It Is Easier to Get What You Want, Than to Know What You Want

It takes me days to compose and implement a magic spell. That time doesn’t include the additional journaling, meditation and dreaming that I do when I decide to go after something I really want. On one hand my meticulous ways ensure for the most part, that my spells work with few unexpected results. One the other hand, this practice makes it exceptionally difficult for me to do “magic on the fly.”

Once, I had to compose a magic spell on the spot during a rather intensive class I was taking on ceremonial magic. I made a hasty decision to cast a spell for debt reduction. I thought that would be a rather safe decision; who doesn’t want to get their finances under control? But not only did the spell not work with my usual rate of accuracy, it backfired horrifically, leaving me in the worst state of financial panic that I hadn’t seen since my divorce.

What the heck had gone wrong?! I thought it had been a good spell, with specific wordage for my intention. And yet the money in my bank account continued to dwindle and my panic continued to rise. So I began journaling and meditating and dreaming to figure out what had gone so horribly wrong. Then one day it was as if the curtain was drawn aside and I saw the Great and Powerful Oz for who he (or she, in this case) really was. I didn’t want debt reduction. I didn’t want it at all. No, even eight years after my divorce, I still wanted to punish myself because in my mind, I was a failed wife and a terrible (single) mother. I was divorced and unwanted. I wanted to be unwanted. I wanted to be a victim. Because then everyone could look at my sad eyes and crumpled form and nod their heads and say, “Oh yes, poor Amy Alice, she’s just been through so much.”

“Well, that’s kind of dumb,” I said.

So then I opened up my spell template (yes I have a spell template – its four pages long) and I started writing about what I was willing to do to get my finances on track. I made a simple decision – I prioritized each bill. If low priority bills only got five dollars sent, that’s what they got. If they didn’t get paid on time, they didn’t get paid on time. I made the decision to work with the resources I had. I wasn’t going to punish myself for not having the same resources as other people or more specifically other women (who were successfully married and not single mothers). I made a decision that I was not a victim.

I made a decision. I made a plan.

What happened next was nothing short of magical. Not only was the debt dwindling, my bills were getting paid on time! And even more shocking – I had money left over at the end of the month. What was so unexplained is that no variables changed: I had the same job with the same income and I had the exact same bills. It just so happens that my union’s contract was finally approved and I did in fact get a raise. That happened after I saw a $1000 dollar cushion in my savings account instead of a negative balance in my checking account. It happened after. It wasn’t the source of the magic, it was a part of it.

Just this year I took my son on holiday to the Cayman Islands and I paid for it in cash.

I still have some debt that I work on each month according to my financial priorities. In my new financial plan, I gave myself to 2018 to eradicate the current debt. I am absolutely sure that I will be able to do that. I am also absolutely sure that I will acquire new debt as I plan to take a loan for my son’s college education. I am absolutely sure I will be able to cross that bridge successfully when the time comes.

I learned something important from that tragically failed debt-reduction spell. I learned that it is so much easier to get what I want than to know what I want. I was so sure that I wanted debt reduction, but in reality I was wearing my debt as a badge of honor, and I wanted that badge – that debt - more than anything else. The moment I let go of that want, it paved the way for new opportunities I had never even allowed myself to imagine were possible.

Imagination is the very foundation of magic. 

I learned that I have got to be open to incredible possibilities, but if I’m clinging so dearly to my limitations, I will never be able to articulate what it is that I want. At least not with any rational perspective. Limitations can be seductive excuses.

Now, I do not mean to say that everyone wishes every calamity that befalls them on themselves. I had cancer. There were enough environmental and genetic explanations for that disaster. I do not believe I wished that on myself with magic. However, my perspective of that situation made a huge difference in my outcome. I could have given up utterly, and succumbed to this limitation in my life. My cancer was not life-threatening, but as it was in my throat, there stood a possibility that my singing voice would be destroyed. But I was open to the possibilities, whatever they might be. It just so happens, my singing voice is even better than it was, probably due to the removal of the huge tumor that was in the way.

One of my favorite aunts, my Aunt Sal, did however, have a life-threatening cancer and she did in fact die from that cancer. I miss her, but I’m not sad for her, because she was also open to possibilities. She turned a six-month life expectancy into five well lived years. She made a decision. She had a plan. Despite her limitations she was going to live her life fully. And she did. She used the resources she had, limitations and all. She knew precisely what she wanted: she would live her life to the fullest for as long as she could; and she didn’t allow her cancer to get in the way of that. Her desire did change after five years though. What she wanted then was to die with dignity surrounded by the people she loved; and she did.

That’s something else about magic, it’s flexible. 

If I really want to do some serious level magic, I have to be prepared that what I want today, may not be what I want tomorrow. Hence, once again it is so much easier to get what you want than to know what you want.

Recently at a conference, I shared this perspective of magic and an attendee approached me in frustration. She had lost her job and was in danger of losing her house - a house that she had struggled to obtain. I asked many questions to help her get to the root of the problem. She couldn’t get a job because she was too old. She couldn’t get a job because she didn’t have the right training or education. She could not under any circumstances let the house go because it had been won in a great legal battle with her family. She could not ask her family for assistance. She couldn’t take a border or a roommate because that was just too dangerous. Over and over again, with each question I asked her, she was determined to give me her limitations. “No magic worked,” she said.

I truly believe that is because like me, she wanted her limitations more than she wanted…a job? Or was it the ability to keep the house? I honestly don’t think she knew. She didn’t know because what she wanted were the limitations. Because of that she was absolutely closed down to any possibility. A plan cannot be made if there is no room for possibility. She was so focused on her limitations that there was nothing she was willing to do.

If she wanted a job and she evaluated her resources, and she determined new training was in order, she could find a training course she was willing to attend.

If she wanted a job and she evaluated her resources, and she determined that she was too old, she could be willing to change her hairstyle, clothes and makeup to make her appear younger.

If she wanted a job, McDonald’s, Walmart and Starbucks are almost always hiring if she was willing to do the work those jobs required.

If she wanted to keep the house she could have looked to her family as a resource, if she was willing to approach them with a plan to share the house that had been such a contention.

If she wanted to keep the house she could employ the resource of a background check service to help her select a safe boarder or roommate.

Or she could evaluate her resources and be willing to sell the house.

She was not willing to do anything except find more and more limitations to her predicament. She wants to be limited, that is what is most important to her. And if she doesn’t change that, no matter how powerful a witch or magician she might be, she will never get a job and she will lose her house.

Magic is not just waving around a pretty stick, magic is driven by will. 

As in: What am I willing to do to get what I really want? If I’m obsessed with my limitations, and my need to be a victim, then I most assuredly will get precisely what I want: I will be a victim. If the only thing I’m willing to do is find every possible excuse for why nothing is possible, then I will get exactly what I want: Nothing will ever be possible.

So then the real question then is: How the heck am I supposed to know what I want? 

Particularly if this magic stuff is so flexible and things change and I change?

I suppose that I have to be as flexible as the magic. My personal solution is journaling, meditation and dreaming with heavy emphasis on the journaling. I would also have to say that magical disasters are great for separating what I think I want from what I actually want. Actually, my debt reduction spell worked like a charm! I was told to declare bankruptcy. That certainly would have eradicated my debt. I came to know that I didn’t want debt reduction. No, I wanted financial freedom. I wanted a little money in the bank and my bills paid on time. More importantly though, I wanted the freedom to make financial decisions without anxiety, even if that decision meant acquiring a little more debt. It’s hard to say if I would have figured that out without the spell steering me towards bankruptcy. It is, without a doubt, much easier to get what I want, than to truly know what I want. Knowledge is often hard won; but nothing worth pursuing is rarely easy to come by.

2018 Update

I thought you'd like to know that as of June 2018 my spell came to fruition and I am now debt-free.

Accidental Talismans of the Verbal Kind

I believe that the things that I choose to fill my environment with have power. Some of my things remind me of happy times and my adventures. These are the things that I find inspire me and propel me towards exciting new opportunities. However, I have found that everyone seems to hang on to things imbued with a different kind of power. Lurking in my environment are things that bring me nothing but sadness and sap my energy the moment that I look at them. I know that those things become a very physical obstacle. I believe that those things bind me to my past and prevent me from reaching for possibilities. I call these draining things Accidental Talismans; because instead bringing joy and inspiration, they seem to be charged with a power to drain on the physical, emotional, energetic, mental and even spiritual levels.

Recently, I was respectfully approached about my spirituality and the subject of curses came up. I was questioned about curses and whether or not I cursed people. “Are you a “black witch?”

I answered (and followed up with a blog post: 10 Questions About Paganism You Were Afraid to Ask) that I did in fact curse people, although not very often. And I also explained that I did not subscribe to the further labeling of the title “witch” with color adjectives.

At the time of that interview and when I composed that blog post, I defined a curse as a sort of “justice on the cosmic level.” What I meant by a “curse,” was the sending of a powerful brew of ill will to someone who I felt really deserved it. I explained that I believed that the human system of justice, for the most part, takes care of most injustice for me, so breaking out my cauldron and filling it with the eyes of some poor little newts really wasn’t necessary most of the time. I was so sure that I didn’t curse people very often. At that time, I didn’t take into account that words, like things, have great power. I want to believe that I am always aware of my words and the power they have. I want to believe that I use them with a specific purpose and clear intention. Yet, after some reflection I found a collection of words which sap strength, berates, belittles and…most certainly, curses the receiver of these words. These are some of my personal and most insidious Accidental Talismans of the Verbal Kind.

1. “Please and Thank you!”

I am very aware that the words “please” and “thank you” are usually the opposite of a curse, they are a blessing. Separately, they usually invoke in me a feeling of delight. These words allow me to show my gratitude (and good manners). I heard them used together in a sentence the first time to my son from one of his babysitters. I found it jarring, and though I didn’t know why, I found it disconcerting. Then someone else said it to me, someone who on numerous occasions, very much wanted to make it clear to me that she had power over me. I found the turn of phrase troubling…almost threatening. I was confused, she said, please after all…and…thank you…why were my instincts telling me something was wrong?

When things bother me I turn to my love of research. I did research on the word “please.” It comes from a longer phrase “if you please.” I took this to mean that use of the word “please” is a question: “Would it please you, to assist me?” This suggests that to comply with “please” the person being asked to help finds it to their liking to do so. It’s not about my pleasure when I say “please,” it’s about the pleasure of the person I’m addressing. I have no right to expect anything because when I say “please” I am acknowledging that the person I am asking has a choice. The person being asked to help me has the right to choose to decline.

When I understood this about the word “please” it gave me an even greater appreciation that the appropriate response when someone makes a choice to help, is to acknowledge them with gratitude. The phrase “thank you,” provides a concise way for me to recognize the person and articulate that gratitude.

My research helped me to finally ascertain why the phrase “please and thank you” said together at the same time was bothering me so much. To say “thank you” before the deed is done implies implicitly that it will be done. Gratitude is completely unnecessary because in fact, the deed is already done.  Choice is not an option. I was also keenly aware that the phrase was used by a person wielding power. What the conjoined phrase of “please and thank you” really means is “Do it now, and be quick about it.” It is hiding an order.

Accidental Talismans are things that hide other things. I do think there are times when it is appropriate to give orders and commands, and even necessary. However, I feel it best to use integrity and be up front about it. Better to keep “please” as a solo flyer, and express “thank you,” with true gratitude.

2. “There will always be someone better than you.” 

My mother said this to me when I was a little girl. The first time she said it, I was so young that I was unable to understand that it might be malicious and demeaning. Later when I was an adult, my mother carefully explained to me that she did in fact intend to be malicious and demeaning when she used this phrase. Yet, I still had trouble processing that a mother would knowingly cut down their own child.

I believed, when this phrase was first used on me that it was suppose to be a reality check of sorts and a release. I absolutely love to sing. I enjoy the sound of my own singing voice and many other people have given me positive feedback that they too enjoy the sound of my voice. In college though, I had a friend whose voice I enjoyed much more than my own. Instead of being upset that she had surpassed my skill, I reminded myself that there would always be someone better than me. So I was then able to close my eyes and indulge in the beauty that was her voice.

That may seem like a victory, and I suppose that it is, however, because there would always be someone better than me I gave up on a professional singing career just when I was enjoying the first breaths of success.

Because there will always be someone better than me, I hide the awards I’ve won for exemplary service, in my current profession.

“There will always be someone better than you,” is my primary excuse. Why bother to even try when there will always be someone better than me? No matter what I do, or how well I do it, there will always be someone better. It renders everything useless in the end. More than any physical Accidental Talisman, this Verbal Accidental Talisman is my primary obstacle. Whenever I dare to wish or hope for opportunity, this little beastie gets right in the way of a possible path. Instead of taking a risk, I stay trapped in my past as the little girl who was just too happy, too confident, and just too darn big for her little britches - so her mother had to cut her down to size. If that’s not one powerful curse, I don’t know what is.

I am trying to teach myself to say “I acknowledge where I am now” instead of that spiritually crippling phrase. I am trying to teach myself that I am not artificially inflating my ego, that I am empowering myself when I ask myself “What can I learn from this person I admire?” I’m not sure that anyone needs to ever be cut down to size, particularly a child. I think it is better to inspire people and propel them towards opportunity. I’m trying to teach myself that I get to include myself in that too.

3. “We need a divorce.” 

This is another nasty one. Even though I’ve been divorced for nearly ten years now, I realized this Accidental Talisman was still rolling around in my head when I went to a friend’s wedding this month.

When I was married, I told my husband that I didn’t think we had enough floor space in our condo to accommodate the huge ottoman he wanted to buy. He responded with “We need a divorce!”

When I was married and nearly died in childbirth I got behind on the laundry. We were arguing about that laundry when my husband said, “We need a divorce!”

Finally, when I had neglected to bring home pineapple juice from the grocery store, instead of my usual placating pleas and promises that I would do better the next time, I simply said, “Yes. We do need a divorce.”

Accidental Talismans are physical obstacles, like a cluttered couch that no can sit on or a buried table that no one can eat at. These words cursed my marriage. “Divorce,” was standing in every room of our house and curling up next to me in our bed. These words were not a healthy way to begin a conversation. They were not a joke. They were a threat.

4. "Thank you for telling me that."

There have been a couple of times where I’ve finally gotten up the courage to risk telling someone something about myself-something dark and dear. And instead of a hug, a word of encouragement, or “I understand, I’ve been somewhere like that,” I got…thanked? Thanked for feeling awful? For being awful? This phrase has done nothing for me except perhaps make me confused or feel like I want to crawl under a rock and die.

Now this is probably an appropriate response from a clinical professional paid to be non-emotional. However, the last thing I’m expecting from a friend, someone I want to believe cares about me, is a non-emotional response.

5. “At least...”

I came across a beautiful animated video, where the speaker Brene Brown explains that no empathetic response begins with the words "at least."

Her words gave me such relief. It helped me to understand that "At least" quantifies a problem, and not only that, rules it as lacking. My immediate circumstances are completely irrelevant because "at least" someone, somewhere has it so much worse.

"At least" is also applied in a twisted game of one-up-man-ship. Cue the song, "Anything you can do, I can do better" and apply it to suffering.

"Oh, you're having trouble with your son’s dad? At least he pays his child support on time. My ex is a deadbeat.”

"Oh, you’re having trouble work? At least you have a pension. My retirement is screwed.”

"Oh you have Thyroid Cancer? At least your mother doesn’t have breast cancer. Like mine does.”

"At least" is a thinly veiled curse. It really means "Your issues do not matter to me."

When people tell me, "I feel awful!" I respond with, "That's awful!" Because when I was having trouble with my son’s father, and trouble at work, and when I had cancer, it really didn’t comfort me to imagine even worse diabolical disasters. I just wanted someone to acknowledge that I was scared and just for a moment, share that burden with me.

7. “It’s not that bad.” 

Once when I was young, I went to my much older brother, who was living his own adult life, and I asked him for help. My parents were serious alcoholics and I was at a loss. I didn’t know what to do.

He told me that my life wasn’t that bad.

Yes, it is true that I had a roof over my head. Yes, it is true that I had food to eat. Yes, it is true that my parents paid for me to have voice lessons. Yes, it is true that my parents did not hit me. All of those things are true.

It is also true that I lived in a constant state of confusion and anxiety.

Will my permission slip for school get signed? Are they going to cook dinner? Should I go to bed without? Do I tell them I’m hungry?

I learned to drive taking my drunk father to the liquor store to buy more beer because they had already consumed the two cases they brought home after work.

My parents never hit me, this is very true. And yet etched in my memory is the time I didn’t clear the table quickly enough for my mother and in a drunken rage she shattered every plate on the kitchen floor. I stood there…staring at all the broken dishes around me.

I stood there frozen, because I was at a loss. I didn’t know what to do. But…it wasn’t that bad. Never mind that I hid under my bed because I was terrified of my mother. Because she never hit me.

When I was told that my life “wasn’t that bad,” I felt worthless. If I couldn’t handle these things, then surely I was an expressly flawed and a terrible ungrateful wretch.

It is true that other people have suffered. I’m not sure that suffering can be categorized and quantified. I am sure that my experiences have affected me for all time. These events made a deep impact on me. They happened. They mattered.

At least…to me.

10 Questions About Paganism You Were Afraid to Ask

1.  So you’re Wiccan?

In my case the answer is no.  There are many forms of Paganism which includes Wicca, Druidry, Heathenism, and others.  I use the label “Contemporary Pagan” to denote that my spirituality is a blending of influence.  I was heavily imprinted by Native American Spirituality growing up in Flagstaff, Arizona where the San Francisco Peaks are sacred ground.  I have a calling towards ancient Goddesses of the Greek/Roman Pantheon (they are the Great Goddess Diana and Queen Persephone if you are curious).  My Scandinavian and family heritage is also an influence as well as my introduction (decades ago) to modern spell craft and Traditional Witchcraft.  Much like all Catholics are Christians, but not all Christians are Catholics, such as it is with Paganism and Wicca.  Asking a Protestant “So you’re Catholic?” is considered rude.  Wicca, I am sure is a lovely path, but it isn’t mine.  “I’m Pagan” is my answer, if I was Wiccan I would have answered as such. 

2.  Are you a Witch?

In my case the answer is yes, although I’m not fond of the term because it conjures up too much nonsense in my personal opinion.  However, not all Pagans are witches or practice a form of “witchcraft.”  The “craft” of a witch is more about being in a role of teacher or healer.  For a really lovely and fun depiction of witchcraft read the fictional Tiffany Aching Series by Terry Pratchett.

3.  Do you do “spells and stuff?”

The answer is yes, but not very often, because it’s a lot of work.  If you are a witch and you’re doing a spell, it’s akin to goal planning.  So, for example, if you want to create a weight-loss spell, you don’t wave your magic wand and suddenly have the body of a super-model.  No, in a spell you make a plan for what you are willing to do to get what you want.  And then if you really want to make it dramatic, you pray to your Gods and Goddesses or the universe or whatever and make a promise to DO it.  So you make a divine declaration to eat healthy and go to the gym.  Makes that a bit intimidating doesn’t it?  What happens if you don’t follow through to the Divine?  Well you don’t lose the weight, and now you have the added Divine guilt to pack on to the regular guilt you feel when you don’t follow through on your personal goals.  Fun.  Right?

4.  But you’re a "White Witch?" Right?

No.  And at the risk of offending those who use that label I’m going to tell you right now to be wary of those who do use it.  Listen, magic just is.  It doesn’t have moral motive.  Let me further explain:  "White Magic" popularized by television mostly, implies that it is “good.”  Healing would generally be thought of as a “good” thing to do right?  But doing “Healing Magic” is unethical (hence “bad” or “evil”) if you weren’t ASKED to do it by the person who needs it.  

Look at it from a completely un-magical scenario:  Let’s say you get regular headaches. 

Instead of going to a doctor you choose to mask your symptoms with some painkillers.  Pain gone, no problem...unless of course you have a brain tumor growing.   

Sickness is usually a symptom of a greater problem.  Even if you don’t have a brain tumor, your headaches are a symptom of a larger problem.  Is it stress at work?  I don’t know, only you know the answer.  What I do know is that it would be a really evil thing for me to send healing magic to you for your headaches.  Stress at work so bad it’s giving you regular headaches is still a brain tumor, just of the metaphorical variety.  It’s not my place to help you mask the symptoms particularly without your permission.  If you came to me for “healing magic” I wouldn’t want to give you magical painkillers, I’d be more interested in diagnosing the actual problem.  Ultimately, I might be able to provide you with some comfort, but I'm not a doctor.  Part of my treatment plan would be helping you to identify what type of licensed medical practitioner you would need to see. 

5.  Do you curse people? 

The answer is yes.  If they really deserve it.  But remember, I already explained spells are hard work for me, so it’s really got to be very important.  We’re talking justice on the cosmic scale here.  Cursing is usually unnecessary because our human justice system generally takes care of most things.  So let me ask you, is justice “evil?”  It’s a question that some people find hard to answer sometimes.  Cosmic justice is no different.  

6.  What about Animal Sacrifice?

This is the number one question I’m asked.  People don't seem afraid to ask this one they just come out and quite rudely ask me.  But if what you are asking is, do I personally sacrifice animals?  The answer is yes, every day, often multiple times.   

Before you completely freak out and report me to Animal Control, you too, probably perform animal sacrifice, every day and multiple times unless you are a vegan who has sworn off even the leather in your shoes and the silk in your underwear.   

Welcome to the wonderful world of eating and consuming.  Another being sacrificed its life so that you could eat its flesh or wear it (or in the case of silk the fruit of its labor-not yours) and live.  Be grateful.  Show respect.  Give it honor.  For me, eating is THE most spiritual thing I do every day.  The fact that this seems to be unique to Paganism has always been particularly confusing to me. 

7.  So…do you do naked public rituals?

This would be the second most common question I am asked.  Do I “do” them?  I have been to retreats classified as Pagan where some participants have been naked.  They are usually in a private environment, so they are “public” in that there are many people there, but all of these people have registered for the event and are there for the retreat.  It is not precisely “public” in that no one else but registered attendees are allowed into the retreat space.  But if you are asking about me, specifically, the answer is that I prefer clothes.   

Nudity or being “Skyclad” comes from the idea that the human body, just as it is, without ornamentation, is a part of the greater divine.  I can be a part of the divine with my clothes on, thank you.  And personally I am more comfortable in public rituals where everyone is fully clothed.  I have been accused of being a prude more often by non-Pagans, than Pagans.   

Yes.  I am a prude.  That is largely separate from my religion.  

8.  Do you use narcotics and/or illegal drugs in your rituals?

Absolutely not.  I’m a police officer.  I arrest people for that, I certainly don’t do that!  Talk about unethical behavior!   

Peyote is sometimes appropriated under the guise of spiritual practice, however it is only legal for certain Native American religions.  Those not of Native American decent with no direct ties to these traditions are very, very rarely invited to a ritual where peyote will be used.    

Sage, that green spice in your kitchen is commonly used in Pagan and other Religions’ ceremonies.  Believe it or not, this herb has relatives with some hallucinogenic properties.  Sage and some other legal herbs are sometimes ingested by people (not just Pagans) to promote prophetic dreams; but as I will explain shortly, I already have dreams of the future without use of these herbs and so they are not generally a part of my ritual practice.   

If we are to be completely honest, I have in my time smoked a certain green leafy substance.  When I was hired by my police department I disclosed that that not only did I inhale this substance, I enjoyed it.  They hired me anyway, with the implicit direction that I would not do it again -- I haven’t. 

9.  Can you tell me my fortune?

Yes, actually I can, but that ability really has nothing to do with my religion.  Feel free to research the topic of psychic ability and genetics, there are a host of articles about just that floating about on the Web.  My family has a lengthy history of being able to view the future, most specifically through palmistry.  None of them are or were Pagan and most are or were Christian.  I do not read palms.  I prefer Geomancy and Runes, I also have dreams that occasionally predict future events.  

Most Pagans are accepting of magic so it stands to reason that most are also accepting of the practice of “fortune telling” or divination (as it is more properly referred).  I actually believe that everyone is a little bit psychic.  I think it’s a part of the human condition.  Many Pagans practice a form of divination, but not all do.   

Please don’t ask me or anyone else for that matter to do it for you unless you are prepared for the answer.  I won’t predict your death unless you ask specifically about that (and perhaps not even then, you morbid thing you!) but I might just tell you the truth and that can be a fairly difficult thing to hear.  But am I seeing the truth of your future by some magical means?  Or am I just seeing you through your body language, reactions, and a host of other decidedly more boring things?  I don’t know.  I don’t really think it matters if what I say is useful.

Also, the proper thing to do is pay me for my service.  It doesn’t have to be monetary.  I told fortunes at a fundraiser for my son’s school because it was an opportunity to show I was an involved parent.  A co-worker bought me breakfast one morning in exchange for a fortune.  Your gardener doesn’t cut your grass for free so why would you think that I would want to tap into the cosmos just to show off my cute parlor trick?  I take my divination seriously, you should too.  Your cold hard cash proves to me that it is at least worth the amount printed on that green paper.  No offer, no value, no dice (literally, I cast my Geomancy with dice).

10.  What does that five point star mean?

The five pointed star is symbolic of the five elements Pagans believe to fuel all life.  Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit.  You must have air to breath, water to drink, and food and shelter to live; that’s fairly straight forward.  Fire is your will to live.  Spirit is your reason to live.  Usually, there is one spire pointed upright, that one spire is the Spirit portion of the entire figure.  The idea is that you are the star, looking up and sending toward the divine.  

The inverted pentacle with two spires on top has been for the most part appropriated by the Satanist Religion as their symbol.  They are often identified as Pagan.  I would classify them as a non-Pagan tradition, but that is simply an opinion that needs another article to explain.   

But in a purely Pagan context, the two spires on top would be Earth and Fire, the idea is that you are the star asking the divine to come down, into you, to experience the divine in order to be inspired. 

 

And that concludes 10 Questions About Paganism You Were Afraid to Ask.  I’ve included some other great articles and resources for you to explore more.  I believe that part of my divine purpose is to educate people on Paganism.  We are very normal people just like you.  We raise families, have very good jobs and live our lives.  I am very happy to respond to any question so feel free to comment or email me!

Resources:

Web Pages

Freeman, Jamie.  “What You Need to Know About Skyclad.”  Witchful Thinking.  Wordpress.com. 30 January 2010.  Web.  9 July 2016 

Greer, John Micheal.  The Arch Druid Report.  Blogspot.com. Web.  9 July 2016.  

“Hallucinogenic Sage.” Science Review 2000 Ltd.  20 May 2010.  Web.  9 July 2016.  

“The Pentacle and the Pentagram.”  Whispering Worlds.  2008.  Web. 9 July 2016 

Scott, Eric O.  “10 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Wicca.”  FaithStreet.com. 30 October 2015.  Web.  9 July 2016.  

Books

Pratchett, Terry.  TheTiffany Aching Series

(which you can find on Amazon.com)

What is Ritual?

What is it exactly, that comes to mind with the use of the word “ritual?”  Is a ritual a daily habit? Are the words “ritual” and “habit” interchangeable?  Ritual seems to me, to be a more eloquent word than habit. To have a habit, is to have something so ingrained that I no longer have to think about the habit while I’m doing it.  My attention can be elsewhere because my actions are automatic.  Ritual, however, is focused attention.  Not only am I focused on myself, I am focused on the present moment and how that moment affects what is beyond myself.  Ritual attends to more than the individual.  Ritual speaks to the soul or to the spirit.

The word I use for spirit, is “Asha.”  There is neither an article for Asha, nor is there any possession – it doesn’t belong to anyone individually.  Asha simply is.  It is all-encompassing.  I am a part of Asha, and Asha is beyond myself.  Unlike the word spirit, Asha is far less limiting.  It describes all that has ever been, all that might ever be, and all that currently is – in and beyond everything.  Ritual is to me, the celebration of Asha. 

In ritual, so many elements of myself are moved.  I am moved literally in a physical way, and also in a figurative sense because even my consciousness, my understanding of something has been picked up and transported to somewhere new.  I move physically, my emotions are in motion, and spiritually I am moved because that all-compassing Asha is in motion.  I am moved to see the perspective that I am a piece in the greater workings of all that is.  And not only am I a piece, but I, myself, am an important part of that working.  I have usefulness.  For me, to find use is to find meaning.  I could almost use the words “usefulness” and “meaningfulness” interchangeably.  If I know where I am useful then I have found a purpose for that moment, and that is incredibly meaningful and fulfilling. 

There is a profound feeling of respect that is invoked when I use the word ritual.  A ritual captures me in the present moment and shows me my place in context to everything around me.  Ritual shows me my possibilities and demands that I take responsibility for those possibilities.  I am a part of Asha and I have my place.  I can make a difference if I make the choice to do so.  Even the smallest of choices that I make have an effect, because everything is connected.  Everything is Asha. 

Habits have their place in Asha, but a ritual is special.  It is a time to pause and focus on all that is in motion in and around me and show respect for all of the possibilities. 

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I will be hosting two rituals in the month of June:

Art Ritual: Come Play With Me! at Life Force Arts Center
Wednesday, June 1, 2016 at 7:00 PM



Summer Solstice Celebration with Chicago-land Pagan Circle at Dawes Park in Evanston
Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 2:00 PM
Purchase Tickets