Oh NO! I'm not a Witch!

Just a little humor today. I so can not fold fitted sheets! Guess that means I'm not a witch. I didn't realize perfectly folded fitted sheets were the distinguishing characteristic of a witch. Oh wow my mother-in-law really is a witch! 

Church is not Exclusively Christian

"How can you go to church if you're not Christian?"

This question was asked of me recently when I was speaking of going to church. It seems some people (even some fellow Pagans) associate church with Christian worship. Now this is not my normal term to use when speaking of gathering with Pagans. In this instance it is the term used by the person organizing the gathering, so it's the term I used when speaking of it.

A church is defined as: (source)

1.

a building for public Christian worship.

2.

public worship of God or a religious service in such a building: to attend church regularly.

3.

 the whole body of Christian believers; Christendom.

4.

 any division of this body professing the same creed and acknowledging the same ecclesiastical authority; a Christian denomination: the Methodist Church.

5.

that part of the whole Christian body, or of a particular denomination, belonging to the same city, country, nation, etc.

Even our dictionaries have a difficult time separating one religion from the term. However in this instance I am using the word as a description of a group of people believing in the same creed, gathering in one place to worship.  

Do you see "church" as a Christian-only term? 

Do you have a problem with Pagans using Church to describe group gatherings? 

Kindness Will Make you Random

Image/Story source

In this day and age when teens are dying from bullying and the ever increasing mental health related suicides, you'd think a school Dean would praise a young lady trying to spread love throughout her school. Not this Dean apparently.

Do you have a habit of putting yourself down? Do your teens put themselves down? Well this young lady was sick of hearing her peers talk about their faults. So she wrote 1,986 sticky notes, all saying, "You're beautiful."

This random act of kindness was awarded with one pissed off Dean bent on suspension, and even more teens and some teachers forming a petition to keep this special young lady in school. Their petition worked.

Even more fantastic is that another young depressed lady was going to commit suicide that day. Because of one little note, she found the hope and will to go on.

See how one small deed makes a world of difference?

Have you ever made a random act of kindness? 

 

Do you believe your kids would practice random acts of kindness?

Emotional & Spiritual Poverty

The past two Saturdays I have attended Inanna's Spiritual Center. Rev. Lynn Hoover and a few of her other ordained ministers do a sermon every Saturday. If you happen to be in Chillicothe, Ohio stop by! [Sorry for shameless plug]

The past two Saturdays have been about the many different types of poverty.
When we think of poverty we think solely of finances. However that is not the only type of poverty. The other types of poverty are social, emotional, spiritual, and physical poverty. 

Today Rev. Lynn focused on the emotional and spiritual side of poverty. The congregation was asked a question.

"Do we suffer from emotional or spiritual poverty?" (I'm paraphrasing here btw.)

This question really reminded me of my mother and all physically and emotionally abused women in the world. The mindset of women needing a man to take care of you is still a solid belief among many women. My own mother has been with a man for over 30 years who is emotionally abusive at times. She would never choose to leave because she has no confidence in herself as a single woman. She relies on men too much.

Emotional Poverty

It's a lifestyle that I myself at 15 yrs old was on. I believed I needed a man to love me to have self worth. Then a very wise and handsome man told me that, "If I can find no love within then I would not find love with another."

I'm a very smart chick indeed, because I married that man. ;) But only after putting that advice into action. I think society puts down anyone who would put themselves above others. We're almost expected to be martyrs for others happiness. It is not shameful to love yourself above others. Yes our children and family are our most beloved. However, you should love yourself just as much. If you can do this, you will never suffer emotional poverty.

Spiritual Poverty

As for spiritual poverty, along with that love for myself I found that I could finally accept the love of spirit. I think I felt unworthy of Lord & Lady's love before then. In a way it is a giving up of past emotional baggage and judgements.

Are you spiritually and emotionally poor? If you are not, have you been in the past and what did you do to overcome your difficulties?

Ramblings of a Pagan house wife.

My thoughts are in a bit of a disorganized mess. But I'm going to attempt to put them down here. If this post doesn't make any sense to anyone else but myself, I apologize.

Homeschooling is going well, but I feel like we don't have enough time in our day. I want to add more things to our schedule such as sewing, crochet, and daily exercise. I've been put in charge of a K12 Virtual Academy group on Cafemom. I'm enjoying helping the group become more active. I do this while Sierra is doing her lessons and she is able to work alone btw.  I've thought about getting up earlier but I can't force myself to because I always end up staying up late at night with Wyatt.

*     *     *

I've been thinking a lot about my maternal grandmother. I never really knew her. When I was about 4 or 5 she died. I think she had heart disease. Which makes me think of my own mother. I haven't seen her in two years. While I'm not the type to cling to my mother, I do miss her. I also miss my dog who lives with my mom.

*     *     *

I've also had a lot of bad dreams lately. I started to make a dream catcher for myself but of course Sierra has to poke her nose in and want it. So I just gave up and gave it to her. We still have to finish it today as part of her art project.

*     *     *

Yesterday I wanted to get out of the house so my kids and I went to Inanna's Spiritual Center. The topic of the day was about poverty, which wasn't terribly interesting to me since I've lived in poverty and don't particularly like to think about it.

After the service the temple owner wanted to brain storm on ways to advertise the center for free or low cost. My suggestion was to do trade shows and festivals. So we'll see if she does that. Hopefully she does.

She also mentioned that I should get away, and that she was planning another woman's retreat in a few months. I don't know about going because I honestly don't get along with a lot of women. I'm one of those women who make friends with men before I'll make friends with another woman. But she is right, I need time to just be me. Not mom, not wife, just ME!

What are you up to this weekend? 

Paying it forward: Book Giveaway!

I was just going through my magical books and noticed I have two Magical Herbalism books by Scott Cunningham. So my darlings I've decided to pay it forward! This is an older publication so the book is a little weather beaten but in fair condition. Please limit entries to only those within the continental United States.

Use Rafflecopter below to enter. Your options to Enter are by commenting below, liking my page on FB, and tweeting about this giveaway. Winner will be chosen in one month (Feb 4th) by Rafflecopter. 

Magical Herbalism. The Secret Craft of the Wise by Scott Cunningham.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Gift of Giving & my Apartment Altar

So I wanted to announce that tomorrow I will be starting another giveaway! I've only done one other giveaway and it went well so I decided another book of mine needs a new home. It has a twin sister and mama doesn't need two of the same book. The giveaway beings tomorrow where I'll reveal the book title in another post so stay tuned for that! 

I've gone several years without having a permanent altar set up. I've always packed mine away because I have little kids who loves to touch items. I have found a new way to have my altar and kids too.

My MIL brought me this cabinet on wheels. It has a counter top with collapsible sides so I can keep it small or make it a bit larger when needed. The cabinet opens and I have two shelves. I turn it around so it's facing the wall so the kids can't open the doors. When I need it I just expand the sides, turn it around, and set my altar up on the top. It also has wheels so I can roll it anywhere in the house I'd like. It's neat what you can do with a cabinet isn't it?!

What crafty things have you been up to lately?

Are Pagan Parents Crunchy?

"Are Pagan parents automatically considered crunchy parents?"

So what is a crunchy parent? Well a crunchy parent is someone who is very minimalistic and likes to get back to the basics. They usually believe in cloth diapering, baby wearing, AP parenting, breastfeeding, and attachment parenting. There's a certain "hippy aspect" to crunchy parenting.

Hey nothing wrong with being a bit hippy. I think most Pagans already believe in getting back to basics and are very environment conscious so it is pretty easy to make choices to switch to cloth diapers and forgo the millions of diapers going to the landfill. However that doesn't mean Pagan parents will embrace every aspect of crunchy parenting. Just because you don't embrace a particular aspect of the crunchy lifestyle also doesn't mean you're not a crunchy parent.

Take Kara Kay's video for instance. In her video she explains the ways she is not embracing the crunchy lifestyle.

So am I crunchy? I've never really considered myself so until recently. Lets make a list.

1. I cloth diaper
2. Home school
3. Recycle cans and use my own bags and/or request some things not to be bagged. 
4. Breastfeed my LO (19 months now) 
5. Try to grow herbs. Hey its the thought that counts right? 
6. No CIO. Though we did do CIO with my oldest. 
7. Use herbs medicinally. 

Ways I am not crunchy?

1. My cloth diapers do come from China (for the most part). 
2. I use non-green chemicals to clean my house. Though using vinegar or baking soda is sometimes all I need.
3. I believe in discipline in the home. Kids don't get away with much in my home. Spanking is never completely out of the question, though used sparingly. I'm definitely not the AP parent type.
4. Tried baby wearing but it hurt my back. Hey you try having huge babies with a bad back. It hurts like hell. 

I'm sure there's more I could add to that list, but I'll stop there.

Are you a crunchy parent? Do you think crunchy parenting would fit well into your Pagan lifestyle? Feel free to use this as a blog prompt.