Yule Ritual

The Quarters

All hail the Northern darkened Earth resting deeply in silence and mystery. I awaken thee and call you here to witness this rite. Join us and be blessed.  [Colors: Brown]

All hail the Eastern skies of wind and storm. Bring with your winds the essence of pine and new growth. Settle here and witness this rite. Join us and be blessed.  [Colors: yellow or black]

All hail the Southern flames. Warm our hearts and bring with you the first glint of light as you witness this rite. Join us and be blessed.  [Colors: Red]

All hail the Western lakes and frozen streams. We welcome your waters as you witness this rite. May your waters soon flow warm and with bounty. Join us and be blessed. [Colors: Blue or yellow]

I invoke thee, o Lord and Lady. I invite you to attend and bless us. Our Circle is cast. (Light Silver & Gold Candles. You may wish to place these candles in a yule log)

On this, the longest winter night, we honor the rest only darkness can bring. We welcome the crone, in her wisdom, as we enter the time our land sleeps in its darkened promise.

For hail and well met, the Sun is reborn this night and brings the birth of new beginnings.

What beginnings do you wish to manifest in your life? The Suns rebirth brings transformation into our lives. Think about how your life can transform from the darkness...into the light.

Each of you, call your spirit guide. Join us and witness and guide us to new beginnings and growth in the coming seasons.

<Each call our guides>
I call the dragonfly whose power is in transformation. Help me to dig deeper into myself and reveal the emotions that lay dormant. I welcome your power of change as I adapt and form into a better version of myself.

If you do not know your guide, as that your guide attend you and reveal themselves. 

As we chase away the darkness so to I ask our troubles to go with the darkness. For with renewed light we have renewed life.

The Yule Tide Wishing Pot

Pick an oil such as pine, frankensense, juniper, sweet orange, or clove. In a large pan combine the oil and 1 cup water. Add orange peel, pine cones, poinsettia flowers, or evergreen needles to the water. (May prepare before ceremony) 

Brothers and Sisters, I ask you now to write one goal and one wish you would like to manifest into your life. Close your eyes and envision yourself manifesting this reality into your life as you place your wish in the wishing pot. (Dig a hole before ceremony in a sacred place)

Place the contents of the pot into the hole and say these words. 

I consecrate these offerings unto they mother's womb. May they bear fruit. Blessed Be.

All hail the Northern Earth, now lightened by the birth of our suns love. I thank you for witnessing this rite. As I release you, go in blessings of love and light.

All hail the Eastern Skies; now calmed and serene. I thank you for witnessing this rite. As I release you go in blessings of love and light.

All hail the Southern flames. As I extinguish your flame, your smoke continues to carry our words here today with you. Thank you for witnessing this rite. As I release you go in blessings of love and light.

All hail the Western lakes and frozen streams. May your waters continue to flow and nurture the land. Thank you for witnessing this rite. As I release you go in blessings of love and light.

I bid you farewell Lord and Lady. Stay if you will, go if you must. Blessings, Love, and Light to all. 

May the Actions I take Today, Bring a Better Tomorrow

How do your beliefs benefit you and society?

How do your beliefs benefit you and society?

This question was asked by SisterSolome on the ULC.net forum. It's inspired me to think, and to write. 

My first reaction was that my beliefs don't really benefit anyone. I'm not rich because I'm Wiccan. I can't caste a magick spell to win the lotto, no matter how much I've tried! The Universe doesn't work like that. If life were suppose to be easy for me, I'd have been born rich, or led a life that came to that end result. I realized I was thinking in terms of the material however. 

Taking into account the definition of "benefit: as verb (used with object), benefited or benefited, benefiting or benefiting.5.to do good to; be of service to:a health program to benefit everyone.

I have to say that I have certainly benefited. To be of service is certainly something that rings as important in my life. I'm drawn to helping others, to heal when I can, and to help teach. I hope that this blog has been a benefit to others, just as I have benefited from the various Pagan blogs I follow. The love of the Goddess is certainly a benefit for me. She helps guide, protect and comfort me when I need her love.

What about you? What benefit does your beliefs bring to your life and to society? 

Evoking Positive Change: College Bound

Like a butterfly in transformation, I too am changing. That change is for the better I hope. At the end of my journey I hope to be a better wife, mother, and professional person. I've enrolled in college again. When I was a senior in high school, I wasn't like the other students. I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up! I had no goals and no hope for the future. All I knew, is that I loved one man and couldn't wait to start my life with him.

I still love that man, but I need something else in my life. I need a career, not just a job. I need to provide for my family with more than just meeting the basic demands of life. I've tried once before and failed, but you know what they say, try try again. So on March 14th, I begin my first classes toward a degree in Health Information Management. 

Working in the HIM field has changed me into a person driven to thrive. It's given me a goal, a purpose beyond just being what I was. I like to help people, and I can do that here in a small way. I owe a lot to one of my very best friends, she has been an inspiration to me and my cheer leader. Thank you Mrs. K. You know who you are. :)



Lets keep the positive energy flowing. What goals have you set for yourself and what actions have you taken to meet them? 

Pagan New Year Resolutions

Who doesn't love a fresh new start? That's what's exciting about a new year. Anything can happen! Hopefully new positive change is on its way. Now that you've had a couple days to reflect and recover from the parties, have you reviewed your past resolutions? Did you achieve your goals?

I know some of them I did, some of them I didn't; and that's ok! Just because a year has past doesn't mean there's an expiration date on your goals. They're like roll over minutes. ;) As long as you keep working toward that goal, you're achieving it!

So do you have any spiritual related resolutions? I spoke in my last post about how I felt I was losing myself a bit. 2015 was a hard year for me. Due to severe migraines and suffering a hemorrhagic bleed, I gave up writing. I couldn't stand to look at a computer screen once I got home from work, let alone think of witty, substantial topics to write about. No worries, my brain is just fine. My migraines are under control with medication. I do have to do some testing to see if I have an underlying condition that caused the bleed, but I doubt it will be anything.

What I do have to do, is get back to my old self! Recovering from a brain bleed, however minor, is still a long process. So my first goal, is to get back to writing! I love to write, and I hope that my topics bring something to your life you enjoy.

Secondly , I need to meditate daily. This is something I've been telling myself I don't have time for because of children and a crazy house. But if I can eek out 10 minutes of quiet time it can be done. It doesn't have to be much. :)

3rd and final goal, is to stop being so negative. I think I've become a bit of a grouch. It probably came with the non stop migraines I had for years. Pain can make you bitchy.  I think more positive energy needs to be drawn to this household.

What about you my lovelys? Share with me your resolutions, goals, or just your thoughts.

My Inner Strength- Reminding myself to Shine

So long time blog followers would have realized I haven't written much in awhile. That's because I started losing a bit of myself I think. It started by chipping away at my soul, bit by bit. You think you're on solid ground, and then your solid foundation is ripped from beneath your feat and you're left with a happy fucker laughing his ass off that you've fallen.


I work more than the average person does, and that certainly had something to do with this downward spiral. Everything has submerged into one huge breakdown. When I moved to Ohio in 2011, my mother kept my dog (Kota) because I couldn't stand the thought of rehoming her. My idea was to come here, get on my feet, and I'd eventually get her back. However 4 years here and still were not financially stable enough to afford a dog, and Kota's health declined due to her environment and no vet care.

I decided to put Kota into a rescue after seeing how bad she was getting and knowing I couldn't do anything about it. It took her 4 months to heal from staff infections. And I definitely blame myself. My friends and family would have me not do that, but there is no one else to blame. Sometimes  a spade is a spade. I've had dogs my entire life, and I've realized something. None of them lived a natural long life in my care. So I am admitting I'm just not a good pet parent, and deciding not to get another dog. That hurts my heart. Because right now with what I'm going through, the love of a pet could really help.

Last Friday was especially hard when I got the message that Kota was adopted. While it's good that she will now live out the rest of her life being taken cared for and loved, I'm sad that it's not with me.

My health has also declined in recent months. I started to get frequent headaches that come and go. I wear sunglasses more often than not, even on cloudy days and loud noises is my own personal torture chamber.

June 29th I had a mini brain bleed. Neurologist are unsure why it happened. There is likely an underlying reason that still needs to be found out through tests.

For now I'm on migraine medication that's helping. While waiting in line at the pharmacy, a little lightening bug decided to land right in front of my face. Now if that isn't a sign I don't know what is.

Lighting bugs not very exciting as far as totems go, but they remind us that they have an inner strength that makes them shine. And that's what I've always had. No matter what, I've listened to my inner voice to help guide me.

 Throughout this year I've felt something was wrong, even when doctors were telling me it was nothing. Advocating for myself has been a big challenge. It's often hard for me to speak up for myself. I know that I have more challenges ahead. More decisions will need to be made. All I can do, is keep my inner shine. :)  

Spring Celebration:Hiding the Goodies

Hello Everybody!

I bet you think I jumped off the face of the Earth. Well, I'm here.I decided to go offline for awhile. I'm still off most of the time. I did figure out I can make my phone a hot spot though. Which gives me email, FB and basic internet on my tablet. So good enough. 

Today we are celebrating Easter/Spring Equinox (So other family can be with us) with a little tradition my mother reminded me about. She use to hide our baskets in the house, sit back, and let us kids try to find them. I felt it was torture, she thought it was a morning of hilarity. 

I decided to write a little poem that I will recite to the kids just before I turn them loose in the house to hunt their prey. I hope you like it. 

Dear Children, 

I was reminded that your grandmother was devious. She sat and watched as her children got serious. We pleaded and pried, but no candy was in sight. Oh how I hated your grandmother, alright.

Now my children you see, I’m the mom and its time to play. I get to eat, watch and plan devious ways. For your candy is hidden, and I won’t tell you which way. 

So go find it I say. Look every which way. High and Low, Momma likes it this way. 

No pleading, no prying, no hints for you. Its more devious you see. Don’t forget to thank grandma too.

-Robin LC

Imitation The Best Form Of Flattery?

They say imitation is the best form of flattery, except when that imitation is out to prey on the unsuspecting.

First let me say that I have been a minister since 2003 of the Universal Life Church. I was ordained through ULC.net, which is an official branch of the ULC headquarters located in Modesto, CA.

However when I first became ordained, it was only luck that I found the right ULC to become ordained under. Unfortunately there are those who do not uphold Kirby Hensley's vision of a free and ethical church. There are some who call themselves the "real" ULC that will try to charge you out the wazoo for ordination and bad mouth ULC.net, and Modesto. 

Recently I was contacted by a representative of a break-away Universal Life Group calling themselves a world headquarters located in Florida. This person has been banned from my blog. I just want to warn others out there who are seeking ordination to be careful. ULC.net is completely safe and if you have any questions, you can always email me. 

For more information read, "The Truth About Universal Life Church."

My email

Biting my tongue till it bleeds.

For most of my adult life I have had cerain rules when it comes to conversation with coworkers. A couple of those rules is to not speak of religion or politics. That becomes difficult when your coworkers constantly talk about those topic. So here's how the conversation went down the other day.

Coworker= C
C1: You know the birth of Christ didn't even happen in December. They say it was likely in the spring. (I'm thinking, if you know this, why celebrate?)

C2: says, you know the holiday replaced another holiday. Some such Satanist holiday. (Big eye roll from me at this point.)

 At this time I was clearing my desk and preparing to leave work to travel to another work site. I needed to take my laptop. However, as much as I like to maintain control, I could not. I rather snipily said, as I walked out the door, that it is called Yule, and it is  Pagan, not satanic. To which point C2 says "are you sure?". I just wanted to laugh in his face and tell him exactly why I was sure. I did not though, because that would just make me their target.

So instead I walked out in a huff, only realizing belatedly that I walked out without my laptop. So i had to do the walk of shame back to the office lol oh well, I needed to say it. Sometimes idiodic comments can't be ignored no matter how much I bite my tongue.

Merry Yule To All

Hello good people,

I know I haven't written to you in awhile. I'm very busy with my new job and with life. We've had some car trouble lately, but otherwise my family is doing very well. We will actually have a good yule this year. We won't open presents till Xmas though so other family can be involved. How are you? Check in and let me know what is happening in your life.

Robin

Separation of Church and Work Place

Years ago I came to the conclusion that religion and the work place just do not mix. I came to that conclusion because one of my co-workers was spreading lies about me and my beliefs. He almost got us both fired. So from then on I just refused to speak of religious beliefs (Neither my own nor anyone elses) in the work place. I also added politics on there for good measure.

Some of you know that I started a new job recently. I work at the local hospital in the medical records dept. The atmosphere of the office is not the greatest, and that is in part due to one lady whose whole life seems to revolve around her spiritual beliefs. Now I'm all for devotion, but if you must refer to your beliefs in almost every conversation, then it's a bit too much.

I recently asked members of my Pagan Fellowship Group how they deal with co-workers who can't seem to separate their spirituality from their workplace. Here are a few quotes.

I would quote my dad "never talk about sex, drugs, politics, or religion in mixed company its just rude". That usually shuts them up... ~ Chastity

I can be pretty ruthless, but I have a right to peace as much as anyone else. Sometimes you have to play hardball in order for people to get it that it's not okay to bully someone over their beliefs. ~ Kristy

It's best to just work and help each other, and then share beliefs while we break bread with people off-site or at their homes when invited, and try to make friends who care about the person more than their spiritual beliefs.  ~ULC Inter-tribal

 For myself, I have avoided speaking of religion, and that is what I will continue to do for now. But there will come a time when she will ask me a direct question about my beliefs. So, how do you deal with coworkers preaching at work?

It Can't Rain All The Time

Finally, after two years of searching I've found a job. I also think its a keeper. It's in the same field as my previous job, the pay is higher, but so is my commute distance. I was freaking out trying to find child care for my son, but I think I've figured something out. It may be short term, so we'll see.

All I know is that I report to my new job Monday, and I have somewhere for my son to be that day. One day and one step at a time right?

It feels like we're coming out of a massive storm that's just beginning to ease up. Anyway, I haven't time to write this out as eloquently as I normally would try to do. So I'll just give a sigh of relief and hope for the best come Monday.

New Changes

Sparkpeople.com

So last week I had some blood work done and part of it wasn't good. It's not too alarming, but it can change into something bigger if I ignore it. I really don't want to look back in twenty years thinking I could have saved myself a lot of health problems if only I'd lost weight.
So, I'm making some life changes. I'm trying to eat a bit healthier and loose the weight. I am a member of Sparkpeople.com. If you're a member, feel free to add me.

School is in full swing here and with my current weight loss goal and taking care of the kids I am busier than usual. As you know Sierra is in K12 6th grade. We're doing Algebra, and that is by far one of the worst subjects ever! I'm learning right along with her.

I also signed up my son on ABCMouse.com. He seems to enjoy the story time and games. :) So in a way I'm now "home schooling" two kids. Though Wyatt's attention span is short, so he only gets 30 mins on the PC before he's ready to quit.

As far as blogging, I've lost my muse for now. I'm sure it'll be back, so keep watching for more updates.

Blessings, Love, and many light filled days to you.

SWC

New School Year, New Approach

Sierra at recess today.

So today marks the first day my daughter attends 6th grade with K12's Ohio Virtual Academy. This is her second year with them. Last year she came in late, in September, and we were constantly feeling like we were behind. I also had problems with my daughter goofing off behind my back.

Wyatt loves playing at the park.

This year I vowed to not repeat last years mistakes. So we've made a couple changes. First of all, coming in at the beginning of the year is a huge help. I know that if we get our five hours (minimum) done each day we are on track. Today we logged ten hours just because she had completed a few things before the actual school year began that I could not credit till the first day. 

I also blocked all other websites besides educational ones using a program called K9 Web Protection. She needs my password (which she does not know) before she can go to other websites. Less goofing off means we are done earlier in the day, and then both mama and child is happy.

Of course there is the usual first day glitches. Her class connect didn't want to open for us today. After clearing the cache' we finally got it working, and we were able to "meet" her teachers and learn about what is expected of us this year.

For those parents who are interested, or are just starting your K12 journey, do you have any questions I can answer? 

 You can ask them here, or go to my Cafemom's K12 Virtual Academy Group.

Ritual: Wants vs. Needs

Do you do ritual only when you need something? This is kind of the equivalent of someone who only calls family and friends when they want something. I try not to do that, in either case.

Image Source (Not a picture of my bell. It's just similar)

Yet I'm faced with wanting to do a bit of magick in the near future. I'd do it tonight but I'm not fully clear on what I'm doing yet. I have this pentacle with bells hanging from it that I've had in my car for years. I consider it my safety talisman.

We've had some things going on with our cars and stuff related to transportation. Not good things either. A lot of it is our own fault and I fully take the blame. Yet I'm not quite sure how we are going to dig ourselves out of the hole we've made.
So I know I want to bring the pentacle inside and work a little magick with it. It definitely is over due to charge it.

Do you keep something in your car as a safety measure? More than once that bell has rung to remind me to be aware. Usually it was right before some idiot ran a red light or something. If I hadn't been aware, I may have been in their way.

Fully Embracing the Mother

Sorry I've been quiet lately. I just haven't really had anything to say lately, until now. I've been thinking about the three aspects of women; Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

The Triple Goddess

My daughter has become a young maiden. :) She's growing up so fast. It makes me look back when I was the maiden and see how the decisions I made affected my life. I don't believe I would change much. I'd perhaps shake the younger me and tell me to quite being naive. But perhaps the young need to be a little naive to learn and grow.

My son, bless his little heart, is growing up so fast as well. We are nearing the end of our breast feeding journey. He hardly ever wants to nurse now. I still have a little milk, but its not as much as I use to have. This makes me a bit sad, and makes me realize that while I still have many years of parenthood left, I'm getting ever closer to entering the crone stage. It's not that I don't want to be the wise woman. And indeed I think every aspect should be embraced. It's just I don't want to be older. Ah if we all could grab that miracle anti-aging serum. lol

I wanted to do something special to mark my daughters entrance into maidenhood, and of my sons passing from babe to little man. There is something sacred about the milk we give our babies. They call it liquid gold, and indeed it is that. It's life sustaining - a mothers bounty.

So I will express as much milk as possible, and offer it to the Lord and Lady as a symbol of our bounty and love as a thank you for all that we have in our life, and as a symbol for the bounty that we have yet to receive.

The milk of plenty is indeed sacred.

Blessed Be my dear readers.

The Power of Magick & Non-Believers

~Magickal Graphics~

I ran across this article on About.com titled, "Does Magic Have Power if Someone Doesn't Believe?"

I thought this would be an interesting discussion. My thoughts are that magic is energy. Whether it is positive or negative depends on the person sending it out. Someone who has no belief in deity or magic at all still sends out energy. So I think this is evidence that yes, magick still has power over those who are non-believers and that energy does return to them.

However, I do believe because they've closed themselves off to the possibility of magick, that they've also created a barrier that "keeps out" to some extent, positive and negative energy. So basically they've made it harder for the energy flowing to them to manifest a change in their life.

What do you believe? Does magick hold power for non-believers?

Foraging.. and Remembering The Past

The other day I found wild blackberry bushes along the backyard fence line. They may appear to be everyday berries. But these are magic berries! At least for me they are, because they bring back a lot of happy childhood memories for me.

I grew up in a little poor town called Bloomingsburg, Ohio. Where I lived we also had a fence line. All along that fence grew blackberry bushes. In the summer, once they had ripened, my mom would hand me a big bowl and tell me to go fill it up. So my best friend Joey and I would spend all day outside picking these berries. My hands would be stained from the berries by the time I was done. The end result was a yummy blackberry pie my mom baked for us.

Not all of the berries are ripe yet, so I wasn't able to get a whole lot today. That's okay, I wanted just enough to put in the bread pudding I'm making. I just love going foraging and finding sweet things to eat. :)

I did forget that blackberry bushes have thorns. Ouch! My poor fingers. 

What have you done today?

The Powers That Be Smile

Today started like any other day when my Dh is off work. He waits impatiently for me to wake up. Then announces he is hungry. He went to the store for me and when he got back I started cooking breakfast. Today was bacon, eggs, and toast.

The eggs we had are store bought, so imagine my surprise when I got a double yolked egg. I looked up the odds, it's 1 in 1000. So imagine my uber-super surprise when tonight, I cooked more eggs (had egg and bologna sandwiches) and I got another double yolk in the same carton.

Image Source

Then Dh had a butterfly land on his hand. Butterfly's are a sign of transformation and change.

We had to run an errand today, so we ended up missing a call about a job for Lance. We'll call them Monday. So hopefully that isn't too late. Oh I hope this works out. Our errand was about re-doing our certification to be in this low-income apartment. We were just saying today that we couldn't believe its been a year, and that we hoped we wouldn't have to be here another year. I hope that wish is coming true.

Keep all your fingers and toes crossed for us!

Thanks Ender pup for the title inspiration.

Have A Great 4th Y'all

I have to admit I did not even realize it was Independence day when my friends started talking about it yesterday. They just mentioned the fourth and I was asking what was so special about it. I blame it on hibernating at home and not really doing anything. My disconnect from the world is complete when I don't even know the date. lol

We're not doing anything special either. Dh had to work today, and so does his mother and step-father. So it's not really a holiday for me. But for all of you reading this, have a wonderful Independence day.

 

Magickal Graphics

 Here's some fireworks from last year, taken in Chillicothe, Ohio.