Book list update

I just got an update on the book Rites of Worship by Isaac Bonewits, there is a new edition on sale now and the title has changed to "Neopagan Rites." Great book on the elements that go into writing rituals. I'm also updating the book list itself, so you'll be able to see both titles there.

Thanks for the update Isaac!!

What a week

Although not a whole lot has happened, somehow I've managed to be extremely busy...not sure what I was doing though. I think the baby (I'm pregnant if I haven't mentioned it before) is going through a growth spurt and I've been hungrier and more tired this last week. Also with the holidays near I've been doing a lot of planning. We've gotten a Yule tree, which is now halfway decorated, I've made peppermint bark (almond bark with crushed candy canes mixed in...yummy!) and I've done a bit of Christmas shopping. Yes I did say Christmas. Just because I'm Pagan doesn't mean I can't participate in my family holiday. My family isn't super religious, so it mainly takes on the form of the secular part of the holiday, however I do enjoy the occasional Christmas pageant. It's good to learn about other people's religions and celebrate the fact that we're all on this world together, we might as well respect each other and appreciate what they have to offer. Anyway, I might slow down a bit with posts, but that doesn't mean I'm not working on things :) I'll probably pick up a bit more after the first of the year. I guess you could say I'm following the seasons and I'm still in my dormant state, I'll emerge a bit more as Spring comes along. I know, silly analogy, but it's what popped in my head as I was writing this. Oh well. Blessings during this holiday season, whatever holiday you'll be celebrating...I've got a couple :)

Blanket of Snow

It's the theory of invincibility. That's the theory where people think "that will never happen to me." Luckily in this case, it didn't happen to me, but it did hit very close to home, literally. For those who haven't heard, and I'm sure you have since the news went national, Nebraska's largest city was hit by a mass shooting. I don't live directly in Omaha, but I'm close enough to say, oh my God, what if I was shopping today! My post today isn't to repeat the drama that occured, that's something you can find repeatedly on the news. I wanted to bring this around to my pagan beliefs. Today when I woke up I found a blanket of snow on the ground. I wasn't expecting snow, probably because I didn't watch the weather due to the massive news coverage of the local tragedy. So when I woke up today it was a nice surprise to see the snow. I didn't look at it as a nuisance to drive through, I looked at it as natures attempt to calm and comfort the local area. It's like a protective blanket of pure white restoring the innocence and letting us know we're being watched over. It's a reminder there is still beauty in the world, even though the ugly does show up now and then. For those who have lost loved ones, I know this little blog entry will probably have no effect on how they are feeling, as I have never lost a loved one in this manner. My heart goes out to all of the victims, however I could never know how they feel. I only know how I feel, and for some reason seeing the snow outside comforts me. Hopefully this image I portray will help comfort someone else also.

Recreating my Lifestyle Ritual

My spiritual ritual has been lacking the last several months. I'm not referring to the ritual I perform during holidays or special working days, I'm talking about my daily spiritual ritual. This used to include a healthier diet, daily candle lighting, prayers and meditation as well as spiritual study and some relaxing downtime doing whatever. In the past few months my life has been turned upside down (sorry about the cliche). The holidays are around, so of course that's a bit hectic; my husband recently came home from Iraq, so the reintegration has been interesting for us; and I am pregnant (husband home from Iraq after a year...what did you expect). Now that my hormones are settling down and I'm getting my husband back into a routine, I can start getting back into my routine. As a new beginning I bought a new moonstone necklace. I'm not comfortable announcing my religion to the public world, much of my family would be against it and they are a huge part of my life so I just don't go there. I figured the moonstone is a personal reminder of the divine in my life and everyone else just sees a pretty necklace. So I started wearing my necklace daily, it doesn't have the energy it needs quite yet, but with routine it will. I have a moonstone ring that I have barely taken off since I got and it is almost a special to me as my wedding ring. My next step is to start my daily candle lighting and prayers. It's amazing how taking just a little time for the divine can inspire so much happiness, at least it does for me. Well, I'm off to a doctors appointment now.

Blessings
PrairiePagan

Book List

Following is a list of books I suggest for a personal pagan library. I'll include comments if there is something I want to point out about the book. The list will be organized by subject/topic/category for a little easier reference. This is not a complete list, and I'll be updating it as I think of more to add. If you have a book you'd like me to add let me know, I'll review it and add it if I like it.

Ethics

The Ethical Eclectic: A Little Handbook for Those Following the Way of Many Paths by Kaatryn MacMorgan-Douglas

Ethics and the Craft by John J. Coughlin

Herbalism

Advanced Bach Flower Therapy: A Scientific Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment by Gotz Blome, M.D (This is a book regarding flower essences more than herbalism, I just didn't want to create a category specific to essences.)

History

Aradia or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles G. Leland

The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain by Ronald Hutton

The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft by Ronald Hutton

The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth by Robert Graves

Magic

Earth Power: Techniquies of Natural Magic by Scott Cunningham

Magick In Theory and Practice by Aleister Crowley

Natural Magic by Doreen Valiente

Mythology

The Golden Ass by Apuleius

The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer

The Masks of the God Series (4 books total) by Joseph Campbell

Mythology by Edith Hamilton

Pagan Basics

An ABC of Witchcraft by Doreen Valiente

Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today by Margot Adler

Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth by James Lovelock (This book is to be taken with a grain of salt. I list it hear as a book to gain perspective on some people's beliefs however this author has contradicticted himself quite a bit through other works. There is a pretty good overview in Triumph of the Moon about this theory.)

Rites of Worship: A Neopagan Approach by Isaac Bonewits (update: New title for the new edition available now is "Neopagan Rites.")

The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess by Starhawk

Witchcraft: A Concise Guide by Isaac Bonewits

Reference Books

The Book of Stones and Metals by Maya Heath

The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood

The Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews by Scott Cunningham

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem and Metal Magic by Scott Cunningham

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham

Wicca Basics

All One Wicca: A Study in the Universal Eclectic Tradition of Wicca by Kaatryn MacMorgan

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland

Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner

Wicca 333: Advanced Topics in Wiccan Belief by Kaatryn MacMorgan

Witchcraft for Tomorrow by Doreen Valiente

A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches' Handbook by Janet and Stewart Farrar

The Spider

A while back a group of us gathered in a local park and did a guided meditation. The point of the meditation was to get in touch with our spirit guides. I figured this would be no problem because I was already familiar with my guide, who happened to be a lion who has been with me for quite some time. We were instructed to leave all preconceptions behind and see what happened. On our guided journey we were taken through a forest and then flew to our safe place. We were then told to close our eyes and when they were opened we would be face to face with our spirit guide. I mentally did as instructed, however when I opened my eyes, nothing was there. I could only see across the field to the other row of trees. I was not amused and wondered if this was my own self giving me a lesson for preconceiving what I would find on this "journey." I looked around a bit more, and then noticed a little shiny black spider had dropped down on his silk (I've always referred to the little guy as male). This surprised me, if anything I expected my lion to show, so this was a new experience. There was no conversation, but I did feel comforted by the spiders presence. Upon leaving I did see my lion briefly behind some trees, but did not correspond with him other than the brief view.

Since that time I have not done the research that I should have for the experience. I do know that was the same year that there was a garden spider living in my garden. She held her ground to that garden, wasn't afraid of me, and stayed in view until the very last vine had been pulled for the season before going into hiding in the grass. I felt bad taking her home, but knew I had to get the area cleaned up before it got too cold. I am also aware of some basic symbolism and mythology with the spider such as the web weaver as a creator and connector for all things in this world, a loving mother and a Goddess symbol. Additionally I know the benefits of having spiders near, as well as the saying there is always a spider within five feet of you at any given time. I'm not a person who is scared of spiders, but I'll jump a mile if a cricket or grasshopper jumps my way. This is really an area I want and need to do more research in. I've got a strange fondness for spiders and having one show up unexpectedly in my meditation must mean something. Possibly the Goddess saying to start focusing more, or maybe I'm being told to focus on more details, or possibly even to get out of my blinders and see what I'm missing. There's lots of interpretations to my meditation, and even though it was six months in the past, there's still significance to it. I remembered it in vivid detail for this long; it definitely made an impact on me. I have a bad habit of having those good intentions to research these things, but then never get around to actually looking into them. At this point I need to practice what I preach and pay attention to what my mind is trying to tell me. Maybe I'll never get the point, maybe there never was one. Who knows, I just want to learn more regardless; it can't hurt.

The Beauty of Ice

In Nebraska we don't get snowstorms near as often as we get ice storms. It's just a way of life and I'm happy with it. Luckily I grew up in this area so I learned early on how to handle the conditions. There's a special art to driving on ice, and even those who have learned how to do it still mess up on occasion (2 years ago I came off an off ramp and just kept curving even though I wanted to go straight).

I hear so many people who say they hate this season, while I'm not too fond of the cold I respect this season immensely. When there is a covering of ice or snow on things, yes it can be destructive but it can also be beautiful. In regards to the destructive nature, it's just a matter of respecting the capabilities of the weather and then learning to live in harmony with it. If we didn't have our seasons here in Nebraska, it would be difficult to have the farming that we do, which provides corn for many different venues.

I guess my point is, I like to take a moment and appreciate the beauty that is found within things of nature. I wouldn't go traipsing through the African Safari with no knowledge of the conditions and animals and then complain when I'm either not prepared, get attacked by a lion or wasn't expecting the heat. For these same reasons, if I'm living in Nebraska, which I do, I'm not going to complain about the drastic weather changes we have on some days, the ice storm or the drought we've had for the last decade. It's something we have to respect, and whatever the cause of global warming, we have to take some responsibility and recognize that that weather issue probably has something to do with the conditions we currently live in.

I didn't mean to go off on a rant, all I really want to say is appreciate the beauty of those things in nature we have no control of and don't complain about it. Complaining only makes you feel bad and doesn't change a darn thing. These are issues I take into account for in my spirituality. Recognizing what I can change and what I can't. If I can't change it then I need to learn to live with it.

Blessings
PrairiePagan