{"id":4288,"date":"2010-10-01T01:10:03","date_gmt":"2010-10-01T06:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=4343"},"modified":"2010-09-27T21:35:46","modified_gmt":"2010-09-28T02:35:46","slug":"pagan-parenting-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2010\/10\/01\/pagan-parenting-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Pagan Parenting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Parenting our Parents<\/strong><\/p>\n

At this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere we are reminded of the slow period of life.\u00a0 The heat of summer gives way to crisp nights,\u00a0 leaves fall from the trees and circle our feet and the days get shorter.\u00a0 As parents we see infinite youth in our children\u2019s eyes, autumn to them is a time for fun, school and heralds the approach of winter celebrations and snow play.<\/p>\n

As Samhain approaches I am always reminded of our ancestors and elders.\u00a0 They are the keepers of the family stories and the example of the autumn and winter phases of life\u2019s circle.\u00a0 How do we as pagans approach the care of our parents as they age?\u00a0 What does our culture want to pass on to future generations regarding the respect and care of those who raised us?<\/p>\n

Our children embody the spark of youth, ourselves; the determination of early to mid-adulthood when we work hard to provide and establish foundations. Our parents and grandparents are past the stage of building and now rest.\u00a0 Along with that rest the breakdown of the body sometimes becomes evident, past transgressions begin to catch up and illness can appear.\u00a0 We become caught in the middle, trying to balance the responsibility of raising little ones and caring for our parents.\u00a0\u00a0 Family dynamics that have been established for your entire relationship begin to change.\u00a0 No longer are you the one needing protection or nurturing from your parent.\u00a0 Instead you are the provider and the strength for them.<\/p>\n

The stress of this can be overwhelming and tiresome.\u00a0 Distance is also very stressful when you live miles away and the only family member\/s that are in the area are forced to take the load of the care.\u00a0 Many cultures have intergenerational homes in which three or more generations live under one roof.\u00a0 This arrangement helps the caregiver travel less and hopefully alleviates some of the strain.\u00a0 Senior care homes are the only option for some.\u00a0 There is often a solitude for many elders that is difficult and at times they may not be able to care for themselves but have little option for help from the community.<\/p>\n

Our culture as a whole is aging.\u00a0 These types of scenarios will become more and more evident to us.\u00a0 Families whether those of blood or heart\u2019s choice will be faced with how to navigate the rough waters of illness, aging and the balance of youth and activity with crones and sages and a slower life pace.\u00a0 For those of us in the middle of these stages the bulk of the work falls into our hands.\u00a0 We need to search for solutions, delegate responsibility and keep ourselves in balance as much as possible.<\/p>\n

This area of thought is very compelling to me.\u00a0 Are you faced with any of these dilemmas yourself?\u00a0 Do you have solutions to share with the community? \u00a0This territory is certainly not new, but does your pagan path inspire a certain outlook that helps you keep things in perspective?<\/p>\n

I intend to investigate this topic further in future articles.\u00a0 I welcome your feedback or insight.\u00a0 Our personal stories will hopefully begin a dialogue about how our spiritual paths inform our relationships with our elders and their invaluable contribution to our families.\u00a0 Please feel free to comment here or send correspondence to stonegirl1177 AT yahoo DOT ca.\u00a0 Have a blessed Samhain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parenting our Parents At this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere we are reminded of the slow period of life.\u00a0 The heat of summer gives way to crisp nights,\u00a0 leaves fall from the trees and circle our feet and the days get shorter.\u00a0 As parents we see infinite youth in our children\u2019s eyes, autumn to them is a time for fun, school and heralds the approach of winter celebrations and snow play. As Samhain approaches I am always reminded of our ancestors and elders.\u00a0 They are the keepers of the family stories and the example of the autumn and winter phases of life\u2019s circle.\u00a0 How do we as pagans approach the care of our parents as they age?\u00a0 What does our culture want to pass on to future generations regarding the respect and care of those who raised us? Our children embody the spark of youth, ourselves; the determination of early to mid-adulthood when we work hard to provide and establish foundations. Our parents and grandparents are past the stage of building and now rest.\u00a0 Along with that rest the breakdown of the body sometimes becomes evident, past transgressions begin to catch up and illness can appear.\u00a0 We become caught in the middle, trying to balance the responsibility of raising little ones and caring for our parents.\u00a0\u00a0 Family dynamics that have been established for your entire relationship begin to change.\u00a0 No longer are you the one needing protection or nurturing from your parent.\u00a0 Instead you are the provider and the strength for them. The stress of this can be overwhelming and tiresome.\u00a0 Distance is also very stressful when you live miles away and the only family member\/s that are in the area are forced to take the load of the care.\u00a0 Many cultures have intergenerational homes in which three or more generations live under one roof.\u00a0 This arrangement helps the caregiver travel less and hopefully alleviates some of the strain.\u00a0 Senior care homes are the only option for some.\u00a0 There is often a solitude for many elders that is difficult and at times they may not be able to care for themselves but have little option for help from the community. Our culture as a whole is aging.\u00a0 These types of scenarios will become more and more evident to us.\u00a0 Families whether those of blood or heart\u2019s choice will be faced with how to navigate the rough waters of illness, aging and the balance of youth and activity with crones and sages and a slower life pace.\u00a0 For those of us in the middle of these stages the bulk of the work falls into our hands.\u00a0 We need to search for solutions, delegate responsibility and keep ourselves in balance as much as possible. This area of thought is very compelling to me.\u00a0 Are you faced with any of these dilemmas yourself?\u00a0 Do you have solutions to share with the community? \u00a0This territory is certainly not new, but does your pagan path inspire a certain outlook that helps you keep things in perspective? I intend to investigate this topic further in future articles.\u00a0 I welcome your feedback or insight.\u00a0 Our personal stories will hopefully begin a dialogue about how our spiritual paths inform our relationships with our elders and their invaluable contribution to our families.\u00a0 Please feel free to comment here or send correspondence to stonegirl1177 AT yahoo DOT ca.\u00a0 Have a blessed Samhain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4234,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4288\/revisions\/4234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}