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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in nature
The Aurora Cascade: Merging Cosmic Light and Flowing Waters

For some time there was no real certainty as to what causes the otherwordly phenomenon of the aurora borealis. In 2021 scientists finally confirmed that the natural light show starts when disturbances on the sun pull on Earth’s magnetic field. This creates cosmic undulations known as Alfvén waves that launch electrons at high speeds into Earth’s atmosphere where they create the aurora.

Have you ever wondered what our ancestors must have thought and felt when they saw the northern lights? How magical and surreal it must have been for them, almost as much as it is for us even now, despite knowing the exact cause. The lack of mystery does not dampen the wondrous impact the aurora has on the imagination and the soul.

One especially interesting feature that has been discovered is that electrons essentially surf on the Alfvén waves. If they move with the right speed relative to the wave, they get picked up and accelerated much like surfers catch a building wave.

This brings at least one watery allegory into the mix. Yet the aurora and water are more closely related than you might think. All the water on Earth is of interstellar origins and the northern lights undulate in very watery waves and colors. As I often say, we are made of water and starlight, so the convergence of the aurora and of flowing water is not only perfectly harmonious, it creates a powerful visualization tool for grounding, protection, inspiration and manifestation. I call this the Aurora Cascade.

A long, purple and electric blue-green curtain of dancing aurora pours itself out of the sky in a cascade that becomes indistinguishable from a singing, rushing waterfall as it falls closer to the ground. Water and light meld and shimmer in the gentle torrent. Step into the glowing falls and feel it mingle with the waters and the energy in your cells. This is the source, this is what we are made of. It is renewing and it is an ongoing cosmic blessing.

Grounding

We are the center in between the above and below. When sitting or standing within the Aurora Cascade, you are the nexus in this liminal space, the point of origin. All work – meditating, journeying, spell work, manifestation or shamanic work – ideally begins with grounding; rooting and establishing a link, but not just to the below. To the medieval alchemists, water and light were in the same symbolic family, and indeed are two of the main and most essential components to almost all life. The grounding unfolds through a conscious integration of these elemental energies, rooting the individual firmly in the earth’s embrace but also providing a tether to higher cosmic realms.

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
The Oracle of Water: Dew

Keywords: Clarity, Refreshment, Newness, Renewal, Fleeting Opportunity

Dew is a very fleeting form of water. While the morning heralds a new day and fresh opportunities, the dew declares that these opportunities are fleeting. Dew is frost’s warmer sister; when temperatures are low enough dew freezes to become frost. But on cool, misty mornings the dew is scattered like tiny diamonds across delicate spider webs and thin rose petals. It is nature’s tears of joy for another golden opportunity to begin again.

Dew represents a gentle rejuvenation of the body, like the refreshed feeling you have after a great night’s sleep. What could be better to wake up to than beautiful nature bedazzled by countless watery jewels? Just as dew is a gentle strength renewing the earth, embrace a renewed focus on your physical well-being. This might involve simple daily rituals to improve your overall health and vitality. Early morning could be the best time for you to have an invigorating walk to start your day right. Dew reminds that small, consistent efforts can lead to significant physical changes.

When it comes to the emotions, dew suggests a tender, peaceful renewal of the heart. Allow the drops of a clear, new day to cleanse and revitalize your heavy feelings. This is a time to release negative, burdensome feelings in order to refresh your relationships and personal perspective and well-being. Perhaps certain feelings have been muddled and confused, but now will be made clear in the pale morning light. There may also be current or approaching relationships and connections that are as brief as the morning dew, but they are no less profound.

Dew whispers of the quiet insights that come with a peaceful mind. Every new days starts us with a clean slate where we can choose to think better and more helpful thoughts. The water in our bodies is affected by the frequencies of our thoughts and words, so make sure you are kind and gentle with yourself as well as with others. Dew seeks to refresh and enlighten your thoughts and mental pursuits. Not only is a calm mind more clear and productive, but more able to embrace the happiness of starting over and dew reminds us that we get to start over every single day.

Spiritually, dew brings renewal and clear understanding just as it does to all the realms of our being. As dew forms through the union of air and earth, the seeker is encouraged to explore the subtle but powerful interplay between the material and spiritual aspects of existence. So many spiritual and magical experiences are very fleeting and brief, and this lends all the more importance to them.

Dew invites you to stillness and contemplation, and to purification. It also invites you to find the magic of spirit in small and unexpected places and things. The most profound spiritual insights and evolutions often come as quietly and go as swiftly as the dew. Be aware of the discreet, finer things that are all around you and can connect you to nature and your higher self. There may be much that you are overlooking and that is leading to beliefs that do not serve you.

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Life is one of the Sacred four pillars of Atheopaganism. And it is often said of Pagans generally that we revere or even “worship” Nature.

 

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Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

The turning of the seasonal wheel
is a feast for the senses,
sometimes it seems
all I've done
is sit on the same swing
in the same place
while the wheel turns around me,
the tapestry of birds and leaves,
flowers and berries,
budding,
blooming,
peaking,
and dropping
as I sit and see,
bare branches spinning
into tips of green catching the sun,
spreading into great green umbrellas
and then fading to yellow.
White flowers blushed with pink
becoming tight knots of green berry
deepening to black
and then gone again
rusty red canes crowned
with thorns and patience.
Gray juncos to orange orioles,
to swift hummingbirds
to black capped chickadees
and back to gray juncos again,
a swirl of feathers,
and color
and song.
Watch carefully.
Remember to laugh.
Sit in the center as often as possible.
Feel how it all spins.

b2ap3_thumbnail_ooak-priestess-in-road-by-sunflowers.jpg

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Witchy Wellness Healing Altar

Your altar is your sacred work space, a place imbued with your personal pagan power. I recommend starting with a flat surface, at least two feet across each way for the four directions of the compass. Perhaps you have a favorite antique table, at once simple and ornate. I have set up my altar to face north, long believed to be the origin of primordial energy. North is the direction of midnight, and an altar oriented in this fashion promises potent magic. 

Find a pure white square of fabric to drape over your table, just touching the floor. Take two candles in matching holders and place them on the two farthest corners. Place your incense burner exactly in the middle. If you don’t have favorite incense yet, start with the ancient essence of frankincense. Select objects that appeal to you symbolically to place on your altar. I have a candlestick of purest amethyst crystal, my birthstone. When I gaze on the candle flame refracted through the beautiful purple gemstone, I feel the fire within me. This inculcates your altar with the magic that lives inside you, that lives inside all of us, and magnifies the ceremonial strength of your workspace. You should decorate your altar until it is utterly and completely pleasing to your eye. After you’ve been working spells for a bit, an energy field will radiate from your altar.

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I caught the tail end of an interview with a non-pagan naturalist this morning. Much of what he had to say sounded, to my ear, very pagan.

(Note: The term “Nature” is profoundly conceptually problematic; I use it here for convenience only.)

  • Humanity comes out of “Nature.”
  • Because of this, humanity harbors a deep nostalgia for “Nature.”
  • Humanity's environmental destructiveness arises out of our disregard for—or unlove of—“Nature.”
  • Instilling a sense of love for “Nature” is the most effective way to undo humanity's current trajectory of eco-suicide.

In this Age of Covid, many non-religious people have been rediscovering what pagans have always known: the consolation of “Nature.” “Nature” heals.

The religions called “pagan” have always known this and, in their fullest realization—be it acknowledged that revival paganism in particular often falls far short of this mark—still do.

Unsurprisingly, I would contend that pagan naturalists have a number of advantages over non-religious naturalists. Of the top, I can think of three.

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  • Jamie
    Jamie says #
    Mr. Posch, Hear, hear!

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Celebrating the Spiders

We don’t have any seriously dangerous spiders here in the UK – they can bite, and bites aren’t delightful, but on the whole our spiders are harmless, friendly creatures who like to hang out in our homes. Autumn seems to be spider season. I always see more of them at this time of year, and the larger ones tend to appear more often now.

Spiders eat all kinds of other things that may get into your home to do you no good at all. They’re allies, and will take out things like clothes moths, mosquitoes and other bitey, unpleasant visitors. If you live somewhere with dangerous spiders, there’s a decent chance that a less dangerous spider might actually help you keep the scary ones out, even!

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