tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6436193095954736362024-02-18T23:06:05.685-08:00The Muddy BudRaven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-63803127851452071142015-03-23T09:56:00.000-07:002015-03-23T09:56:12.661-07:00Deeper into the Shadow Bag: Fear of Failure<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://givenness.com/post/32993886072/a-givenness-to-a-box-full-of-darkness"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK0RdPMJJcjr-TleS-1UkMWekLJjb7U5OobpyLnV2ivePPCN_DWoT-DFzbm7gcjW-XGRK0BX19Nz2je7H9v1ZmuVuXfcCkM_pqAHm0KKcTd8h9cNeLDrNW9jY73317DZiPGvExpAJzTMP0/s1600/tumblr_mbglr9L6rp1qcvg17.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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A long time ago, when I was just a little girl someone told me my way was wrong, and it has affected me ever since. Last night I had a dream, a shadow dream. This dream represented my biggest fear, it spoke softly but it's words dripped with venom, I got caught up in the drama and I ended up on my knees afraid saying along the lines of "I'm a coward, it's all my fault". From a surface level it appears to be true but underneath, deep down I have been fighting tooth and nail for myself from myself. Self doubt is a most vile poison especially when you gladly swallow it and don't think twice. For a very long time I would second guess myself and always take someone else's word over my own "They obviously know better then me" and this is what I did, for the most part, with everyone. My self-trust was practically non-existent.<br />
This has affected me as a witch as well. When I first stumbled into witchcraft (I was introduced like many via Neo-Wicca) I remembered that, for the first time in my life I had something, a one up on my depression. I cried with utter relief and sure enough it was one of the factors that helped me out of that black pit.<br />
Recently I have started on a new path in witchcraft, that of the hedge rider. Much as I loved green witchcraft something was missing, and I found myself on the path of hedgecraft. This isn't the first time hedgecraft has appeared in myself, it has emerged a handful of time, and each time previously I was dismiss it with remarks such as "This isn't me" "I'm not doing that" "That looks scary" but when hedgecraft come around again I took a step forward. It hasn't been easy, deer lord no. In the space of about 4-5 months I have accidentally astral traveled, almost been devoured by demons, been prey of faery trickery, had dreams and visions more vivid then anything I have experienced so far, met more plant spirits, manifested my familiar spirit, conquered the mystery of my tidal wave dream, and most recently I became an oracle.<br />
Pretty bloody intense huh? I feel that all this is only the beginning. hedgecraft has been a challenging and rewarding path. I have changed so much I almost don't recognise myself, but I love the person I am becoming. But this is not what this article is not about my new found path as a hedge rider.<br />
The shadow dream made me realise something, I am utterly afraid of failure. Now, I'm not really how or why I fear failure, logically I know it is a part of life and how we learn and yet the anxiety that grips my heart is undeniable. This is connected to my self doubt because I simply don't trust in my own power.<br />
I rarely do spells, the ones I do are simple one driving by a need at that time and intuition, but they're not life alternating. Why? Because I'm scared because I believe that it will fail.<br />
Currently I am reading a wonderful book called 'Kissing the Hag: The Dark Goddess and the Unacceptable Nature of Women' by the Emma Restall Orr. In her book Emma goes over the difference aspects (archetypes) of a woman's nature from childhood to elder. The chapter I read last night was about the Witch, and after I read it, I realised that this is the witch I want to be. At the heart of it, being a Witch is about taking control and getting what you. Emma says there are two keys the Witch is through her emotions and the forces of nature, and she is in control of both, with complete confidence. That is what I want, that complete trust in myself and my power, that is what a Witch is to me and what I will now work for to become. Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-59455243564131528772015-02-03T10:19:00.001-08:002015-02-03T10:19:13.334-08:00Opening the Bag of Shadow: Facing my Fear of RejectionThis isn't going to be an easy post for me to write, as I type the anxiety is swelling in my chest and my ego is yelling me to stop in my track, but I must go on. I must write. Who ever said shadow work was easy?<br />
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But before I get down and dirty, I'm going to explore rejection.<br />
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I think for alot of people, rejection is seen as a negative thing, it makes us think that the because we have been rejected we are somehow unworthy of it, and of course deep down we know it not to be true, but if we have not done the work to confront this, well, we do ourselves alot of damage.<br />
I think for most of us this fear of rejection is sparked when we're children. As child we pretty much are who we are in the purest sense of the word, we care little for what other think of us and we do simply what makes us happy, but at some point that changes, someone makes a comment about us 'you're too loud' 'you ask too many questions' 'you're doing it wrong', and that is the birth of our bag of shadow. The shadow I speak of is the one from Jungian psychology, it is the parts of ourselves that we reject and are ashamed of. Now these things aren't necessarily bad, for alot of us they are things that have been deemed 'unacceptable' by other people so we put them in out bag of shadow in hope that we will be accepted. Acceptance from other is something that is drilled into us, one must be accepted by their fellow peers and society otherwise no-one will love us, and this is where the fear of rejection is born.<br />
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Now I'm going to take you back to my childhood:<br />
As my mother tells me, when I reached the age to start nursery school I was alot brighter then my fellow classmates. My mother had taught me my shapes, colours, how to count to 10, how to write my name and the alphabet. I was excited to start school, I was full of questions and hungry for knowledge. I wanted to be front and centre, and to learn about everything. But for whatever reason this enthusiasm was seen as a bad thing. My inquisitive nature was met is was met with exasperation, my intense brightness was pushed to the back, and I was told my way was wrong and that I had to do it the 'proper' way. So from that very young age I was taught that I was unacceptable, and so was the beginning of my self censorship, where I cut off, burn off, covered up, masked myself for the acceptance of other. What has it gotten me? Isolation from myself and an instilled fear of being unloveable, which I have carried with me all this time since childhood. How has this fear affected me, well, I have pretty much isolated myself from other people, I have no friends outside of the internet (though those I consider friend online are every bit as real and importable to me), I'm actually scared of people to be honest, scared of what they'll think of me, scared of them mistreating me, scared of being rejected. I make decisions that aren't necessarily good for my growth, I tend to make them based on not making waves and not upsetting other people. I keep my opinions to myself, I keep how I feel to myself, I hide from the world.<br />
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So now I am going to tell you who is reading this all the things I hide about myself:<br />
Hello, my name is Emma, I'm 28, I'm unemployed and still live at home. I have struggle with for years what I suspect is undiagnosed depression and social anxiety. I sleep most of the day away because I don't want to be wake and when I wake up I'm sat in front of my computer attempting to somewhat redeem myself by helping other people. I am in a long distance relationship with the most wonderful man I have ever know, he lives in California and I live in England, the beginning of April will mark 6 blessed years with him (I love you Ryan). I hide my body because I pick my skin, I believe I have undiagnosed Compulsive Skin Picking, it's a form of OCD. When for 5 years from the age of 16 I was in a relationship with a guy, same age as me, who used to molester me when it believed I was asleep, and sex with him was always painful and greatly uncomfortable, as a result I have a fear of sexually expressing myself and for alot long time I had a fear of men, because I believed that if a man found me sexually desirable they would no long regard me as a person and see me other as an instrument to satisfy their desire. I'm am not happy with my life, there are only a handful of things that bring me joy and I not long what to live this way. My dream is to marry Ryan and be a housewife, I want to cook and clean, and make out home feel warm and welcoming. I want to be a healer, I want heal the body, mind and spirit with herbs and their spirits, with the love in my heart and with these two hands. I want to be a village witch, crafting charms for love and good health, blessed newborn babies and guide the dying to the Otherworld.<br />
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So here I am, all of me and not just the part I want you to see. I won't appologise for shattering any illusions you had about me because I am done hiding, I am done living in fear of rejection, I am done you hear me DONE. So if you don't like what you see unfriend me, unfollow me because I don't care anymore, I don't care if you like me, I don't care if you approve of me. I DON'T FUCKING CARE<br />
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Because as my mother told me from a school report so very long ago "Emma doesn't relate to her peers" and you know what, good, I'm tired of censoring myself for others comfortable. So from this day on the mask is goneRaven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-67919658922355973102014-11-05T12:23:00.004-08:002014-11-05T12:23:27.262-08:00Too much Positive? Too much positive? What do you mean?<br />
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This has been a thought I have been turning over in my head the pass couple days. With this New Age movement of self-help, love and light, I can't help but feel that it has come with some, unintentional draw backs. For me personally, I am often scared to feel my "dark" emotion out of fear that I'll attract move of this feeling. I've even had people say this to me. "Don't be negative or that's all you're gonna get". This stems from the "You attract what you are", and the "Thoughts create your reality". Now, tell that some someone who suffers from mental health issues, we are left thinking "Oh, well, fuck". Now I know this "You attract what you are" isn't meant to come off that way, no-one is to be blamed for their mental health issues, but this love-and-light, positivity cure everything mentality is really fucking wearing sometimes. I understand that being positive about things it helpful, but sometime we really don't need it, it can make me feel worse, because I feel like I am failing somehow, because I am not being positive.<br />
So even at time when I am fully justified to have these feelings, I find that I am at war with myself, and I have to keep on top of it because it will spiral out of control, and I will engage in an OCD mindset where I will create a domino effect of events in mind resulting in my worst fears being realised. Luckily this doesn't happen often, and for the most part I keep on top of my mental processes, but recently, with my spiritual crisis, I am struggling again.<br />
I think shadow work get pushed to the side in terms of self-healing, and I can understand why, with the world we live in we expect cure-all and quick fixes on demand, so when it comes to something like shadow work that it messy and scary, most people will probably opt for some yoga or drumming. We still live in fear of the darkness, and we sill believe that this is where evil lurks, but evil walks with the face of man and it's plans are much more sublet then fire and brimstone.<br />
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I'm not really sure where I am going with this post, I'm not a talker, a sharer of my feelings, and doing this like this is uncomfortable, because I feel like I am rambling and wasting everyone's time. I have always been the listener, but sometimes even the listener needs someone who will listen to them. Mebbe this is therapy for me, who knows, I'm lead to believe that "getting it out" is a good thing. Can't keep everything to myself now can I?<br />
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<br />Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-90486241379270384342014-11-01T11:20:00.001-07:002014-11-01T11:22:54.286-07:00In a Veil of Darkness: Witch Way?Spiritually, I am not in a great place nowadays. I am almost completely out-of-touch with it. It started some months ago, I began to notice that it became harder and harder to enter my inner sacred space, which is the place from which I launch all spiritual journeys and vision quests, and if you have ever read any of my previous posts you would see that my inner life is very colourful and vibrant, but now I am met with a wall and the things I did that where second nature to me I can no long do not matter how much a will it. This isn't a nice feeling, I feel like a tree that has been uprooted and tossed by a tornado miles away not knowing where or even who I am. It's cold and grey, it's almost how I felt during my depression (aside from the feeling of complete worthlessness, hopelessness, terror, and utter bleakness I felt back then), and it was that thought that made me pause, and an important question arose "Why did I become a witch?", and the answer is to heal. Now I call myself a druid and a witch, and there is one major difference for me between the two, I chose to become a witch. See, I had always been a druid it was only a matter of acknowledging, accepting and embracing it, but with being a witch, it was a choice I made, and it was a life changing one, and the funny this is my druidry lead me to it.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Metaphor - Man dragging an uprooted tree by Shana James<br />(http://www.redbubble.com/people/shanajames/works/881896-metaphor-man-dragging-an-uprooted-tree)</td></tr>
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It was about 5 years ago during the worse of my depression. I don't really remember how but I was researching in the Triquetra (it is a symbol I have always loved and is the symbol I associate with Druidry) and through that search I came across Neo-Wicca. I think alot of people come into witchcraft via Neo-Wicca. It caught my attention because the beliefs and views were the same as mine at that time, and that is where it started, and like most witchy newbs who don't have anyone to ask or how to research I went straight to Silver Ravenwolf. I can already here the audible teeth sucking of "oh man, rookie mistake" but bare with me. I actually have Silver to thank, for it was a quote from her book Solitary Witch that changed my life for the better. The quote goes as followed:<br />
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<i>Being a witch has nothing to do with spells, rituals and unusual clothes - they are the fun stuff.</i></div>
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<i>To be a witch is to desire personal transformation.</i></div>
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<i>Being a witch means to want to work everyday to be a better person.</i></div>
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<i>To be a witch, you must be brave enough to face everything inside of yourself</i></div>
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<i>and have the courage to change the things you don't like.</i></div>
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And it was after reading that quote I broke down and cried tears of relief, because for the first time I had found something that I could use to fight, and I made the decision to become a witch so that I could heal myself for my other half and my family, and I did. So what does this mean for me now that I have lost my way? The reason why I am a witch still remains the same, and that is the light in this darkness. Darkness is the place of great transformation, or unlimited potential and from which all things are born, and so I must descend into darkness with my tiny little and find my roots once more so that I may be reborn in the spring.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jewels Caves photo from Scenic Dakotas <br />
(http://scenicdakotas.com/sd-jewel-caverns.shtml)</td></tr>
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Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-1145448051386184982014-03-22T11:20:00.000-07:002014-03-22T11:20:16.174-07:00Celebration, Sabbats & SeasonsCurrently I', send through Wild Witchcraft by Marian Green for a second, I'm on the last chapter "Season, Cycles and Feasts" . In the chapter Green talks about, the season, the celebration that mark them & ancient feats. She also goes on to talk about how our holy days are now fixed day that marked on a calendar when they used to flow & change as Nature did, and this got my thinking. I didn't celebrate Imbolc or Ostara this year, why you might ask, because I didn't feel like it. I find it silly to celebrate the coming & arrival of spring when I am being pelted with icy cold rain & blow with gale force winds. How I feel is my motivation, I am either full blown passionate or meh, and if I'm meh about something I ain't doing it because it isn't meaningful &/or worth my time and energy. So I made a decision, I'm not longer going to celebrate the 8 Sabbats, instead I am going to celebrate each of the four season when I personally feel they are here. I don't know yet how I am going to celebrate that is going to be the fun challenge before, and I will have to sit and think about "What is Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter to me?". Being a Green Witch, my path is highly individual & is molded to suit me, and I like it that way, so this is a perfect way to exercise my knowledge & expression of my path. =)<div>
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Green Blessings</div>
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Raven Dreamer</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raining Flowers by LoveSoup on deviantART</td></tr>
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Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-19090086233509265822014-01-01T14:18:00.000-08:002014-01-01T14:18:03.914-08:00Up a mountain to meet a goddess: How I spent my New YearHappy New Year Everyone =) I know it's been awhile since I posted but I am here to share with you a wonderful experience I had last night!<br />
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But first a little back story:<br />
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For a very long time I knew I was a healer, I just did not know what kind of healer I was. My mother has a healer's touch, she has the gift of soothing people just by laying her hand(s) on them. I have a passion for herbs & their uses, both magically & medicinally. I'm an aspiring wort-cunner & I find so much joy in wondering the fields near my house & studying the flora I come across (as well as the local fae & nature spirits). Some time during the year I came across this image:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://meredyth.deviantart.com/art/Eir-275906015">Eir by Meredyth on deviantART</a></td></tr>
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This image stuck home to me, and from then on I was pursuit of a form of energy healing that was for me.<br />
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I tried Reiki, I had no trouble with channeling energy, but then energy never came from the heavens, but from the Earth it's self. So I focused on that & practiced when ever I could. I later identified this energy as Nwyfre. Nwyfre is the druid word for life force/chi/ki/prana. When I felt confident in my ability I started doing long-distance healing rituals (from my inner realm) when the need arose. I'd gather the nwyfre into my heart-centre then send in down into my palms & give it to my spirit raven, Eir (you'd think I would of figured out the connection there, but nope!) Then Eir my raven would take the nwyfre in her claws & we'd fly to the person in need of healing & like the picture above apply the nwyfre to the ailment. </div>
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Anywho, back to the journey. Eir has be nudging me for the pass month. She kept popping up everywhere, showing an interest in me (Cernunnos has too, but that's for another post!). She even giving me a glimpse of herself. She wore a green norse style dress (like<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/570690584002241104/"> this one</a>) She has waist long strawberry-blonde hair, which she wore partly up & she has the kindest and warmest smile I have ever seen. So I began doing research, and the more I read the more amazed at what I found. There were so many connections to her, (you can read more about her <a href="http://heathentemple.tumblr.com/post/15431039677/the-goddess-eir-aesir-friggs-handmaiden">here</a>) Copper, wort-cunning, energy healing, herb magic, healing with rune, even one of her sacred animal is a raven. So I knew I had to go see her & I decided that the Dark Moon that fell on the New Year would be the best time to do it. On New Year's Eve I place on my altar the Cow from my Druid Animal Oracle, cow is her most sacred animal (I always have the raven card on my altar because Raven is my power animal) and I added the Comfrey card from my Druid Plant Oracle, comfrey, as well as marshmallow, is her sacred herb. In a small pot caved from stone & decorated with a pretty flower on it's lid, I placed a marshmallow flower & some chamomile (it was a plant used by the Norse for healing so I thought it was an appropriate offering) I also put out 3 of my healing runes which are connected to her, Berkano, Uruz & Laguz. My choice of meditation music was <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak0ZmAvAyB8">Wardruna's Runaljod-Gap Var Ginnunga </a></div>
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And so I began my journey...</div>
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Once in my inner realm & in my cabin (my inner sacred space) I prep for the journey, I packed my bag with gifts for her; a bread cow, a drinking horn full of milk, a sphere of Gaia stone (Helenite), a clear quart toward, in white cloth I wrapped fresh comfrey, chamomile & marshmallow, securing them with green ribbon. I wore my green robe & placed around my necklace a pendant with the rune 'Berkano' on (I felt compelled to do so) I put on my tool belt & adorn my forest green cloak. Having injured myself in the outer world (I twisted my ankle) the pain of it penetrated my alter mind state, so I took up my blackthorn stang to help me walk. With Eir my raven as always perched on my left shoulder & Erma my she-lynx pressed against my left side, we set off into the fading evening light (my inner world it always one of 3 'betwixt' times, dusk, midnight or dawn). We walked down the hillside to the bottom of the valley where the Old Willow River runs, this is the river I cross to enter the Shaman Lower World. I follow the river East, and walk for a long time, at one point I stopped & collected some river water in a small glass vial. The river become thinner & thinner until it was no more then a trickling creek, I could hear crickets chirping loudly which made me look up across the creek to find Lyfja-Berg, the mountain in which Eir resides. We crossed the creek & made our way to the foot of the mountain & our ascension. I have no idea how long I was climbing, I remember the feel of shape rock cutting & slicing the soles of my bare feet, on top of the constant ache in my twisted ankle. What made me stop was a light in the distance which turned out to be a campfire, I made my up & decided to rest once I reached the fire. Once beside the fire I ate dumpling & drank grape juice, I also took a sip of river water I had collected earlier & felt revitalized by it's freshness. Then I set about treating the wounds on my feet. From one of the pouches on my tool belt I produced a salve made from comfrey, yarrow & plantain, and rubbed the soothing balm into my soles. I rested by the fire for a long while, I hadn't released that it was midnight until I looked around at the darkness that surrounded us, I could still hear crickets chirping. All of a sudden I felt a surge of nwyfre (both in the inner & outer realm) my hands felt suddenly felt very hot, as if I had held them in a fire; in the inner realm I examined my palms, on my left palm was the rune Algiz and on my right palm was the rune Laguz. In the outer world my palms of their own accord began to slowly rise off my chest. When finally stop I place them together in pray postions & I could "feel" the rune Berkano inbetween & around my palm. Then when it felt right, I placed my hand by my sides. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXebyvaQLJzL228Cf_9dPeAx9rcAYwC81DXROcUIDmd6SMMN-j5P8morXAXhhX02m9Z1USCFDdWVRAs0HAVTHcVSTdbmAsfMW6KJsIpOo2ds_J3nGyhPBRCmrxVoRJDBY46kG3S-NGDa9/s1600/256px-Algiz.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXebyvaQLJzL228Cf_9dPeAx9rcAYwC81DXROcUIDmd6SMMN-j5P8morXAXhhX02m9Z1USCFDdWVRAs0HAVTHcVSTdbmAsfMW6KJsIpOo2ds_J3nGyhPBRCmrxVoRJDBY46kG3S-NGDa9/s200/256px-Algiz.svg.png" width="179" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintTd5r8TbjgpTTXCqFA9Yn7iVZU88g9_MFX4ovttiqBk776qNZD-RSdvSapVPlAc7tYUBKwouaMa968xjG2MyxTB8Mmd_DzXcAKqneePJAHaEooLsGuOLqrPVXvwhpp39GHfhQbxQzDHM/s1600/LSvr0118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEintTd5r8TbjgpTTXCqFA9Yn7iVZU88g9_MFX4ovttiqBk776qNZD-RSdvSapVPlAc7tYUBKwouaMa968xjG2MyxTB8Mmd_DzXcAKqneePJAHaEooLsGuOLqrPVXvwhpp39GHfhQbxQzDHM/s200/LSvr0118.jpg" width="125" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9n2rvhrAO4s1D8LycLFsZm3yf8KGVXS9hz4KYPNcrWBNesmH4buzXkEkXH4Oe7_W9IWN81q5wUexM1OLxjbivaWsrFkHdGONZNG4WwnC4J7d1ggNUoZoCBsFvSHTGQgxTsqGgiq_9-xcN/s1600/berkano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9n2rvhrAO4s1D8LycLFsZm3yf8KGVXS9hz4KYPNcrWBNesmH4buzXkEkXH4Oe7_W9IWN81q5wUexM1OLxjbivaWsrFkHdGONZNG4WwnC4J7d1ggNUoZoCBsFvSHTGQgxTsqGgiq_9-xcN/s200/berkano.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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In the inner realm the campfire sudden when out & we (myself, Erma the lynx & Eir the raven) were plunged into darkness, part of my knew I had to continue on with no aid of light. So we rose and continued our climb up the mountain. After a time the wind started up violently out of nowhere, nearing blowing my poor raven Eir away, I managed to snagged her from the air in time & held her tightly to my chest, Erma took up refuge behind me. I planted my stang into the earth & stood my ground. Part of my wanted to turn back, the darkness had become eerie & unnerving, like something was lurking in the night, I could hear angry crows in the nearby trees. Then out of the darkness came Roe my spirit fox he trotted up the hill & some feet away looked back at me with a look saying "well come on then, what are you waiting for?" Then Airmid & Isis my spirit wolves were by my sides, and Rohan my spirit stag was stood behind me. I was filled with a rush of strength & confident which I knew was from Cernunnos, and so together we continued the climb to the mountain's peak. After a while the wind died down & was gone like it had never been. Fireflies appeared & made a trail up the mountain side, we followed, and I began to hear the song of birds at dawn. Looking up I saw a huge Viking Hall and sure enough morning was streaking across the sky behind the building. I paused in awe of the structure, I was hesitant to move and was flooded with sudden doubt. "What if Eir wasn't there?" "What if this whole journey was for nothing?" I took a deep breath & exhaled heavily, pushing the doubt out with it. Then from out of the hall emerged a figure, wearing a green norse dress, carrying a basket at her hip & her strawberry-blond hair hung in a braid over one shoulder, and there is she was, Eir. Upon noticing me standing there she flashed me a welcoming smile, and I hobbled my way up the rest of the way to her. I fell on my knees in front of her. "Oh Eir, I've come all this way to see you" I managed to say, I was completely overwhelmed with that fact that she was actually there. "I've bought you gift", my hand went to my back but was stopped by Eir landing her hand over mind & she looked at me with a warm smile as if saying "lets get you inside". She helped me rise to my feet & walked me into the hall. The interior was simple yet magnificent in it's seer size, the ceiling must of been at least 30 or 40 feet high. She sat me in one of the high-back chair around a huge long table & she walked out of the room. My animals had all piled in front of the large fire and I climb out of the chair & sat with them. They all crowded close, Rohan sat at my back, Eir (raven) on my shoulder, Airmid & Isis had their heads in my lap, Erma was stretched out in front of my & Roe was curled up asleep. When Eir (the goddess) return she was carrying a drinking horn which she handed to me with a smile, I drank the liquid rather quickly, it was warm milk sweeten with honey & a touch of mead (it warmed me up for sure!) I handed her the empty horn & then proceed to give her all the gift I had brought her. She received each with a a genuine smile and when I had emptied my bag she knelt beside me & hugged me as if we were sisters. I then expressed my thanks and gratitude to her, explaining to her how the image of her had helped me to discover my healing gift. I showed her my palms, still bearing the runes from earlier, she took my hands in her's and held him, instant cause a stir of nwyfre in me. Then I looked up at her & asked the question I had been working up to ask, would she teach me the healing art? Her eyes light up & she beamed her most brilliant smile yet, nodding eagerly...<br />
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After that my music skipped & the song that came on jerked me out of mind state. But I was so happy, I have been accepted by a goddess of healing, something I have wanted since I started my path, and I cannot wait to see what Eir has to teach me<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixSHv1SRc1nI3zOG9WzX9xb2CH6aalGCxJ7C2uzzAT0yaL1ggIUerY1qReGpb32Ckn2lNYHbXpQL49zMy_4VFF_0FTORN5mcvw2ELCllaPHlY0ib46K2cUcmEXjPdjmdygOmTyIiZss_Dc/s1600/tumblr_mj9cmp5qyK1rs1xsxo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixSHv1SRc1nI3zOG9WzX9xb2CH6aalGCxJ7C2uzzAT0yaL1ggIUerY1qReGpb32Ckn2lNYHbXpQL49zMy_4VFF_0FTORN5mcvw2ELCllaPHlY0ib46K2cUcmEXjPdjmdygOmTyIiZss_Dc/s320/tumblr_mj9cmp5qyK1rs1xsxo1_500.jpg" width="251" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://nicolecadet.deviantart.com/art/Eir-Goddess-of-healing-73906916">Eir - goddess of healing by Nicole Cadet on deviantART</a></td></tr>
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Green Blessings /|\<br />
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Raven Dreamer</div>
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Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-43148562425450318052013-10-02T12:50:00.001-07:002013-10-02T12:51:35.511-07:00I'm not Buddha and I don't ever want to be<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I feel like I've been getting wrapped up in spiritual idea of who I should be. Everyday I read all these quote & comments about "enlightenment" how one should be, and act and say etc to be a "spiritually enlightenment person". But instead of inspiring me, I have developed a complex over how I should be in order to be "spiritual enlightened". I've been feeling like I'm a bad spiritual person because I have not done, x, y & z. I've been creating faults in things that how none, questioning from a place of ego fearing (if that's even a term), </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: #93c47d;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">So I stopped and asked "Who am I"? and those silence answered. It stripped away all I thought I was & thought I should be and left only with what I am. Then I remembered my path, Druidry...why am I on this path? Why I am a Druidess? My path came to me from my patron goddess Cerridwen, she came to me on that night and gave me those gifts and I have been changed ever since. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: #93c47d;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">When I came into my spirituality about 4 year ago, never wanted to be "enlightened" I just wanted to be happy, with life & who I am. I've realized that I've lost sight of that with this obsession with being this perfectly spiritual person. I know most of you think straight away of a Buddhist monk or an Indian Guru when you see the word "enlighten" and I think with the way we've been conditioned by society & such, that everyone must fight this mold in order to be that kind of person. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing it really is, most of what you see out there is only the tip of the iceberg, if you're not willing to to the leg work in finding & creating your own spiritual life, you'll fall into the trap into thinking you must, walk, talk, think & act in a certain way to be a "spiritual person".</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: #93c47d;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">So back to my previous question, why am I Druidess? Well, upon that discovery it was one of the most wonderful days of my life, every time I read about Druidry my heart swells with a feeling I can't lay my finger on, next to my love of my partner & family, Nature is second in my heart, I have always been in awe of her, and herbalism is something that I love researching & hopefully one day practice Druidry moves me & heals me, it inspires me,and empowers me. </span></span><br /><span style="background-color: #93c47d;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">I've been punishing myself for not fitting this false mold I have created, I am not a guru or a monk and frankly I don't want to be. I am a short purple haired girl from England, who drinks way too much tea, who dreams of marrying her man and live in a hobbit hole with 2 pugs, become a mother and housewife, and do spiritual healing & charms when needed. I'm not going to lead the revolution, I'm going to lead my family to be eco-friendly, to </span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">eat </span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">healthier.I'm teach my children to love the earth just as much as I do, and show them the magick that lays there..</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">That is my dream, that is all I want and if that make me "wrong" in a spiritual sense, then frankly I don't give a damn, I want to be happy, not the Buddha</span><br />
<br />Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-28393343946184861942013-09-11T16:03:00.001-07:002013-09-11T16:14:13.653-07:00My relationship to the Crone<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;">Out of the 3 aspects of the triple goddess I have always been drawn to the Crone. I hold great respect to each of her aspects, but nothing hold me with such fascination, inspiration & magick like the Crone. She has been with me through out my whole life. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"> I remember having a conversation with my mum some time ago about how I acted growing up. As an infant I was quiet & observant (something never change heehee) I was always watching. I was a bright child for my age, I could already write my name, count to 10 & knew the alphabet before I started even school. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"> To begin with I was a very confident child, always wanting to express myself, but alas this was not taken well by my teacher & I was often pushed to the back of the class, and slowly the confidence faded away as I grew older. My mum went on to tell me about one of my old school reports & this sentence has stuck with me ever since "Emma does not relate well to her peers", my mum told me about how I would seek out adults to talk to, rather then play with kids my age. Adults gave me the intellectual stimuli that I wanted. I'm still very much the same today, I seek out wisdom and love learning, and the Crone is the very embodiment of wisdom. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"> If you have read my previous blogs then you'll know that my patron goddess is Cerridwen, a Celtic/Welsh Crone goddess, she was present when I first came into my spirituality, she was one of the first goddesses I researched, and she is also the only goddess who has visited me. She was the one whom put me on my path & continues to guide me to this day. I affectionately called her "Grandmother", I not really sure why or when I started to call her that but I do, I never knew my grandmothers they both passed before I was born, and it has left a kind void in my life, and I think this is another reason I am drawn to the Crone, for I have longed for that Grandmother to Granddaughter relationship. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;">One of the gift of Cerridwen was a spiral, the symbol of the Wisewoman tradition. This is the healing tradition of our foremother. This is the description by the founder Susun Weed:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"><i>The Wisewoman tradition is a spiral</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="background-color: #93c47d; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">The symbol of the Wise Woman tradition is a spiral.</span></i></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">A spiral is a cycle as it moves through time.</span><span style="line-height: 18px;">A spiral is movement around and beyond a circle, always returning to itself, but never at exactly the same place. Spirals never repeat themselves.</span></i></div>
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<i style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The symbol of the Wise Woman tradition is the spiral.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the bubbling cauldron.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the curl of the wave.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the lift of the wind.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the whirlpool of water.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the umbilical cord.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the great serpent.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the path of the earth.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the twist of the helix.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the spin of our galaxy. The spiral is the soft guts.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the labyrinth.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the womb-moon-tide mobius pull.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is your individual life.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The spiral is the passage between worlds: birth passing into death passing into birth.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The path of enlightenment is the spiral dance of bliss.</span></i></div>
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<i style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The symbol of the Wise Woman Tradition is a spiral.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">Twelve is the number of established order.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">One step beyond is thirteen, the wild card, the indivisible prime, the number of change.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">Walk a spiral, you will inevitably come to the unique next step, the unknown, the thirteenth step, the opportunity for change, the window of transformation.</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; line-height: 18px;">The thirteenth step creates the spiral</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"> Another pattern I have notice this that I have alot of "Crone" things in my spiritual life. my power animal is a Raven named Eir (I adore her), raven of course being a animal of the Otherworld which is the Crone's domain, my spirit & guardian tree is Elder, the wise old hedgerow shrub that scattered across England, she is wonderful companion if you put the effort in to forming a relationship with her. Another thing is that I feel more at peace yet powerful when the moon is a waning crescent & dark, and I prefer the darker part of the year; Mabon, Samhuinn & the Alban Arthuan (Winter Solstice) being my favourite Sabbats. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"> I've always like dark things; old bones & skulls fascinate me (animals & people), most people would just see icky dry bones, but me I see a story left over from a time gone by & a memory of a person. I love archaeology & history, folklore and legends. Museums & libraries are second best place nexts to being out in Nature for me.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;">So yes, the Crone is a very important figure in my life & she always will be, she give me this overwhelming feeling that I cannot put into words, so I will depart leaving these words written by Rae Beth from her book Hedgewitch (it's on the wishlist heehee):</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"><i>I call upon the Crone, Old Wisewoman, she who brings true vision.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"><i>She is wise in the ways of all creatures and knows roots, herbs, </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"><i>all healing, whatever may be needed. She sees patterns</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"><i>and dreams in the glowing logs, in steam that rise from the Cauldron,</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"><i>and in quiet waters. She can foretell, forewarn and guide.</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"><i>In her, we see and understand, we bring the story to</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"><i>it's rightful end, and we gain wisdom</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;">Green Blessings /|\</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;">RavenDreamer</span></div>
Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-70601162178574537082013-08-19T11:09:00.003-07:002013-08-19T11:17:48.608-07:00Busy Little DreamerIt been awhile since I last wrote a blog, over 2 months in face, but hey I only write them when I feel inspired. In these last few months I've been doing alot on inner work, rituals, journeying, healing work, exploring, making my inner sacred space my base of operations. I've met more animal spirit guides (I have 7 now) & even saw my patron goddess Ceridwen again. But first I'm doing to pick up from my last journey I shared with you, the one where I was in La Loba's cave.<br />
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On the last full moon (July) I did a small (internal) ritual to the Faeries & Ceridwen asking for help with manifesting something, the fae had been around me alot that week as I thought to ask them for assistance & Ceridwen is a goddess of manifestation. After all was down & I had given my thanks, I found myself in the sacred pool that in the forest behind my sacred cabin, then the scene jumped & I was in the ocean, then in La Loba's cave. All my animal guides were with the addition of a white snake (I think she is my Kundalini). I dressed in my black shaman robe & wearing my spirit blanket, I had my bag & a simple folk staff. It was a clear night & the moon was full. So off we set into the desert, the white snake was drape over my shoulder, her head perched atop mine, I was carrying Luis (red panda), Eir (she-raven) flew over head, Isis (black she-wolf) was on my right, Airmid (white she-wolf) on my left, both slightly ahead of my & Selenus (brown she-bear) was behind me. I had the impression that I was searching for bones, La Loba is a bone collector. After we walked a good while we came across a set of deer bones, I knelt beside them letting my face hover over them & I began to chant, I chanted to call forth Awen, and as I chanted the bones began to come to life, flesh covering bone until a mighty red stag stood before me. I stood up & stroked his muzzle asking his name to which he replied "Rohan", he bowed his head & rested his forehead to mine.<br />
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That is the story of Rohan, another of my guides. But the newest addition to my animal guides is a she-lynx named Erma. Erma strolled & I mean stroll into my life a couple nights ago. I had been seeing lynxs all week, & it isn't the first time, didn't think too much over it, I just took it as a sign from Great Spirit to look into her medicine & heed the lessons she brings, the last thing I expected walk for a lynx to stroll into my sacred cabin. See the thing about lynx is you cannot chose to work with her, she chooses you. So you can imagine my surprise at her arrival. She walked in through the open door & sat herself right in front of me. She looked at me & I at her & from time to time it was as if our spirit switched bodies & I was looking at myself through her eye & I could see her spirit looking back at me from my own body. It was an odd experience. When we were back in our own body I felt the urge to give her a gift, I pulled from my belt pouch a rutilated quartz on a leather thong which I hung around her neck. The scene skipped & I found myself crossing the river to the Shamanic Dreamworld. When I reached the other side Eir was on my shoulder & Erma was sat by my side, before stood a majestic oak forest. We entered & found ourselves in a grove with a stone circle with an altar. Upon the altar I gave an offering connected to me, a place a raven's feather, my spirit stone moss agate & a lit my healing smudge which is made from pine, cedar & rosemary, and lastly I left my personal seal in blood. I did a kind of dedication to myself, reaffirming my path & who I am, I said things that came from my heart & spirit, strong, assuring things. When I was finished Ceridwen appeared, I was beaming, I told her how happy I was to see her & how thankful I was for the gifts she had given me when first we met. She smiled her warm smile & placed her thumb over my third eye, I knelt before her & closed my eyes, accepting whatever gift she was giving me. When I opened my eyes I was sat on the floor of my cabin looking back at Erma.<br />
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In my inner landscape I have discovered 2 forest groves, one of pine & one of rowan. The pine forest is a place I go to contemplate, it is always midnight there & the floor is littered with fly agaric mushrooms. The rowan grove is a place of healing, I go there to recharge & be nurtured. It is either sunrise or sunset (something I have noted in my inner sacred place, it is always a betwixt time), the tree have coppery & golden leaves, autumn tones & dripping with red berries. In the centre of these place is a tree stump where I sit.<br />
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The night before I met Erma, I was sat in my pine forest, thinking about Wild Woman & my own wildness. Eir was on my left shoulder & Luis on my right. Isis, the black she-wolf approached me. Isis came into myself when I asked to become connected to my Wild Mother, she is the wildness in every woman, she is own inner voice of intuition, and when I asked this Isis the black she-wolf appeared & she told me that she was my connecting to her. I rested my forehead to her's and asked her to help me embrace my wildish nature. Isis stepped back & looked towards the forest as if to say "run with me". My green robe became became primitive skins, a halter top & skirt, much more suited for running, and off we ran. My heart began to quicken & a feeling overtook, a pure simple joy that comes from simply running, a feeling I remember from once years ago, when I was running up & down a hallway just to see have fast I could go before turning & running back up the hall again. Eir & Luis followed in the branches above & I could see Airmid & Isis running up ahead of me. We ran until we came to the end of the pine forest, the sun was setting, the skies decorated with pinks & oranges. The end off the pine forest lead down a slope towards the river that was the gateway to the Shamanic Dreamworld. Then I noticed something, my body was covered in green energy, coiling & snaking around my legs, arms, body & head. When I looked closer the energy coils looks like ivy & I could intuitive feel that they were channels. The ivy then printed on my skin like pale brown scars or faded henna but I could still feel them. I knelt and touched the earth & I could feel the energy being drawn in through my fingertips. When I rose to my feet I saw a Druid's Temple on a hill opposite the pine forest, my spirit animals gathered around me & I knew that had to go there. I was now in my green robe & holding my staff. The Temple itself was a mix of Stonehenge & The Druid's Temple in Ilton, Somerset. It consisted of 13 stones. There was an altar stone where I left an offering, raven's feather, one of my healing smudge sticks, herbs of elder-flower, mugwort, juniper, lavender, and a halved apple & blossom. Also I buried a silver coin at the base of the altar stone. I knelt on the earth and gave my thanks, to all the goddess I called upon (Ceridwen, Branwen, Artemis, Corventia, Airmid, Nemetona & Gaea) I thanked them individually, I thanked them for their gifts both personal one & those given to mankind. I asked them for some personal things I won't mention here, but they are thing to help me help others, not just people, animal, plant & mineral too.<br />
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So there you have it, my eventful 2 months since my last blog, I have also done some healing work & come up with an entire ritual which I hope to one day do in the outer world.<br />
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Green Blessings /|\<br />
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Raven DreamerRaven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-84691001601282944002013-06-11T12:50:00.000-07:002013-06-11T12:50:30.938-07:00Journey Inward: Exploring the Inner LandscapeThose who know me, will know that I'm currently in a spiritual "funk", and I'm been trying my best to get by.<br />
I decided that I should do some internal work.<br />
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Recently, Artemis has come into my life as my 3rd goddess, now making the Trinity (Maiden: Artemis, Mother: Branwen, & Crone: Ceridwen) I decided to do an internal ritual to her, to honour her and ask for her help with this "funk" (I believe it now to be a 'Dark Night of the Soul' experience) An internal ritual you may ask? Yes, it is much the same as a ritual you would perform in the outer world, but it is all internal, it requires the same amount of prep and focus as a normal ritual, probably more so because it's all going on inside you, it was one of the first things I read about when I start on my spiritual path (I believe the book was called <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Solitary-Wicca-Life-Complete-Mastering/dp/1593373538">Solitary Wicca for Life</a>) All of my inner work start at my sacred centre, if you're read my <a href="http://themuddybud.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/the-cloak-of-haws-keeper-of-cauldron.html">previous blog</a> you'll remember that it is a cabin in the woods by a stream. I won't tell you the ritual because it is private, but after it was over, I decided to follow the stream to see where it might lead. I followed it deep into the woods accompanied by my spirit animals; Raven, Airmid the white wolf, Isis the black wolf & my nearest companion Selenus the brown mother bear. The stream became a small waterfall which fell into a sacred pool, I instantly recognized the pool from other internal work I've done, it's a place I go to for renewal & healing.<br />
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Feeling good about my experience I decided I would explore some more, the next night. So I played my music & went inward. First I cleaned & cleansed the cabin, dusting, sweeping & smudging with pine (pine has been a strong presence in my life lately & I connect him to Raven). I left offerings to my goddess statues, and added some more things to my cabin to make it more 'me'. When I was satisfied I went outside where everyone was waiting & we set off following the stream to the sacred pool. My intention was to see if there was others rivers or streams running from the pool. Shortly we arrived at the pool and sure enough I spotted another waterfall & stream running in the other direction, we climbed carefully down the bank & with the help of Selenus I climbed up the other back to the top of the small waterfall, and when Selenus had climbed up we followed the new stream to see where it might lead. Time passed & I saw the trees being to part and we found ourselves at the ocean, another place I had been before. It was night & the moon a waxing crescent, the breeze blew making my robe ripple, I could feel it on my face and taste the salty air. While I was drinking in the view, Airmid, Isis & Selenus were all playing in the waves, I stood with my feet in the water watching them play with Raven perched on my shoulder. <br />
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Then I saw a fin in the water and a great white shark emerged from the wave (Great White has been a totem of mine for a number of year, he come in & out of my life) He looked at me as if to say "Come we me I have something to show you". Know that this was my inner world & nothing can harm me, I trusted Great White, despite my great fear of the deep water (I'm not a confident swimmer & any water that comes to my neck terrifies me), I removed my robe & waded into the water beside Great White, I took hold of his fin and we dove, my spirit animals, even Raven following suit. Down and down we swan, I could not see a thing only darkness & I felt like I was holding my breath for ages, then we emerged in an underground cave. The cave was surprisingly light & upon the small patch of land sat a woman with long Rapunzel like hair the colour of seaweed. She gave me a friendly warm smile & beckons me closer, I stepped forward and the green-haired woman produced a large pearl, about the size of a tennis ball & she held it out to my on out-stretched palms, feeling that it was a gift I cups my hands to receive the pearl, but before I could grasp it, the green-haired woman by-passed my hands and places the pearl into my heart chakra. Surprised, I instantly feel a warmth in my heart which sweeps down my arms to my hands & back again. The scene shifts, I open my eyes and find myself back on the beach. I released that the music had changed & was now playing <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w5f7l94Jh4">Damh the Bard</a>, I did not know what the song was at the time but in the lyrics I heard "She takes me to a distant cave", this made me remember that there was in fact a cave further along the beach, so I began to walk in the direction of the cave. The cave is in the side of a cliff that over looks the ocean, it a small cave, I sat there in front of a fire with an old native American (the details of the encounter escape me, sadly). I peer inside the cave but see nothing of interest, but something pushes me to look more and sure enough I glance at the floor to see a stone staircase leading down, and so I descend. As the stair go deeper, it become darker, I place my hands on the walls for support. Finally I reach the end of the stair case, but I hesitate, I feel that there is no floor, I pause and something make me step forwards and I fall into darkness, but in my faith my wings (raven wings of course) emerge, letting my glide safely to the floor. I am still surround by darkness, but I'm not along, a hunch figure shuffles forward. Her white/grey hair disheveled and she is completely naked, beside her is a grey wolf. She is <a href="http://www.starofthebards.com/laloba-wolfwoman">La Loba</a>, the Wolf Woman, The Keeper of Bones. My encounter was brief because my music change to something that disrupted & I was pulled out prematurely, the last thing I remember is standing in the entrance of La Loba's cave and looking out over the desert...<br />
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Green Blessings /|\<br />
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Raven Dreamer<br />
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Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-60646251493394706902013-05-23T10:32:00.002-07:002013-05-23T10:32:39.526-07:00Spirit Journey: Finally Meeting RavenOh boy, has it been mad, I think I had another 'Dark night if the Soul' this past week. I pretty much isolated myself from everyone I could. I had no interest in anything in the outside world, nothing & that is what I felt, nothing, it was as if I was on auto-pilot this whole week. I felt so disconnected, all I wanted to do was be alone. I had a feeling I knew what I had to do, I had to go inwards, to the Underworld, I needed to recharge & renewal and refocus, the problem was I had no idea HOW and it was so frustrating that it bought me to tears in my desperation. So, not knowing what to do, I carried on drifting, thinking all I could do was ride it out. Spirit energy of Ivy has been with me the whole time, ivy is the labyrinth and that is where I was, I could see no way forwards or backwards or sideways The only direction I had was the animal medicine cards, I kept each the same two card for about 5 days straight 1 card one day then the other card the next day. The cards were Ant: Patience & Snake: Transmutation, I read this as "Be patience, you're transmuting". Sometimes I got Blue Heron: Reflection or Lizard: Dreaming. They were the guides that help give me some focus in the fog that surrounded me as I kept repeating what was now some kind of mantra "Be patience, you're transmuting". Then the other night I had a vivid dream, I had a small brown snake wrapped around my right wrist, it was friendly & playful, then suddenly it changed into a black snake and become aggressive, trying to bite me, I shook it off my wrist because I sensed it was poisonous. Later I came across a picture of a black mamba & it was the same snake in my dream, so I look it up. (I'd drawn Lizard: Dreaming that day so I knew I had to pay extra attention to my dreams)<br /><div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art & words by Ravenari</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.wildspeak.com/animalenergies/blackmamba.html">Black Mamba : Leave Me Alone!</a></div>
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Keywords: <br />Looking into the abyss, being feared, the emotion of fear, terror, leave me alone, using fear to keep others away, threatening because you feel threatened, notoriety, death incarnate, prepare to strike, a willingness to do anything to protect yourself and loved ones no matter what the consequences, anxiety, wrestling with your fears, aggression, fighting back, wanting different perspectives on a situation, having hidden sides to your personality, protecting yourself. </div>
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My thoughts were "Yep, that how I've been feeling alright" but it didn't stop there because I was being stalked by other animal energies, Lynx, Cougar & Snow Leopard. I know when Spirit is trying to get me to see something, it'll send me a bombardment of visual images & pictures, and that is what I got. I've been hiding on Tumblr for the past week & on my dashboard I had a mass of pictures of these 3 great cats, so once again I went to the same website and looked them up too</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39AWr0CbhtejJvrFBmbJKh-r0U3S8k1GL68mKrEzfE7s1-DVEdhhRqQozJlS-luOlxSSPROi1oFxTqO2zSGIoOmoYqvukcMVy-gEkDzyoD1LYH1ylV86ceHboroWCNzk9P1fjX70sV4j-/s1600/5be1e1a5a25c2b3a0673033982f0e1b3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39AWr0CbhtejJvrFBmbJKh-r0U3S8k1GL68mKrEzfE7s1-DVEdhhRqQozJlS-luOlxSSPROi1oFxTqO2zSGIoOmoYqvukcMVy-gEkDzyoD1LYH1ylV86ceHboroWCNzk9P1fjX70sV4j-/s200/5be1e1a5a25c2b3a0673033982f0e1b3.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art & words by Ravenari</td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.wildspeak.com/animalenergies/lynx.html">Lynx: Seer of the Unseen</a></div>
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Seer of the Unseen. Solitude. Reservation. Vigilance. The Hermit. Understanding Spiritual Mystery. Sphinx Energy. Invisibility. Knowledge vs. Superstition. Play. Perception and Protection on All Levels. Seduction and Eye Contact. Manipulation of Time & Space in Otherworlds.<div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art & words by Ravenari</td></tr>
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Cougar: Many Names</div>
Keywords: <br />Going by many names, the significance and insignificance of a name, power and grace, preferring to stay private, being secretive by nature, hiding your projects and things that are important to you, not being boastful, competing with other big personalities for career, a connection to sky deities, the ability to snag large opportunities quite easily, being capable of great physical power, athletics and fitness, looking after yourself, a connection to many different sacred environments, possibly being drawn to more than one spiritual system. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Art & words by Ravenari</td></tr>
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Snow Leopard: Snow & Mountain Wisdom</div>
Keywords: <br />Cautiousness, snow and mountain wisdom, looking down on others, a sense of superiority to others, beware of elitism and judging others silently, reclusiveness, wariness, the power of holding your tongue, being able to reach great heights of personal achievement over your lifetime, constantly searching for inner and outer balance.<div>
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I sat & thought for awhile, "What do these animals have in common?" They're all solitary by natures, and what does one do in solitude? Internal work, something I've been wanting (needing) to do, but still the question of how plagued me. I was then drawn to read one of my e-book, so I logged in & browsed the titles & straight away <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stories-from-Spirit-ebook/dp/B00AB1CAN8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1369326653&sr=1-1&keywords=stories+from+spirit">"Stories from Spirit" by Sheila Callaham</a> by jumped out at me (Indigo night sky cover with a purple wolf baying at the full moon, how could I not!) I had no idea what the book was even about, and I have only downloaded purely based off the cover. The book is all about spirit journeying, something I'd been eager to learn for a awhile now. The first half of the books, Sheila shares some of her own journeys, and then she walks you through your own (there are links in the e-book that take you to guided meditation by her. The first journey you make is to the Lower Spirit World, it is similar to the Middle World (the one in which we live) but it is an all natural environment; forests, fields, mountains etc. and in the Lower World you meet your Power Animal. After you have followed the necessary steps to prepare yourself for spirit journeying, she instructs you to visual yourself in a natural place (In the Middle World & already my 3rd Eye was humming), I saw myself in forest divided by a river to my right there was misty mountains & to the left hills. Then she instruct to image a portal to the Lower world; it can be anything, a pool, a hallow tree, deep forest. Across the river I saw an old hallowed willow tree & I thought that was my portal. </div>
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Shelia then begin to count from 1 to 10 while drumming and this is how one enters the Lower World, but my portal was on the other side of the river, so when the drumming started I saw stepping stones across the river & with each drumbeat I hopped to the next stone until 10 I was one the opposite bank and immediately I knew I was someplace else, it's turned out that my portal was in fact the stepping stones across the river. The colours here were much brighter & the forest on this side much lusher. Then Sheila says about meeting your Power Animal, I already knew what my power animal was, Raven (I felt him sit on my left shoulder before I entered the Lower World). So I waited for his arrival and sure enough there he was, he flew in over head which is flap of his wings he change from black to white and back again, the very sight of him bought tears to my eyes, I was awe stuck at his majesty & beauty, and trailing behind him was the Sun. With that sight my spirited lifted & my heart swelled, Raven had bought light back into my life, because Raven is the Light Bringer. Then Sheila says she'll drum for 3 mins while you get to know your Power Animal, and when she fell silence Raven began to twist & turn in the air as if he was dancing, and he wanted me to join him. My green druidess robe changed to black & my arms were not adorned with black raven feather making wings, and we danced. We span & twirled in the light of the sunshine, hopping & spinning with glee. Then Shelia spoke & it was time to leave, the feathers on my arms fell away & my robe became green once more, Raven landed on my left arm, I hugged him goodbye and thanked him for everything. Then back across the river I hopped, back to the Middle World & then back into my body & the present moment. I was so surprised by what I had just done, I'd always thought that journey would be complex & harder, but this was a breeze, I had no trouble finding my portal & any reservation about entering the Lower World & the journey was only 10 mins! I was blown away, and so very happy to finally meet Raven, I've always felt his presences & caught glimpses of him in some of my visions. He bought the Sun back, this animal of the darkness & the Void bought me the light.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Green Blessings /|\</div>
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Raven Dreamer</div>
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Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-48312737771187339942013-05-08T13:55:00.000-07:002013-05-08T17:47:53.498-07:00Spiraling into the Centre: Returning to the Beginning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been a bit of a bumpy time for me recently, I had one of those experience where the mat pulled out from under your feet, and I've been trying to find my balance every since. Old issues & old pain began to surface, things that have not bothered me in years, so on the Full (Pink) Moon in Scorpio I decided to so a ritual to release, cleanse & heal these old wounds & past pain. The ritual went very well & I felt better for it. When Beltane came I focused on self-love & reaffirmed my intention to heal. Despite this, my mood & energy have been up and down, it got to the point where I could not bare to be around anyone, not even my family, everything felt so overwhelming & everything was too loud that it made me want to breakdown and cry. The next day when I felt alittle better I decided to do something about it, clearly something was not right. So began reading a couple of e-book I had on self-healing & creating better flow in your life, I took notes and did some of the exercises to call back & protect my energy. I've been doing a daily card reading from <a href="http://www.medicinecards.com/">David Carson - Medicine Card</a>, this has been helping gain insight in themes & energies to be aware of. Couple days ago I thought I go to another site to get alittle more insight, it is a online Tarot site called <a href="http://www.students-of-tarot.com/index2.html">Students of Tarot</a>, you can choose from a range of decks & spreads, I decided to a single card reading from two different decks <a href="http://www.students-of-tarot.com/tarot2/index.htm">The Greenwood</a> & <a href="http://www.students-of-tarot.com/crone/index.htm">The Crone</a>, I chose you use only the major arcane, I got the same card from both decks, The Wheel & then, because the Universe like to show me things in threes, a card from the Heart of the Faeries Oracle appear, a card I have ran into a couple of times, the card is called The Returning<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Then something dawned on me, the way I had been feeling & thinking was the same way I was back at the beginning of my journey into my spiritualism, fearful of the future, self-critical, low self-esteem & negativity thinking plaguing my mind, and these three cards all hold the same message, go back to your roots, go back to the beginning. "Endings have new beginnings and we cycle on like a great wheel". That is what is written (by my lovely soul-sistar Dawn) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=269801816489483&set=t.536445032&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-prn1%2F894014_269801816489483_1504876801_o.jpg&smallsrc=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-prn1%2F32626_269801816489483_1504876801_n.jpg&size=1154%2C2048">about The Returning</a>. When I took a step back and look at what I was doing, it was the same thing I had start way back when I started, changing my negativity & critical thinking, balancing my energies & chakras, affirmation, positive intentions, living in the present moment, it was all there, everything that I had work on when I began my spiritual journey. So The Returning got me thinking, what was it that sparked my passion for my spiritual path? The theme had been appearing in some of my exercises too; What is your passion? What is it that makes you happy? Nothing came to mind so I took a break & decided to look at some Youtube videos, 2 videos caught my attention, they were both about a wonderful herbalist called Cascade Anderson Geller who sadly passed last weekend.One of the videos was Cascade talking about <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oagYgj1aU3c">dandelions</a>, as I watched something in me was rekindled & I began feverishly taking notes on dandelion medicine. To began looking up more dandelion medicine videos and I began making plans for harvesting & preparing herbal remedies, I came across a wise old face, the wonderful Susun Weed, the woman whom made me full in love with herbal medicine, and then it hit me, my passion, the thing that had driven me forward was my love of herbs.<br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Susun Weed</span></i></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="background-color: #d9ead3; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Cascade Anderson Geller</span></i></b></td></tr>
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And thus I had come full circle & the lesson of the Wheel was released, return to the beginning & remember why I began this journey.<br /><br /><br /> Green Blessings /|\<br /><br /><br /> Raven</div>
Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-55872813103793973682013-04-28T13:20:00.001-07:002013-04-28T13:20:52.948-07:00Rediscovering the Raven, Branwen's return<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB3ULELBC5y2vQSRLBe1gx1gQsqMCTy9OA01pXK8QOL2ZlKa6ZMF7THmLgtyZ3I44OPaey4GvXXmTd7en60O1XggX6jAou-0_sBAR4r51p8QVWMK5MZTqYp8mAtMmMr1cwaId8ZhJlWVov/s1600/6a011570120273970b012876510529970c-800wi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB3ULELBC5y2vQSRLBe1gx1gQsqMCTy9OA01pXK8QOL2ZlKa6ZMF7THmLgtyZ3I44OPaey4GvXXmTd7en60O1XggX6jAou-0_sBAR4r51p8QVWMK5MZTqYp8mAtMmMr1cwaId8ZhJlWVov/s200/6a011570120273970b012876510529970c-800wi.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Wow-wee today been a killer for me, I woke up very stressed out after having one of my<a href="http://thedreamwell.wordpress.com/2008/10/24/dream-symbols-tidal-wave/"> tidal wave dreams</a>, so stressed that I awoke with a tension headache, emotionally it's been a rough month for me and me I'm the kind of person whom bottles it all up because I don't want to worry those I care for, even me mentioning it here is a great effort for me. Anywho the stress got so bad that I was shaking, eventually my partner came home from work & I broke down and told him about the dream and what I was feeling, and he set me straight (like he always does, love my Ryan sooooo much) and I calmed down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So I went to my<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wiccan-Way/109051495889275"> facebook page</a> I run to do my daily update & answer any questions or messages from members, well one member had asked about how they're go about finding there (Native American) Birth totem, so off I went on my google search & came across a<a href="http://www.psychic-revelation.com/reference/m_p/native_american_astrology/index.html"> page</a> I felt had sufficient info. After I had passed on the links I decided to look at my own birth totem which is </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRJLFMqb6pw46XmpVnVOmctYCTWJ4_rPWmmm15ICneoiWPRp1IZnIzSmTcukyAzORsYeoIrs5_mhZnWA5sCGoNRFvIeFIqybrG_djzLkYLkPAbpadoXOdkdIorsP0AKJIdFLipk5xSCB6/s1600/377984_321950344491458_831367494_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRJLFMqb6pw46XmpVnVOmctYCTWJ4_rPWmmm15ICneoiWPRp1IZnIzSmTcukyAzORsYeoIrs5_mhZnWA5sCGoNRFvIeFIqybrG_djzLkYLkPAbpadoXOdkdIorsP0AKJIdFLipk5xSCB6/s200/377984_321950344491458_831367494_n.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Raven/Crow, I was looking down the list of correspondences when the stone mentioned caught my attention, the stone being Azurite, so off to google I go again searching for pictures of the fore mentioned stone & what I found took me by surprise, the stone caused my soul to reach out, I felt a stir within me that said "I need this", this is not an ego desire, but a soul desire. I was taken aback even more when I saw the bead *gasp* oh my gods the beads, the beads look like little mother earths.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCF91jQUIfn7YW8bhJxaJgweepolsa-fx15BAYUxawlgK-XrXtQd3AJb324yyxgbcPVM8C9doktE17u-0N2rdMKDGJIbQwtyLt0ARev6r_IMvGSOeJeFhjboghvSKv6YCHUHbV4zWTCDa/s1600/il_340x270.178872333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzCF91jQUIfn7YW8bhJxaJgweepolsa-fx15BAYUxawlgK-XrXtQd3AJb324yyxgbcPVM8C9doktE17u-0N2rdMKDGJIbQwtyLt0ARev6r_IMvGSOeJeFhjboghvSKv6YCHUHbV4zWTCDa/s400/il_340x270.178872333.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I was stunned, so I decided to look into the<a href="http://www.healing-crystals-for-you.com/azurite-stone.html"> metaphysical & healing properties</a>, again I was blown away, the properties were for things I need help with, balancing certain chakra, aid in intuition, psychic work, Divine connecting, the list goes on. So I started looking at jewellery, do decide the best place to wear it, as I looked </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3CjX4Ppc2Ih5l-yZy2esJKW-wZGPGS0vq2-Cl8OHAoIXO4HuuPdFQOrGYL9ffxWOd3yAELL_HtMaaKC7z7J-BMC6GZuyLNnHfCp3vFQXBd8CAqQxoL5xuWtRm3skh2-c1ZBdjkEUbJSN/s1600/il_570xN.369845876_i000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3CjX4Ppc2Ih5l-yZy2esJKW-wZGPGS0vq2-Cl8OHAoIXO4HuuPdFQOrGYL9ffxWOd3yAELL_HtMaaKC7z7J-BMC6GZuyLNnHfCp3vFQXBd8CAqQxoL5xuWtRm3skh2-c1ZBdjkEUbJSN/s200/il_570xN.369845876_i000.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">this ring caught my attention, it was the feather that had really caught my eye so I went to look at the information regarding the ring, the remind was made to honour the goddess Branwen, curious I decided to look into Branwen and went to my favourite goddess info page <a href="http://www.orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/">Order White Moon</a>, I found<a href="http://orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/Branwen/index.htm"> her section</a> and began to read and once again I was blown away with what I found, Branwen is the goddess of empathy, healing love & prophecy. This is what hit home for me...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-0cdf210f-523c-ebdb-e8c0-147f71e4cc6c" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Branwen’s great heart filled with love, associates Her strongly with the Heart Chakra. In my own work I have found Branwen to be steady and gentle in Her assistance to help us open in love. When opening to Branwen’s love, we are healed by Its vast power. Love has the power to heal and Branwen is quite gentle in taking our emotional wounds and wiping our tears away.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">More subtly, it is through Branwen’s great love that we see Her empathy. So many today, myself included, struggle at times wondering at the purpose of empaths. Overwhelmed, we grow angry at our gift and call it a curse. It is at these times that the Great Empath Branwen is crying with us. She feels our pain as Her own. Filled with compassion, She feels sorrow at our sadness. It is here that Her love greatly heals and teaches us. A purpose of empathy is to grow in love. When we experience the energy of emotions and allow our hearts to open, we can flow through the sorrows around us without being overwhelmed. And yet Branwen does not ask us to open to the maelstrom of the world around us either. She beseeches us to respect our limitations and use our empathic gift of love wisely. Branwen can teach us how to set boundaries healthfully while allowing our love to be expressed freely, shielding us from taking on too much. Master of the intricate layers we each have, She is ever willing to gently help arrange them optimally so that each time we grow a little closer to seeing empathy as a healer’s gift and not the curse of the weak society portrays it as."</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2PnJGQjfOQPJPBkqrsUgJ92xyWgTi1Yvn6ibZ1BBzvMpQc0ZkKpZdJZ_eTATUYYPSmjK57IIYMYM-kTRH-r4lqcETTDBRWV8Ivkz-b54CB5vTu_uYiGyhnwcfghlrPumn3IMSq9lkgJvN/s1600/branwen-emily-brunner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2PnJGQjfOQPJPBkqrsUgJ92xyWgTi1Yvn6ibZ1BBzvMpQc0ZkKpZdJZ_eTATUYYPSmjK57IIYMYM-kTRH-r4lqcETTDBRWV8Ivkz-b54CB5vTu_uYiGyhnwcfghlrPumn3IMSq9lkgJvN/s320/branwen-emily-brunner.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork by Emily Brunner</td></tr>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-0cdf210f-523c-ebdb-e8c0-147f71e4cc6c" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-0cdf210f-523c-ebdb-e8c0-147f71e4cc6c" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></b></span></b></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-0cdf210f-523c-ebdb-e8c0-147f71e4cc6c" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-0cdf210f-523c-ebdb-e8c0-147f71e4cc6c" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I myself am an empath and healer (I'm still discovering what form). My heart chakra is my most powerful chakra (along with my 3rd eye), my heart energy centre, it is where my strength comes from. I struggle with my gift, not as much as I used too but I slip up every now & then, today being one of those day, so Branwen is a gods send, but what made me smile is the fact that this isn't the first time she's come to me, right in the very beginning when I had first come into my spiritualism, she (as well as Ceridwen) were one of the first gods that made themselves known to me, and then (like Ceridwen) I forgot about her until today and I am overwhelmed by her return, it like being reunited with a long lost relative. And here's the icying on the cake her name means 'Blessed (or white) Raven'.</span></span></b></span></b></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Green Blessings /|\</span></div>
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Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-14461365093649594752013-04-23T16:08:00.000-07:002013-04-23T16:08:12.305-07:00My Plant Spirit Primrose<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Currently I am reading through a book called 'Plant Spirit Medicine' by Eliot Cowan, it is a wonderful book & as soon as I started reading it I knew this would be something I want to adopt into my Ovate studies. In his book Cowan talk about contacting the spirits of plant, just like you would the spirit of animal or person and you use that plant's medicine to heal. About a week ago I was looking up some more info' online about the subject when I came across<a href="http://bearmedicineherbals.com/plant-totems-identifying-our-most-personal-herbal-ally-by-jesse-wolf-hardin.html"> this</a> article about plant totem, I've seen it before but I didn't bothering reading it, well I was bothered this time! Near the end of the article it asks you a series of questions to help you figure out what you're totem plant, just like if you were figuring out an animal totem. The whole time I was reading one word kept on repeating in my head "primrose" over & over. I sat & thought about it for awhile, turning the possibility over in my mind. I thought back to a section in Plant Spirit Medicine where it say about decide which plant you'd like to visit in the Shaman Dreamworld, primrose was the first to come to mind. Prior to my shock that I had a couple week back I had been very drawn to primrose, I even had the plant oracle card on my altar a mere days before the shock had happened & it's stay with me through the day when everything was up in the air. <br />
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Primrose is also connected to Grandmother Cerridwen who is my patron goddess & is one of the herbs mentioned in my favourite meditation 'Clothed with Flowers'. But still I had my doubts, so last night after all my thanks to the gods I spoke to the spirit of primrose, I asked her that if you are truly my plant totem please give me a sign, a sign that I will know for sure that it is from you telling me that you are my plant totem. So today I step outside for my daily walk & for some reason I look over into my neighbor's front garden, and lo and before there was a bunches of creamy yellow primroses, I smiled to myself and said okay primrose I'm convinced, you are my plant spirit<br />
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Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-17371131669399913742013-03-02T10:57:00.000-08:002013-03-02T10:57:04.323-08:00Those that Dwell Within Me: The Chakra BeastsIn a previous post I mentioned Airmed, the chakra beast that dwells in my heart chakra & as promised I said I would explain what these 'chakra beasts are'<br />
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Some times in the beginning of last years I read a book called Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom. Now this book wasn't what I thought it would be, at that time I was (and still am) on a quest to be able to understand & interpret my dreams. Anyway, there was an exercise in this this about exploring your chakras to see what lives there. This caught my interested & decided to try it, now I'm not great at meditation, I need music or one that guided to help me focus, I came across a quote that describes my mind (and my dreams) very adeptly "my thoughts are like stars I can't fathom into constellations".<br />
I decided to take it slow so I looked up some music to help aid my meditation & found <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4GtPb3Y3vQ">this</a>. So while listening to this, each chakra has it's own music which lasts roughly 2 mins, and on each chakra I focused on it's corresponding colour. I did this for about a week, then I moved on to "looking" what was there, you have to approach this with a completely open mind or otherwise your ego will interfere & 'place' things there which aren't really meant to be there which defeats the whole purpose. So I cleared my mind & begin the meditation, I focused on the chakra colour like I always did also I held the intention to "see" what was there. The book says that everything can be there, an apple, a lush forest, an animal, anything. When I first did this I only saw the faces of each animal from each chakra, a stag in my root, a tigress in my sacrel, a blue phoenix in my solar plexus, a white wolf in my heart, a snowy owl in my throat, a raven in my third eye & a white spider in my crown. Over the coming months, once a week, I did this meditation with the intention of getting to know each of these animals, these chakra beats as I later dubbed them & build a relationship with them. Slowly bit by bit I saw more & more of there bodies, eventually learning each of their names & their plain which that lived. Each animal has it's own energy & personality, they each reflect parts on me. Now I will go into detail about each animal starting with the root chakra...<br />
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Sol, The Druid Stag<br />
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Sol is a huge & magnificent red stag, his antlers are vast & looks like branches of a tree, with vines & oak leaves hanging from them. He has a triquetra (or trinity knot) on his third eye. His fur has spirals that inter-connect. When you are in Sol's presents it is like being with a druid from ancient times, he oozes wisdom, calms, all the traits of the archetype Druid. He lived in the heart of a lush, dense forest, the sun shafts through the gaps in the canopy of the wood. My Kundalini lives here too, she's a long white elegant snake, that loved to wrap herself around me & rest her head on my shoulder or crown.<br />
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Aoi, The Colour Changing Tigress<br />
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Aoi is a beautiful tigress with pale blue eyes, when we first met she was white, then on another visit she was golden & then on another visit she was orange. At first things were very awkward between us, she felt like a stranger to me yet had something familiar about her, but over time out relationship grew & now she feels like a sister too me and is now always orange. When I am around Aoi I am very much aware of my inner tigress, I feel sleek & feminine and am reminded that I am very much a woman. Aoi lives in an Indian style room, everything is orange & copper, there is a long curvy couch covered with tons of scatter cushions, the table in front of the couch has a vase of calendula flowers & sandalwood incense is burning. Behind the couch is a large round pool with lotus in it, Aoi loves to bathe in it. On the wall in front of the couch is a arch doorway which is covered with midnight blue curtains, what behind these curtains? I do not know, I haven't yet been able to pass through or even look, but my guess is that I'm not ready yet. to the right of the couch is a high round hole which used to be a window. On one of my visits Aoi had giving me a golden ankh shaped scepter & with it I smashed this window, the glass became water droplet & disappeared. What it revealed was a lovely path of green grass lined with marigolds, the path seems to go on forever.<br />
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Fyral, The Blue Phoenix<br />
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Fyral is a towering blue phoenix, the tips of his wings, plumes & feather are blue fire but feel like running water to the touch. Poor Fyral is not very sure of himself & needs alot of love and encouragement, I have yet to see him fly. When I first saw Fyrals home, it was the ruins of a temple (Greek I believe), with a fire pit near the back wall, at this time the fire was very small. After a few visits I decided that I would repair the temple, so with Fyrals help, we fed this little fire until it became the size of a bonfire. Now with this fire & my will I began to rebuild, I fixed the columns, the stones steps, and the floor. I made the roof glass to you can see the Sun, the strange thing is that you can see Father Sun through the roof but when you look out from the temple it is always night with a waning crescent moon & thousands of stars. The stones steps lead down to a gravel path lined with two fields of sunflowers.<br />
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Airmid, Wolf of my Heart<br />
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Airmid is a beautiful white wolf with amber eyes, she's always happy too see me. Her fur is so soft & comforting. She lives in a vast & lush field of white flowers that resides next to Sol's forest. We chase each other through the flowers, roll around & cuddle, and then we go the spot where where is a blanket & picnic basket where we sit & have lavender tea. I feel closest to Airmid, I feel that she's always by my side (she accompany me in other meditation or inner soul journeying) She (along with Grandmother Cerridwen) is the first I turn to for comfort in my time of despair, just one hug from her & all the pain & sadness is gone.<br />
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Archimedes, The Shy Owl<br />
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I took me a long time to learn Archimedes name, his was the last name I learnt in fact. When we first met he was incredibly shy, hiding his face & dare not look at me, but over time he warms up to me, with a little help from his favourite snack, wild berries. Archimedes is a lovely snowy owl, a little smaller then average. I lives in a high tower with pinks roses trailing up the front to the window in which he sits. The tower has a hedgerow made up of berry bushes (blueberry, raspberry, blackberry etc). At first they were tall hawthorns, but changed into berry bushes as our relationship built. Beneath the bushes are forget-me-nots, my favourite flowers. When I visit Archimedes he flies down from is perch, lands on my arms & nuzzles me affectionately, then I go along the berry bushes picking berries & feeding him.<br />
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Thaine, The Rune Raven<br />
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Thaine is a wise & proud black raven. Over his left eye in silver he has the eye of Thoth (it's the same as the Eye of Horus but of the left instead of the right). He wheres a talisman which has a Norse rune, and each time I visit the runes is different. Thaine lives in an ancient oak tree & when you climb up you'll find piles & piles of old books amongst the branches. Thaine remind of Merlin from The Sword in The Stone, he very wise & feel bothered by everyone, he likes his solitude. Thaine is a teacher, but won't make it easy for you, like loves using symbols & riddles, just like my Grandmother Cerridwen, but once you cracked the code, you are rewarded with invaluable wisdom. On one of my visit Thaine perched on the branched next to my head & touched my third eye with his beak, then I could feel the Eye of Thoth being drawn over my left eye.<br />
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The White Spider Goddess<br />
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White Spider Goddess is The Divine, The Goddess. At first she was a huge white spider that sat on a giant lotus flower, but over time she slowly revealed herself to me, she dresses in a white kimono & has long white hair which she wears part down & part up held in place with a traditional Japanese hair decoration, she reminds me of Kuan Yin. He lotus flower sit in the middle of a pond filled with lotuses & koi fish with a little bridge leading over the pond to her louts flower, the wall are covered in web dripping with dew which look like glistening gems, and when you look up at the ceiling you find yourself looking out into the heart of the Universe. It is very humbling to be in her presences & awe inspiring, she beams light & peace. She has a kind face & always look and smiles warmly at me, like a mother to her child. I once caressed a petal of her lotus, it was soft & warm and made me think of the womb.<br />
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So there you go, those are my Chakra Beasts, and Implore you do go & find what dwells with your chakras, you will find and discover much about yourself & it'll bring you great healing.<br />
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With Love, Light & Green Blessings<br />
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☽/|\☾<br />
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Raven Dreamer<br />
Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-91458531435662767782012-11-14T13:49:00.001-08:002013-03-23T12:08:03.541-07:00When Spirit & Cerridwen when told me that I'm a DruidIf you read me previous blog then you'll know about Cerridwen giving me two symbols (The Spiral & Triquetra) and how I managed to figure out what each symbol meant; the spiral for the Wise Woman Tradition of Healing & The Triquetra for the Ovate path of Druidism...Anywho, I've had trouble with sleeping & meditation because I kept 'hearing' things, noises only I could hear & it was beginning to effect my sleep, I got some advice from some friend in one of my online groups, telling me about grounding, centring my energies and shielding (being an Empath I should of being doing this away but I'm such a scatter brain!!) So I thought I'd find myself a nice guided meditation to help me relax & sleep. Somehow I ended up on OBOD website again & started reading there section on 'Druidry & Meditation' & on there page are two audio mp3 guided meditations, 'Clothed with Flowers - A Journey to the World of the Ovates' caught my attention right away. So I plugged in my headphones, settles & listened. In the meditation you are lead into a forest clearing with a pool, it's night time, & you're watching an Ovate holding up herbs to the moonlight to be blessed, then she lays them on the ground to be blessed by Mother Earth. The Ovate then recited a charm over the herbs & it was with this charm that realization hit me like a truck. Now when Spirit sends me messages the thing it is trying to convey comes in threes, like I will see an animal three times or see a number three times during that day, always threes. In the charm the Ovate says 3 things that immediately caught my attention; Vervain, Elder & Cerridwen. Vervain is Cerridwen most sacred herb, Elder is a tree I most resonantly with also one I connect with the Crone aspect of the Goddess (Cerridwen being a Crone goddess) and Cerridwen herself, my patron Goddess. Then I heard that little voice of intuition 'You're an Ovate'...I was moved to tear, it felt as if I had found something long lost about myself, something that had always been their but I never had noticed it...It's funny, it was Druids that had leaded me to my path in the first place & even when I look back, they'd had always been part of me & my life. Even when I was very young my favourite Disney movie was 'The Sword in The Stone', I adore Merlin, Arthurian Legend & stories, Stonehenge, Iron age Britain, all of it an invisible figure in the background, guiding me, and now I've come full circle.<br />
Don't get me wrong I loved being a Witch but it always felt like something was missing & I was always saying to myself "am I this kind of Witch or this kind or this?" Like a piece of the puzzle as missing.<br />
When I went back to the Ovate part of OBOD to re-read it I came across this..."The Ovate seems, in many ways, to conform to the type of person most people would describe as a Witch"....No wonder it took me this long to figure out I thought haha<br />
I could not express how wonderful it felt & how if all feel into place perfectly in line with the New/Dark Moon in Scorpio, I was super pumped by it all I feel super charged during the Dark Moon & that it as in my moon sign too, SUPER CHARGED! New moon, new focus on my path =) I am so very blessed<br />
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With Love, Light & Green Blessings ☽/|\☾<br />
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RavenRaven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-34199083389481642792012-10-31T15:29:00.002-07:002013-03-23T12:08:29.453-07:00The Cloak of Haws & The Keeper of The Cauldron<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;">Samhain Blessings Everyone, seeing as I haven't wrote a blog for awhile I thought today would be a perfect time to tell you all about the story of how I met my patron Goddess and how she open my path to me.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Goddess Airmid</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"> I've always had a love of herbs & I decided that I wanted to pursue herbal medicine, I've always felt myself to be a healer & herbal medicine seem to resonate with me, so I started doing my research into herbal home remedies & came across <a href="http://learningherbs.com/">LearningHerbs.com</a> and started watching their Youtube video, which lead to me to discover the wonderful <a href="http://www.susunweed.com/">Susun Weed</a> who made me fall in love with herbs all over again, and my interested increased tenfold. It was as this point I decided to find a Goddess who would help me on my path of herbalism, I came across Airmid, The Irish Goddess of Wort Cunning (herbal knowledge) & Leechcraft (Herbal Medicine) I thought she was perfect! So I spoke to her in my prayers, dedicating any & all my herbal research to her & for the good of all, but no matter how many time I tried to speak to her or ask for guidance I felt nothing (being an Empath I've 'finally' figure out most of my messages & signs are felt) But I kept trying, at the time I didn't know what the presence of a deity 'felt' like.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-kEwwZDtNI5MsloUoPZv5s-ucvZsZ1CI3bweIKLoJt-OnDMkSdc3VgTKL4jBZb-YykS_zu1rnK9gyWwaoDIZLg2vURE-g1lVfryRoVKWKuZWJdj87i2uzaptHyj9QDZAYcK78QXyRPvv/s1600/541076_10151275953050033_530649314_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: #93c47d; color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-kEwwZDtNI5MsloUoPZv5s-ucvZsZ1CI3bweIKLoJt-OnDMkSdc3VgTKL4jBZb-YykS_zu1rnK9gyWwaoDIZLg2vURE-g1lVfryRoVKWKuZWJdj87i2uzaptHyj9QDZAYcK78QXyRPvv/s200/541076_10151275953050033_530649314_n.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">My Sacred Centre</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNn3LKFUWagPvOtTn16spohH9oL6VsUmNX4J9Uc1XUAcLFaxUY_kObnzMnNVkiRpiSGHF_N4BIyFMAUpy9rBbuvpO1IW2Fp_tqJDOE3PuAz_iWovYbiwbOY8KJ-jRG1qRl8DcHWOyfIEWr/s1600/20101228-Cerridwen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="background-color: #93c47d; color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNn3LKFUWagPvOtTn16spohH9oL6VsUmNX4J9Uc1XUAcLFaxUY_kObnzMnNVkiRpiSGHF_N4BIyFMAUpy9rBbuvpO1IW2Fp_tqJDOE3PuAz_iWovYbiwbOY8KJ-jRG1qRl8DcHWOyfIEWr/s200/20101228-Cerridwen.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Goddess Cerridwen</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"> One night I was laying in bed listening to music; (I have a very active mind & some night it doesn't want to settle & music is one of the things that help me relax); So I'm finally beginning to relax when <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_kKFjwpwqc&feature=plcp">this song</a> comes on. I begin to drift & a scene forms. I'm in my sacred centre, my little cabin in the woods by a stream (found that picture the other day, it's almost identical to my sacred centre) I decide to go gather some herbs from the surrounding forest, so I pick up my basket & boline and set off with my companion a white wolf called Airmid (she named after a character in a book of the same name as the Goddess, she's one of my Chakra Beasts which I will discuss in another blog) So we head off into the forest herb collecting as I go; what herbs I don't remember, mebbe vervain?; then I come across a cave, I've never seen this cave before, then again I don't tend to venture out when in my sacred space. I stand on the threshold & peer inside, there I find an old woman standing over a huge cauldron, she's dressed in purple robes the colour of violets & has long silver hair. She looks up & smiles at me, a welcoming smile like you'd get from a grandmother & she beckons me to come in. I step into the cave & look around, the walls are lined with animal skulls & bottles. Herbs are hung drying on the ceiling on the cave. She gestures for me to sit on a rocky out cove opposite the cauldron, I smiles sitting & Airmid the wolf sits on the ground beside me. I watch as this old woman add ingredients to the cauldron, she never speak only smiling at me every now & then. The it dawned on me that this woman is in fact the Goddess Cerridwen, Keeper of the Cauldron of Awen; her sacred white sow is laying on the floor beside her warming itself by the fire of the cauldron. After sometime Cerridwen gestures me to come over, so I rise and stand on the opposite side of the cauldron, she takes of my hands & holds them over the cauldron, I can feel the heat of the brew on my palms, it's warm & tickles;.I think a spell was spoken but I don't remember but when it was done she turned over my hands, on my left palm was a spiral & on the right a triquetra. I look up at her & she smiled warmly, I knew I had just been given a gift, I cannot tell how honoured I felt at that moment. I felt I had to give her something to thank her, so I gave her the herbs in my basket, I gave her my thanks & left the cave to return to my sacred centre.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;">Now Cerridwen isn't the kind of Goddess who just give you things easily, oh no, these symbols were a puzzle I had to figure out & it was from this point that my path began to open up to me. The first thing I really noticed after meeting Cerridwen was that everytime I did a meditation or visualisation I always saw myself in a red cloak, the red of hawthorn berries. This was strange to me, red is a colour I had never been drawn to but now I'm wearing this bright red hooded cloak and I have no idea why. I continued my researching in herbal medicine, learning some medical jargon, when & what time to harvest herbs, how to prepare them as medicines. You can imagine how please I was when I found out Susun Weed had wrote books, so I picked up her 'Wise Woman Herbal Healing Wise', I adore this book, in introduces you to common 'weeds' and tell you how you can use them as food & medicine. There is a section in the book that describes the three traditions of healing; Heroic, Scientific, and Wise Woman; This is what written on page 11..."The symbol of the Wise Woman tradition is a spiral. A spiral is a cycle as it moves through time. A spiral is movement around and beyond a circle, always returning to itself, but never at exactly the same place. Spirals never repeat themselves. Spiral reminds us that life is movement, that each movement is unique, and that form is the essence of transformation"....it's also mentions that the Wise Woman wear a cloak of red, who's thread bind us all...My jaw dropped & I was in awe, the spiral meant the Wise Woman Tradition, and it's such a beautiful tradition & I fell in love with it. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Cloak of Haws</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;"> Now the second symbol was tricky and I racked my brain for months trying to figure out the connection, I had gotten the spiral so quickly I eagerly wanted the know the second, I feverishly ask Cerridwen to give me hints & clues, but she wouldn't give anything away. The triquetra is a symbol I've loved for a long time, when I first saw it on Charmed I wanted it as a tattoo on the back of my neck (still do LoL), I am the oldest of my 3 sisters and thought this symbol perfect. When I got older the symbol, for some reason made me think of Druids, I've always loved Merlin (Sword in the Stone being my all time favourite Disney movie) It was actually Merlin & Druids that sparked my spirituality after reading Bernard Cornwall's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Warlord_Chronicles">Warlord Chronicles</a>, and Manda Scott's <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/45217-boudica?auto_login_attempted=true">Boudica Series</a> both featuring druids. So along with herbal medicine I read alittle into Druidism, I was reading this book 'The Path of Druidry' it took me 2 years to finish as I kept picking it up & putting down as my interest waxed & waned, for some reason I found it hard work. Towards the end of the book is talks about the 3 grades of Druidism; Bards, Ovates, & Druids; straight away <a href="http://www.druidry.org/druid-way/what-druidry/what-druidism/what-ovate">Ovates</a> caught my interest, so I went over to <a href="http://www.druidry.org/">OBOD</a> and began to read up on Ovates, this made the penny drop...<span style="line-height: 21px;">seering, healing, divination, communicating with the Greenworld (nature), Ogham, it as all there, everything I was studying was there. I cannot tell you how crazy happy I was in that moment. I began reflect on everything that bought me to this point, my favourite character in the Boudica series was a woman named Airmid, she was a dreamer, my mother told me she believed me to be like the dreamers, I have very vivid lucid dreams, I always have for as long as I can remember and often dream of the future. It dawned on me that a dreamer was another name for an Ovate. The first time I discovered Ogham was in a game my mother was playing, I help her translate ogham fews, and I was good at it, and it was from then on that I looked into Ogham & found out it was an oracular and that it resonated with me & of course the icing on the cake was that Ovate were the healers & they practised herbal medicine. I was beaming, I still am, this amazing Goddess gave me so much with only 2 little symbols, it was from then on that I named her as my patron Goddess & I love her dearly (I call her Grandmother Cerridwen), I feel her when I talk to her & she comforts me then I'm upset, I'm so grateful for her & will honour her for all of my days~</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 21px;">With Love & Light</span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 21px;">Green Blessings </span></span><span style="background-color: #93c47d; line-height: 21px;">☽/|\☾</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #93c47d; font-family: inherit;">Raven</span><br />
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Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-57970854274714474872012-08-20T11:47:00.001-07:002012-08-20T11:47:36.820-07:00Weed Walk<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Being the hebal lover that I am I decided to (finally) got round to taking photos of the herbs around where I live. There are field minutes from my house, & myself and my brother walk the family dog there everyday. One of the books I read about Druidry says about getting to know your local area, so everyday I have been making a mental notes of the plants, herbs, trees and flowers I have seen on my travels, then I'd begin to deduce what they could be. I've been doing this for months not, walking the same route & noting my findings and I have identified (hopefully correctly) a fair few herbs. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5dg5zbgPVxig4S37V4sSWtHfsdq5r6TDmmW_MUJ33o-UY3M2yyaqIU3xOGLmUnZ0JTSe25DglG1zU0U6qd_xfVgn-ME6yxPzfD98dRDcTEsVfirqWZBxnFGUaERuXUO-0fEDSMgZE_VF/s1600/Yarrow+top.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO5dg5zbgPVxig4S37V4sSWtHfsdq5r6TDmmW_MUJ33o-UY3M2yyaqIU3xOGLmUnZ0JTSe25DglG1zU0U6qd_xfVgn-ME6yxPzfD98dRDcTEsVfirqWZBxnFGUaERuXUO-0fEDSMgZE_VF/s400/Yarrow+top.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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First off (one of my proudest finds) is this Yarrow plant =) It grows on a sloping bank beside the pavement, I can't express how pleased I was to find this feisty little herb.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjmPrX0Jc_AX_3K79o5GHt9oPdB2pt-NE9TJKH70Z5Xcxzj9Ge8udb2vFUOFaOfTSg6dukWu5lrZvFKL-1CMJsxBpqzbV8VfTt8VmKTmOXT72jMcmU4Z5NFgzOdCZJJ4RC3Qphi8_mK6P/s1600/More+Yarrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjmPrX0Jc_AX_3K79o5GHt9oPdB2pt-NE9TJKH70Z5Xcxzj9Ge8udb2vFUOFaOfTSg6dukWu5lrZvFKL-1CMJsxBpqzbV8VfTt8VmKTmOXT72jMcmU4Z5NFgzOdCZJJ4RC3Qphi8_mK6P/s320/More+Yarrow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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And here (along with my finger, opps) is some of her sisters, on closer inspection the slope had more yarrow plants then I first thought.</div>
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Next to some steps that lead to the road you cross to enters the fields, I found (today in fact) this little pact of Eye Bright (I know the picture isn't the best, I used the camera on my phones & it can be a little hit and miss) </div>
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Here some Common Cat's Ear on the beginning of the foot path</div>
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Some Ragwort amongst the Nettles (she is abundance here Ol' Nettle)</div>
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Here is a view of the field, littered with Queen Anne's Lace and Cat's Ear</div>
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This is a view of one of the pathways, up there are some Elder trees, I have plans when Lady Elder's lush berries are ripped in the Autumn </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEv8uU3bmzpssPg5-a41dGiXrKp5YwCwexo-x9Yto0g1qgoQwLenC5EVkjJ21xKURm9-LbtYCNBvN-zf0hZRTU_y8SA_Pk3nqHYD2lh_23tevroVigSnQTW7AoBCKDumCyu7s8WSLNeSPA/s1600/Agrimony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEv8uU3bmzpssPg5-a41dGiXrKp5YwCwexo-x9Yto0g1qgoQwLenC5EVkjJ21xKURm9-LbtYCNBvN-zf0hZRTU_y8SA_Pk3nqHYD2lh_23tevroVigSnQTW7AoBCKDumCyu7s8WSLNeSPA/s320/Agrimony.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's some Agrimony </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfCl9-thxBC2BefEHvlekt6DE0Pmv4NTKK8X1gHwbgfodrLCTXhrhHXa9lSpkivvMA7abs5mdoaLNM-dLQDUmEdlXns7h2McXMawdztLGkILvznxKLCe4qtDX8Vq0HEN21BT-5ZpSyoi9/s1600/Hogsweed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVfCl9-thxBC2BefEHvlekt6DE0Pmv4NTKK8X1gHwbgfodrLCTXhrhHXa9lSpkivvMA7abs5mdoaLNM-dLQDUmEdlXns7h2McXMawdztLGkILvznxKLCe4qtDX8Vq0HEN21BT-5ZpSyoi9/s320/Hogsweed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Some Hogsweed, it's almost all died back minus a few flower head bunches</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5FRYBMWz5FBnSd6mAB8BdldvnCK2G30PKXADv-37MD7OGpQ2EtjaX58AFG3FOWC7BPU5oRHYZLHwghGt7crxbvUiIgfMVAwm6Fvyd1RuPx5RseAKF2R27qzmLjdIBfLvvxruef3oNDMC/s1600/Clover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5FRYBMWz5FBnSd6mAB8BdldvnCK2G30PKXADv-37MD7OGpQ2EtjaX58AFG3FOWC7BPU5oRHYZLHwghGt7crxbvUiIgfMVAwm6Fvyd1RuPx5RseAKF2R27qzmLjdIBfLvvxruef3oNDMC/s320/Clover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Clover, the ground is covered in the stuff, the Red Clover too</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrVgHTDjsxkcCwUNseZ5vOzm2qAtDCwpkwrHpys32DYl2pEJfdcxtuCrQkKmjllB_k0wBfvVjOF6UYNGsoc9RClkP3csxF2zhEaLBFzMUw9ejzzoTsyUOmoQwBLREoWBpqbNaprU2V0Zc/s1600/Fireweed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrVgHTDjsxkcCwUNseZ5vOzm2qAtDCwpkwrHpys32DYl2pEJfdcxtuCrQkKmjllB_k0wBfvVjOF6UYNGsoc9RClkP3csxF2zhEaLBFzMUw9ejzzoTsyUOmoQwBLREoWBpqbNaprU2V0Zc/s320/Fireweed.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Fireweed, this one was a tricky one to figure out</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtlwnFFTjFRM6iRf8ReuC2Uu00MeXOYMw8E2jZzVulJvfPfoUtSsiRwQ0jA1wYC4Ce5vulzc4HGmWmpdbfIs_b8ZDN4cMiei3XT6tjI5iJjeWY9RArVhTYFIGzjbcx56RWKDfO2ybXVkj6/s1600/Mr+Crow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtlwnFFTjFRM6iRf8ReuC2Uu00MeXOYMw8E2jZzVulJvfPfoUtSsiRwQ0jA1wYC4Ce5vulzc4HGmWmpdbfIs_b8ZDN4cMiei3XT6tjI5iJjeWY9RArVhTYFIGzjbcx56RWKDfO2ybXVkj6/s320/Mr+Crow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Mr Crow, there is nearly always are least one crow on the path way, crows always have so much to say</div>
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Plantain or Ribwort, I took some seeds heads ( and a dandelion puff) and scattered them in the garden, I'm going to do it to a few other herbs when they're ready to set seed, step one to apothecary garden heehee!</div>
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This is a big patch of Nettle just before you exit the path, they leaves are shivered & heavy with little green seeds, when autumn round in the seed can be harvested =)</div>
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So that's my weed walk, there a alot of other plants but I have not yet identified them & I do love the challenge!</div>
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Green Blessings with Love & Light</div>
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Raven</div>
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Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-87794994498786072222012-07-09T10:17:00.001-07:002012-10-23T08:59:37.077-07:00The Illusion of Light and Dark<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So last night I was laying in bed after my nightly meditation when a question popped into my head "What is dark part of the Craft?" It's a term I've seen alot in my studies. "People tend to focus on the light side of the Craft" blah blah, you get the idea. So I laid there and thought about it, doing the whole Winnie the Pooh think think think bit. I couldn't, for the life of me think of anything "dark", I went over the thing other may consider "dark" death, darkness, the night, but I turned each subject over in my mind and said "Nope, not dark" and then it dawn on me...there is no dark and there is no light. When I look at the Craft I don't see light & dark, I see oneness, a whole, a cycle; this is no diversity. Light is in the dark as dark is in the light, there are always shadows in the day and there is always light in the night time. So there you go, I would consider this a big step, and I felt it was a wonderful discovery on my path =)<br />
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With Love & Light<br />
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Green Blessings<br />
Raven~Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-856096530830342272012-06-02T09:28:00.004-07:002012-06-02T09:28:44.049-07:00HEY LISTEN!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So the Full moon is almost here & if you're a sensitive soul like myself, you'll be feeling it affect, most of you probably feel energizer but me...I'm the opposite, I feel empowered & energizer during the waning & dark moon (mebbe I have a croney soul heehee) Anywho...So I'm going through the motion, feeling exhausted, frustrated, irritable and...paddling in the negative kiddie's pool (don't ask where I got that analogy from it sounded awesome in my head) I said doubting myself, second guessing myself & ignore my intuition...I know, I know bad Raven...<br />
Anyway each week I've started to draw a card from my Harmony Angels tarot deck for a little guided for the week ahead, this week I got Angel Raphael I thought "Oh perfect, master healer & patron of healers!" (I've started doing research and study into herbal medicine) .The card also prompts you to heal yourself! So Friday rolls around & the negative mood shift comes in and I'm quetioning my whole choice in herbal medicine, comparing myself to other & the whole "Am I good enough?" comes into play, so I'm posting my uplifting & positive post (I like to make people smile ^-^) and one of the pages Angel Messages comes up in my newsfeed with it's daily Angel's Message and the messaged was...<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUByuzPZuFkKiYdifpGHpNO2pyJ4bq6uSKdSRUt9FD3TlyvWtyvMVSCkYVcGDjcqktXLmk3ksh6T84UCctdj9-bK1ZztRXc1IvjU9vzk_p3xzc6TOACUambenRACnKBQGjxfANxpFyCaC/s1600/554784_399651270085545_214228515294489_85959426_1232866782_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTUByuzPZuFkKiYdifpGHpNO2pyJ4bq6uSKdSRUt9FD3TlyvWtyvMVSCkYVcGDjcqktXLmk3ksh6T84UCctdj9-bK1ZztRXc1IvjU9vzk_p3xzc6TOACUambenRACnKBQGjxfANxpFyCaC/s1600/554784_399651270085545_214228515294489_85959426_1232866782_n.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">~TODAY'S ANGEL MESSAGE~</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">..........•*¨`*•.........</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">(¯`'•.¸ //(*_*)\\ ¸.•'´¯)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">*`• .…* * *… •´*...</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">-CALL UPON ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL-</span><br />
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Now For that last few days I've been drawn to the colour green, I happens to me every so often when I become so attracted to a colour I can't ignore it & I changed my desktop theme & Facebook to match the colour...So I see this message & I'm like "Wow..." Then! about 20 minutes later this beautiful image of the Goddess Pele<br />
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appears in my feed & all of a sudden I get a flash back from a dream the night before, a group of young girls were talking about Pele, so I rush to Google to look her up and on a friend's blog page Kitchen Witch : School of Natural Witchery I find the article " Pele - She Who Shapes The Sacred Land"...So I read this wonderful post and near the end is this..."Pele reminds us to believe in ourselves, to be who we are, who we want to be, to acknowledge our connection to the Divine and therefore to understand and accept the Goddess within."....At that moment my heart did a little somersault & I smiled thinking. "Okay Spirit...I get it, I'm on the right track...Thank you"<br />
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Love & Light<br />
RavenRaven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-70871045950154451222012-05-15T10:45:00.002-07:002012-05-15T10:45:31.276-07:00I've come so far...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have to admit, I've been having a hard time since the Super Moon. I get effected by the moon as it is but when I found out that it was a Super Moon and also in my moon sign (Scorpio) I thought "Uh oh I'm in for a rough ride". I could feel it, my mood & positive mind set slowly on the declined as the moon began to wane. Then this weekend BAM! I was knocked flat on my arse with a bombardment of intense emotions, old hurts & wounds began to surface and the tears came and flooded...but then it passed because I released it was all part of the healing process, in fact I had dreamt it, that I was going have my inside turn up & inside out all the dark & negative would surface to be touched, felt & healed. Dark Night of The Soul. Two years ago I would of turned complete inward & been consumed by the negative thoughts, my mind would be a choir of endless chatter "You're not good enough" "You're useless". But not this time, because now I don't fear the dark places as much as I did, I'm not blinded by my emotions or deafen by the chattering ego. No, I'm stronger then I was two years ago and I know myself better and I have The Goddess. When the day came when I decided to pursue my path, I knew it was the beginning of transformation, that it would be long & difficult at times but it would be worth it for self discovery & creation. And that day I began to rise and the muddy bud was born...And what have I learned?...To trust myself, one of my biggest hurdles, I'm always second-guessing myself & turning to others but I shouldn't...I know...I'm working on it...honestly =P This little raven...I think...is stretching her wings...not yet ready to fly but she's aware of them...only time will tell when she'll be able to fly again<br />
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Love & Light~<br />
RavenRaven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-57621803056550725542012-04-15T15:43:00.002-07:002012-04-15T16:25:37.722-07:00The Goddess & Me<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I watched a wonderful documentary last night, the first part of three called "Divine Women" This first part was call "When God was a Girl". Historian Bettany Hughes goes back to the beginning of time and visits the world's oldest religious site to find startling evidence that women were part of the very birth of organised religion. The earliest known religious site, Gobekli Tepe in south-east Turkey, which predates Stonehenge by 7,000 years, had an arresting figurine of a woman – either giving birth or being penetrated – at the heart of the temple, suggesting that the first gods were, in fact, goddesses.<br />
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So this got me thinking about my beliefs...Now I've never been a religious person but I've always believe in an Afterlife, otherworldly beings such as ghost & spirits & a life creating entity. The older I got the more I explored, balanced is important to me in all aspect, mebbe it's to do with the fact I'm a Librain? And because of this fact monolithic religions never made any sense to me. A man created all living beings...alone? It never sat right with me, to me one cannot be without the other, yes is it the woman whom carry & gives birth to life but in order to create you need a man's seed. So when that fateful came when a certain pentacle on a page caught my eye leading me to go on & read about Wicca...the great "AH-HA!" moment came & it have felt like I had come home to myself, at least a part of it =)<br />
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So onto the Goddess, well, to me there is a Great Mother Goddess as there is a Great Father God and all the gods & goddess are aspects of the great two. Together they are the Spirit, the life force of the Universe.<br />
To me the Goddess is gentle, loving & nurturing but at the same time she is powerful & fearsome, one not to be trifled with.The Morrigan springs to mind at that, she was one of the first aspects of the Goddess I was drawn too since I have always admire powerful women. Airmid is the other aspect I am drawn too, being the goddess of wortcunng (herbal knowledge) and leechcraft (herbal healing), I adore herbs and I reveal in any little tit-bit of information about them whether it be healing, magick or cooking, I even used to watch a TV show called "The Herbs" when I was a child, heehee. I love how once I find these gods & goddesses it'e like they're always been with me and they seem almost familiar in a sense, like I've recovered from some kind of amnesia and remembered who they are.<br />
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With Love & Light<br />
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RavenRaven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-63362353027591874882012-03-14T13:54:00.002-07:002012-03-14T13:54:17.735-07:00Struggle into the World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #0c343d;">I must admit, I almost went backwards today, I slept terrible and then read an email that made me slip back into old thinking pattern, I break down in a flood of tears panicking thinking the world was going to end. My mum then sat me down set everything straight (like she always does) and told me not to go backward now when I have come so far. She then told me this "Your birth was very long & very hard, your spine was rubbing against mine making the birth painful & difficult for you to pass, but then all by yourself you turned yourself the right way with no help from the doctors or nurse, you did it all by yourself & you struggles your way into the world". The more I thought about it the more it rang true, for a long time I did struggle & kept struggling, slowly but surely moving forward, and the thought brought me back to the lotus flower. I am the muddy bud, I wriggled & struggled out of mud & into the pond. My Mum always said that I am a late bloomer & that when I fully blossom, I shall by beautiful & bright, that I will light up others. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;"> I'm very grateful for my mum, both my parents. They never push me to be something but gentle guided and supported me in all that I did, all they every wanted for me and my sibling is to be happy. So thank you Mum for today and all the other days and all the days to come, I'm so lucky to have a mum who loves and cares like you do, you make me proud to be your daughter and I'll try to give you at least one grandchild ;) I love you Mum, you truly are the best <3</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;">With Love & Light</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;">Raven</span>Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-88004421483695650232012-03-08T11:53:00.001-08:002012-03-08T11:53:26.972-08:00Fairy Shrine =)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Merry meet all & welcome back =)<br />
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Today I went on a little trek over the field near my house, seeing as my path is nature-based it's only natural to want to being in Nature as much as possible. Yesterday my younger brother today me that he had found an Angel statute, so on our daily dog walk he took me down to the part of the field which he found it. The area was littered with discard item found in any garden, broken pots, hedge trimmings & branches. Laying face down in the mud was the mentioned statue, we picked it up, setting her up right. She was covered in mud & something in my told me to clean her up & make her comfy. Our dog is rather old so he can't walk as much as he used to so I told my brother that'll we'll return tomorrow. When I went to bed I ask Father Sky to give me some sunshine so I could enjoy Mother Gaia's beauty and sure enough I awoke the next more so beautiful sunshine, despite the chill to the air, you think it was a normal Summer's day! So I packed a few things, my penknife to help scrap of the mud, some water, some broken crackers I thought to give to the birds & some biscuits as an offering. (I would of given some wild flowers too but I couldn't find any). And so we walk back to the little muddy statue & I set to work returning her to somewhat of her former self, I scraped off clumps of dirt, small embedded stones & grass before washing her off and bit by bit I found out that in fact she was not an Angel but a Faery. When I was done we set her against the tree that was near. The tree has lot of low branches & ivy hugging it's trunk, I thought it would be ideal for when it's leaves return she will become hidden. I left the biscuits on one of the lower branches & stepped back to snapped this photo and so my Faery Shrine was born. I thinking adding some more items & offering. Also taking more longer walks, it just so lovely to be out in the fresh air, walking on Mother Earth and feeling her pulse run through the land because you never know what you might just stumble across. ;)<br />
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With Love & Light<br />
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RavenRaven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-643619309595473636.post-85085831957510591332012-03-06T15:55:00.001-08:002012-03-06T15:55:33.586-08:00<span style="color: #0c343d;">Okay so here goes, I'm not too good with this, um, talking thing but here we go...</span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;">Hello my name is Raven, the name is a gift from my mother & has been my second name since I was a teenager. You're probably wondering how I got the name of the blog, right? Well everyone knows the story of the lotus flower, it starts out in the murky depth of the pond, a pursed little bud, that slowly makes it way to the surface to blossom in a vision of purity & beauty. Yes, well I'm the muddy bud, I've come out of the "mud" & but haven't surfaced and blossomed and that is what my blog will be about, my journey to "blossoming" *exhales* Phew okay I think I'm doing good with this blogging thing, but I digress. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0c343d;">I was in the "mud" for a long time & only recently have come out of it, the surface seems like a long way ahead but I can see the sunshine at least, so I think I'm on the right track =P. One of the things that helped me escape the mud ( besides my amazing other half) was discovering that I was a Witch. It was one of those funny light bulb moment that make you go "AH-HA!". Also it was like I had discovered a part of myself that had been asleep, it was truely wonderful. I had always felt that I was alittle different from everyone else, in the way I thought & saw the world anyway. It occurred when I was looking into Druidry funny enough, I had just finished reading an Arthurian trilogy by Bernard Cornwell (I adore books on Celtic/Iron Age). Somehow on my search for knowledge on Druids I came across a page on Wicca, what caught my ear was the pentacle on top of the article. I have been drawn to the pentacle pretty much the whole of my life but never knew why, as I began to read the article I was awe-struck, it was as if someone had been reading my mind, & thus the light bulb illuminated. I slapped my hand on the desk ( not really 'cause that would hurt) it all made sense & I thought to myself "I must learn more". So a began looking for a book to help me beginning to practise my Craft & I found "The Ultimate Book of Shadows for The New Generation Solitary Witch" by Raven SilverWolf (It was her name that drew me in, heehee) I have to admit it took me a year to read that book, I kept picking it up & putting it down when I got "muddy", but when I had finished I was satisfy that this was right for me. I noticed changes in me, my negative thoughts lessened, I noticed & felt more in touch with Mother Nature, I began to listen to the bird, notice leaved & berries of the trees and the flowers on the ground, I could "feel" the Earth & her energies(I had always "felt" thing but could never put a finger on it until now), my outlook had changed. That was the beginning of my path, but I haven't truly found my feet, I just know that I am a Witch & for now that good enough for me and I will do my best to live up to that, but I will continue on this journey of self-discovery, I must admit I don't know the way all I know is that someday I will blossom =)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;">With Love, Light & Blessings</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;">Raven ~<3</span><br />
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<span style="color: #0c343d;"><br /></span>Raven Greenehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08969166818801677334noreply@blogger.com3