Spirituality Level: Zero

How do I want to put this? Well, it's best to just confess my sins and get it over with. Rip off the band-aid, so to speak. Since my last post, my spirituality level has been next to nothing.

My altar was nice in the corner of my bedroom, the zafu I purchased to sit on not too far away. It's been collecting dust. My journal is still sitting on the bookshelf next to the half-read biography on Doreen Valiente. To its right is a book on Irish Mythology. In essence, I've been disconnected from all things spiritual for 3 months. This is not okay.

We all know that lulls like this happen, but that doesn't mean they are acceptable. Not honoring the altar and the items placed upon it may not be a direct smack to the Gods, but it's still pretty bad. I wish I could say it was just laziness, but I think it had more roots in ambivalence and questioning how I was going to fit everything into the day.

In an ideal situation, I'd have meditation time in the mornings and evenings. That's in addition to working full time, cooking for myself, going to art therapy appointments because those things are freaking useful, and visiting with friends and family. My life doesn't look like that now and I think I'm in a battle between wanting things to be that way even if they aren't necessary, and wanting to ball up in the fetal position and hide under a rock.

How sweet life is, eh?

I know that I could mull all of this over for three more months, journal about it intermittently, and tell myself I'm doing everything I can while pretending that I'm doing just that. Or, I could make a plan and stick to it. Part of the reason I'm sharing it is due to accountability.

These are my 3 spiritual rules for the time being:

1) Make weekly offerings to Lugh and Danu. Use this time to commune with them.
2) An oracle reading at least once a week, though daily is preferred.
3) Respecting myself enough to recognize that I'm a work in progress.

They sound so simple, right? I think that I can do these 3 things, and I'm sure I'll be back to post on my progress.

Etsy Haul - Offering Bowls + Pentacle Tile

I know a lot of people are upset with Etsy over some of their recent decisions to feature some religious products/items and not others. I think those opinions are valid, but Etsy is still a great way to support like-minded folks in the community, or even those that are accepting of other faiths.

I stumbled upon De Baun Fine Ceramics on accident and browsed on a whim. I was in awe at the craftsmanship I saw and the reasonable prices that went along with each item. I received my items today and I couldn't wait to show them off.

I was actually searching for offering bowls but, while I saw many great options, none of them seemed quite personal enough. I was happy to see that the seller accepted commissions for projects. I sent Diane De Baun a message and asked if she would be willing to do a custom order of two offering bowls, one for Lugh and one for Danu. She accepted my challenge.

We spent weeks going back and forth discussing my choices. She answered my questions and shared her knowledge of her craft, advising me on details such as size, design, and glaze and paint colors. These are the finished products:

 


In addition, I found a Pentacle Tile that was already for sale and knew it would be perfect.

 


My initial idea was for Danu's offering bowl to have a silver rim in contrast to the copper rim of Lugh's offering bowl. Diane painted it in copper on accident because I confused her with my many messages about color choices. She offered to correct it with silver paint, but I requested a photo to see how it looked. I actually like the copper much better than I thought I would and, since all three pieces have the copper, it ties them together.

Please visit Diane's shop and consider purchasing a couple of items, whether for yourself or as a gift. You won't be disappointed.

---

(*I was not encouraged by Diane to create this post. I purchased the items at full price and this post is to share my experience with a great online business.)

Daily Devotional - A Small Rite

I don't usually light a candle when performing my morning and evening daily devotionals. I occasionally burn incense, though more frequently at night to remove any stray gunk that I have accumulated throughout the day.

I have a confession to make: I missed one of my devotionals yesterday. I felt like I needed a big gesture to get started back up again. It wasn't a requirement from Deity; it was my way of apologizing to God and Goddess for my lapse and returning to the process with renewed vigor. Now complete, I can easily say it was a good decision and that I'm glad I followed through with it.

I added the representations of the Elements this time around since I am beginning to approach them in Anni's Season of the Seeker program. A river rock for Earth, incense for Air, a tealight candle for Fire, and a container of Water - it needn't be more complicated than that. As a result of my adding these bits, the rite felt more complete and what I had previously viewed as a shrine had become a full-fledged altar.

Is it me or does my Lugh statuary seem extra happy today? He is holding a point of natural citrine and tumbled sunstone.

Even Danu seemed interested in the festivities this morning, as I could feel her presence. Here is Danu's statue, which many of you have likely seen on this blog before. Her offering bowl has a clear quartz point and a piece of tumbled moonstone.

If you're interested in starting a daily devotional practice, the easiest way to begin is to go before your altar and speak to Them. Heck, do it from your bed after you first wake up in the morning and prior to falling asleep - where doesn't matter so long as you get something out of the process (not material items but hopefully some form of spiritual growth).

The Sabbats - A Reflective Episode

I've been feeling a disconnect with some of the sabbats as of late. Even if I'm not able to do a full on ritual, I still make time to pause and reflect on the wheel of the year and the changing of the seasons. I just don't feel a connection to Ostara like I do with Imbolc. I've been searching for possible reasons why, and even going so far as to theorize that everyone likely has sabbats that they don't identify with as much as the others. But my answer led me somewhere that I didn't expect: only celebrating the 4 greater sabbats.

Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh. Those are the ones I'm going to celebrate for the next year, starting after this upcoming Samhain. Then, I'll take some time to pause and reflect on the change and determine if it makes sense to continue or if I should return to the main Wiccan concept of the sabbats. And I'll also continue my personal research into what the Irish did; not to hope to copy their practices word for word, but as a starting point for my own personal practice.

I'm not a Celtic Recon but I have been reading a lot of related blog posts, websites, and book recommendation lists in order to get a general overview of the Irish way of doing things all those years ago. All my research points to the fact that they celebrated these four sabbats and not those on the quarters (Yule, Ostara, Litha, and Mabon). Not a lot of factual information survives from those times in my opinion, but one note of interest is that the due dates on a lot of their bills has been recorded as corresponding with the dates of the greater sabbats and not the lesser ones as one might find in other cultures.

There's also the ability to correlate Irish deities that I seek to honor and revere with these specific celebrations (though to be fair, this isn't exclusive to any particular pantheon or culture).

You can honor the Morrigan at Samhain.
You can honor Brid at Imbolc.
Danu can be honored at Beltane.
Lugh, naturally, at Lughnasadh.

So I'm going to give it a try and see if my perception shifts. I'm still considering myself a Wiccan for the time being even though others might disagree with my assessment. I'd love to hear from you if you only celebrate the greater sabbats, or even the lesser ones. Everyone is welcome at my little corner of the internet.

Daily Devotionals - What I've Learned So Far

I have always talked to deity, but rarely did I make a daily rite out of it. In fact, think of my speaking to deity as being almost identical to a Christian praying because, truth be told, it is. It has been effective enough but lately I've been longing for more. 

For about a week now I have been doing a morning and evening devotional, communing with Lugh and Danu for a few minutes each time. The experience isn't magical all on its own though - personal transformation comes with setting aside a specific (or even general if that is what you can muster right now) time to commune with God and Goddess.

Then you have to do it. Every day.

That has been the most difficult part for me, especially since I wake up and go to sleep at sporadic times. I've actually reminded myself by looking at my altar which stirs the memory from somewhere inside my likely cobwebbed brain. In those instances I force myself to do it right then, pausing the rest of my life for a moment or two. It's no different from what we do when we cast a circle and separate ourselves from the mundane hustle and bustle.

Devotionals are meant to help you connect to deity and I have experienced that connection becoming stronger. I read recently that Danu isn't an overpowering Goddess when she forms a connection with someone and I can attest to that. She is laid back and serene, communing with me in the time and place I set aside. Lugh is similar, though his energy is more prevalently felt throughout the day after the Devotionals are performed. Don't get me wrong, Danu is with me too, but she takes a different approach to my patron deity.

Establishing a daily devotional is simple, it's sticking to it that is the most difficult. But the rewards from connecting to God and Goddess more than make up for waking up ten minutes early before work, or putting off that DVR'd television show. As with most things in Wicca, it is what you make it.

Simple Rituals Are Just As Powerful

I took fifteen minutes out of my morning routine to burn my incense mixtures in honor of Danu and Lugh. Some might say that is an impossible amount of time for in the morning; others would be able to fit it in with no problem. Certainly the rising sun is a good time to honor Lugh, the Irish God of Light, but if you only had time at night available you would find that deity wouldn't look down upon you for it.

It was a simple ceremony where I burned the incense as an offering to them, as a way to honor all they are and all they have done for me. It was a way for me to commune with them aside from the morning and evening devotionals I have been doing for the past week.

I can't say that life is that much different; I don't have ravens greeting me at my windowsill every morning and there aren't any seagulls pecking at my front door asking for admittance. But I can tell you I feel more connected, and that is what all of this is about after all. The personal experience, the connection with something more than ourselves.

At least that's how I see it. So I encourage you to do something similar - any incense will do for any deity; it's the thought that counts.

Incense to Honor Lugh

I finally got around to creating an incense to honor Lugh, much in the same vein as I did with the incense to honor Danu. I researched a lot of correspondences for him everywhere I could find and even tracked down a couple of incense recipes others had created. When it came down to it, I used my intuition to pick certain herbs for the mixture, as well as deciding on the amounts of each to be used.

Tonight I am planning on an impromptu honoring ceremony for the both of them and hope to burn their incense. If I have their permission I will snap a couple of pictures to share.

-MR

An Unexpected Surprise

I wanted the Shapeshifter Tarot deck ever since it came out all those years ago. I was a teenager and not working, and my parents weren't exactly supportive of my studying Wicca. I gave them a Christmas list one year with a couple of Scott Cunningham books, a list of candles in assorted colors, a few ritual tools, and a meditation CD I was interested in. I was told in not so many words that there was no chance of me getting any of those items, and yet they didn't specifically tell me I had to give up my studies for fear I would rebel and grow my hair long.

Finally getting my hands on them a few years ago was like a dream come true. I instantly was amazed by the accuracy of the deck, and the images tie perfectly into Celtic Shapeshifting and the meanings of the cards; I was hooked. It never occurred to me to look to the cards for answers to the path I was going to take (Celtic Wicca). I had the cards for some time and I knew that there were cards representing different Celtic deities, but it never occurred to me to pull out the cards for Lugh and Danu and take a look. At least, not until now.

Danu is presented as The Goddess of Earth, though I think that association is more correct in reference to Anu. Some would say that they are one and the same but I would question that, though I admit that I still have a long way to go in terms of research and correlating the mythologies of all the different Celtic peoples (mostly the Irish and Welsh). 

Think of this card as the King of Pentacles as that is what the card would be in the standard tarot deck system. The keywords are "fruitfulness, networking, relationships, and family history." 

Lugh is presented as The God of Fire. Another possible inconsistency arises here since most of my research points to him being a skilled warrior and magician, as well as a God of Light and of Harvest. 

In a typical deck, this card would be the Queen of Swords. Keywords include "power, authority, and wise counsel."

The confusion seems to occur when different but similar cultural mythologies are smashed together, especially uniting the stories of the Irish and Welsh. It then becomes incredibly challenging to differentiate between the two, especially after some time has past. We all do the best we can and I don't doubt that for some Lugh would resonate more with them as a Sun God than a Light God. Is it semantics between the two or are there profound differences? I see similarities, of course.

Although I was leading you in a round-about way, the point of this post is to remind you to look for imagery wherever you can find it. I am blessed to have a statue to represent both Lugh and Danu, but these cards could serve equally in the same capacity. 

Other deities and heroes/heroines included in this deck: Cliodna, Taliesin, Gwydion, Arianrhod, Angus Mac Og, Belenus, Bridget, Nimue, Cerridwen, Manannan mac Llyr, Branwen, Tarvos, Medb, and Cernunnos.

This Little Shrine of Mine

Before some of you roll your eyes at what I have created, know that the purpose was for simplicity. I didn't include many of the things people would expect to see on an altar or a shrine - in fact, this shrine is set up for both my matron and patron.

I have felt a severe spiritual disconnect over the last few years, but especially over the last ten months. This is tied directly to my depression. I know Danu and Lugh are with me even in those times that I can't bring myself to get out of bed and, I don't know, bathe like a normal human being. Sometimes I talk to them but the real truth is that I am often a silent participant.

Wicca is about having a connection to deity, at least in my mind, but it is difficult to do in light of my current situation. This shrine is a way for me to connect to deity - it is a reminder that I am not alone even on those times that I feel I am. It is meant to inspire and comfort. I can see it from my bed and stare at it if nothing else. The photos below are of its first use.

Lugh

Lugh. There is the misconception that he is a Sun God when he is actually a God of Light. He is holding a natural citrine point and a piece of tumbled sunstone. In front of the statue are an ametrine point on the left and a selenite point on the right.

The candle is a white candle without any adornment because I was a little lacking on energy after getting it all put together.

Danu

Danu - The Celtic Mother. Her offering plate holds an aqua aura point as well as a piece of tumbled moonstone. In front of the statue is another ametrine point on the right. On the left is a clear quartz obelisk.

A candle was placed on her side of the shrine as well.

In the center is a vanilla incense cone. An awen pendant is sitting behind it but the flash required for you to be able to see the image has caused it to wash out slightly.

Yes, it is simple. That doesn't make it any less useful.