{"id":4607,"date":"2011-01-01T01:10:54","date_gmt":"2011-01-01T06:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=4671"},"modified":"2010-12-21T16:22:24","modified_gmt":"2010-12-21T21:22:24","slug":"journey-of-a-witch-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2011\/01\/01\/journey-of-a-witch-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Journey of a Witch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beginnings
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cStill round the corner there may wait
\nA new road or a secret gate.\u201d
\nJ.R.R. Tolkien
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

January is named after Janus, the god of doors, gates, time, beginnings and endings.
\nWith his two heads he can see the past and the future.<\/p>\n

He is also the god of economic enterprises, yet looking back at the past year and forward
\nto the new, little seems to have changed.<\/p>\n

Beginnings can be wrought with the anxieties of the past.
\nIndeed the first day of January for many of us will not bring about the financial
\npeace of mind that we need.<\/p>\n

If you are like my family, you’ve had to cut back on many things.
\nFor Yule I made a tree instead of buying one.
\nWe eat at home instead of out. We buy only things we really need and so on.<\/p>\n

Janus is also the god of obstacles and with the economic atmosphere an obstacle
\nitself; it can be hard to breathe.<\/p>\n

It saddens me to hear of people ending their lives. For people to see
\nsuicide as a way out of a financial crisis is devastating for all.<\/p>\n

When did life have a price tag?<\/p>\n

Oh yeah, it does. From birth to death we pay.
\nOur debt seems endless even in death.<\/p>\n

Societies all over the world, ancient and current have their status symbols.
\nThings that say “Hey I’m important look at me!”<\/p>\n

But these are just things.
\nThey are not us.<\/p>\n

Or are they?<\/p>\n

“This is not my beautiful house.”<\/p>\n

We’ve created things that have become bigger than us.
\nIn the West, money is the most sought after status symbol.
\nExpensive cars, homes, clothing, jewelry, and other material things
\nelevate the individual to a “higher” place in society. Emotional reactions to
\npeople who have money can be very negative and self destructive.<\/p>\n

In reality we are all the same.
\nPagan, Buddhist, Jew, Christian- we all suffer.
\nAnd some of that suffering is by our own hands. By recognizing that we are more important
\nthan the things we have (or don’t have) we’ve already overcome one obstacle.<\/p>\n

The secret gate shrouded in mist yesterday may be in front of us today
\nbeckoning us to enter.<\/p>\n

Responsibility to happiness is our own. Money can absolutely be a factor in happiness.
\nWhen you can barely afford food and medicine or have to choose between the two, happiness
\ncan be of little importance.<\/p>\n

Yet, happiness is important.<\/p>\n

Money, a caste system and other forms of separation; divides our humanity into pieces.<\/p>\n

As our population continues to grow, we place great burdens upon Mother Earth’s resources.
\nWe must decide what is truly important and meaningful in our lives.<\/p>\n

My daughter is pressured by her 6th grade peers to get the latest cell phone gadget.
\nMaterialism and consumerism all but consumes us.<\/p>\n

It is so easy to get lost in the consumerism that is our society.
\nMedia in every form with glitzy beautiful people and beautiful things knocking
\non our conscious telling us clearly we’ll get more dates with this hair color,
\nthis beer, this dress, these shoes…oh in these shoes? I doubt you’d survive!
\nNo le gusta caminar. No puede montar a caballo.
\nHoney, let’s stay right here.<\/p>\n

Make something.<\/p>\n

Among his other duties Janus represents the city and the countryside.
\nIn the old days our pagan folk made their own things.
\nNow many of us city dwellers (and country dwellers alike) buy things.
\nIf we can’t afford them then we may feel inferior.<\/p>\n

Everything has its place and buying is not a negative but there must be a balance.
\nPeople are not things and things do not represent a human being.<\/p>\n

By opening this gate with love and compassion we can help make someone who is struggling
\nfeel important; feel that they are loved. And we all want to be important and feel loved.
\nYet, it’s not our cell phone, or our car or our clothes that make us human.
\nIt is our ability to love and to give.<\/p>\n

Be the beginning in January by giving.
\nDuring these hard times there is always something to give.
\nGently used clothes you no longer wear, a homemade dish to a sick neighbor or if
\nyou have some time, volunteer at your local animal shelter or other local charity.<\/p>\n

The act of giving may not line your wallet but it
\nwill enrich your spirit more than any cell phone can do.<\/p>\n

And there is no app for that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beginnings \u201cStill round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate.\u201d J.R.R. Tolkien January is named after Janus, the god of doors, gates, time, beginnings and endings. With his two heads he can see the past and the future. He is also the god of economic enterprises, yet looking back at the past year and forward to the new, little seems to have changed. Beginnings can be wrought with the anxieties of the past. Indeed the first day of January for many of us will not bring about the financial peace of mind that we need. If you are like my family, you’ve had to cut back on many things. For Yule I made a tree instead of buying one. We eat at home instead of out. We buy only things we really need and so on. Janus is also the god of obstacles and with the economic atmosphere an obstacle itself; it can be hard to breathe. It saddens me to hear of people ending their lives. For people to see suicide as a way out of a financial crisis is devastating for all. When did life have a price tag? Oh yeah, it does. From birth to death we pay. Our debt seems endless even in death. Societies all over the world, ancient and current have their status symbols. Things that say “Hey I’m important look at me!” But these are just things. They are not us. Or are they? “This is not my beautiful house.” We’ve created things that have become bigger than us. In the West, money is the most sought after status symbol. Expensive cars, homes, clothing, jewelry, and other material things elevate the individual to a “higher” place in society. Emotional reactions to people who have money can be very negative and self destructive. In reality we are all the same. Pagan, Buddhist, Jew, Christian- we all suffer. And some of that suffering is by our own hands. By recognizing that we are more important than the things we have (or don’t have) we’ve already overcome one obstacle. The secret gate shrouded in mist yesterday may be in front of us today beckoning us to enter. Responsibility to happiness is our own. Money can absolutely be a factor in happiness. When you can barely afford food and medicine or have to choose between the two, happiness can be of little importance. Yet, happiness is important. Money, a caste system and other forms of separation; divides our humanity into pieces. As our population continues to grow, we place great burdens upon Mother Earth’s resources. We must decide what is truly important and meaningful in our lives. My daughter is pressured by her 6th grade peers to get the latest cell phone gadget. Materialism and consumerism all but consumes us. It is so easy to get lost in the consumerism that is our society. Media in every form with glitzy beautiful people and beautiful things knocking on our conscious telling us clearly we’ll get more dates with this hair color, this beer, this dress, these shoes…oh in these shoes? I doubt you’d survive! No le gusta caminar. No puede montar a caballo. Honey, let’s stay right here. Make something. Among his other duties Janus represents the city and the countryside. In the old days our pagan folk made their own things. Now many of us city dwellers (and country dwellers alike) buy things. If we can’t afford them then we may feel inferior. Everything has its place and buying is not a negative but there must be a balance. People are not things and things do not represent a human being. By opening this gate with love and compassion we can help make someone who is struggling feel important; feel that they are loved. And we all want to be important and feel loved. Yet, it’s not our cell phone, or our car or our clothes that make us human. It is our ability to love and to give. Be the beginning in January by giving. During these hard times there is always something to give. Gently used clothes you no longer wear, a homemade dish to a sick neighbor or if you have some time, volunteer at your local animal shelter or other local charity. The act of giving may not line your wallet but it will enrich your spirit more than any cell phone can do. And there is no app for that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"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-4607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4607","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\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}