Pagan

[Nat]

I was wondering if any of y'all have a spirit animal that you know of?

Also, do you find yourself connected to any other-worldly beings/elementals?

And, do you find yourself connected to certain trees or types of trees?

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my answers:

I feel especially connected to both cats and spiders. My mom has a thing with turtles, my dad has a thing with owls, and one of my aunts has a thing with fish.

I'm also very drawn to mermaids, I have a friend who's very drawn to faeries, an aunt who's drawn to pixies and another aunt who's drawn to gnomes and trolls. My mom tends to be drawn to dragons and other monsters, and my gf is also drawn to dragons.

I love trees - all trees - but especially sycamores, redbuds and mimosas.

[Bit]

Dear Sycamore Girl,

{{{{{{{{{{{{Nat}}}}}}}}}} *utterly delighted!* How cool to run into someone else who is connected to them! How I love them! Sycamore branches were gifted to me (by the trees themselves) a little over two years ago and they've guarded our home ever since!

I've considered myself a Daughter of the Trees for most of my life, and I cherish the redbuds, hackberries, maples and oak that we're blessed with here in That House. In Phoenix, I adored mulberries and pines.

The trees that are the most special to me, although not in the spirit connection way, are fruit trees, apple, peach, plum, cherry, orange, date palm, etc, and my favorite, the fig tree. I suppose it's like the difference between my teachers and my little sisters (to put the difference in the ways I relate to them into human terms).

Animal connections, there are so many... they come and they go, depending on what I need and also on what the people I am with need. (You might remember I used to post as Mama Tigre--the tiger.) It's the same with beings on other planes. I'm not close to the fae, but I'm comfortable with many creatures better known through mythology, like gryphons.

Cath

[Nat]

Bit - how awesome is that?

I have sycamore seed-balls at home and work. My grandfather used to write me letters on sycamore bark and sign them "A. Troll" or "D. Troll" and tell me that he "found" them.

There is a young sycamore tree at my work, and there were a few times I went out there and hung out next to it, and the trunk was covered in flies and the leaves were wilty. I was out there to meditate, so I suggested to the tree that we ground and center together. I held onto one of its leaves, and imagined both of use extending our roots down toward the center of the earth and bringing up that earth energy together. What surprised me, is that it seemed to me that the tree had an easier time with this than I did, and that the energy not only came up through it faster but that it sort of spilled over onto me. Since then, when I can, I go out there and listen to podcasts or meditate or check bfp under the tree on my breaks, and I always tell the tree hi and often sit in the grass and lean against the trunk. No more flies, btw.

[Bit]

SWEEET!!! You healed that tree, Nat! *huge beaming grin at ya* Gryph says, "Good work!" and so do I!

Isn't it amazingly cool to have a tree for a spiritual partner?

I don't hang on to the sycamore seedballs because I have those huge long twisty branches. My favorite tree dropped them the first fall and winter I was in this neighborhood; one is twelve feet long! They're generally a couple/three inches in diameter at the base. I originally was going to make walking sticks from them and it confused me that each time I thought of it, they seemed to say no... I finally realized they were already doing what they wanted to be doing, by protecting us and adding tree energy to our home.

[Nat]

heh well thanks, but i think the tree healed itself possibly. it was more proficient than I was anyway. I bet the long twisty branches are great.

[Gryph]

Originally Posted by Nat

heh well thanks, but i think the tree healed itself possibly. it was more proficient than I was anyway. I bet the long twisty branches are great.

Don't discount the energy you put out to help the young tree. Just because someone or something is proficient in something doesn't mean they can always get through to the right energy to help heal, clean or what ever is needed to not only survive, but to fully live.

Grins
Gryph

[2myladyblue]

Originally Posted by Nat

I was wondering if any of y'all have a spirit animal that you know of?

Also, do you find yourself connected to any other-worldly beings/elementals?

And, do you find yourself connected to certain trees or types of trees?

Hello Nat! Great questions!
I've always felt a kinship to Morrigan's messengers...the corvids...most specificially ravens & crows. Although my family name is daw...coincidence, no? lol
I keep company with felines & equines as often as possible. I find that I have a lot to learn from them...
And I find my peace of mind/body/spirit walking through a nearby forest, plentiful with oak trees.
~Skipping off to play in the forest~Blue

[foxyshaman]

Originally Posted by Nat

I was wondering if any of y'all have a spirit animal that you know of?

Also, do you find yourself connected to any other-worldly beings/elementals?

And, do you find yourself connected to certain trees or types of trees?

-------------

Oohhh nice questions!!!

I do have power animals that I work with and journey with all the time. I have my primary spirits which are lion, panther, owl, deer and moose. There are other animals that have taught me quite a bit over the years when I journey (which is a term used to mean altered state of consciousness, usually sonic driven). In ordinary reality I have worked with cats, lots of birds and horses.

I work with elementals carefully. Elementals in my workings are: Sylph, Undine, Gnome and Salamander. I do like contacting & working with the Little People. Every summer I lead a shamanic wilderness camp,last years theme was working with the Little people. We broke off into three tribes, elves, gnomes and faeries. It was fascinating and the journey work was quite substantial for the participants. I have a very healthy respect for the Fae and beings associated with that term. I have long researched Fairy Tales as a way of understanding my relationship (historical and familial) with the unseen. I don't generally see Faeries as kind and loving beings... at least they have certainly not always appeared that way to me... this one time... oh wait this is not story time

Trees, well you guys certainly have different trees than I do up here. I love my Spruce trees and the different kinds of poplars. I am also very fond of the Cedar forests of the West Coast and interior BC. Old Elm trees also hold a very special place in my heart. Oh and how could I forget choke cherry trees??? i loved climbing them as a kid and taking the bitter fruit. As an adult I still like to climb trees, but choke cherries don't support adult weight very well...

[2myladyblue]

Originally Posted by foxyshaman

Trees, well you guys certainly have different trees than I do up here. I love my Spruce trees and the different kinds of poplars. I am also very fond of the Cedar forests of the West Coast and interior BC. Old Elm trees also hold a very special place in my heart. Oh and how could I forget choke cherry trees??? i loved climbing them as a kid and taking the bitter fruit. As an adult I still like to climb trees, but choke cherries don't support adult weight very well...

Heya foxy! (Can you see me wavin' from a couple provinces over?) Your forests are BEAUTIFUL....and when I was in BC, I remember being amazed to see a real live holly tree!
I think Wpg is well known for its 'urban forest', but unfortunately, most of our elms are plagued by dutch elm disease.
I grew up climbing crab apple trees for an after school snack, but these days I prefer to walk amongst them or lay under them
~Blue

[Arwen]

Originally Posted by Nat

I was wondering if any of y'all have a spirit animal that you know of?

Also, do you find yourself connected to any other-worldly beings/elementals?

And, do you find yourself connected to certain trees or types of trees?

-------------

Great questions for discussion.

I have always been drawn to trees--particularly the pine, the oak and the willow. I started talking to trees when I was a girl (and was not surprised to get answers.) There was an old live oak in my front yard that I spent many hours in.

Yes, in. I was a mad tree climber when I was younger. Still get the urge to climb a big old oak tree and find a branch to perch on.

Otherworldly beings, yes. Mermaids in particular and green sprites as well. I see green men a lot (heh...that sounds bizarre.) I used to commune with fairies as a little girl but they don't stop so much any more.

Spirit animals? That's a tricky question because part of my path is not able to share all of this answer. So yes and not the wolf or tiger or lion. Grin. My spirit animal is a bit shyer than that. I do have some that are public like the Manta Ray and Kestrel.

[Bit]

What a wonderful conversation! I'm so glad you started it, Nat!

Originally Posted by Arwen

Spirit animals? That's a tricky question because part of my path is not able to share all of this answer.

I also hesitate to share too much, but for a different reason; I used to be hounded by someone on another site. Anything I posted was turned against me; the better I got at shielding, the more skillful my assailant got at breaking through my shields. This happened consistently for many years, until I finally got so cautious that I just stopped talking about anything Pagan for a long time.

I still have that second-nature impulse that says, "watch it! anything you talk about will backfire!"

What I can say is that I work with all kinds of animals--whomever comes to my mind in a moment of need--and also with several different kinds of entities. I've worked with the animals ever since I first discovered formal paganism. The other entities are much more recent, and working with beings from other planes has really stretched my limits and helped me grow.

Originally Posted by that Foxy tease!

I don't generally see Faeries as kind and loving beings... at least they have certainly not always appeared that way to me... this one time... oh wait this is not story time

IS TOO. Is too.

How interesting that our trees are different! I didn't expect that; guess I thought that oaks and maples were ubiquitous once a person was north of the desert... silly of me, because I remember the Douglas fir/cedar/alder forests of the PNW!

For me, like for Blue, the trees are part of an urban forest, planted by people. I don't think of them in the same way I think of an indigenous forest... heck, all over the PNW oaks and maples are planted in people's yards. Maybe that's why I didn't think about the forests being different.

I think all our elms are probably Chinese elms at this point, because of Dutch elm disease. Some are very old but I suspect most are less than 100 years. A really massive elm that I thought had to be quite old is only about 60 years, so I guess I have to allow for the large yearly rainfall here having MUCH more of an effect on the trees than I expected it to.

[Bit]

Hey y'all, Isaac Bonewits has cancer and is asking for help! He and his wife Phaedra have a facebook page and a website--here are the addies.

Here's their fb addy.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/isaac.phaedra.bonewits

Here is their website. http://www.neopagan.net/

Here is the call to action, from the House of Danu:

Isaac Bonewits defines what it is to be a Druid in our time and place. A great friend to the House of Danu, he was the founder of Ár nDraíocht Féin and leader within many Pagan traditions. Isaac has been struggling with colon cancer (root chakra) and it has reached a point where he needs a miracle.

Phaedra Bonewits has put out a call for our greatest magik: A ROLLING THUNDER. The House of Danu asks that you rise to the call and participate in this event which is unprecedented in our history. From Europe moving West at 9:00P.M. in each time zone, the energies will rise and our will shall become manifest.

WHEN: On the night of the full moon, May 27, 2010, at 9:00P.M. in your time zone

HOW: Create a healing ritual within your tradition and that is joined with the rising energies with this chant:
"Isaac's tumors fade away. Thirty more years with Phae."

THEN: It will comfort Isaac and Phaedra to know when your ritual is done. Let them know. Their email adress is at their website, neopagan.net.

The Rolling Thunder has already begun in Europe and is moving across the face of the Earth. Please join in, and bring healing to one of the Pagan community's most beloved authors!


ps-I edited the email addy out of this post, as they are already swamped by over 1000 spam messages a day; no sense taking chances a bot would find the address here and add more.

[Bit]

A new set of questions for us!

Do you prefer to make your own tools (wands, athames, cards, cups, etc) or buy them already made?

If you make them yourself, do you prefer to find the makings as you walk through an area, or to buy unadorned items and personalize them?
~~~~~~

My answers: I've done all of the above at various times. Sometimes I have found absolutely wonderful items in the shops, especially jewelry and cards--certainly, making one's own tarot cards is QUITE the daunting challenge for me, lol--and sometimes items have presented themselves to me completely unexpectedly.

My favorite example of the unexpected tool is a small geode I found once (now moved on to another owner, nonconsensually) that was naturally opened and bent back. It looked like a tiny shrine of the Mother from one angle and like a fish with its mouth open from another, and it served me well for several years.

Once in a while I make something just for the sake of creating, and then discover afterwards that it's become a tool. My favorite example of that is a small gourd I painted once to look like a curled up fox. It became my guardian while I worked in a haunted building by myself, until it broke in my pocket one day.

I find myself thinking that I *should* make all my own tools, mostly because lots of people have *said* so... but yanno what, if we all made all of our own tools, the Pagan artists among us would have to go out of business. So I think I like having a balance of both kinds of tools.

How about you?

[2myladyblue]

Originally Posted by Bit

A new set of questions for us!
Do you prefer to make your own tools (wands, athames, cards, cups, etc) or buy them already made? If you make them yourself, do you prefer to find the makings as you walk through an area, or to buy unadorned items and personalize them?

Great questions, Bit!
Of course, I would *PREFER* to make my own tools....but alas & alack, that rarely happens *eyes one of many piles of projects in process*...
I have made a few things out of clay. I love to personalize & consecrate something plain. And I love love love discovering the *perfect* thing walking through the woods or in some wonderful witchy store I've wandered into!
~Blue

[2myladyblue]

I really need to get some sleep, but I wanted to recommend a lovely selection from my bookshelf....
The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk

Has anyone else read it?
~Blue

[Nat]

Originally Posted by Bit

A new set of questions for us!

Do you prefer to make your own tools (wands, athames, cards, cups, etc) or buy them already made?

If you make them yourself, do you prefer to find the makings as you walk through an area, or to buy unadorned items and personalize them?

Most of my main items have been store/internet-bought, but I don't have a good connection to most of them (yet).

I am happiest with my pentacle (which I made myself out of self-hardening clay. it was at christmas time, and my mom asked if it meant that I danced naked in the woods. I told her, "not yet!")



I am also very happy with my chalice, which is actually a glass compote that I picked up from Goodwill. In that case, I knew what I wanted before I went into the store, and sure enough, I found exactly what I wanted and it felt right.

This was my altar on New Year's day - it was a bit crowded - but you can see the chalice back there on the right.



My wand is a plain willow wand, and I haven't really made friends with it yet, and my athame is a letter-opener. Unfortunately, I dropped it and broke a stone off of it, and I'm not sure how best to re-attach it. I also feel kinda bad that I dropped it in the first place. Somewhere I have a beautiful mermaid dagger but it's buried in my stuff. If I ever find it, I will probably make that into my athame.

I'm very new to the witchy and pagan worlds, so these are things I'm still in the process of feeling out. I do tend to collect things for my altar and also for my workspace. Acorns, fallen leaves, interesting sticks, seashells, ribbons, just stuff. I also have fantasies of creating little miniature altar kits. I love the idea of a tiny altar kit with a needle for the athame, a thimble for the chalice, a toothpick for the wand, birthday candles with spindles to hold them, a pack of match incense, a handkerchief for an altar cloth - but I never can think what to use for the thurible.

[oblivia]

Originally Posted by Nat

I was wondering if any of y'all have a spirit animal that you know of?

Also, do you find yourself connected to any other-worldly beings/elementals?

And, do you find yourself connected to certain trees or types of trees?

I suppose it depends on your definition of spirit animal. I have had various animal guides (primarily a Unicorn).

I am VERY connected to Unicorns and many of my general journeywork and meditations have me in Unicorn form myself.

I am very drawn to the Weeping Willow and to very strong, old, tall trees in old growth forests.

[oblivia]

Also...

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{bit}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

How are you!??

[Bit]

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{oblivia}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Hi darlin! How am I... oh my... on which level? *wry smile* Even speaking in terms of being Pagan, there are so many different things going on... mostly internal.

Externally, I'm really concerned for Isaac Bonewits right now. Have you read his books? I've only read Real Magic but I've seen his website and read many of the magazine articles he's written over the years. He has colon cancer and there's a world-wide effort to get him through the challenge. Gryph and I joined in the healing. He's our main concern in spirit work right now.

We've been working on clearing our space energetically for quite a while. I seem to be our weak link, so to speak; this is a very active area, and lots of ghosts/spirits/beings come through. Not all of them are friendly and when they aren't, I seem to be an easy target for them. We're constantly working on shields and also on keeping the portals closed. Now I understand why That House waited eight years for us! There's been a lot of weirdness, a lot of negativity, and a lot of hostility. The work and trouble are balanced by our getting to know Margaret, the Grandmother who watches over That House (and now watches over us, too). I don't think she'll ever be willing to move on; this was her house, she loved it, and she came back to it when she died.

One of my favorite memories was walking up onto the porch and being greeted with an unmistakable feeling of open arms and an offer to shelter me against the storms. At the time, I thought it was the house itself making the offer. Give it another hundred years or so, and there might not be much difference between Margaret and the house--but that day it was definitely Margaret, welcoming me into her home and her life. We're pretty sure she's the one who made it possible for us to buy the place.

The interior work I need to do is about ceremony and ritual. I've been a long time away, so to speak, have been working without formal Circles, without props of any kind. I think it's time I changed my working style again and got back to basics.

Now doesn't it figure that I would find this need in myself JUST as the fans and air conditioner go on? So much for candles and incense, lol!

So how have you been, darlin? What's up in your world?

[oblivia]

Wow, that is a lot going on!! Congratulations on the house and while it sounds like you have your work cut out for you, it also sounds like it's a special blessing that you are there and not somewhere else.

Have you ever tried one of the incense stick holders where the incense is actually lit and held sideways with a (very well ventilated) lid that closes over it? Hard to describe. I had one of those and it protected the incense enough to keep it going even with a bit of breeziness. Also, cones inside small cauldrons or bowls with sand in them can protect them from windyness too (plus cones stay lit better) - bowls can be a helpful alternative for charcoal burning incense too.

As for me.... wow.... married and raising two boys. Spiritually, I've been a member of the Sisterhood of Avalon now for almost 3 years and it's been incredibly empowering. I've also been doing a regular yoga practice and learning a lot from bits of yoga-based or buddhism-based wisdoms, which has been amazing.

It's interesting. My practice now seems to have many layers. There is the eastern, yogic/buddhist slanted layer such as my yoga practice and certain tools I use to work on my own internal battles. There is the more traditional pagan layer which involves honouring the eight sabbats in some way, and circling with my son or wife and having tarot nights with friends and having traditional circles with the elements. And there is the very personal Avalonian layer with the Sisterhood that is primarily a solitary path (but one shared with the other Sisters via online forums, and shared journeying/questing together) and ritual. Most ritual work I do is the Avalonian pathwork, with some exceptions when I am circling with others. The Avalonian stuff has been amazing. I've really been going through completely constant growth and evolution since joining, all to the betterment and increased mental/emotional/psychological health of me. Good stuff.

I feel pretty solid spiritually and very strong. It's a new and good place for me to be and I keep spreading my roots out ever further and deeper.

I think that many of us cycle with our spirituality in ways. We have periods of intensity and periods of rest. I really relate to what it can be like to come back after time 'away'. Sometimes, it starts with the smallest little thing, done consistently to dig one tiny little root in to anchor us, and then we can spread out as comfy from there....