What if you do NOT have to stay afraid or angry during this current time of chaos? Are you disgusted with the corrupt leadership? What about people losing life-saving healthcare? We, witches, can recover our balance. Moonwater reveals essential actions so you CAN bring back your peace. Discover a prayer that comforts you – even when worries and fears abound. You can connect with the divinity that the Gods placed in you.
Big News! Now Available …Moonwater’s New BOOK World On Fire: How Witches and Wiccans Transcend Chaos and Find Their Peace.
Moonwater reveals how you can choose an identity, so you align with the divinity the Gods placed within you. She even shows how you can experience peace of mind with the “completion of a chapter of life.” Learn an empowering prayer to the Goddess.
“Oh, no! Did you see that? What an Idiot!” I said, driving, after ducking my car out of the way of an idiot-driver.
“I’m venting,” I said to my husband.
Later, I reflected on this.
Scott Cunningham wrote: “The magic begins in you … Words and actions are used as focal points or keys to unlock the power that we all possess.”
Here are two insights.
1. Carefully choose your venting and take a look at your perceptions
When, in frustration, I called another driver “an idiot,” I was venting. But was that all I was doing?
Upon reflection, I realize that I judged that person based on one action.
What if that person was a kind teacher, who was rushing to the hospital to visit her brother, who … ironically … was injured in a traffic accident?
It is possible that perceiving one as surrounded by idiots can cause trouble.
Our words are a form of magic.
Venting for five minutes is not driving our friends nuts by complaining for two hours.
Do you vent? Are you judging people and feeling bad as a result?
2. Ask Goddess to Help You Shift During Your Day
Here is a prayer you can use:
Goddess, Help me shift from judgment to compassion. Let me see the value in the other person, Even if I don’t see it now. Let me breathe in and out So my peace stays all day. So Mote It Be.
“I’ve reached the end of my rope,” my friend, Rhonda, said. “I can’t bend anymore. I can’t take any more.”
I nodded.
I saw it in Rhonda’s eyes. She knew that I understood.
That’s because she knew my story. During my first marriage, I told my husband that we needed to have food in the house. But he didn’t care. He took care of himself by buying fast food. And overspending on his own video games.
That, plus more details, inspired me to go for a real boundary of “I’m not going to live like this.” I filed for divorce. One of my best decisions.
I have insights for you.
1. State your boundary. Make it brief. Say, “I need this.”
During my first marriage, I would try to “make my case.” He did not listen. He did not care. Instead, I’ve learned to say, “I need this walkway clear.”
That’s the full thought.
I don’t need to plead and have to justify what I need.
I have worth as a human being. The Gods placed divinity within me. And within you.
“Live your earthly life fully, but try to see the spiritual aspects of your activities as well. Remember—the physical and spiritual are but reflections of each other.” – Scott Cunningham
2. Realize that your boundary mirrors boundaries in nature.
“We cannot and must not give love to others before we have respect and love for ourselves.” – Scott Cunningham
Realize that the Goddess wants your well-being.
I remember that the bark of a Redwood Tree is highly fire-resistant.
The bark protects the tree’s core. Redwoods can survive all but the most extreme fires.
Again, we, witches, learn from nature.
Maintain a good and strong boundary.
You, like the glorious Redwood Tree, are loved and valued by the God and Goddess.
Here is a prayer you can use.
Gods, Surround me with your protection, Like the mother bear who protects her young, Or the lion who protects his pride. Here me now, and surround me with your protection on this Day/Night! So Mote It Be!
“How much choice do we have?” my friend, Alex, asked.
“I always go back to what Doreen Valiente wrote in The Wiccan Rede: An it harm none, do what ye will.” I said.
Later, I reflected on this conversation.
I have two insights about this.
1. “An it harm none” includes you.
Sometimes, we must make the bold choice. Why? Because we might harm ourselves by “not even trying.” You might try a class. Or ask someone if they’d like to have coffee with you sometime.
Also, we must be careful of addictions.
My sweetheart is addicted to YouTube Shorts with golden retrievers and kittens (Don’t ask.)
So, when he needs more sleep, he promises two friends that he will avoid YouTube Shorts for the day. Then he avoids harming himself due to lack of sleep.
2. Think about what you really control.
I notice that stoicism emphasizes that we only really control our thoughts and responses.
Many external events, plus the opinions of others, are outside of our control.
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
We may not control our first thought.
But our second thought can be towards the Goddess.
You can use a prayer like this:
Goddess, Show me what I can change, and help me understand what is out of my control. Strengthen my virtue and my heart, For my love is strong for You. So Mote It Be.
The Triple Goddess symbol of the waxing, full, and waning moon over dark background. (Photo of the moon: NASA)
“I’m exhausted,” my friend, Amy, said. “Your Sjögren’s syndrome is a lot to bear,” I said.
Part of caring for my friends is to listen well. I ask questions, and they discover details for themselves.
I asked, “Would you be okay with exploring two ideas?” I waited. Maybe she was too tired at this moment on the phone.
“It’s okay,” she said.
“What does the fearful part of you say?” I asked.
“That I’m done. My life is going to stay in this box of illness. That I’m going to have this level of pain until I leave this planet.”
We talked some more.
A few minutes later, I asked, “What would Goddess say?”
This stumped her.
She paused.
I waited.
Eventually, she said that Goddess would encourage her. Goddess, would say, “Be compassionate with yourself. Because you are My child. Pain has different colors and textures. You’ll have times when you won’t think about the pain.”
Later, I reflected on this.
Often, I return to the words of the Goddess, in The Charge of the Goddess, as written by Doreen Valiente:
“Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. … Let My worship be within the heart that rejoices, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.” – The Goddess speaking in The Charge of the Goddess, written by Doreen Valiente
“I feel so vulnerable,” Sheri, a friend, said. I nodded. I deeply related to this. I reflected on this later.
What if we could align ourselves with Goddess? What if we could know Her power? And, we can!
Goddess and the God placed divinity within us. That is our essential identity. Yes, our essence.
Here is something that stands out: the Goddess’s Principles. Here is a definition of principle:
A principle is a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning. – Oxford Languages
We can find some of Goddess’s principles as she speaks in the writing of Doreen Valiente:
“Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever towards it; let naught stop you or turn you aside. … Let My worship be within the heart that rejoices, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.” – The Goddess speaking in The Charge of the Goddess, written by Doreen Valiente
Here is a prayer to support you in your own identity.
My Gracious Goddess, Show me my own beauty and strength, My own power and compassion, Let me strive for honor and humility, mirth and reverence in all I do. Let me see myself in You, and You in myself. So Mote It Be.
It happened again. I thought about something I regretted. It looked like I wouldn’t get sleep. Then I shifted my thoughts. I brought an image to my sleep-deprived mind. I am floating in the ocean. Peaceful. The waves softly flow. The Ocean is Goddess.
Eventually, I fall asleep.
Later, I reflected on this.
Here are two definitions:
“Regret is an emotion. It’s a negative emotion in that it’s an emotion that makes us feel worse, not better. And it’s an emotion that’s triggered when we think of something from our past and wish we had done something differently, done something in a different way, not done something, taken an action, not taken an action.” – Daniel Pink
“Shame is the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging.” – Brené Brown
Whoa! Stop!
Goddess put divinity within us. We ARE worthy of love and belonging. We belong to the Goddess.
I remember this quote:
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou
So I need to shift from regret to reflecting on what I may want to do differently in the future.
Here’s a prayer you can use.
Goddess, Let Your waters of love caress and flow within and without me. Let my shame and regret be washed from my mind, body, and soul. Soothe me, nourish me, and heal me. So Mote It Be.
At fourteen years old, I met the God and Goddess. It was a big surprise. Especially because I was on a retreat for a “conventional religious path.” The retreat leaders sent the attendees into the forest to have quiet time alone. (Well! They would have been surprised to hear about MY experience.)
I didn’t see the God and Goddess. I felt Their Prescence. The big difference was that my depression symptoms quieted down. Peace flowed over me.
Every day, my depression symptoms were like a rake clawing my arm. (But worse.)
Then, when the God and Goddess appeared … it was like I let out a big, cleansing sigh.
I have three insights for you.
Here are signs that you’re on the right path …
1. The Gods introduce themselves to you.
In my experience and that of others I know, the Gods appear in the time of silence. Some people get “auditory Guidance.”
My friend, Tiana, gets an “intuitive zing” up her back.
From experience, she knows that the Gods are supporting her and guiding her.
2. You see signs of affirmation.
Imagine you actually see signs that you’re on the right path.
You may see certain animals that represent the God and the Goddess. Perhaps, you’ll see a mature buck, raven, owl, white heron, or hawk. These animals are good signs that the Gods are guiding you.
3. You have a knowing or intuitive sense of what to do.
Sometimes, the Gods lead you through your intuition.
The first time I encountered a book about Wicca in a bookstore (I miss you Borders!) … I felt like I was coming home.
You may observe nature and feel a direct connection to something going on in your mundane life.
Have you suddenly felt relief? – like a weight lifted from your shoulder?
Or has your chest felt warm and full?
It can be different for each individual.
What we do observe is that one often needs to “go quiet” and “make space” for the knowing to appear.