Miss Dana April, 2012

Faith

April brings such joy! The bursting forth of new life and growth are evident everywhere we look. The faith that spring will indeed arrive is what keeps us going in the darkest of winter.

Faith – the belief in things not seen.

That faith is the cornerstone of so many belief systems. The belief that the light will return and life will move forward as it should.

Many times in life we have difficulty having faith. Faith that things will get better. Faith that we can overcome what is before us. Faith that anything good can come from the darkness. I believe it is part of the human journey to question what is before us. Many religions try and address the issue.   Mother Earth shares with us each and every year the miracle of faith. Bursting forth is color and sweet scent is a lesson in patience and trust.

We all know the saying “the faith of a mustard seed”. I have a mustard seed in a neclace. It is the tiniest of things and yet it grows into a beautiful strong tree that shades and give shelter to so many. How can that be? What if the seed were to question itself as to whether it could really grow into a tree? Would doubt keep the seed from germinating and fulfilling its desitny? I think we do that very thing ourselves.  How much do we miss by questioning our potential?  My favorite chant says We all come from the Goddess. If I believe that, then I must have unimagined potential within me.  Why do I allow self doubt to stop me on my path?

I know I have changed directions completely in my life because I doubted my own capabilities. What if I’m not good enough or talented enough? Other people cheered me on with complete confidence of my abilities. And yet, if I can’t see into the future enough to see the end result, I am afraid to take the risk; the risk of letting someone else down or wasting money or time. Or failing.

Sometimes we have such a strong feeling pulling us forward that we just don’t doubt. Meeting my husband and saying “yes” and choosing to start a family are examples in my life. Those are heady times! Our faith is strong.

Sometimes we feel we can do something but let worry interfere. Second guessing and self doubt run nonstop through our every thought. And yet, that little seed just follows its instinct and gradually unfolds into perfection. Perhaps excited at each phase of it’s growth. Amazing! And I believe each of us is just as amazing.

Every seed and bulb planted at this time of year is a lesson in faith. This is a perfect time to plant something new within our own garden of the heart.  Cultivate something wonderful for yourself to remember  that we, too, just need a little nurturing to blossom forth.

Tags: faith

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Vivienne Grainger October, 2011

Faith and Witchcraft

Faith can be held in a lot of things: that the Sun will rise in the east, that Tuesday follows Monday, that your car will run well enough to take you to work tomorrow. A witch may well believe in any or all of these things, but faith does not enter into her or his relationship with the Divine.

Why? Because through meditation, guided visualization, group or solo astral travel, a witch has direct personal experience of Divinity¹.

Experience may have shown this witch that the Element Fire has more to do with a person’s sense of humor than the Element Air, that a seedhead of grass is a perfect expression of the endless and loving abundance of the Goddess (a lesson which may have been taught in the Eleusinian mysteries), that an extremely troubled relationship to the witch’s own father does not preclude having a loving relationship to the God.

“Believing” in the Empedoclean elements – earth, water, fire, air – has a quite different effect on the psyche than experiencing them for yourself. To have fields of ripe wheat appear in your mind’s eye, waving and rippling in the wind, will forever link “Air” and “movement” for you.

Journeying to experience the deities linked to your favorite pastime can teach you volumes about yourself. Many dedicated hobbyists start with Hephaestus, whose careful attention to detail is a function of His love for what he does.

Feeding the Runes your own blood, listening hard as They begin to talk to you by saying Their names, etches them into your soul in a way that memorizing multiple meanings for each Rune cannot.

What you know, you cannot believe in. As Terry Pratchett puts it, “It would be like believing in the postman.”²

Therefore, if I had any advice for a witch who has newly discovered that that’s what s/he is, it would be to get down in the trenches and take the journeys, walk the paths, meditate. Witness the turning of the Wheel of the Year, the passage of Life through the generations, sunrise, sunset, the first sight of the New Moon through a smoky summer haze, the glorious orb of the Full Moon through winter-bared trees, any birth, the rising of bread, the fermentation of wine.

Be surprised by nothing, and awed by all of it.

Every single one of these is a miracle, a signal of the Divine Presence in our lives.

Our ability to witness these miracles for what they are is what sets us apart from the believers, who are often called the “faithful” – those full of faith. In many faith-based religions, the ability to interact directly with the Divine is parceled into the hands of the priests, and kept from the faithful, who must rely on their faith that the Divine exists, and that their priests are cultivating right relationship with that Divine.

The witch has no such distance between Self and Divine. We are out there, talking to and serving our Gods, on a daily basis. It is this that marks out the true witch.

We don’t have to believe. We know.

Witches don’t need faith. We have experience.

So don’t bother to believe. Don’t bother to have faith. Instead, experience your connection to the Divine, and see where that takes you.

The trip will be wonderful, even if the destination surprises you.

¹ I do not mean the fudge, even though fourteen out of every ten people like chocolate.

² Terry Pratchett’s “Discworld” series provides a wonderful picture of witchcraft in “Wyrd Sisters” and “Witches Abroad.” I don’t know if he is one of us, but if not, he’s done some very critical thinking about what it took to be a practicing witch in the pre-industrial world, and written about it very well. I also recommend his “Tiffany Aching” series (“The Wee Free Men,” “A Hatful of Sky,” “Wintersmith,” and “I Shall Wear Midnight”) for young adults … no matter how “adult” you might be.

Tags: faith, witchcraft

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Administrator July, 2006

Once, long before the age of man and dinosaur, the earth was an enchanted playground filled with magickal beings made up of elves, gnomes, and fairies.

Although they were all different with a variety of talents and looks, they lived together happily. They were proud of their individual gifts and those of their fellow beings. The land was filled with happiness, love, and faith.

The Goddess watched over her children and her heart overflowed with joy and love.

Time began to pass and other feelings began to form between the magical beings. Feelings of envy, greed, and anger surfaced. Fights broke out. Magick was used for harm instead of good.

The Goddess watched this with great sadness. She tried to comfort and guide her children but they could no longer hear her through their hostilities.

Finally, a sort of truce was declared. The land was divided up into three equal portions and fences were raised to mark the boundaries. The gnomes, fairies, and elves would no longer live together as one.

At first this seemed the answer to all their problems. However, they soon began to notice some flaws with this new arrangement.

For instance, the fairies had water but no fertile soil and no farm animals, which meant they could not grow and gather crops. What would they do for food?

The gnomes, on the other hand, had fertile soil but no water source. How would they survive with no water or food?

The elves had farm animals and one well, but no fertile soil. How would they survive with a short supply of water and no means to grow food?

Though each group suffered, they refused to break the boundaries and try and help each other. The Goddess knew if something did not happen soon her children would not survive, but what was she to do? They would not let themselves hear her anymore. Then it came to her.

One day while the magickal beings were all doing what little they could to survive, the earth began to shake and the sky began to darken. The magickal beings were terrified and ran for shelter.

When the rumbling stopped and the light began to shine again, they slowly emerged from their hiding spots to see what had happened.

As the groups all moved toward the source of the rumbling they found themselves at the exact spot where all three communities came together. There in the middle of that spot stood a magnificent tree filled with various fruits that were ripe for the picking.

Each group rushed the tree but was struck back by some sort of invisible barrier. As they lay shaken on the ground, they each thought surely with their magical abilities they could break the barrier.

They talked amongst themselves then each group headed off to get baskets to collect the fruit.

The first group back was the elves. They tried every spell they knew but nothing worked. Exhausted they finally gave up and rested on the ground.

Next came the fairies. They tried everything they knew, but pretty soon they were also defeated.

     

Last came the gnomes and their fate was no different than the others.

As they lay there panting from exhaustion and near starving, they began looking around at the different groups. Finally, with unspoken agreement they all got up joined hands and joined their magical powers.

They did not, however, try to break the barrier this time. They prayed to the Goddess to please hear them. They asked her for forgiveness.

Suddenly the tree lit up in front of them and they looked on in awe. The Goddess spoke to them from the tree as she is in everything and everyone.

She said, “My children, I never stopped being there for you or loving you, you only stopped hearing me. You are all so precious to me and should also be precious to each other. Life is a gift to be celebrated. Please celebrate now with me and with each other”.

Then the fruit began to float from the tree into their baskets. After everyone was fed and drank, they decided to tear down the fences around their properties and their hearts.

They knew that all they needed was each other and faith in the Goddess.

***

author bio:

Debra Clapp

Tags: children, debra clapp, faith

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