The Path
How did you find the Wiccan faith? Was it through a personal connection or was it through a book or website?
Wiccans until recently were hard to find. Many followers of the path work in secret, in the shadows. Why have all the secrecy?
This secrecy was vital because throughout history and even to this present day Wiccans (and other pagans) have been and continue to be discriminated against.
Face it, we are still a minority faith in this world. Most practitioners prefer to stay in the shadows because of the possibility of retaliation and prejudice found in family, school, work, and the general public. We know too well that there are general misconceptions and fear about the Craft. So many Wiccans practice in the shadow. (After all, I call my blog and my book The Hidden Children of the Goddess.)
So how is one to find a reliable teacher while so many teachers practice in the shadows?
You need some initial education. Books can be a great way to start. Read a bunch of books and you will start to see a pattern. Your intuition will alert you to who really knows valuable material and who may be offering faulty information.
Here is a good reading list to start your path. Those of you who have been on the path for a time may want to revisit some of these books. It’s important to have a good foundation in the Craft before moving on to the more advanced practices.
Reading List:
I invite you to consider my book:
SilverClaw, Moonwater. The Hidden Children of the Goddess: Embrace Wicca, Become Strong, Be at Peace with Yourself and the World Around You, QuickBreakthrough Publishing (October 31, 2013)
And here are more books:
Buckland, Ray. Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, 2nd Edition. Llewellyn Publications, 2002.
Buckland, Ray. Practical Color Magick. Llewellyn Publications, 1999.
Castleman, Michael. The New Healing Herbs, The Essential Guide To More Than 125 of Nature’s Most Potent Herbal Remedies. Rodale Inc 2009.
Cunningham, Scott. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. Llewellyn Publications, 1989.
Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, Expanded & Revised Edition. Llewellyn Publications; 1st edition (October 1985).
Ferrar, Janet and Stewart. Eight Sabbats for Witches, Revised Edition. Phoenix Publishing, WA, 1988.
Ferrar, Janet and Stewart. The Witches’ God: Lord of the Dance. Phoenix Publishing, WA, 1989.
Ferrar, Janet and Stewart. The Witches’ Goddess: The Feminine Principle of Divinity. Phoenix Publishing, WA, 1987.
Ferrar, Stewart. What Witches Do. Robert Hale, 2010.
Fitch, Ed. A Grimoire of Shadows: Witchcraft, Paganism & Magick. Llewellyn Publications, 1996.
Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, A New Abridgement from the 2nd and 3rd Editions. OxfordUniversityPress, USA, 2009.
Gardner, Gerald. High Magic’s Aid. Aurinia Books, 2010.
Gardner, Gerald. The Meaning of Witchcraft. Red Wheel/Weiser, 2004.
Gardner, Gerald. Witchcraft Today. Citadel, 2004.
Giles, Cynthia. The Tarot: History, Mystery, and Lore. Touchstone, 1994.
Graves, Robert. The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, Amended and Enlarged Edition. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1966.
Leland, Charles G. Aradia or The Gospel Of The Witches. Kessinger Publishing LLC, 2010.
Lipp, Deborah. The Way of Four: Create Elemental Balance in Your Life. Llewellyn Publications, 2004.
Marcoux, Tom. Darkest Secrets of Spiritual Seduction Masters: How to Protect Yourself, Boost Your Psychological Immune System and Strengthen Your Spirit. Tom Marcoux Media, LLC, 2011.
McCoy, Edain. Sabbats: A Witch’s Approach to Living the Old Ways. Llewellyn Publications, 2001.
Murray, Margaret Alice. The God of the Witches. NuVision Publications, 2009.
Neal, Carl. The Magick Toolbox: The Ultimate Compendium for Choosing and Using Ritual Implements and Magickal Tools. Samuel Weiser, 2004.
Russell, Jeffrey B. and Alexander, Brooks. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics & Pagans, 2nd Edition. Thames & Hudson, 2007.
Starhawk. The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess: 20th Anniversary Edition. HarperOne, 1999.
Sylvan, Dianne. The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition. Llewellyn Publications, 2003.
Tognetti, Arlene. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Tarot, 2nd Edition. ALPHA, 2003.
Tognetti, Arlene and Flynn, Carolyn. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Tarot Spreads Illustrated. ALPHA, 2006.
Valiente, Doreen. An ABC of Witchcraft Past and Present. Phoenix Publishing, WA, 1988.
Valiente, Doreen. Natural Magic. Robert Hale, 1999.
Valiente, Doreen. Witchcraft for Tomorrow. Robert Hale, 1993.
Wood, Robin. Robin Wood Tarot: The Book. Robin Wood Enterprises, 1998.
Wood, Robin. When, Why … If. Robin Wood Enterprises, 1997.
Once you have read a number of books, you will have a basic familiarity with the Craft. Next, find a mentor in the particular Tradition (type) of Wicca you want to study.
The Witches’ Voice (witchvox.com) is a great place to read more articles and to network for new connections. You can find people who have taken the giant step (and risks) to be known in the community.
Observe carefully. Use your basic familiarity with the Craft and your intuition to find someone who you feel is a good match for your next steps in learning.
Each Tradition does the Craft a little differently. It’s not that one particular Tradition’s ritual is “wrong” compared to another Tradition. There are many ways of doing the same thing correctly.
How did you come to know the Craft? Let me know in the comments section. Thank you.
Blessings,
Moonwater
Waiting for Guidance?
Have you recently had to make some choices that brought you stress?
Stress can tell us a lot. We can see what is important to us. In this way, stress can actually guide us to the secrets of our hearts. How? We wouldn’t be feeling stressed out about something if we didn’t think it is important and it’s being threatened.
Once we know what we value, we can better set our course through life.
You see, what we need is clarity.
This is where the Gods can help.
If you’re under pressure and feeling the burden of stress, you can ask the Gods for clarity.
Why is clarity so important? When you can see things clearly, you can make a plan and take appropriate action. Those two things will reduce your stress.
One of the best ways to do that is through meditation. Here is a simple meditation to ask the Gods for their guidance.
For all meditations, follow these simple guidelines.
Asking the Gods for Guidance – The Meditation
Start by breathing in and out deeply.
With each breath in, pull in relaxation.
With each breath out, release the stresses of the day.
Visualize breathing in the light of the Gods, soothing you.
And picture that with each breath out, you’re expelling a black cloud of stress.
Keep breathing–in and out, in and out.
And as you keep breathing in and out deeply,
Notice now that the light begins to fade around you.
Slowly at first, it gets darker and darker — until you are in total darkness, and you’re feeling safe and secure in the darkness.
Then . . . a new light blooms around you, slowly at first, but gradually it gets brighter and brighter.
You see that you are in the middle of a circle of standing stones. This great henge protects you from all bad entities.
In the middle of this henge rests a large stone altar. You walk to it and sit in front of the altar.
Now you ask the Gods for their guidance.
As you sit, you notice two loving energies beside you.
One is the Goddess and the other one is the God.
You ask them for their help and they lovingly answer your request.
(Pause for a time to hear their guidance.)
Having gifted you with their guidance, they bid you farewell.
Now it’s time to return from where you came.
Notice the light starts to dim until you are in total darkness, where you feel safe and secure.
Then . . . a familiar light returns, slowly at first, but gradually it gets brighter and brighter.
Open your eyes; you are back in the room and safe.
Note: After completing your meditation, light a candle to the Gods to thank them for their guidance.
With the Gods help, you make great decisions, creating your life of happiness.
The Gods are always there to help you. All you need is to ask for their help. You can go to them for help about anything you need.
Knowing this now, what guidance would you seek from the Gods?
Blessed Be,
Moonwater
Have a happy Samhain! May your family, from now to past, be blessed on this Sabbat.
Blessings,
Moonwater
RedwoodTree
Have you noticed that certain small things can grow much larger in your life? Think of a seed that eventually grows into a mighty redwood tree.
Decisions are like seeds. They have the potential to grow into something so much bigger.
I remember an important seed in my life: my decision to learn about one particular word—Wicca. From there I grew in my practice to become a Wiccan priestess.
My first decision, like a seed, grew into my life path.
Think about your decisions. What have you grown in your life?
Further, imagine looking at a cross section of a redwood tree. You’d notice the rings of the tree that reveal its lifecycle.
Now, think of these rings as different layers just like your life has different layers or stages.
At each “ring” or life stage, we’re making new decisions.
Some decisions make us resilient like a redwood tree. When there’s a fire in a forest, a tree may be damaged. After the trauma has passed, the redwood tree may bear the scars. But this tree can bounce back and become bigger and mightier than before.
You can, too! In Wicca, we use the tools of meditation and the Gods’ guidance to become that mighty redwood.
In the recent couple of days, I have been camping among redwood trees. A park ranger told me that the cones of a redwood tree need the heat of a forest fire in order to open and release their seeds. What a vivid image. Trauma can be used for new life.
A major trauma in your life can create new growth for you personally. With each wrong choice or even a disaster, we have the potential to grow to our mightiest form.
Redwood trees teach us much about personal growth, and they can teach us a great deal more.
Blessings,
Moonwater
Candle
What do you want? Have you tried to coach yourself to change your own behavior?
Some people attempt to push themselves with statements like: “I’m a thin person.”
Well, I’ll tell you the truth. When I tell myself, “I’m a thin person,” my brain yells at me: “Oh, yeah! Look in the mirror!”
The phrase “I’m a thin person” is called an affirmation. In essence, a person tries to “affirm” something that currently is not true.
No wonder so many people say, “Affirmations don’t work for me.”
This bothered me so I came up with some new ideas before I gave my recent workshop on October 19th. The tool I created is a Pattern-Affirmation. (In discussion with my friend Tom Marcoux, he gave me two labels “Pattern-Affirmation” and “Wish-Affirmation” to add to my thoughts).
In essence, a Wish-Affirmation is truly a standard affirmation that people try to use, often with disappointing results.
A Wish-Affirmation is: “I’m a thin person.”
On the other hand, a “Pattern-Affirmation” is: “I eat like a 130 lbs. person.” Or better yet “I have a lifestyle of a 130 lbs. person.”
Do you see the distinction?
A Wish-Affirmation is something you aspire to.
Instead, a Pattern-Affirmation is something that can be true right away. You can exhibit a different behavior now. Your very next action can contribute to your healthy lifestyle.
You can even apply the Pattern-Affirmation process to having financial abundance.
For example, a Wish-Affirmation could be “I am wealthy.” On the other hand, a Pattern-Affirmation could be: “I’m careful with my personal budget like a prosperous person.”
Now, I’ll share a helpful process.
The Pattern-Affirmation Ritual
Here are the steps:
The process is as follows:
First, be sure to pick a suitable Pattern-Affirmation. Remember, it needs to address a pattern of behavior you want to instill.
Here are examples:
Now, when you begin your ritual, cast circle.
Cleanse and consecrate your candle. Sit and hold your candle and meditate on your Pattern-Affirmation for five minutes or more.
Take the candle and place it on your altar. Say aloud your Pattern-Affirmation as you light the candle. Visualize that you’re guiding energy into the candle.
(Repeat the following process for seven days in a row:
Let the Seven Day Candle burn one knob per day. Each day, repeat the above process of meditating on your Pattern-Affirmation for five minutes or more.)
On the first day, after the first knob has burned down, do Cakes and Wine and then close the circle. Repeat the candle-lighting and knob-burning down for six more days.
Using this new tool of a Pattern-Affirmation Ritual, we will grow in new and exciting ways.
If you try the Pattern-Affirmation Ritual, please let me know about your results. Thanks!
Blessings,
Moonwater
The Heron
Perhaps you’ve noticed our new logo for this blog. It is the heron. Why this particular bird? The heron has been a representation of the Goddess for a long time. Below is the heron’s story as told by my friend Kay Pannell.
The name Ardea Herodotus is the Linnaean classification for the heron. The Ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote in the 8th Century BC. His history of the fall of Troy included this:
After the fall of Troy, Prince Aeneas traveled to the area around Rome. One of the lands he visited was the land of the Rutuli, whose capitol was Ardea and whose ruler was Turnus. Turnus had been betrothed to Livinia, daughter of a neighboring king.
Unfortunately, the king decided to give her to Aeneas instead. (You’d think after Aeneas’s brother Paris took Helen of Troy away from her husband, King Menelaus of Sparta, he’d have wised up about taking a woman away from a man with an army—but no). A war ensued between Aeneas’s fleet and Turnus’s army. During the hostilities, the city of Ardea was burned. Herodotus reported that from the ashes of the city a white bird arose that no one had seen before. It was the heron, and for ever afterward, the heron was called Ardea. When Carl Linnaeus began his classification in the 17th Century, he called the heron, Ardea Herodotus, for the story.
The word, Ardea, also translates as “earth goddess” in Greek.
Written by Kay Pannell
Thanks, Kay.
This story is here to stay. I hope you enjoyed it. Now here’s my post for this week.
How to Give Back to the Gods
How do I give back to the Gods? It’s something I think about daily. When I was younger I had no idea. But then I encountered this quote:
Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. – Leo Buscaglia
This hits the mark I think. We may not thing we have much to give back but all of us has something, our talent—the gifts the Gods have given us.
When we use our unique gifts to help others, the Gods smile upon us. For this is why we were given the gifts. To make each other’s lives more enjoyable.
Using your talents doesn’t mean you have to make it a business. You don’t need to produce products or live on a demanding schedule to serve others.
Maybe you like to cook or bake. Prepare some food and take it to a friend who is sick. Or take it to an elderly woman who lives alone and on a fixed income. This will mean a lot to someone who needs something but has no other way to get it. (Be careful to ask about dietary needs and allergies to guard the person’s health.)
If you don’t cook, do you play music? Go to a children’s hospital and play for the kids. You don’t need to book gigs and have tons of followers. You’ll still make an important difference in the hospital.
Can’t think of some particular gift to share? Donate some of your time and do volunteer work for some charity. For example, I donated time at The Peninsula Humane Society. I helped with the small animals.
Now, I write this blog. This came as a surprise because of my dyslexia. But I was led to writing by the Gods themselves. It’s hard to argue with that.
But you don’t need the Gods’ intervention to tell you what to share with others. Try something. You won’t know what is a helpful activity until you experiment a little.
Here are some possibilities:
Your local animal shelters
Retirement home/hospice
Homeless shelters
Soup kitchens for the homeless
Local Hospitals
Consider looking up local organizations that need volunteers. Just donating a few hours a week can make a big difference.
Express compassion and love as you invoke your talents. This pleases the Gods.
By pleasing the Gods we honor them.
You can make a difference for the Gods.
How do you please the Gods with your talents? Let me know in the comments section. Thank you.
Blessed Be,
Moonwater SilverClaw
P.S.
Don’t forget about the workshop, sign up now.
Real Magick Workshop
Buy the workbook Beyond the Law of Attraction to Real Magick now and give me the receipt number and get $10 off your ticket to the workshop! You can sign up for the workshop below. See you soon.
Tend to Your Roses
Want to feel better?
On Monday September 23rd, I was reminded of the importance of celebrating small victories.
Life is meant to be celebrated.
In the days before September 23rd, I was running frantically with so much to do: Getting ready for my upcoming Oct. 19th workshop (in California) and getting my first workbook completed and then available for people to purchase online (available here). I was tired.
I took a belly-flop on the couch. I expected my sweetheart to offer me at least a score of “9.2” for my maneuver.
Instead, he asked, “How are we going to celebrate?” It had been months of work on my workbook with my sweetheart editing portions of the book daily.
Celebrate? I was exhausted and I could only think of the rehearsals for my workshop and other projects with deadlines.
Still, he was right (Don’t tell him.) It’s important to pause and celebrate a little success.
Along the same lines, my sweetie writes in his daily gratitude journal–that’s where you note what you’re grateful for. Perhaps, you had a good phone call with a friend. Maybe you took a walk for exercise. He writes in his gratitude journal just before he goes to sleep each night.
It’s so easy to forget the blessings in our lives. They happen everyday. Some may be small but they are there. However, many of us only remember the things that troubled us during the day.
It’s like a stubbed toe that screams pay attention. But we miss acknowledging all the other toes that are just fine. We concentrate on that which gives us pain.
But what about the joys in our day? The cat that purrs with affection as you caress it; your partner smiles in the morning; and you hear your favorite song on the radio. How about when your loved one makes your favorite meal?
I invite you to push forward the joys and blessing of your day. Pause. Pay attention. Push the “stubbed toe” into the background.
How do we push the joys and blessings forward? Write in your gratitude journal. Then you’ll think about your day in a different way. Sometimes, I think of a day as glancing out the window and seeing two things: a pile of garbage next to a glorious rose. When you write in your gratitude journal, you’re looking at the rose.
When I write down the “roses” of my day, I’m always surprised about how many actually occurred.
How about you? How many positive things are in your life right now? You’re reading this, so your eyes are working. You’re breathing. You’re probably looking forward to something even, perhaps, a favorite TV show.
I find that consciously choosing to look at the “roses” of life helps me focus on the beauty and joy that I experience. Soon after I started this writing in my gratitude journal, I realized that I didn’t just have one rose, I really had a rose garden.
Now, you can take this a step further. In addition to remembering the roses of your life, show your gratitude. Do a simple ritual at the end of your day. After noting my blessings in my gratitude journal, I take a candle and offer it as thanks to the Gods for the blessings I enjoyed.
Tea light candles work great for this. They are small and don’t take too long to burn. This way you don’t have a candle burning when no one is around. (Never leave a burning candle unattended.)
This candle is a small gesture to the Gods in thanks for all the blessings they provide. Since starting this ritual, I have noticed even more blessings occurring in my life.
The nice thing about this ritual is that it doesn’t take much time and it doesn’t require a big fanfare. As long as your ritual is heartfelt and sincere the Gods will be pleased.
If you live with someone who isn’t Wiccan, lighting a candle in not a big inconvenience. Simply let them know that this is a positive part of your daily life.
This ritual is a great way to say “I noticed” and “thanks” to the Gods. They will appreciate it. This ritual also helps you be happier and healthier.
Please leave a comment and let me know if you do something like this or if you have a different way to honor the blessings in your life. I’d love to hear your perspective. Thanks.
Blessings,
Moonwater
It’s that time of season.
Happy Mabon Everyone!
I have a treat for you. My friend Heather Greene is guest blogging today. She will tell her story about how she found the Craft.
But first I want to share a few thoughts and a recipe of mine.
This is one of my favorite times of the year. During this harvest time we celebrate ripening of our labors. Now we reap the benefits.
One of the best things is how spiced foods start to appear during this season. And with that thought in mind, I’m sharing one of my favorite recipes with you. It’s my pumpkin bread recipe.
Makes 2 loaves.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar in large mixing bowl. Add eggs, water, oil and pumpkin. Stir until blended. Add nuts. Mix well. Pour into two 9×5″ loaf pans. Bake 1 hour 30 mins. Cool slightly and take out of pans to let cool on a rack. This tastes best if you wrap, refrigerate and wait a day to eat it. It keeps well in the refrigerator and can be frozen.
I love this bread. It’s great for parties or have a slice for dissert. One of the coolest things is it can be put in the freezer to be stored for a future date. This is wonderful if you have lots to prepare for a party and need the time for other things.
I hope you enjoy it, and if you have any recipes to share I would love to see them, and try them! Please use the comment box below to share.
And now for the main event Heather Greene’s post!
Heather Greene
“The reaches opened before us and closed behind, as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.” – Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness
Spiritual awakenings are funny in that they can happen at any given moment – in church, in the car, in the plumbing section of Home Depot. They sneak up on us and seize our minds, bodies and hearts. Then they send us soaring at lightening-speed into another time and space where everything is suddenly crystal clear – for only one moment. When we return an instant later, we are more confused than before but forever changed in some indeterminable way.
My spiritual awakening happened in high school after reading The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. The novella blew my mind and kept me in philosophical ecstasy for weeks. I jumped at any and all opportunities to discuss the story’s deeper meanings. In hindsight, I probably lost a few friends that year and it was no coincidence that was the same year I earned my reputation. From that point forward, I was known as the enigmatic, artsy girl who was unofficially voted most-likely-to-be-a-poet. Not a bad reputation by high school standards.
To this day, The Heart of Darkness stills sends my heart a-flutter. The book essentially deconstructs human society. It not only challenges the morality of European Imperialism, it also breaks down deeply rooted Western cultural constructs such as good and evil. It posits that our values and ethics are social impositions rather than anything signed, sealed and delivered by an absolute natural order of existence or some supreme being with a playbook. We, humans, have determined what is good and what is evil. We have constructed our reality.
See, it blows the mind.
Shortly after reading the book, I started my writing career. I wrote fictional tales about horribly impossible and depressing situations that ended with twist of hope. Most of that work was ignored; up until I wrote a suicide story. That one landed me in the counselor’s office where I yelled, “No I’m not going to commit suicide already! Have you not read The Heart of Darkness?” There was an implied teenage “duh!” in that outburst.
So there I was, an enigmatic future poet and angst ridden teen, feeling totally ready to birth my spiritual life. Considering my ethical world had been created solely by art, literature, philosophy and science, I had nothing to go on except a secular world view. In many ways, I was lucky. Unlike many Pagans, I didn’t have to shed a religious belief system before entering into a new one. I just had to step in and see how the water felt.
Not long after the “Suicide Story” incident, I began to journey through the thick forest of the Occult. First I dabbled in Astrology. I can remember working through what seemed like endless hours of painful mathematics to produce one single birth chart. When I had enough money, I finally bought an Astrology program and a computer to go with it. After awhile I expanded to Tarot, Palmistry, scrying, astral projection and crystals. The world was my magical oyster and I was willing to entertain all it had to offer.
By that point I was well into college. During one summer break, I took a weekend house sitting job for a New York City lawyer. While staying in her Upper East Side apartment, I discovered some funny little herbs in tiny plastic bags. A neighbor, who had stopped by, said very casually, “She’s a witch.” I was struck. What?! A Witch? My mind was blown yet again! I should really consider myself lucky to have anything left at this point.
At the very next opportunity, I rushed into a Barnes & Noble and went straight to the Occult section. After careful consideration, I purchased Raymond Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft. Sitting there on the muggy A-Train packed in with all the other tired commuters, I clung to my new book as if I was harboring the last Golden Ticket to the Wonka factory. This witch book was sacred, somehow, and filled with all the answers.
Unfortunately the book didn’t have any answers. At least not to the questions that I had yet to really ask. What it did have was a key to a door that led to a pathway of spiritual growth using the language of Witchcraft.
Not long after, I began to practice in earnest. Over the following year, I bought more books: Cunningham, Starhawk, Margot Adler and Silver Ravenwolf, for example. I organized my very first solitary Samhain ritual. When not attending to my film student duties, I dabbled in spell craft. Then, on one faithful day, I bought myself a silver pentacle and began calling myself a Witch.
It wasn’t until then that I realized the depth of what I was doing. This was more than just carnival games and Halloween hocus pocus. It was more than counter-culture and The Wizard of Oz. I found something powerful; something that I now defined as good even if the world defined it as evil.
After several years of solitary practice, I decided to join a Wiccan coven. It seemed the next appropriate step. I’ve been with that same group now for sixteen years. The communal experience strengthened me, gave me tools that I could never have found alone and, most importantly, offered me a community of like-minds who were on a similar path. Many of those people have become treasured friends and family.
But the journey is not over. It is never over.
What I can say now, in clarity, is that it all started with that book – The Heart of Darkness. There in that place, where all the social constructs are gone, there is nothing but raw, unbridled, animalistic humanity – body and blood, love and lust, hate and rapture, and spirit. It is the elemental point of beginnings. It is only from that point that we can see the world for what it is – a stack of cards. It is only from that point we can see ourselves, explore our past and find our motivation. It is honesty at a critical level. Deep within the Heart of Darkness, we are pure. Coming out from that space is the journey of a lifetime – and it just may blow your mind.
Heather Greene is a freelance writer living in the South. She has a masters degree in Film Theory and History with a background in commercial media and technology. She spent the first part of her career working at a major Madison Avenue Ad agency and its production subsidiaries, as well as an systems engineer at a Fortune 100 company. In 2001, she left it all behind to become a independent writer and has been doing that ever since.
– See more at: http://wildhunt.org/about/heather-greene#sthash.mwzYAeWA.dpuf
I’m glad I had the chance to share Heather’s story.
Until next week,
Blessed Be,
Moonwater
P.S.
If you like The Hidden Children of the Goddess, show your support.
Click here to help support this blog! Thanks!
Climb Your Way Out of Depression
So what have you heard about the burden of depression?
If you’ve experienced it, you know what an oppressive malady it is. If you have not experienced it, it’s hard to convey the essence of the pain.
Ever since I was little, I’ve had feelings of hopelessness and unworthiness. Abuse in the form of beatings from my brother and neglect from my parents, intensified my hopelessness.
I never knew when abuse would fall upon me. There was no rhyme or reason. Abusing a little girl is inexcusable. But what was worse, as that little girl, I felt a torrent of twisted thoughts. I believed the abuse happened because I deserved it.
I’ve heard a number of times that some people had perhaps a teacher that provided the support they didn’t have at home. But I wasn’t that lucky.
I did what I could to survive. I avoided people.
To me, depression was living in a deep, deep hole. A dark place where I was alone. I felt that I deserved this dark place. I had no hope, no love, no respect. I felt worthless. My chest hurt. Just cold putrid rotting meat inside me. The depression made it move and writhe like a carcass filled with maggots. There was more: tar, shards of broken glass, rusty nails.
Escape! That’s all I wanted. At eight years old, I tried to hang myself.
The Gods intervened. The cord broke. Not just once, but every time I tried to commit suicide, the Gods saved me.
They poured their light into a places I never thought any light could reach. My heart and soul. When that happened it was indescribable. It was beyond an epiphany. It was beyond life and death. It was so miraculous I can’t describe the event. Only that it was life-changing in every way.
It changed my thinking, my speaking, my body. It changed my world. It changed me. I was not me anymore, and yet, I was. My memories were the same, my environment was the same, my story was the same.
I knew who I was, and where I had come from. But now it was all different. How I experienced life was completely new.
I still have depression. I no longer identify myself as “a depressed person.” I am a spirit who deals with depression systems. I take medication and I have a helpful therapist. Each day I have good moments. I reconnect with the Gods on a daily basis. Even as I write this, my altar gleams with a glowing candle.
The Gods gave me a gift of self-love. I want to show you the way to it. I can’t walk this path for you, but I can show you my own path and walk side by side with you on yours.
Here is a chant you can recite to yourself when you’re hurting:
By the Sun and by the Moon,
Let the Gods’ light be my boon.
Shining deep and shining far,
May I be healed by every star.
I saw it then, I see it now,
Darkness be gone right here, right now!
You can use this short chant whenever you are feeling low. For example you can use this chant during meditation, lighting a candle or as a prelude to a meditation.
As always, let me know your experiences using this chant by using the comments box below. I would love to hear them.
Blessed Be,
Moonwater SilverClaw
GoddessHasYourBack.com 