Goddess Centered Practice
In the woods behind my house rest a collection of nine large flat rocks. Daily, I walk down to these “priestess rocks” for some sacred time alone to pray, meditate, consider, and be. Often, while in this space, I open my mouth and poetry comes out. I’ve come to see this experience as "theapoetics"—experiencing the Goddess through direct “revelation,” framed in language. As Stanley Hopper originally described in the 1970’s, it is possible to “…replace theology, the rationalistic interpretation of belief, with theopoetics, finding God[dess] through poetry and fiction, which neither wither before modern science nor conflict with the complexity of what we know now to be the self.” Theapoetics might also be described, “as a means of engaging language and perception in such a way that one enters into a radical relation with the divine, the other, and the creation in which all occurs.”
Tutorial: How to Make an Intention Candle for Imbolc!
What is an intention candle?
An intention candle is similar to a vision board in that you use collage as a way to visually communicate and affirm your ideas. It is different than a vision board in that
it is not specifically intended to manifest your vision, but instead to offer your purest intentions. Imbolc is a perfect time of year to create one, as we continue to incubate ideas in the deepness of winter, while beginning to prepare for the growth and change of spring.
An intention candle sets forth your intentions. How do you want to experience yourself? What do you want to offer to others? What do you want to share? How do you wish to move in the world? What do you want to celebrate? What do you want to share about yourself?
Each lighting of the candle throughout the year serves as a reaffirmation of your intentions. I use mine to focus and to create sacred space. Lighting it is my signal to myself that I am going to do focused, sacred, centered work.
Supplies:
- Tall white candle in glass (sometimes called “7 day candles” or prayer candles). These are usually available for $1 from Dollar Tree and similar stores.
- Magazines, old calendars, postcards, quotes, images. Thinner paper is better than cardstock weight in order to have it actually stick to the candle.
- Glue: white glue works well for paper and hot glue works best for 3-D attachments
- Optional:
- ribbon or cord
- charms (+ split rings to attach them to the cord)
- beads
- tiny gemstones or shells
- mini resin goddess charms from our shop
If you want to include Womanrunes on your candle, you can draw them on, or use the printables available in our free introduction 
class.
Steps:
- Cut out anything from your collage supplies that speaks to you and what you’d like to offer to 2016.
- Glue the paper items to the glass outside of your candle. Layer the images so they overlap and there are no glass spaces left visible.
- Hot glue any 3-D items onto the glass. These can be pried off again if you make a mistake. As the candle burns down, sometimes the glue will detach and the charm will fall off. That’s okay! It has done its work.
- Attach any charms or beads to your ribbon or cord and tie it around the top of the candle in the groove around the glass. I used a piece of red cord from our Red Tent Circle.
Many people have shared with me that they like to make the charms around the top removable by attaching them to a link chain like a charm bracelet and then take them off individually to wear on a bracelet during the day, then reattach them to the candle at night and choose a different charm, depending on the mood, spirit, or intention of the day.
Dedicate your candle:
You may anoint your candle with a special essential oil or with herbs or flower petals or incense (I used rose petals in mine this year).
Light it and sing Free Ticket to Heaven by Ruth Barrett. The song is available from iTunes also. I like to sing it on my own though!
Let the path be clear before me, let all go as I will
And the past be clean behind me, let all go as I will
And the ones I love beside me, let all go as I will
And the Goddess light above me, let all go as I will
And the Mother Earth beneath me, let all go as I will
And my own true self within me, let all go as I will
let all go as I will
let all go as I will
Bright blessings for a beautiful, intentional year!
Additional resources for Brigid's Day.
Crossposted from my original post here: Tutorial: How to Make an Intention Candle - Brigid's Grove
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