prayer, to experience an example of Her heart. It can only be understood experientially.
Prayer for Solace and to Be Filled with Her Spirit
Diana, enfold me in your embrace. Comfort me. In the wailing of my heart and the sorrow that wracks my back and chest, let yourself shine down upon me, your moon self. Hold me. Be with me. Let me feel your loving presence. Send the Bird of Heaven to me, to enter my heart and fill me with your spirit.
You know, I think I published this prayer/poem in a 1980s SageWoman magazine. … Yup, except there I’d called it “Invocation to Diana.” I called Anne NN, who gave me this link to the issue.
Running with Psychic Scissors
A blessing can become a bane. The bigger the blessing, the more it can sour. Diana bestows immense blessings, so let’s discuss how a blessing can turn against one. Much of what I will say can be adapted to apply to many other blessings and occult explorations.
She loves each of us completely, knowing every cranny of our psyche. This makes us feel special, as we should. However, specialness can cause us to doubt She can love anyone else so purely. That is arrogance.
Arrogance can ruin any blessing, in ways that harm you and people around you.
Whether a relationship with Her is new or decades old, we can stay humble, by knowing 1) its amazing love is unique yet not unique and 2) it will always be only a beginning of the love and power She can give. Thus we walk in grace and fulfillment of our life goals.
She bestows great love and great power, both beautiful beyond description. When you think you have a monopoly on a pure beauty, you’re in trouble.
I try to help my students navigate amazing gifts they receive, not just those from Diana. The occult world is dangerous if navigated alone. Without input from a teacher and other friends, any of us can badly harm self and others, despite good intentions.
For one thing, when you receive a blessing of immense power, negative spirits might try to trick you into using it for evil. They might masquerade as your Patron Deity, feeding your ego (arrogance) with “spiritual” nana.
They also might give you untrue information about your allies, making you mistreat and forsake them, so that you have no input to counter the negative spirits’.
Plus, we do not hear everything from our actual Patron correctly. We listen with flawed perceptions. Other people’s input is important.
After watching a fair number of people whose amazing, illuminating visions preceded those people’s descent down the tubes, I’m grateful for teachers who saved me from my own arrogance by consistently giving me input.
Anyone, newbie or adept, can profit from simply praying, “Diana, please shine your light on my heart, so that I stay humble in your love.”
Diana’s Secrets
Diana offers moonlit secrets. Meditate on this painting to receive a secret blessing from Diana. (You may have seen my former renditions of this decades ago. Now that I paint digitally, I can offer Her a better version.)
Paradoxes: Her secret wisdoms, being so perfect, are only for you. Keep the secrets, but do not think they make you more deserving than other people.
Closing
With humility, your power and bounty never cease.
Serve according to Her will, then your heart and cup forever fill.
She accepts our flaws.
Diana’s decades-long flawed servant, my blessings only increase.
Divine Embrace
Divine Embrace
Worship. It’s become a “bad” word. Years of oppression have turned the sweetness of worship into bitter chains. Centuries of censure replaced the ecstasy of divine embrace with a dogma of sadness. But I worship you, who reads this now.
I worship the trees. I worship snow as it falls on my face. I lift my face to the sky to worship it.
And I will not relinquish the joy of lifting my face and heart to worship my Gods.
I rededicate the word “worship.” I free it for anyone who should want it. No one gets to exclusively own it. I free it to be whatever each individual wants it to be. I free it for anyone who wants to give and receive the love and power that can occur in worship.
So mote it be.
————
Extraordinary people need extraordinary spiritual guides. Extraordinary people do not hesitate when they find a guide. http://www.outlawbunny.com/pastoral-counseling
Coven of the Dead
November 2013
These past two years, the need to grieve
a passing on has come three times.
And, though each passing wrenched my soul,
and I sore miss my precious friends,
in other ways they are here still,
beside me in a way that’s real.
I have a coven of the dead.
We circle still, inside my head.
Lady Jane is there with pride.
Her generous love is clear and bright.
The grin of Trickster Dawn is wide,
his loyal soul stands by my side.
And when Olivia knows it right,
she too attends e’re day or night.
We circle round inside my head,
in morning rites and before bed.
Death robs all beings, it won’t stop.
But love and light remain throughout.
The veil is thin and visits come,
the wheel of life is never done.
And when my dead have need for friends,
my love remains, again, again.
When last I leave the narrow world
from which most people never stray,
until they leave it at the end,
my friends will walk me through the veil,
and we will circle—still, still,
a coven of the dead.
I do not know why my language became archaic in this poem, nor why I chose to singsong. But it felt right. Perhaps, it distanced me enough from my pain to, paradoxically, write about it honestly. In any case, admitting my heartache opened a great joy in that aching heart, as you can see. On another note: Special thanks to VZR and KT for their support to post such a personal piece.
Ostara Art Eggs
Ostara Art Eggs
My Spring Equinox Altar
What is going to be on your Ostara altar? Sharing our altar journeys with each other unites our spirits—it is a way we can celebrate Sabbats together long-distance.
In my case, preparing an Ostara altar this year involved art work.
Let’s start with the Ostara pendant I made, to the right. … Um, okay, it is jewelry, not an altar piece. … But I myself can be an Ostara altar!
I love ornamented eggs, but didn’t think I’d have time to make Ostara eggs this year.
Then, I couldn’t resist when I found tiny egg-shaped unfinished wood beads. I’d been looking for them forever. These are 7/8.” See photo to the right.
They are tiny—I love tiny.
I painted one green and the other purple.
Then I ornamented them with various Jones Tones foils.
Next, I coated them with a protective clear finish.
I made each into a pendant by putting it on a jewelry pin, along with other with beautiful little beads. Joking aside about being an altar, I adorn myself in praise of my Gods.
I think some of the wee beads are Swarovski crystals but am not sure because I upcycle a lot, so do not always know what I am using.
Whatever they are, they sparkle, and this faerie loves sparkly things.
Below is another piece that will be on my altar:
Ostara Egg Cosmic Egg—Abundance and Chaos Meditation. If you would like this on your altar, click on it to go to my shop.
When I thought to myself that I’d have no time to decorate eggs, I’d forgotten that I’d already painted the above Celtic knot work talisman, probably in January. Do you ever get so caught up in creating that you forget what you have created? Let me know, please. I made this during a painting binge. Later I channeled material about it, which you can read at http://etsy.me/1pyFsvf
Traditional lore tells us that the cosmic egg explodes into chaos at spring equinox, creating the cosmos.
More knotwork: I painted this Birthing Goddess in 2013, probably during the winter. So this is the first spring equinox I can have Her on my altar.
If you would like this Goddess image on your altar, click on it to go to my shop. There, you will also find an essay I wrote, because painting Her brought up a lot for me.
She has the cosmic egg in Her belly. 
My altar will also hold other pieces of my art, plus ritual objects I’ve acquired over the years—including other people’s art, such as a beautifully crafted wand, and a well-made blade. Art takes many forms.
I only speak for myself when I say that placing my and other people’s art on an altar feeds my pagan heart and imbues my Sabbats celebrations with power.
What is going to be on your altar? Is there a story about creating or acquiring those pieces? Sharing our altar plans and altar stories can be an actual joint celebration of the rituals done at our respective altars.
A Pagan Mystic’s Venting
A Pagan Mystic’s Venting
Shhh, it is a secret. . . . I can yell it all I want.
Because most wrongly think they recognize what I shout.
But they only want to steal the fruits of my journey and
pretend a journey they do not take.
They’d never ride a dragon with me
into the cracks between realties.
(No, I did not intend to type “realities.”)
The few who do, I love them so.
Please forgive my bitterness about heart damage
caused me and mine.
I work to overcome sourness in my words and spirit.
I work to avoid being judgemental.
And I know most fakes lie to themselves,
becoming the ones who lose the most.
But some days . . .
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Phoenix Ritual
Phoenix Ritual
Fellow Star-dusted Traveler,
Please join me for a ritual on Tuesday February 25, 2014, from 6 P.M. to 7:00 EST.
The theme will be renewal—like the Phoenix rising from the ashes.
The event is a group phone call. Free and open to all. (Your usual long-distance charges apply, and appear on your phone bill). No experience needed.
To participate, call 1-712-775-7000. When prompted, enter 1095248#. Dial three to five minutes before 6:00; it can take a bit to connect, and latecomers are not allowed.
Please come: Let us all experience and celebrate our innate ability to be renewed each year with the coming Spring.
——————–
Sign up for my free newsletter—ideas, events, and other offerings: https://outlawbunny.com/newsletter/
Phoenix Resurrection
Phoenix Resurrection
I celebrate—here with community—my triumph over a long initiatory ordeal.
Hear my confident victory cry: 10+ years, flames tempered my steel and burned away dross. Til nothing remained except power, abundance, and beauty. Now, my story is victory and joy. I’m happier and more abundant than ever.
Humans are resilient. I overcame a 10+ year nightmare, one tragedy after another. Now, my story is victory and joy. On all fronts: Health, finances, delight, and more. For one thing—just one!—I should’ve died, but now have many good years ahead.
Here—hear—my victory cry: I did more than survive, I thrive again.
It has been quite some time, now, that I thrive again.
I thank my Gods, my community, and my stubbornness.
Victory: I was an excellent shamanic guide, but I used my extreme trials to become an even better guide, so that I can do the next works my Gods require. The foundation beneath my flight was firm, but now it is beyond strength—it is the Universe card, the Tao, the moment, the always.
A 10+ year initiatory bonfire, on which Gods stacked my old ways, til painful blaze reached sky, allowed Phoenix rebirth.
For a good long while now, that fire—transmuted—has been a nourishing Dragon fire within me, fueling my joy and Eagle flight. Some days, it quiets to a banked ember in my heart, warming my soul and loin.
Now my story is victory and joy. Doubt you can rise? You can fly! We humans can wrongly think we’ve lost ourselves. But Scorpio me was always Dragon, even when I couldn’t sense my fire.
I am Phoenix reborn. Flames laid waste the past, birthing warmth-driven foliage. Now, Phoenix relaxes—an easy flight in sacred meadow and passionate forest born from the Phoenix’s own rebirth.
I am Eagle soaring free, no longer pierced by arrow. I am Dragon holding up the sky.
Now, my story is victory and joy. I celebrate through gratefulness. Thank you.
Doing It Right?
In the 80s, I had a roommate who was learning Buddhist meditation. His weekly class happened to be a night on which I always attended a lengthy Faerie ritual.
Every week, when we both returned home, I’d ask, “How was your meditation?”
He’d respond, “Difficult. How was yours?”
I’d answer, “Fun!”
As time passed, his meditations got harder and harder. Mine became more and more fun.
But, after a long time, my roommate’s meditations became fun, which told me that he’d been doing it right all along.
And mine became difficult, which told me I had been doing it right all along, too.
Snow Faerie Snowflakes
Updated 2021.
This post was written in the mythopoetic realm that I’m always building, that I might continue to inhabit it happily. It’s a lighthearted post overall, in hopes it helps keep our spirits bright during wintry days. Included are some more serious thoughts—which I believe also can keep life bright. Let me know what you think.
Isn’t it amazing how someone can spot a wonderful part of you that you’ve overlooked? William Dreamdancer, an online friend who is an astute fellow, noticed that I’m a snow faerie.
Here I am, one of Santa’s Yule elves, but I never noticed I was a snow faerie. How could I have missed that? . . . I mean, you don’t have to be a snow faerie to be a Yule elf. Santa gives different jobs to different elves. But still …
Informed of William’s insight, Santa made me one of his official Snow Fairies this year. That is the job title for elves who tend the snow. (If you wonder why I’ve spelled it Faeries earlier in the post, and now I’m spelling it Fairies, check out this post:
https://stardrenched.com/2020/09/08/fairy-faerie-faery-fey-fay/)
My job as a Snow Fairy is creating snowflakes. I’ve gotten to make a lot of them. Making them makes me very happy.
Some Snow Fairies fashion snowflakes, and other Snow Fairies tend the snow in different ways, e.g., ensuring snowflakes don’t melt before they have a chance to fall from the sky. (I love making up the facts of my mythopoetic realm. And once I make them up, they’re true.)
On the mundane plane: I did a series of paintings that involved my drawing approximately one-hundred unique snowflakes. This post has three of those paintings.
A single snowfall uses up a lot of snowflakes. However, as I said, I’m not the only one of Santa’s elves who creates snowflakes.
In fact, every time you create paper cuttings of snowflakes to adorn a Yule tree, tape to a window, or otherwise decorate your home, you’re automatically one of the Yule elves helping make snow. Ditto your children when they start cutting the paper.
During a snowfall, I love watching Wind Fairies blow my snowflakes hither and thither.
Wind Fairies also make snowflakes drift lazily down. When they fall on you, look carefully and remember that Snow Fairies make each snowflake unique, especially for you.
Drawing snowflakes is a meditation that centers me into sanity and sacredness, which keeps me from going down the rabbit hole of dysfunction aka America’s holiday craziness. One of many perks of working for Santa is getting to do jobs that maintain joy, not only mine but that of others.
Popular culture, which as a whole considers magic nonsense, embraces it this time of year.
For one thing, during winter, many people who would humbug magic the rest of the year become open to miracle transforming their lives.
Also, the population as a whole becomes more open to extravagant decor. They forsake bourgeois restraint and the bland decor that results, replacing it with sparkling lights, bright red clothing, and gaudy displays. Typical holiday decor, with its exuberant fun, fills the air with magic. (Christmas decor is Pagan at heart and often has Pagan roots historically.)
Plus every year, folks everywhere are excited about a jolly elf who flies through the air, mysteriously managing to give gifts all over the world in a single night. If he isn’t wondrous and magical, nothing is, and I love seeing people suspend their disbelief (even if it’s only long enough to watch a Santa Claus movie).
Popular culture’s indulgence in magic this time of year is such happy, satisfying fun for me.
Want rituals that foster happiness and sheer joy in you?
There will be two rites. Attend one or both. One ceremony will meet in person in the San Francisco Bay Area. The other will meet worldwide via teleseminar aka group phone call.
We’ll drink in the season’s wonders, enchantments, and joys that they may lift our spirits and transform our lives. This will include an imaginary visit with Santa, to foster our happiness, joyfulness, and transformation even further.
Full details will be in my newsletter. Click the banner below to subscribe.
