Time

The Pagan Experience - Wk 2- May 11 – Time – How do you measure time? How do you make use of linear time in sacred space? How do you call forth the space of timelessness in your physical life? How do you integrate the two for your magickal/spiritual work?

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." - Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

In this age of the smartphone, I no longer wear a watch. Even before the smartphone, I haven't always worn one. Oh, I remember having a swatch back in the day. And I have a bit of a fascination with diving timepieces. Though thinking back, I was most fascinated with the idea of knowing what time it was in the different areas dear to my heart. And of course, the phases of the moon. But really, my goal in life is to live in such a way that I don't have to know what time it is.

My happiest times are timeless. When I am lucky enough to have the time to go backpacking, my sense of time is in harmony with nature. I get up when it becomes light, I eat when I'm hungry, I rest  when I'm tired, and I make camp when there are two fists of sun left in the sky. When it gets dark, I make a fire. Sometimes I go to bed early, and other times, I stay up to watch the stars and spin out speculative ideas, dreams, plans and other such malarkey.

My real life at this point is quite scheduled. Each year, as I build my business, it becomes more and more regimented. The two weekdays that used to be my "free time" have even been encroached upon. In fact, this year, I'm working to reign my schedule back in. I need to spend my time on the most productive work activities and leave myself ample unstructured time. This unstructured time is rarely spent in idleness; mostly, it ends up being used for business administration, neglected housework, writing or artwork. 

Meditation and Yoga are what allow me to do the things that I do. The practice of meditation, especially, acts as a reset button for the nervous system. It breaks the stress cycle by giving us the experience of timelessness. I think it also works because we are withdrawing our senses from the outside world, but that's my own theory. 

This year, I'm also going to start turning off and putting away my phone. I've always been a believer in setting healthy boundaries. Keeping defined office hours has always been a goal of mine. The reality, though, is that I have gotten sucked in to our instant gratification, always on, instant response culture. I've been known to work all night, to stay up late and get up early to work. This has definitely been to my detriment. I've been battling fatigue and burnout for some time now, and I'm taking action to correct this situation. This weekend, for example, I have put a moratorium on work and social media. 

So timelessness in my daily life is meditation, keeping office hours, limiting screen time and spending plenty of time outdoors. 

In ritual…this is an interesting question. I've never given any thought to how I use time in ritual. Generally, I focus more on what needs to happen in sacred space, rather than how long it takes. My experience has been that it all works out. When I enter ritual headspace, things flow in the timeless time of the Gods. I don't think about it, or plan it. 

I do like to celebrate full moons and sabbats close to their astronomical time. I think there is a special magic in celebrating the moment AT the moment. That's one of my goals for my spiritual practice, actually. I want to arrange my life in such a way that I *can* celebrate celestial events at their actual times, up to and including the ones that happen at inconvenient times like dawn or in the middle of the night. 

Accomplishing this form of observance will entail:

• Advance planning - what will I observe, and when does it happen? (atlas or calendar, website, app)
• Take all Sabbat days off from work (I'd like to take full moons too, but…I do have to work at some point)
• Schedule a late morning after night observances

So here we have a high priestess who is most comfortable in the timelessness of nature, who paradoxically also is interested in observing the exact moments of celestial events. One foot in each world, so to speak. That actually does make sense for me.

I'm a half-breed in so many ways. A starry-eyed mystic with a logical, organized mind. An artist and poet who firmly believes in the scientific method. A lover of nature who thrives on endless unmeasured days who wants to study the movement of the heavens by night. Fitting.

That is my magic - I have one foot in each world. I can drop into the timeless mind of ritual consciousness, and I also have a day planner.

Recharging in the Woods

Wk 2- Jan. 12- Personal Practice- Share your favorite spiritual/magickal practices. What tools are incorporated into your daily practice? What feeds you and replenishes you?


To answer that, let me tell you a story:

Friday when I got home from work I was feeling a bit off. Nothing in particular was wrong. I didn't feel overly tired, didn't work that hard that day…but there was something. Enter one of my favorite spiritual practices…time in the woods. I didn't take any tools, wear anything special, or make any preparations. I just put my gloves on and set off.

That day, I was lucky. I was spending time with a friend who has land out in the country and a delightful tribe of kitties. One of my favorites is a young male with gorgeous orange swirled markings. The internet tells me this is called "classic tabby" - who knew?! He trotted along with me through the yard, and to my surprise, he stayed with me.

I wasn't feeling quiet enough in my soul to make my steps silent, nor did I have the patience to go slowly. My steps were loud in the pine needle carpeted woods. When I reached the fallow field, deer startled from the tall grass, the waving of their tails white flags in the golden afternoon light. My feline companion went alert, trotting a short distance in their direction.

The pond was perfectly still, its surface mirroring the clear sky. Trees fringed its periphery, restricting the light to a slanting golden glow that picked out details with aching beauty. The reeds standing up in the water. Lacy broom fronds waving at the water's edge. A flock of wood ducks exploded into flight, their wings throwing up sparkling droplets.

I walked through deer-nibbled briers to the small brook flowing from the pond. Its burbling song soothed me and rooted me to the spot. At length, I settled to the ground. Meanwhile, the little orange cat investigated our surroundings.

A wax myrtle framed the mouth of the stream and on it, a chickadee hopped about. The cat grew interested in this, but his prize lay across the stream. He watched intently, nose twitching, and I could see the wheels turning in his mind. Was this prize worth risking the waters? Was it close enough for a pounce?

He decided against it and attempted to suavely pretend as if he was only interested in a drink from the stream. The chickadee continued about its avian business, seemingly unalarmed by its brush with death. I sat and watched the goings-on, allowing the peace of the scene to steal into my soul. My consciousness faded into the surroundings and my sense of self blissfully dissolved.

Something about that golden light seemed to suspend time. It seemed to me that the afternoon would never end, that I could sit there forever. The stream would burble endlessly, the birds would chirp and flit about and the cat would alternately beg for attention and wander about. The sheer perfection of it all was nearly too much to bear. So beautiful…it's impossible to put into words. There is a rightness that can only be sensed by the heart, by the spirit. That rightness was present, and I was grateful. I could feel my strength and equilibrium returning.

At length, a silent internal signal told me it was time to leave. I felt ready to face the world once again, though with some reluctance. I gave my thanks to the Goddess and to the spirits of that place, rose and slowly made my way home.

This is my favorite spiritual practice. This is my magic. I commune with our sacred Earth, with her forests, meadows, streams and lakes. Wherever I find myself, I am at home. Whenever my spirits are low, or when I have a problem to think through…I go outside and walk. Sometimes I sit. Sometimes I play music or sing. That's all. No tools, no ceremony, no special time or day aligned with a table of correspondences. There is a time and a place for formalized practices, and I do use them. But my true power lies in the silence of nature. If I had no other practice, this would be enough.

Traveling Spiritual Supplies

What spiritual tools do you carry with you when you travel? When I'm in town or near home, it tends to be a priestessing kit. I'll have the ingredients for home cleansing, simple ritual and divination. When I'm away from home, it's more of a spiritual practice kit. This of course changes depending on the type of trip, and may at some point expand to include both general spiritual practice and priestessing work. Right now I have to keep it pretty tight as the bag I have at the moment will only hold so much.

Perhaps at some point I'll get a slightly larger bag, or maybe a small hard sided suitcase type of thing. We shall see! It does amuse me how I just don't seem to be able to travel so light as I once did. This kit allows me to do personal divination, my daily gratitude practice, devotionals and meditation. Plus healing work, which is 24/7/365 for me.

So here we go! This is what I typically carry with me on trips:

(Left to right in the photo)

• Tarot cards & book
• Earphones for meditation in noisy places
• Sandalwood mala
• Wooden shaker
• Medicine bag
• Pagan prayer beads
• Pendulum
• Incense
• Crystal attuned for healing work
• Pashmina (instant altar cloth, ritual vestment, or for meditating in cool places)
• Journal
• Gratitude journal

Of course, if I'm really being complete, I would also mention the pile of Yoga gear which accompanies this kit. I haven't travelled without it in some time now. That adds on a Yoga mat, blanket, bolster and the sheepskin shown in the photo above. And my native flute, which is a daily practice as well.

Agh, so much stuff! But I tell you this: the continuity of being able to perform the same practices each day…it is delightful. I feel it has truly strengthened my overall spiritual practice in recent years. It doesn't matter where I go, I pray, meditate and practice Yoga every day. To me, this is witchcraft and this is shamanism. The heart of my practice is self-discovery, devotion and spiritual exploration. I have created the support I need to truly live my faith, not just on Sabbat or Esbat days, but every day. 

To me, this is right. Magic is here and now, all around us and within us, all the time. There really IS no mundanity. Everything and every moment is sacred.

30 Days of Deity Devotion: Day 7

On Devotional Practices

I'm certain that Greek reconstructionist groups are doing something different than I am in the worship of Artemis. I don't know for certain what they are doing as I have experienced a strange diffidence toward learning about it. Someday I will, but I'm not interested in re-creating anything. I am interested in creating a new practice - something fitting to these times and to the place in which I live. Something that feels right to me.

Here are some of the devotional practices that I have created or that I use:

Yoga
I have created a special Yoga class just for Artemis.

Hiking
I dedicate my hike to Artemis whenever the moment feels right. I have also created a method of devotional hiking in which distance is tracked and prayers are offered at regular intervals.

Hunting
I have a whole set of rituals that I follow when it's time to hunt. I like to prepare myself with meditation, a ritual bath and a light fast. I have found a quick dedication prayer to say and also a longer bowhunter's prayer. Of course my bow and arrows are also consecrated to Her service as well.

Archery
I pray to Artemis when I practice archery. Some days I dedicate the practice to her. I'm working on creating a formal devotional archery practice.

I find myself getting more and more devotional this year, when in the past that was not at all my focus. Interesting! I have lots more ideas, too.

What do you practice that is specific to Artemis?

In the Most Unlikely of Places: Freecell

If you've never played it, Freecell is a form of solitaire, except all the cards are spread out, face up, in vertical columns. You have four open "cells" at the top, which are used to shift cards around. The goal is the same as solitaire - untangle all 52 cards and pile them up by suit and number, in order.

It’s also a pretty powerful spiritual practice.      

Freecell is teaching me to work with what I have in front of me. The game has many moves, some of which seem like progress, and some that seem like backtracking. It’s not linear. I cannot simply do what I’d like to do. The card I want is buried beneath three cards for which I have no use. I have to deal with a chaotic and seemingly arbitrary jumble. Each tiny step leading me further along my circuitous route…just like life.

Just like real life, there are no jokers, no get out of jail free cards. There’s just raw material and a little bit of wiggle room. You have to shift it around until the chaos is transformed into order. If you fail? That’s it…or you can hit retry. That too, might be like real life, but none of us really know that answer. But back to Freecell.

The game has a certain flow, yet it’s also balanced by longer termed strategy than simply putting a card anywhere it can fit. Looking ahead a few moves, that’s the key. But then, one can easily overbalance in this direction and take on too much. Unbridled ambition doesn’t work in Freecell. It tends to just eat up your free cells and leave you a crucial one move away from perfection.

It’s also showing me how it doesn’t matter if I can see where my step will land. The most unlikely moves can sometimes lead to the most brilliant streak of flowing, easy scores. It seems like such a bad idea, but I have to do something. So I take a chance…and then, eureka!

Freecell reveals my blind spots. I never knew it, but sometimes I am dyslexic with numbers or colors. I think I'm seeing clearly, but the reality is different. How like life, how like Yoga!

Sidebar: a Yoga teacher I studied with recently told me that asana (yoga poses) reveals imbalance and asana corrects imbalance.

Koans everywhere!

Anyhoo. I find that I make a lot of mistakes. I think I’m on a roll, maybe I’m just a wee bit too excited about that fact and BOOM! Saw the color wrong, went too fast or overlooked one crucial thing. At other times, frustration will lead me to act recklessly. 

I also find that I’m capable of some brilliant flow. I get into a fugue state and it becomes effortless. One move leads to the next in a harmonious rhythm. It feels the same as when I'm in an altered state creating artwork, when my martial arts mojo is strong or when I'm paddling well on a river. Flow is a whole other topic…I'll write more about that later.

To sum up, it's helping me:

1. Use what I have.
2. Take one step at a time.
3. Look a few moves ahead.
4. Balance effort and non-effort.
5. Learn from blind spots.
6. Flow.
7. Trust.

Lately, things have been tumultuous in my life. There is a lot of intensive transformation going on. I have been playing a lot of Freecell, and I've been taking a lot of steps to manifest my dreams. 

Give it a try, and as always, tell me about your experience! Are there any mundane seeming things you use as a spiritual practice?