PaganSquare


PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.

  • Home
    Home This is where you can find all the blog posts throughout the site.
  • Tags
    Tags Displays a list of tags that have been used in the blog.
  • Bloggers
    Bloggers Search for your favorite blogger from this site.
  • Login
    Login Login form
Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Home

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
A Quickening Full Moon

We've been in deep hibernation mode for a spell, now. Like finding all balances though, there's always that light on the horizon after being immersed in darkness for so long. I myself have noticed more brilliant sunsets recently, and even on the iciest of cold days, the sun shining brilliantly for all to see. It's nature's little miracles like that that continue to give me hope. Hope is what we all need to keep pushing on, to keep going—even when we're beyond weary and hope seems like it is in short supply. Holding onto some optimism when much of the world seems engulfed in gloom and doom can be vital. Our planet and our country needs the optimists to keep plugging along and getting things accomplished in a proactive way. If we can carry and share that wherever and whenever possible, it can only help humanity. Small acts of kindness for a friend, neighbor, or stranger are great pay it forward practices. Rather than sit in despair, immobilized, and lament, "what can I possibly do to make a difference," get up and get out there and just start doing with a good heart. Every little bit counts and is indeed crucial right now. If enough of us are able to continue doing what needs to be done in spite of obstacles, then good and hope can always exist in the world. Don't get me wrong. I know we all get blue sometimes and feel like nothing matters. I'm not suggesting completely ignoring the harsh realities that are occurring all around us. I just happen to think everything is best faced with a positive attitude whenever possible, however much you can muster. It certainly can't hurt, and if it can help yourself and others in the long run, then blessed be! I myself need to follow that path to function at my fullest potential.

Full Moon Today

The Leo Quickening Full Moon will be in all its glory at 10:56 a.m. CST today, and it should shine nice and bright this evening. There are a few different rituals or spells you could perform, depending on your goals. You could enact a hearth and home protection spell, as suggested by Llewellyn's Witches' Datebook. To simplify, open a curtain or shade to let in the light of the full moon and smudge all the doorways and windows in your home with a sage stick. Alternately, you could meditate on the coming spring. Focus on what you'd most like to plan and plant in conjunction with the coming Spring Equinox next month. This is a month associated with fire, so if you have access to a fireplace, by all means, this is the night to light one. Combine both of the above rituals to celebrate the coziness of your homestead and meditate on what's to come.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Strange Serenity

The snow has finally arrived here in NW PA. 

It's a mixed blessing for me. I worry about my young drivers, I worry about my husband who drives for a living, I worry about me driving. Icy snowy roads make me nervous, and here I am, living on top of a hill that I have to descend to get anywhere. As well, to get anywhere in this town, you either have to go up or down a hill.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

Do you believe that homes (houses and apartments) speak to their occupants? 

I do.

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
The Hearth: The Heart

 

The hearth is the symbolic heart of a home. Imagining ourselves dwelling near the hearth we become more ourselves;  more human -- and humane.     ~ Robert Werner

...
Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

As winter has firmly wrapped around us here (at least as much as it ever does in the South), I’d been planning to write about the beautiful Mexican Riviera, a crystal coastline dotted with ancient temples and pulsing with power and healing. However, when I sat down to my trusty computer this morning, it wouldn’t turn on…and all the pictures from all my trips are safely locked in the hard drive. I’ve got my fingers crossed that it will be an easy fix, once my hubby or I venture out to a computer store, but right now, with another round of snow covering the roads, technology repair has suddenly fallen to the bottom of my priorities list.


Winter tends to rearrange things for me, and whenever I don’t take the necessary time for rest and healing that the season affords, I’ve discovered that the Goddess has a way of enforcing quiet down time for me, forcing me to slow down and just breathe.

...
Last modified on
Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Debra May Macleod
    Debra May Macleod says #
    As a follower of Vesta / Hesita, I absolutely loved this beautiful article! Very well-written, and so so true Come visit me at
  • Jen McConnel
    Jen McConnel says #
    Thanks, Debra! I'm so glad this resonated with you! Have liked your page, too
  • J'Karrah
    J'Karrah says #
    We found the house in the depths of another southern winter, after a month and a half of searching, and even on a February afterno
  • Jen McConnel
    Jen McConnel says #
    Victoria sounds absolutely lovely. It's amazing how tangible the sense of self is, isn't it?! I think it's especially true of old

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Home Fire

Home. We don't really know how we feel about it. We may reject the place that raised us and seek to escape its troubling pull. Or we may long for an idealized home and set out to find it. But home is something you can neither escape nor find in its perfection. Rather, “home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” (Robert Frost) We can't avoid the imperfection inherent in living with those we haven't chosen. And even those we choose can disappoint us, and we them.

 

...
Last modified on
Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    So, tell us - HOW did you get to be such "a repository of (not so) useless bits of information on ancient religion, spiritual prac
  • Archer
    Archer says #
    I do have a rather futile Masters in English from a very long time ago, but anything I know about the rest is a result of being fa
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    Now that is funny! And I know exactly what you mean. Sorry about the double entry before; it looked like the first one hadn't "
  • Ted Czukor
    Ted Czukor says #
    Really nice, as usual. How did you get to be such "a repository of (not so) useless bits of information on ancient religion"? Did

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
My Journey to the Goddess Deities
 "Yeah, I'd break bread and wine. If there was a church I could receive in." Sometimes Bono just totally gets me. I love ceremony and I love truth and happily, I can find both almost anywhere. What I can't find almost anywhere, however, is a sense of complete belonging. In most religious houses I can't shake the sense that I'm not truly welcome there. This isn't to say that I'm not welcomed on the surface, I don't go into religious houses with a great big pentacle around my neck or a vile of Moon blood to offer the Virgin Mary, they aren't aware that I'm a Goddess loving Priestess upon my entrance, but there is the sense that if they truly knew how I worshipped they'd probably rather that I just turn away and find the nearest crop to worship in and be done with my heathen soul. Oh they've tried to 'save' me, but apparently the 'spirit of witchcraft and lust' just wouldn't budge.
 
I'm fine with this sense of not belonging in the religious houses for the most part now. Yet when my call to become a Priestess first beckoned me, it was the pain of being rejected by the religious folks, the so-called faith filled ones that came up to be healed. Because while I don't fit into any of the major religions, despite my great thirst for a devoted and surrendered life, I also didn't feel I truly fit into any pagan, wiccan, Goddess or any other ancient or alternative circle either. I was a bit of a spiritual misfit, an orphan of sorts with no home that I could find on Earth.
 
Where my lack of belief in a Devil, a male God living on a cloud and my refusal to conform to the idea that I as a women am to play a supporting, subordinate role in this drama of life counts me out of the religious world, I feared that my lack of a belief in many deities or the necessity rather then the desire to worship in a circle or a prescribed fashion,  along with my personal choice not to try to manifest or use magic to make a situation unfold in my desired direction counted me out of all other potential spiritual circles. This made the first half of my spiritual journey a solo one, I just didn't care to explain my renegade brand of beliefs to anyone anymore after the run ins that I had found in the fellowship of the churches. I had been disillusioned to find that nobody was actually interested in hearing why I didn't believe in a Devil, rather they were waiting for me to finish speaking so that I could be corrected and saved. This rang true for the many names but same Source conversation, or the pointing out of Bible verses where Jesus urges His followers not to proselyte, or discussing the misogynistic writings and practices of Paul, deemed St. Paul, none of these were discussions to be had, they were misbeliefs to be corrected and if not corrected then I was a lost soul to be prayed for and turned away from. I wasn't about to face another rejection from a group of spiritually practicing women and men if I could avoid it.
 
Last modified on
Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Candise
    Candise says #
    What beautifully, raw feedback Jason. Thank you for relating and sharing your similar jaunt aping this rainbow path Home. Many
  • Me
    Me says #
    Candise, Thank you for taking the time to write this. It spoke to and encouraged me. I can particularly relate (right now, at le

Additional information