Songs of a Cricket - blog

ABC of Paganism: Z is for Zen

2/6/2019

Zen is defined in The Magician's Companion as: a system of mental stillness origination in India, where it was known as dhyana. The idea is to attain release from attachment to the objective world with the goal of permitting experience by direct perception or intuition. This idea holds a dominate role within my own spiritual practice. It is what I intend to achieve through meditation regardless of what style or type of meditation I am doing at the time. I perceive this mental state as being ideal for communing with the Spirit Realm in order to gain knowledge and wisdom from my Spiritual Court, which would include my Beloved Dead, The Ancestors, my familiar spirits, Spirit Guides, Spirit

An A-Z List of New Age Practices to Embrace

1/30/2019

This blog post is in direct response to one made by Doreen Virtue, which can be found HERE.

The New Age offers a path to personal enlightenment and a deeper understanding of the Universe and humanity’s relationship with it. The New Age teaches us that we hold the inherent power to manifest whatever experiences we desire for ourselves as we live within the shared reality and physical realm of existence. The reality is that humans are just a part of the vast expanse that is the Universe and because of this we are searching for knowledge and greater understanding. There is no end to our seeking because there isn’t meant to be one.

ABC of Paganism: Y is for Yoni

1/23/2019

The yoni is an aniconic representation of the vagina and depicts the Goddess, divine feminine energy, or creative force including Shakti, within Hinduism. It is the gateway of all births, the entrance way to the womb and tomb. Depicted with the lingam together they symbolize the union of divine feminine and masculine that creates all of existence, the merging of the microcosmos and macrocosmos, the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration.

The divine feminine has a profound role in my spirituality as she has always has throughout my life. This energy first manifested as my

ABC of Paganism: X is for Xeni Nephidei

1/17/2019

I must admit as we get to the end of the alphabet for this YouTube Pagan challenge I struggled to find a word that began with the letter X that pertained to my personal pagan spirituality or Witchcraft. I considered skipping the letter, but then had an overwhelming sense of failure and I didn't like the feeling so I continued to search and I was pleased that I did. I decided to look through what books I still had on my bookshelf scouring the indexes of a few before I finally found something. The book I made my discovery in was titled; The Magician's Companion by Bill Whitcomb. It was a book I purchased years ago from a fellow YouTube Witch, Jacqueline DuBois. It's a wonderful reference book filled with a plethora of information that I find interesting though I must admit I haven't spent as much time in the book as I would like and will take time in the near future to spend more time immersed in what the pages have to offer me. I have the distinct feeling that it is what I would most benefit from at this time in my personal practice.

ABC of Paganism: W is for Words

1/8/2019

I love words. I am an author; I write and what I write is words. I love manipulating words and dissecting them. I use them to paint pictures in my mind and hopefully in the imaginations of other people who read my words. I like to write more than speak, but I enjoy speaking and listening to others as they express their ideas through words. I enjoy reading more than watching because it seems to me that what I imagine is more appealing to me than what other people create using the words of the author.

It is because I am so enamored with words that I know they hold power. All words possess a power that is uniquely their own,

ABC of Paganism: V is for Vortex

1/1/2019

When we lived in New Bedford, our family resided in a historical home located on Cottage Street, built in the year 1883 for a man named William P. Booth, who was employed by the House of Corrections as an Officer. He lived in the house until his death sixteen years later. The house remained vacant until Adeline M. Cornell, a dress maker, acquired it in 1907. She resided alone in the home for twenty years until her death at which time Fredrick and Agnes Dexter moved into the house, only to move out just a year later. In 1928 Charles and Sylvia Dunham acquired the home and lived there for nearly twenty-seven years and after which the house was occupied and vacated by a number of people until we occupied it in July of 2008.

During our time in the house we experienced

ABC of Paganism: U is for (The) Underworld

12/25/2018

When I was a little girl I was raised within a Roman Catholic household was taught that when someone died their spirit would either go to one of three places: Heaven, Purgatory, or Hell. If the person was good then they would go to Heaven, but if they were bad they would go to Hell, and if they didn’t know better, meaning they were never given the opportunity to know God or if they were never baptized, then they would go to Purgatory for purification and perhaps they would eventually go to Heaven. Each of these places had a reference point in my mind even though I could not see it with my physical eyes; Heaven was above the earth among the clouds and Hell was below the earth beneath the grass and dirt … very deep down. And Purgatory … well, I never really understood

Ending a Relationship With a Deity

12/12/2018

In an email from a subscriber / viewer of my YouTube Channel I was asked, "How do you end a relationship with a god when you feel the time with them is done?" Honestly I had never really considered this topic throughout the time I've been involved with my spiritual path though I do not have a specific god or goddess that I worship or work with at this time, I have in the past. Over the years I've been following a pagan spirituality my matron and patron deities have shifted and I've had rich and full relationships with; the Christian god, Mother Mary, Jehovah, Bast, Isis, Thoth, Danu, and Cernunnos, so I took some time and contemplated how my relationship with one god ended and another began. I wanted to give an honest answer to the inquiry I was given.

ABC of Paganism: T is for Tarot

12/4/2018

Tarot is a large part of my spiritual path. I have had a relationships with the cards for many years even before I knew what they were and once I became aware of their purpose I consciously decided to utilize them within my spiritual path, gaining sight to situations and relationships when I felt lost. Tarot has become a beneficial tool for me not only for personal purposes, but within my business career as well.

I know that many individuals hold a fear of the Tarot similar to the fear they possess concerning Spirit Boards, but I've never held such a fear. I was always intrigued with the image of an old "gypsy" woman sitting at a small table with the Tarot spread out in front of her, flipping

Am I a Lightworker?

12/2/2018

Recently within the YouTube community there has been discussion centering on the topic of Lightworkers and whether or not we identify as one. Well, I think we should first define what a Lightwork is before I can share my thoughts about myself concerning this concept. A Lightworker as defined by Rebecca Campbell, a Hay House author and oracle creator, is an individual with an awakened soul, who devotes their life to being a light in the world. Lightworkers make the conscious decision to make the world a brighter place by being present in their life and the lives of others. When faced with a

ABC of Paganism: S is for Seasonal Tides

11/20/2018

Just as the Moon has different phases Witches use as a correspondence for their magicks, the Earth has phases, too that can be harnessed. From the mundane perspective we recognize these phases as Seasons and even if the location of where you live doesn't have recognizable seasons, there still is an energetic shifting that occurs at these times, which can be used as a correspondence when spell casting. Witches recognize these seasons or energetic phases and refer to them as Seasonal Tides.

Empath, Psychic, Medium … Witch

11/14/2018

I was engaged in a conversation the other day pertaining to the differences and similarities of an Empath, a Psychic, a Medium, and a Witch. The individual I was speaking with wondered where the boundary lay between these labels and if the boundaries were really clear or if there was a blending somewhere. I think there is a boundary, but I do believe that there are many individuals who may easily adopt more than one of these labels for themselves because I find that sometimes these abilities overlap though I have also met individuals who are simply one of these things and nothing more.

ABC of Paganism: R is for Rest

11/7/2018

The seasonal tide is shifting and we're moving from the Harvest season to the Winter; from the energy of the element of air to the energy of the element of earth, which will be prominent with the coming Winter Solstice, but for now we are in the Tide of Planning and for me planning happens when I am resting.

With Samhain behind me I have time to rest and consider all that I experienced up to this point in my life. I contemplate the situations and relationships I released and the situations and relationships I have gained. I consider how these shifts have changed the direction of my life and what it is I still desire for myself in the days ahead.

Blessed Samhain

10/31/2018

As the year turns, just as day turns to night and life turns to death, let us welcome the quiet of the Dark Mother. Let the stillness of the land calm and satisfy our spirits, allowing us to receive the harvest's bounty. Let the gain of the passing year be ours, to fill our lives with contentment. May we rest content as we pass the threshold of new beginnings. So mote it be!

This is the first year I am not holding an Open House. It is the first year that I am not standing on the earth of my birth place. Tonight I will be standing out in another part of the country where the energies feel very different to me. I will be holding ritual alone; communing with my Beloved Dead, The Ancestors, and The Mighty Ones and formally introducing myself to the Spirits of the land I now call home.

I Call Myself a Witch

10/24/2018

I've been identifying as Witch for years now since about 2004 when I held a Dedication Ritual to my path and my goddess after experiencing an Initiation by God Herself, though if I consider my life experience and personal spiritual journey it is clear to me now that I've always been Witch, I just never understood that it was a label that described me and what I was practicing. This thought causes me to consider that perhaps I was born Witch and the whole concept of born or made that I discuss in a video on my channel; Are Witches Born or Made?, but I don't have a definite answer to that very question for myself and would never assume to know the answer for anyone else. All I am confident about for me is that I am Witch. When I became Witch? I'm not certain, but I know it is who I am in this moment in my current incarnation. There are many reasons why I identify with Witch, some of these are touched upon in the following poem that I stumbled upon when watching videos on YouTube. This poem is not written by me, but by a fellow YouTube creator and I have included her video in which she reads her poem as well as a link to her channel. She has many wonderful videos discussing numerous topics pertaining to witchcraft and magick that I recommend.