Flame & Feather » Spirituality

Post-Agrarian Paganism

phoener — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:38:58 +0000

I’ve been listening to, and mulling over, Episode 10 of The Magical Earth podcast. This is produced by four witches in Ontario who initially complained that the Sabbats didn’t exactly match the seasons they were to celebrate. This is due not only to their Northern location, but to the phenomenon we’re experiencing, often called “Climate Change” or “Global Warming”. Also, as our culture becomes less linked to the Land, as we become more oriented to electronic careers and pasttimes and we feel more concrete and macadam beneath our synthetic soled-shoes, how can we as witches celebrate a cycle that features agriculture and fertility?

It isn’t all about literal sowing, fertility & harvest. The woods behind my home will green every spring whether I scatter seeds or not. Autumn has already begun to spread her warm colors over the trees, but I’ve never harvested a single berry or root. There are those, however, who have engaged in such activities in order to feed me, my family, and the extended family of humanity. There are even those who have striven to keep my food honest and wholesome, whether protesting against genetically-modified foods, or being careful about pesticides and fertilizers used in growing their crops.

I can’t say I can warm up to celebrating the cycle of office projects or creative pursuits. Gratitude for those who support our lives through their own efforts of growing and supplying sustenance can be my focus, as reflected in the Lady’s natural cycles of the woodland I cherish.

TUT

phoener — Sun, 10 May 2009 17:20:38 +0000

It stands for Totally Unique T-shirts, but it’s come to mean so much more. I love introducing people to www.tut.com. It’s Mike Dooley’s site, and I just love it.
Mike had a few brief appearances in the movie “The Secret”. His slant on The Law of Attraction is much more than wishing for a particular necklace. He’s truly more spiritual than the other “gurus” that appeared more heavily. Since he was also a businessman and CPA, he has the equivalent of a business plan to help you achieve the spiritual goals you desire.
Many of the gurus whose videos I’ve seen just rub me the wrong way, as if they are just in it for the money. Mike makes no bones about the fact that he never intended to shape his life in the image of what he’s currently got, but that as life filed out in this interesting way, he’s been thrilled and very happy at the results.
He doesn’t push a lot of “methods”, but he makes it clear that you cannot demand *how* you’re going to achieve your goals, but that you will.
I don’t know if anything I’ve put forward here makes sense, but do cut and paste www.tut.com into your browser, and see Mike’s Adventurer’s Club.
I’m an Adventurer. Join me.

Note: this was originally written April 30, but for some reason I didn’t publish it. I am doing so now.

Amazing Randy

phoener — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:02:31 +0000

I was listening to a podcast of Darkness Radio a few weeks ago, wherein a paranormal researcher had submitted a proof or perhaps it was an invention to The Amazing Randy. Randy totally misrepresented the researcher’s work in denying him the prize.

It then struck me: Randy’s function is to keep the boat from rocking, to keep the status quo, to operate for the corporate-government institutions.

Did electricity exist before Ben Franklin flew his kite? Did the Americas exist before Western Europe found them? Gravity? Sound waves? Solar power?

That which many of us call magic is also a force in the universe which is still “undiscovered”. There are many classes, websites, and CDs that explain how we can shape our own lives through mental exercises. (My favorite teacher is Mike Dooley, at www.tut.com.) And while I may not know how this works, I can still bend reality. I don’t know much about electricity, either, but I can flip a switch when the sun goes down.

Randy thwarts exploration of the psychic/paranormal aspects of reality and does us all a disservice.

About Flame & Feather

Phoener — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:08:06 +0000

This is a place for Paula, a.k.a. Phoenix (or Phoener), to discuss all of the knowledge accumulated in her mind, with the hopes of sharing, helping, healing, and growing along the way.