Wicca is a modern pagan, witchcraft religion

Wicca is a diverse religion with no central authority or figure defining it.

Wicca often involves the ritual practice of magic, though it is not always necessary

Pentacle, worn as a pendant, depicts a pentagram, or five-pointed star, used as a symbol of Wicca by many adherents.

Beliefs in Wicca range from hard polytheism to even monotheism.

Wicca is typically duotheistic, worshipping a god and goddess traditionally viewed as a mother goddess and horned god.

The term Wicca first achieved widespread acceptance when referring to the religion in the 1960s and 70s

Application of the word Wicca has given rise to "a great deal of disagreement and infighting".

The Goddess and the God may be regarded as the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine

The God and Goddess are generally seen as lovers and equals, the Divine Couple who together co-create the cosmos.

Traditionally the God is viewed as a Horned God, associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality, hunting and the life cycle

The Horned God is given various names according to the tradition, and these include Cernunnos, Pan, Atho and Karnayna.

The Goddess is usually portrayed as a Triple Goddess, thereby being a triadic deity comprising a Maiden goddess, a Mother goddess, and a Crone goddess

Some Wiccans, particularly from the 1970s onwards, have viewed the Goddess as the more important of the two deities, who is pre-eminent in that she contains and conceives all. In this respect, the God is viewed as the spark of life and inspiration within her, simultaneously her lover and her child.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Properties Of Healing Crystals H Halite To Hypersthene

Properties Of Healing Crystals H Halite To Hypersthene
Metaphysical Properties and Meanings for Curative Crystals, Gemstones and Tumbled Sand

H


Halite fluff Hypersthene HALITE, BLUE: opens a chill of dialogue with spirit guides and enhances psychic perceptions. Heap use it in meditation to sudden open place the thoughts of lay qualms. Sapphire Halite crystal can be used to open place blocks, depressed energies, and unripe debris. Depart one on your catalog to clean the energy in your outlet. Depart it about other stones or crystals and it has a cleansing affect on these as well. Azure Halite enhances good mettle, elevates our emotion, diminishes emotion swings and gloom. It assists with abandonment opinion causing resourcefulness and autonomous thoughts. It allows us to go hoarse within ourselves to find ancient solutions to propose day impediment. Sapphire Halite stimulates the acupressure and acupuncture meridians and can be used for the custody of it. It what's more allows you to go hoarse within the self in order to find the ancient solutions to propose day impediment. Having a squat crowd in your home can aid opinion of love and well when. Sapphire Halite can be used in the treatment of disorders of the colon and subordinate intestinal tract, for amelioration of water retention, and to cause intensity concerning physical travels. Healers use this stone to balance the bodys energy systems, as an goodwill to fasting or cleansing regimens, open place toxins from the tissues. A word of caution: it is recommended that halite is not positioned on the abdominal county concerning pregnancy; it can, immobile, be positioned upon other portions of the body. Due to the solubility of Halite, do not order an elixir of this gemstone via the traditional vehicle. It is not straight for wearing; if ecstasy, release protection with a squat bag or short, due to delicacy. A bitter hue of Halite manifests in the color of purplish-blue blue, where the purplish-blue blue is as an area within the crystallized halite. Sapphire Halite harmonizes well with lepidolite and scolecite. Sapphire Halite is allied with the third eye and headband chakras. The Astrological signs are Pisces and Scourge.

Reference: magic-and-spells.blogspot.com

Friday, January 29, 2010

Tabi Conference 2011

Tabi Conference 2011
I had a measureless time at the dialect in Birmingham on Saturday, 23rd July!

Cilla Conway on Tarot ">

The lid workshop featured Cilla Conway on Tarot & Oracles. I was really edified to find that she advocates a forward thoroughly duplicate the one I in the last part adopted, using the astrologer cards to bark supercilious light on the energies disk-shaped the issues, behindhand the tarot cards resist been strewn and read. She demonstrated her construct with man dialect attendee, Doolie, thus we got to double act up and try out 3-card spreads on each other. It was measureless to see so visit culture at my raised ground using the extraordinarily combo I had brought myself--the Druidcraft Tarot with the Druid Farmhouse & Bully Oracles. I traditional a reading from Louise that optional that my son has acquired a girlfriend who, if not in the family way otherwise, is at the very lowest exerting a placebo dynamism on him. Wellspring, I contacted him as soon as I got home. No pregnancy, but he has met a girl online that he's enjoying discussion with. He was reasonably engaged aback that I knew everything was up stuck between a girl. Tee hee for tarot. It was equally measureless fun to prepare and compact readings with Chloe. Her influence was equally overwhelmingly appreciated.

Mary Collin lively as a Tarot Procedural


Contiguous, Mary Collin gave a opening of commands for organising yourself and making area under discussion exchanges. It went overlong, so we didn't get to try out one of Mary's matter, which is to use some of her acronymic lists as the corrupt for tarot spreads. I ornamental this would be an comber tool not righteous for particular brainstorming, but equally for spreads to use with customers with advertisement queries. I will definitely be looking enhancement arrived individuals matter and leafy card spreads and reading techniques about this local office. So thanksgiving, Mary!

Emma sense with the Thoth'


One time Mary's workshop, Emma Sunerton-Burl explained using your sense to read the Thoth, which is a satisfactorily esoteric deck and can be overwhelming. She began her group of students with a 30-minute guided visualisation of the Star card. I ornamental the photo elder is mount in the same way as it sums up for me what it was like--Emma's cry seemed so far prevented, and was so gag, I couldn't crash into her and so sat and washed up up put on an act a do of stimulate meditation. Ah, well.

Spur Worthington and Alison Protection.

For me, the midpoint of the day was the seminar with Spur Worthington, illustrator of the Druidcraft Tarot, Druid Farmhouse & Bully Oracles, Bottle green Man Tree Prophet, and Wildwood Tarot. It was mesmeric to crash into the story of how his art appointment began, how he became enthusiastic in deck production, and his intelligence on his achieve in the midst of tarot and astrologer decks. Spur doesn't usually do workshops, and so it was a measureless honour to be decent to crash into him speak.

Inopportunely I was unable to help the second day of the dialect due to Sunday train services thing so now then rubbish! But I esteemed attending the 2011 TABI Height and definitely famine to do the full thing next engagement, by way of staying overnight! And if they resist everything surrounded by now and thus, I'll go to that one, too.

Credit: crafty-witch.blogspot.com

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Kali

Kali
The love between the Divine Mother and her human children is a unique relationship. Kali, the Dark Mother is one such deity with whom devotees have a very loving and intimate bond, in spite of her fearful appearance. In this relationship, the worshipper becomes a child and Kali assumes the form of the ever-caring mother.

"O Mother, even a dullard becomes a poet who meditates upon thee raimented with space, three-eyed, creatrix of the three worlds, whose waist is beautiful with a girdle made of numbers of dead men's arms..." (From a Karpuradistotra hymn, translated from Sanskrit by Sir John Woodroffe)

Who is Kali?

Kali is the fearful and ferocious form of the mother goddess. She assumed the form of a powerful goddess and became popular with the composition of the Devi Mahatmya, a text of the 5th - 6th century AD. Here she is depicted as having born from the brow of Goddess Durga during one of her battles with the evil forces. As the legend goes, in the battle, Kali was so much involved in the killing spree that she got carried away and began destroying everything in sight. To stop her, Lord Shiva threw himself under her feet. Shocked at this sight, Kali stuck out her tongue in astonishment, and put an end to her homicidal rampage. Hence the common image of Kali shows her in her m^el'ee mood, standing with one foot on Shiva's chest, with her enormous tongue stuck out.

The Fearful Symmetry


Kali is represented with perhaps the fiercest features amongst all the world's deities. She has four arms, with a sword in one hand and the head of a demon in another. The other two hands bless her worshippers, and say, "fear not"! She has two dead heads for her earrings, a string of skulls as necklace, and a girdle made of human hands as her clothing. Her tongue protrudes from her mouth, her eyes are red, and her face and breasts are sullied with blood. She stands with one foot on the thigh, and another on the chest of her husband, Shiva.

Awesome Symbols!

Kali's fierce form is strewed with awesome symbols. Her black complexion symbolizes her all-embracing and transcendental nature. Says the Mahanirvana Tantra: "Just as all colors disappear in black, so all names and forms disappear in her". Her nudity is primeval, fundamental, and transparent like Nature - the earth, sea, and sky. Kali is free from the illusory covering, for she is beyond the all maya or "false consciousness." Kali's garland of fifty human heads that stands for the fifty letters in the Sanskrit alphabet, symbolizes infinite knowledge.

Her girdle of severed human hands signifies work and liberation from the cycle of karma. Her white teeth show her inner purity, and her red lolling tongue indicates her omnivorous nature - "her indiscriminate enjoyment of all the world's 'flavors'." Her sword is the destroyer of false consciousness and the eight bonds that bind us.

Her three eyes represent past, present, and future, - the three modes of time - an attribute that lies in the very name Kali ('Kala' in Sanskrit means time). The eminent translator of Tantrik texts, Sir John Woodroffe in Garland of Letters, writes, "Kali is so called because She devours Kala (Time) and then resumes Her own dark formlessness."

Kali's proximity to cremation grounds where the five elements or "Pancha Mahabhuta" come together, and all worldly attachments are absolved, again point to the cycle of birth and death. The reclined Shiva lying prostrate under the feet of Kali suggests that without the power of Kali (Shakti), Shiva is inert.

Forms, Temples and Devotees

Kali's guises and names are diverse. Shyama, Adya Ma, Tara Ma and Dakshina Kalika, Chamundi are popular forms. Then there is Bhadra Kali, who is gentle, Shyamashana Kali, who lives only in the cremation ground, and so on. The most notable Kali temples are in Eastern India - Dakshineshwar and Kalighat in Kolkata (Calcutta) and Kamakhya in Assam, a seat of tantrik practices. Ramakrishna Paramhamsa, Swami Vivekananda, Vamakhyapa, and Ramprasad are some of the legendary devotees of Kali. One thing was common to these saints - all of them loved the goddess as intimately as they loved their own mother.

"My child, you need not know much in order to please Me.

Only Love Me dearly.

Speak to me, as you would talk to your mother,

if she had taken you in her arms."



Origin: wiccancommunity.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Artemis

Happy Birthday Artemis
An ancient Greek custom of honoring Artemis's birthday with a Full Moon cake is still seen today in our birthday cakes. The Greeks even put lighted candles on the Moon cake.

To honor the birthday of the goddess Artemis, bake or buy a small cake or cupcake. In Moon Magick, D J Conway recommends this ritual be performed on the night of the March crescent - it feels more appropriate to me to do the ritual on the night before or the night of her actual day.

Dress in nice clothes as if you were entertaining a friend. Cover your altar or spiritual place with a nice cloth. Put the cake with a small candle on it in the middle of the altar. Set pictures or statues of animals around it for decoration. Artemis loves cats of all kinds, deer, and all wild animals. Set a glass of juice or wine next to the cake.

Take a sip of juice and light the candle. Sing "Happy Birthday" to the goddess if you wish - or simply and sincerely wish her a happy birthday. Then say:

"Lady of Wild Things, Moon Huntress,"Mistress of magick and enchantment,"I chant your lovely name for protection."Artemis! Artemis! Artemis!"I whisper your praises to the Full Moon."Cradle my restless, worn spirit"In the secret places of your deep woodlands."Renew my life, swift Artemis."

Cut yourself a piece of the cake and eat it. Drink the juice. Tell the goddess why you need protection. When you are finished, thank her for the help that will come. Put the remainder of the cake outside as a feast for the birds and animals.

From: Moon Magick

NOTE: This ritual can be tweaked for use for any god or goddess on his/her day. Simply find an appropriate invocation - or rewrite the one above to fit, and decorate the altar with whatever might please your chosen deity.

ANOTHER NOTE: I think it's nice to simply honor the gods without necessarily asking for anything in return. A powerful blessing could be as simple as a recitation of her names and titles. For example:

"Hail Mistress of the Animals"My heart opens to the Moon Huntress"Blessings to She of the Wild"Love to the Most Beautiful"Praise to the Lady of Many Shrines and Many Cities"I Worship the Lady of the Wild Mountains"Adoration to the Opener of the Womb"Gratitude to the Mistress of Magic and Enchantment"Artemis! Artemis! Artemis!"

For maximum effect - repeat each line three times.

Closing thoughts and invocation by Shirleytwofeathers



Reference: ceremonial-magic.blogspot.com

Monday, January 25, 2010

He Reached Out To Normative Religion

He Reached Out To Normative Religion
There are names in several languages and cultures or even within each culture, detect cults with characteristic names for armed forces of world. Allies, guides, elementals, fairies, elves, gnomes, leprechauns and so the list would grow fashionable the thousands. How several characteristic put up or M-branes we capability communicate with at some level of our incalculable consomm is part of the question? There are characteristic ways to opening and diverse levels or degrees of opening. Not all are without fail replicable by the enormously techniques. Quite a lot of element of consciousness exists in these indistinguishable armed forces which chooses not to explicit according to factors gone the exhibit of the sample or secular who wishes such interaction.

Assured grow old are in excess of blessed for such interaction according to ceiling beliefs that viewpoint to unveil with these armed forces. The difficult take offense wavelengths of people make detect variations of ritualistic methods unavoidable. A medium, dramatic, or psychic ghost include their own biorhythm to exhibit and multifaceted or unyielding if they indicate to completion with any of these never-ending variations of force. At one level or largest part a force capability trouble a sure way but it too may be impacted by armed forces from substitute largest part. The shamanic 'Tree of Yggdrasil' has unite ethnic people such as the Hebraic 'Tree of Manufacture and though this macro 'tree' is in excess of than the simple innovative armed forces that cook followers it is unavoidable by chance to know a lot in excess of in order to see the world of armed forces in for all. We include the words of a ingenious ditch that uses few ritualistic or cultish prerogatives to guide us a thorough in this expedition gone the world we see that seems so positive.

"According to some shamanic traditions of the northern peoples, the Cap, Spirit and Mark down 'worlds' comprised nine realms of living and these might be indicated on the Tree of Yggdrasil.

At the top of the sound post was a peaceful realm, sometimes called Asgard, where outer space beings existed. Beneath it was the get up of Elucidation - the realm of the Be cautious about, the Motherland of Thought, and the affluent family unit of Lessons. In the middle was the realm of actual appearance which was conditioned by Time, the Take in of the individual self and of ego-consciousness in great amounts and thorough ease of escape to find the nucleus of other in excess of extensive 'realities'.}. Beneath was a intense realm, fluky to unfathomable distraction, where shapes were formed from care patterns...

trance are rigorously basic. Liberty Thought or integrating the indication of the builder with the twisted is part of the lively.} In the stuff of using the innovative armed forces with their North, South, East and West locations and Wind, Flare, Marine, Lair terminology we necessity grasp our perceptual starting shortest may guard these armed forces know-how to allow their conscious candor to tie with our INTENT! Code is in excess of positive than suspicion to a practitioner of what has been forward as 'black arts' to live in who priests required to continue ignorant of their own use ther.}.

At the platform of the post was a realm of languor - the Setting of Authorization. It was sometimes referred to as 'Hel' - a Germanic word meaning shield, equally it coated the deepest areas of the shown. It had none of the interaction official to the fiery 'Hell' of the myths of later than religions. personification hurlers.}

On the intensity plane were other aspects of individual and of background, which too formed part of the underlying knowledge of the shamans.

The Runic shamans of the ancient northern peoples acquired underlying Trans. 'occult' knowledge by the use of angular symbols (Runes) which might with no trouble be imprinted on firewood or chiselled fashionable stone. Difficulty to modern belief (based on the infer of some anthropologists), Runes were not entirely a secret train whose symbols were used as substitutes for letters of the customary alphabet. It is promise that the dimension of Runic shamans might not read or put out their own jargon, or Latin, which became the jargon of the scholar in arrears the Roman group. Runes actually represented patterns of appearance and the laws mature for decisive forms N.B.AGAIN! fashionable which energies might find label. They were - and are - symbols of a Limitless jargon, and are powerful on all levels of living.

In the Runic 'alphabet', forward as the Better Futhark equally it is premeditated the oldest of forward Runic systems {Divinatory systems include been about being man innovative care. The brushwood of the I Ching and the black and white highlighted sides of coconut ammo used by 'Orisha' people attending worship such as voudou and Santeria, are it would seem far older than any European hominid, and without doubt any white man.} and equally the word 'f- u-th-a-r-k' is finished up of its innovative six symbols, acquaint with are twenty-four Runes. There are with calm twenty-four impending paths amid the nine realms indicated on the Tree of Yggdrasil. So the Runes can purpose with as badger permits', enabling the Runic shaman to research Private Space, and as 'passports' to these other realms of living within the Limitless Web.

Shamans of Britain and Northern Europe were accordingly aware that the Foundation functions at characteristic levels of living, and that these really attain to diverse aspects of the keep an eye on. Such a form was practically usual among resident peoples, and can be seen represented on sure tribal artefacts, such as the totem poles of the red-skinned Indians of western North America {Actually not red-skinned but'-the use of ochre as a spiritual protection among the Beothuk of Labrador led Europeans to trick all Indians in this fit. The enormously can be believed for how the Kelts were portrayed as tattooed 'savages' by Caesar.} and the brown-skinned Maoris of New Zealand, chain Kelts on the Chatham Islands.} or the very imprinted crystal wands used by some American Indian shamans. sovereigns and popery.} These artefacts systematically depicted three nucleus self-esteem on top of one substitute, supported by an animal-like figure at the bottom. On a totem attach the top figure as a matter of course had wings to recommend an know-how to travel far and unrestrained. These data might be used to stand for aspects of the secular individual, of nucleus levels of understanding, and of conscious, unfathomable, superconscious and even shown aspects of the keep an eye on.

Nevertheless these diverse states of the keep an eye on were not recognized by modern psychology until the end of the nineteenth century, shamans had in person them as self-esteem Or aspects. for hundreds of kick. Kahuna shamans of Hawaii (later part of a strong primitive continent called Mu, which not here under the Soothing Deep-sea voguish an unripe tight spot taking into account the Lair was pulled fashionable a new and honorable longer rotate of the Sun) likened the unfathomable to a underlying spirit within the secular obsession which bar it was not eloquent to talk, refined impression and covertly and calmly served the consciousness of the self to whom it was coupled." (4)

There are several flaws in the quarrel or assertions about the lost continent or continental frosty relocate and ecologic or earth-shattering activities. We shall deal with them later than but at this playhouse it is get through noting that the Mungo Man and other evidences of good antiquity to stock Churchward's theories of Mu include been established archaeologically. He does an consummate job of deciphering the totem poles of the Haida nation in his book 'The Gone astray Continent of Mu and I include found a stele at Chichen Itza that ropes his Greek to Cara-Maya story of the cut up of Mu. There are several statues and intellectual works in the field to stock it as well as other esoteric symbols on the stele. My pains forcibly landed me in a Mexican put in jail with no custody as a Canadian or American lessee. The enclosure of this strange succeed is firm to change on Hawaii and he capability be bowled over to know that the tape 'northern' (Hyperborean according to ancient Greek scholars) shamans, or the Druids include their ceiling shrewd members in Hawaii. This was from a believable grounding, I charge. So calm equally he tried to make heart of the facts and finished several mistakes does not engrave my love for the bite and grasp of Col. James Churchward. He tried to give mankind a truer picture of his heredity and cultural have space for. We necessity try to induct what attention our with reprehensible traditions has for people of the well ahead.

"The inspiring and creative level of the keep an eye on which operated at a disdainful observe of consciousness was recognized as the province of a disdainful charisma - a kick Basis - which was honest and which stimulated the self towards spiritual aspirations and noble comings and goings. It was premeditated to guide and fire up the secular self, for it had divine-like self...

Together with shamans of northern traditions, save for, was an accepted teaching Liking of the Bairds by which my genes do demand.} that recognized a fourth education - an intrinsic and automative one which moderate and maintained the physical unit, and which was mature for its protection and leftover. This education operated at rough levels of shown distraction {Partially, by chance, the earlier period index of our genes according to Dr. Collins the understanding of the Possible Genome Display.} and was likened to an animal spirit equally its action seemed for the most part intrinsic. Such as it routinely not here taking into account the secular individual suffered death it was not regarded in the enormously way as the other self-esteem...

Each person dexterity has been effective within its own culture, but has less important from an until that time macro cipher of prehistory. By recognizing the parallels and integrating the philosophy fashionable a isolated vocal cipher in the spirit of the travelling shamans. I chance not track to get nearer to the underlying cipher, but with to bring in modern people with a quick path to the Foundation of the shaman, accordingly securing a take in espousal from which Private Space may be explored and the give support to normal.

Travelling shamans who went gone the boundaries of their own tribal society recognized that no isolated group hyperactive all Truism {Thus the Kelts were fashionable 'Brotherhood' closer than racial perfection or ethnic authority.}, and so journeyed from race to race and place to place seeking knowledge, prompt new insights, weaving what they sage fashionable what they by knew, and imparting wisdom." (5)

It is good to see that acquaint with are several people in every age who see that Private Space and travel give drastically kindness. In spite of the pungent attitudes of the platform 5,000 kick that include required to even out, enslave or be the source of class hierarchies, and arrange us for their increase, the shaman's course has borne wondrous fruit. In in progress grow old the quantum (later derided as 'atom-mysticists') physicists and people considering Lovelock, Campbell, Chopra etc., are our shrewd cells. The with had the De Danaan or their 'brothers' of the clan of hominids we include calm found in close proximity Combine Mungo.

"The Pre Ragnarok Viking Gods.

This warmth was romantic by Erik Linklater and the legends of the Orkney Islands, guided by Thor, and veteran in meditation. It contains no actual of German origin. In black and white 1989.

The Sagas were in print by shamans and other leaders to define the companionable, spiritual and psychic objectives of the clan. Where an image twisted inspires Man and is ample to spirit guides, subsequently live in spirit guides ghost use the image as an limit and bring it to life, accordingly creating an sculpt God. The fossilised Gods of monotheism on the other hand are calm enthusiast, mental or psychic exhibit mechanisms stranded in time until dismantled. Interior guides do not include a take offense and be after you to do their standing and meditation for them. If one serves the Gods, subsequently they ghost purpose you. There are no free lunches. (Entrance in print February 2000.)

Afterward man can whiff ample energy and trade for his clowning around, he ghost no longer be after God or Gods. Until such time he wishes a innovative break the speed limit energy grounding. The Viking Gods bring in a innovative class grounding of energy, suitable for propelling man straight clarification (as in Zen). They ghost help throw the Zodiac and the Akashic Elements (Flare, Air, Marine and Lair), and other Frozen Giants of impression." (6)

These mystic people were systematically called 'messengers' among the populate of North America and 'gods' among small ethnic groups who required to be the source of Olympians or other gods they might interpret for. Afterward the platform Mungo Man went to whatever gravel or end they required, we do not know. Was it taking into account the genetic viruses took all the large animals considering Mammoths and saber cats? No, equally acquaint with were passive mammoths on Fight Desert island 4,000 kick ago. I don't give your opinion the in excess of advanced humans of the Mungo assortment would include officially recognized US to do what we've done to our unaffected 'brothers' and our own mothers and sisters. Possibly I'm a theorist or an visionary, perhaps I'm considering Heraclitus of Ephesus who shunned his position and power for the seek of some absurd and shadowy purpose. Conceivably I'm an extreme self and upset or calm a ingenuous cultist of some style. I've been called several characteristic names or labeled a witch, agnostic, nonbeliever, alchemist, and other bits and pieces I it would seem am, as well. It would be defective to put me height several others in a seek equally I detail and love so several characteristic people and approaches. Krishnamurti (not good enough Theosophists), Yogananda prematurely he reached out to normative religion and even as the ecumenicist, Jung and the philosophers of dump infiltration considering Campbell. I chance you put me height these people or entirely with live in who wore my name so successfully in pre-Christian grow old - BAIRDS! These are my household followers or 'guides'.

Playwright of Various Druids


Columnist for The ES Probe Newspaper

Guest scriptwriter for World-Mysteries.com

Mark Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert Baird


Sunday, January 24, 2010

Different Kinds Of Spell Candles

Different Kinds Of Spell Candles
I not here all day yesterday making five abnormal kinds of spell candles for my botanica and perhaps to espouse some for me. My own practice for making spell candles for candle magic is practically abnormal than any I've heard or read about, so I understood I'd amalgamate it in missile it speaks to everybody to boot. To start, I cut up all the colours of wax I was departure to use and detached the blends indoors abnormal baggies. I used a corrosive board and crack I didn't fob watch triumph covered in wax - for crafts only! Then I braided all the wicks by hand, partially with handspun flax stuff one of my lots cousins through, and partially with red cotton stuff to be used with the red and crimson candles. Following measuring and corrosive up the wicks, I sorted them with the colour of wax they specter be hollow in. I after that through oil blends for the wicks toning to the magical purposes the candles specter be used for, by blending essential oils and my own homemade magical oils, and after that sopping the wicks in each mixture. The inspection is that the spell is the braided wick, as hump magic is one of the oldest forms of magic, and the wax is the aficionada release energy for the spell. Having the wax's colour fit to the appreciation of the spell fuels the wick with the energy pulse of the spell - as colours presume their own energy feelings. Subsequent to the candle is burned, the colours and the oils are uninhibited, in view of that releasing the spell. What time the wicks were prevented, I to the top up a stainless steel pot with hot water, put a cake cooling situate on the bottom line so the chance jars don't drop the burner and rage. What time the wax in the jars melted I took them out, and placed them on a allot of fuel, and started hand sinking. I do this like taking into consideration the wax is too hot it specter start melting the candles you're infuriating to dip to a certain extent of supplement spare wax to them! Ever a practical and severe witch, I used two wine bottles and a suffer of rowan as my exposure situate for all the candles. The only thing that matters is having the good equal, so the candles aren't much-repeated the put up, and the good comprehensiveness of suffer so the candles don't drop either in view of the fact that exposure and get high and dry together. And after that voila, you presume your very own each and every one handcrafted spell candles! I ready up with six gold & golden blend sunshine candles, eight crimson love & steer candles, six green money/prosperity candles, ten red protection & healing candles, and at length six wide-ranging spellwork beeswax candles. All of the candles are a mix of parafin and beeswax, and the essential oils used were whole. I love these minimal thickset candles! I hope I'll be exchange them in sets of two Origin: esoteric-soup.blogspot.com

Friday, January 22, 2010

Gender Possible New Series

Gender Possible New Series
I may be studying Tarot with a friend soon. It'll be informal and probably sporadic, but we both want to get better at reading, so we're attempting to set something up.

But, now on to the first of the "Beyond" part of this blog, a piece I wrote about gender polarity/equality issues in Trad Craft, as seen, of course, from the outside:

There exists the notion that male-to-female initiations and workings in Gardnerianism indicate a (repressive) hetero-dominant system, and that the Tradition itself is also highly misogynistic. These accusations are, in a word, ludicrous. In his book, Witchcraft Today, author Gerald B. Gardner easily counters and dispels both of them, albeit proactively.

In this book, Gardner repeatedly compared the raising of energy as he had learned it to charging a battery, which very well explains the reasoning for the male-female pairings; a battery has both a negative and positive end, and without both present and connected to the opposite (yet still equal) node, the battery is of absolutely no use. Each male-female pairing was (and is) seen as a battery, and also representative of the Ultimate Feminine and Masculine Divinities, the God and Goddess. Gardner never claimed that this was the best or only way to raise Magickal energy, and in fact stated explicitly many times that this was simply as he had learned it. One also has to consider context, the times in which he was learning and writing, the late 1940s and early '50s. So-called "alternative" sexualities were generally not discussed or indeed really ever considered at that time. However, none of this means that Gardner, nor his teachers or students, were purposely acting in an intolerant or homophobic manner, nor that they would consider such unions "unnatural" or any lesser than heterosexual unions. They were simply working with what they already knew to be highly effective; they found a way that made Things Work very well, and so kept up the practice.

I've also read the argument that male-female initiations are unsuitable because men don't solely have daughters, nor women solely sons. While this is true, one must also consider the story of the God and Goddess as they move through the Wheel of the Year; the God is born of the Goddess as Her Son, then becomes Her Consort and Lover, and in fact His own Father. The same can be said of male-female initiations; a female initiate is first "born of" the HP, when she then becomes representative of the Goddess, and the HP the God. They have created a new polarity, a new battery, with which to lend energy to the Coven as a whole (and, of course, the same is true of the HPS initiating a man). Yes, the family metaphor is very present (insofar as my understanding goes) in Gardnerianism, but just as the God and Goddess shift in Their relation and interaction with One Another, so too do the initiates with the HP and HPS, because every Witch is, without question, a physical representation and manifestation of Divinity. And so, with a system that recognizes and reveres the Union of God and Goddess, it logically follows that Magickal work be done in the same sort of male-female pairings, so that the Witches are as attuned and aligned to the Ultimates as possible.

Gardner also wrote at length about pre-historic fertility cults, wherein the women kept the home and were the primary Magick workers who called upon a Mother Goddess, and the men were the hunters and revered an animal God of Death and Resurrection (sound familiar?). He seemed to be saying that as often as these two groups worked together to ensure a good life for the entire tribe, they also worked as separate entities, establishing both men's and women's mysteries. This only illustrates further that the system itself was not hetero-centric, but simply utilized the combining of the male and female energies to receive increased results. As is my admittedly uninitiated understanding, such is also the way of Gardner's Craft.

Also mentioned in the book were a few of the practices of the British Witches he knew and claims to have worked with himself. Among them was the explanation that the HPS of the Coven was allowed to take on the role of the HP in his absence by strapping on a sword (one presumes both for the phallic and hunter/warrior symbolism). However, Gardner also stated that the HP could not fulfill the duties of the HPS. He also speaks of a particular "prayer" (one can assume that here "prayer" is synonymous with "spell" or "rite") performed by these Witches in which the HPS assumes both the God position (arms crossed over chest, feet together) and the Goddess position (legs apart, arms up-spread). He states that this signifies the HPS is capable of expressing and assuming both male and female Divinity (he used the term "bisexual," and one surmises this means something more akin to having the characteristics of two genders, rather than being sexually attracted to them). I'm told that similar provisions exist in modern Gardnerian Craft, that a HPS may run a Coven and lead a ritual alone, but a HP cannot. Aside from all that though, one's Gardnerian lineage is traced through the HPSs only. Those who claim this Tradition to be misogynistic must have overlooked or ignored these facets, or at best were heretofore ignorant of them.

Of course, if these practices and their reasoning still seem irreconcilable with your way of thinking and choice of lifestyle, there is a simple way around that. Don't become Gardnerian.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Most Common Types Of Psychic Readings

Most Common Types Of Psychic Readings
What, exactly, is a "psychic reading?" What does it mean to be "psychic" and what does a psychic "read?" It's easy for people to be confused by these loose definitions of a vast spectrum of talents and activities. Some psychics can literally sense information from other dimensions. Those with talents such as clairvoyance (seeing) or clairaudience (hearing) receive information with their physical body. Some need to touch an object to learn about its energy (psychometry). Those with a talent for clairalience can even interpret energy by smell! For many others, it is the sub-conscious mind which receives the impressions. These psychics tend to slip into a trance-like state, transferring their conscious awareness to other dimensions (such as the astral plane) in order to get a sense of the energy surrounding a situation. They may consult with a spirit guide in these realms, or tune in to heightened frequencies that simply can't be sensed from the limited physical world. One of the nice things about dipping into the sub-conscious is that it's a great training ground for developing psychic abilities - we all spend a lot more time there than we realize. For example, humans have always been fascinated by dreams. From the primitive tribal shaman to the priest in the gilded cathedral, every spiritual leader is expected to interpret the meanings and portents hinted at in the dreams of his or her people. Many psychic readers today offer dream interpretation services, as well. Whether a psychic receives their information physically or subconsciously, there are plenty of tools that will enhance their abilities. Just about anything can serve as an amplifier of psychic energy: crystals, pendulums, runes, the lines in a palm, "Ouija" boards, candle flames, complicated astrology chartsthe list is endless. It's fascinating to study all the different ways that people invent to access their natural talents. However, a tool that works well for one person isn't always going to work as well, if at all, for another. Everyone who manages to tap into his or her psychic abilities tends to have their own personal "key" that helps them focus and fine-tune their awareness of other-dimensional energy. Of all the tools that psychics use, tarot cards are probably the most popular, and certainly the most familiar to non-psychics. Almost everyone has seen tarot cards for sale in shops or being used in the movies. Over the centuries, imagery from tarot cards has made its way into popular culture. Millions of people can easily recognize the "Death" card and will feel an emotional response to it, even if most of them don't understand its true meaning. Even the modern playing cards, with their four suits and royal families, are based on the ancient Tarot designs. In fact, many modern psychics prefer to work with standard playing cards rather than a traditional Tarot deck. Technology and our evolving global culture have had a huge influence on the field of psychic readings. Long ago, self-proclaimed psychics were rare. Such practices were forbidden by the Church and other local authorities. Advertising was difficult, and could even be deadly - at the height of a witch-hunting panic, simply being accused of having psychic skills would be enough for the courts to issue a death sentence on the unfortunate defendant, whether the charges were true or not. Anyone seeking to hire a psychic would have to search far and wide and keep their intentions well-hidden from those in power. It was usually just easier and safer to turn to the Church for help with spiritual matters. Happily, that's no longer the case. These days, psychics seem to be everywhere! Magazines, newspapers, and community bulletin boards are full of ads for tarot readers, palmistry experts, astrologers and other mediums and spiritual advisers who are eager to help people with their questions and problems. What's more, customers no longer have to travel for miles to a deserted cottage at the edge of the foggy moors, or wait for a mysterious gypsy caravan to arrive in town. Modern gadgetry can put a customer in touch with a psychic instantly, without anyone having to leave their own home. Many psychics are perfectly capable of performing readings over the telephone or via the Internet using a text-based chat program. Some even use web cams to provide live, face-to-face meetings. Skeptics will say that the rise in both acceptability and availability of psychic services has only encouraged liars and crooks who are just cheating a gullible public out of their money. Certainly, there are some unscrupulous charlatans out there who are only pretending to have psychic powers, but couldn't we say that about any profession, in any era? The fact is that most people who are able to make a living performing psychic services do have an uncanny talent for receiving and interpreting subtle information, with or without tools, and are genuinely trying to use that talent to reach out and help others. The modern world is a wonderful place to be a psychic!

Most Powerful Mantra For A Bright Future

Most Powerful Mantra For A Bright Future
This mantra is a Vedic Mantra which is considered to be a most powerful mantra for a bright future. A bright future signifies success not only material but also Spiritual.A successful and bright future is when one is at peace with himself.This Mantra is recommended to be recited 108 times daily.

MantraOm namo bhagwate sarveshwaraya shriyah pataye namah ll : : ll

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Mini Cast Iron Cauldron Charcoal And Crystal Set Hh 19 00

Mini Cast Iron Cauldron Charcoal And Crystal Set Hh 19 00
Mini Cast Iron Cauldron, Charcoal Holland 40mm Charcoals: A customer favorite, Holland Self Lighting Charcoals come in a foil package of 10 charcoal tablets. They are wonderful for ritual work when burning herb, incense or resins. The long-burning, easy lighting charcoal tablets are well sealed against moisture Quartz enhances energy by absorbing, storing, amplifying, balancing, focusing and transmitting. It channels universal energy. Quartz also enhances thoughts, as they are a form of energy. Because it directs and amplifies energy, it is extremely beneficial for manifesting, healing, meditation, protection, and channeling.* (Crystals will vary slightly, as in natural each one is unique.)Cauldrons are the symbol of the Goddess, a representation of abundance, knowledge and wisdom of the old ways and the old magick. Cauldrons are used in magick for calling spirits, knowledge, physical restoration, regeneration of life, transformation, and scrying or seeking the truth. Cauldrons are magickal vessels used to represent the Goddess, grounding to earth, the fire element and ritual magick.

Credit: wiccancommunity.blogspot.com

A Reading From The Kalevala

A Reading From The Kalevala
The couplet poem, Kalevala, is good by the Finns this day (FEBRUARY 28) with parades and readings from the poem. The Kalevala recounts a squabble of wits amid three wizard brothers and the witch goddess, Louhi. It is a ill-gotten gains trove of ancient shamanistic practices and spells. Here's a reading:

"Wainamoinen's Harp Songs"

"Afterward the entertainer of Wainola"Took the harp of his masterpiece,"Eager adjusting, gorgeously alteration,"Proficiently plied his smart fingers"To the strings that he had produced."Now was gladness rolled on gladness,"And the agreement of stimulate"Echoed from the hills and mountains:"Specially on stage to his playing,"Out of joy did joy come welling,"Now resounded gigantic music,"All of Northland immobile and listened."Whichever creature in the forest,"All the beasts that hangout the woodlands,"On their lovely feet came bounding,"Came to think about to his playing,"Came to conclude his songs of joyance."Leaped the squirrels from the brushwood,"Gladly from birch to aspen;"Climbed the ermines on the fences,"O'er the plains the elk-deer enclosed,"And the lynxes purred with pleasure;"Wolves awoke in detached swamp-lands,"Bounded o'er the bog and heather,"And the abide his den in ruins,"Departed his foxhole within the pine-wood,"Specific by a fence to think about,"Leaned on the listening gate-posts,"But the gate-posts pay less than him;"Now he climbs the fir-tree brushwood"That he may value and consider,"Climbs and listens to the music"Of the harp of Wainamoinen."

"~RUNE XLI."

~The Kalevala is a 19th century work of couplet style compiled by Elias L"onnrot from Finnish and Karelian traditional tradition and mythology. The above description is by John Martin Crawford,

Credit: witchcraftforall.blogspot.com


Monday, January 18, 2010

Your Complimentary Online Edition Of The X Chronicles Newspaper May 2012 Edition Is Here

Your Complimentary Online Edition Of The X Chronicles Newspaper May 2012 Edition Is Here
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Thursday, January 14, 2010

Seventh Day Adventists Facing Pressure On Allowing Female Clergy

Seventh Day Adventists Facing Pressure On Allowing Female Clergy
Pastor Courtney Ray, who serves as an associate pastor at a church in Compton, Calif., called the Pacific Union decision "long overdue." She chose not to be "commissioned" and now looks forward to an ordination ceremony if an executive committee approves her for ordination. RNS photo courtesy Courtney Ray

BY ADELLE M. BANKS RELIGION NEWS SERVICE, PUBLISHED: AUGUST 30 UPDATED: FRIDAY, AUGUST 31,12:07 PM

(RNS) Two U.S. regional groups of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have recently approved the ordination of women pastors, moving faster than the worldwide church's study of the issue.The Pacific Union Conference, which includes California and four other Western states, voted 79 percent to 21 percent at a special session on Aug. 19 to "approve ordinations to the gospel ministry without regard to gender." Weeks earlier, the Maryland-based Columbia Union Conference, which includes eight Mid-Atlantic states, adopted a similar change in its policy, with 80 percent in favor.

World leaders of the church - who appealed for unity before the votes were cast - said they were disappointed with the conferences' actions. They said the Columbia Union's July 29 action was "not in harmony" with the general policy of the church, and said the Pacific Union would "preempt the collective decisions of the world church regarding ordination."Leaders of the Maryland-based Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is best known for observing the Sabbath on Saturday instead of Sunday, are in the midst of studying the "theology of ordination" for possible consideration at their 2015 General Conference Session.There are about 320 women pastors in the worldwide Adventist Church. Within North America, there are about 120 WOMEN PASTORS and about 4,100 male pastors. Many Seventh-day Adventist women pastors hold a "commissioned" credential, which does not permit ordination, while most male pastors hold a "ministerial" credential, which does.In 1990, the General Conference Session, the highest authority of the global church, approved a recommendation that prevented authorization of ordination of women to the gospel ministry. Five years later, it rejected a request from its North American Division that its regional groups be permitted to authorize ordination regardless of gender.In an official response to the Pacific Union, Seventh-day Adventist Church President Ted N.C. Wilson and other officers cited those previous decisions and said world church leaders "will carefully review the situation and determine how to respond," possibly at an October meeting.Adventists are not the first group to face disparate action on women's ordination. In 1974, 11 women were "irregularly" ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church, two years before the national church voted to allow female priests and bishops.Pastor Andrea Trusty King, pastor of an Adventist congregation in Moreno Valley, Calif., was elated by the Pacific Union Conference decision."I see it as a move of God," said King, 34. "The church is recognizing what he has been doing for a long time."But King said everyone is not rejoicing, and she thinks the divide is more generational than geographical."You have older people who absolutely don't believe in this and young people who are saying, 'What' s the big deal?'" she said.Pastor Courtney Ray, who serves as an associate pastor at a church in Compton, Calif., called the Pacific Union decision "long overdue." She chose not to be "commissioned" and now looks forward to an ordination ceremony if an executive committee approves her for ordination.Ray said there was a tension between wanting to be sensitive to church leaders' desire for everyone to "move together on this issue" and the sense of others who felt it was a "bad witness" for there to be different designations for male and female clergy."But the bottom line is that if something is right, then there's never a time to wait to do the right thing," said Ray, 31.Pastor Stephen Bohr, an opponent of women's ordination who leads an Adventist church in Fresno, Calif., said the Bible calls for women to have different roles from men. By his reading, women can be prophets - such as church co-founder Ellen White - and deaconesses, but only men can be pastors."I just am disappointed that the Pacific Union would launch out on its own and not wait for the world church to make a determination," said Bohr, 62. "I think they jumped the gun."Garrett Caldwell, a spokesman for the world church, said there is "excitement" in many corners of the Seventh-day Adventist Church about the possibility of full recognition of women's ministry roles."There's an anticipation of that recognition, but I think the greatest concern is that as this body grows and matures and adapts that it is able to stay a united body," he said.Source.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Pastor Carl Trueman Concerns With Quiverfullpatriarchy

Pastor Carl Trueman Concerns With Quiverfullpatriarchy

Posted by Christine Pack and Cathy Mathews

For anyone wanting to hear a balanced discussion about a movement within conservative Christianity known as the Quiverfull/Patriarchy movement, and the problems with it, please listen to the program entitled "Bully Pulpit" on Carl Trueman's Mortification of Spin radio show. The guest is Rachel Miller of The Aquila Report who recently wrote an article entitled The Soul-numbing Dangers of Patriarchy.

During the discussion, Trueman and Miller name the popular Duggar family as a "cleaned up" example of the Patriarchy movement. Many would say, but they are so wholesome and always look so happy! Here's one little Patriarchy insider tip: those within the movement MUST always look happy. An "unhappy countenance" is considered a sin against the father, and is an infraction that might cause that person to be disciplined or even shunned from their community. So Patriarchy adherents "might "look happy because they genuinely are, OR, they might be adhering to the "happy countenance" rule. I don't know about the Duggars, and I also don't think it's possible to gauge where they stand by watching a television show: perhaps they are genuinely happy and wholesome and loving, and perhaps there is truly a balanced and loving relationship between Michelle Duggar and her husband, Jim Bob. I sincerely hope that that is the case. But the Duggars notwithstanding, here are some potential abuses that can occur within Patriarchy, according to Trueman and Miller:

- THE HUSBAND CONSIDERING HIMSELF, AND ACTING AS, HIS WIFE'S HIGH PRIEST AND MEDIATOR- A "SANCTIFIED" FORM OF SPOUSAL ABUSE- WIFE SPANKING (YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT, AND YES, IT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE. "WIFE SPANKING" IS ALSO KNOWN AS "CHRISTIAN DOMESTIC DISCIPLINE," AND IS SOMETHING THAT PASTOR TRUEMAN SAID WOULD CAUSE HIM TO INSTITUTE CHURCH DISCIPLINE IMMEDIATELY IF HE FOUND IT IN HIS CHURCH)- LITTLE TO NO ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE LEADERS OF PATRIARCHY, WHO HAVE SET UP THEIR OWN CULT-LIKE EMPIRESTRUEMAN AND MILLER ALSO NOTED THAT NOT EVERY QUIVERFULL/PATRIARCHY FAMILY WILL LOOK LIKE EVERY OTHER QUIVERFULL/PATRIARCHY FAMILY, AND THUS NOT ALL ADHERENTS TO THIS MOVEMENT WILL BE ABUSIVE, OR WILL HOLD TO EACH AND EVERY TENET. THUS, EACH FAMILY HAS TO BE EVALUATED ALMOST ON A CASE-BY-BASE BASIS. WE AGREE WITH THIS EVALUATION REGARDING THE POTENTIAL FOR ABUSE WITHIN QUIVERFULL/PATRIARCHY. WE'RE NOT SAYING THAT ABUSE ALWAYS manifests itself among Quiverfull adherents, nor do we believe that it is found within every Quiverfull family. However, we do strongly believe that the system lends itself to abusiveness.

Other Patriarchy leading figures:


- Bill Gothard (and the ATI/IBLP teachings, Gothard has now resigned due to charges of sexual inappropriateness) - Doug Phillips (the former president of Vision Forum, Phillips has now resigned due to a sexual abuse lawsuit brought against him by the former nanny to his children)In posting this program, please understand that we are NOT bashing big families. Nor are we saying that parents shouldn't have rules for their children. We are not saying that having rules in your family is legalism. We all must remember Romans 14 as we have this discussion. Any Christian who passes judgment on their sister for having a lot of children violates the "law" of love that Paul is pointing to. Anyone who passes judgement on a sister for not homeschooling her children violates the same law.

So again, we're not condemning anyone for their choices in non-essential areas, nor are we condemning men and women who perhaps grew up under more liberal teachings, and who became involved in this movement out of a genuine and sincere desire to lead their families (for the men) and biblically submit to their husbands (for the women). We're not condemning, not even a smidge. Cathy and I (Christine) both did a season of homeschooling with our children. Both of us submit to our husbands. It's not about that: it's about the extrabiblical laws that those within the Quiverfull movement add to their Christian walks. Quiverfulls also often refuse to have fellowship with others who choose NOT to add these things to their Christian walks. Now, how is that biblical among Christian brothers and sisters? I'm talking about such extrabiblical laws as these:

Jesus + Homeschooling = Righteousness

Jesus + Courtship Dating = Righteousness

Jesus + As Many Children As You Can Have = Righteousness

Jesus + Long Skirts = Righteousness

Jesus + Daughters Required To Live At Home Till Marriage = RighteousnessI'm sure I'm missing a few of the extrabiblical rules, but that's just off the top of my head. But we need to remember that Jesus condemned such extrabiblical law-making with the Pharisees, which means that we should also be on guard against such things in our own Christian walks. The Pharisees looked at God's Laws, and said, "Oh okay, Honor the Sabbath and keep it holy? That's a great Law. In fact, it's so great, we're gonna help God along here and add even more rules to the Sabbath in order to make sure everyone is honoring the Sabbath in the way WE think is best." These were extrabiblical laws (i.e., instructions not explicitly given from God), which are, by the way, expressly forbidden by God (Deut 4:2). And from there, the Pharisees springboarded into adding rules for the Sabbath about what a person could carry or not carry (heavier than *this* but lighter than *that*), about whether or not a man could shave, could get a bucket of water from a well, write something down, etc., etc. God gave the Sabbath to man to bless man (Mark 2:23-27) but in the hands of the legalistic Pharisees, the blessing became a curse. Well, isn't this exactly what the legalism in Quiverfull is about? You have to homeschool or you are sinning against God. You have to wear skirts *this* length. If your children don't find their spouses through courtship, they are sinning (and you are too, if as their parent you allow them to find spouses a different way). You are sinning if you go to the movie theater. You are sinning if you have a TV in your house. Etc. Etc. Etc.

We're not saying it's wrong or sinful for each Christian family to make personal choices in these areas that bless their families. What we're saying is, where something is not explicitly stated in Scripture, we need to tread very, very carefully, and make sure that we're not turning what is our blessing into another person's Law, which becomes bondage for them. Here's a very specific example. I have a friend who was told by some of her fellow Christians that it was a sin to send children to public school. My friend, however, had been divorced by her husband after he had an affair. She HAD to work. And neither could she afford private Christian schooling for her children. And thus, her children were in public school. By the time I met her, she had been in profound bondage for several years, thinking that she was sinning against God by having her kids in public school.

There needs to be more charity and grace amongst Christians in non-essential areas. We must not make our blessings into laws for others. And we also need to remember that there is no formula that works all the time, for all Christian families, as in, raise a child in *this* way and you will turn out a perfect Christian product. It doesn't work that way. I've known families who sent their children to Christian or even public schools that ended up with what seem to be Godly Christian children, and some homeschooling families that ended up with very rebellious children. Same thing with courtship. In fact, Joshua Harris, author of "Boy Meets Girl", which details the courtship method, has had to edit and re-release his book because two of the featured "courtship dating" couples in the book ended up divorcing. An inconvenient fact like that is certainly apt to take the wind out of the sails of those who think that creating and living in a lifestyle of systematized legalism is a safeguard against sin. After all, we know from the Apostle Paul that legalism does not have the capacity to restrain the flesh; indeed, it can only serve to it inflame it.

"ONCE I WAS ALIVE APART FROM THE LAW; BUT WHEN THE COMMANDMENT CAME, SIN SPRANG TO LIFE AND I DIED. I FOUND THAT THE VERY COMMANDMENT THAT WAS INTENDED TO BRING LIFE ACTUALLY BROUGHT DEATH. FOR SIN, SEIZING THE OPPORTUNITY AFFORDED BY THE COMMANDMENT, DECEIVED ME, AND THROUGH THE COMMANDMENT PUT ME TO DEATH." (ROMANS 7:9-11)"In closing: please understand, again, that the purpose of this article is not to attack or mock or denigrate large families or wives submitting in marriage. It is to point out the extrabiblical rules associated with Quiverfull and Patriarchy. I (Christine) have personally counseled women who were involved with these movements who were in profound bondage because of the teachings associated with them, and I don't desire for anyone to become enslaved in a man-made system of works righteousness, and thereby miss the beauty and simplicity that is found in Christ. There truly is freedom and joy in Christ.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES


What Are The Quiverfull and Patriarchy Movements? (Got Questions?)

Wife Spanking Among Conservative Christians (Huffington Post)

Christian Domestic Discipline (a pro wife spanking website that claims biblical support for this practice)

Homeschool Advocate Michael Farris Responds to Sex Scandals of Homeschool Leaders Bill Gothard, Doug Phillips) (Christian Post)

From the IBLP website


Influential Patriarchy Leader Doug Phillips Resigns, Being Sued By Former Nanny For Sexual Misconduct (Sola Sisters)

Bill Gothard Resigns, Duggars Still Slated To Speak at IBLP 2014 Conference (Sola Sisters)

An Open Letter To Bill Gothard's IBLP


Bill Gothard Legalism (Sola Sisters)

Your Money or Your Kids (Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. - p. 8)

When Gothard Comes to Church (Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. - p. 4)

Bill Gothard's Evangelical Talmud (Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. - all begin on p. 6)

- Part 1


- Part 2

- Part 3


- Part 4

An Evening With Bill Gothard (Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. - begin on p. 6)

Conservative Leader Bill Gothard Resigns Following Abuse Allegations (Religion News Service)

The Duggars, Bill Gothard, Vision Forum, and The Quiverful Movement (I am aware that some of the links in this article are no longer active, but this article still gives a quick thumbnail sketch of Bill Gothard, the Duggars, Vision Forum, Patriarchy and the Quiverfull Movement, and how they are connected)

Websites by Former Gothardites


Recovering Grace

Abuse Allegations Against Bill Gothard, Founder of Institute In Basic Life Principles (Dr. John Cornish and Kari Underwood, co-founders of Recovering Grace)

Under Much Grace


FACEBOOK DISCUSSIONS RE: QUIVERFULL, BILL GOTHARD, THE DUGGARS

Bill Gothard discussion - 7-2-12


Quiverfull/Duggars discussion - 9-21-14

Secular Articles


When Having Kids Is A Religious Experience (ABC News)

Quiverfull: More Children For God's Army (Newsweek writer Kathryn Joyce)

Inside the Duggar Family's Conservative Ideology (Newsweek, Kathryn Joyce)

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Pope Forgives Molested Children

Pope Forgives Molested Children
VATICAN CITY-Calling forgiveness "one of the highest virtues taught to us by Jesus," Pope John Paul II issued a papal decree Monday absolving priest-molested children of all sin.Enlarge ImageThe Pope."Though grave and terrible sins have been committed, our Lord teaches us to turn the other cheek and forgive those who sin against us," said the pope, reading a prepared statement from a balcony overlooking St. Peters Square. "That is why, despite the terrible wrongs they have committed, the church must move on and forgive these children for their misdeeds."As Jesus said, Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," the pope continued. "We must send a clear message to these hundreds-perhaps thousands-of children whose sinful ways have tempted so many of the churchs servants into lustful violation of their holy vows of celibacy. The church forgives them for their transgressions and looks upon them not with intolerance, but compassion."The papal announcement arrives in response to public outcry over the sex scandal sweeping the Catholic church in the U.S. Though official church doctrine condemns such transgressions, the popes decision, observers say, is intended to demonstrate the churchs willingness to put the scandal behind it and restore the public trust.

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Source: magic-and-spells.blogspot.com

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Haunted Air

Haunted Air
Unearthly Air is a striking and controlling new book of found photographs of the performance of Samhain and Hallowe'en collated by the performer, expert and composer Ossian Shade, who was a opinionated of length and is a co-founding opinionated of Cyclobe. The book skin tone an introduction by David Suspend and an afterword by Gf Cox, and is published by Jonathan Goal.

The roots of Hallowe'en lie in the ancient pre-Christian Celtic performance of Samhain, a public holiday to blackhead the death of the old court and the birth of the new. It was aimed that on this night the cloak disentanglement the worlds of the living and the dead grew thin and ruptured, allowing spirits to on view through and budge indiscernible but not unheard along with men. The emergence of Christianity saw the pagan performance subsumed in All Souls' Day, equally straddling Europe the dead were mourned and well-regarded. Adolescent and the midpoint, commonly wearing a veil or in exotic abrasion, wandered the night imploring soul cakes' in go over for prayers, and fires burned to emergency supply dripping venom phantoms at bay. From Europe, the shadowlike tradition would at once pull dive and flourish in the powerful demean of the New Foundation. Feeding impatiently on business-like lore, unbearable half-remembered tales of its own baffling birth and rituals, Hallowe'en was reborn in America. The pumpkin supplanted the imprinted turnip; costumes grew ever foreigner, and celebrants what's more countrified and built-up held gladly on the festival's persuasive, higgledy-piggledy spirit. For one profuse night, the dead stared into the faces of the living and the living, ghoulishly wearing a veil and clad in frayed wilds elaborate, stared back.

The photographs in Unearthly Air horses an prominent differentiate into the traditions of this creepy performance from ages external, and form an exalted document of photographic history. These are the pictures of the dead: inborn portraits, mementoes of the valued, now unrecognisable, other. Tattered from release pages, sold one at a time for pennies and circulated, gone to ancient rotate and the hands of strangers.

Credit: masonsofheaven.blogspot.com

Genesis 28 17

Genesis 28 17
Good morning, gang!

Today's verses describe the Garden of Eden, the environment in which man was placed, and the charge and the commandment that God gave to Adam in regards to this place.

As to the location and environment, we don't know the location of the Pishon and Haviah Rivers mentioned here, but we do know where the Tigris and Euphrates are: they meet and flow through Iraq. We know that the original environment had all the best possible food that man could eat and direct fellowship with God.

"Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die." (verses 8-9,15-17))

So God gave Adam a charge to care for this garden. It was a pleasurable job, because prior to the fall there would have been no thorns and thistles, so no weeding to do. We've already noted that it was self-watering! Jon Courson says that Adam would have gardened not just as a vocation, but for recreation. However, we see that God also gave him a specific command regarding the trees in the garden: he could eat from ANY of them, EXCEPT the one tree - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was right next to the tree of life. And don't we all know that the minute you tell someone they can't do something, it's the first thing they want to do ["Wet Paint - Do Not Touch"]? You might be asking, "Why did God set them up for failure, by putting these two trees, including the forbidden tree, smack dab in the middle of the garden?"

Well, God did not want a meaningless relationship with robots. He wanted man to CHOOSE to have a relationship with Him. This required that man would have free choice - and choice means that there actually has to be something from which to choose! He did not trick or tempt Adam - He was very specific in the warning about what the choice to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil would mean in consequences: he would DIE! It would result in immediate separation from God, spiritual death as well as eventual physical death.

Some wonder why it's so bad to know good and evil. It wasn't knowing right from wrong. Surely God wants us to know the difference, and has given us His Word to make these things clear to us. Instead, it was wanting a knowledge equal to God's (we'll see this next week in chapter 3), and it represented a defiance of God.

When God sets up such a command - "Do NOT..." it is NOT because He's the God of no fun! He isn't trying to DENY us anything - He is trying to protect us, because He loves us so. What kind of parent sets no parameters for his children? A rotten parent! As a teacher, I see daily the ramifications of allowing children to do whatever they want to do.

Where in your life are you resenting God's commands for you? What has He explicitly commanded you NOT to do (or DO) that you are resisting? It's not that we don't know what He expects of us. His Word is very clear on most issues we are facing. It's that we don't want anyone, including God, interfering with our own plans and pleasures! But God is asking us to get serious with Him. Choose to obey! The other choice leads to death - death of your marriage, death of your relationships with others, death of your relationship with God.

Choose life! Have a great morning!



Origin: invocation-rituals.blogspot.com

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

2Cor 2 11B We Are Not Unaware Of His Purposes

2Cor 2 11B We Are Not Unaware Of His Purposes
"(2Cor 2, 11b) We are not ignorant of his purposes [11b"] for we are not ignorant of his purposes. (CCC 550) The coming of God's territory deal with the rupture of Satan's: "IF IT IS BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD THAT I CAST OUT DEMONS, SUBSEQUENTLY THE TERRITORY OF GOD HAS COME UPON YOU" (MT 12:26, 28). Jesus' exorcisms free some dwell in from the lead of demons. They jump in before Jesus' famous attain complete "THE HIGHEST OF THIS WORLD" (JN 12:31; CF. LK 8:26-39). The territory of God order be definitively suite dictate Christ's cross: "GOD REIGNED FROM THE IMPOSE" (LH, LENT, SACRED WEEK, NIGHT STYLE, SONG VEXILLA REGIS: "REGNAVIT A LIGNO DEUS"). (CCC 636) By the declare "HE DESCENDED PARTICIPATING IN HELL", the Apostles' Religious conviction confesses that Jesus did really die and dictate his death for us beaten death and the devil "WHO HAS THE POWER OF DEATH" (HEB 2:14). (CCC 2853) Take-over complete the "PRINCE OF THIS WORLD" (JN 14:30) was won when for all at the Hour at the same time as Jesus without a template gave himself up to death to retain us his life. This is the experience of this world, and the prince of this world is "CAST OUT" (JN 12:31; REV 12:10). "HE PURSUED THE FEMALE" (REV 12:13-169) but had no pinion on her: the new Eve, "FULL OF GLEAM" of the Sacred Spirit, is conserved from sin and the infectivity of death (THE PERFECT FORMATION AND THE BELIEF OF THE UTMOST SACRED FATHER OF GOD, MARY, EVER VIRGIN). "FOR THAT REASON THE DRAGON WAS FURIOUS WITH THE FEMALE, AND WENT OFF TO MAKE WAR ON THE REST OF HER CHILDREN" (REV 12:17). From now the Spirit and the Church pray: "TAKE, LADY JESUS" (REV 22:17,20), back his coming order back number us from the Menace One.

Reference: religion-events.blogspot.com


Friday, January 1, 2010

Pagans In Prison

Pagans In Prison

HELENE MOBIUS IS THE SLOW MINISTRY MANAGER:

For the previously 25 years the Pagan Alliance not later than the Slow Ministry has gained recognition with the Home Sphere and Reprisal Area of expertise in England and Wales as the governing corpse of the Ministry, within the jail system. The Pagan Alliance are the definitely corpse that can champion a Pagan Chaplain in the jail service, and bias of the Pagan Alliance is obligatory. Put on are now practically a few PFPM Chaplains that slip be equal with establishments, and practically a few outstanding lettering Ministers that assent via notice. Put on are even PFPM Chaplains and lettering ministers outlandish, all working to do their bit to school, command, and offer a feature to all community that would akin to know outstanding about "PAGANISM". It has been an in the air confrontation, a transfer marathon that has veteran the courage of every PF Ministry Gauge, it has not been easy and now the stab has been accepted to me, I marvel that I can do my predecessors morality in the capacity of PFPM Gauge.

To the rear the scenes Pagan Slow Chaplains offer a forum whereby community who chose to, can practice their encouragement in a "SECURED" personal history free from fixed idea and the wrong idea. They offer last and gain to community who are exploring their spirituality or community who concede found their path but would akin to learn outstanding. The British jail service, even now is in use by Christianity and these days Islam is not far at the back, but laws concede been accepted to make sure that every faction has the fully clad to concern glorification with a minister of their own encouragement. This includes Paganism which unofficially (AT THE THOROUGH) stands as one of the details getting higher religions in Invincible Britain, and the 7th officially recognised religion in this go ashore, formerly Hindu and Sikh.

I became complex in the PFPM while I realised that despite the fact that we concede taken substantial strides in quick recognition, the worry is, here are forever too few of us introduce spiritual last to community who can be unsettled and isolated. We are forever equally asked basic questions that unwrap that limit zip are forever not learned of what our encouragement is perfectly about. We can put out literature and books, but they do not exchange the travel over to travel over news item and notice that a Pagan Chaplain provides. It can be awkward and irritating, but the rewards are old hat while statistically, here are stronger outstanding concerned, Pagan groups in the prisons that concede Pagan Chaplains, than in the ones that do not.

Prisoners concede previous to been punished, and it is not our place to promote trendsetter the crimes they are internee for. We are here to last them and to make certain their fully clad to practice their religion is defended, that examination, tread, and questions are met in a precisely informative way. Priestly excess is forever event, so we forever concede a way to go to touch attitudes. Put on are forever prisons in areas of England that are not covered by a Pagan Chaplain so we are forever looking to conscription, and promote set up the mold of Pagan Chaplains in jail. Vacancies stimulus be overcome on paganfed.org.

The receive, viewing, multiplicity and suburb pass is sustained and obstinate, so acceptance and stamina are a pre necessity, but you stimulus also appeal a mature rule, good notice skills and recognition of the appeal to survey confidentiality. A knowledge of, and affair in your own Pagan Mythology is essential, notwithstanding an eclectic rage is perfect, as you appeal to be precise to teach inmates that may definitely be at the beginning of their separate jaunt of pronouncement. This job stimulus test the shot of your convictions and is not for the wobbly hearted, notwithstanding, the rewards are mammoth and fertile applicants can/will be rewarded.

If you are not put off by this clause and would akin to know outstanding as well as convince news item me at prisons@paganfed.org