{"id":6868,"date":"2012-07-01T01:10:35","date_gmt":"2012-07-01T06:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=7071"},"modified":"2012-06-27T11:36:40","modified_gmt":"2012-06-27T16:36:40","slug":"interweavings-22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2012\/07\/01\/interweavings-22\/","title":{"rendered":"Interweavings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beautiful July<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I look around me in my little corner of the world, summer’s bounty is evident! Such amazing beauty just waiting to be noticed.<\/p>\n

I am reminded of the different sayings I was raised hearing.
\nBeauty is as beauty does.
\nBeauty is in the eye of the beholder.<\/p>\n

How does beauty apply to real life? \u00a0And how does beauty present itself on our spiritual path? \u00a0It is one thing to create a sacred space for a ritual that is magnificent and inspires the energy of the work to increase. \u00a0I love altars filled with flowers and candles and sparkling crystals! \u00a0It is a feast for the senses! \u00a0But Monday morning does not inspire the same feelings \u00a0nor does Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. You get the point. \u00a0And don’t get me started on mundane things like trying on bathing suits! \u00a0There is a lesson in the everyday workings of our life.<\/p>\n

All magic, I believe, begins deep within the heart. The very center of being radiates outward until it emerges into the outer world. \u00a0I am quick to see the beauty in the smallest of creatures and the deep beauty of others. I can say I am a beautiful creation of Spirit, but if I can not look at myself in a bathing suit without a heavy sigh, then I am not truly seeing the beauty of this living creature.<\/p>\n

So how does beauty show up through us in the daily round we walk? \u00a0Are we kind to ourselves? \u00a0Are we surrounded with things in our home we feel are beautiful? \u00a0How about the clothing we put on our bodies? \u00a0Can we look past the obvious and see the true beauty of another? \u00a0Can we see our own beauty?<\/p>\n

A lovely ritual to try is a water blessing. \u00a0Begin by creating an altar to beauty in your bathroom. \u00a0It can be a shelf, a corner of a shelf, the back of the toilet, maybe the side of the tub. \u00a0Whatever brings you a sigh of joy is placed on this altar. I like a pretty shell holding a tea light with patchouli soap and a natural sea sponge. \u00a0A pink hand knit washcloth is the altar cloth. Lighting the candle and lowering the lights makes for a lovely space. \u00a0Now undress and see yourself in the flickering light. Only place your attention on the parts of your body you like. \u00a0Do you have lovely ankles? \u00a0Pretty eyes and hair, perhaps? Stay away from placing energy on areas that make you unhappy. \u00a0Now with gentle eyes truly see yourself as the beautiful expression of Spirit that you are. \u00a0Draw a bath, if possible, and step in to the water and allow all negative perceptions to flow into the healing water. \u00a0Sit and become as a water lily – grounded yet floating. \u00a0Take your time. \u00a0When you are ready to exit the bath, \u00a0gently dry yourself remembering that your \u00a0beauty radiates outward.<\/p>\n

With the bounty of July we can count ourselves as a part of natures gifts!
\nSee only beauty.
\nSpeak only beauty.
\nWalk in beauty, my friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beautiful July As I look around me in my little corner of the world, summer’s bounty is evident! Such amazing beauty just waiting to be noticed. I am reminded of the different sayings I was raised hearing. Beauty is as beauty does. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. How does beauty apply to real life? \u00a0And how does beauty present itself on our spiritual path? \u00a0It is one thing to create a sacred space for a ritual that is magnificent and inspires the energy of the work to increase. \u00a0I love altars filled with flowers and candles and sparkling crystals! \u00a0It is a feast for the senses! \u00a0But Monday morning does not inspire the same feelings \u00a0nor does Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. You get the point. \u00a0And don’t get me started on mundane things like trying on bathing suits! \u00a0There is a lesson in the everyday workings of our life. All magic, I believe, begins deep within the heart. The very center of being radiates outward until it emerges into the outer world. \u00a0I am quick to see the beauty in the smallest of creatures and the deep beauty of others. I can say I am a beautiful creation of Spirit, but if I can not look at myself in a bathing suit without a heavy sigh, then I am not truly seeing the beauty of this living creature. So how does beauty show up through us in the daily round we walk? \u00a0Are we kind to ourselves? \u00a0Are we surrounded with things in our home we feel are beautiful? \u00a0How about the clothing we put on our bodies? \u00a0Can we look past the obvious and see the true beauty of another? \u00a0Can we see our own beauty? A lovely ritual to try is a water blessing. \u00a0Begin by creating an altar to beauty in your bathroom. \u00a0It can be a shelf, a corner of a shelf, the back of the toilet, maybe the side of the tub. \u00a0Whatever brings you a sigh of joy is placed on this altar. I like a pretty shell holding a tea light with patchouli soap and a natural sea sponge. \u00a0A pink hand knit washcloth is the altar cloth. Lighting the candle and lowering the lights makes for a lovely space. \u00a0Now undress and see yourself in the flickering light. Only place your attention on the parts of your body you like. \u00a0Do you have lovely ankles? \u00a0Pretty eyes and hair, perhaps? Stay away from placing energy on areas that make you unhappy. \u00a0Now with gentle eyes truly see yourself as the beautiful expression of Spirit that you are. \u00a0Draw a bath, if possible, and step in to the water and allow all negative perceptions to flow into the healing water. \u00a0Sit and become as a water lily – grounded yet floating. \u00a0Take your time. \u00a0When you are ready to exit the bath, \u00a0gently dry yourself remembering that your \u00a0beauty radiates outward. With the bounty of July we can count ourselves as a part of natures gifts! See only beauty. Speak only beauty. Walk in beauty, my friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"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-6868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6868","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\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6868"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6674,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6868\/revisions\/6674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}